Last season I did a cooperation with Mountain Hardwear for testing their Hueco 20 wall backpack. In fact we did not only go through the… Read More »Mountain Hardwear Multi-pitch 16. The minimalist wall backpack redesigned.
If you have been following my adventures through the summer, you have probably seen me constantly with the new Mountain Hardwear StretchDown DS jacket. When… Read More »Mountain Hardwear StretchDown DS: redesigning the concept of feathered insulated jacket.
There are big stereotypes in our sport regarding what it is to be a good climber and especially how to become one. I feel sorry every time I see young climbers in the gym tearing their tendons apart day after day on dynamic bouldery moves on crimps while talking about how sick it would be to one day do a multipitch route.Read More »Becoming a better climber II. Trad climbing: the good, the ugly and the grade.
Lately you’ve been writing me quite a lot about trad climbing and multi-pitch climbing, especially around how to get started, what is the base level that we should have, how to specifically train to feel confident in your leads…On the way that you write me, somehow I can sense that several of you presupone that you need an important baggage from the gym and under a certain training regime before you can even get to the base of a real mountain.Read More »Becoming a better climber. Training for becoming a trad climber?
There had been now quite some time since I had in mind to do a powerful activity in one of the oceans of limestone of the Picos de Europa. I had a few routes in mind in the Naranjo, although it’s quite a complicated mountain. According to the schemes, it looks like one way or another you should probably top out, however, you hear quite often those stories about really strong rope parties having to turn back poorly after quite some drama. Ok, having some desperate fighting is always in the equation; there are not that many people that can afford to top such monsters on comfort, however, been able to choose, I rather take a bit less spicy for the beginning of the season.
Read More »Cueto Agero, South spur (300m; 6A+). Adventure climbing in la Hermida.
Over the last two month I’ve been testing a new fabric. Again, it’s an innovative fabric, and again brought by Helly Hansen. I’ve taken it… Read More »Lifaloft: The new lightweight thermal insulation proposal by Helly Hansen.
Ranero is one of those places that you just don’t go climbing, but to do tough alpinism on rock shoes, at least that’s what I had heard of this place. My friend Carlos and I we were seeking to disconnect from all this skiing and do the first multipitch of the season, he proposed a route called In Decrescendo in Ranero.Read More »Discovering Ranero: Adventure climbing in Bizkaia.
This week we’ve had a luxury visit in the Val d’Aran. Baqueira-Beret together with Lauegi, the center for avalanche forecasting on the Val d’Aran have organised an advanced rescue seminar with Manuel Genswein, an eminence in the field and representative of http://mountainsafety.info . The mission of Mountain Safety is to gather information and defining protocols under a scientific approach for optimizing avalanche situations.
Read More »Complex avalanche rescue situations with Manuel Genswein and Lauegi.
And once again, Onthebelay attended the ISPO ready to rock! ISPO is the biggest european outdoor industry gathering and a great chance to see where the industry is heading, check the new products and get to meet small manufacturers that are doing interesting things but that we don’t hear that often about them. Well, and beer, Munich is always a great excuse to get one too many beers.Read More »ISPO 2018 the good, the bad and the ugly.
There’s been a big buzz lately with the new Odin veor Jacket by Helly Hansen. You’ve probably read about the “air conditioned puffy jacket”, the “ultimate airflow jacket”, “the intelligent jacket” and so on. Well, I’ve been testing it intensively over the last two months, mostly on ski touring days, overnights in refuges (non heated), alpinism and just one day of climbing.
Read More »Testing the smartest active down jacket of the season. Helly Hansen Odin Veor.
