I thought I’d put down my thoughts on the gear I used on the recent ice climbing and photo shoot in the French Alps. Rab have been very kind in looking after all my gear needs over the past 12 months and its my first choice when I head into the hills . The combination of warmth for the weight is outstanding and they make very good value clothing as well . Normally in our damp little island of Britain I feel cold when it drops below 10C but the dry cold air in the Alps I find much more suitable to my body and if I’m climbing will rarely have more than 2 layers on , even when the temps are in the sub -10C . An amazing bit of kit is the Aeon T shirt and long sleeve version . Its as if its made out of some sort of magic stuff but as soon as I put this on I feel instantly warmer . My main shell is the Baltoro guide jacket , a soft shell with just enough fleece grid pile on the inside to keep you warm enough and couple this up with a Meco base layer and we’re toasty warm .On this last trip I was hanging around a fair bit shooting and I’d add a third layer of the Xenon jacket . This is truly brilliant , small , lightweight and warm . This would go under my Baltoro jacket if I knew I was hanging around for a while but I could climb in it as well as the movement of the arms is still very good as its not bulky in any way. The big problem for photographers is having enough warmth to keep your fingers functional but enough dexterity to be able to press the small recessed buttons to preview images , change settings and generally just feel what the heck you’re doing . The Rab Alpine gloves are by far the best gloves for me, I can press all the buttons quickly without faff and its warm enough for an hour or so hanging around . If it was much longer than this then I’d put some mitts on top of the Alpine gloves but I never needed to . In a few weeks timehHave four days on the Ben based at the CIC hut photographing Glenmore Lodge running their ice climbing course, so a much damper proposition altogether . I think I’ll have more than 2 layers on for that gig !
