Lockport, New York to Holley, New York

Climbers against cancer

Climbers Against Cancer is a new organisation started by John Ellison. It’s a good story, and seems to have a lot of momentum in climbing. Check it out here.And when they are ready, do buy a T-shirt.




Thanks Shauna for the heads up.

A Little Give-Away for the Long Weekend

[image via Po Campo & Planet Gear]

Longing for something lovely, US-made and free to go with your celebration of freedom from monarchy this week-end? How about aPo Campo Spare Pocket fromPlanetGear?This curious item is a water-resistant mini-purse that attaches to your wrist, ankle, or bicycle handlebars. The fabric is a beautiful "contrast damask" with reflective bird detail. I am not one to carry a purse, let alone a tiny purse, so that whole genre of accessories rather mystifies me! I can see attaching this to the handlebars though.



PlanetGear is a women owned retail club offering discounts on gear, clothing and travel destinations, as well as referral programs and monthly specials. I am not a member and am not affiliated with the company, but it looks interesting and hey - if they want to give you free stuff, how can I stand in the way?



If you would like the Spare Pocket, simply post a comment describing your week-end cycling plans (if you don't have any, make some up!) and I will then pick a random entry. US entries only for this one, and please include your contact information in the comment. Recipient will be chosen on Friday July 8th, and you may enter any time up till then. Thank you to PlanetGear for the give-away, thank you everyone for reading, and enjoy the holiday!

A new double boot liner from Palau?

This from fellow climber Eduardo Vieira in Portugal:





"I came upon a reference to Palau liners on your blog a while ago while browsing the web looking for replacement liners for my Koflach Arctis Expe's. I had tried buying a pair of Intuition Denali liners, but I got the sizing wrong and they ended up unusable and it was awful trouble to order them and have them shipped to Portugal. Not to mention that they do not come cheap here in Europe Now I contacted Palau about purchasing a pair of OVPM liners (cheaper and easier to buy than Intuitions in Europe) and they told me that they are going to sell a new liner, adapted to mountain boot shells and still cheaper than Intuitions. About the price of the OVPM's.



Enjoy,



Eduardo Vieira"



Thanks againEduardo I am very interested in these as I am thinking about trying a much smaller Spantik shell with a thinner custom liner that is easily molded to lower the over all volume of the actual boot. A tongue in place and a Velcro closure should be exactly what is required for my project.













From: palau@ets-palau.fr

Date: 17 October 07:13

Subject: RE: OVPM Liner

To: Eduardo Vieira

Hi Eduardo,



Thanks for your request,

First I confirm you that it is not a problem for us to provide OVPM liner in

280 MP.



These liners are quite thick (10 mm) but can be adapt to your needs. We are actually working on a specific Mountaineering liner fitting specially Koflach, Scarpa Phantom, La Sportiva High mountain boots Etc..



You can check the attached item. Available in 10, 8 or 7 mm with an extra comfortable foam for high cuff.

This liner will be sale on our web site probably end of this month. Shipping costs for Portugal are about 15 Eur. I keep in touch with you and add by the way the size 280 to our store.



Best regards,

Frédéric

Eduardo Vieira [mailto:edthelizzard@gmail.com]

palau@ets-palau.fr







Hello,

I am looking to replace the stock liners on my Koflach Arctis Expe Boots. Came upon your website due to a reference in the Cold Thistle english blog. I browsed the models and am contacting you to inquire if you don´t make the OVPM liners in size 28 (they are only listed up to size 27). I compared them to the Ultra Light liner (which you recommend for use with mountaineering boots) and the OVPM are cheaper, thicker (I am thinking about returning to Denali a third time), reinforced and about the same height (which is not a problem for me). If you do make them in size 28 how do I order them. Also what is the shipping cost to Portugal.

Thank you.

Eduardo Vieira

Another relaxing beach afternoon in Petra with some pizza and Greek yoghurt

Last summer (June-July ) Dutchman and I holidayed in Lesvos, Greece. The island is Greece’s 3rd largest and is located just a few kilometres from the border to Turkey. From the beach of Petra we could visibly see the country linking Europe to Asia. There were day trips to bazaars in Turkey but Dutchman and I never considered this because it takes an hour to get to the port and another hour and a half for the boat ride. We would be losing lots of hours travelling and we have to wake up very early as well. This is a relaxing summer holiday, Dutchman reminded me, not some culture-adventure trip.



So what we did was days like this...











Having late lunch on the beach, reading books and magazines, staring out to the sea and watching people go by (we saw a group of girls being chased by their little dog, lol, and I was able to capture it on camera, scroll down below for the picture) and sleeping on the beach until the sun goes down from the horizon and we would have to go back to our apartment resort to freshen up and change into evening wear for yet another meal.



I have been eating a lot of grilled octopus and local food in this holiday so for the first time I tried something else, non-Greek—pizza. Dutchman was more than happy to oblige as he loves pizzas.



We threw in some Greek yoghurt with honey and walnuts into the order to help quench the summer heat as well. If you are in Greece, do not ever miss this!



I really miss summer holidays.

Moving On :: Kluane to Haines

Monday, August 23rd - - I continued on the Alaska Highway from Lake Kluane to Haines Junction where I turned south on the Haines Highway. Designated a National Scenic Byway, it is one of the prettiest drives in Alaska (in my opinion). What makes it different from all the other Scenic Byways is that you have scenic views that can actually be seen! They aren't completely hidden by rows of trees alongside the highway. The 150 miles from Haines Junction takes you through a portion of the Yukon Territory, British Columbia, and Alaska.

I didn't take many pictures along the way. Though pretty, the scenery didn't lend itself well to picture taking, and the further south I drove the cloudier it got. So you'll just have to take my word for it that it was beautiful.

There was some road construction and about 15 miles of gravel road, and my van, which had to go through two car washes in Anchorage to get clean, was now dirty again...

There were signs of autumn in the air, besides the chilly weather.


It had started raining about 30 miles north of the Alaska border and the rain continued all the way to Haines, 40 miles south of the border. I stayed at the campground at Chilkoot Lake State Recreation Area (which also happens to be where Sue and Fred stayed). It is ten miles east of Haines at the end of the highway.

Climbing Salopettes (bibs) and the "NWAlpinist Salopette"

The idea of a bibbed pant is so old to me now that I am a not sure sure how I came to it.



Some where between a hike out Marble canyon from Deltaform in June of 1975 or coming down the cow path after doing PtarmiganRidge in single boots and the resultingfrozen feet that fall certainly had something to do with the thought process.



I do remember finally taking mywool knickers off and walking in my shorts as my thighs were bleeding by the end of thewet 25k hike out from Deltaform. My feet? Still an issue with cold today.



I've no doubt that the winter gear suggestions of British Alpinists Joe Tasker and Dick Renshaw in MOUNTAIN LIFE, August/September 1975 had a big impact on us after Ptarmigan Ridge.



http://coldthistle.blogspot.com//02/joe-tasker-and-dick-renshaw-english.html



Gwain, threedays out, after a harried retreat down through the ice fall on the north sideof Mt Deborah.

By the spring of 1976 we were kitted in lightly insulated, nylon shelled,ski salopettes with minor modifications to make them climbing friendly. They worked great. Warmer than a normal pant set up while generally enabling you to drop a layer and on long trips and adistinct lack of another "waist". The harness is more than enough there.



By the early '80s many of the professionals working in the mtns around Banff were using a Swiss made wool/nylon blend salopette with cotton canvas reinforcements. The canvas dried slowly and wore quickly so just as common to cut the knee and butt reinforcements off pretty quickly. But the wonderful and warm wool stretchmaterial they used, the chest pocket, internal gaiter (which many just cut out as well) and side zipwere a glimpse as the future in technical mountain pants. It was the '80s so even my shoe laces matched butthese saloppetesreally rocked! Now way to get lost in a white outeither so big bonus points there for pictures.















Take it to the extreme and you get something like our friend Kim wore on the 1st ascent of the East Face of Everest in '83. And hewas back onKanchenjunga with themin 1985. Shown here. Fully insulated and Gortex salopettes by Wilderness Experience. Gregg Cronn photo of Kim on Kanchenjunga. "It's a magical thing with me. It's tough to stay in Kansas when you've been to Oz."(Kim Momb, 1956-1986)





As you might imaginea good pair of salopettes aren't what you would generally see on a day out cragging in Hyalite Canyon for example. The additional warmth and comfort of a pair of salopettes aren't a high priority when some actuallyput theircrampons on at in the parking lot.





The result of the "sport climbing" community inthe ice climbing environment is much of the gear and clothing gets dummied down (and I know people will just LOVE that)to fit the much bigger customer base. No longer a need for double boots, salopettes, or a small, super light weightclimbing pack if you are top roping or leading 50m climbs as the ultimate expression of the sport.



One of the main reasons I write the blog is to make others aware of what is out there for specialised gear and may be even reintroduce some old technology that has gone by the way side. that clearly should not have IMO.



Which is whyI beat the "light is right" campaign, double boots, specialised climbing sacs, better crampon fit/designs and now I am going to get deep into theclothing discussion in a number of up coming blogs posts.



One of the reasons those old red salopettes were so functional is that they were wool, they were a bit stretchy and they breathed well. Sounds pretty modern now for a piece of 30 year old kit doesn't it?



20 years on (2002)and leave it to Alteryx to come up with a better version. Those in the "know" searched them out promptly and bought the Alteryx Gamma Saloppeteand proceeded tolove them to death. Knownbutts I have seen well worn Arcteryx saloppetes on are Cosmin Andron, Steve Swenson, Wayne Wallace, Michael Layton and Bill Belcourt...and trust me I don't make a habit of looking at men's butts! I suspect there are more salopettes out there stashed away for that next "big" project. This was the last time I pulled mine out.











GCC photos below are courtesy of Ken Glover



But the great thing about a correctly designed and sewn set of salopettes is they can be used for cold weather cragging just as easily as on anybig north face..















The Arcteryx Salopette reviewed by John Graham@ http://www.trailspace.com/gear/arcteryx/gamma-salopette/#reviews

January 1, 2002



"This one-piece sleeveless suit has power shield on the lower half and Schoeller fabric on the top, with nylon facing on the upper front. It zips all the way down the front and up the legs. It has removable knee pads that really save the arthritic knees. I wear this instead of bibs and it really comes into its own when exposed to the wind. It can get a little hot climbing steeply below treeline, but vents very well. I wear it with mid weight polypro bottoms and a power stretch top. When I hit treeline, I pair it with the Gamma SV and a balaclava and I'm good to go. Every detail is well thought out and of course the Arc'Tyrex fit is perfect, as usual."



John's comments are prettymuchas I found my own pair of Gamma Saloppetes.





Arcteryx Gamma Salopettes design details:

Designed for mountaineering applications, this breathable garment sheds snow and provides liberating stretch. Special features include removable kneepads and through-the-crotch WaterTight zips.



Features:

Adjustable cuff shock cord

Breathable, wind and water resistant

Four way polyester stretch upper

Internal knee pad pockets

Keprotec instep patches

Removable molded EVA foam kneepads

Stretch woven lower

Two chest pockets with laminated zips

WaterTight side and through-the-crotch zips



Materials:

Polartec Power Shield

Rentex Lofted Lycra

Schoeller Keprotec



It doesn't take much imagination to see that salopettes are a pretty specialised piece of kit and not the best in warm weather. Additionallyif you are using a soft shell material like my original wool blend Swiss salopettes or the more recentArcteryx Gamma how warm do you want to make them, at the risk of making them too warm?



With all the new wonder fabrics and some good design work one would think you could make an almost perfect climbing salopette these days. Likely the biggest *trick* to that would be getting someone that was willing to design with no compromise. No fufu ski fashions or snow board shreddersneeded here. How about for once just a honest to GOD climbing salopette? Justas Tasker and Renshaw first envisionedthem 35 years ago while climbing the hardest North faces in the Alps, mid winter?



I'd pony up some cash for a couple pair of those!



Enter Bill Almos and his start up climbing clothing company NWAlpine. http://nwalpine.com/

Bill is, if nothing else, an alpine climber himself. And willing to take risks.



So when we first talked about light weight pile hoodies and Shoeller style alpine climbing pants we were talking mostly the same language. I'm old so I am not sure what he thought of a "new" old pant idea as a NWAlpine offering. But he didn't say no. So I boxed my last two remaining pair of salopettes up and off to Portland they went. Having never met Bill or owned any NWAlpine clothing (I own several now items now) I wondered for a moment or twoif I wouldever actually see my original and much lovedsalopettes again. Similar things have happened in the past. Same situation and sadly, most unreliable people.



Not so this time!



SoBill and I beganbrain storming via emails,what would we do to make a better *alpine climbing* specific bib? It was a short storm. I wanted a bib that would be warm enough,if a little cool for Alaska in the spring. Hopefully theywouldbe fine for most things if you could move quickly in the Rockies or Alps in winter. And a plenty warm pant for anything in the lower 48. Again, specifically for winter orcold alpine climbs. Ptarmigan Ridge on Rainier or anything in theColumbia Icefields in Oct or Febwas the environment I envisioned.



I am doing much of my own climbing in a pair of Arcteyx Gamma LT pants these days and s single pair of mid weight Costco long johns. I won't kid anyone, at times it is just barely enough when the temps drop below -10C or a nasty cold wind picks up. But going on the theory that cool muscles work more efficiently..so far it has been enough. But for a new pair of Saloppetes I wanted just a bit more. Not as much as the last Arcteryx Gamma MX salopettes mind you. They were more akin to the current Gamma MX pants (Polartec® Power Shield®) which is lightlyinsulated. But I wantedthese to be some where just short of that extra insulationand lighter in over all weight. MUCH, muchlighter,and way less complicated. Less zippers, less pockets for sure, but still a usable. The idea was alwt climbing pant where just the additional bib will add some warmth by design without adding weight. One less belt at the waist line and more comfort was the goal.



Weight comparisons?



ARC Gamma Lt large 12.4 oz

H. Ridge Runner 3/4 16oz

ARC Gamma MX large 19oz

NWAlpine salopettes large 21.6oz

ARC Gamma MX salopettes large 30.4oz



I have to admit "formal", as in basic black, climbing pantsis getting old.





"My" salopettes need to be warm, wind proof, extremely breathable on the upper bib portion, breathable enough in the leg and waistand all made of a 4 way stretch fabric. No baggy legs to snag crampons on, hardcore anddurablepatches of some typeon the lower inside of the calf for when you will eventuallysnag a crampon. Turned over double hemmed cuffs for "gaiter" durability. Simple eyelets for elastic cord to snug down your "pant gaiter". Simple. Succinct. Specific.



Reinforced inside of the leg for cramponsand simple gaiter grommets









Cuffed hems to reinforce the bungee gaiter strap and seal the leg's gaiter, which were designed up front to take a big dbl boot like the La Sportiva Spantik.



A THREE slider, chest and crotch,water resistant zipper. For the call of nature, ventilation and getting in and out of the garment. Easiest pee portal in the world with a harness on. Easy for me and I suspect even better for a woman.







Hey, no laughing here! This is a hard photo topost in public let alone take by yourself! Zipper runsfrom sternumto tailbone.





NWAlpinist Salopette details:

Suggested Retail is $250 sizes XS through XL

The first production run will be presold. via the NWAlpine web site

http://nwalpine.com/





Everyone in the industry these days is using either a proprietary material orsomething from Polartec and/or Shoeller. almost no one is sewing in the USA. These bibs are proudly sewn in Portland Oregon.

The pant material currently in the NWAlpinist Saloppetes is a proprietary material.Bill is already prepared to change the material and still keep the quality if the original supply can't keep up with demand after the first production run.Currently the pant is made of aa high quality four-way stretch, woven, breathable softshell fabric with aabrasion resistant face with DWR coating. The usual suspects use exactly the same material at the moment. Your imagination won't have to roam far to imaginethis material.









The upper fabric of the bibis a "micro denier fleece back lycra". My thought is, it is perfect for the job. And I am reallypicky here because the upper material has to breath extremely well to make the salopette idea work like it needs to. (SAG's)Merino wool hoody shown in the photo as well. More on it lower down the page.







Trust me, this light weight bib top is breathable. It is likely the first thing you'll notice if youtry to use these Salopettes without enough insulation on your upper body as I did. You'll likely not make that mistake twice.



How the upper body fits in the shoulders, armsand around the neck defines how salopettes fit in many ways...these are exceptional on me.











There is a couple of things that become glaringly obvious when you are 50+ and modeling a one piece lycra suit. The first, much to my surprise you know, is I obviously aint a flat bellied stallion no more...no more :) No hiding that one from a camera. But being shaped more like a Pear(as in fruit) also tells me a lot about how well these salopettes might fit, shall we say, amore athleticproportioned climber. They should fit normal climbers exceptionally well. I have a 21" back which is pretty long for my height @ 6'1". So the typical issues andwhere you will have a problem, of not having enough length in the body andhaving "crotch bite" or baggy pants, shouldn't be a problem for most with this pattern. Mine are a "Large" and me fit perfectly..well close, if I suck in the Pear anyway.



This is how I see myself......a long lean climbing machine. It iswhat I can't see that maybe a problem with that glorified self image :)





"A designer knows he has achievedperfection not when there is nothing to add but when there is nothing left to take away" Antoine de Saint-Exupery







Wind, Sand and Stars (French title:Terre des hommes (Land of Men))by Antoine de Saint Exupéry published in 1939



I suspectthe next question is how do you layer under and over salopettes. No question it is a learned skill. The firstpictures of this blog show Gwain in the mid '70s with several light layers inside and a wool shirt on the out side. These days most of our mid layers have snug hems. You don't need to tuck everything in and you'll stay warmer in many cases by not doing so with Salopettes. So nothing has really changed. Just the upper insulation garments have gotten even better and easier to use with Salopettes. My current "go to pieces" for the upper body (with salopettes or pants) are the super light weight Sherpa Adventure Gear (SAG)Merino wool hoody shown in the pictures above, called the "Khushi" (it is a must have). Or the NWAlpine LT Hoody (another must have). Next up is the RI Hoody or the SAG "Tchimi"hoody or again the NWAlpine Black Spider Hoody.



All light weight hoodies suggested here with only the amount of insulation and how well they breath changes for the project, the level of effort involved and temps.



Next up? Lots of mid layer pile pieces to choose from but one I am thrilled with, especially if you are usingsalopettes, is the Sherpa Adventure Gear sweater made of of Merino wool armsand Primaloft One body. It is called the "Mantra".



It adifferent pieceand you'll likely need to figure out if it will work for your system. I really like lightto mid weight Merino wool sweaters with full or half zip for climbings. I buy them at Men's Warehouse on sale and literally wear them untill I have holes in them.So the Matra fits right in and adds some extra warmth with less weight in the Primaloft 1 body. But more importantly the Primaloft One is much easier to dry out than wool and looses only a tiny bit of its insulation values when wet. A hood would make the men's Mantramuch more user friendly for hard climbing. It is a truly dapper casual, around town, garment that I use climbing without a hood. But I'dreallylike to have both as an option! If you think so too let Sherpa Adventure Gear know! I'll buy the first.



I am a big hoody fan. If you are a woman the Mantracomes with a hood in thewomen's verion. I can't imagine a better winter climbing system than a pair of NWAlpinist salopettes and the "Kushi" mated up with Mantra hoody and one or bothof theArcteryx's Atom LT and Atom SV jackets. San's that hood itis my current system. And damn..I'll be looking simply dapper in the Chamonix bar scene in that black (hid the spare tire)Mantra! The woman's Mantra is good enough I bought my wife one...and she is NEVERgoing to alpineclimb. She calls me a "girl" quite a lot so may be I doknow something about women's clothing :)



I'll have to ask.



I have another blog started on hoodies, light and mid weights, and how they fit into my systems along with my pant and base layer choices.But I wanted to give the basics of what I use with salopettes as many have likely never used a pair climbing.



http://www.sherpaadventuregear.com/index.php



http://nwalpine.com/



http://www.arcteryx.com/?EN



And if you wondered? I have no financial connection to NWAlpine but I did come up with the name NWAlpinist Salopettes but only after getting my originals back!