Even after years of first-hand experience, it’s hard for Don Bowie to believe just how harsh winter in the Himalaya can be. High winds scour the mountains of snow, leaving behind rock and bulletproof ice. Temperatures regularly drop to -50 degrees—as low as -80 with wind chill.
Kaspar Podgorski should have died. Instead, he was left with a broken femur at the base of a cliff with wet, technical fourth-class terrain separating him from the road. A team of volunteer climbers and rescuers rallied together to get him out.
On July 2, 2020, Zach Eiten survived a sudden torrent of rockfall while climbing Montana's Granite Peak. He was left stranded with a broken foot, over ten miles from the trailhead and with storms on their way.
Since launching the Rocky Talkie in November 2019, our team has been collecting feedback from customers and our product testing team. Despite the feedback being overwhelmingly positive, we identified 10 enhancements to further perfect the Rocky Talkie as the go-to adventure radio. Starting July 2020, all radios sold will include these enhancements.
Stoke tanks full, we set out to the Asulkan valley in hopes to find pillow lines and cold smoke tucked away in the fog. As we got out of the car and began to gear up, I decided that now was the perfect time to surprise the crew with the new set of Rocky Talkies I had picked up. I knew a good set of radios were essential to have before making our ascent into the wilderness of British Columbia, and everyone was stoked to put them to the test! As we headed up the skin track, the first order of business was to come up with a few radio nicknames for ourselves. Mine was Bald Eagle.
Understanding how far hand-held radios can communicate is one of the most confusing parts of buying a radio. Most radio manufacturers advertise maximum ranges under ideal conditions. However, the actual usable range of radios changes drastically situation to situation and is usually no where close to the maximum range listed...
I perched on a small ledge high above the glacier, my feet crammed into cold climbing shoes and neck craned upwards to where the rope snaked out of sight into the broken rock features above. My partner and I had made a long anticipated trip to the Bugaboos in British Columbia, and after several days of non-stop rain were hoping to move quickly and safely up the classic Northeast ridge of Bugaboo Spire before the next storm rolled in. I glanced down at the remaining few coils of rope at my feet and reached for the radio clipped to my pack’s shoulder strap - “Ten Feet!” I said. “Microtraxion on!” my partner’s voice came back over the radio. I keyed the mic once more as the last loop of rope rose off the ledge; “Climbing!” We moved upwards together...