Morning all,

I'm heading over to the good 'ol US of A in a few months and looking to make the most of exchange rates etc so will be melting the plastic on some new fan-dangled shiny bits of gear.

Can anyone recommend the best/most competitive places for trad/aid climbing gear purchases - REI?? etc.

Also does MTN tools still exist? I can't access their website for some reason.

cheers ears
H

REI is good. Also, if you're going to be in LA look at Adventure 16 (West Los Angeles). It's a bit pricey in general, but you should be able to get some deals on winter gear right now.

You could save a ton of cash by cheking Craigslist when you get here.
http://losangeles.craigslist.org/search ... k=&maxAsk=

http://www.mountaintools.com/

Definitely check craigslist wherever you end up. There are plenty of smaller stores depending on where you are. REI is the only national chain that I can think of and even many of their branches don't have much climbing gear. For example in the SF Bay Area, the Berkeley REI store carries most of the climbing gear while the others just have some basics.

REI seems to be trimming back their selection of technical gear in favor of lifestyle clothing. That said you can still get things like cams, nuts, ropes, slings, etc - it's all on their website (http://www.rei.com). Smaller REIs may not have much technical gear in stock but you can order gear online and have it shipped to you or to a store quickly. If you're going to spend more than a couple of hundred dollars it's definitely worth getting an REI membership as you will be entitled to a rebate on your purchases, member discounts on sales, free shipping, and a ridiculously generous gear return policy (members don't have to produce receipts when they return gear, just show up and get money back, whether gear is used or not).

If you're coming to NorCal, Marmot in Berkeley is one of the best places to go for climbing gear; their selection is significantly better than REI's. They aren't especially cheap but sometimes have sales; what you're paying for is specialized stock in house and staff that actually know something. Other places that have decent selections of climbing gear, and staff who actually climb, include Alpenglow Sports in North Lake Tahoe, the Mountain Shop in Curry Village, Yosemite, Mammoth Mountaineering in Mammoth, Wilson's in Bishop, and the Fifth Season in Mt. Shasta. Sunrise Mountain Sports in Livermore is supposed to be good but I've never been myself.

Sunrise Mountain Sports while not as good as Marmot is significantly better then the REI's.

I'm guessing you're heading to the Valley (Yosemite). If so, you can probably score a lot of cheap stuff from the bulletin board at Camp 4. If not, the Mt. Shop at Curry Village has just about everything you could need.

If you'll be in the Bay area beforehand, as others have suggested, Marmot is a great spot to check out. In LA, either REI or A-16.

...or further south in SoCal (J-Tree or Tahquitz), stop in Nomad Ventures.

+1 for Nomad Ventures. They have a huge selection of hardware and I love the consignment climbing shoes. Why buy new when the kids outgrow 'em?

Guys - thats awesome - thanks very much for the useful advice - if any of you find yourselves in sunny Sydney be sure to send an email round the Sydney Rockies (or ping me a message) and one of us will be happy to show you round the Bluey's.

Cheers
MB

If you're passing through Bishop, California, the best place is Wilson's Eastside Sports, on Main Street. They carry everything mountain related.

And while in Lone Pine, stop by Elevations!

When ya come to the Eastside, go to for a solid selection of anything and everything you may need. Tell em The Chief sent ya.

Mammoth Mountaineering Supply

+1 for MMS. Their Mammoth Store is what a mountain shop should be. Packed full of good sh!t. Seriously, gotta walk sideways through the place.

I picked up some avy gear for cheap at their Bishop store (clearance). They also do consignment. The Bishop store is substantially smaller.

I didn't drop Chief's name though. Didn't know where it would get me!