Paramo in an Alpine environment

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 mark mcgowan01 20 Jul 2016
Can anyone tell me how Paramo performs in the Alps?
 london_huddy 21 Jul 2016
In reply to mark mcgowan01:
Depends what you're doing in the Alps.

It'll be heavy and warm for most stuff if you're moving at a decent pace and it'll wet out as ever when pushed against rock when there's water/snow around. Having said that, if you're on moderate terrain and aren't over heating, it'll probably be fine.

In high summer, I always spent a lot of time in a thin fleece with a windproof and maybe a softshell option rather than a hard shell unless the weather was coming in (or it was winter anyway).
Post edited at 01:14
In reply to london_huddy:

Thanks Andrew. We're trying the Matterhorn in Aug. I'm looking at carrying my never Paramo smock for protection against storms etc.

 london_huddy 21 Jul 2016
In reply to mark mcgowan01:

I might get moderately flamed for this, but if the forecast is stable, I'd look to save the weight.]
Good luck!
In reply to london_huddy:

I would agree, although it depends on the weather and the route. Used Cioch sallopettes for all alpine routes for years, but don't any longer. Great when caught out high on the Kuffner arete (snow showers and an unplanned bivi). However, too warm for 90% of the time once the sun is up. Got a photo of me in cloud on Matterhorn summit in said salopettes (vented), and just a baselayer (unzipped). Having said that, every time I see Alan Kimber in the alps he seems to have his Velez smock on!

My suggestion for the Matterhorn, assuming good weather, is to treat it as a 1200m scramble, akin to 2xTower Ridges. You'll be aiming to be moving as fast as you can for 6 hours and it is a late start from the hut, so you are only doing 30mins in the dark (owing to routefinding challenges) After a baselayer, my choices would be (1) microfleece/powerstretch + windshirt or (2) softshell. Emergency layers are normally (1) light waterproof and (2) synthetic or down overlayer.

If you are really worried/cautious, you could use the weight saved by not taking the paramo to add a (bigger) bothy bag. If you end up sitting somewhere, a shelter will be nicer than a big jacket. Paramo is really designed to be on all day, not carried.
 jonnie3430 30 Jul 2016
In reply to mark mcgowan01:

I found my aspira too heavy and warm, but my Quito is great.
Iandavid 24 Aug 2016
In reply to mark mcgowan01:

I use my Quito everywhere with a light undershirt or when its cold an icebreaker and its really light if you need to carry it

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