The Yak Sac is a bombproof expedition bag designed for hauling gear for any sort of journey on which you might be embarking.

Continue reading

This movie follows Chris Sharma around the globe looking for king lines from the Mediterranean Sea to the Venezuelan jungle. For anyone who’s been away from earth for the last 10 years, Chris Sharma is one of the best rock climbers in the world and he’s the poster boy for “the life” of the pro climber.

When I watched this year’s Banff Film Festival, the one thing I noticed was that the standard of photography and the quality of production has really increased significantly in the last couple of years. King Lines is certainly part of this new generation of top quality productions and you’ll certainly notice the difference. The days of a cheap video camera and home editing are over.

The format is slightly different from the normal climbing movies because it has a central character. We follow Chris as he goes from place to place, establishing outrageously cool and difficult sport routes, Deep Water Solo’s (DWS) and boulder problems. There are a couple of minor continuity errors like chalk on routes that he’s supposed to be opening onsight, but this is hardly something to get excited about. In between the main segments, there are shorter bits like a bouldering comp in Spain and interviews with people who knew Chris when he started climbing as a kid. This works really well because it prevents the onset of boredom, although I’d have preferred it if they’d told us the names of all the other people featured in these segments (you’ll be surprised at all the big names when the credits run).

The main feature of the movie is a DWS project that climbs the underside of an arch that is completely surrounded by water. The route has a huge dyno about half way and Chris repeatedly takes the 10m fall into the (not always calm) Mediterranean. Everything about this route is spectacular and you are so drawn in that you somehow feel part of the team when he finally sticks the dyno and climbs to the top.

In previous movies (eg Dosage 3) Josh Lowell has shown people trying but not succeeding on projects and this is no different. Here he shows Chris working a mega project at Mt Clark in the USA. The route is simply staggering – it’s bigger and steeper than anything you’ve seen before. The difficulty is clearly evident because he is forced to skip several bolts in a row – and repeatedly takes huge falls. The fact that he doesn’t succeed could be an indication that this route is a new level of difficulty.

Each segment has it’s own feel and there is even a section with some desert climbing in Moab that will keep grumpy trad climbers like Tony Dick happy.

Well done Josh and Peter – this is definitely a movie worth seeing and owning.

If you find yourself forgetting to screw up your locking biner, this one is for you. The locking mechanism is easy to use and can be operated with one hand once you’ve played with it for a couple of minutes.
The keylock nose on the biner prevents gear/rope from snagging. The metal locking sleeve operates perfectly and is made of metal rather than plastic insuring the biner will have a long life.
Great for belays where you need to clip mutliple ropes or slings into the system. I’ve taken to using mine for belaying , the William works well with a Grigri and other manual belay devices.

Pear-shaped carabiner with large opening
Suited for organising at belays and belaying with a Munter hitch.

* Large size to allow anchoring of several ropes and slings.
* Large opening.
* Wide pear shape facilitates belaying with a Munter hitch on single or double ropes .
* Keylock System (snag-free body / gate interface).
* Available with manual locking system (SCREW-LOCK) or automatic locking system (BALL-LOCK, TRIACT-LOCK).

Technical specifications
* CE – 90 g
* Strength: 25 kN long axis, 7 kN open gate, 7 kN short axis

Listed below are Frequently Asked Questions about how to fit your climbing shoes:

Continue reading