UKC

The annual ISPO trade show, which brings the world's outdoor industry together under one roof (or a series of gigantic roofs) in Munich, has just wrapped up for 2019. Heavy snowfall gave this year's event a suitably wintry feel, and if we'd really rather have been out in the nearby Bavarian Alps enjoying the conditions, our compensation was getting an early look at mountains of new gear that'll be hitting the shelves in the near future. Here are some video interviews with brand representatives, who talked us through the key features of their climbing hardware creations:

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In reply to UKC Gear:

Surprised the people at Vertical Life weren't tempted to call it the iDraw. 

In reply to purplemonkeyelephant:

I wonder what creative control Apple have behind the addition of the letter 'i' before anything/everything. I vaguely remember Sea to Summit having a travel trowel called the iPood a few years back, but gather - at least from what I'd heard on the grapevine - that its name had to be changed due to copyright.

In terms of the rest, despite being at the show I barely get to see anything due to being preoccupied within the many meetings I have to attend. As such, it's quite interesting to look back at the videos and see what the others got to see. Kolin Powell's talk of not wiggling ice axes out of placements was quite interesting, as was the addition of a screwgate to the spinner leashes.

With the Vertical Life QD I guess the major breakthrough will come when the number of walls/people adopting + using them reaches a point where it's commonplace. I've been using the Stokt App for board sessions lately, which is good in terms of finding problems, but limited in its application beyond.

In reply to Rob Greenwood - UKClimbing:

I have an iPood somewhere. I remember they were only in the shops for a year of two as that before they became named the "travel trowel" or something totally not as funny as that. Presumably a cease and desist letter was enough, but I don't think anyone was really like to mix them up with an iPod - indeed I have and still use all the time an iPod from about the same time - and I've never tried to dig a hole to go no.2 in with it. Nor have I ever tried to download podcast onto my iPood.

I'm interested to see how well the epoxy coating stays on the new BD picks - I have a mid 90s Stubai mountaineering axe that was covered in some sort of epoxy or plastic. It didn't last very long in lots of spots and then seemed to promote surface rust under the bits that didn't chip off. It's a pure aesthetic thing - the head is totally solid forged steel, but it doesn't look as pretty as other axes - interesting to see if the BD picks have a tendency towards the same issue with the new coating.

In reply to UKC Gear:

The Grivel duetto helmet looks just the ticket: I was waiting for an EPP dual certified helmet. 

In reply to TobyA:

Hello Toby,

A bit of a nerdy answer I guess, but technically any epoxy coating will increase corrosion if it comes off. Basically, once the coating is removed from the blade, a difference appears locally between the part that will be exposed to the elements, and the one which is not. The part becoming exposed will interact through oxydation reaction with the dioxygen and the water molecules, thus creating a local charge difference and eventually accelerating the oxydation. My answer might be unclear (in part because I'm not a native speaker), but you can check the Wikipedia article on corrosion and galvanisation to go further.

On a slightly different topic, is it just me or do the new Grivel tools look very much like a "Grivelised" version of the Nomic? If so, it could be a fantastic tool : shape of the Nomic, lighter, with Grivel incredible picks...

In reply to damowilk:

I'm afraid you'll have to keep waiting. According to the text, this one's actually duel certified. Personally, I think the classic top hat is a better look for pistols at dawn.

In reply to UKC Gear:

Does anyone have any idea how this "smart quickdraw" is supposed to tell which particular route somebody's climbing on each line? It strikes me as a bold claim and I can't imagine how they would do it. The closest solution I can think of is assuming that the routes strike out from each quickdraw at noticeably different angles but I find it hard to believe that could work.

In reply to Rob Greenwood - UKClimbing:

Oh to be in a court-room full of lawyers referring to or uttering the word 'ipood' all day, doubt I could keep a staight face.

In reply to Luke90:

I already have a duel rated helmet, not sure I’d wear it for skiing or climbing:

https://www.allstar.de/shop/product_info.php?info=53505443.html&XTCsid=...

In reply to HHay:

Plus the BD tools are Griveling (now Grivel can't say that they're the only ones hot forging picks, gutted!)

In reply to purplemonkeyelephant:

Saw them at the show, and well, the two don't even compare in quality - Grivel picks are far far more nicely made....