Rab-for the most extreme conditions in the world!

The Rab brand is renowned for producing outstanding quality clothing and sleeping bags, suitable for extreme cold environments and high altitude mountaineering.

When Rab Carrington started making sleeping bags in Patagonia over 30 years ago, he did so to pass time and earn a few bob while he was waiting for customs to release his climbing kit. A talented climber, Rab spent much of the 1970′s on ground breaking expeditions around the world and in doing so gained the best education possible to understand what climbers needed from their kit.

The original ethos of Rab remains core to current product development; a strong focus on using functional designs and high quality fabrics to produce premium gear for mountaineering and
polar travel.

So all of that said, what strikes me is well thought out design and materials that make comfortable well fitting clothing.  For example, when you are stranded on a peak in a white out the only thing you care about is whether your clothing is built to take the rigorous abuse that the mountain can dish out. Rab is built to take the extremes. Touches like the wire brim, helmet compatible hood on the Neutrino Endurance Jacket and the air permeable Pertex nylon facing add to the function of this piece. But what really works for me is the way this outerwear  feels when you try it on. Don’t be alarmed that the zipper seems backward, the company was born in the UK. Sold only in core mountaineering shops like Sangre de Cristo Mountain Works!

Santa Fe Wildflowers by Karen Denison

… a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”

King’s crown, Fireweed, Pussytoes, and Skyrocket.  The Santa Fe area has loads of flowers.  And while the flowers themselves are colorful, so are their names. Some names are used to describe where they live: Marsh marigolds, Meadow rue, Mountain parsely.  Some are used to describe hue: Golden-aster, Gentian, Butter-and-eggs, or Goldeneye.  And some names are used to describe the flower shape: Elephant head, Bellflower, Nodding onion and Monkshood.

Lots of our local plants have had former or current uses and their common names reflect those uses.  Wild Bedstraw was dried and used for stuffing mattresses as it stayed “springy” unlike grain straw.  Bugbane and fleabane earned their names for warding off unwanted 6-leggers.

Then there are the ones that we are meant to avoid like Death Camus, Baneberry, and Skunk cabbage.

Some plant names are pure poetry, conjuring up fanciful qualities: Perky Sue, Indian paintbrush, Monkeyflower, Fairy candelabra, Dotted gayfeather or Threadleaf woolywhite.

Although common names can cause some grief to biologists (Latin names are less ambiguous), our human penchant for trying to name and describe the world around us has generated some beautiful English names.  How impoverished would we be if we lose those connections?  Take some time soon to smell the roses, and the daisies, and the other wildflowers!

Columbine

Karen Denison is a longtime admirer of Santa Fe’s  wildflowers, and owner of Outspire Hiking and Snowshoeing guide service.  She periodically conducts wildflower walks, hiking in the aspen and GPS classes.

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