A day in the alpine can bring a little bit of everything: hiking, rock, snow, choss, hanging belays, and multiple rappels. “After my first eight hours in this harness, I was sold,” said one tester after a late summer scramble-snow-rock ascent of Rocky Mountain National Park’s Longs Peak. “I felt unencumbered while climbing and hiking. Then, after falling off ice laps a week later, I found the wide, padded waist and leg loops to be perfectly comfortable.” A double-buckle waist ensures you can size the harness just right, and gear loops just behind the hips and at the back (four loops total) keep gear out of the way while highstepping or hiking to the next pitch. Adjustable leg loops and a drop seat allow for thicker layers and nature calls on snow climbs. At 16 oz., this harness isn’t super light, but it’s a comfortable cruiser you can use year-round.

Ask a group of climbers what their favorite standby quickdraw is, and the majority will answer with the Petzl Spirit Express. Petzl decided to give this classic draw a facelift, while managing to drop the price by $4. Each biner has been tweaked to maximize performance for its specific duty. The bolt-end biner is a specialized key-lock that sports a cleaner nose, which means less catch on the bolt and less fumble on the gear loops. Petzl flattened the outside of the rope-end biner’s gate, which is curved, so it receives a rope more smoothly. Testers found the clipping action of both biners snappy and easy to perform. An increase in the surface area of the rope basket will reduce the erosion of that high-friction area, so it won’t turn into a rope-damaging sharp edge. Lastly, Petzl redesigned the dogbone (available in two lengths: 12cm and 17cm) by giving it an ergonomic grip shape (smaller at the top and wider at the bottom), making it easier to grab onto when working routes.

You could sit on the cold, hard ground. Or you could be more civilized (and way more comfortable) with this laid-back chair. You hover six inches above the ground, cradled in a mini-hammock of nylon. “Crazy pleasant,” mused one tester. It packs up to 17.5” x 5” x 5”, and earned bonus points for its aluminum frame, which has enough flex to allow rocking.

“Its charm and perfection come from what it lacks,” said a tester who took this 38-liter pack out for multi-pitch days in Eldorado Canyon, Colorado, through the winter. “It’s refreshingly simple with no bottle openers, crampon patches, or ice tool loops. Just functional and sturdy.” Credit a design that’s catered specifically to rock climbing. A fold-over lid closure allows for easy over-stuffing, while a long vertical zipper gives instant access to your load. The suspension, an EVA molded foam back panel and aluminum stay, handles more weight than you’d think. Even with a 70-meter rope, rack, harness, shoes, chalkbag, food and water, it was comfortable. The few bells and whistles on this 2 lb., 12 oz. bag were useful: a stealthy accessory pocket in the lid flap, hydration sleeve, and two compression straps (great for strapping on a belay jacket).

Svelte, ultralight carabiners tend to slide around in quickdraws, even when the draw is cinched tight with an elastic band or bartacking—this can leave the biner cockeyed and hard to clip. Not so with these Metolius draws, which have a rubber fitting that loops up around the biner and locks it in place (Metolius calls this the JIG). The carabiners on these draws are the Bravo wire-gates, which weigh just over an ounce but test to 24kN (major axis) and an impressive 10kN open-gate strength. “I had no clipping issues whatsoever with everything from my thin 9.1mm rope to a ‘fat’ 10mm,” said one tester. The draws, available in 5- and 7-inch lengths, are sewn from waterresistant Monster webbing (a Dyneema/nylon blend), making them a good choice for ice and alpine routes, too.

When waterproof-breathable shells venture below 10 oz., you might have to make sacrifices, like non-adjustable cuffs or hood or limited breathability. Not so with the 6.9-oz. Focus LT: Testers praised this Spartan-but-useful jacket for blocking rain but never getting clammy and called it one of the best three-season hardshells they’d worn. The secret sauce is the latest version of eVent (called DVL), which uses a printed “screen” to protect the waterproofbreathable membrane rather than a liner, saving ounces. Features are few but effective: The helmetcompatible hood cinches down to stymie blowing rain, and the cuffs seal tight with Velcro. The fit is trim, and we don’t recommend for cold-weather layering. Bottom line: a hardshell that works when you need it to and doesn’t weigh down your pack when you don’t.

Patagonia’s own version of water-resistant down ups the ante by boosting loft to an astonishing 1,000-fill. They zap 800-fill down with radio waves until its molecular structure changes, allowing the plumes to accept a silicone DWR treatment without the use of chemical binders. The coating augments and strengthens the loft too, supercharging the fill power. The jacket is differentially cut (outer shell fabric is larger than the inner lining, so it molds around your body) and baffled (no sewnthrough seams). Testers from Vermont to Colorado used it in bone-cracking cold, from ice climbing to skiing to mountaineering, and all proclaimed it to be the most instantly warm jacket they’ve used. “It heated my core so effectively that warm blood even thawed my wooden hands.” The Encapsil is limited edition (only 1,000 jackets), but Patagonia plans to expand the line in the fall.

The Access Fund released a statement: “The NPS included many of the specific provisions Access Fund advocated for during our 20+ years of work on this issue, such as programmatic authorizations (which allow new bolts by zone, not just case-by-case permitting for individual routes/bolts) and interim fixed anchor permitting prior to the establishment of dedicated climbing management plans. We are still analyzing the new policy, but first impressions are that this direction is good for both wilderness climbers and NPS managers… Stay tuned for more in-depth analysis in the near future.”

A copy of the new policy is available for viewing here.

In Climbing’s March issue (no. 313), Jeff Achey wrote about the history of this controversial policy, which dates back to 1964, when Congress passed the Wilderness Act to protect about 110 million acres in the country. In 1988, Arizona briefly banned bolts, which led to the U.S. Forest Service to intervene to study the issue in 1990. Eight years later, the Forest Service expanded the ban, and since, negotiations have amounted to little conclusions about where fixed bolts are acceptable. Read the comprehensive and fascinating account here.

On the day you summited, Edmund Hillary predicted the team would turn back due to a fierce storm, but you and Sherpa Nawang Gombu pushed on. Why?
That came from my guiding experience on Mt. Rainier. A fierce storm would be battering the hut, so I’d cancel the climb, but sometimes it cleared and my clients would be disappointed. After that, I decided no matter the weather, I would start them out, and this proved to be fruitful. When I was up at 27,500 feet with Gombu in a tent, being hammered like you wouldn’t believe, I thought of the years of preparation, of losing Jake [expedition member Jake Breitenbach, a Tetons guide, died crossing the Khumbu Icefall on March 23, 1963], and of the whole team hoping we made it. We had to take a chance.

You told Gombu to go first to the summit, but he wouldn’t, and you summited together.
There was a great debate about who got to the summit first with Hillary and Tenzing, and I felt it clouded the fact they had both climbed the mountain. So we walked side by side and reached the summit together.

What were your thoughts when you learned about Hornbein and Unsoeld’s success?
We didn’t hear from them initially, and that was terrifying. It wasn’t until the next morning that we learned they were bivouacked. Of course, I was delighted when they made it. The West Ridge was an incredible climb—a real coup de grâce.

What is your greatest lasting memory?
Norman Dyhrenfurth doesn’t get a lot of recognition, but he had the idea, raised the money, and led one hell of an expedition. I also remember coming off the mountain from the death zone, where nothing lives, to find the team stopped ahead of me. “Look at that, Jim,” they said. And you know what it was? It was a beautiful blade of emerald-green grass.

Tom Hornbein

What inspired you to attempt the West Ridge?
We wanted more uncertainty in our diet. If getting to the summit was the only goal, then you would choose the route most likely to get you there, which the team also achieved. But there was a subset of us who had a dream to pursue the West Ridge—we wanted an adventure where the outcome was truly in doubt.

Tell me about the dynamics of the expedition, where two teams had different objectives.
It was unique with two teams competing for resources. All credit to Dyhrenfurth in choosing the teams he did and making the decisions he did. Unlike Hunt’s expedition on the first ascent of Everest, we were all involved in making decisions. It was definitely a more precious aspect of the experience for me— all of us working together. [John Hunt, a British Army Brigadier and mountaineer, led a military-style assault on Everest, with Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay becoming the first to summit the peak on May 29, 1953.]

Your teammates referred to what is now called the Hornbein Couloir as Hornbein’s Avalanche Trap.
It’s nice to have a little piece of real estate named after me. It’s a thin line of snow going up the North Face, but we couldn’t see much until we reached the West Shoulder. I thought it would be the best way to get as high as possible before we might run into trouble. We had a tremendous storm a few days prior, which wreaked havoc on Camp 4W. But perhaps it was a blessing in disguise, as it scoured the couloir of unstable snow, making for nearideal conditions.

How would you like this expedition to be remembered?
You either summit, or you don’t. This is not unique. The unique thing here is that the expedition happened at all. It was Dyhrenfurth’s dream. He secured sponsorship, formed a team, planned the expedition— and it was a success.

Jim Whittaker (b. 1929)
First American to summit Everest

A climbing powerhouse, Whittaker was in charge of expedition equipment planning, and he summited Everest with Sherpa Nawang Gombu on May 1, 1963. Whittaker also made the first American ascent of K2 in 1978, and led the successful Mt. Everest International Peace Climb in 1990. He was the first full-time employee of REI and was the company’s CEO in the 1960s. His son, Leif, has followed in Whittaker’s legendary footsteps and climbed Everest twice.

Click here to read an interview with Jim Whittaker.

Barry Bishop (1932–1994)
South Col summit team

A polar researcher and photographer, Bishop summited Everest with Lute Jerstad on May 22, 1963. A forced bivouac at 27,450 feet resulted in the loss of all his toes and the tips of his little fingers. Prior to summiting Everest, Bishop joined Sir Edmund Hillary on a scientific expedition to the Himalayas in 1961 and 1962. Then, Bishop and team made the first ascent of Ama Dablam, which was also the first winter ascent in the Himalayas.

Lute Jerstad (1936–1998)
South Col summit team

An actor, teacher, and veteran Mt. Rainier guide, Jerstad summited Everest on May 22, 1963, with Barry Bishop, and was the fi rst to carry a video camera to the top of the world. After returning to the States, he earned a doctorate in drama and taught at the University of Oregon and Lewis & Clark College. Later, he formed Lute Jerstad Adventures, specializing in trips to India and Nepal. He died of a heart attack on Mt. Kala Patar in Nepal.

Willi Unsoeld (1926–1979)
West Ridge summit team

A legend among mountaineers, Tetons guide, “metaphysician,” and ace raconteur, Unsoeld summited via the West Ridge on May 22, 1963, with Tom Hornbein. Due to a high bivouac on the descent, Unsoeld lost nine toes to frostbite—and proudly kept them in a jar of formaldehyde. He went on to become Nepal’s Peace Corps director, speaker for Outward Bound, and assistant professor in philosophy and religion at Oregon State. He died in an avalanche during a winter climb of Mt. Rainier.

Tom Hornbein (b. 1930)
West Ridge summit team

An anesthesiologist and researcher of human performance at high altitude, Hornbein summited on May 22, 1963, with Willi Unsoeld via the West Ridge. He designed the oxygen masks used for the Everest expedition after having difficulty with his mask during an ascent of Masherbrum in the Karakorum in 1960. He went on to become chairman of the Department of Anesthesiology at the University of Washington School of Medicine. He lives in Estes Park, Colorado.

Click here to read an interview with Tom Hornbein.

Norman Dyhrenfurth (b. 1918)
Expedition leader

A Swiss-American climber, expedition leader, cameraman, and director, Dyhrenfurth conceived, won funding for, organized, and f lmed the historic 1963 American expedition to Mt. Everest. He was the dean of UCLA’s fi lm school in the 1950s, led several other Himalayan expeditions (including the 1952 Swiss Expedition which reached 28,199 feet), and produced a number of mountaineering films. Today, Dyhrenfurth lives in Salzburg, Austria.