Big wall climbing. I've never done it and, to be honest, I know
very, very few people who have and most of those are probably best
described as semi-professional mountaineers, or just professional
ones.
Most people simple don't have the drive, opportunity or skills to
spend several days living on a glorified window cleaner's lift while
edging their way up a sheet of blank North American granite. Which
rather begs the question of why Berghaus has just thrown its
might behind a new range of specialist big wall clothing and
equipment.
Super Specialised
Developed
over three years in conjunction with their sponsored climbers Leo
Houlding and Alex Hüber, the range is probably the most
specialised kit the north east-based company has ever come up with
and consists of stuff like haul bags, a waterproof inside and out
insulated belay jacket to be used in conjunction with a semi-insulated
specialist bivvy bag, shell and softshell and so on.
So what's it for? The obvious answer is the small number of
British climbers who tackle big walls, but the reality is that most
of those guys and girls are sponsored already like, well, Leo
Houlding, who features heavily in the ad' push behind the campaign.
Leo won't be buying Berghaus Big Wall because he gets it for
free.
Edgy...
It's a very impressive ad campaign too, at a cinema near you now
and featuring Leo slacklining high above the Yosemite Valley in an
edgy, adrenaline-junky sort of way, but what about the kit?
On paper, or screen even, it looks like it might be adaptable to
work well in other climbing environments, but after getting hold of a
shell and a belay jacket to test, we're not so sure.
Take the beacon orange belay jacket. It's Primaloft insulated and
waterproof both inside and out, so it can be worn over soaked
clothing without compromising the insulation value. We thought it
might also be a great belay mate in, say, frozen, damp, Scotland or
even the Alps.
Heavy Duty KIt...
The
problem is that for all its rugged promise, it weighs a ton and packs
big. Fine if you're hauling kit up a big wall, less attractive if you
have to carry it up to the bottom of, say, Tower Ridge or hammer in
to Lochnagar for a short winter's day. Oh, and it costs 300-odd
quid.
The Gore-Tex XCR Solipsist shell jacket is similarly butch and
similarly priced with a massively over-built, super-rugged feel to it
and with ostentatious iron-on reinforcement patches on shoulders and
elbow plus a so-called Gasket Cuff double seal system at the wrists
designed to stop rain from running down your sleeves when you're
climbing in the big wall equivalent of a waterfall.
To be fair, the Solipsist, is more versatile than the belay jacket
and the same, we suspect goes for the softshell pants and mid-layer
garments, but it still costs £300 and at 740 grammes or so, is
around 200 grammes heavier than perfectly serviceable and cheaper XCR
mountaineering shell from another brand.
I couldn't even tell you whether it's any good for big wall
climbing. It's so specialist and the market's so small, which
ultimately begs the question of what it's actually for apart from
keeping young Leo warm and dry of course...
Flagships That Pass In The Night
Here's
a thought, the majority of Berghaus kit and outdoors kit generally
isn't bought by committed Himalayan climbers, but by more general
users who are reassured the the technical mountaineering credentials
of companies like Berghaus.
'If Chris Bonington wore a Berghaus jacket on Everest, then it'll
keep me dry on Kinder,' is kind of how it goes. Big Wall fits into
that tradition. 'If Berghaus can make clothing for nutty Leo, then
they can make it for sane little me' might be the big wall
corrollary. It's a flagship sort of thing, or a 'hero product' as
those crazy marketing guys might say.
And of course, with luck, those funky technical looks will wow the
crossover, fashion folk as well and make for young, sexy, modish
streetwear sales, not that that's the idea, of course.
Is it a niche too far? Time and sales, I guess, will tell... You
do wonder though, why Berghaus hasn't done the obvious and created a
range of fantastic-looking but functional Houlding-signature outdoor
gear. Stuff that Leo might choose to wear even if he wasn't sponsored
by the company. Now that would be interesting.
More about the Berghaus BIg Wall range at www.berghaus.com
Dave Mycroft
