Karrimor have announced two new technical packs bearing the Alpiniste name which first came to prominence in the 1970s. At the time, the company had appointed the late, great Scottish mountaineer Dougal Haston (of Annapurna, Eiger and Everest fame) as technical advisor, and one of the fruits of his involvement was the purple ‘Haston Alpiniste’ which was used by the likes of Peter Boardman, Joe Tasker and Peter Habeler amongst many others. Don Whillans had also helped produce an Alpiniste pack which bore his name.
Karrimor’s 2012 Alpiniste rucsacs aim to follow in the tradition of their illustrious predecessors, and are described as being suitable ‘for the ‘novice explorer to the accomplished mountain climber’. The two new models are the Alpiniste 45+10 which has a SRP of £110 and the Alpiniste 35+10 which goes for slightly less at £100. The packs don’t look over-complicated – a good sign – but do pack in some nice features including a removable hip belt, 3-point haul system, extendable lid, bungee system and rope compression strap.
We’ll bring you an in-depth test of the new Alpinistes as soon as we get our hands on them, but in the meantime check out some of the history of the packs at the sites below.
RELATED LINKS
www.karrimor.com