Blue Ice Choucas Alpine Harness - US Retailers?

Has anyone used this harness? I was looking at the Black Diamond Couloir harness for an alpine dedicated, light, packable piece. In one of the forums, they described difficulty with the Couloir buckles and gloves, as well as the main buckle threading. Someone mentioned drooling over the Blue Ice Choucas. It looks really clean. Any Couloir users?

So far, I have not found any in the USofA. It would be nice to check one out in person, and get the sizing just right.

http://www.blueice.com/product/choucas-harness/ Blue Ice Choucas Alpine Harness
blueice.com/product/choucas…

P.S. Don't drop it in the snow in whiteout conditions...

This particular harness is best suited for ski mountaineering/racing and/or glacier travel. Depending on your intentions, it is not the best harness for ice or mixed climbing. I only has two gear loops and no attachments for ice clips.

Petzl and others have similar lightweight ski mountaineering harnesses - mostly targeting the racing segment of users.

Elderid makes a good lightweight ice/mixed climbing harness and there are retailers in the US.

It has two keepers for ice clips. The Couloir has 4 ice clippers, but still only two gear loops.

518g - my Petzl rock harness
224g - BD Couloir
170g - Choucas

I am not a gram counter, but I was looking for something that worked well with a backpack hipbelt being on.

I used a CAMP Blitz (219g) for about 2 years as my only harness, and while it wasn't very comfortable to hang in, I made it work. It's 1.5 ounces heavier than that Blue Ice harness, but it does have 4 gear loops. I really really like not having to step into a harness when I have spikes or skis on my feet, but doubling back the buckle on the Blitz was hard when my fingers were cold. I recently got a Mammut Zephir Altitude (215g), and I like it better. The buckle is unique in that it easily comes apart, but it still pre-threaded: youtube.com/watch?v=2aRLfLL…

FWIW, Telemark-Pyrenees has gotten stuff shipped to me on the east coast in 3 days: telemark-pyrenees.com/en/bl…

Brian Abram wrote:I recently got a Mammut Zephir Altitude (215g), and I like it better. The buckle is unique in that it easily comes apart, but it still pre-threaded

I freakin' love Mammut for their environmentalism, responsible down, true sleeping bag ratings, and quality products. Serious thanks for the suggestion, it didn't turn up in any searches. I am still trying to figure out how that buckle works, but shazam! it seems to.

Clint White wrote:I am still trying to figure out how that buckle works

It took a few times of watching it, and at full screen, to see the buckle action. How does that work out when you take a fall? There was a forum post about the previous generation of the Blue Ice that had a buckle rotate and nearly slip out after a fall. They updated the buckle, but refuted the ability of it to slip out.

The male end threads through the female end in only a sort of weird orientation that would be hard for it to accidentally get into. Sort of like an avalanche airbag crotch strap if you've ever seen those, but requiring a weirder diagonal sideways orientation. In addition, once in position, it has a sort of tab on the male part that pops into a hole in the female end that holds it together pretty firmly. Hard to explain.

Giggity!

The CAMP Blitz harness is also what they call "diaper style" for putting on while crampons are still attached.
Difference:
4 gear loops
2 ice clipper slots

VS
Mammut Zephir Altitude
2 gear loops
4 ice clippers

Which would you prefer and for what specific application - ice vs general mountaineering vs mixed alpine

For all three of those uses, I personally don't need more than 2 gear loops. I'll either have a gear sling or loops on my pack hip belt or I'll have not all that much gear in need of loops. Mammut seems to hold its shape a bit better than the Blitz.

The BD Couloir does have a small buckle and is very difficult to double back. It can be done quickly without gloves, but is an exercise with gloves on.