Having been through all of our new North Face stock, we thought we'd introduce you to our top 5 to date...

Men's Cipher Hybrid Hoodie

Great summer low weight softshell jacket. Gore Windstopper with Apex stretch panels. Good sized (helmet compatible) hood with adjustment.

Ideal for climbing and scrambling.

Leonidas Jacket (Men's and Women's)

Very lightweight waterproof jacket.  Set up for high energy activities with pit zips and a 'quick disperse' print on the inside of the jacket to quickly and effectively release water vapour from inside the jacket.  Stiffened peak on the hood.  Fabric feels fantastically soft to the touch.

Men's Apex Elixir Vest

Not new for this season, but something that proves itself again and again to be a very flexible bit of kit.  Gives that extra bit of protection when you are out on the rock, your bike or the hill.

P-8 Jacket (Men's and Women's)

Outstanding value for a waterproof jacket at only £90 (Campfour Price is currently £81). Very soft fabric.  Well featured with a roll-away hood, two hand pockets and a cinch cord at the waist.

Women's Pantoll Tee

This truly is a technical tee that doesn't feel like it.  With a cotton soft finish to the fabric, you feel comfortable from the moment you slip it on.  The Coolmax Modal Knit ensures that any moisture is wicked quickly away.

The perfect baselayer for most types of aerobic activities.

Men's Horizon Falls Convertible Pants

About as flexible as you could hope for in a trouser.  Zips at the ankle, zip off legs to turn them into shorts.  Stow pocket at the back as well as many other pockets. Lightweight rip-stop nylon.

Ideal for walking, travelling and pretty much anything else you want to throw at them.

Staff Review: Evolv Pontas Rock Shoes

Pre-Pontas (The Vantage Era)

Evolv Pontas Velcro's were my first pair of technical climbing shoes after graduating out of a pair of Scarpa Vantages.
The Pontas have been a great all rounder - perhaps a little tight for wearing all day on multi-pitch routes, but that’s just down to how I sized them (with performance in mind!).

I was expecting the shoes to take me instantly from climbing HS to E5! Which I now understand takes practice, training and dedication to achive, not just a new pair of Jedi shoes! - The shoes however did make me feel more comfortable at the edge of my ability simply because they were an excellent fit and I could feel the rock under my feet.

The Ecotrax sole is soft which gives excellent sensitivity and gives you good feedback of whats going on under your foot. The shoes inspire confidence even when you are forced to stand on those non-exitent holds; but where they really excel is smearing, and the grip that you can extract from the rubber is just awesome! This however does come at a price - as with everything there has to be a compromise and with the Pontas that is unfortuantly the rate at which you can wear a hole in the toe area. This is probably more a criticism of my footwork than the shoes! I have owned a few pairs of Evolv shoes and they all use the same/similar rubber for the sole and typical wear is about 6-12 months which to be fair is not bad at all- just helps you to make a conscious effort to be precise with your foot placements so as not to drag your toe up the wall - which will rapidly wear down any climbing shoe!

I have mainly used the Pontas on gritstone and limestone and they perform well on both - obviously it’s fair to say that they excel on grit for their smearing ability but still inspire confidence when it comes to standing on edges.  As a training shoe for use at the wall they are good too. You find yourself standing on miniscule holds that the laws of physics just shouldn't allow and in total confidence! If you’re a bit of a boulder monkey but can’t face putting your feet into a ridiculously downturned shoe then I would urge you to try a pair of these.  You can feel everything and they enable you to generate quite a lot of power at your big toe (making it easier to stand on those little holds without tears forming in your eyes!) If like me, you often find yourself climbing upside down and prefer overhangs to slabs, the Pontas make heel hooking and toe hooking effortless.  The rubber rand helps to protect your foot and also keeps the shoes from 'bagging out' too much (depending upon how tight you decide to size them- I personally recommend going 1/2 or a full size smaller.) The useful toe hooking patch over your big toe makes it more comfortable when you are hanging by your feet for whatever reason.

The Pontas are available with both lace and Velcro fastening - The Velcro were my weapon of choice and I have found them to generally fit people with wider feet- whist the lace ups have a slightly different rand design which makes the shoe stiffer. It can also be better suited to people with slimmer feet as they are more adjustable (but harder to get off if you size them too tight!)

Would I recommend them?
Definitely - If you’re after a good all round shoe, maybe an alternative to the classic Five Ten's -  give them a try!  

Would I buy them again?
Probably - I'm one of those people that like to try something different each time, however if I can’t find an alternative that fits as well as these then I will definitely be getting myself another pair!

Jon - Shop Manager

And the Winner is...

First Prize for best Hill Pancake Recipe - Victoria Ashley
Runner up (Dazzling Ingenuity!) - Julia Hall and Katy Benet

Congratulations!

Thank you to everyone that entered our pancake competition.  We were inundated with great recipes.  As many
were sent via email rather than Facebook, we've decided to list our favourites below for everyone to see.  Enjoy - we did :)


My Chorizo, cherry tomato, spring onion with melted cheese pancake recipe - Thanks to Victoria Ashley

1. Heat a teaspoon of oil in a pan. Pour in a ladder of pancake mixture. Leave to cook for 1 minute till set.
2 Flip the pancake over to cook the other side. Place chorizo sausage, cherry tomato and spring onion on the pancake. Sprinkle with grated cheese. Place the pancake under the grill to melt the cheese. Serve hot.

My Chorizon, cherry tomato, spring onion with melted cheese pancake recipe.

1. Heat a teaspoon of oil in a pan. Pour in a ladder of pancake mixture. Leave to cook for 1 minute till set.
2 Flip the pancake over to cook the other side. Place chorizo sausage, cherry tomato and spring onion on the pancake. Sprinkle with grated cheese. Place the pancake under the grill to melt the cheese. Serve hot.



Bean Tin Hill Pancakes - Thanks to Julia Hall

1. Pack pancake mix & preferred toppings - lemon and sugar is always a winner or perhaps chocolate spread (as I am writing this with my Guide Leader hat on), baked bean tin (full or empty, half-tin size works best), penknife, tea lights, matches & cooking spray into rucksack, backpack or knapsack (depending on generation)
2. Select picturesque walking route, preferably one with a splendid view halfway round or perhaps chose a geo-caching target
3. At some point on your journey - eat the beans
4. When you are ready for a Pancake Moment - mix flour, egg, pinch of salt and some milk (perhaps you have already mixed it before you left and are carrying it in a flask?)
5. Pierce the bean tin several times with your penknife (air vents to encourage air flow)
6. Light the tea light, place it on a stone or other non-flammable surface, out of any strong winds and put the upside down bean tin over the flame
7. Lightly spray the surface of the bottom of the bean tin with the cooking spray and pour a little of the pancake mix on - there is usually a lip on the tin that will stop it pouring over the edge
8. Half-tin sized tins are the best for this - they are that bit nearer the tea light!
9. When little bubbles appear in the surface of the pancake - flip it with your penknife - the cooking spray should mean it won't stick
10. When both sides are cooked, slather with preferred topping and guzzle!
11. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

Outside In Pancakes - Thanks to Katy Benet

I brought the outdoors inside with our weather themed pancakes ... nice and simple 4oz of flour 200ml of milk 75 ml of water 2 eggs a pinch of salt and a tsp of cinnamon and different colour food colouring separate the mixture into different bowls add the food colouring to each bowl cook the pancakes then once cooked shape to make the rainbow and then add cream to make clouds and add a little edible glitter to give the rainbow the sparkle effect nom nom nom

Yummy Vegetarian Hill Pancakes - Thanks to Michelle badger Bamber

Pancake mix ( i.e plain flour, eggs, milk)  the filling  Cheese, asparagus, peas, broad beans, mint, and lemon Warm through all ingredients in a pan and top a pancake then fold mmmmm

Healthy Galette - Thanks to Nicola Wright

You can mix the ingredients before you set off and put in container:

1 egg
3 tablespoons of oatbran
sweetener
touch of yoghurt

............mix. bobs ur unckle

Extreme Pancakes - Thanks to Kathleen Hooper

Pancake Mix:
4oz Flour, 2 eggs, skimmed Milk, butter for frying
Topping:
Banana, Honey, walnuts
Instructions:
Carefully pack eggs and all other ingredients in Rucksack
Put flour in ziplock bag to keep dry
Set off on hill walk, get lost and eat banana, honey and walnuts for extra energy, and to raise morale
Find suitable place and light campfire.
Trip and accidentally break eggs
Decide you are desperate for a cuppa, and use milk for that
End up cooking banana cake instead of pancakes
Return home tired but satisfied, and cook pancakes at home instead!

Easy Peasy Anywhere Pancakes - Thanks to Thomas Fraser Hardie Morrison 

....no scales, no recipe to remember, no special equipment, no fail!!! Mix flour milk & eggs together in the ratio 2:2:1.... easy peasy, anywhere!!


Campfour Hill Pancake - The Campfour Team

Ingredients:
Standard pancake mix – ready to use (enough for number of people catering for)
Small sachet of dark chocolate chips
Small sachet of flaked Almonds
Small squeezy bottle of honey (ideally nearly empty to save weight)
Banana (per person)

Method:
Cook pancake
Lay banana at one edge of pancake
Sprinkle pancake with almonds and chocolate chips, and drizzle with honey (not too much or it all gets very messy!)
Roll the banana up in the pancake so you end up with a sort of banana/ pancake roll

Result:
Delicious…Great for lifting the spirits after a hard day on the hill.

p.s. Baby wipes are helpful for cleaning up any collateral damage!

Staff Review: Scarpa Force Lady

I went straight in at the deep end with my first pair of climbing shoes – Anasazi Lace-ups, the pink ones.  They did fit, but there was also this thing of wanting to make sure that I had a decent pair of rock shoes on.  I had seen other people climbing in them and seem to recall that my climbing instructor might have had them at the time, which always helps.

On retiring these (many years later - I like to get my money's worth!), I decided that I didn’t just want to go for the same again – we had some women’s specific shoes in and I was keen to give these a try.

After an exhaustive session with all our climbing shoes (unisex and women’s), I settled on a pair that I didn’t think I would – Scarpa Force Lady.  I had thought that I would end up with some more Five Ten’s or some Evolv shoes – I have always thought that the rubber feels really nice and sticky.  In fact, I did later get some Anasazi LVs, but save these for bouldering as they are great for edging, but no good for smearing in the size that fits me.

The Scarpa Force Lady fitted my feet really well, and I have found the same thing on many other women that I have fitted rock shoes for since.  There is no extra room in the shoe anywhere and my toes are just nicely pressured at the front, giving me a good amount of strength on the toe edge.  The main advantage in fit of the women's specific rock shoes over the unisex versions is that the heel cup is much closer fitting.  The result on rock was that for the first time, I found myself attempting to heel-hook with conviction – actually believing that I might pull it off.  With excess air and rubber in the back of my Anasazi’s I would never have had a go at that.

Although the rubber doesn’t feel as sticky to the touch as the Five Tens or Evolvs, I can honestly say that I have never found it to be a problem.

Over time, I also have found that the fit has remained the same.  The fabric hasn’t given way for any extra volume, just moulded to the shape of my feet, and the rubber has retained its shape.

The last point, which was also a major plus for me but more by luck than design, is that the shoes don’t stink!!  Don’t know what goes into Five Ten’s but it didn’t seem to matter what I did, they were always smelly.  My Scarpa's are as sweet smelling now as they were when I first got them (almost!).

Overall, these shoes were a really pleasant surprise. They have been great on all types of rock (indoors and out) and in hot and cold weather (they didn’t like the snow on limestone that I subjected them to last year though!). The quality of the fit means that I have been happy to attempt more adventurous moves, but still feel happy on multi-pitch  Trad routes, allowing a little bit of a belay breather by easing off the Velcro.  Any lack of stick has been down to poor technique rather than poor rubber.

Overall – awesome and already recommended to many…

Lucy - Shop Owner