Hardwear Sessions

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We're hanging out our own shingle--and opening our first store in Portland, Oregon. Join us for a series of special events!

Mike Wallenfels, our company president, will lead the ribbon cutting on April 11th, 2008. Portland's own KNRK will broadcast from the Portland store from noon until 2 pm. On April 12th, catch a slideshow by Mike Libecki. On April 13th, listen to Montrail athlete Matt Hart talk about his experiences. From April 11th through 13th, the first 25 customers through the door will receive a Defender day pack. From April 14th through 17th, the first 25 customers through the door will receive a Rugger day pack. Plus, we will donate 10% of our sales for the entire month of April to Multnomah County's Friends of Outdoor School, a local organization that sends 6th graders to science camp.*

Find our new store at 722 SW Taylor in downtown Portland.

Here are some conceptual sketches, to whet your appetite. Check back for photographs.

Welcome to our new store

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An elevation view of our store

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After recently moving up the waterfront to a new office building, we realized that we now had plenty of space - the kind of space that you want to use for good times and recreating. We'd been mulling over the idea of installing a climbing wall for quite some time, and our new building has allowed that plan to finally take shape.

We were insanely fortunate to acquire the services of Vertical Solutions. To say these guys know how to build a wall is an understatement. They can work wood like it's nobody's business but their own. The custom designs they create are based on simple, elegant curves. Lots of heart, sweat, thought and focus go into each wall they design and build. Ours is certainly no exception. Many of us here are almost reluctant to climb on it - being something akin to scrambling over a public statue. This reluctance will last a good two seconds once the holds go up though.

We want to extend a HUGE thanks to John and his crew at Vertical Solutions. They drove all the way out from Salt Lake City, braving sub-par hotels, long hours, and overpriced lumber yards to create for us a lasting statement to our brand and a sport we love. We want to thank Dustin at 3DVO for putting up with us and getting this project moving. A dedication to good service and a good, unique product is a hallmark trait for these guys.

Now enjoy a few pictures of a wall being born! We'll show you the finished wall once some routes are set!

By Ueli Steck

Yesterday we arrived in Namche Bazar. Finally. The flight to Lukla was planned for today. But Simon and I didn't feel like staying in Kathmandu for another three days. "No possible" was the answer from Sherpa Dendi, when we asked him if he could change the flight. In the end it worked out, somehow. As usual, you have to be at Kathmandu airport very early, 6 am, even if the flight is scheduled only at 9 pm. I told Simon to prepare himself to a long time of waiting. But suddenly something unusual happened and we found ourselves in the plane to Lukla at 7.45 pm. Not even one hour has passed, since we woke up...

The equipment had been flown to Lukla a few days ago and most of the porters are on the way to the basecamp, without us. Four porters are waiting for us with the equipment we need for the trek. We stow away our sleeping bags and necessary items in our backbacks and we start our way up to Namche Bazar. We try to use these treks, to get as well acclimatized as possible. After 5 hours of walking we reach Namche Bazar. Perfectly on time for lunch at the "German Bakery". The village is situated at 3,440 meters. We will stay here today, to get used to the altitude. Tomorrow we plan to go straight up to the basecamp at 4,250 meters. The basecamp is located about an hour beyond the village Tengbo.

By Kenton Cool

Sir Ran Fiennes, with Everest over his left shoulder

The Dream Guides Everest 08 expedition is finally underway after months of planning and more than a little stress due to China being a wee bit of a pain.

Sir Ran Fiennes and I are currently in Namche, the capital of the Khumbu. We left Kathmandu on Fri Morning and had an uneventful flight to Lukla. (Ran is best known in the United States as the cousin of the actor Ralph Fiennes.)

On Monday, April 7th, 2008, pro-Tibet protesters climbed the Golden Gate Bridge's South Tower and unfurled Tibetan flags and banners reading "Free Tibet" and "One World, One Dream, Free Tibet 08."

News coverage of the protest from the San Francisco-based station KTVU:

Officials arrested the protesters--but the group garnered considerable local and national publicity, especially in the wake of violent pro-Tibet and anti-China protests in Paris, France. In Paris, protesters attacked the Olympic torch bearers and managed to briefly extinguish the flame.

Read about the protesters and their message on the San Francisco Chronicle.

By Ueli Steck

Thengpo basecamp - Tuesday, April 8, 2008:

We left the village of Namche Bazar (3440m) on Monday, March 31st. Simon and I passed the village of Thame (3800m) and his famous monastery and reached Thengpo on the same day. Thengpo is located at 4250m. Here we will spend the following weeks. Just in front of our camp we can see Tengkampoche (6500m) with his huge and impressive wall.

On Friday, April 4, we moved to higher altitudes. We spent the night at 5640m on the Trashi Laptsa pass. On Saturday we went higher up and then descended back to the Trashi Laptsa pass, where we spent another night. On Sunday, April 6, accompanied by heavy snowfall, we trekked back to our basecamp at Thengpo.

The conditions in the wall of Tengkampoche don't look too bad. However there is still slightly too much snow in the wall, due to the heavy snowfall on Sunday. Further, today the winds were too strong on the summit. The forecast for the following days is promising. We will have a first go on Thursday.

By Andrew McLean

Known as the "Mountain Kingdom of North America," the 13.2 million acre Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve is the largest National Park in North America. During the first 3 weeks of April, a team of four friends-- Ben Ditto, Armond DuBuque, Lorne Glick, and myself--will use traction kites to cover miles of vast open terrain between pristine skiing objectives.

After getting dropped off at the U.S.-Canadian border directly north of Mt. St. Elias, we will work our way west on the Bagley Icefield. The St. Elias Mountains and Waxell Ridge beyond them extend for a combined 90 miles of pristine Alaskan peaks. Our plan is to travel by kite when wind and conditions allow, then ski as many first descents as possible along the way.

Listen to podcast updates from the Bagley Icefield 2008 tour. I'm updating this site regularly with our progress, so check back often.

By William Meinen

Classic Ice Climbs of the Rockies: Hydrophobia

It's usually around Thursday that I start to get squirrelly around the office and start making phone calls to find a partner to climb with for the weekend. My buddy Andy Gallant must have felt the same way because he called me before I had a chance to start my search through the Rolodex.

"Wanna try Hydro?"

"Let's do it!"

Hydrophobia is an ultra classic ice climb tucked in the Front Range mountains. The climb in and of itself is sheer and magnificent. A true marvel. The difficult access to the climb steps it up to a whole new level. 4x4 mandatory. Don't even bother trying it with anything less than 12" of clearance. A winch and tire chains are very helpful with the multiple river crossings and steep hill grades. With the climb and the access combined together it really becomes a unique adventure, hard to compare against anything else.

Visit the Arctic Alert website

By Bernice Notemboom

April 7, 2008

Frost bites still visual on my thighs and finger tips numb, I am preparing for my next expedition Arctic Alert Greenland. In less then a month John van Giels and I will be flying to 70 degrees north latitude to the village of Uummannaq - investigating the impact of climate change on the Inuit. From Uummannaq we ski onto the icecap and ski south hopefully to a scientist camp near Illuissat where we will report about the moulins in the icecap and the research they are conducting. We will film for a Dutch educational tv station and post a blog on this website along with blogs on ArticAlert.nl, de Volkskrant and Mountain Hardwear.

By Nathan Friedman

I tiptoe my skis to the edge of the cornice, peering down to get a glimpse of what I'm about to drop in. As I look over the edge, our guide comes flying past with a quick "I'll see you down a ways" and launches the drop off the cornice. Three turns later and he flies around the corner and out of view hundreds of feet below us. I back up, gather some speed from the short approach, and drop off the cornice into a field full of snow with only a single track snaking down it.

New Posts from the Bagley Ice Field.

By Ueli Steck

Namche Bazar - Monday, April 14, 2008

Simon and I needed a short break. That's why we decided to go back to Namche Bazar just for one day. Our first attempt to climb the north face ofTengkamopche took us quite a bit of energy. We had to break off our climb due to the bad weather.

Thursday, April 10: After our trip to the Trashi Laptsa Pass and further up, we rested for 3 days. Today we want to try the north face of Tengkampoche. At 3 am it's time for breakfast. Although it's very early, we find our cook Kaji in a great mood, as usual.

We start our way to the wall at 4 pm. Simon ahead of me. The way is not too difficult to find and it's not too far away from our base camp. By daybreak we put on our climbing harness and crampons. The weather is good, the wind not too strong. The forecast for the following days: Friday more wind, otherwise dry. On Saturday night, the winds will increase in strength. Saturday there will be more humidity, wind changes to north-west. Sunday dry. The forecast for Saturday does not disturb us.

We should make it to the upper part of the wall by then, just before coming out to the summit. We carry a minimum of equipment. We have food for four days and our sleeping bags in one backpack. We decide not take a tent with us. As from our wall-studies, done during the days before, we would be happy to find a bivouac somewhere, where we would be able to lie down. Simon goes up first and climbs the first 100 meters. Most of the time we climb together. We are connected by a rope and in between we place at least two belaying points. This is a very efficient method to gain height quickly and still stay secured at the wall.

View More Photos from the Mendenhall Towers

Sam Magro and Ryan Johnson, recipients of the 2008 Mugs Stump Award, tackled Alaska's Mendenhall Towers this spring. They completed the first ascent of the north face of the West Tower. Here's a brief account of the climb. You can find a slightly different version on Climbing.com.

By Sam Magro

The trip was a perfect 16 days. We landed in good weather, then we were socked in for 7 days straight and received between 15 and 20 feet of snow. It was an absolute neccessity that we took shifts to shovel out our tent every 2-4 hours depending on the amount of snow fall and wind. If we had not we would have been literally buried alive. It was an amazing display of Mother Nature's power. Further more it demanded that we respect these unhospitable Mendenhall Towers and their unclimbed north faces.

On the 5th day the shoveling became a bit ridiculous. We were barely getting any sleep. The night before was quite exhausting...so we decided to go subterranean. We dug all day and created an ice cave palace 15' below the surface. Our battles of shoveling was finally subdued. We still had to push snow out of our tunnel each morning like a couple of gophers.

Our spirits stayed positive and the sun finally fell on our soaking wet lives. We took a day to dry out and did a nice ski tour/ scouting mission. The next day we climbed, Ryan took a big fall on the ice we hoped to climb (it was unclimbable). The lines we spotted were merely grime filled corners with moss/dirt filled knife blade seams for meager gear. The next day we tried the same line, when we realized....we came to climb ice not sketchy snow covered, hard to protect rock.

I down climbed off a loose lost arrow and we were back across the Bergschrund. It was 11 in the morning and a beautiful high pressure system was upon us. The time was now to climb.

View more photos from our new store in Portland, Oregon.

Learn more about the store.

Robert Jasper and Stefan Glowacz (the cofounder of Red Chili) have headed out to Baffin Island for seven weeks of kite skiing and climbing. The duo hope to explore new routes in the Querbitter Fjord region, "an unexplored area with towering rock faces more than 1000 meters tall." The fjords rise, almost sheer, from the sea, and have seen little human activity. Robert and Stefan believe that the area's granite and gneiss cliffs will yield a number of highly aesthetic routes. They will travel to their destination with snow kites, accompanied by local Inuit guides.

Visit the Baffin Island Expedition page to read the team's diary. Even if German is not your first--or second, or even fifth language--we recommend a visit, if only to experience the site's lush graphics and beautiful design.

And don't forget to come back to this site for English updates.

By Bernice Notemboom

The strange thing about Greenland's ice-cap is that some parts are thinning by up to a meter a year and other parts are growing due to warmer temperatures which increases precipitation. As the ice cap is more than 3 kilometers thick what is the problem?

By Will Meinen

Something magical happens in the mountains every spring. The temps warm up, the days are longer, and the possibilities are endless. Ice climbing, rocking climbing, alpine climbing, skiing, or biking. Whatever tickles your fancy.

A couple weeks ago we had planned to jumpstart the rock season by doing a quick road trip to Skaha. Located in the beautiful Okanogan Valley of British Columbia, Skaha is always a treat because of it summer-like temperatures (when the Rockies are still in full winter mode) and because of its beautiful granite cliffs (never take limestone for granite).

A day before leaving for Skaha, I had caught word that Fernie had gotten a foot of fresh snow and they were expecting more. I called Brent and asked him what he thought about a couple days of powder skiing before climbing granite in our t-shirts. He loved the idea, and that night we packed my truck with skis, goretex, goggles, rock shoes, and quickdraws.

Beware of the San Francisco Bay's shimmering waters. There's mercury in those waters.

How did all that mercury get into our bay?

Most of the mercury dates from California's Gold Rush. 150 years ago, mercury was an essential ingredient in gold production. Miners "cooked" the raw ore with cinnabar, a mineral that contains mercury, and extracted pure 24 karat gold.

Watch Part One of KQED's special, "Mercury on the Bay:

Watch the full-size video on KQED's Quest homepage

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By Freddie Wilkinson

There's a saying I've heard from hardcore Alaskans that goes something like this: "You live in Anchorage? Oh, that's is a nice city.... it's only five minutes from real Alaska."

Ben Gilmore, Max Turgeon, and I just arrived in this bustling concrete jungle of big box stores, one way streets, and strip malls. We spent yesterday frantically running around town, racking up hundreds of dollars in credit card debt while equip-ing ourselves with provisions for three weeks. Wallmart, Costco, Carrs, Fred Meyer's, Barnes and Noble (we're packing biographies of Harry Truman and Jenna Jameson), Best Buy, Sportsman's Warehouse, and REI were all requisite stops. Luckily, we commandeered a diesel F250 truck, courtesy of our buddy, the esteemed Colby Coombs of Alaska Mountaineering School. Our gear and supplies barely fit in the eight-foot bed, and we only got lost driving the perplexing streets of Anchorage three, or maybe four, times.

By Cynthia Houng

This spring, a team of researchers from San Francisco State University (SFSU) started the Great Sunflower Project. Alarmed by recent declines in the populations of bees and other pollinators, Professor Gretchen LeBuhn (Biology) wanted to learn more about the status of urban pollinators. But how to conduct a survey of pollinator populations in an an urban environment, where "habitat" consists largely of discrete private spaces? How does one monitor backyards and gardens?

LeBuhn decided to enlist an army of volunteers.

The Great Sunflower Project is deceptively simple. In exchange for a packet of sunflower seeds, volunteers enter their garden's location, describe their garden, and promise to plant the sunflower seeds. On designated weekends, volunteers count the number of bees (and other pollinators) that visit the sunflowers, and submit their bee counts online, at the Great Sunflower Project's website.

I signed up this week, and hope to receive a seed packet through the mail soon. To help SFSU researchers eliminate unwieldy extra variables, volunteers should only use Helianthus annuus, an annual sunflower native to the Plains states.

The Outnback crew goes canyoneering in Escalante...with a little help from Mountain Hardwear.

By Ueli Steck

Thengpo Base Camp, April 20, 2008:

During our treks it happens that we do meet some very interesting personalities. So we did on Sunday, April 6, when we walked back from the Trashi Laptsa Pass back to our base camp at Thengpo.

The second "acclimatisation night" just underneath the Trashi Laptsa Pass is coming to an end. Finally and fortunately. The uneven stones have started to press painfully on our backs through the thin meadow. The weather is merciful. It begins to snow, but only after we've finished packing. At the Pachermo Peak base camp further down, which sits at 4800 meters, we spot some new tents.

Ethan Pringle joined the Mountain Hardwear team in February. Rather than put words in his mouth, I'll just let Ethan introduce himself.

By Ethan Pringle

Born and raised in the Mission district of San Francisco, I was introduced to the wonders of nature before I could walk. My parents -- semi professional windsurfers and outdoor enthusiasts -- brought me everywhere. As an infant, I was in a backpack on hikes and on the back of my mom's bicycle on coastal rides. They took me on their adventure trips in the Sierras, on the wild California coast, and abroad. By the time I was five I'd been to Canada, Mexico, Australia and several Caribbean islands, places that most people don't get to visit in their entire lives. As a toddler, I scrambled over crags at Donner Pass and over rocky shores accessible only at low tide. I loved watching wildlife and enjoying the beauty of undeveloped land. My parents taught me to ski at age three. At six, I taught myself to snowboard on an oversize board and Sorrels - back then the sport was so new that child-sized equipment was unavailable. I became fond of being high off the ground, flying through the air over table-top jumps in Tahoe freestyle parks and even entered competitions - grommet division. At seven, I fell in love with Roller hockey. I played center on a championship team and was a complete 'rink' rat, spending every minute I could on my skates.

Then I discovered climbing. I first set foot in Mission Cliffs at age eight. Mission cliffs was and still is one of the premier climbing gyms in the country and happens to be only Four blocks from my home. We stopped in there out of curiosity on my way home from hockey practice. I was instantly hooked. To me climbing made perfect sense. I got my first pair of climbing shoes (5.10 Diamonds -- woman's shoes), and harness (Petzl Hirundos, pink). Soon afterward, climbing eclipsed everything else and Mission Cliffs became my second home. I still snowboarded, but my hockey skates got dusty and were forgotten.

A few weeks ago, three guys from Vertical Solutions showed up at our headquarters to build us a bouldering wall. Al Liu photographed the process, and we'd like to share Al's photos with you.

Click here to view the photo set

By Cynthia Houng

In 1958, three English housewives went on a drive. Anne Davies, Eve Sims, and Antonia Deacock bought a Land Rover, and drove it all the way from London to Zanskar, then a part of Tibet.

The women drove 16,000 miles, and then traveled another 300 miles on foot. The entire expedition took 5 months. Along the way, the women met Jawaharlal Nehru, then the Prime Minister of India, climbed a virgin peak (now known as Wives' Peak), and crossed Afghanistan without an escort.

Ovaltine helped sponsor the trip. The company gave the women a small film camera, so they could capture footage for an Ovaltine television commercial. However, the women's footage was deemed "unusable," and Ovaltine filmed a substitute commercial in the studio. Fifty years after the expedition, Ovaltine has released film footage from the 1958 expedition, newly edited by filmmaker Martin Salter:

We are pleased to share Ueli's latest news with you--Ueli and Simon have just completed a successful first ascent of the Tengkampoche North Face, a 6500 meter peak in Nepal's Khumbu Valley.

By Ueli Steck

Thengpo base camp - Friday, April 25, 2008

Yesterday morning, Thursday, April 24 at 7 am, Simon and I reached the summit of the 6500 meter high Tengkampoche peak in Khumbu Valley. Our first ascent through its north face was completed in the alpine style and we didn't use any bolts or any fixed ropes. We needed four days to go up and down. Already quite a few expeditions tried this route before us, without success.

Nature finds you in unexpected places. I often hike in Wildcat Canyon, a park close to Mountain Hardwear's offices. On Sunday, I went on a solitary hike and chose an unfamiliar shortcut. The path, a deer path that arched down into a drainage basin that sometimes holds vernal pools, was overgrown. Weeds and thistles obscured the horizon. A snake crossed the path, and then, later, small brown voles scurried for cover.

In that overgrown jungle, I came across a set of deer tracks. Here and there, the grasses had been tamped down, the weeds' thick stems broken by some large creature.

I heard a rustling by the path, and the tall grass started to quake. Coyotes live in Wildcat Canyon, and I hoped it wasn't a coyote.

Andrew McLean is back from Alaska. Enjoy a selection of Andrew's photos:

Click here to view more photographs

While Andrew and his team were camped out, they experienced a rather unpleasant storm. Andrew captured this footage with a small point-and-shoot camera:

Click here to enlarge the photograph

We're a few days shy of May, and it seems like everyone is in Kathmandu. The 2008 expedition season is in full swing. Ben Clark and his crew are making their way towards Annapurna.

Learn more about Ben's expedition on the Annapurna IV website.

Listen to a podcast interview with Ben.

By Ben Clark

April 23, 2008, Kathmandu

"US mum on terror tag" the headline read on the Himalayan times this morning, the No.1 English Daily of Nepal. I awoke to unidentified explosions at 5AM and until I finally heard the subtle percussion and flute wafting through the thick air of Kathmandu, it seemed I could not set down my third cup of coffee. We are here, but terror? Hardly...

Kathmandu is awake later than I remember. The Prachanda, the CPN Maoist party leader is slowly gaining authority from the people and it seems peaceful. The melting pot of hippie chic and baby boomers from Europe and Asia has eclipdsed the wild eyed Everest mountaineers who just weeks ago filled the Yak and Yeti hotel. For now it is evolving more like a slow reduction, robust and patient rather than spicy and eccentric. It feels good to be here as an American, we are guests and feel welcome.

By Ben Clark

April 29, 2008

We are in the high country now, 24,688-foot tall Annapurna IV looms large above us. Still we have 13,000 ft and many days to go. Our arrival in basecamp tomorrow will signify the beginning of the true climb.

We have traveled on foot for 5 days, Tim, Josh and our cook staff and 20 porters. We are a large and slow moving unit. Each day begins with music and cheering from the porters and each night laughter cuts the darkness. This is a fun place to be and a great adventure for us all.

On April 30, we plan to move to a camp at 15,500 ft on a large step below the North ridge and thundering North face of the mountain. We will wait three days before beginning our first ascent of the mountain.

A few weeks ago, we highlighted KQED's report on mercury in the San Francisco Bay. This week, KQED follows with a report on mercury consumption. Should you eat that fish? This report might help you figure things out.

Go to KQED and learn more.