Books reviewed: “The General in His Labyrinth” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, “Kiss or Kill” by Mark Twight, “Everest: The West Ridge” (Abridged) by Thomas Hornbein.
They say you can learn a lot about a person by browsing their bookshelf. The trouble with this approach is most voracious readers move through books at a faster rate than they can accumulate them. None of these three will end up on my bookshelf. That says something too, I suppose.
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I keep getting asked questions about my gloves at the crag, so I’m writing this article to share my opinions on the Showa gloves for ice climbing. If you aren’t an ice climber you can fully ignore this article, as we’re about to get pretty nerdy on these gloves.
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I flew from New York to Milan, arriving at Malpensa airport 8 a.m. on Wednesday morning. I recollected my duffel full of mountaineering equipment, took the train to the city center, and then walked to my buddy Enrico’s apartment, 30 kilos on my back. He was finishing up work; we pored over avalanche forecasts and trip reports. We asked all our contacts for conditions, suggestions. We scoured the Facebook groups. We ended up choosing the Rebuffat Couloir on the Tour Ronde, a route no one had suggested, and for which we had absolutely zero conditions information.
The weather looked best for tomorrow. We woke up, 5:15 a.m., dragged ourselves to the car, and drove to Courmayuer. Parked, dressed, and just enough spare time for an espresso. 8:30 a.m., first lift up, and we were on it. American country music played through the stereo system on the shiny cable car. 9:00, suited up and ready for action, we stepped onto the glacier at 11,300 feet. I’d always heard alpinism in Europe was accessible, but this was next-level.
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(“First impressions” is a bit of a misnomer for this post, as I’ve now used this pack for around 30 days. However, I used the older rendition of this backpack for 5-6 years, so in my opinion, I am indeed still forming my first impression.)
I beat the ever-loving-hell out of my previous Cobra backpack. For years, it served for any purpose I needed it: cragging pack, international travel, overnight backpacking, ice climbing, alpine rock climbs. That pack went with me to Europe, to the top of the Grand Teton, to Mount Baker, to alpine ice climbs in Rocky Mountain National Park, and elsewhere. It finally died this summer in Peru — split along the bottom after I overloaded it, trying to fit seven days of supplies in a 60-liter pack.
North Face generously warrantied that pack, sending me the updated version. I have now taken this pack on a few outings, including local day trips around Boulder, an overnight climb of the Fisher Chimneys on Mount Shuksan, and five weeks of climbing and cragging in Indian Creek, Utah. Here are my initial impressions.
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We snuck in a quick weekend attack on Mount Shuksan, in the North Cascades National Park, Washington. Shuksan was described to me as a “little mountain with big mountain terrain,” which I think is apt. Although the summit is not high, the climb packs quite a punch.
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