The Best Ice Climbing Gear for Your Next Winter Objective
Five gear nerds tested 31 products, from carbon-fiber ice tools to top-of-the-line apparel. These six came out on top.
Author
Maury Birdwell
Maury is an attorney and climber based in Boulder, CO. He has had the good fortune to climb and establish routes around the world. Some highlights include freeing the original Royal Robbins line on Mount Hooker in the Wind River Range with Jesse Huey (Original Sin, 5.12+), the first free ascent of Armageddon (5.12+) on the North Howser Tower in the Bugaboos, Canada, and setting the car-to-car speed record for climbing (solo) the Diamond of Longs Peak. In 2012 he co-founded the Honnold Foundation with Alex Honnold—perhaps his greatest personal “send” to date.
My Stories
A Climber We Lost: Michael Gardner
Gardner, 32, was attempting a new route on Jannu East’s immense North Face when he died in a fall.
Arc’teryx Gave Us Exclusive Access to Their Freakishly Light New Pack. So We Took It to the Mountains.
The Alpha SL 30L is unbelievably light. See how it held up in the field.
Alex Honnold’s Latest Absurdity, the HURT, is the Real Deal
32 hours, 35 miles, 23 summits, 14 classic rock routes, and 24,000 feet of vertical gain—that’s the Honnold Ultimate Red Rock Traverse