Oh man! If only I was in Salt Lake City! I would go and see the amazing slideshow tag team of Dr Normand and Mr Dempster! To see those crazy NWD packs in action! Then again, since I’m not there, you can ask them what they think of these packs…
That’s tonight, the 15th of July 2010, at the Black Diamond Retail Store — 2092 East 3900 South, Salt Lake City, UT 84124 — and it’s going to be HOT HOT HOT! 7 PM!
We continue to follow Kyle Dempster on his Piolet d’Or winning journey to China.
The next morning there was too much climbing to be done so I did not patch the hole. Looking like mountain gypsies, Jared Vilhauer and I departed base camp toting my 60L NWD and his 60L WorkSack. We both had climbing boots, snowshoes, sleeping pads, ice axes, water bottles, and tents fastened to the outside of the pack. Carrying heavy loads just plain sucks but, aside from toting around a personal Sherpa, CiloGear packs are a good way to get the job done. I found that inserting two bivy pads and the framesheet into the framesheet pocket one can really maximize padding on the back. If you are an alpine gorilla like me, the adjustability in the chest and shoulder straps will be extremely beneficial.
During our two weeks on the upper Muzart we managed two first ascents. A 1700-meter WI3 M5 on the North face of Xuelian East (6,380m), and a 1600-meter WI3 M4 on the North face of Yanamax II. I chose to remove all straps from my pack and easily carried everything needed for these three and four day climbs inside the main compartment. This creates a sleek pack that reduces any chances of snagging. I saved weight by removing the framesheet when climbing. At the bivouacs I left the bivy pad inside the main compartment and would sleep on the entire pack which provided sufficient insulation from the cold. The packs did their jobs phenomenally and no longer did I think Graham was a crazy person, CiloGear kicks ass!
After stuffing our faces back at base camp we turned our attention to the North face of Xuelain West. The technical 2,700 meter face with a summit measuring in at 6,422 meters necessitated a different strategy than the previous peaks. We climbed as a team of three, splitting loads between the 60L NWD, a 45L WorkSack, and a small and heavy crappy bag made by some other company (it was all we had). We climbed the route in five days with Jed Brown and myself swapping leads and taking turns with the other bag that became heavier and heavier after each day of water-logging. We all wished I had brought my 30L WorkSack.
The bags were holding up well after weeks of abuse and the summer was only half over.
Kelly Cordes wrote on his blog about Cerro Torre, David Lama and Red Bull. Here at CiloGear, we agree with Kelly.
In April 2010 CiloGear athletes aka CiloGear Nation strongmen Kyle Dempster, Jed Brown and Bruce Normand received the Piolet d’Or for their 2009 first ascent of the 2,650-meter north wall of Xuelian West. The following is a report from Kyle Dempster.
Two days before I departed for another Asian odyssey, Graham handed me a 60L NWD WorkSack at the Salt Lake City Outdoor Retailer Show. After inspection of the strange paper-bag-like material I immediately went out and bought a gallon of seam grip. I have never had good luck with backpack durability and I was sure three months of traveling and climbing in Asia would be the end of this insanely light rucksack.
The first test came when I crammed climbing gear, including the sharp and pointy stuff, into the pack until I reached the measly fifty pounds allotted by the airlines. It is impressive how much the thing can hold and it was scary to think about picking up the contents of the pack as they circled around the baggage claim conveyor belt piece by piece. Should I wrap the thing in duct tape, or cover it in glue? I could see through the material, would it hold up to the abuse?
Success! Not only did the pack survive the airline baggage handlers, but managed the even greater feat of getting through Chinese customs. All equipment and climbers now in China, everyone feeling strong, it was time to climb.
Well almost. First our Sino-Kazak porters would have their way with our equipment. Ten people’s gear, food, and supplies for one month made it onto the backs of fifteen horses. I grimaced when the pack, now loaded to maximum capacity at 70+lbs, was haphazardly tethered with coarse-hewn rope to the back of an overloaded animal. It sat horizontal on the side of the horse with the rope passing directly across the middle of the pack. It looked like two thirty-five pound sausage links full of climbing gear ready to explode. I smiled, “There’s no way.” Since it was the shiniest pack, we put it in the worst spot on the horse. Heck, I got the pack in exchange for some flowers!
Two days later at base camp I ate dinner, completely awestruck by one the most intimidating mountain faces I had ever seen, the north face of Xuelain West. Also amazing was that the pack had survived with only a small hole, which after twenty-three kilometers of abrasion from the rope should have been much worse. I was beginning to believe.
Stay tuned for part II…
New 30L Lid
We’ve got a new lid on the 30L WorkSacks. It’s much nicer than the old one, but it costs more to make. The price of the 30L WorkSack went up to $150, but it’s a much better pack.
Look for more pictures and an update on the main website once we’ve figured out the camera raw plug in …
(You might say that this made the pack very happy, as it’s leaning into the text of this blog post to say hi!)
CiloGear is a very small shop. We’re 4 full time people, and two part timers right now. When a cold goes around the office, it’s medieval.
Please give us a few days to get back to your phone calls and your emails. We are leveled. We’re doing what we can to ship packs and continue production, but things are a bit strained.
Thanks for your business and your continued support.
He’s sick. He’s broken. And he’s doing gimpy-ups waaaay too fast. And now, he’s training his grip strength? watch out!
Hey folks, it’s Earth Day. The first Earth Day I remember was when I was a young kid back in New York City. I recall it being a big deal Earth Day Celebration, probably the 15th anniversary or maybe the 20th, in Central Park.
It was a disaster. I can’t find links to articles about it easily, but I remember walking through the park that day and the day after. The images that remain in my head are really pretty scary: another kid breaking a sapling off to use as a walking stick, adults dropping garbage on the ground, and the trucks and trucks full of garbage driving down the street I grew up on taking stuff to the dump.
Here at CiloGear, we’ve got a slogan that says Ethics + Action. We want to leave a world behind that still works when we’re gone, either from this business or from this earth. We want to add action to our ethics. That said, CiloGear is a manufacturing company, and so the following is at least in part sophistry.
Folks often ask us about recycling packs, but we’ve yet to come up with a decent solution to that. Even with our annual production of about 2,000 packs here in Portland, we’re too small of a business to be able to demand more recycled content in our packs. CiloGear works hard to reduce our environmental impact in our supply chain. We are in an old, green building with lots of natural light. We buy most of our materials from US manufacturers so we’ve got short supply chains and (probably) very clean suppliers.
In memory of the 100 tons of garbage that people left in the Central park of my childhood memory, CiloGear is going to examine our garbage today and see if there is anything we can improve. Even though we make more than 5 packs a day, we generate only 33 gallons or so of garbage every other week. We keep pretty much all of our scrap and turn it into packs. Some scrap goes to a local puppet company, and what we throw out is basically dust.
This Earth Day, CiloGear is going to start seeing what we can NOT throw out. Either we’ll reuse it, or we’ll recycle it, or we won’t even use it in the first place. How about doing the same thing? How about trying to reduce your garbage by half by next year.
We’re going to try…
Kyle, Jed and Bruce won the Piolet D’Or for their climb The Great White Jade Heist, which was done with (naturally) CiloGear WorkSacks. Kyle had a NWD 60 on the trip, and they used that pack to carry all their crap.
Alpinist, Rock & Ice and I’m sure others will offer their opinions.
Here at CiloGear, we just say Bravo, guys. That’s pretty cool.
Cedar Wright and company put out a new short film yesterday featuring Matt Segal. I can’t stop laughing…Thank God for the Alpine Training Center!
