About Geargals
The Geargals
One of the Geargals doing her tough, tough job testing gear on a ski trip. It’s hard work but someone’s gotta do it.
I took this “about” section down because I need to rewrite it since the site has grown so much. I’m kind of busy lately so it’s unlikely that I’ll get to that anytime soon. I thought, instead of a boring FAQ like I used to have here, I’d tell you more about the reviewers. And then maybe follow it up with some FAQ at the end…who knows what might happen with this About page? Chances are I will just end up posting a bunch of photos and calling it good. So, here are the Geargals, or at least the ones I’ll get around to listing here right this very moment:
Regular Contributors:
Jill
For starters, I’ll tell you about me. I’m Jill, the Head Geargal, the boss lady, the one who lords over the gear closet and makes you do unpleasant tasks or feats of strength if you want to get some gear to review, then rides you mercilessly to turn in your article on time. When I’m not jealously guarding the pile of gear, I’m off having fun biking or skiing or climbing, working my avalanche dog, or traveling. My favorite sports are backcountry skiing (I hate chair lifts), mountain biking on big loops or long trails (no round-and-round trail systems for me when I can help it), and ice climbing (especially when it’s at least 70 degrees and there’s a glacier to climb on). I like the search and rescue gig but only if it involves search dogs; I leave the ropes and long-line helicoptering to other people. My other hobbies are catching fish and having other people cook them for me to eat, dabbling in everything, and asking male customer service agents for assistance in the feminine hygiene section.
Melissa
How can I sum up Melissa? When I think I’m busy, I just think about Melissa and I realize what a slacker I am. Melissa is always doing something, whether it’s skiing, search dog training, knitting, climbing, or sojourning up a random peak to find some alleged glacier that hasn’t been seen in years so that she can climb it and install some fancy scientific equipment on it, Melissa is never one to have idle hands. I had high hopes for Melissa as a climbing partner, so I tried to explain to her about ice climbing on glaciers, but she does it wrong and goes during the winter. To work this out, we decided to go on a tropical sailing adventure to think about ice climbing. Oh yeah – Melissa is also a fancily-certified mucky-muck sailor person, and river rat, and generally a water gal. I’m not, so anything water-oriented goes to her for testing (unless it’s safety gear, which I hold on to like my life depends on it, because it does).
Irene
Irene is my most government-official-type reviewer. She’s a park ranger assigned to trails in Alaska, and I’ve a soft spot for her because she, like me, is prone to taking gear on long trips without having tested it first. Irene lives in a part of Alaska that is very bear-infested, and she spends most of her summer tromping around in the woods making sure that all is well out there. I worry about all that tromping sometimes, so if anyone makes bear-resistant clothing, she’ll be a great tester. Irene is very tough but also is very small, so she’s the beneficiary of all the gear that is too tight on me. Irene’s reviews are fun because they are very up-front and pull no punches, but she then sends me a note worrying that she’s been too harsh. She also has a cadre of fans that post supportive notes on her reviews, and they are all correct because Irene is pretty awesome.
Guest Contributors
Iceman
He likes to be called Iceman. So, OK. Iceman it is. Iceman reviewed the PowerMonkey eXplorer for me (here) and he did such a good job he’s now a Geargal. Happy, Iceman? Like I said in the intro to that review, he’s a cop, firefighter, outdoorsman, and general awesome guy. If given a task, it’s done, done well, and done quickly, which are great attributes for gear reviewers. I can count on him taking gear out to save the world, which is pretty much why we need the gear, right?
