CLIMBING: FOOTWEAR - Amazon Web...

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BUTCH ADAMS PHOTOGRAPHY. COURTESY OF BLACK DIAMOND EQUIPMENT, LTD. ©2001 CLIMBING: FOOTWEAR WWW.GEARTRENDS.COM 86 ould there possibly be a more competi- tive segment than rock shoes in the outdoor industry right now?! Don’t think so. Competition is great but this is more like a knock-down, drag-out brawl, with retailers taking many of the blows. According to Gary Neptune, owner of Neptune Mountain- eering in Boulder, Colo., “The margins are so slim that I can barely afford to pay a sales- person to sell a pair of rock shoes. I’m seriously consider- ing adopting the European model of retailing and just put all the sizes out on the floor and letting the cus- tomers help themselves.” While his specialty store hasn’t made this drastic step yet, it’s indicative of how severe the situation has become. Even before the Spaniards killed the goose that laid the golden eggs (SW Partners, the longtime Boreal distributor for the United States), an already turbulent market had become tumultuous. Failing to deal with rampant Internet sales from Europe has cost Boreal its once secure foothold in the North American market and » THE BOOK » SUMMER 2003 even with a new distributor, The Ralph Libonati Company, it’s unlikely Boreal can become a serious player in the United States again. Ironically, as the Euro rises against the dollar, the deep discounts from that side of the pond are now dry- ing up. The new challenge comes from Asia. According to several indus- try insiders, there are approxi- mately 250,000 pairs of rock shoes sold in the United States annually—a figure that has remained flat for several years now. The vast majority of that pie is divided between Five Ten, La Sportiva and Scarpa— established brands most likely to be found at a serious climb- ing shop. Boreal once had a significant market share— heck, it owned the market at one time—but saw its num- bers whittled away to the point that precious few retail- ers or sales reps wanted to carry the line. Now there are more than a dozen other rock shoe brands hoping to steal a bite from the pie…most are just grappling for crumbs. Some of these brands have been around for a while but still are relatively unknown. Other lines of rock shoes came and went so fast, they were pretty much on close-out from the beginning. If I seem cynical about the longevity of new brands, look at the also-rans who had new products for the seven rock shoe reviews that I wrote while at Rock & Ice magazine. From 1994 to 2001, the big four (Boreal, Five Ten, La Sportiva and Scarpa) always had something new in their lines. These other brands tried ˆ PRICE WARS CONSUME THE CLIMBING SHOE MARKET, WITH RETAILERS CAUGHT IN THE CROSSFIRE. THIN FOOTHOLD B Y C L Y D E S O L E S C ˆ

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C L I M B I N G : F O O T W E A R

W W W . G E A R T R E N D S . C O M8 6

ould there possiblybe a more competi-tive segment than

rock shoes in the outdoorindustry right now?! Don’tthink so. Competition isgreat but this is more like aknock-down, drag-out brawl,with retailers taking many ofthe blows.

According to Gary Neptune,owner of Neptune Mountain-eering in Boulder, Colo., “Themargins are so slim that I canbarely afford to pay a sales-person to sell a pair of rockshoes. I’m seriously consider-ing adopting the Europeanmodel of retailing and justput all the sizes out on thefloor and letting the cus-tomers help themselves.”While his specialty storehasn’t made this drastic stepyet, it ’s indicative of howsevere the situation hasbecome.

Even before the Spaniardskilled the goose that laid thegolden eggs (SW Partners, thelongtime Boreal distributor forthe United States), an alreadyturbulent market had becometumultuous. Failing to dealwith rampant Internet salesfrom Europe has cost Borealits once secure foothold in theNorth American market and

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even with a new distributor,The Ralph Libonati Company,it’s unlikely Boreal can becomea serious player in the UnitedStates again. Ironically, as theEuro rises against the dollar,the deep discounts from thatside of the pond are now dry-ing up. The new challengecomes from Asia.

According to several indus-try insiders, there are approxi-mately 250,000 pairs of rockshoes sold in the United Statesannually—a figure that hasremained flat for several yearsnow. The vast majority of that

pie is divided between FiveTen, La Sportiva and Scarpa—established brands most likelyto be found at a serious climb-ing shop. Boreal once had asignificant market share—heck, it owned the market atone time—but saw its num-bers whittled away to thepoint that precious few retail-ers or sales reps wanted tocarry the line.

Now there are more than adozen other rock shoe brandshoping to steal a bite from thepie…most are just grapplingfor crumbs. Some of these

brands have been around for awhile but still are relativelyunknown. Other lines of rockshoes came and went so fast,they were pretty much onclose-out from the beginning.

If I seem cynical about thelongevity of new brands, lookat the also-rans who had newproducts for the seven rockshoe reviews that I wrotewhile at Rock & Ice magazine.From 1994 to 2001, the bigfour (Boreal, Five Ten, LaSportiva and Scarpa) alwayshad something new in theirlines. These other brands tried̂

PRICE WARS CONSUME THE CLIMBING SHOE MARKET,

WITH RETAILERS CAUGHT IN THE CROSSFIRE.

THINFOOTHOLD

B Y C L Y D E S O L E S

C

ˆ

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C L I M B I N G : F O O T W E A R

W W W . G E A R T R E N D S . C O M8 8

to break into the market with little morethan cheap shoes:

» ’94 Asolo, Kamet, K&F, Mekan

» ’95 Asolo, Climb Reavor, EB,Freeclimbing, Reebok, Saltic

» ’96 DiMel, Freeclimbing, Reebok,Saltic

» ’98 EB, One Sport, Saltic, Ushba

» ’99 Climbingshoes.com (Reebokcloseouts), EB, Red Chili, Trango

» ’00 Acopa, EB, One Sport

» ’01 Bufo, EB, Freeclimbing,Mammut, Merrell, Red Chili, RockPillars

» ’04 Acopa, new Boreal, EB, Evolv,Climbingshoes.com, Mad Rock,Mammut, Montrail, Red Chili, RockPillar, Roc’terra, Saltic, Triop

Don’t recognize some of those rockshoe lines? You get my point. Almostwithout exception, none of these brandsbrought anything new in terms of fea-

tures or performance. And few did any-thing to establish credibility withclimbers: lame advertisements (if any),lame sales reps (if any), lame communityactivism (if any).

So what was the reason to stock anoth-er rock shoe line? Oh yeah, they’re cheap.The problem, of course, was they weren’tcheap enough to compete with Internetsales. And the better-known brands react-ed with models that weren’t too far off inprice yet had name recognition.

PRICE WARZ That was then; the future promises evenmore turmoil. This season Mad Rock hasmade a big splash on the climbing sceneas the latest line to enter the fray. Unlikethe other new competitors, Mad Rockjumped into the market with shoes thatlooked distinctive for gimmick-starvedclimbers. It came in with an aggressivemarketing campaign that hyped its rub-ber and supposedly innovative features.Most of all, it came in with very aggres-sive pricing.

There is no doubt the Chinese-madeMad Rocks offer a lot of performancefor the buck—six models priced from$70 to $90. It garnered an Editors ’Choice award from both Climbing and

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Rock & Ice magazines for value. Whileretailers and Mad Rock competitorsargue that the reduced dollars earnedper sale provides less incentive for storesthat offer such frivolities as customerservice, there is little doubt that theoverall effect of Mad Rock’s pricing hasbeen to create the perception amongclimbers that high-end rock shoes fromother brands are overpriced. Some prog-nosticators have argued that’s the entirepoint: drive prices down, create demand,then focus on direct sales.

Next season, yet another player entersthe battle. Long known for quality hikingand trail running shoes, Montrail enteredthe climbing market last winter with theintroduction of its innovative ICE 9mountaineering boot and crampon. AtOutdoor Retailer Summer Market, thecompany fires a full broadside with fivenew rock shoes.

Normally, a boot company dabbling inrock shoes would be a cause for “uh-oh,we’re having an Asolo/Merrell flashback.”

But Montrail appears to have done itshomework and has the potential to makea real impact. According to a companyspokesperson, “Price wars abroad haveopened the door for competitively priced,high-quality product.” While GearTrendswould argue that door has always beenopen, it’s the manufacturing facilities inChina that are making a difference.

The new rock shoes are designed byScott Franklin, formerly of La Sportiva,and will retail between $80 and $110.Though we haven’t tested them yet, theshoes look good but not revolutionary.The real attraction for retailers is the 45percent margin (40 percent has long beenstandard on rock shoes). Factoring in asolid sales rep force that is well-estab-lished in specialty retail and Montrail’sgood reputation among consumers, thereis real potential to make inroads.

Since the Boulder Mountaineer startedselling Mariachers in the mid-1980s, LaSportiva has been a dominant rock shoebrand in North America. While it contin-ues to handcraft high-end shoes in Italy,such as the aptly-named Testarossa(priced accordingly), La Sportiva too hasgone to China for better value. Next sea-son, three models will be priced at $85 or$90 with a 45 percent margin.

Though La Sportiva is emphasizing thenew rock shoes will offer comfort andperformance—which usually translates tomeaning a shoe has neither—the initialreports are very encouraging. So yetagain, we’ll have reasonably priced high-margin shoes from a well-known compa-ny that has good sales reps already servic-ing key accounts. It’ll have a slight edgefor having been in the game for so longbut had better not rest on its laurels.

Yep, things are heating up in the rockshoe world!

In fact the first fatality appears to beSalomon, which, thankfully, has decidedto hold off on rock shoes for at leastanother year (reportedly after getting abig thumbs down from REI). In all likeli-hood, Salomon will drop its rock shoeprogram altogether, which had beenunder development for a couple years—too little, too late. The great fear had beenit would “pull another Reebok.” Whenthat athletic shoe giant entered the rockshoe scene, its ineptitude did nothing but

screw up the entire market for severalyears. Heck, Climbingshoes.com is stilltrying to get rid of the old Reeboks!

It’s likely that the next casualties of theshoe wars will be some of those off-brands that have had little success inbecoming household names amongclimbers. With meager ad budgets, mini-mal sales support in the field and stan-dard margins, a moderate-priced boringrock shoe just won’t cut it anymore.

Though the Mammut rock shoe linedoesn ’t break new ground, the namerecognition and reputation for qualitygives an advantage; plus the Climb Highreps attend demos and clinic staff. Nextseason, there will be four new models($89 to $125) in the Blaze series that,hopefully, are not orange.

While Five Ten and Scarpa are scarcelybelow the $100 point on their offerings,their lines are so established that theyaren’t really threatened, yet. It’s a rapidlychanging battlefield and everybody hadbetter keep on their toes.

HIGH LINEAll this scrambling at the low-price-yet-not-low-quality end of the market hasn’tkilled interest in the high-end shoes.Climbers fanatical about eking out that

NOW THERE ARE OVER A DOZEN OTHER ROCK SHOE BRANDS HOPING TO STEAL

A BITE FROM THE PIE…MOST ARE JUST GRAPPLING FOR CRUMBS.

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last bit of performance, whether real orimagined, will still pay more if theybelieve a shoe gives them an edge. Shoeslike the Five Ten Southwest, La SportivaMiura and Scarpa Dominators will con-tinue to sell.

Five Ten is rolling out the Escalante($134), which has an interesting Velcroheel adjustment to fine tune the fit. Theshoe is made for comfort to wear all daylong with a high degree of performance.

The new Venom ($130) from LaSportiva is a further evolution of high-end slipper designs based upon itsTestarossa shoes. Built around a radicallast, the uppers are a new Vibram rubbermaterial that is supposed to be sticky fortoe hooking yet breathable.

Customers with particularly demand-ing requirements might consider a pairof Evolv rock shoes. There are threemodels ($89 to $115) designed by yetanother former Five Ten employee. Whatmakes the brand unique is the ability toorder a pair of different sized shoes (FiveTen has long offered this) and to makecustom high-performance shoes for themost finicky of climbers.

GALS JUST WANNA HAVE SHOESFemale-specific rock shoes also remain asignificant category for the three majorlines that hasn’t been challenged withpricing issues. The girls are so happy tofinally have performance shoes that fit,cost is less of an issue. Fashion countstoo, so it’s a bonus if the color andstyling is feminine but not girly.

Next season, the girls will be able todance on the rocks with Five Ten’s Prima($118), which is claimed to be inspiredby ballet slippers. Designed for gymclimbing and bouldering, it ’s alightweight, flexible shoe designed togive toe power.

CUSHY HEELSWhen Five Ten introduced the Ascent sev-eral years ago, some people scoffed at thepadded heel with treads as a gimmick.Once climbers discovered how comfort-able these made the shoes, particularly atbelays and on descents, it became a desir-able feature. The company now has threemodels ($104 to $132) with heel wedgesand climbers’ feet are grateful.

This season, the Scarpa Marathon($140) also sports a cushioned heel andit’s been widely acclaimed, includingEditor’s Choice from Climbing. Seeingthe writing on walls, La Sportiva willoffer the Rock Jock ($120) next season.Based on the Cliff last, it has a uniquelacing system in addition to the foam

and tread under heel.

RUBBER HYSTERIALike oenophiles are pickyabout grapes, rock climbersare sensitive about rubber—in both cases, reputationssometimes don’t live up tothe reality. With little todistinguish many of theshoes on the marketfrom one another, thebattle of words aboutrubber have heated upagain. This rivalry of“who ’s stickier” and“which edges better” hasgone on for years but some-times erupts when there isn’tmuch else to talk about.

It promises to be evenmore raucous this timebecause Mad Rock andMontrail are both claim-ing their new proprietaryrubbers are superior tothe reigning Stealth C4from Five Ten. Poppycock saysCharles Cole, albeit not as politely, whoessentially founded his company on itsrubber. Certainly Vibram, which makesthe rubber for La Sportiva and Scarpa,has its opinion on the matter as well.

The fact is that this is mostly a reli-gious debate since there is no data toback up any of the claims. When it’s timeto resole, climbers choose their rubberbecause of what their friends tell them—not ad hype.

The running world has injection-mold-ed different rubber compounds into dif-ferent areas of the outsole for a decade.This concept is now making it to rockshoes (Five Ten and Mad Rock) and willprobably become even more sophisticat-ed. Boreal was the first to use 3-D mold-ing but the rubber didn’t compare favor-ably to others.

MOUNTAINEERING BOOTSThe good news for female alpinists isthat La Sportiva ’s Nepal Extreme isfinally coming in a woman’s last. Thisinsulated, leather mountaineering boot($420 for men’s or women’s) remainsone of the best for technical winterclimbing. The bad news is that it willonly come in lime green.

Expanding upon last winter’s introduc-tion of the revolutionary ICE 9 moun-taineering boot ($350), crampon ($185)and gaiter ($85), Montrail is adding twonew boots and a new crampon. Its inte-grated climbing system features a cleat

underneath the flexible boot that acceptseither crampon to make the boot rigid;quickly converting the boot from walkingcomfort to climbing performance.

While the ICE 9 is an insulated bootfor winter, the new Olympus and LotusGTX are intended for summer moun-taineering. The Olympus ($235, alsoavailable in wide) is a beefier model withwaterproof leather uppers, while thelightweight Lotus GTX ($210) has syn-thetic uppers and a Gore-Tex lining. Allthe boots accept the nice gaiter (made byOutdoor Research) that does not requirea strap under the instep. The newKhumbu crampon ($135) is a generalmountaineering design with dual hori-zontal frontpoints.

Adding these products to the line wasa crucial step for legitimizing the ICE 9system for both retailers and con-sumers. Since the crampon does notwork on normal boots, they needed con-vincing the system will still be around ina few years.

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C L I M B I N G : H A R D W A R E

W W W . G E A R T R E N D S . C O M9 0

espite recent obesity studiesby the U.S. government,some things in this worldkeep getting lighter. Take

climbing gear. The latest ropes and toolsbarely move the scales, giving climbersthe edge in the never-ending attempt todefy gravity.

Unfortunately, these wonders inweight-loss are lost on many consumers.Few understand the basics, much lessthe fine details of the latest plum prod-ucts. But it’s part of our culture. Youhave to really hit Americans over thehead. I mean, we’re pretty dense. Forexample, the FDA is going to separateout “trans fatty acids” on food labels.This is so you’ll finally be able to deter-

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colors.’” So far, nobody makes a girl’srope…but it’s just a matter of time.

In the world of climbing ropes, the mid-fat (10.2 mm to 10.5 mm), mid-length (60meter/200 foot) forms the bulk of every-one’s sales. These are beefy enough to holdup to a lot of use, yet aren’t too heavy.While 50-meter ropes aren’t dead yet, theyare fading in popularity and 70-meter ropesare still insignificant except in certainlocales where they may have an advantage

While the mid-fats are the most popular,the skinnier ropes get most of the atten-tion. A favorite of sponsored climbers, whodon’t have to worry about how quicklythey wear out, the narrow ropes do handlewell and make for good ad copy.

One common misconception is thatnarrower diameter means less weight;while true on the broadest scale, it’s total-ly false when comparing similar ropes.For example, Bluewater has re-worked itsDominator rope by increasing the diame-ter from 9.3 mm to 9.4 mm while keepingthe weight the same at 55 g/m. The newversion will offer a softer catch (8.3 kNversus 8.9) and better handling.

Next year, Mammut is introducing thefirst 9.0 mm single rope, which will scarethe bejeebers out of old-timers who recallwhen a 9 was a half rope. The newRevelation weighs in at 54 g/m, making itthe latest to wear the lightest crown (bare-ly), and has an impact force of 9.5 kN.

Sterling has added an 8.4 mm half rope

ˆ

THE SKINNY (AND FAT) ON NEW ROPES, LIGHTWEIGHT ‘BINERS, AND

AXES THAT WEIGH LESS THAN A POUND.

WEIGHTB Y C L Y D E S O L E S

WAT C H E R S

D mine that Oreos are bad for you. It’s clear that if you want consumers

to understand anything, you mustexplain it carefully.

ROPESIt’s fair to say that the average consumerand the average salesperson don’t havethe foggiest idea of what to look for in aclimbing rope. This broad lack of aware-ness is largely due to misleading claimsthat confuse everyone. Add to the mix thetypically poorly trained retail staff andrope sales get tangled in misinformation.

Very few people understand the num-bers on rope tags, so purchases are mostlybased on color and price. Recognizingthis fact, PMI hasn’t changed its rope con-struction for next season but the entireline is revamped with “very powerful ‘boy

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to its popular Marathon series, whichnow comes in 10.6, 10.3, 10.0 and 8.8mm. Built with a beefy sheath, theseropes are designed for greater durabilitywithout sacrificing handling.

Metolius is introducing its own line ofdynamic ropes. Monster Ropes will comein two diameters (9.8 mm and 10.2 mm)and two lengths (60 m or 70 m); no dryversion but the ropes will include a stor-age sack. The ropes are made by Lanex, alarge, 54-year-old rope manufacturer inthe Czech Republic, and designed by thesame person that developed theEdelweiss Stratos along with a lot ofinput from the Metolius crew. While it’sa tough market to enter, the longtimeMammut ropes distributor is in a goodposition to capture a share.

One dangerous problem with the trendto longer ropes is some climbers arestarting to put in rappel stations spacedfor 60 meter ropes, while there are still alot of climbers with 50 meters.Unfortunately, guidebooks and articlesdon’t alert many people who may happenacross the anchors. Somebody needs todevelop permanent tags for bolt anchorsthat will indicate distance and directionto the next station.

HARDWAREThere won’t be any new camming devicesnext year since HB has decided againstreleasing its micro cams for the time being.However, Metolius has added a trick newsizing system to all of its cam sizes. Thecam lobes will have a green, yellow, redvisual indicator that will help climbersevaluate their placements. Very cool.

Trango is introducing a new auto lock-ing belay device, called the Cinch, thatwill adapt to ropes of any diameter.Meanwhile, Petzl will offer a smaller ver-sion of the Reverso that works with halfand twin ropes down to 7.8 mm.

Assuming it can get insurance cover-age, a big IF, Anker Climbing Equipment(ACE) is ready to ship its new portaledge.The company, which was originally A5,has spun off The North Face and is againtrying to deliver high-end bigwall gear.Conrad Anker has spent enough time onportaledges (portable hanging tents) inoutrageous locations around the worldthat he’s buffed out the design to themax. The rigging is done by Yates Gear,so you know this thing’s made for abuse.

CARABINERSRepeat after me: The most importantnumber on a carabiner is open gatestrength. This basic concept needs to behammered home to anyone who buys or

clipped to the rope so they won’t getdropped—cool, if it works.

The Grivel Air Tech Evolution is anelegant blend of a mountaineering andtechnical ice ax. The gently curved shaftand forged steel head will allow betteroverhead performance than standardaxes yet still is fine on low angle terrainand weighs just 500 grams.

Equally exciting is the new Grivel AirTech Crampon, which is a completerethink of how alpine crampons areused. Due to the unique design, there are10 points in contact when walking yet 12points when traversing. These are intend-ed for mixed use on ice and rock withmodern boots (e.g., Asolo Summit, LaSportiva Trango Extreme). Completingthe system is the Air Tech 22 Rucksack, asummit sack that only weighs 250 gramsand stuffs into its own pocket.

If you haven’t checked it out lately, theGrivel.com website is one of the best in theindustry for its information on history,technique and ethics, as well as gear. Thecompany recently opened a new factorynear Venice, Italy, to help with production.

Also of note, the excellent Kahtoolaapproach crampon is now being dis-tributed by PMI. This lightweight designfits nearly any shoe or boot and wasrecently used for the fastest ascent yet ofMount Everest.

SKI MOUNTAINEERINGThe good news is that alpine touringbindings are continuing to evolve. Thebad news is an intriguing new modelfrom Silvretta will only be available inEurope or on the Internet this winter.The PURE binding allows Dynafit systemboots to step in and switch to and fromtouring without stepping off the ski. At1.2 kilograms, its 400 grams lighter thanthe Silvretta 500 and only 330 gramsheavier than the Dynafit Tristep.

Fortunately, Backcountry Access will beimporting the new Naxo NX01 alpinetouring binding from Switzerland. A dou-ble pivot on the toe allows a more naturalstride and accommodates both downhilland AT boots. While not as lightweight ataround 2.1 kg, it is easy to adjust, appearsto be rugged, and has DIN settings up to12 for kamikaze skiers.

When the new Rottefella Cobra R-Series telemark bindings premiered atthe show last winter, most people justthought the changes were cosmetic. Takeanother look. There are indeed manysubtle improvements that reduce rockerlaunch, prevent icing, and increase tour-ing and downhill performance. Beauty ismore than skin deep.

sells carabiners: 8 kN is a minimum and10 kN remains the gold standard. Theseconnectors simply do not fail when thegate is closed so a high rating matters lit-tle. But dozens break every year becausethe gate is partially open during a fall.

There’s been a lot of R&D going intocarabiner designs lately, though not allhas been the lab variety. Overall, ’binersare becoming easier to handle yet lighterand, sometimes, stronger.

Last year, Black Diamond introducedthe Positron, which was its interpretation(a tad roomier, a tad easier handling, anda bit weaker) of the classic Petzl Spiritcarabiner. Now, BD is bringing out alarger, slightly stronger version called theDynotron that has the same nice gate,keylock nose and only weighs 50 g.

The new Trango SuperFly is a wiregate ’biner that weighs a mere 31grams—it’s the world’s lightest full sizecarabiner. Almost half the weight of anormal carabiner, it has an 8 kN opengate and 25 kN closed gate rating.

Although 2 grams heavier, the newWild Country Helium has a beautifuldesign that combines a wire gate with akeylock nose. The radical I-beam con-struction yields a 10 kN open gatestrength and great handling. There willbe a lot of climbers lusting after these!

Metolius has developed the MatrixLocking carabiner that allows climbersto suspend their beliefs about gravity andspeeding projectiles—or so we theorizeanyhow because the Metolius crew wastoo busy reloading to provide details.

MOUNTAINEERING General mountaineering equipment con-tinues to get lighter and more refined.For example, the Black Diamond Ravenis getting upgraded to a dual-densitymolded grip yet still only weighs 570grams. It’s still available without the gripat just 485 grams and the Pro versionwhich is an astonishing 382 grams.

The venerable Charlet Moser name hasnow been relegated to history as PetzlCharlet becomes the new moniker. Alongwith the name change comes theCosmique, which has a polished steelhead; it weighs 585 grams with a rubbergrip and 480 grams without. TheSnowscopic is a mountaineering ice axethat extends from 60 cm to 105 cm andcomes with a trekking basket. Many com-panies have tried this concept but they allfell short so time will tell on this one.

Also new from PC will be the Sonic IceScrew, which has a spinning hanger forfast placements. What is unique arescrews that can be removed while still

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