Climbing

For seven years, climbers have loved the high quality, durability, and performance of the Organic Full Pad: “It has become the pad by which all other pads are measured.” The 36” x 48” landing zone offers a sizeable coverage area, and the four inches of foam spreads and cushions the impact in a perfect balance. With a comfortable hipbelt and shoulder straps, it’s easy to carry, even on steep approaches to the best alpine areas, and simple hook-and-loop buckles make packing and unpacking a..." go to full review

Chouinard Equipment, which became Black Diamond, began marketing them as Camalots (so-named from various employee suggestions) in fall 1987, and three major updates later, Camalots are still the gold standard for trad climbers. Camalots have easier, smoother trigger action, slot into placements faster, hold better in shallow cracks, and both the metal of the lobes and wires and the nylon of the slings last longer. We do love the flexible stems of Aliens, the narrow heads of Metolius Master..." go to full review

After 20 years of success, Petzl updated the original design in 2011, making it 25 percent smaller and 20 percent lighter than the original version, with the same braking power; the new version, cleverly dubbed the Grigri 2, is also compatible with ropes from 8.9mm to 11mm, to keep up with ever narrowing cords. Of course, the development of a new product coincided with the development of bad habits and climbing accidents due to improper use, so a few years before the release of the Grigri 2..." go to full review

A big mountain dilemma: There isn’t a single set of crampons that are ideal for crossing glacial terrain and then climbing steep snow and ice to reach a summit. Until now. The aptly named Snaggletooth is an innovative hybrid developed with ice and mixed master Whit Magro that combines the stability of horizontal frontpoints (which handle better in snow and névé) with the precision of a mono point (which excels in vertical ice and mixed terrain). “For harder routes on a peak like Rainier,..." go to full review

For gym climbing and sport cragging, we’ve found our new go-to belay device. With no moving parts and a wide range of rope diameters (8.9—11mm), the Jul provides assisted-braking capability that every tester lauded for its reliable and soft catch. This evolution of the successful Mega Jul (winner of our 2014 Editors’ Choice Award) is a single tube-style belay device designed for gym- and sport-focused climbers that works smoothly, even with the fatter ropes found at many gyms. For its..." go to full review

For the last few years, the much-loved Camalot C4 has set the standard for modern spring-loaded camming devices, with snappy trigger action, a great placement range, and top-notch durability. The new Ultralights are all that with about 25% less weight for the whole set from .4 to #4. “Now that I know how light a cam can be, I don’t know if I can go back,” said one tester who plugged them from Eldo to Smith Rock to Indian Creek. In order to cut ounces, designers selectively removed metal from..." go to full review

In 2014 we gave Editors’ Choice to the Tenaya Oasi for its flexible, easy-to-wear feel and outstanding performance on every angle and rock type. Building off that “high performance without the pain” ethos, designers at the Spanish shoe brand have outdone themselves by combining a more aggressive downturn in the mid- and forefoot, and a slightly stiffer feel in a sticky rubber shoe that is just as comfortable to wear. Testers wore these bouldering on the sandstone steeps of Roy, New Mexico,..." go to full review

“Lightweight harnesses aren’t supposed to be this comfortable,” one user said after a few whippers on the limestone tufas of Kalymnos, Greece. The wireframe technology uses Spectra strands as the skeleton, which run through the entire waistbelt and leg loops, and with a bonded fabric and no stitching on the outer material, testers found that the Sitta (9.5 oz.) was just as easy to wear as a fully padded big wall rig. Removing the foam makes it twice as packable, squeezing down to about the..." go to full review

The lifelong climbers at Metolius do things their own way. Always have, always will—and that’s why we love them. Their newest hot item is the Ultralight Master Cam, 20% lighter than the previous iteration. That’s six ounces of savings per complete rack. How’d they do it? They did away with the swage and cable thumb loop design that most camming devices use and instead employ a machined piece of aluminum with built-in 11mm webbing (which Metolius recommends replacing every 5 years). Designers..." go to full review

As the one-stop shop of rock shoes, the Endeavor is a durable, medium-stiff, medium-flex, sticky-rubber kick that is at home on vertical, slabby, and even slightly overhanging terrain. “If I could only climb in one pair of shoes for the rest of my life; these would be it,” one tester said after a few months of easy bouldering, moderate sport routes, and big multi-pitch days. With the addition of a few thoughtful features, this shoe rises above the dozen other moderate-performance pairs on..." go to full review