adventure
Time to Start Hiking
Hiking in Malbun
It’s getting foggy, soon it will start to rain. You can feel a refreshing breeze of nature in the air. Deciding to go hiking was the right choice.
Malbun, Liechtenstein. It’s two hours of hiking from Malbun to the Austrian border. Far-off from cities in between of rocks, small valleys and cow pastures in a magnificent cirque. In the morning sometimes it is hard to get up and put on hiking shoes. But you will get the reward only a few hours later.
Our hiking tour led us through cow pastures, high up in the Alps of Liechtenstein. The cows are observing every one who finds the way up here. It is clear who is the host and who is the guest.
All day you will meet just a few people. The starting rain drives the last ones away, which stayed here this long. But the waiting was worth it. The minutes right before it starts raining are the best. The lighting conditions are changing. It’s incredible how clear colours and contrasts become.
The fist raindrops. We put on our hiking jackets. You will regret waiting this long for the stunning view only a few minutes. But it won’t last long. Nature shows facettes in the rain which you won’t see this often. It’s truly beautiful.
Photo Credit: Johannes Vith
On this hiking tour from Malbun to the Austrian border we have wear Manta designer jacket. This outdoor aproved hiking jacket is available in our onlineshop.
Alpine Jacket for Via Ferrata
Customer Wears Alpine Jacket for Mountaineering
A happy customer send us mail of his mountain sports activities from Brenta-Dolomites, Italy. It’s always nice to get some feedback for one’s work:
Dear polychromelab,
I’ve bought Alta Verde Alpine Jacket this summer mostly for mountain sports activities. After testing it at home under rainy weather conditions, I was sure that I’ll always stay dry wearing this jacket. So I tested the jacket on a via ferrata in Brenta-Dolomites. My expectations were fully met. There was no need to change jackets and apparel when weather conditions were changing, no exhausive sweating, long story short – everything was to my convenience. I wish your team all the best with your great apparel concept. Greetings from Germany!
Reiner (translation)
Choosing the Right Mountaineering Apparel
Summer, sun and mountains! It’s time for hiking, climbing and mountaineering. But even when the sun is shining, in the mountains weather can change unexpectedly in no time. One little shower and the day is ruined. Therefore it is important to choose the right apparel for mountaineering.
On via-ferrata-dolomites.com there’s a check list with the right mountain sports apparel you need. Especially it is important to wear windbreak apparel that is at the same time breathable so there’s no unnecessary sweating. Additionally one should wear waterproof apparel, so concentration can be upheld in rainy weather conditions. Polychromelab Alta Verde Alpine Jacket combines these exact two aspects: the jacket is windproof and breathable and waterproof as well. This way an extra layer of clothing can be saved. Our customer Reiner only can recommend this concept.
If you’re interested in the Alta Verde Alpine Jacket just have a look at it in our onlineshop.
polychromelab concept store
With a Ski Tour Jacket on a Moon Landing
Snow Storm – Ski Tour Ends in Moon Landing
The wind is beating and howling, by now I pulled the jacket’s hood as tight as possible over my helmet to get some shelter from this storm. You wouldn’t think that a thin neckwarmer can make the difference, but without it I would suffer serious forstbites. Grindingly I put one ski by a time forward slowly making my way to the top, fighting against mother nature.
One wouldn’t believe that this spot ever was visited by a single human soul. It feels like a moon landing. The ski tour jacket also reaches the limits of its capabilities, the wind rocks it, but still not feeling any cold of this rogue storm. Soon I’ll see the chine, then the weather conditions will be better.
Finally, I can feel the reward for this straining ski tour with my fingertips: The view onto the valley reveals 1.000 metres in altitude of untouched powder. Without wasting anymore time I check my skiing gear and prepare for an awesome downhill ride. If you’ll ever be this close to heaven, you’ll also have the feeling of a moon landing. Arriving a the station in the valley my knees are still shaking a bit, but I know that I wouldn’t want to miss this kind of adventure for no reason.
On this ski tour was tested: Alta Verde Alpine Jacket for men and polychromelab Flipneck. Additionally we tested some textile prototypes for lower body parts, on which we’re feverishly working at the moment. All products by polychromelab are available in our online shop.
Freeride Winterjackets – Downhill
Alpine Proof Lab: Downhill Freeride Winterjackets
Part 1: This is how a testing day in Alpine Proof Outdoor Lab starts.
When all data is collected, winterjackets are examined carefully, and sensors and cameras are working properly, the second part of a day testing winterjackets starts. We put on our freeride skis and winterjackets. By freeride winterjackets testing we have some great advantages: a) a lot of fun at downhill skiing, b) great insight data into the functionality of jackets, and c) even more fun when snow conditions are great.
Conditions were not the this day, but the level of difficulty was really high: From Mount Schönjoch via the southern flank of Schadenstock at -13 degrees downhill. At these freezing temperatures you can find out whether a winterjacket is windproof or not, because at this steep face one reaches a high pace.
Arriving at the valley station we look back towards the Alpine Proof Outdoor Lab on 2436 meters. This is the route we’ve taken. Everything was superb!
More on the topic freeride skiing and winterjackets you’ll find in Tyrol Blog here.
Freeride Skiiing Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis
Adventure Freeride Skiing in Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis
It isn’t exactly what you understand leisure time, because at freeride skiing we’re always testing new polychromelab prototypes, but it really felt like holiday. For our adventure freeride skiing Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis we get with the Pezid mountain railway to the Samnaun mountains in the Alps. It was early in the morning, sky just started to clear up, but at the back you can see Frugler, the first 3000 meters peak of the day, in sunlight.
We couldn’t decide which was more exciting: the thought of gooing freeride skiing on powder or this view onto Unterinntal, in the back Mieminger mountain chain and on the left hand side, slightly covered by some clouds, the Zugspitze.
Of course, we liked better go freeride skiing in fresh snow. Early bird catches the worm. On this day we were the first ones to leave our tracks in this untouched fresh snow at this steep rock face. The waxing of our skies was worth it.
And by the way, winterjackets, tested for this kind of freeride skiing, you’ll find in our webshop here.
Alpine Proof: World’s Highest Alpine Lab
Moving to Serfaus Fiss Ladis: World’s Highest Textiles Research Lab
A pile of moving boxes and trunks. The change of scenery takes shape. A change of scenery in the name of innovation. When we first introduced Alpine Proof we located world’s highest textiles research lab at the Glungezer on 2610 meters. This site is unique and extreme, but it isn’t extreme enough for Alpine Proof’s aims: At our new destination Serfaus Fiss Ladis Alpine Proof is able to analyse the interaction of man and textile under strain in alpine regions even better. The goal is to pursue innovation to its very limits to get world’s best textiles.
Part 2: How to Move an Alpine Lab?
To achieve our goals we take on us this extra workload the move means and dismantle Alpine Proof alpine lab at Glungezer and rebuild it in Serfaus Fiss Ladis. This is how it’s done: Weather at Glungezer always was indescribably extreme, one of a kind, majestic, about what it is remembering us on that very day like it’s trying to make our goodbye and move to Serfaus even harder.
And there it was! It’s spring in Tyrol and everywhere snow! It took only one night and suddenly one needs a quad to transport stuff of Alpine Proof alpine lab from 2610 meters into the valley. Thanks again to Gregor from Gufl youth hostel for borrowing us his quad!
After this uphill rollercoaster ride we started packing. This equipment contains a meteo station, batteries for solar panels from Goal Zero, concrete which we initially needed for fixing, cabels, dummies and our ergometer mountainbike which soon is enjoying the view on upper Inntal.
Here’s part one of our moving story of moving to Serfaus Fiss Ladis.
Continue reading our story with part three: the rocky trail of innovation.
The Snowstorm and the Jacket
Wearing Outdoor Jackets the Right Way on a Skitour
Marc is an outdoor sportsman. He searches for sports experiences all year long and doesn’t want to get sick. So he aims for wearing outdoor jackets the right way. He loves extreme conditions and that’s why he’s happy about heavy snowfalls around Easter to go skiing: in about a few minutes he looks up his destination, equips his skis with skins and starts the car.
There Marc notices that snowfalls are getting stronger and temperatures are sinking. Because of effort on the way up he chooses to wear a baselayer and a polychromelab Alta Quota 3 layer jacket on the cooling silver side. Marc won’t freeze this way, because at his skitour to the top the jacket keeps his body warmth inside the jacket despite high breathability of the inner layer membrane. The result is that on one hand Marc doesn’t have to sweat and on the other doesn’t become hypothermic.
After all his efforts he doesn’t get rewarded at the peak: the snowstorm gets heavier and heavier and he decides to wait for a clear sky. Marc easily reverses his Alta Quota jacket to warming black side and additionally puts an a fleece jacket underneath it. But weather won’t get better and his body emits a lot of warmth. So he’s happy about choosing three different layers of gear and making comfortably some pictures.
Half an hour or so later there is still no silver lining. Marc doesn’t care and goes downhill skiing in a snowstorm wearing outdoor jackets the right way this day.
polychromelab concept store
