Tim Young

A really nice sleeping pad. I really enjoy the amount of loft the pad has compared to a thermarest, its much more comfortable. I've done a couple of 4-day trips with it now and have been impressed with its durability for being such a lightweight pad, and if I do get a hole it comes with a repair kit. That's amazing, flat out amazing. My one gripe is that it take a long time to inflate. But other than that, I'm impressed.

Oakley makes profession grade optics. Period. Their goggles are no exception. The lenses have great quality, low distortion, and do not fog easily. My one small issue is the width of the goggle when skiing switch. Its a bit narrow so I loose some peripheral vision going butt first. But you adjust to this, so its a small gripe.

This is a nice lid overall. I really enjoy the fit, how it sinks low on your head and makes you feel like your wearing a hat and not a helmet. Protection is good too, I've wacked my head off of some ice and hard snow with no issues from the helmet. I wouldn't crash headlong into a tree with it, but its better than nothing. My one gripe is how goggles fit. I have Oakley A-Frames and they fit well around the front, but the keeper on the back of the helmet is far to high and makes the goggles not fit evenly on my face. Besides that, its a nice lid.

The be all of end all for front country ski bindings, period. These babies have no weakpoints. Stupid strong mounting pattern, super secure yet will not fail to pop out in any emergency, no weird switch skiing moments due to no ramp angles, amazingly powerful due to wide baseplates (why yes I'd love to make boot out carves on 100mm waist skis on bulletproof ice thank you), and a DIN scale that will stay with you no matter how big your going.

I ski them on a pair of 185 Volkl Bridges mounted 2cm forward of boot center for an east coast do everything ski, and they &*&^ing rule. I have had 0 maintance issues, 0 problems, and unlimited smiles while skiing these over 60 days a year for the past two seasons. These are the new standard of front country bidings.

If your not as big or as powerful, go for the griffons. Same binding with a lighter spring.

The zephyr is my first rope, so emotionally I'm attached to it like a 7th grader is attached to their first crush. But logically and practically I see the flaws in it. The sheath is not that strong, and fuzzed in a couple spots my first time out. Also the super dynamic nature of the rope feels a bit odd at times as it will creep through your belay device when someone is hanging or it will feel bouncy on a rappel. But really I think these are nit-picky things when it comes down to it. Its a good rope that will see a good 2-3 years of beginner sport climbing use if treated well.

Some things I really enjoy about the rope are the marking for mid and ends. The middle mark makes setting up rappels very easy, and the ends super useful for managing how long to make a pitch on ice. I like the size too as a starter rope as its quite strong, if a bit heavy.

So all in all i like this rope for now, and as I get better I'll upgrade, like everyone upgrades from that first crush in middle school.

Got these as my first set of normal draws in addition to 4 or so single slings. They are simple, strong, and good feeling draws as far as I'm concerned. They are a bit small for clipping for my hands (i got big mits) but for the price I really cant complain. The action is solid and feel really great during a clip.

A+ pick for a first set of draws

Comfortable fit that works in 4 seasons. Some with larger noggins might find it a bit tough to fit a hat under it effectively in the winter, but for my skull-piece size it works fine. Its a sharp looking helmet too, almost zero dork factor (*cough* black diamond *cough*). But really its all about what helmet fits your dome and your style, and this one is great fit for me.

Good all around hardshell pant. Its nothing to really write home about, but they get the job done. The full leg zip is good and the front only connected suspenders are great when nature calls, but besides that there's not much else defining these pants as standouts.

Every time I pull this jacket out of my pack for a belay I get giddy. Its such a well constructed and thought out puff that will keep you warm in almost any condition. -10 degrees fahrenheit with a windchill? No problem. Pop up the super warm down hood and you'll feel like your a cookie baking in your mama's oven. The fit is quite nice for climbing, but a bit short in length for mountain use, but that's why they make the parka version. The shorter length is perfect for winter climbing as its really easy to get to your harness. And if you really need to dig for gear way back on your harness the double zipper is a clutch feature. If you need a wintertime belay puff, this is it right here, you cant get much better for the price. Yeah you could shell out another $150 for an arc'teryx, but you really don't need to, because this jackets got all that bang for a smaller amount of buck.

BTW, I'm 6' 4" and about 185lbs and the XL is perfect in length and girth and fits over all my outer gear with zero issues.

I've been using this device now for a bit over a season and I love using it! Its a device that thrives in multi-pitch climbing, as its main features make belaying a second (or two) very easy. I've found the auto braking feature to work well, if not perfectly, it takes a bit of effort to take in rope, but its consistent so I feel like its more my rope (10.3 mil petzl zephyr). With the larger rope I also notice that the device does not have nearly the amount of grab as I'm used to with say an ATC, you really have to be attentive with your brake hand if someone is hanging as the rope likes to creep through the device. However I've only noticed this with ropes over 10 mil, smaller ropes work flawlessly. The setup of the anchor attachment point, and the release hole are well placed as well. The horizontal nature of the anchor point keeps the device lined up much better then the ATCguide with its vertical point. All in all, i think this is the best, and most intuitive belay device out there!

Talk about a sweet bag for wintertime activity and use. The bag has great attachment points for ice tools and crampons, and has a great ammount of space inside for all your winter climbing gear. I really enjoy it's old school "sack with straps" kind of feel as it makes it very easy to move around while climbing and traversing. It's not super comfortable when just hiking around getting to the crag but it's not supposed to be as I see it. This bag is made to be in the vertical, not horizontal. If you want more comfort while hiking, get a Bora (got one of those to, arc'teryx makes sweet bags for anything!), but for single day to overnight mountaineering and ice climbing, you can't go wrong with the Khamsin!