Winter ISPO 2011: Day 4 – Technical Treats

Arcteryx did it first on the sidewinder jacket. 5 years ago and is still made.
North face has on on its sedition GTX jacket for the past 3 years
Patagoina has one on the R1 hoody for years
Eddie bauer has on on the expedition weight hoody and the bat hang hoody.
and many more styles…

they've been around for a while and are on more jackets every season.

Klättermusen zipper designs are definitely about function, not fashion. Their top layer garment zippers run from left hip to right shoulder. Their bottom layer garment zippers run from right hip to left shoulder. You can see the difference here. The rep told us this layering design is for weatherproofing, and to prevent bulk.

Those Camp race spikes are great! The web center bar seems like a decent idea (presumably the spikes are alu and thus not meant for walking on talus), but using the tech heel for security is fantastic. Should work better than any other heel attachment.

I wonder if they work with Tele boots as well – It looks like they could, if the front bale were wide enough.

someone needs to do a test on these hybrid shovels to make sure they can be used in avi conditions .. hard packed icy snow, ice chunks, etc …

plastic shovels are known to be inadequate … hopefully hybrids will prove to be otherwise … without such test, IMO lives are at risk due to fancy marketing and the the quest for a few ozs

I'm looking at a pair of Scarpa Spirit 3, Dynafit-compatible ski boots as I type (well, between typing). There are two grooves in the heel, which spread out into a "T" shape. The Dynafit binding (called "tech" ever since the patents expired) has a heel piece with two horizontal prongs. To get into the heel piece, one positions the boot heel above the prongs, then steps down. Now the heel is locked down. For free-heel skiing, one rotates the heel piece so a little platform is below the boot heel, and one can proceed like using 3-pin bindings, BUT telemarking is NOT possible, because the toe piece couldn't take the twisting forces. Maybe someday.

Since Ibex never got their wool sport top produced w/o flaws this winter, sob, those 2 companies you showed were interesting. The Norwegian Devold's strap top and hipster look divine for our endless OR winters.. and ditto the wool fleece bra. Oh how I've longed for something like that for xc skiing… will you be letting us know if/when they become available in the US? Thanks
Madeleine aka Bling

Callahan: this is the shovel you are referencing: Ortovox Cougar Avalanche Shovel. The blade is made of lexan polycarbonate, it weighs 630g and retails for $52 in the US.

Kathy and Douglas – The new Soto stove looks really promising. It should be available in the states in March.

Medeleine – We will be keeping track of Devold and let you know if, and when, they get US distribution. You might be able to find some specialty internet shops or UK-based companies that would sell to you. Of all the wool companies at ISPO (and there were a ton!)we only found that Devold and Aclima made wool bras.

Marco – thanks for adding the link to Cilao race harness. It iss good to know that there is another option for people who think CAMP's 95gram harness is just too darn heavy :)

Thanks everybody for the comments and questions!

I wonder can the Soto Multi fuel stove can be used with Gas canisters.

I used my 20% member coupon at REI to order one, but it wasn't on the shelves yet. I'll have it mid-week, and will hopefully get a chance to try it out later in the week.