Tour der Vertikalen Nächte mit Thomas Tivadar

Hast Du schon mal in der Vertikalen hoch über festem Boden geträumt?

Auf der "Tour der Vertikalen Nächte" von Mountain Equipment, bergfreunde.de und Gore-Tex kann das für Dich Wirklichkeit werden.
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Lerne von Bigwall-Experten Tom Tivadar, wie man eine Portaledge in der Senkrechten aufbaut und das Hänge-Biwak zum gemütlichen Nachtlager wird.

Dabei kannst Du die aktuellen Schlafsäcke von Mountain Equipment testen.
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Hier wird biwakiert:

08.03.12 Bad Tölz, DAV Kletterzentrum Oberbayern Süd
09.03.12 Frankenthal, DAV Kletterzentrum Pfalz Rock
10.03.12 Korb, Active Garden
17.03.12 Kirchheim (bei München), High-East
19.03.12 Kelkheim, Sportpark Kelkheim
20.03.12 Frechen, Chimpanzodrome
21.03.12 Wetzlar, DAV Kletterzentrum
22.03.12 Leverkusen, A-Werk Kletterhalle Absturz
23.03.12 Ahlen, Big Wall Kletterzentrum Ahlen
24.03.12 Kassel, Vertical World
25.03.12 Jena, rocks.Kletterhalle
26.03.12 Chemnitz, Onside Klettersport
27.03.12 Coburg, DAV Kletterzentrum
30.03.12 Dornbirn, K1 Kletterhalle Dornbirn
31.03.12 Ravensburg, Kletterbox DAV Ravensburg
19.04.12 Offenburg, DAV Kletterzentrum
20.04.12 Darmstadt, DAV Kletterzentrum (ohne Übernachtung)
21.04.12 Berlin, T-Hall Berlin
22.04.12 Lappersdorf, DAV Kletterzentrum Regensburg

Alle Tourdaten mit Adressen und weiteren Infos findest Du
auch unter www.bergfreunde.de/vertikalenaechte

Felicity's Solo Antarctic Crossing

Fresh back from her successful expedition to become the first Woman to make a solo crossing of the Antarctic continent, Felicity Aston shared her experiences last night at 'The Deck' above the National Theatre in London.

Main expedition sponsors Kaspersky Lab put on a great evening and we joined media, family, friends to hear Felicity recount the highs and lows of her two month journey, offering a remarkable insight into the exceptional psychological challenges that the isolation of such a long solo journey presents.

It took 59 days for Felicity to ski from the Ross ice shelf to the South Pole and then on to Hercules Inlet on Antarctica’s Ronne ice shelf. Here’s a link to a recent BBC news interview clip http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-16879161 we’ll keep you posted on upcoming talks. I highly recommend you go along to hear all about it first hand if you can.

Trail Gear Guide

The Trail Magazine Annual Gear Guide hit the shelves yesterday. We recieved plenty of mentions including our Xero 550 which features in 'Best Kit for Wild Camping' article. 

Make sure you head out and grab a copy this month. Theres also a preview of the guide below running on Issuu

Long term product development and short lived ice

Just thought I would post a few pictures from last weekend. We are busy working on our Winter 2013 product line just now, and with the cold spell of weather forecast to end, it was a great opportunity to head out in search of some all-too rare Lakeland ice and also put a new GORE-TEX technology through its paces. You wont be hearing much about this for a while yet, suffice to say we are getting very excited about Winter 2013...its only 18 months away!

You can read more about this trip on the climberandrunner blog. Thanks to Dan and Alec for a good day out, and special thanks to Alec for being the only one with a working camera!

Whats so special about the Black & Blue Jacket? You'll have to wait.....

Climbing on Percys Passage III 4, The Old Man of Coniston, Lake District

For those of you who are interested, heres a breakdown of my winter clothing gear.

G2 Pants: essential winter legwear and easier to move around in than salopettes. I wear thermal leggings under these in cold conditions. Have climbed in very little else for the past 3 winter seasons.

LS Groundup Tee: A nice lightweight baselayer / tee.

Shroud Jacket: my favourite fleece. Light, versatile, close fitting and has a hood.

Compressor Vest: Sadly not currently in our range, but i never leave home in winter without it.

Fitzroy Jacket: Another winter essential. Belays, coffee stops, just feeling cold. Stays in the pack and goes on over everthing when needed.

Gloves: Super Alpine Gloves for the sharp-end and Randonnee gloves. A nice warm beanie and powerstretch balaclava as a spare completes the accessories.



OP Pad Magazine Awards

Just had the news in from Rob our agent in Benelux that we scooped a Bronze award at last nights Annual OP Magazine Awards in the catergory of 'Sleeping bags and Mats' with our Titan 450 Sleeping bag.

Rob collecting the award - 4th from the left

The Titan 450

Designed to appeal to backpackers and mountaineers who appreciate the solid value and reliability our core bags provide, the Titan 450 offers improved thermal efficiency and more warmth for less weight and bulk.
A new anatomically profiled shell has been matched to our previously patented EXL® technology to give a bag that mirrors the profile of your body more closely without being restrictive. It uniquely provides
a bag designed to fit as well as your favourite clothing with a corresponding improvement in performance to match.

The Titan 450 is a bag that will warm up faster, retain heat better and for longer. In short it will more effectively do what any sleeping bag should, keep you warm and comfortable. The Titan 450 is filled with some of the best Duck Down we can find. Our pure 85/15 duck down not only gives fantastic loft with a minimum fill power of 625 but it remains resilient after compression and is ecologically and ethically sound. It is sourced through our ground breaking Down Codex project, the industry’s first complete audit of the down supply chain. In conjunction with the IDFL and our suppliers we ensure that all down is sourced with no live plucking or harvesting, high standards of animal welfare and solvent free processing. It has been independently verified that there is no live plucking or force feeding and that all birds are slaughtered humanely after living freely outdoors. Our duck down is a natural by-product of birds reared for egg production. As a consequence the down comes from birds that live for longer, producing better, more resilient down, even than that which comes from young geese. For the first time you can sleep with guaranteed piece of mind as well as in comfort.

Technically the Titan 450 is engineered using box wall baffles, ensuring the down is stable and can loft more effectively without unnecessary weight whilst the shell incorporates a revised anatomical hood. Ergonomically formed and with an integrated HALO baffle to reduce heat loss from the head, it is comfortable in a wide range of conditions with and without the use of the adjustable drawcord cinch. Used inconjunction with the offset 3-dimensional neck collar and these bags can be taken to the very limits of their performance offset.Check out more information on our Titan Range of bags here

Andy hits Canada

ME Pro partner Andy Turner has just touched down at Calgary Airport, Canada with photographer and friend of the brand Lukasz Warzecha for a 3 week ice climbing and photoshoot trip.

We'll have updates from the guys over the coming weeks, however you can also keep up to date with all the latest at Andys Blog and Lukasz Blog too.

BMC International Meet - Video

Thanks to Simon and Justin from Reeltime Adventure for mailing me this short film shot during the recent BMC International Meet at Glenmore Lodge, Scotland.

Keep your eyes peeled for Nick and for those of you with really good eye sight Andy Turner in action at the beginning during Nick Coltons introduction.