With its light weight and refined design, the Black Diamond Raven Pro is a joy to handle. Its angled, trapezoidal shaft and sculpted head give it a satisfyingly ergonomic feel, whether you're using it in walking mode or swinging it on steeper ground. While the B-rating rules it out for more demanding mountaineering, it is spot on for a one-axe day on UK winter hills or big non-technical snow peaks overseas. The lightness will also appeal to ski tourers or anyone looking to save some weight..." go to full review

As we’ve come to expect from La Sportiva, the Trango Tech is an extremely well-made and nicely constructed boot with high attention to detail. However, with such a lightweight design, you can expect a much shorter lifespan if you’re using the boots to their full potential. In other words, the minimalist build will pack out and abrade much more quickly than a beefier leather model. After 10 days of heavy use, our pair showed notable fraying where the upper came into contact with a crampon and..." go to full review

I am an AMGA Single Pitch Instructor in western North Carolina, so I want only the best for my clients. The BD C4s are equipped with a solid cable loop that makes them a long-lasting, dependable piece of gear. I never want to be doubting the gear that I put my clients on every day, so I use BD C4s largely due to the fact that these cams have been widely trusted for generations and continue to prove their dependability. As long as you take care of your cams and keep them clean (which is..." go to full review

If I was asked to finish my Aku Tengu GTX boot review with a summary sentence, what would I say?  I’d say the Tengu’s are a great looking, high performance, sustainably produced and durably built boot suitable for summer and winter mountaineering.  I think they are a great option produced by a family business with a trusted heritage.go to full review

They are light, precise, nimble and durable. They climb ice and mixed ground like a dream, feel like trainers (almost!) when walking and they are super comfortable. I really hope they never stop making these! Perfect boots for Scottish winter, technical alpinism, Mont Blanc and technical ice and mixed.go to full review

In short it is difficult to imagine anyone not being happy with the Sendero, excepting perhaps the extreme sport climbing fraternity. It excels as Trad/Alpine/Winter harness and is perfectly usable for sport climbing. There is a a female specific version the Autana as well as a lighter weight fixed leg loop version the Sirana so Edelrid have pretty much covered all the bases.go to full review

The ultimate test I set for the NIAD VCS was at Yosemite’s burly Arch Rock. Everything hard about Valley climbing is packed in here—endless cracks over stone so polished that it squeaks when you smear. I wanted to see how well they performed on Midterm, the squeakiest of the lines at Arch, a nails-hard 5.10 that begins with first-knuckle fingertip jamming with slick edges for feet. From here it widens to fingers, hands… all the way to a slick, flared chimney. That day on ..." go to full review