Gear Check!

With our departure just a week away, we have been spending the last couple of evenings checking our gear and trying to justify some new purchases. 

In many ways, my obsession with climbing gear is much like my wife's obsession with shoes - a couple of magazine ads or an review online and my credit card is out and ready to take a beating! From packs to hard shells to soft shells to boots to carabiners, if the gear boasts some new technology I'm a buyer... My only regret is we can't combine my wife's high fashion shoe pictorials with our gear ads - why can't La Sportiva get Gisele to model the latest double plastic boots in a skimpy outfit?

The one advantage our climate provides is that we can actually use the gear and put it to the test before we hit the mountain - there is nothing like a -40C day to test that down parka and glove system! This becomes a justification to our wives when we purchase some new gear ... "I bought this $700 parka so I'll be able to snowblow the yard all winter!!!" These type of excuses usually meet with a lukewarm response, if not outright hostility.

In any event, our packs will be full again for this trip, although the length of the trip and presence of permanent lodging and cooking facilities will reduce our load somewhat. You can see the gear list HERE... (the list comes directly from 7 Summits Club's website, the spelling is not mine).

Before my last gear check, I need to find a way to retrieve my most cherished piece of gear - down booties that I can wear in camp. These booties keep my toes warm without having to wear shoes or boots, and are an essential part of any climbing trip. They were lent to Adam after he summited Aconcagua and have not been returned! I have received several ransom notes and while the booties have been promised back, they have yet to make their way into my bag.