Long-Distance Radios
Not your grandfather’s walkie-talkies. Motorola cites 35 miles as the maximum communication range for its new handheld Talkabout radios.
Indoor ‘Ice’ Climbing
The IceHoldz line of permeable plastic holds are made to take repeated ice ax placements to allow for training indoors. Numb fingers and falling ice shards not included.
Review: ULTRA Headlamp
Overkill for the average hiker, but an essential tool in certain high-stakes nighttime scenarios, Petzl’s ULTRA headlamp is in the running as the brightest on the market.
‘Boy Who Conquered Everest’
Highly controversial or highly awesome? You can decide. Jordan Romero, the 13-year-old who climbed Mount Everest, co-wrote a kids book on his experience.
First Ascent ‘Tech Hoodies’
Eddie Bauer First Ascent bridges the elusive hoodie/mid-layer gap with a pair of tech tops. T.C. Worley gives the concept a multi-month test.
Via Ferrata Climbing Gear
A bonafide sport in the Alps, but almost unknown in America, Gear Junkie tests equipment for the climbing discipline of via ferrata.
‘Best in Show’ awards
GearJunkie.com’s inaugural “Best in Show” awards highlight a dozen innovative new products seen at the Outdoor Retailer trade show this month.
Best OfView All
The Swiss Trip
Climbing, mountain biking, and factory tours were part of the experience this week in Switzerland, where I went to research an upcoming story on the origins of the Swiss Army Knife.
CamelBak Antidote
Hydration stalwart CamelBak touts a “redefinition” of the water reservoir with its to-be-released Antidote line.
JanSport Rainier Climb
T.C. Worley ropes up on JanSport’s annual Mount Rainier Seminar, a mountaineering clinic and ascent of Washington’s highest peak.
Salewa Raven Combi GTX
Italian gear maker Salewa brings some of its footwear line to the North American market. Writer T.C. Worley put a pair to the test on Mount Rainier.
The Gear Junkie Video Show
In collaboration with Demand Media and Trails.com, Gear Junkie Stephen Regenold hosts a new video series. Episode No. 1 was shot in April at Mount Everest Base Camp in Nepal.
‘Gear of the Half-Year’
Gear Junkie picks six products that have stood out so far in 2010.
Volcano Climb in Iceland
Gear Junkie tests “fast and light” mountaineering gear while on the ascent of Hvannadalshnúkur, the highest volcano in Iceland.
Gear for Trekking Nepal
After a two-week trek in Nepal earlier this year, Gear Junkie steps back to examine the clothing and equipment that worked en route to Base Camp at Mount Everest.
Highpoint in Iceland
Gear Junkie gives report No. 2 and a series of photos from Iceland and his ascent on Hvannadalshnúkur, the country’s highest peak.
Summit in Iceland!
Gear Junkie makes the summit on Hvannadalshnúkur, Iceland’s tallest peak.
Expedition Hanesbrands: “Summit!”
Jamie Clarke, Scott Simper, and the rest of Expedition Hanesbrands today made the summit of Mount Everest!
Profile: Ang Temba Sherpa
This article is an inside peek at the life and career path of Ang Temba Sherpa, a leader with Expedition Hanesbrands at Mount Everest.
Figfour Dry Tools
Train for mixed climbing and dry tooling indoors with the new Figfour Dry Tools from Alpkit.
Thin Air: Essay on Everest Base Camp
In Nepal, Stephen Regenold wrote on his experience with altitude and adaptation to the thin air at Mount Everest’s Base Camp, a tent city at 17,500 feet.
Sports Helmet Holy Grail?
A long-awaited idea, the Scarab is a multisport helmet certified as safe for a half-dozen sports, rock climbing, cycling, kayaking, and equestrian activities included.
The Lukla Airport Experience
For decades, the Lukla Airport has been the gateway to Nepal’s Khumbu Region and Mount Everest. It’s also often cited as one of the world’s most dangerous places to fly.
How to Spot (and Treat) Altitude Sickness
HAPE and HACE. These are four-letter words no mountaineer wants to hear. As forms of altitude sickness, HAPE (high-altitude pulmonary edema) and HACE (high-altitude cerebral edema) respectively equal fluid in the lungs and swelling of the brain. Both are caused by the mal effects thin air has on the body.
Welcome to Everest Base Camp
A subterranean stream gurgles in the glacial ice beneath my feet. An avalanche crashes, ice pillars tumbling down, in the Khumbu Icefall above. Welcome to Base Camp at Mount Everest, a tent city at 17,500 feet and home to more than 1,200 seasonal residents clad in down jackets and mountain boots.
Gear Junkie Treks to Gorak Shep
The trek to Mount Everest Base Camp is almost complete. The first wave of the Expedition Hanesbrands team, including lead climber Jamie Clarke and myself, are scheduled to be at Everest’s tent city Saturday, April 10.
Gear Check: Expedition Infrastructure
Stephen Regenold explores the equipment used to communicate from the Khumbu valley to base camp and beyond.
Interview: Photographer Scott Simper
Gear Junkie Stephen Regenold interviews climbing photographer and videographer Scott Simper.
Gear Junkie Treks to Pangboche
The Gear Junkie meets expedition leader Jamie Clarke at 13,000 feet in the village of Pangboche.
Trek to Namche Bazaar
It’s been a little more than two days since my last update. But in that short time, the trajectory I am on from Kathmandu to Everest Base Camp has brought me hundreds of miles and thousands of feet into the sky.
Kathmandu, Part II
Holy sites, markets and temples — as well as the procurement of one oxygen mask — made up my second day on the Expedition HanesBrands trip in Kathmandu, Nepal.
