Thinking of winter it's easy to think only of axes and crampons but, especially in Scotland, there's a whole raft of kit that's just as essential: from your choice of lid, through to the harness and a selection of hardware that you'll need to make the most of the iced up nasties in Lochan!!
Hanging out for hours, combined with the rigours of racking enough gear, means that harness choice can be a toughie, so that's where the Summit comes in. This four buckle rig is a multi-tasking monster with amazing adjustability: meaning however many layers you gain or shed it's always centrered and secure. And with 7 gear loops there's plenty of space for racking your selection of nuts.
Speaking of nuts, Wild Country's Rocks are probably still the best choice for winter 'wellying' with your hammer. The original curve seats superbly and the recent addition of big Rocks gives a stiffer alternative to the essential kit that are Rockcentrics. These lightweight and versatile alternatives to the original clunky hex have become standard equipment for winter mountaineers and plug a big gap on mixed ground.
Lockers are another incredibly useful part of the climber's armoury and Wild Country's new Ascent, Ascent Lite and Eos are perfect for winter use. The new Ascent has a round bar perfect for a Munter hitch if you've dropped your device with clumsy frozen digits; while the Eos is a great biner for all your slings, light and easy to use with a Keylock nose.
Slings are also a must have, and the company which was the first to 3 Sigma rate sewn goods, and create the first 12mm dyneema, we have a great selection of widths and lengths.
Last, but not least you'll need a great selection of biners to carry everything and the lighter the better. So still top of the tree comes Wild Country's Helium karabiner - recommended as heartily now as when it was introduced - this superlight option is an obvious choice for racking.
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