From right to left, Jeff Voigt Guides Choice Program Coordinator, Roody Rasmussen President of Petzl North America, Paul Petzl President of Petzl Europe, Dunham Gooding Director American Alpine Institute, Richard Riquelme Equipment Manager.
Petzl Sum’tec Ice Axe
The Sum’tec had it’s place on nearly every ice, or glaciated route that our testers climbed. It’s design allows it to excel in a variety of alpine climbing applications, without making sacrifices to weight or performance.
Petzl Core Battery
The Core is hands down one of the best innovations in lighting technology that AAI testers have seen. With Petzl OS and a computer the user can determine their own brightness and burn time needs. Since the Core is rechargeable it keeps about 300 batteries out of
landfills.
Attache 3D
The Attache 3D is an improvement on the highly regarded Attache locking carabiner. The Attache 3D lighter, thinner and has a larger gate opening than the original Attache making it to go-to locking carabiner on AAI guides racks.
Jetboil
Christopher J. Lussier, Vice president of sales and marketing accepts the Guides Choice Award from Dunham Gooding.
Sol Ti Premium Cooking System by Jetboil
The Sol Ti Premium Cooking System exhibits all the key points that
alpine climbers want in a stove system. The Sol Ti is ultralight,
compact, and super efficient. The Thermo-regulate technology allows
the Sol Ti to be used in much colder conditions without sacrificing
efficiency.
Rab
Left to right Dunham Gooding, Sam Killgore, Rab Marketing Manager, Karen Moldenhauer Rab Customer Service Rep, Richard Riquelme
Xenon Jacket by Rab
Testers were impressed with how lightweight, warm and compact theXenon Jacket is. The Xenon is a great insulation piece for three-season use. The Xenon sheds snow well; the fit is great for climbing, and it weighs next-to-nothing.
Cascade Designs
Cascade Designs
Left to right, Jeff Voigt, Doug Jacot, Vice President of Thermarest, Dunham Gooding, Brandon Bowers, Thermarest Product Engineer.
Ridge Rest Solar, and SOLite Sleeping
Pads by Cascade Designs
The Ridge Rest Solar and SOLite are
improvements on the tired and true Ridge Rest sleeping pad. Using a
reflective coating on one surface of the sleeping pad, heat is
reflected towards the user for use in cold conditions or when
sleeping on snow. The Solar is thicker and meant for 4-season use,
while the SOLite is thinner and perfect for 3-season use.
Injinji Socks
Left to right, Richard Riquelme, Jason Battenfield CEO / President of Injinji Socks, Dunham Gooding, Jeff Voigt.
Outdoor Series Socks by Injinji
AAI guides have
been testing Injinji’s Outdoor Series socks from the deserts of Red
Rock, to the cold and icy slopes of Alaska. Since the socks have
individual toes, it provides more insulation in colder conditions,
and gives sweat a place to go in hot conditions. Skin on skin contact
between toes is eliminated preventing blisters between toes.
4 comments:
Dunham, Richard, and Sam! Three awesome folks - way to go Rab :)
The Attache 3D carabiner has been out for two and a half years or so. I know you gave an award to the original Attache. Why so long on this one - were there problems?
Regarding the long wait on the Attache 3D award: When the 3D was first produced, we thought the slimmed-down design was excellent both because of the weight savings and because the trimmer profile allowed its use in tandem where thicker carabiners simply could not be used. But we did wonder about durability of such a thin and light-weight carabiner.
With metal objects, durability testing can be a long process. Because the carabiner has such immense impact on the safety of the climber, we felt we had to use if full time for at least two years to really know how it would stand up. That's why the testing was so prolonged.
The Attache 3D's performance was excellent. There was some detectable (and expected) wear when used extensively in sandstone climbing (because of the ropes picking up so much grit and being very abrasive as a result), but otherwise wear was minimal. The overall durability was absolutely outstanding. Once our original sense of the Attache 3D as a truly exceptional piece of equipment was confirmed, we granted the award in August 2011.
Congratulations!
Post a Comment