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Aaron Ziomek

Trail Runner // Skier // Kayaker // Ocean Kayaker // AT Skier // Snowshoer // Camper/Hiker // Snowboarder // Climber // Alpine Skier // Backpacker // Camper // Hiker // Mountaineer

Aaron Ziomek: #315 of 93,625 Top 500 Gear Guru More Information

8 Reviews:

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2 Questions:

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5 Photos:

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  • Stomping Grounds:

    Chicago area, Colorado and Wy
  • Bio:

    What gets me up in the morning is an alarm clock. However those are meant to be shut off, if I want to get up and out I simply look forward to the upcoming summit. Success, flawless execution and efficiency are what drive me.

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Longs Peak up the trough

Longs Peak up the trough

Petzl Vasak 12-Point Mountaineering Crampon

July 3, 2009

Looking back down the trough, petzl in view!

Helpful Votes: 1 Yes | 0 No

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Camp Site Longs 2009

Camp Site Longs 2009

Mountain Hardwear Trango 2 Tent 2-Person 4-Season

July 3, 2009

OUr camp site just below Black Lake at RMNP Longs Peak.

Helpful Votes: 2 Yes | 0 No

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Inside Cooking Dinner

Inside Cooking Dinner

Mountain Hardwear Trango 2 Tent 2-Person 4-Season

July 3, 2009

Longs January 09, cooking meals inside the vest.

Helpful Votes: 1 Yes | 0 No

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Another Photo of the Terra at work

Another Photo of the Terra at work

Mountain Hardwear Terra Jacket - Men's

July 3, 2009

Longs January climb 2009. Coming from Chicago, this was the first trip in which I would be testing the jacket out. It did get tested with only two complaints: The first is that it can tear easily (mine got caught on a pine branch the size of a pencil and the branch poked a hole right through it, was just walking along brushed up against the tree and bam instant hole. The second is the zipper, can be a pain to zip up with just liners on, most of the time I had to use my bare hands because it was finiky! Other than that great jacket!

Helpful Votes: 1 Yes | 0 No

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Crossing Mills Lake, Long's Peak, CO

Crossing Mills Lake, Long's Peak, CO

Mountain Hardwear Terra Jacket - Men's

July 3, 2009

Crossing the lake headed towards the trough route in RMNP, CO. Temp: 10 degrees, Wind: Mucho Grande!

Helpful Votes: 1 Yes | 0 No

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Review Title

Black Diamond Half Dome Helmet

Black Diamond Half Dome Helmet

Rating for this product: 3 August 31, 2009

Okay the pro: It feels light, seems like it would protect (haven't tested this yet, thank God)The adjustment device in back works perfect and snugs up nicely.The con:The chin straps suck, like really really makes me want to return it....almost. One side lines up with your ears, the other is off. I have to have it loose all the way just to fit. That means I have this chunk of plastic and nylon on my right side chin (the buckle and the sewed end of the adjustment strap). I don't have a big head either.Notice:I may just have to keep playing with it for a lot longer. I have tried to adjust it for the better part of an hour but still couldn't get it to fit perfectly.

Oh and the white isn't white, its cream don't be fooled.

Helpful Votes: 1 Yes | 0 No

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Great Alpine Rope

Mammut Infinity Climbing Rope - 9.5mm

Mammut Infinity Climbing Rope - 9.5mm

Rating for this product: 5 August 31, 2009

Great apline rope for mmulti-pitch and running belay. it even comes with a nice shopping bag (I think they meant it to be a rope bag but got drunk when designing it). Nice and light but not weak, seems durable.

Helpful Votes: 1 Yes | 0 No

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Start HERE

Black Diamond Stopper Set Pro #1-13

Black Diamond Stopper Set Pro #1-13

Rating for this product: 5 August 31, 2009

This was my first protection purchase (having little clue where to start) and I am glad I did. It allowed me to learn the basics first and foremost. Even after progressing into other types of protection I still revert back to these on almost every climb. Make these your first protection purchase.

Helpful Votes: 1 Yes | 0 No

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A risk worth taking

Bridgedale CoolMax Liner Sock - 2 Pack - Men's

Bridgedale CoolMax Liner Sock - 2 Pack - Men's

Rating for this product: 5 August 31, 2009

Like the other person I took a chance picking these up, yes they were on sale so it made it easier. I can say comparing them to the REI brand, and Smartwool they stack up just fine. No complaints and nothing that I can see that would cause someone else to complain. Again I didn't use them with Bridgedales.

Helpful Votes: 1 Yes | 0 No

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A perfect fit for a nice hike

SmartWool Hiking Light Crew Sock

SmartWool Hiking Light Crew Sock

Rating for this product: 5 August 31, 2009

Great for a fall or early winter hike. I usually bring these with as my "start up" socks on multi-day winter socks. Then switch to the warmer ones when I get to colder temps.

Helpful Votes: 1 Yes | 0 No

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Perfection

Mountain Hardwear Trango 2 Tent 2-Person 4-Season

Mountain Hardwear Trango 2 Tent 2-Person 4-Season

Rating for this product: 5 July 3, 2009

Great tent. The description hits the nail on the head. We even fit 3 people in this tent for one of our outings. Only complaint is in order to hold up the vestibules securely you have to attach them with three points each. Kind of a pain if you don't have a perfect pitch site. Also on the main vestibule it would have been nice to include a small square zipper vent. When cooking steam from boiling water builds up, to circumvent this you have to have one of the doors partially open. The problem is that they don’t really want to stay wide open and are not placed specifically for venting steam from cooking. So they either flop back inside and get in the way, or they don't let all the steam out and you still get moisture inside. We just ended up opening one of them up half way and sacrificed a little lost warmth. Other than that this tent is awesome.

Helpful Votes: 0 Yes | 0 No

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Great with only two complaints

Mountain Hardwear Terra Jacket - Men's

Mountain Hardwear Terra Jacket - Men's

Rating for this product: 5 July 3, 2009

As you can see from the pictures I use this jacket on winter climbs. It proved to be both water and wind resistant like stated. It fit me perfectly with my layers (6 ft, 155lbs and I went with a Medium). The jacket provided great mobility, breathability and wind resistance. The descriptions in the other posts are spot on the only two things I would like to add are as follows:
Careful when walking: I was trekking up the couloirs route towards Longs and just happened to brush against a pine tree (I think it was a pine, might have been a spruce) anyways one of the littlest, dinky little branches poked my left arm and tore right into the jacket. I understand this might not be the “jackets” fault, however I was a little disappointed in how easily this happened. I barely even felt the twig and wouldn’t have noticed the rip if the twig didn’t break off and stick into the hole. Just so were clear, this was a little twig, something you could break with two fingers no problem. So if you are going to be hard on your jacket you might want to look at something with a little higher Nylon rating like a 70D outer. I haven’t returned the jacket yet because I love it and am not sure if the tear would be covered under warranty or not. It is no bigger than the size of the top of a pencil eraser so we shall see if they will replace it or fix it.

The second issue I personally had was the main zipper. I don’t know if it is because I am Polish or not but I had the hardest time getting the zipper started and undone. I would always have to remove my liners and fidget with it to get the two sides to line up right and be able to pull the zipper up. Also when undoing the zipper it always got caught at the end and was a difficult to detach the two sides of the zipper. This could be user error or it could just be the style of the zipper to ensure no wind or water gets through. So take this complaint lightly!
Other than those two things the jacket is awesome. I have used it twice to golf in (mist to full out pouring) and it turned out to be a great golf jacket! New line for MH, MH Golf. If you have any more question feel free to ask and I will try to answer them the best that I can!

Helpful Votes: 1 Yes | 0 No

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Mountain Hardwear Xenon Jacket - Men's

January 14, 2009

Directed @ Jon Webb but anyone else feel free to chime in,I trust your advice and you did answer a question on my current jacket(MH Terra shell). We got some decent snow here in Chicago, so I suited up my layers with my Terra Shell Jacket on the outside. Did some shoveling, snowball fight with the kids across the street, ect. Just got moving in the jacket. I put my pack on and walked around while shoveling. It did ok... my only qualm is that I DO NOT FEEL DURRABLE in the jacket. I know that it "should" do fine on Longs with a 45lb pack. However my mind is telling me I should get something more durrable. I am trying to keep my jacket purchase under $300 and got the Terra Shell on sale. I was looking at this one hoping that it offers the same protection and provides more durability. Can you help my mind and put me at ease?

Helpful Votes: 1 Yes | 0 No

Sold Out

Mountain Hardwear Terra Jacket - Men's

January 14, 2009

Although this jacket is thin, the Typhoon is as thin and not designed for mountaineering. If you wait until after February I will be taking mine to Longs Peak with a 45lb pack. I will let you know how it does.

Helpful Votes: 0 Yes | 0 No

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Good, but not great

The North Face Valkyrie Softshell Jacket - Men's

The North Face Valkyrie Softshell Jacket - Men's

Rating for this product: 4 December 23, 2008

Picked this one up early November for my climb later that week @ Longs Peak, CO. Was planning on putting this jacket as my outer layer while in the tree line assuming there was no snow. Then throwing my shell over it once we got above the tree line.

Lets start with the two bad things: First, even if you get the right size on this jacket (a medium for me 6ft 155lbs) it still is a pain to put on. If you are wearing any long sleeve shirt other then say Lycra (So anything with cotton or poly in it), the arms on the jacket always catch your under layer and pull it up. Now I understand they want to have a nice fuzzy layer on the inside, but it is not necessary on the arms. Either that or line it with some poly so that you can slide your arms in somewhat easy. Second, The North Face name, now I understand some of their products have gone to crap and you're paying for the name. Some are outstanding yet still you're paying for the name. With this one the product is great, but the price is high. Pick it up on sale if you can wait.

Pros:

Cat and Dog hair can't touch this jacket. Not related to any technical stuff on the jacket but having that soft-shell fabric with fleece inside and not getting hair clumps is great. Keeps the wind rain and snow away. Decent to about 20 degrees with winds 20 mph and below. Anything over that and you start to feel it, even with a decent base layer. Once you start getting into the more harsh conditions it would be beneficial to have a good layer system either utilizing this jacket or having it off and packed away.

Overall I am pleased with this jacket. I got it on sale so the price didn't hurt as much. I can wear it around town or in the snow and back country. Great buy.

Helpful Votes: 5 Yes | 1 No

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Mountain Hardwear Terra Jacket - Men's

December 22, 2008

How does this jacket hold up to wind? It seems all other companies give some sort of wind statement in the product description but this one does not? Thinking about using this as my outter shell in Alpin ascents (Longs peak Nov-March).

Helpful Votes: 0 Yes | 0 No

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