Everything climbing and the outdoors.
CNN Money has an interesting article on the business side of the climbing industry. It takes a look at Black Diamond and their founder, Peter Metcalf: Metcalf, who co-founded Black Diamond with a $744,000 investment and has grown it to reap an expected $90 million in sales this year, is readying for his biggest climb […]
Following up on their climbing shoe rubber friction test, Spadout has recently released a belay device friction test. While highly unscientific not rigorous, this is at least a nice starting point for an objective debate over which tube-style belay device is best (they did not test auto-blocking devices). Their overriding view on the tests were: […]
It’s that time of year again. The holiday season is upon us and retailers will be going especially crazy this year to try and boost sales in this recessionary climate. I don’t know about you, but I stay away from the stores on Black Friday and do any shopping entirely online. With that in mind, […]
Cloudveil is having a big end of summer sale with discounts ranging from 20% – 60% off regular prices. The sale runs from 8/22/08 through 9/1/08. After browsing the sale myself for deals, I can tell you there are definitely some stellar buys in there (via Splitter Choss).
I just received an email from an old climbing partner directing me to an announcement on the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission site stating that New England Ropes is recalling two types of their ropes. The company says the reason for the recall is the ropes “may not pass the required 5 falls, and may […]
I’ve been looking for a new climbing shoe for a while that was either velcro or a slipper for mostly quick on/off while bouldering. I currently climb with La Sportiva Miura‘s for just about all routes and I absolutely love them. They have the best fit and performance of any climbing shoe I’ve worn. But […]
Omega Pacific recently released a notice instructing owners of their Link Cams to look for a potential defect: In May 2008, we became aware of situations in which axle nuts were not properly and permanently fixed on the axle assemblies permitting the cams to potentially become disassembled. Upon receiving the units, our Quality Assurance department […]
SplitterChoss.com posts a nice review of the Black Diamond Icon. Apparently, this headlamp can last for 90 hours on one charge. This is one thing I wish more climbing blogs did – write good reviews of climbing gear. Unlike books or electronics where you can quickly go to Amazon.com and find many reviews, we really […]
At the New River Rendezvous this past weekend, I spoke with a rep from La Sportiva regarding the availability of the new Miura VS climbing shoes I wrote about previously. He told me the new Miuras should be in retailers within a month as they are currently being shipped to the US. As soon as […]
I cannot wait to get my hands on a pair of the new La Sportiva Miura VS velcro shoes. The lace-up Miura’s have been my shoe of choice for the past several years, so I’m eager to see how a velcro version stacks up. I’m encouraged by the product description: Velcro lace up version of […]