HIGH, COLD ALPINISM IS A BIT OF A BLIND SPOT IN GEAR IN GENERAL, AND HARNESSES IN PARTICULAR. THERE’S OBVIOUSLY LOTS OF ICE CLIMBING HARNESSES, AND NOWDAYS PLENTY OF SKIMO AND 8000m JUGGING HARNESSES, BUT THE SPACE IN BETWEEN HAS BEEN BASICALLY OWNED BY BLUE ICE FOR A LONG TIME.
THIS IS A HARNESS THAT NEEDS TO PROPERLY FUNCTION AS ONE, FOR LOTS OF RAPPELING, HANGING BELAYS, AIDING AND OCCASIONAL FALLS, BUT ALSO NEEDS TO CARRY CARRY GEAR, BE EASY TO GET ON AND OFF WITH GLOVES, INSIDE A SLEEPING BAG AND OVER CRAMPONS, AND BE AS UNOBTRUSIVE AS POSSIBLE FOR THE CONSTANT MOVEMENT OF CLIMBING.
SKINNY LITTLE GLACIER HARNESSES DON’T DO IT BECAUSE THEY DON’T LOAD PROPERLY TO SIT IN AND THEY FOLD TO STRING WHEN LOADED WITH HARDWARE. ICE AND TRAD HARNESSES GO TOO FAR THE OTHER WAY AND HAVE ALL THE BITS BUT ARE BULKY OVER ALL THE LAYERS OF HIGH ALTITUDE CLOTHING, AND SPORT HARNESSES ARE IMPOSSIBLE TO MANAGE OVER BIG BOOTS.
WHAT BLUE ICE GETS RIGHT IS THE MASS AND FEATURES OF A TRUE HI ALT HARNESS. WHAT THEY GET WRONG IS THE ERGONOMICS AND STRUCTURE, MAKING THEM FIDDLY AND A BIT WIMPY TO LOAD. IT’S A SIGN THEY CAME VERY CLOSE IN THAT IT TOOKS ABOUT FIVE YEARS TO BE BETTERED, BUT NOW THEY HAVE BEEN AND THE EDELRID PRISMA GUIDE IS EXCEPTIONAL
.
WHY ‘GUIDE’ IS UNEXPLAINED, OTHER THAN TO DIFFERENTIATE THIS FROM THE REGULAR PRISMA THAT DOESN’T HAVE THE RELEASABLE LEG LOOPS. WE THINK THIS IS A BAD NAME CHOICE AS ‘GUIDE’ USUALLY REFERS TO SOMETHING MORE HEAVY DUTY, LESS REFINED, MORE BULKY AND DUMBED DOWN, AIMED AT COMMERCIAL USE – ALL THINGS THE PRISMA GUIDE CLEARLY IS NOT.
THE IMMEDIATE FEATURE IS THE PRISMA GUIDE’S PROPER GEAR LOOPS – FINALLY A HI ALT HARNESS THAT RACKS UP PROPERLY. IRRELEVANT TO THE FIXED LINE JUGGERS, THIS IS A BIG DEAL TO ALPINISTS WHO CARRY A MIX OF PERSONAL AND SHARED RACK. BEYOND JUST BEING GOOD, SEMI-RIGID, PROTRUDING LOOPS THAT ARE STILL LIGHT ENOUGH TO SQUASH AWAY UNNOTICED UNDER A PACK, THERE ARE FOUR OF THEM LIKE A GROWN UP HARNESS, PLUS TWO NON-RIGID LOOPS TO FIT IT OUT WITH THE REAL ESTATE OF AN ICE HARNESS.
SOMETHING ELSE WHERE EDELRID HAS ADVANCED ON BLUE ICE IS THE CLIPPER SLOTS, HERE DONE WITH SOLID LASER CUT PANELS THAT DONT FEEL LIKE A TOKEN ADDITION. THESE HANDLE THE WEIGHT OF HALF A DOZEN SCREWS WITHOUT FOLDING, AND KEEP THE CLIPPER PROPERLY ORIENTED. UNLIKE THE BLUE ICE VERSION THAT WERE UNEXPLICABLY PLACED ACROSS THE GEAR LOOPS, THESE ARE BETWEEN THEM WHICH MAKES FOR BETTER, ie NORMAL, USE.
EDELRID REALLY HAS NAILED THE ERGONOMICS OF THE WAISTBELT, SOMETHING UNTIL NOW NO HARNESS SEEMED TO HAVE FOCUSED ON. THIS IS A BUCKLE MEANT TO BE COMPLETELY RELEASED AND FASTENED WITH GLOVES ON, LOST IN FOLDS OF DOWN, WITH NICE WIDE WEBBING AND NICE WIDE METALWORK, WHERE THEY HAVE IGNORED A FEW EXTRA GRAMS FOR REAL WORLD ALPINE USE.
THE LEG LOOP T-BARS ARE ALMOST THE SAME AS THE BLUE ICE AND GRIVEL VERSIONS, WITH THE SAME FIDDLINESS THAT JUST GOES WITH THE SOLID FUNCTION. EDELRID HAS PUT IN TWO SIZE OPTIONS WHICH IS SMART, AND FORGONE THE ELASTIC KEEPERS THAT JUST WRONG TO CUT OFF THE BLUE ICE (AND VOIDED ANY LIABILITY).
A SEEMINGLY OVERLOOKED DETAIL IS THAT THE PRISMA GUIDE HAS MADE THE REAR RISER BETWEEN THE WAIST BELT AND LEG LOOPS OUT OF ROBUST FLAT ELASTIC, LOWERED BY A LENGTH OF WEBBING THAT KEEPS THEM MORE MANAGEABLE THAN THE ELASTIC CORD OF MANY OTHER DESIGNS. THIS MATTERS WHEN GETTING THE HARNESS ON, WHERE THE CORD VERSION IS NOTORIOUS FOR CATCHING ON CRAMPONS, AND THE SINGLE INVERTED Y SHAPE MAKES FOR LESS FIDDLING WHEN IT COMES TO USING THINGS LIKE RAINBOW ZIPS. SOMEONE AT EDELRID MADE THE EFFORT HERE AND WE APPRECIATE IT.
.
WHAT DON’T WE LIKE?
WELL WE DON’T LIKE THE WHITE. NOT ONLY IS IT SOOOOO NOUGHTIES, BUT FOR A BIT OF GEAR THAT WILL CLIPPED OUT IN THE SNOW AND IS A PRIMARY POINT OF CONNECTION, IT’S A STUPID COLOUR FOR SOMETHING SO VITAL. WE KNOW THIS IS A UHMWPE THING BUT WE ALSO KNOW A FAIR BIT OF THE HARNESS IS MADE OF OTHER STUFF. PLEASE NO MORE ARCTIC CAMOUFLAGE.
IT WOULD BE NICE TO HAVE SOME SORT OF EASY INDICATOR FOR THE INSIDE AND OUTSIDE OF THE HARNESS, TO AVOID TWISTS AND FIDDLING, SOMETHING BLUE ICE GOT RIGHT.
.
THIS IS A HARNESS YOU CAN CLIMB TECHNICAL TERRAIN IN, WHERE YOU NEED EASY GRAB ACCESS TO GEAR, ARE CARRYING ALL THE SPECIFIC BITS OF ICE AND RAP GEAR AS WELL AS THE RACK, AND WHERE RAPPELS ARE STEEP WITH YOUR FULL WEIGHT ON THE ROPE.
THE SMALL POND THAT THESE HARNESSES SHARE HOPEFULLY WILL INDUCE A DESIGN WAR SO WE SEE MORE INNOVATION. THERE’S NOT A HUGE AMOUNT MORE THAT CAN BE CURRENTLY DONE BUT THE ERGONOMICS CAN BE BETTER, AND NEW FORMS OF UHMWPE AND THE NEW ALUULA MATERIALS ARE STARTING TO ALLOW THAT.