The Eyes Have It

I recently responded to a Redit post on this, so I thought I'd share it here too. The original post is at: Alpine Eyewear.

I use a combination of lenses and prescription glasses and have significant myopia and astigmatism, and need progressives/readers. 

I disagree with the 'you don't need Cat 4' comment: why would you take the chance? Yes, Cat 3 are in fact fine most of the time, but play it safe and you never, ever want snow blindness. 

Here's what I run: alpine climbing is generally lenses with the exception of overnights. For lenses I have Acuvue Oasys with Hydraclear Plus, and can clean them daily. I like Julbos over that, either a darkening sunglasses (Reactiv, Cat 0-3) or if on glaciers Cat 4s. If it's overnight I'll consider a prescription version of the Julbos, or sometimes bring both. 

For rock climbing I prefer prescription progressives, and most often a standard optician sunglass is fine at low elevations, or clear on a gray day, but sometimes the Julbo Reactivs. I can see granular details needed especially when placing trad gear or figuring out footwork. 

Toby on The Empress, Chapel Pond Slab, Adirondacks, 2024

For backcountry touring, I like lenses, and take tiny folding readers (2 pair, they can get lost...) I like my old Zeal sunglasses or for the down goggles. Same setup for on piste/inbounds skiing. I have used both outfits like SportRx and Julbo to grind high quality lenses and find that Julbo is my first choice, but both are good. In the US SportRx is faster, although Cat 4s take longer. Julbo's US service team is excellent too.

Topping out on Mineville Pillar, Adirondacks, 2025 (c) Tom Lannmann

Great Day at The North Face of Pitchoff, Adirondacks, 2025

Another Jacket? New Pants too??

Yes, and a new pant system, and and and. Those who know me well, know that I have very poor impulse control for getting new kit. Fortunately this does not extend to other areas of life (much, anymore), thanks to years of hard earned experience and sobriety. So when I got a new Patagonia M10 jacket and pants this past year and this year, it was not such a shocker. What was shocking is how good these simple pieces are for what I use them for, alpine and ice climbing.

Topping out on Mineville Pillar in the Adirondacks, photo (c) Tom Lannamann

First, the pants. I got these first because I read about everything Colin Hayley writes on the subject of tools for alpine climbing (Colin Hayley on Layering). He's annoyingly and consistently right, which is not surprising given the number of miles he has on his odometer and his intellect.  The latter seems healthy and high functioning in spite of some youthful indiscretions of his own admission (who has times for psychedelics anymore anyway...) When some years ago he started writing about pants patterned on martial arts pants, or the old Gramicci gusseted crotch ones, I was interested. These were the best for high stepping and the kind of mobility climbing of any kind requires. And the M10 pants live up to that.

Some observers have asked if these relatively baggy pants don't get caught up in crampons. Not at all, and normally my pants are a patchwork of Tyvec tape (see above link.) They do exactly what they are supposed to do, and roll up into the size of a small (1-200 ml) water bottle. Jacket is similarly compact, maybe a 500 ml water bottle and much less weight. They are both masterpieces of brevity. Two chest pockets on the jacket and a two-way zipper for all your venting needs. A great hood which works well over a helmet and/or balaclava, and wrist cuffs which can go over or under gloves and mittens. Pants with a zipper to pee through, a thigh pocket, loops for attaching boot bungies, and a nicely rubberized waistband with no drawstring. It's as close to a perfect setup as I've ever had. 

I run warm and thought it was going to be too hot without zips to dump heat from the pants, and had the same concern for the M10 Jacket. Not so. Under the pants thus far (a cold winter in the northeast) I wear just a pair of Nano-Air pants (more on these to follow) and have never overheated in below freezing temperatures. As Mark Twight wrote, if it's above freezing and you're going alpine climbing, go home (most of the time.) I have skied with full kit and not overheated. I do shed the jacket on approaches, and for hard leads I just use it over a long john top and remove my mid layer (also Nano-Air). I'd probably shift to long johns under the pants for temperatures straddling freezing. It's a dynamite system and I have been tweaking mine for years. This beats other solutions by Patagonia, dead bird, TNF, Norrona and many other very fine manufacturers. I still use my tried and true Beringia setup for skiing, both touring and resort, but otherwise I'm all-in with this setup.

Shake your Booties

Benjamin Dulchin on lead on Poco Moonshine's Upper Tiers (ADKs)

After climbing packs, no item of gear has obsessed me more than boots, and in fact they are more critical by far. The first pieces of critical mountaineering kit I owned were a pair of double alpine boots, the Asolo 101s, a pair of Galibier Superguides for summer mountaineering and a beautiful Marmot winter sleeping bag, the much-loved Gopher. I still have the latter (as well as some Julbo glacier glasses) but I sold the former Asolos, which were yellowed with age by then. The Superguides were still to be seen on my long-time climbing partners feet until very recently when he started a long-term loan of another friend's LaSportival Nepal Tops, but I think they get broken out when he takes unwitting victims for a day of ice cragging. These items were laid in before I graduated high school, so early 1980s.

Boots have changed dramatically and for the better. Where the Superguides were over 7 pounds for the pair in my size 46 (US 12), now much better boots are closing in on half that, with the Nepal Top topping 4 pounds for the pair.

I have found that my feet change over time, and that generally dictates which boots I prefer. I was in the above-mentioned Asolos and Super Gs for years, but sometime (90s?) I got a pair of Scarpa Assaults, which were like Super G's on steroids. I love them for their ability to climb ice, and mixed, but they were heavy and a bit of a bear on the hike in. I also had some trouble with frost nipped toes, generally not an issue for me, and I think it was in part because they were quite stiff (good for vertical ice) and high, and mostly because they were single boots.

After that I found that every decade or so my rock climbing shoes would switch from fitting in LaSportiva's last to Scarpa. I have no idea why that is, but I have a low volume, low arch foot, with a bit of a wide forefoot, and each last (shape the boot is made on) is different. When the Assaults became too assaulting, I moved to some early generation LaSportiva Baturas (before the Boa was added I think) and they were very good. I think that I sold them, don't recall, but more lately have had 2 generations of the Scarpa Phantom Tech:

Outdoor Gear Lab Phantom Tech review

The first generation was not perfect, with slippery dyneema-like laces which were barely long enough and had to be double knotted to keep tied (most of the time,) and a bit heavier than ideal. The more recent version is amazing, lighter, warmer, and without the lace issue. I would even wear them for summer alpine outings if we had those and I did not own another pair of Scarpa singles (the Rebel?). These were sold to me by the wily Rich Gottlieb at Rock and Snow. He in his defense had sold me a barely used pair of Technica hiking boots I loved for years (and got for <$100.) When they finally blew, I was looking for hiking boots, but he got me into the Scarpas, and they have served well, including my teen who has used them even in pretty chilly temps until this year. But the Phantom series (there is a 6000 and an 8000) are the way to go, for me, if you want an integrated gaiter (pretty standard and key these days) on a light, technical and generally killer boot.

My son recently won on Instragram a beautiful pair of LaSportiva boots, the G5 Evo, and I expect those to be extremely effective, and his foot likes the LaSportiva last, but no trial runs as yet.

Ski touring in the Tatra (Slovenian side)

Some great links to further research the topic:

Outdoor Gear Lab 2024 Mountaineering Boots

Trailspace 2024 Mountain Boot Reviews

Cold Thistle (search for boot)

Cold Thistle (on boots)

Alpine Starts

My 15-year old partner (and son) Tobias and I went up to New Hampshire's legendary Mt. Washington for some early season alpine action. Although an increasingly-common low tide year (until just after our mid-December trip), we had good conditions for what we were looking to do. We have been to Tuckerman's Ravine several times in the spring for ski mountaineering, and I have climbed in Huntington Ravine over many years and routes. But Tobias had never done an alpine route, and that was the objective for this trip. We were supposed to have a third, which I favor when venturing into technical terrain, but poor health intervened and it turned out being just the two of us.

The approach went a bit faster than usual, due to the lack of ski gear and perhaps better fitness, or that's what Tobias said of my performance. Given the rare compliment I'll take it. We did not leave Pinkham Notch until about 1pm on a Saturday and made it to the Hermit Lake area in about 2 hours and 20 minutes with packs weighing in at just under 40 pounds. We dropped camping gear in a lean-to and hiked up to the base of the bowl in Tuckerman's ravine. Compared to our spring trips it was bone dry, but the standard wealth of early-season ice was there, and we discussed what route options would be best for our outing the next day. While Tucks had Open Book and some pitch-long ice left of Left Gully, Tobias was hankering to get back over to Hillman's. We had heard from a descending soloist that it was in good condition, and we'd topped out just below the lip last April due to my failure to bring crampons (never again.)

Camping was enjoyable if cold, with the windless night coming in about zero Fahrenheit. The highlight was when it was discovered that I'd not only failed to charge my headlamp but lost my backup. Tobias only crowed a little when his backup saved my bacon. The next morning we started later than we planned because even with 11 hours of sleep I neglected to remember that the alarm on my phone was not likely to work if said phone was off, another chestnut for the young man. But we started out at 7 and headed over to Hillman's. The bottom was dry with audible water beneath, and the first several hundred feet passed smoothly under us with increasing neve and less bushwhacking as we rose higher. Finally, about halfway up, Tobias wisely asked for the rope and we tied in and started pitching out the top half of the route.

There were a few ice bulges but most of the route was very firm neve, and until the last few hundred feet the belays were acceptable. A couple of screws for the first one, some slung bushes one might call trees, a semi-hanging belay from a rock anchor and one final rock thread created by beating a few rocks down on the lad.

As we neared the top there was some flagging, but we were steady if slow at our pace. We probably started climbing around 8 and topped out around noon, about an hour after my target time for safely continuing to the summit, another cause for Tobias to crow about due to the late start. But in fact the cloud cover was only a couple of hundred feet about the lip, and it was not the right day for the summit, which I have never visited. We started contouring around the lip of Tucks heading for the Tuckerman Ravine trail. 

The view down into Tucks was a bit sobering, and since neither of us had been up the trail we opted for Lion Head which I'd travelled many times. 

We got down it keeping crampons on the entire way, but there were only a few patches of ice and it would have been viable with microspikes as on the approach. We picked up our camping gear, grabbed a last look at the ravine and headed down for the long drive home in a light lovely snow.

Song of Helmets for My Son

Sometimes I shudder to think we only used to wear helmets when ice climbing. Until my main rock, ice and alpine partner was the first to have kids, we did not generally wear a brain bucket on rock, unless we were climbing something really chossy. I know that I had the venerable old Joe Brown, which seemed like it weighed pounds, and probably did. Even though I moved onto the HB carbon versions, they were still hot and left at home 9 months of the year. When my partner had his first son, we had been musing about beginning to wear them on rock, and some of the lighter more comfortable and well-ventilated ones came on the market. I like to think it was then that I laid it down and said we were just going to wear helmets all the time and not think about it anymore. And we did. I think with the exception of one moderate mixed climb where I forgot my helmet, see sheepish grin below, I have not climbed a pitch without a helmet in almost 20 years, and barely notice them anymore. I do have a regular partner who does not rock climb with a helmet, but he does wear one in the winter, and he's a bit of an independent actor.

These Petzl helmets (Meteor and more recently Sirocco) are my recent choices for climbing, with the Sirocco being in constant rotation for rock, ice and ski mountaineering. However, they are not MIPS, which I wear for downhill alpine skiing, and which both Black Diamond and Mammut have. I like the idea of a MIPS helmet for ski mountaineering. I also think they look cool😉

https://skimo.co/helmets has the best selection including some very light ones from CAMP and other Euro manufacturers. There are also dual-certified helmets for both climbing and skiing. Ones to look at include the Scott Couloir, Ski Trab Race, Kong Kosmos, and the Salomon MTN Lab – aka the ‘shroom which I own. This means they are certified as both mountaineering and skiing helmets, and well suited to both impacts from falling items and falling skiers. I think that’s a good idea myself.

Then there are the aesthetics of the helmet choice. I think the Ski Trab looks very cool. I mean, black and red may not be that cool in the heat, but it’s cool looking. If you can live with white, the Kong has some interesting ventilation design, which is important to me as I overheat otherwise.

https://www.petzl.com/US/en/Sport/Helmets

https://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en_US/product/capitan-helmet-mips/?colorid=11319&utm_source=cordial&utm_source=cordial&utm_medium=email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20220505-helmets-non-pro&lrx=&mcID=1118%3A62714fec59320e5ccf679949%3Aot%3A5f46ca99735e313f17e3b97f%3A1

https://www.mammut.com/us/en/category/5875/helmets?filtersOpen=true

Backpack advice for a young endurance athlete

We have lots of relatives back in Europe and one of them is a distance runner in her 20s who has recently taken up with an excellent young fellow who lives in a beautiful Austrian ski town. She has visited the states over the years and stayed with us and I gave her a decent Hyperlight 4000 cu/in pack for overnight trips, but recently she asked for advice on smaller day packs as she's beginning to ski tour. I thought it worth posting what I shared with her here, even if some of it duplicates some of what I've posted before. 

Dear N,

Let me know if this helps. If you would like me to bring you a pack from the US that can be done. There are some wonderful small US shops making packs, but they are largely climbing packs (Cold Cold World, Alpine Luddites, Hyperlight Mountaineering, CiloGear). This retail shop below has a good selection and reviews of many European options I think you can try on easily if you look for them:

https://skimo.co/compare-backpacks

 Also I like:

 https://www.outdoorgearlab.com/ (unfortunately they do not review ski packs)

Use your own body and good sense to pick a pack that feels good and works for you. The one I gave you will work for everything, and is my strongest ski mountaineering partner’s main pack. It is however a bit large for day trips. I mostly use a very simple old Canadian Arc’teryx pack and T uses an Arva rescue pack with lots of pockets out of Europe. I also have a small Mountain Hardware designed by our friend and guide Andrew McLean. We can share and loan them all if you want to try what is best for you. Let me know if you want to discuss more and again, hope to see you soon. 

Backpacks I like

Most of my backpacks are for climbing. Even with my ski backpacks, there is a bias for climbing.

Both climbing and skiing are fluid body movement activities. The less frame the pack has the more it moves.

If you carry more than 20 KG, you will want some kind of support. This can be back padding or aluminum stays in the frame. They transfer weight to the waist belt which needs more padding for more weight. There is also a very old technique called a tumpline worth looking at for heavier loads: tumplines

Any ski pack should have very easy access to the shovel, beacon and probe. If you think that the thought of an avalanche might occur, take them all. Never take only one or two of them, unless you are digging out your grandmother’s driveway.

If you carry less than 10 KG you will need little more than a simple sack with a section for the avalanche trinity and another section for puffy, headlamp, food and water. Racing packs are like that. They are light but solid and have features for:

·       Carrying skis either A-frame or diagonally

·       Storing ski crampons (harscheisser) and/or crampons

·       Carrying an ice axe

Nice to have (not need to have):

·       Separate sections for wet gear (skins) and dry gear

·       Attachments for modern ice tools (as opposed to a traditional piolet) and crampons

·       Soft compartment for ski goggles

·       Clips for keys and small internal pockets for wallet/passport/flask/chocolate

·       Removable and expandable top lid

Key things to consider:

·       Does the pack fit you well and move with you?

·       Can it carry the gear you need?

·       Does it look dope?

I think that’s all for now. The packs I own and use consist of these brands/styles:

http://www.coldcoldworldpacks.com/

I have all of Randy’s packs, and one on order. They are by far the best packs for climbing, and work well for most simple skiing trips. They are indestructible and have whatever attachment points an alpinist needs.

https://www.mammut.com/

I admit I mostly admire them for their ropes, which I use exclusively. They are the best.

My favorite large ski pack lately is the Mammut Trion from a few years back. It is good for overnights with full ski mountaineering gear, and you can strip it down for day travel. It is a very good pack of the extendible top type (vs rolltop like the Hyperlight I gave you), but has no dedicated ski shovel, probe, etc slots, just one big pocket.

https://www.mammut.com/us/en/products/2520-00850-00087/trion-50

While I have never owned them I think Ortovox are very interesting and well featured packs.

https://www.ortovox.com/us-en/shop/c35488-backpacks

Again, it is all about fit and features. Don’t go for what looks good (although that matters). Get one that feels great and does what you need it to do.

Dedicated race and fast adventure packs are also really great. I have a Ultimate Direction and a Millet. I also have a Camp Raptor which is my favorite in this class (not racing, but light):

https://skimo.co/compare-backpacks

This is a great store in Salt Lake City Utah and I would read their reviews carefully. I think they look the most like your approach. Athlete-drive, high-performance gear which does not get in your way.

Ascending and Descending the Grades aka dig the new breed

I remember the days of ascending the ladder of grades while learning how to climb/survive at the Gunks. It was always a bit ambiguous because grades are such an approximation of difficulty, and more so the further into the past you go. Thirty or more years ago the hardest climbs were actually within spitting distance of those we could get on, which is no longer the case. As life took over, and climbing became more of a luxury and less of a necessity, we peaked, somewhere in our 20s or 30s. I know others don't, and have 2 friends who started in their 40s and went on to impressive careers on climbs harder and more magnificent than my best efforts. I have a long-time climbing partner who can rise back up the grades every time he gets the bug again. 

After a while I found myself top roping more ambitious climbs I would once have saved for an onsight lead. I started to descend in the grades, touching bottom while following the airy Thin Slabs Direct, recognizing I would have to hit the gym to even keep in the game. I saw my weight creep up, even as I worked harder to stay fit than I had in my youth, and it is true the harder/heavier they come, the harder they fall. I try not to fall. At all. It is the opposite of the observation by my good friend Henry Blodget in our teens, that until we started falling, we were not going to figure out where our limits were, and improve upon that high water mark. He was right, and I did explore those horizons, and was lucky to suffer no serious injury. 

Then something turned. My son Tobias, now 13, got interested in climbing, or at least the idea of going climbing and the camaraderie. He's no featherweight , so we have parity on that front. He's not game all the time, and requires much food to fuel his enthusiasm, but it's a great treat to get out there and focus on something other than the undeniably narcissistic cult of self climbing has embedded in its culture.

Tobias topropes Son of Easy O 5.8 Trapps Gunks

I've also been lucky to have friends who are great at mentoring Toby. As any parent knows, there is no easy way to teach your passions to your children: they are often much more resistant to pushing themselves in front of their parents than they are in front of others. It is incredible to work with other adults who can get over the friction of the family romance and get down to the business of staying alive while pursuing some of life's greatest joys. 

When Toby was about 4, we went to Chamonix to visit his godmother. He had only skied on toy skis, and wept pitifully when we had him equipped with rental alpine gear. He looked poised to breakdown again as we left the van with my guide who just saw me down the Valle Blanche the day before. As we were walking across the parking lot the guide, Sylvain Ravanel, http://www.guidos.fr, said with Gallic non-challance, 'un moment.' He returned to the mini with Toby, they conferred for 30 seconds, they emerged, Toby hiked his skis on shoulder and strode across the parking lot as if a man on a mission. 

When later we asked Sylvain what had transpired he said deadpan 'that is between me and Toby'. He also admitted that although a Olympic candidate on xc skis, he had been unable to teach his own 3, 6 and 9 year old boys to ski largely leaving it to others too. Toby proceeded to ski all morning until he ate a lunch the size of his torso and then skied another 3.5 hours in the afternoon, finishing on Sylvain's shoulders for the last run, and a full carry across the parking lot.

Sylvain and Toby at La Thuile, Italy, near Cormayeur/Mt. Blanc

Toby showed similar, somewhat uncharacteristic grit when xc-skiing at my parent's place in upstate New York. He would shuffle around on said toy skis, and once after covering 2-3 miles I asked if he wanted real ones. The answer was a foregone conclusion. So now there's backcountry skiing.

Truly this is Toby's passion, and if it will convince another 13-year old that it's worth sweating in the skin track for house and sleeping in subzero temperatures, it's alright by me.