SuperTopo.com Announces 2010 Editors’ Choice Award for Belay Devices

June 16, 2010

MILL VALLEY, CA--SuperTopo.com, one of the most popular climbing web sites in the world, revealed today the results of the SuperTopo 2010 Editors’ Choice Awards for Rock Climbing Belay Device category, listing this year’s best climbing belay devices and best value for climbing belay devices. The SuperTopo.com staff chose the following winners after extensive field testing in Yosemite, Colorado, and Utah. Each nut tool underwent extensive side by side tests to evaluate key performance metrics such as lowering, sport climbing belay, rappelling with two ropes, lock off, belaying the second and other factors. The complete belay device review test results for 2010 are available on SuperTopo.com. The winners are:

Petzl GriGri – winner of the Editor's Choice Award for 2010 for auto-assist belay device. According to gear tester Chris McNamara, "The Petzl GriGri is Editors' Choice because it is simply awesome in most climbing situations. Seriously. What device do you think Chris Sharma was belayed on when he fired Jumbo Love? What device do you think Ammon McNeely is belayed on when he smashes El Cap records?"

Black Diamond ATC XP - winner of the Editor's Choice Award for 2010 for manual belay device. According to gear tester Chris McNamara, "This was one of the best devices for paying out rope to a leader. It is versatile and solid and its friction grooves add stopping–power confidence."

Wild Country VC Pro 2 Belay Device - winner of the Best Buy award for 2010. This award is given to a product that balances an extremely high score in our tests and a very reasonable price. According to Chris McNamara, "Wild Country packs more features into the VC Pro 2 for $15 than competitors give you in their base model manual belay device. The VC Pro 2 is a great, compact, belay/rappel device and earns the medal as our Best Buy."

Petzl Reverso 3 - winner of the Recommended award for 2010. This award is given to products that scored very highly, and offered unique capabilities. According to Chris McNamara, "It’s like a sports car. It has sleek curves, excellent handling and is smooth to use. Nine times out of 10 we belay directly off the anchor when multipitch climbing so we need a great auto–block device. On big Yosemite free routes, we found our arms stayed fresher with the Reverso 3 as long as the rope was skinnier than 10m"

Trango Cinch - winner of the Recommended award for 2010. This award is given to products that scored very highly, and offered unique capabilities. According to Chris McNamara, "This is a great auto-locking (or "auto assist") belay device that we liked more and more the longer we spent with it. It has a simple design that reduces its weight and bulk compared to the GriGri. It also pays out rope exceptionally smoothly once you figure it out. Overall, it is a great value and is recommended down to 9.4mm ropes, something the GriGri is not."

About SuperTopo.com: SuperTopo offers the most detailed and exhaustive side-by-side comparison climbing gear review in the industry. Each product is evaluated on a common set of metrics, tested both hands-on and in a lab setting, and then field tested exhaustively on Yosemite's Big Walls, The Alaska Range, Cascades and other serious climbing areas around the world.

SuperTopo.com is the premier destination site for active, influential, and outdoor-oriented rock climbers in the United States. Offering detailed information on the most popular climbing routes in the United States’ most popular climbing areas, SuperTopo.com serves as one of the critical sites to visit when planning an outdoor climbing trip. SuperTopo.com also features the United States most-active climbing discussion forum, by and for experienced outdoor rock climbers. With topics ranging from how-to-aid climb to bolting ethics, route beta, and general fireside chit-chat, the SuperTopo Climber’s Forum is regularly frequented by many of the most well known and famous rock climbers in America.
Media Contact: Chris McNamara - 530.545.0424 - chris@supertopo.com

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