Posts by Wills
I can't speak for the Scottish winter and there definitely are differences to the Alps. But still I can give you an overview what is important to learn if you are going to do alpine summer tours in...
You can find smaller backpacks called daypacks but regarding the actual activity they are mostly around 25-35 litre. Smaller packs are often used for biking, trailrunning and as climbing backpack. ...
Being a climber one aim is to toughen up your hands (related: How to toughen up hands?). Building up callused skin is important but how do you keep it? Having dry hands especially from the climbing...
Searching an ice axe for what I would call classical alpine terrain isn't that tough in my opinion. There might be fancy new features and very durable items (T-classification) but those might not b...
Always drinking pure water can be boring and tasteless, especially when you have to filtrate it or use sterilizer/purification tabs which might cause the water to taste really bad. What are easy (...
Reading this answer and especially the comments leads me to questions: Should one use Aspirin in high altitudes? Should one use it as a precaution or only when actually getting headache or othe...
As far as I know canoeing is the generic term which contains e.g. canadians and kayaks. What do I have to look for as an absolute water sports beginner in terms of: costs knowledge (eskimo roll a...
Although @ReverendGonzo gave a nice answer I want to start a little debate. There is no explicit answer to this question. Different alpine clubs have different opinions and even different mountain ...
In my opinion you should also take the hybrid helmets into account. As far as I know, hardshell helmets are more robust than foam ones but they are heavier. That's also the reason they invented th...
I would like to do a winter bivouac but have no gear for it yet. Especially the choice of a bivi pack is really tough for me because I'd prefer to be able to use it also in summer as a rescue item ...
There is emergency equipment to survive nights, like emergency blankets and bivouac packs. As opposed to this, if you plan to stay overnight on winter trips (e.g. in the Alps) you don't just want ...
I recently started to write a little tour book. The main reason for this was, I was told some guides want to see this as requirement to take you along. Is this true? If so, for which tours/organ...
I don't think it is difficult to give an exact correlation between running time and hiking endurance. I think this is impossible. I will give you an example from myself: I am not a good runner be...
Being young, athletic, fit and having great conditions won't help you if you are missing experience in techniques/tactics required when going over glaciers. Kilimanjaro is a high altitude mountain,...
It's not a myth. In Sweden allemansrätten (lit. "the everyman's right") is a freedom granted by the Constitution of Sweden. Since 1994 the Instrument of Government says that notwithstanding the...
Inspired by a comment by Kate Gregory I just have to ask this question: What to do on your spare time while being at the campsite? Being outdoors several days while having good friends around an...
Referring to @theJollySin's answer: In Europe the mountains aren't that high but you still have to go over glaciers on most routes to the high summits. So you need to learn some basic safety/rope ...
I recently read an German article about merino wool which is well worth reading. I am just posting it here because I know you are German too @Paul. What you can expect by merino wool (and I think ...
You are using your old used sneaker-like city-shoes, sport-shoes or jogging-shoes to go hiking? Well, those are made for really flat paths without lots of surface irregularities and they aren't des...
Searching online I found lots of useful informations, like e.g. wiki says: The accuracy of step counters varies widely between devices. Typically, step counters are reasonably accurate at a wal...
In general you can't do that much in two weeks, regardless being 20 or 80 years old. It depends on your general fitness level and your life habits. If you usually are a healthy living (wo)man, bein...
As I started indoor climbing this year I would like to know what distinguishes it from outdoor sport climbing, especially when you are lead climbing. I know that there are huge differences in safe...
Last year I was taught an approximation by a mountaineer guide. It is an average and worked quite well for me. Of course you need adaption for alpine tours (3000m+), physical condition, weather, ex...
Yes, the R-value will add of your different layers. If you wear layer A with R=5 and layer B with R=2.5, the overall insulation value will be R=7.5. To explain this a bit, we think of two layers...
I own Haglöfs Grepp Glove which are quite thin but have a Windstopper membrane. I like those gloves because they offer great grip. But I am also a bit confused because I got really cold fingers on ...
