Octa is a lightweight Japanese insulating yarn with a hollow core and eight fin-like projections that trap air to create warmth at very low weight, while remaining highly breathable. Knitted into lofted, airy fabrics, it's used in active insulation and grid-style mid layers prized for being exceptionally light, quick-drying, and breathable for high-output use.
PrimaLoft Cross Core is an insulation technology that infuses PrimaLoft microfibers with aerogel — one of the world's best-insulating, lightest solid materials — to boost warmth without adding thickness or weight. Used in PrimaLoft Gold products, it delivers more warmth for the same loft, helping make slim, low-bulk yet very warm insulated garments.
Dead reckoning is estimating your current position from a known starting point by tracking the direction (bearing) you've traveled and the distance covered. Combined with timing and pace counting, it lets you navigate when landmarks are hidden — in fog, whiteout, darkness, or featureless terrain — though small errors accumulate, so it's checked against known features.
UTM (Universal Transverse Mercator) coordinates locate a point using a metric grid, dividing Earth into zones and giving an easting (meters east within the zone) and northing (meters north). Because positions are in meters on a square grid, UTM is easy to plot and measure on a map, which is why many backcountry navigators prefer it to latitude and longitude.
Supplemental oxygen is bottled oxygen, delivered through a mask and regulator, that high-altitude climbers breathe to offset the thin air on the world's highest peaks. Used widely above about 7,000-8,000 metres, it reduces the risk of altitude illness and frostbite and aids performance, though some climbers ascend the 8,000ers without it.
A snow bollard is an anchor carved directly from the snow itself — a teardrop- or horseshoe-shaped mound or trench around which the rope is looped to belay or rappel. Needing no hardware, it's a valuable backcountry anchor when gear is unavailable, but its strength depends entirely on snow quality and careful construction.
A running belay is the protection method used in simul-climbing: both climbers move at once with several pieces of protection clipped between them, so the rope runs through gear that would catch a fall even though no one is statically belaying. It keeps a moving team protected while maximizing speed.
Simul-climbing (simultaneous climbing) is a speed technique where both the leader and follower climb at the same time while tied to the same rope, with protection placed between them, rather than one belaying the other. It is much faster than pitching but riskier, since a fall by either climber can pull the other, so it's reserved for easier terrain or experienced teams.
Monopoint crampons have a single central front point instead of the usual two, giving precision on thin ice, small rock edges, and mixed terrain. Favoured by ice and mixed climbers for their accuracy and ability to slot into small placements, they are less stable than dual-points on lower-angle snow.
An ice tool is a short, curved-shaft technical axe designed for climbing steep ice and mixed terrain, used in pairs. Compared with a mountaineering ice axe, it has an aggressive, drooped pick and an ergonomic grip for swinging into vertical ice and hooking rock. Ice and mixed climbers carry two.