Billi Bierling – Journalist and Climber

I have recently been lucky enough to receive some equipment from a few outdoor companies to facilitate my climbing and make my expeditions more comfortable. Here are some of the contributiors.

Valandre

The French company is a high-end manufacturer of down sleeping bags and outerwear for mountaineers and alpinists, such as the Austrian female climber, Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner, who has just made history and become the first woman to successfully climb all fourteen 8,000-meter peaks without the use of bottled oxygen.

Valandre has been kind enough to equip me with a new down sleeping bag, the Odin, a downsuit Combi and a very warm down jacket, the Bering, for those chilly nights at base camp. Thank you very much for the contribution!

Lowa

The German boots manufacturer has been making high-quality mountaineering boots since the early 1930s and are one of the biggest distributors all over the world. The company, which is located north of Munich, kindly contributed a few pairs of mountaineering boots, which I hope will stop me from banging my toes on the descent. Thank you very much – I am looking forward to wearing them.

Skins

Skins™ is body-moulded gradient compression performance equipment with built-in BioAcceleration Technology™ which will enhance your performance in training, competition and recovery.

AgfaPhoto

For my Everest trip in 2009, the world-renowned brand for Consumer Imaging Products, AgfaPhoto, contributed to my costs, which made my expedition to the world’s highest peak possible.

I would also like to thank my friend Sabine Kirschner, who very kindly put me in touch with AgfaPhoto and made this collaboration happen. Thank you so much, Sabine!

Website of Sabine’s travel agency, die Reiseecke in Garmisch-Partenkirchen: http://www.die-reise-ecke.de/