I a go to Great Bear: The French Connection
On Family day weekend, 2013, myself and a surly bunch of fellow backcountry recreationists spent a cold, somewhat windy night atop a mountain we had no intentions to be anywhere near. This somewhat serendipitous weekend occurred thanks in large part to my French friend, Mr. Adrien T. (drumroll please) What follows will be less an account of the events from that weekend and more the experiences I had and have gladly had in Adrien’s company. Mountains have the capacity to make people a little crazy in my opinion. If you’ve got even a slightly obsessive or addictive personality then you are going to find a way to feed it in the Mountains. You have the peakbaggers who just have to “collect ‘em all”, the adrenaline junkies, the First Ascentists, those who count every foot of elevation they’ve ever climbed, those who constantly need to push their physical and mental limits (I’d count myself among these) and then you have your Completists, to name a few. I’d define Adrien as a bit of a Completist. He sees beauty in order, organization and structure. How this translates to the Mountains is lists. Lists of peaks, lakes, trails, routes. There is a cornucopia of guidebooks out there on most subjects mountain related. Some use them as a reference, while others see them as a challenge. The challenge to visit all of the respective locales in these books and tick them all off. He’s certainly not alone. I’ve met many people who do this. When I have informed fellow hikers on the trails that I am using a certain book as a reference I’ve been oft posed the question: “how many have you done?”. I have no clue, but I do see the appeal of keeping track, if only to see how I have personally been progressing in my ability and experience. Adrien is working on a few lists at the moment and most trips that he plans tend to be chosen in such a way as to tick off at least one of the places they reference. Which is why it came as some surprise last weekend when he made us aware of a trip he wanted to do that wasn’t in any guidebook that I know of. He wanted to visit a peak accessed from the Coquihalla Hwy named Mount Henning. Adrien organizes like a mutha hubba, I mean he usually has it dialed in up to 11 when it comes to working out distances, weather, gear lists… etc. So when he said he wanted to do a few mellow peaks to do some testing of his new AT Ski setup I agreed. Saturday morning arrived, and in my typically Irish fashion, I was running...
MSR Reactor Hanging Kit: Thoughts on stoves in tents
I recently bought the MSR Reactor Hanging Kit for my MSR Reactor Stove System and had an opportunity to test it out. At this point I guess I need to state that MSR recommends that you do not use their Reactor stove or the hanging kit inside the confines of a tent. For legal reasons I understand why they need to do this, it’s the same reason Q-tips needs to warn on their packaging “Do not insert in ear canal” which I’m pretty sure is the actual use of 90% of Q-tips. It is inherently dangerous and hazardous to operate a canister stove inside a tent. Not only could you melt the tent down around you, the stove is also pumping out carbon monoxide which could kill you. You are also making boiling water in an extremely cramped space, which, if knocked over, could severely scald bare skin. In saying all that, if you are smart, and can effectively mitigate those risks there are benefits to hanging a stove inside your tent. For myself I’d be interested in keeping my stove inside my tent when the weather is extremely bad outside, it’s the dead of winter and extremely cold, outside space is limited (camped on a ledge or ridge crest) or all of the above. The benefits of using the stove in this manner, in my opinion, are: Stove runs more efficiently due to less or no wind and by keeping the canister warmer. Less fuel is needed due to the previous benefit. Heat output by the stove is radiating into the tent raising the ambient temperature. Less body heat is being lost by having to operate the stove outside of the tent and outside of your sleeping bag. More appealing to hydrate. We tend to forget the human factor sometimes. I’ve made the bare minimum amount of water before because I wanted to spend more time in my sleeping bag and less time out in the cold. Making water, especially at higher elevations, can be a pain. Usually by the time you have to make water you are already exhausted and just want to lie down and rest. Being able to rest and have your water boiling makes it more appealing to hydrate more. The better hydrated you are the warmer you’ll be, the better you’ll sleep, the more energy you’ll have the next day… etc. If these benefits seem desirable then here is how I recommend mitigating the risks. Light the stove outside of the tent. Canister stoves can flare up when first ignited. You also don’t want to have a few misfires and fill your tent with gas which will combust when...
Julbo Tensing: Thoughts on Glacier Glasses
For the past decade I’ve worn Ray-Ban Aviators as my sunglasses of choice. I love them and for the longest time my eyes had never felt strained from sunlight while wearing them. This all changed when I started Mountaineering and hiking across glaciers and snowfields. For those that haven’t been high in the mountains on a sunny day in June in the middle of a glacier it is hard to describe the intensity of the brightness. The snow surface acts like billions of tiny mirrors reflecting the suns light at you from every angle. Without some kind of protection for your eyes you can go “snow blind” very quickly. The higher you go, the thinner the atmosphere which means more damaging UV radiation is hitting your skin. I’ve had my skin badly burnt high in the mountains even on a cloudy, dark day. Add together the increased UV radiation at higher elevations and the reflective nature of snow and ice and you have a cocktail which makes Sunlight just one the many additional dangers a Mountaineer needs to be aware of and protect against. I struggled through however, continuing to use my Aviators in the mountains for the past few years as I could get by without full eye protection, which in hindsight, was pretty stupid of me. My Ray-Bans filtered out most UV radiation hitting my eyes straight on but my eyes would feel strained from glancing rays coming under and through the sides of my glasses. The final straw that made me finally decide to retire my Ray-Bans from Glacier use was when I was climbing Mount Rainier last August. Above 4000m’s on the Ingraham Glacier in the midday sun I was experiencing the strongest UV radiation ever. Even with my Ray-Bans on I could barely let my eyes open a slit to see. After hours of this I had to cover my eyes to try and rest them whenever we’d stop for a break on our descent. I’d spent thousands making sure I had all the necessary equipment to protect my body on this huge mountain but neglected to think about spending less than a hundred bucks to protect my eyes. Once back to civilization I started looking online for Glacier Glasses. Julbo will almost always show up if you do a search yourself as they seem to be a market leader for this specific class of sunglasses. Ultimately, as the title suggests, I chose the Julbo Tensing. It had the right mix of functionality, weight, price (~$50) and aesthetics for my needs. Plus, the name Tensing also sold me a little. It’s an homage to Tenzing Norgay,...
Marmot Quasar Down Jacket Review
Recently I was in the market for a new insulating layer to add to my current layering system. I have a heavy Down Jacket by TNF, which is great for Winter use, but through the Summer and shoulder seasons, or even in the Winter when stopping for only a few minutes for a break, it’s mostly overkill. So for a lighter alternative, I narrowed it down to two choices; The Mountain Hardwear Ghost Whisperer Down Jacket and the Marmot Quasar Down Jacket. Obviously, I went with the latter. Price point ultimately decided it, as, specifications wise, they are pretty similar. You can find the jacket on Amazon: Marmot Men’s Quasar Jacket, Black, Medium. If I’d gone with the Ghost Whisperer I would have been paying an extra $2.60 for every extra gram of weight saved. Not worth it in my opinion. Since getting the jacket it’s been with me on nearly every trip into the mountains. I commented on a few of the noteworthy features in the video above, below I’ll mention a few of the jackets pros and cons that I’ve noticed so far. Pros: Super light, very warm: It almost feels like wearing nothing and I was skeptical as to how warm this would actually keep me. But, the 900 fill down and windproof Pertex fabric works wonders. It’s very warm and insulates excellently. Color: This is subjective, but I love the almost metallic finish to the color. In the Backcountry I purposefully choose garments that will stand out against the natural colors of the environment. This serves two purposes; one, they stand out better in photographs, two, if I ever needed to be found by SAR I want my clothes to make it easier for them. Durable fabric: I was wary about the super thin fabric used but I haven’t had to baby it at all. I’ve stuffed it in my pack with hard objects like snow probes and shovels and it hasn’t damaged it. The fabric also seems resistant to letting the down bleed out. I’ve noticed no bleeding so far. Compact: I could literally ball it up and make it almost fit inside my closed hand. It’s light enough and small enough that there is very little reason for me to ever not have this jacket in my pack. Cons: Fit: It’s long on the torso. I can understand this as being a benefit in some situations but in most it means the hem works its way below the hem of my waterproof hard shell allowing it to get wet. I usually have to keep the hem draw cords pulled tight to stop this from happening....
MSR Reactor Stove Review
I bought my first backpacking stove around June 2010. That may seem fairly recent but if you backpack frequently through all 4 seasons you learn what works and what doesn’t fast. Every trip is like an extensive field test with peer reviews from the other members in the group. Not only is your equipment being analysed but you are also analysing and reviewing everyone elses equipment. It was in this manner that I came to know about the MSR Reactor Stove. My first stove was the ubiquitous MSR Whisperlite I was recommended to purchase it by an MEC employee here in Vancouver, and I feel it was the best option for someone just starting out with camping and backpacking. It’s not light by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s rugged, durable and it gets the job done through all 4 seasons in any weather conditions. It impressed me enough that I ended up getting my first tent and snowshoes from MSR also. Anyway, getting back to the MSR Reactor Stove. I’d been using my Whisperlite for about a year and a half and was satisfied with it. When hiking with others I’d ask them primarily about the “boil time” on their stoves. It tends to hover between 3 and 5 minutes for the most part for all current stoves. The Whisperlite boils 1 Litre of water in 3.9 minutes so certainly not the best, but what difference does waiting an extra minute make right? That’s when I noticed a friend I backpacked with using the MSR Reactor. We’d get to camp, set up our tents, then start making dinner. I’d sit down and start setting up my white gas fueled Whisperlite. I’d just have it starting to boil the water and look over at my friend and not only was he finished boiling his water, he would also almost be finished eating the meal he’d just rehydrated with the boiled water. I never watched him, as I was too involved with my own setup, so how he managed to finish so fast was confusing. The Reactor only boils around 55 seconds faster than the Whisperlite and in independent test videos I’ve seen this to be true also. So how was he finishing at least 10 minutes or more faster than me? On our next outing, I made the point to watch him as I was also setting up my own stove and pot. Within seconds I understood the difference. He had his stove assembled, lit and boiling water before I’d even taken my stove components out. The Whisperlite requires a fair bit of setting up to get it going....
