In order to keep my ear close to the ground in the ski touring world, I am going on a ski touring trip! (It’s not a holiday, honest!) A week in the Bernese Oberland in Switzerland, in the company of Mountain Tracks guides Matt Dickinson and Olly Allen. Weather permitting there will be the chance to summit a 4000m peak and ski some pretty amazing decents without ever going below 2000m. I will of course be testing some new kit, mainly a new lightweight range of CAMP hardware that we thinking of stocking next winter plus the Compressor and Prolite Jackets from Mountain Equipment.
So nothing on the blog for the next 10 days or so but a full report on kit and experience when I return.

Lots of new summer clothing from Helly hansen including some bike specific products.

Helly Hansen SLX Seamless Top £35.00 Super comfortable & light performance top

Helly Hansen Seamless Mens Boxer £17.00 Synthetic underwear for a complete clothing system.

Helly Hansen Transporter Short Sleeve £20.00 Relaxed synthetic T for warm environments.

Helly Hansen Trailwizard Short Sleeve £35.00 Multi panel top for warm environments.

Helly Hansen Trailwizard Long Sleeve £40.00 Long sleeve top for warm environments

Helly Hansen Jaeger MTB 3/4 Sleeve £35.00 MTB Freeride Jersey

Helly Hansen Gaupe MTB Short Sleeve £40.00 Classic cycle jersey with 3 pockets.

Helly Hansen Womens Lifa V Neck T £23.99 Short Sleeve V neck classic Lifa.

Helly Hansen Womens Move T £20.00 Relaxed fit T to keep you cool and dry.

Helly Hansen Womens Trailwizard Short Sleeve £35.00 Technical multi panel top for warm environments.

Current Vacancies at facewest.co.uk - last updated 24 April 2008

We currently have 2 vacancies:

Customer Services Rep. - Closing Date for applications 10 June 2008
We require a Customer Services assistant to work within the customer service operations of our busy sales office. You will use your excellent outdoor industry knowledge and customer service skills to ensure our customers receive the best service in the industry.
Details Here.

Customer Service Rep / Website Administrator - Closing Date for applications 10 June 2008
We require a Customer service rep / Website administrator to work within our busy sales office. You will use your excellent outdoor industry knowledge and customer service skills to ensure our customers receive the best service in the industry. You will also assist our website team in providing new and up to date content.
Details Here

New to us at Facewest this season are Marmot sleeping bags, both Down and Synthetic. We have always known how good they are but until we expanded our camping and trekking product lines we just didn’t have the space for them, but now we do! When comparing the Marmot to Mountain Equipment bags you do have to bear in mind that the down is rated using a different system in the US to Europe. I have pointed this out wherever possible but suffice it to say that the top bags use the top down from each manufacturer and so on down the ranges.

Marmot 850 Fill (US) Range 850 Fill (US Standard) Down Lightweight sleeping Bags. Superb warmth to weight & packability. Prices £166.50 - 283.50

Marmot 600 Fill (US) Range 600 Fill (US Standard) sleeping bags. Excellent value, warm & comfy bags for those who are not obsessed by size and weight. £117 - 171

Marmot Pounder Range 2 or 3 season Polarloft insulated bags. Comfortable, warm and east to care for. Prices £90 - 108

To go along with all the sleeping bags and sleeping mats that we have been selling we thought that we should offer a greater range of tents. None of your fall down in a puff of wind supermarket tents these are, as always, well designed and well made from respected brands.

Marmot Earlylight Tent £115.00 Excellent value tent for general outdoor use. 2400g.

Exped Scout Tarp Extreme £135.00 Lightweight Tarp.

Marmot Eos 1P £135.00 1 Person superlight tent. 1250g.

Marmot Zonda 2P Tent £189.00 Ultralight roomy tent for the weight conscious. 2100g.

Mountain Equipment AR Ultralite 2 £200.00 Superlight Double Skinned Tent. 1200g.

Marmot Nusku 2P £247.50 2 person 3 pole geodesic dome. 2780g.

Mountain Equipment Refuge 3 £250.00 Large family dome tent. 4670g.

Marmot Thor 2P Tent £299.00 6 pole design, super strong, 4 season high mountain expedition tent. 3800g

Marmot Asgard 2P Tent £342.00 2 Person Spacious Super Tent. 4550g.

Mountain Equipment Dragonfly 2XT £350.00 4 season 2 person tent with extended porch. 2270g.

The lightweight and excellent value DLP waterproofs from Mountain Equipment and the Precip jackets from Marmot are now on sale. Great summer weight rainwear.

Mountain Equipment DLP Jacket £69.99 Now £41.99 Award winning waterproof in 2 layer Drilite Plus. 480g.

Mountain Equipment DLP Pant £50 Now £30.00 Light waterproof pant with full side zips. Ski boot compatible. 240g.

Mountain Equipment Womens DLP Jacket £69.99 Now £41.99 Award winning waterproof in 2 layer Drilite Plus. 480g.

Mountain Equipment Womens DLP Pant £69.99 Now £30.00 Light waterproof pant with full side zips. Ski Boot Compatible. 230g.

Marmot Womens PreCip Jacket 2007 £63 Now £47.25 Light excellent value waterproof with pitzips. 312g.

No blog entry for 2 months, I should be shot! I was on holiday for 1 month and had planned a few entries from the chalet but the router was up the spout so no internet connection. As for the 2 weeks before I went and the 2 weeks since, I have no excuse.
Please be assured that postings have been resumed.

Stu

All these seasons Merino Wool (is there another sort?) is now on sale at 20% off. Happy Shopping.

Womens Wool Base Layer

Mens Wool Base Layer

The new Pieps Freeride is a single antenna digital avalanche transceiver that weighs only 110g and costs only £109

Please read the full story HERE

It’s finally arrived. The new pared down and stripped out lightweight Leatherman Skeletool. £59.95
.
Stainless Steel Blade, pliers, bit holder with 4 bits, bottle opener and belt clip are the main points of the Skeletool. Ideal for those that want a multi tool without the bulk.

Coming in about 4 weeks is the Skeletool CX, which is the carbon fibre handled version of the Skeletool for even more wight saving, £79.95 and also the Leatherman Freestyle which is a simplified version of the Skeletool at £39.95.