The NW Alpine Blog of Alpine Pursuits — product

Our as-of-yet unnamed softshell jacket will be available in early Fall. Like all of our gear it's simple, constructed from the best materials and made for climbing.

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I've never been a big fan of gaiters. I've always thought they were annoying and somewhat goofy looking. I never really liked the way pants bunch up over the top of them when on the move, and on multi-day routes the velcro inevitably gets loaded with chunks of snow and is generally really annoying. Then they look silly, or at least the bright red ones I used to rock do, observe:

Looking goofy on the 2nd ascent of Pineapple Express, Northwest Face of Mt. Snoqualmie, WA. Marcus Donaldson photo

I also never liked tucking the gaiters under my pant legs, because if I was going to wear the damn things they might as well protect my expensive pants from my sloppy crampon work.

I haven't worn gaiters in a really long time and now I exclusively use the bungee cord method pictured below. All of our pants come equipped with grommets that allow the user to run the bungee cord under the boot heel and be gaiter free. There may be some scenarios where gaiters are still useful, but I think you'll probably find them few and far between once you deploy this method.

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My friend Sue and I headed up to Hood this morning to take advantage of the copious snow pack that still remains. Those of you that live in the NW have probably noted that we've had a dearth of nice sunny days so far this summer. One upside to this unfortunate fact is that there's still skiing to be had. It was a beautiful, crisp morning with incredible, clear views of Mt. Jefferson, the Sisters and Broken Top.

Sue wore her salopette. She's petite, 5'6" (1.67m) with a 30" inseam and the XS fits her perfectly. The through-the-crotch zipper provides a convenient way to use the facilities regardless of what equipment you're packing and the softshell fabric we use is just that, a shell, so there's no insulation to help you overheat once the work begins. Like all of our gear, it's simple, elegant and functional whether you're enjoying summer turns or ripping it up on your next hard winter project.

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At NW Alpine we're trying to be as transparent as possible about where our products come from. As you can imagine, it's not always easy but we're dedicated to sourcing as much locally and domestically as we possibly can. The new Black Spider Light hoody is no exception.

1. Fleece comes from a mill in Massachusetts

2. Zippers come from a factory in Los Angeles

3. Pocket fabric is the only thing imported

All of our care and logo labels are made in the USA, and as with all of our apparel, they are cut and sewn right here in Oregon. Brendan is a Colorado native currently residing in Boulder.

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