Top ten innovations of all time

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The Vibram sole. Not only has it given us a better grip on the trail, it has loosened the trail's grip on itself.

The cold beer at the end of the trail has yet to be improved upon.

JohnL
 
Agree with Pete Hickey. Plastics is the mother of all modern inventions (remember when something "plastic" meant "cheap"?). That as a given, water filtration systems would top my list, followed by the Thermarest.
 
Kayaking:
- rotomolded boats for the common man, as discussed above
- evolution from descending rivers to rodeo-style tricks
 
personal computer and the internet

I agree with grumpy, frodo and brother. I gain more useful information for hiking whether it be from (1) my mapping software coupled with a gps or (2) the internet, then any other source. Additionally the internet has provided me access to more hiking friends then I could ever have accomplished by my lonesome self.

It takes an open mind to agree with this technology as an asset/innovation to hiking advances.


Pvon
 
1. Instant oatmeal - both blessing and bane of the backpacker

2. The M-tech 4400 Time Machine - makes it possible to go back to the forests before they had roads and trails cutting through them and lots of geeks like us in bright colored clothing speed hiking, bagging peaks, and scaring the wildlife away........
 
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MSR snowshoe with heel lifter. Gives an old guy with tired legs a fightin' chance on the steeps.
 
My waterproof/tear resistant maps (tyvek?).

And as for transportation -- heading to the mountains in the turn of the last century was generally a train/boat/coach event that required a few weeks. That made it for those with the time and money. Now with highways and cars, I can be at a trailhead, knock off a few miles and be home for dinner.

Finally, if a spirit is an innovation, let's tip a hat to those who returned from WWII and started volunteer mountain rescue with all that (now antiquated) surplus gear.
 
Meo:

It was a great film! What magazine to you write for so I can look for the article when it is published? When do you think it will be published?

One of the things the guys in the movie mentioned that made it easier for them than the original mountaineers was that they knew what to expect because people had climbed the mountain before -- so I would add trip reports to the list. This helps with kayaking, too, that enough people have kayaked in places to know the ins and outs, problems, difficult spots and can recommend how to get thru them.

Good luck, Meo! Laura
 
Meo and LauraM

I must disagree. The Eiger film from the Banff festival was very dissapointing. If you saw the footage of the film also shown at Banff by Charles Houston "Exploring the Heights" where they showed climbers in 1938 and 1953 in the Himalayas using the old gear and looking perfectly natural and at home, you would have realized what a poor job those German guys did on Eiger. The guys in the Swiss film looked like kludges in comparison to the real fottage in the Houston film. They clearly didn't get familiar with the gear and you could see it.

Secondly, the mixing of footage and equipment of the Eiger film crew, using modern protection, ropes, etc. was in my opinion very unprofessional looking. You had the guys in 1930s gear banging a piton into a crack where a piece of modern protection was visible right there. Duh!

The German climbers may have learned how hard it was to adapt to older equipment in a short time but they certainly didn't convey a sense of how it was done, and done well in the 30s. The other film showed that marvelously.

Sure the gear matters, but if you saw only the Eiger film you may have thought how tough it must have been. If you saw the Houston film you would have realized it's not the gear, it's the climbers that make the biggest difference.

Eiger North Face - 1/2 star
Exploring the Heights - 3 stars

Pb
 
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40 hr work week? Is there such a thing anymore?
 
Trail system/guidebooks

The advent of maintained trail systems and related guidebooks have almost completely eliminated the need for most people to hire guides. Trail systems == mountain walking for everyone.
 
Don't know if this has been mentioned but bottled O2 would make my list. Opened up a whole new world in climbing.
 
The most significant outdoor innovations are:

1) Crampons. Step-cutting sucks!
2) SLCDs. Quick, easy and bomber
3) Waterproof-breathable fabrics
 
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