Petzl Bug Pack Review (and Colonial Knife Giveaway)

The Petzl Bug pack is a solid choice for a small climbing pack designed for short to moderate length multi-pitch rock climbs. While a little on the heavier side (1lb 2.5oz) when compared to other styles in this category it’s clear Petzl has used the extra weight to build in some durability and well thought out features. Let’s break it down:

S71O-BUG_LowRes — Petzl Bug Review- photo from Petzl.com

Size:

At 18 liters (1,100 cubic inches) this pack falls in to the same category of small tech packs like the Black Diamond Bullet, 16 L (976 cu in), 1 lb 2 oz., and the super light Patagonia Linked Pack, 16 L (976 cu in), 16.5 oz. It is 2 liters larger than these comparable packs and I found this extra room enough to easily store this load out:

Black Diamond Alpine Start Hoody (my review here)

Patagonia Technical Sunshade Hoody (my review here)

AMK Ultralight First Aid Kit .9 (modified a bit)

Five Ten Rogue Lace-up Climbing Shoes (my comfy moderate trad shoe, review coming)

Nalgene Everyday Wide-Mouth Water Bottle, 1L

Lunch, Petzl Zipka Headlamp, Colonial Ameba Knife, Ben’s DEET

My “Cathedral Rack” (Basically a set of nuts, smaller tri-cams, set of Black Diamond X4’s and C4’s from .3 to size 2). 8 alpine draws, 2 quick-draws, 2 cordelette’s, 2 double length slings, couple prussiks, 5 lockers, Gigi and belay device.

Petzl Bug Review — Using every inch of 1,100 cubic inches

The pack does appear and pack noticeably bigger than the narrower profiled Black Diamond Bullet, mainly due to the extra 2 liters & slightly wider shape.

Comfort/Fit:

With closed cell foam padding in the back and the contoured shoulder straps this pack carries the light loads it is intended for quite comfortably. By design it rides very high on the back to not interfere with the harness. The waist-belt can fold away though I usually opt for just clipping it around of the outside front of the pack when it’s time to harness up.

Features:

Rope attachment

Packs under 20L typically can not fit the climbing rope inside so an attachment system for carrying the rope on the outside is important. While some current reviewers and online retailers suggest attaching the rope to the bottom that is outdated info. The carrying system is designed to carry the rope more comfortably over the top of the pack with an adjustable top strap and two side compression straps to ensure a solid attachment. While different styles of coiling can work I’ve found the “single strand butterfly” coil sits best when attaching ropes to the top of packs.

Compartmentalization/Organization

There are some design choices here that while adding a couple ounces of weight have also added some nice convenience. The most noticeable (and questionable in my opinion), is the open wide external pocket on the back of the pack. This pack is intended to store a guidebook or route topo for quick access. It’s quite big, basically the full size of the padded back, and has no method to secure any contents in it. The thought of my guidebook slipping out on a steep Gunks route or a few pitches up Cannon has me questioning whether I would every find a use for this feature, and because the zippered pocket on the front of the pack is very generously sized I opted to keep my guidebook there.

There is an interior pocket that can accommodate my 100 ounce CamelBak Hydration Bladder with hydration port and a smaller mesh pocket with key clip.

Carrying a 70-100 oz. bladder costs quite a bit of storage space for my rack so if I was hitting up a bigger objective (Cannon) with this pack on a hot day I’d opt to rack up at the car and take the extra water. If my climb required a longer approach than Cannon (Huntington/Katahdin) I’d opt for a larger pack that could carry both 100oz. and my full rack with ease, like the Ortovox Trad 25 backpack that I reviewed last month here.

Rounding out the features (and another distinct difference between the other same-class packs I mentioned at the beginning of the review) is the addition of the daisy loops down the front of the pack giving the climber a convenient place to clip some gear that didn’t make it into the pack while “de-racking” after that epic send.

Suggestions:

A sternum strap buckle whistle has become a standard for me on all of my climbing and back-country skiing packs. This “10 Essential” may not be needed often but when it is I like having it within arms reach at all times, and this would be an easy thing to add in the the next Bug’s development. I’d also like more info on the pack material as details are a bit vague “very durable: bottom and sides lined with high-tenacity fabric”. While I’m not concerned with the lack of brand name recognition here (and during my 2 month test period the pack handled abrasive situations quite well) it makes it hard to objectively compare when this denier/technology is omitted)

Conclusion:

When it comes to backpacks Petzl’s line is mostly focused on packs designed for caving /canyoning (descending) rather than climbing (ascending) with this pack being the only pack they’ve designed with the climber in mind. Despite this being the only offering from Petzl in this niche the Bug holds up well against companies with a larger focus on producing climbing specific packs. With a competitive price point and unique features in this class of packs it is definitely worth your consideration!

If you’re thinking of picking one up you can order through Amazon here. Doing so helps support this blog!

Did you like this review? Have you tried this pack? What’s your favorite climbing pack? Interested in the coiling video mentioned above? Let me know in the comments below and you’ll be entered to win a “Tat Cutter Neck Knife” from Colonial Knives. Drawing 7/28/16 Winner notified 7/29/16 and announced here. CONGRATS TAYLOR FOR WINNING THE CONTEST!

Colonial Knife Company Tat Cutter Neck Knife

See you in the mountains,

NEAlpineStart

Disclaimer: This pack was provided to demo for the purpose of this review and has been returned to Petzl. This post contains affiliate links.

How To Keep Mosquitoes Away from Tips Bulletin

If a tree falls off a cliff…

June 22, 2016June 28, 2016 David Lottmann Rock Climbing

It’s been a little quiet here since my last post but things have been happening. I’ve guided a couple days this season and gotten out to a few remote crags researching an article publishing with Wild Northeast magazine next month. I’ve also been reviewing gear from Petzl, La Sportiva, Garmin, and Suunto for both this blog and the Gear Institute. After returning home from a camping trip this past weekend I was surprised to hear that a relatively healthy looking (and well used) rappel tree on Cathedral Ledge fell to the base a little after noon on Saturday.

Having used this tree dozens of times in the last 10 years without much concern I decided I wanted to investigate the failure that could have been devastating if anyone was in the area when it fell.

First, the tree in question. This was a large live healthy looking white pine tree that was directly above Browns Fist/Lower Refuse (Pg 188, North Conway Rock Climbs). It was a convenient way to retreat from the Upper Refuse/Black Lung/Book of Solemnity area with a single 60m rope. You could just reach the ground in one rope stretching 30m rap from here, which was also mostly free hanging. During some guide training a few years ago I learned some pre-rigging tricks that would keep multiple clients more comfortable if the guide was going first off this tree as the stance below the tree was virtually non-existent and the rappel quickly goes over a roof and becomes free hanging.

Alternate single rope descents from this area are quite limited. From the 1st pitch of The Book anchor you can reach the thread anchor at the top of the 1st pitch of Browns Fist/Lower Refuse in 30m, and do another shorter rappel to the ground. You can scramble/down-climb to the Ego Trip anchor but that will require 2 60m’s, or one 80m rope as I discovered today (and a 2nd rap). You can descend Bombardment which will also require 2 60m ropes or a stop at the decayed tree a-top pitch one of Pleasant St with a single 60m and another short rappel.

In short, there is no fixed station in the vicinity that would allow a quick descent with a single 60m rope so “escaping up” is probably the best bet if you only have one rope (or reversing the Barber Wall approach trail).

I wanted to come in from above so we parked at the top and rapped The Book.

The scenic belay ledge at the top of the 1st pitch of The Book of Solemnity- Petzl Bug Pack Review coming soon

When we touched down on the Refuse Ledge it was obvious the tree took a lot of topsoil and debris with it. A smaller pine just below the the ledge took a hard hit and some “death blocks” are currently suspended in its exposed root system.

Looking down from where the rappel tree used to stand, loose blocks are held by the root system of this destroyed pin directly above Brown’s Fist

We briefly considered trundling these but realized there was no way we could be sure there were not people below (we could hear voices near the base of Recompense) and I’m sure they could reach the lower climbers trail when set loose. Spotters will be needed to make clearing these safe. It was impressive to see how the root system that failed loosened rocks 10-15 feet back from the tree’s original location.

Rocks loosened when root system pulled out

These are pretty stable in their place but the blocks in the previous photo are quite threatening.

After taking a couple quick pics and wanting to get some climbing in we made our way down to the Ego Trip anchor. My friend Dave Karl had loaned me a 80m Petzl Volta (review coming) to check out and I was curious if the length would get us down to the 1st pitch Ego Trip anchor. It did with little to spare, and another short rap had us on the ground.

Sue grabbed a quick on-sight of Bombardment, we cruised up Upper Refuse, and finished up Lookout Crack.

Petzl Volta Climbing Rope — Sue tops out a one pitch Upper Refuse… easy to do with 80m of rope…

Back at the top by noon we coiled gear and I grabbed a quick shot for upcoming gear reviews.

Gear reviews aside and back on topic… the falling of this tree cost me some sleep last night. It was a very solid healthy looking pine that I’ve trusted my life, and clients lives, to many times over the last decade. It did not budge when testing with climber loads and there was no red flags that would help me understand why this decided to fail at such a random time with no “event”. Usually “spontaneous” rock fall and tree “failures” like this can be traced to some weather or climber load event. In this case it was a nice, almost summer day with a seemingly light breeze at the cliff and many days without significant rain.

Checking with the local Mount Washington Observatory the highest gust in town over the period in question was only 18.5mph and while the cliff does see stronger orographic effects a few witnesses report relatively calm conditions during the failure. The soil in this area is a bit thin and quite compacted by climber traffic. Erik N. over at NEClimbs offered up some statistics for those who like numbers:

“A healthy root system should be roughly 1.5x foot per inch of the diameter of the tree. So a 10” diameter tree trunk at 4 feet high should have a root system 15 feet out in a circular area. If more than 40% of the root system is compromised it’s at a high risk of failure.”

I’m not quite picturing the math perfectly here as I am a visual learner but this tree was 50+ feet tall, and the roots that ripped out looked to only go out about 15-20 feet in a circular area (a result of thin cliff restricted soil). By the above definition most of our anchor trees would probably be considered to have a “high risk of failure”.

These seemingly rare acts of nature have me wondering if we shouldn’t pay a little more attention to our tree anchors on our beloved highly traffic’d front-country cliffs. I’d like to spend some time with a certified arborist (quite a few around here are accomplished climbers) and do a quick inventory/assessment of the most popular tree anchors. While preserving the character of Cathedral/Whitehorse climbing is important to me I also think we need to be proactive when it comes to our existing fixed anchor management. This information, when shared with with local climbing communities like Friends of the Ledges, will hopefully lead to thoughtful replacement strategies of fixed anchors where appropriate.

In the meantime don’t spend a lot of time below Lower Refuse/Brown’s Fist (or the climbers trail that cuts from the Recompense Trail over to Funhouse Area. I will update this post when the very necessary trundling is scheduled.

From the vantage I got today there are some teetering blocks being held up by the uprooted routes of a smaller pine tree. Other climbers nearby reported hearing significant rockfall around 8pm Saturday night which I think was tied to this event, so I would consider the area below Lower Refuse to be a bit more active with random rockfall until local guides/FoTL/MRS can get in there and clean it up a bit.

UPDATE 6/27/16: The ledge above Browns Fist/Lower Refuse were cleaned this morning by a combined volunteer effort including Mountain Rescue Service, local guides, and Friends of the Ledges. Both routes below have significant dirt/debris on them that will require some heavy rain to clean up. Use caution below the AP Treat area as a lot of the debris ended up in this area.

Yay community!

Ortovox Trad 25 Backpack Review

May 27, 2016September 4, 2017 David Lottmann Backpack Reviews, Gear Reviews alpine climbing packs, ortovox packs, ortovox trad 25, rock climbing, trad climbing

I’ve been using Ortovox avalanche shovels, probes, and beacons for over 5 years now so I was pretty excited when I got the opportunity to try out the new Ortovox Trad 25 Backpack. Designed for multi-pitch rock climbing with some unique forward thinking features this is definitely a contender for best design in this category.

Ortovox Trad 25 Backpack Review — Ortovox Trad 25 Backpack- photo from http://www.ortovox.com

Let’s take an in-depth look at the different characteristics of this pack.

Buy on Amazon

Comfort

The dense molded foam used in the shoulder straps and back feel almost gel like. It is very comfortable. The shoulder straps are the appropriate width and contour to my 5’9″ frame perfectly. The length is perfect for my 19 inch torso and the pack rides at the right height when I’m wearing my harness. There is a shorter torso women’s version available as well.

Ortovox Trad 25 Review — Gel-like molded foam back panel and shoulder straps

Weight

For the amount of features this pack boosts it’s pretty impressive it only weighs one pound 12 ounces (750 grams). You can further lighten the pack by removing the aluminum frame but I found the pack rides so comfortably with the frame intact I left it in.

Capacity

I was a bit concerned 25 liters (1560 cubic inches) would not be enough for my multi-pitch rock climbing/guiding kit. Turned out I had plenty of room and I think this is a generous 25L pack. It is hydration compatible and even with my 100 ounce CamelBak I was able to get my entire kit inside

When packing everything in this photo I was able to still get my helmet inside. On a subsequent trip where my partner was packing the rack I fit a Sterling Nano 60m 9.1mm climbing rope inside and strapped my helmet on the outside. For those wanting a bit more room for longer more committing routes the pack does come in a 35L size.

Accessibility

One of my favorite features of this pack is the “circumferential zipper”. While I can still cram my gear in via the lid covered top opening (which features it’s own innovative tightening system) when it is time to rack up I can easily get to my rack, quickdraws, shell jacket, etc.

The roomy top pocket easily fits my headlamp, bug dope, and lunch.

Rope Attachment

Once the pack is loaded up it’s easy to strap a rope on the outside. The top compression straps unhook and expand to fit any size rope and the bungee ice axe attachments on the bottom quickly secure the coil from swinging on your hike in.

The fact that this ultralight pack can hold ice axes makes it a great choice for glaciated alpine terrain, though I would probably bump up to the 35L for longer routes.

Buy on Amazon

Durability

The main material seems to be a soft high count denier. I don’t have the exact specs but careful inspection of it reveals high quality stitching and no noticeable stress points. While I have only had the pack a few weeks I feel it will serve well for hundreds of climbs.

Forward Thinking Rescue

Here’s where Ortovox has really done something different. I’ve always known this company to be industry leading when it comes to safety, especially with their commitments to avalanche education. This guiding principle is evident in this pack in a few ways. First, is the simple color choice. As a search & rescue member I am a big fan of high visible orange. It’s one way to be “searchable”. “Be searchable”… that phrase was coined in conjunction with the Recco system that is included in this pack. While this technology is limited in the Northeast right now it’s gaining a lot of popularity in Europe and may gain more traction here. You can learn more about Recco here. Finally, on the inside of the circumferential zipper are imprinted images of alpine emergency signals. There’s also another concealed zippered pocket here that I just found while grabbing this image!

Conclusion

For multi-pitch rock climbing this pack is a great choice. It’s clear Ortovox focuses on design functionality and safety in every product I’ve ever used from them, and this pack is no exception. If you’re looking around for a solid multi-pitch pack option you can purchase this one right here. Doing so helps support this blog!

Buy on Amazon

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this review please like, share, subscribe, comment, or just send me some positive karma.

See you in the mountains,

-NEAlpineStart

Disclosure: Ortovox provided this sample for the purposes of this review and this post contains affiliate links.

Petzl Connect Adjust Review

May 23, 2016September 20, 2016 David Lottmann Climbing Gear Reviews, Gear Reviews cathedral ledge, climbing, climbNH, petzl, Petzl Connect Adjust, rock climbing

The Petzl Connect Adjust has been out for a little over a year now but many climbers haven’t really had a chance to be exposed to it to determine whether or not it would be a helpful addition to their kit. In this review I’ll go in depth on what this item is, how it is different from other products in this category, and what purposes it might be best suited for.

Petzl Connect Adjust Review — Petzl Connect Adjust

So what is it? Simply put it is an adjustable lanyard for conveniently attaching to an anchor. There are a few applications where using a lanyard while climbing can be quite useful. To name just a few; cleaning an anchor at the top of a sport route in preparation for lower/rappel, multi-pitch rappelling where you want to stay anchored without using the main climbing rope, route development/maintenance. It’s probably best to see it in action before we dive into the details.

There are other options in the “tether” arena, and to fully understand the advantages of this piece of equipment it must be held up against what is already out there. So let’s take a very brief look at the two most common solutions climbers use a tether.

The single/double length sling. Cost effective multi-purpose item with the distinct disadvantages of not being adjustable or shock absorbing. Care must be taken to ensure there is no fall potential on generated slack within that attachment. Not redundant.
The Metolius Personal Anchor System (PAS). 93.5 grams. More expensive than the first option, some limited adjust-ability, options to make the situation redundant. It’s no surprise this item has gained a solid following over the last few years for both sport and traditional climbing climbing.

What does the Connect Adjust achieve that these other options don’t? In my opinion there are two distinct advantages of the Connect Adjust:

It’s CE certified for personal fall protection. Its design incorporates the use of the Petzl Arial 9.5 climbing rope. This adds considerable strength (over 15Kn) and durability, along with some dynamic elongation, to your tether. This option does weigh 32.5 grams more than the PAS and is a bit bulkier to rack.
It’s a fully adjustable tether. Other options simply don’t have the ability to fine tune your adjustment length like this device. Sure, there’s the Purcell Prusik, but that can have limitations based on what you build it with.

Before I dive into a couple drawbacks lets get this out of the way right now.

There is no piece of gear that is perfect in every single situation. So don’t look for that. But there is a great piece of gear for every application out there! In this case the Connect Adjust shines in a few arenas;

Cleaning a sport route. Yes, you can continue to link quick draws together with non-lockers to attach yourself at the top of that sick on-sight you just sent. But you know there are better ways. This could be one of them.
Multi-pitch descents/canyoneering. There are some great reasons to bring this along for these type of trips, mainly, the additional “fall protection”. Before I get into explaining “fall protection” here is a clever solution to be able to use this as a rappel extension while still maintaining the tether option (note you lose a bit of length with the girth-hitch and the resulting tether is about 10 inches shorter than a knotted double-length sling.

Fall Factor at its essence means how much force will be transmitted to the climber/anchor in the event of a fall. You could connect yourself to an anchor with a 4 foot nylon sling, climb up 4 feet, fall 8 feet, and be seriously injured or killed. That’s “Fall Factor”.

Ok, back to “fall protection”. This device is meant to protect against that in climbing situations in two ways.

First, it’s dynamic in nature. While not considered a “shock absorb-er” the technical specs allow for falls up to FF1. That means you could be futzing about trying to adjust something on the anchor with 2 feet of Petzl Arial between you and your anchor point. If you create two feet of slack but don’t go above the anchor point, and fall directly on the anchor (a fall of 2 feet or less), this attachment will dissipate the energy enough to not scramble your organs. The nylon sling/PAS options will not accommodate this type of mistake.

Second, it’s easily adjustable in both directions. You can shorten or lengthen this with consider-able ease increasing the chance of not having unnecessary slack in the system to worry about generating any high fall factor forces. Granted, adjusting it to be longer takes a little bit of practice, especially if you want to do it one handed, but with a little bit of practicing it becomes second nature, and is definitely easier than the Purcell Prusik which pretty much requires two hands for both tightening and loosening.

With that point addressed there is only one other consideration I want to bring up, and that is in redundancy. The materials throughout are more than enough strong for the application, but when confronted with a double bolt anchor without chains this device doesn’t allow you to be clipped into both without building a quick sling anchor (Magic X) or the like. In this regard the Metolius PAS starts to show some advantage. However, the Petzl Dual Connect Adjust solves this issue quickly, though picks up some more weight & bulk in the process.

L35ARM-Dual-Connect-Adjust_LowRes — Petzl Dual Connect Adjust

I’ll be testing the Dual Connect for the next month or so, and plan to update this post with more info related to that. Specifically I have some ideas for how I will rack/store these items on my harness in a more efficient way. While I admit I won’t pack these on trips where I am shaving ounces everywhere there are plenty of times I can see this making my day easier. Off the top of my head guiding 3 clients half-way up Whitehorse before rappelling, cleaning/bolting new routes in the outback, and as a personal tether for Mountain Rescue Service applications (especially as a litter attendant, this device has great potential due to its specifications).

In summary Petzl has created something unique and innovative here. It’s not the Holy Grail, but it’s functional and serves purpose. It does not replace the PAS, double length sling tethers, or clove hitches, but gives us another option of how we secure ourselves in the vertical world. It’s definitely worth checking out.

So what do you think of it? Have you tried it? What’s your personal tether system look like? Let me know in the comments below!

Disclaimer: Both the Connect Adjust and Dual Connect Adjust are being loaned to me from Petzl for this review and I’ll be returning them shortly. My opinions on the device(s) are solely my own.

Group Rock Climbing- Marianopolis

May 16, 2016 David Lottmann Rock Climbing, Trip Reports cathedral ledge, climbing, climbNH, eastern mountain sports, eastern mountain sports schools, EMS Climbing School, EMS Schools

This is the 2nd year in a row I’ve gotten to work with the kids & faculty of the Connecticut based Marianopolis Preparatory School. These motivated teens loaded into a bus in the wee morning hours yesterday for a four hour ride up to Mount Washington Valley for their first taste of rock climbing. Keith & I took the group to the Thin Air Face and the kids & chaperons climbed the routes we set up as many times as their motivation and strength allowed them.

EMS Climbing School — A student attentively belays

Ortovox Trad 25 Pack — My first day testing the Ortovox Trad 25 pack, review coming next month

After everyone had their fill of climbing we had a little time to spare before the bus would return so we decided to bushwhack over to Diana’s Baths. It’s really a short walk over to this beautiful area and the kids had a blast.

After the bus arrived a quick trip to the top of the cliff rewarded them with a nice rainbow over the valley.

It was a pleasure introducing this diverse group of students to rock climbing (and bushwhacking for that matter). One of the students texted her mom in China to show her what she was doing and it was comical to see her mother text back so quickly with “put the phone away and pay attention!” I’m looking forward to the next time they come and climb with us.

See you in the mountains,

NEAlpineStart

Patagonia Men’s Sunshade Technical Hoodie Review

May 13, 2016May 6, 2017 David Lottmann Clothing Reviews, Gear Reviews gear that works, patagonia, patagonia sunshade hoody, patagoniagear

On a particularly hot & humid day last summer I came across a fellow guide sporting a long sleeve hoodie while guiding a couple of clients up the scorching Whitehorse Slabs. I thought he must be cooking in a long-sleeve hoodie (hood up) but he assured me he was quite comfortable. The garment in question? The Patagonia Men’s Sunshade Technical Hoodie.

Buy on Backcountry.com

Buy on Patagonia.com

PATAGONIA MEN'S SUNSHADE TECHNICAL HOODY — PATAGONIA MEN’S SUNSHADE TECHNICAL HOODY

Interestingly this piece is marketed towards “flats fishing”. I’ll be honest and say I wasn’t sure what that was so I googled it. One of the first images was from http://www.flyfishingpatagonia.com:

cuba-flats-fishing — Image from http://www.flyfishingpatagonia.com/

So think tropic, hot, no shade, UV reflection from above & below. Got it?

Here’s Patagonia’s official description:

“On tropical Pacific atolls, the only thing more ferocious than a feeding GT is the sun. Fortunately, our Sunshade Technical Hoody, with its ultralight 3.54-oz polyester double-knit fabric and 25-UPF sun protection, offers full upper-body coverage and a cool, airy feel. Thumb holes pull the sleeves down to cover hands, built-in sun mask and hood fit easily over a baseball cap, reinforced stretch-woven inner forearms and side panels protect against abrasion and a convenient zippered pocket holds a few essentials. The Sunshade proudly flies a heat-transfer Fitz Roy Tarpon logo on the back. When the flats heat up, don’t wilt. Just throw on a Sunshade and keep fishing.”

So what is this piece doing on climbing guides in the White Mountains of New Hampshire at the 44th parallel north? It is the perfect hot weather piece with the added un-advertised benefit of being BLACK FLY PROOF!

Buy on Backcountry.com

Buy on Patagonia.com

Today was my last test run before I wanted to post up about it. We hiked 2 miles to an outback cliff as the mercury rose to 80 degrees. Humidity was mild given early season but we still worked up a sweat reaching the cliff. As soon as we dropped packs at the base of the climb we were swarmed by the black flies Mt. Chocurua is known for. It reminded me of a particularly trying day on nearby White Ledge last June. Here’s a pic to show the ferocity of these beasts on this mountain:

Despite still being warm from the hike in just my EMS Techwick T-shirt I threw the Patagonia Sunshade Hoodie on while we flaked out the rope and racked up. Instant relief from the onslaught of insects was had as the super thin hood fits easily under my climbing helmet keeping these blood suckers out of my ears. I also felt like I was cooling down faster than if I had just stayed in my t-shirt on this south facing cliff.

I wore it while leading all 4 pitches of this moderate south facing slab route and for the whole hike out. At just under 7 ounces this hoodie will be a staple in my summer guiding kit from now to cooler Fall temps.

Patagonia has made a few small changes to this seasons model, namely;

The chest pocket now has a vertical zipper instead of horizontal.
The hood is a little more relaxed with a button that allows some adjust-ability. This is a great change as the older model that I tested is quite snug at the neck which can make you feel a bit “closed in” when working really hard. The new design looks like a definite improvement.
They dropped the MRSP $10! This piece retails for $79 which I think is a great value for a piece backed by Patagonia’s excellent Ironclad Guarantee.

If you are fair skinned, or just like to “stay cool” on hot sweltering days you should take a look at this piece! You can buy one directly from Patagonia here or from Backcountry.com below! Also available in womens (without the chest pocket)!

Buy on Backcountry.com

Buy on Patagonia.com

Disclaimer: I bought this item with my own money from Moosejaw since the new one wasn’t out yet and EVERYONE was sold out of the old one. So… I guess I don’t need a disclaimer. I liked it so much I couldn’t wait to review it! Affiliate links help support this blog.

Patagonia Baby Capilene Silkweight Sun Hooded Long-Sleeve Shirt – Infant Boys’

Patagonia Baby Capilene Silkweight Sun Hooded Long-Sleeve Shirt – Infant Girls’

Patagonia Baby Capilene Silkweight Sun Hooded Long-Sleeve Shirt – Toddler Girls’

Patagonia Baby Capilene Silkweight Sun Hooded Shirt – Toddler Boys’

Patagonia Graphic Technical Fish Tee – Men’s

Patagonia R0 Hooded Sun Shirt – Long-Sleeve – Men’s

Patagonia Sunshade Crew – Men’s

Patagonia Sunshade Hooded Shirt – Women’s

Patagonia Sunshade Technical Hooded Shirt – Men’s

Patagonia Tropic Comfort II Hooded Shirt – Men’s

What’s ahead for North East Alpine Start?

May 10, 2016September 13, 2016 David Lottmann Musings

While it has been a little quiet here since the winter guiding season wound down I’ve been quite busy on numerous projects that you might be interested in. The first of which is researching and writing an article for an adventure magazine launching this summer, Wild Northeast.

The hook of this piece is highlighting some of the outstanding but less visited slab climbing destinations in the White Mountains.

Researching these destinations often times requires a bit of bushwhacking, which synchronizes well with another assignment I am working on, reviewing the latest hand-held and watch based GPS devices for the Gear Institute as their new “GPS Expert Tester”.

1041 — Suunto Ambit3 Vertical and Traverse

gearInstitute1

Over the last few years of blogging I have discovered one of my favorite things to do is review outdoor gear in a detailed and hopefully constructive way and I’m excited to be able to do this in a formal capacity with GI. I’m testing multiple models from Magellan, Suunto, and Garmin with results posting in July.

While I plan to keep posting trip reports and photos from each guided day these reviews seem to be what has really driven an increase in traffic to this blog. Last year saw huge growth in readership and this year has already reached half of last years visitation.

blog traffic

I want to first thank my readers and followers on WordPress, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. It is because of you all that companies are willing to support my blogging through product demos, so THANK YOU!

A second big shout out to all the companies that have supported this endeavor with product demos:

HyperLite Mountain Gear

Patagonia

Petzl

VSSL

Looking ahead at the next month while there won’t be too much guiding until summer I’ll be spending a lot of time in the field for product testing. I’ll run a few more gear giveaways (Congrats to Todd R for winning the last contest!), so if you want to hear about some outback climbing destinations or some of the newest outdoor gear on the market please follow me on one (or all) of these channels!

WordPress, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter.

As always thanks for reading, and see you in the mountains!

-NEAlpineStart

AAC- Universal Belay Standard

April 15, 2016 David Lottmann Professional Development, Rock Climbing, Self-Rescue eastern mountain sports schools, rock climbing

The American Alpine Club recently released this video in relation to a “Universal Belay Standard”. It is really well done and will be included in my new “Skill Zone”. If you are a new or experienced climber it’s worth a quick watch.

Regarding the American Alpine Club I’ve been a member since 2004. A very worthwhile organization to join with a ton of benefits!

Classic Backcountry Rock- Pine Mountain

April 11, 2016 David Lottmann Trip Reports climbing, rock climb nh, rock climbing, white mountain rock climbing

Twenty four years ago I was a 14 year old teenager at a week long overnight summer camp on Pine Mt. in Gorham, NH. On a small 40 foot crag somewhere else on this mountain I was introduced to rock climbing and it became one of the defining moments of my life. I’ll save that self reflection for later and share my initial impressions of this cool cliff which I am currently scouting for inclusion in an article I am writing for a northeast adventure magazine launching this summer.

Pine Mountain Gorham NH — Pine Mountain just outside of Gorham, NH

This outback cliff is actually quite accessible. From Route 16 take Pinkham B Road almost exactly 2 miles to a trailhead parking lot on the left directly across from Pine Mountain Road (restricted to camp vehicles, foot traffic welcome). The Pine Link Trail heads south from here up to Howker Ridge and Mt. Madison but we head Northeast on this camp road soon passing the gate and in exactly .9 miles come to the “Ledge Trail” on the right.

Follow this for a few hundred yards until you get to this boulder:

Here the bush whack begins. Head east off trail and contour around to the southeast side of Pine Mt. You’ll cross two rather distinct drainage’s before reaching the far left side of the cliff proper, about 20+ minutes or so. As far as bushwhacks go this one is quite nice. If you really keep you eyes open you’ll pick up signs of a few others passing through. Total time to the base of the cliff from parking lot took us about 40 minutes.

The far left side of the cliff has a shorter bit of slab capped by a very impressive overhanging head wall.

This is the vicinity of:

“Pope on a Rope“- 5.7 climbs the slabs past a few bolts and gear right to the base of the headwall, to a 2 bolt ring anchor. A 60 meter will get you to the tree ledge and from there either hike down or rap back to the base. FA Matt and Kathy Barker– from description posted on NEClimbs.com

Moving right along the cliff we reached the attractive clean toe of the slab.

At the left hand margin of the above photo is:

It’s a Pinkham Thing– 5.8 A great 3 pitch route!! Pull an overlap at the base and climb up to a stance on the slab. At this point a pink tri cam is slotted in a perfect pocket. Now commit to the slab past 4 more more bolts to a big overlap. Pull throughout this (bolt) to a ring anchor. The next pitch goes up and right to the large pine tree, all on natural gear pulling many overlaps along the way. The 3rd pitch is a scramble over some really cool rock. 1 60 will get you back to the ground. FA Matt Barker and Ben Smith- from NEClimbs.com

Center of photo:

Old Route Direct– 5.7 The 1st pitch starts on lowest point of slab. You climb straight up to an overlap (protect here) then climb up and clip a bolt. From here commit to some great slab climbing passing a couple bolts. Build an anchor 30 feet to the left of the anchor of Contact under and overlap. ( Small cams) 2 more fantastic overlap climbing. You will need to build an anchor along the way and you will pass 1 pin on the last pitch. To get off go to a tree anchor above the contact headwall. 2 ropes will get you to the contact ring anchor and then to the ground. FA Ben Smith Matt Barker 1st pitch– from NEClimbs.com

About 10 feet to the right you find the start of Contact:

Contact- 5.6 30 feet right of the previous route and slightly up hill you will see a left facing corner. Climb up the slab corner 30 feet to a giant detached flake trending up and left. From a stance on the top of the flake look right into the crazy looking rock. You will see a bolt. Climb up to the bolt threw the headwall just to the right of the fine grained granite. Pull a steep move on a great door knob hold clipping another bolt and the up to the ring anchors. Next climb straight up on the pegmatite on gear to a comfortable point and build an anchor. Now up threw the final head wall to a tree anchor. FA Matt and Kathy Barker– from NEclimbs.com

We liked the look of the furthest right line, which follows a band of “pegmatite” up almost the entire length of the cliff.

Hank Chinos– 5.6 this route starts to the right of contact by 15 feet. It climbs entirely in the pegmatite for 3 pitches. Threw a steep headwall on the first pitch on great gear. The second pitch gear anchor is near a big loose block so please use caution. The third pitch is threw the same headwall as Contact to the tree anchor. FA Jon Garlough and Hank Tracy.– from NEClimbs.com

It wasn’t clear from the description exactly where the first pitch ended so I think we wandered a bit left and stopped at the bolted anchor on Contact. Either way the climbing was really enjoyable and the pegmatite was amazing. I regret not getting a close up picture of it.

On the 2nd pitch I wandered us back right and reached the “second pitch gear anchor near the big loose block”. The block is easily avoided but the gear anchor may take some ingenuity.

From here Bob climbed through a couple fun overlaps to a tree anchor at the top. It was 1pm so we grabbed some lunch and got ready for an on-sight bushwhack off (we only brought 1 60m rope). Studying the topo & satellite imagery on my ViewRanger App I felt the fastest way back to the cold beers in the car would be to scramble up another 100 feet or so bypassing a short wall on the left, then turning southwest and following a slowly descending bearing back towards the Ledge Trail. Interestingly after scrambling up above this bluff and turning southwest we came across a couple bearing markers. I didn’t take a picture of them but they had some data on them and were on a perfect line of where we wanted to descend. This route worked perfectly and dumped us out on the trail 50 feet away from the boulder where we left the trail originally. The GPS track really shows the full loop.

Car to car for us was exactly 4 hours. I plan on returning soon to climb the rest of the established routes and poke around a bit more. I need to visit some other “out there” places first though while researching this article. On my “soon” list are a return trip to North Bald Cap, a first time trip out to North Percy Peak, and a handful of other deserving locales. Be sure to follow if you want to hear about it!

Contest Update:

About 3 weeks left to a give away of the VSSL Supplies Kit. You can enter just by commenting about footwear on my review of the LaSportiva Batura’s. Nothing to loose and a very cool little kit to gain!

Thanks for reading! See you in the mountains,

-NEAlpineStart

La Sportiva Batura 2.0 GTX Mountaineering Boots Review (and Giveaway!)

April 4, 2016September 16, 2016 David Lottmann Footwear Reviews, Gear Reviews ice climbing, lasportiva batura's, mount washington, mountaineering

I have just finished my 2nd winter season climbing in the award winning La Sportiva Batura 2.0 GTX Mountaineering Boots and I should have shared my impressions of this boot long before now. As the saying goes, better late than never!

La Sportiva Batura Review- Photo by http://www.brentdoscher.com/

Shopping for a high end mountaineering boot is stressful. Climbers will pour over online reviews, solicit advice from guides, climbing partners, shop employees, and so on. No doubt about it pulling the trigger on a $500+ purchase while imagining black toes, blisters, or cold feet can feel as sketchy as running out 50 feet of verglas with no protection. While there is some truth to the saying “If the shoe fits” the unfortunate reality is few climbing shops will stock the high end models, and special orders may seem risky with various return policies and shipping costs. What is a prospective buyer to do? Read, read, then read some more. To that end I’ll add the following personal opinions to the plethora of positive reviews already out on the interwebs.

But first, context. It would be good to know what similar products the reviewer has experience with if in order to validate their opinion. These are the boots I have climbed in extensively over the last 16 years, both leading ice climbs up to Grade 5 in difficulty and countless mountaineering trips up Mount Washington.

Koflach Verticals (discontinued)

Koflach Degre’s

Asolo Cholotse’s

Scarpa Mont Blanc Mountaineering Boots

Of these the Cholatse’s have a special place in my gear room as I am on my 2nd pair and are worthy of their own review. Long story short they are a tad lighter than the Batura’s but can not compete with the warmth of the Batura’s. It’s not a fair comparison though as the Cholatse’s do not have the built in super gaiter. I’ll get into more detail on the Cholatse’s in another review. Let’s focus on the guest of honor.

La Sportiva Batura 2.0 Mountaineering Boots Review

Style:

Is it a single boot with a gaiter? A synthetic hybrid? A double boot? What exactly are we looking at here?

The President of La Sportiva NA, Jonathon Lantz, calls it a true “1.5 boot”. Half way between the best single boot and the best double boot for warmth. An accurate description would be a technologically advanced single leather/synthetic hybrid with a built in super gaiter. Quite a mouthful, but there really is quite a bit of technology put into this boot! Before we dive into that though let’s look at fit:

Fit:

I am a very standard US Men’s Size 9 with a noticeable “Morton’s Toe”. The European size 42 fits me perfectly, as it has in the Asolo’s & Koflachs I have also worn. When comparing them to the Asolo Cholatse’s there is a slightly noticeable narrower feel to them. While my feet are medium width they are definitely not to snug for me but wider feet might have an issue with these. Narrower feet will really like the lacing system I am about to mention but low volume feet should consider swapping the factory insole out for a thicker insole like my well loved Superfeet REDHots.

Lacing:

Tucked underneath the velcro protected waterproof zipper is the boots lacing system. What sets this apart for other lacing systems is the integrated ratchet system just over the top of your foot. This ratchet system lets you get a snug lace which really holds the foot in place in the boot, critical for preventing toe bash on long descents and while repeated kicking into hard waterfall ice.

Waterproofness:

La Sportiva has essentially matched the bombproof waterproofness of a plastic boot but kept the boot breathable and much lighter. How? Two layers of Goretex. One within the boot itself, and another within the attached “super gaiter”. This technology was tested on one particularly drenching descent off Mount Washington this winter with 8+ inches of slush on the trail. I was not expecting my feet to stay dry given the conditions and felt a bit guilty when back at the shop my clients were wringing out their socks (they all wore plastic boots, so I’m thinking they must have stepped in a deeper flow at one or three of the waterbars that cross the trail).

Warmth:

I’ll need to confess a bit before I start talking about warmth. I have very warm feet. Fellow search & rescue members have raised eyebrows in the past when I’ve turned out with my Asolo Cholatse’s on, and while they have kept me warm while staying on the move in -20f temps with wind chills around -50f I have become more cautious about what I select for these missions that may involve a overnight bivouac with a patient. To that end if the mercury is down I’ll be in my Batura’s. Here’s why. The boot uses “Gore-Tex Insulated Comfort Technology“. While La Sportiva/Goretex doesn’t go into much detail about this technology there is noticeably more insulation in the boot than my 200gr Thinsulate Cholatse’s. The doubling up on the Goretex linings undoubtedly adds warmth while maintaining a small amount of true breath-ablility. The super-gaiter definitely adds a lot of warmth and I’m really a fan of having laces that never freeze (because they are 100% enclosed in the super-gaiter).

Coldest temps I’ve tested these: -27f ambient air temps with wind chills -50f to -60f. Feet were toasty while moving but I wouldn’t want to stand around for a hour. My sock of choice is the Smartwool Mountaineer Socks.

Were they as warm as my experiences with double plastic boots? Quite close really. The real difference here is the lack of a removable lining. This has implications for multi-day expeditions. A 5 day trip to Katahdin? No problem. A month long trip in Alaska? I might miss having a remove-able liner and would probably take a very close look at the La Sportiva Spantiks. As for day trip convenience if you don’t have one already pick up a decent boot dryer. I’m able to dry mine out daily during the busiest part of the guiding season and the drier really cuts down on any potential foot odor.

Comfort/Performance:

So how do they feel? Over the last two winters I have worn them up & down Mount Washington about 12 times, and ice climbed 30+ days in them. My feet were quite happy at the end of every day, which is saying something considering our low snow year has not given us the smooth sailing trail conditions we are used to. Mile after mile of uneven rocky scrambling, often with micro-spikes on to contend with acres of water ice covering trails most the season, and never a sore foot. While ice climbing the stiff carbon insole provides a stable platform while front pointing and the flexible uppers make flat footing super casual.

Crampon compatibility:

For mountaineering days I paired them with my older style Petzl Vasak crampons. They fit perfectly and the combo made for a very light boot/crampon match. For ice climbing I spent this season in the Black Diamond Cyborg crampons, again, a perfect fit.

Summary:

If you’ve read all this, or read any of the other reviews around the web, you’ve probably heard enough by now. They are one of the best single boot for ice climbing/mountaineering in the lower 48! They score high across the board and if you can find a shop that stocks them take a few minutes to slip a pair on. You can also order them from Amazon here!

Contest/Giveaway: Edit 5/1/16 (CONGRATS TO WINNER TODD R!)

It’s been far to long since I’ve offered up some tasty shwag to my readers so today I’m offering up something that any outdoors person should be psyched to get. A VSSL Supplies Kit, worth $109.99! You can read my review of this clever product here. Simple to enter, just comment below on what your favorite boots are. Hiking, climbing, skiing, it doesn’t matter. Just keep it about footwear and you’re entered! All commentators will be entered into a climbing helmet and the winner will be drawn and announced on 5/1/2016. I think we’ll have a video clip of the drawing as Alex is pretty pumped about being the lottery official.

You can now follow North East Alpine Start on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram as well as signing up for email notifications at the “Follow” link at the very top tight of this page.

See you in the mountains,

NEAlpineStart

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Northeast Alpine Start

Gear reviews, trip reports, and how-to articles for Northeast adventures

Author: David Lottmann

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What’s ahead for North East Alpine Start?

AAC- Universal Belay Standard

Classic Backcountry Rock- Pine Mountain

La Sportiva Batura 2.0 GTX Mountaineering Boots Review (and Giveaway!)