Fabrizio Zangrilli reviews the Matterhorn 42 Pack

TRANSCRIPT:

Fabrizio Zangrilli reviews the Marmot Matterhorn 42 Pack

Hey I’m Fabrizio Zangrilli, Marmot Athlete team member. I’m out here in the Rockies; today we’re mixed climbing. It’s kind of warm so it’ll make the mixed climbing fun.

I want to talk to you about my Matterhorn 42 - it’s the pack that I use all the time now for mixed climbing/ice climbing in the Rockies. But I’ve also used it for an Alpine style attempt on the Rupal face of Nanga Parbat as well as guiding on Pumori last autumn.

What I love about the pack is how simple it is, and yet it works. There are a lot of great features. The lid opens up – I can get to my stuff. I’ve hung it today off of a nut and it makes it so I can get to everything quite easily. In the lid I’m able to keep hats, Alpinist Gloves, some liners, food for the day, a thermos, and a few other items like a headlamp, a repair kit, and a small medical kit. And that’s kind of all you need in there. There are two zippered pockets so I can keep stuff separated and safe. The zippers work well, it’s easy enough to close.

I’m out ice climbing all the time and I need to be able to get my tools off my pack real easily. The system here is simple and easy. Get them in and out, and it works very, very well.

When I open up the pack, getting to my belay parka and other layers is really simple due to the conical shape of the pack. It opens up, becomes a nice, big opening, I can reach in. I thought it was going to be a bit colder, don’t need the Ama Dablam jacket today for belaying, nor my insulating layer. But I can put a lot of stuff in here. I’m training for a K2 expedition that I’m leading, and I decided to carry the rack and the ropes and a bunch of other stuff up here today. There’s nothing better for training for carrying packs than actually carrying heavy packs. I’ve got my harness in here, crampons are in here, set of draws are in here, full rack is in here, full set of ice screws are in here, and two 8.4 mm ropes are in here, it’s like 60 meters. So the pack holds a phenomenal amount.

The way that the padding on the back of the pack works – in combination with the shoulder straps – make it very comfortable to carry a load like this. We’ve been approaching this climb for about an hour and a half and it’s very comfortable. The other thing is the waist belt. The way I’m able to cinch it with these side buckles makes it come around my hips really well, and I carry a lot of the weight on my hips. That’s very important.

So that’s the Matterhorn 42. Thanks for watching.