Rock and Ice

Bottom line, you get what you ask for. The Mondo is a whole lot of pad. That means more weight and width to lug around, but with its five inches of foam and nearly 20 square feet of ground coverage, nothing will inspire more confidence for that tricky topout, highball or solo session. To me, that’s worth the extra effort.go to full review

The single z-shaped Velcro strap system locked in the fit fairly well, but I wasn’t able to secure it as tightly as with the Furia’s double-strap closures, and experienced a slight amount of “bagging” in the instep/mid-foot area. (My foot shape is medium width and volume, with a high-instep and arch.)go to full review

This new iteration of the Smart (the 2.0 hit shelves earlier this year, while the original debuted in 2009) has more ergonomic geometry than its predecessor. The device requires you to tilt the nose up or down with your brake hand depending on whether you’re letting out slack or not. The new shape of the device allows smoother braking and unlocking the device from the brake position is easier. Your brake hand’s thumb rests on the underside of the device, which has a new rubber insert to make..." go to full review

I’ve tested these shoes all over northern New Mexico, from the conglomerate rock of El Rito to the bullet quartzite of the Ortega Mountains to the river-polished sandstone of Roy. What impressed me most about the Rocket is how well it performed in various types of terrain and across all flavors of climbing—multipitch, trad, sport, bouldering, plastic.go to full review

Perhaps most notable is the Stealth’s unusual look. It isn’t a smooth bucket; rather, the shell is a geodome of angles. These reportedly act as buttresses, adding rigidity without weight. Whether the design increases protection I can’t say, but you can sit on the helmet, and, despite being Swiss-cheesed with ventilation slots, the Stealth has impressive side-to-side and front-to-back rigidity.go to full review

I fit the Momentum in my street-shoe size and it was spot on. My big toes did feel pressed at the end of the toe box, but that is likely specific to me, a bigly big toe. I also have an extremely high arch, and yet the fit was snug. Overall, for those wanting an all-around, comfortable, quality shoe, at a good price point, with sound construction, the Momentum will not disappoint.go to full review

The Choucas Light is meant for ski touring, alpinism and ice climbing. I used it during 50+ ice and alpine outings. Fitting in the palm of your hand, the Choucas takes up almost no room in a pack. Once it’s on, you hardly notice it, and it is so slim it rides with no bother under a pack waist belt. I missed having a belay loop, but got used to clipping through the two tie-in loops, which have the unique benefit of keeping your knot out of the way of your pack waist belt. Two gear loops, one..." go to full review

The LiveWire has a nice, large, solid-gate Nitron carabiner on top, and a similarly-sized LiveWire wiregate on the bottom. The latter incorporates Black Diamond’s proprietary HoodWire design: a piece of metal on either side of the nose prevents it from snagging on your harness or other gear; this means it functions like a keylock carabiner, but still saves weight compared to the solid gate. We enjoy wiregates for the rope-side biner— we find they allow for a quicker, more responsive clip—so..." go to full review

Typically, I’m a medium in just about everything, but I am a M/L in the Boreo (size options are S/M and M/L). If you’re unsure, size up, which also guarantees that you can get a beanie under there in colder temps. Adjusting the helmet is intuitive and easily done while it’s on your head, or, assuming you’ve got a no-hands rest, when you are on route. A pet peeve of mine is when the side straps dig into your ears. Thankfully, the Boreo’s straps were barely noticeable. Sleek headlamp clips..." go to full review

Functionally, the CR Carabiner worked without any hiccups. The screw-mechanism operated smoothly up on the walls of the Black Canyon, and it was small enough to fit through the guide-mode hole in a belay device. Our only concern would be the black finish potentially causing the biner to absorb even more heat than normal metal gear, but let’s face it: If the heat is turning your gear into hot pokers better suited for branding than climbing, you might as well go take a dip in that salty sea..." go to full review