Combining the technical know-how of Valandré with the best down in the world, this union suit will let you focus on the summit and help keep you warm on the way up.

Hirotaka Takeuchi on his way up Annapurna 1 in 2004. "Take", pro-climber from Ishii Sports Tokyo, has finished 12 8000, and will soon become the first Japanese to compleet the 14th.

Based upon a classical 32 H-box wall construction membrane, the Combi is totally protected by a third layer of coated and DWR treated super strong 100% Japanese Polyamide. Hence, all baffle stitches are totally protected, letting no cold wind pass the stitches and no heat loss.

In an endless array of features, the Combi expresses the professional knowledge and Valandré’s “core” involvement in the Himalayan non oxygen movement. A fun game but no mistakes are allowed.

An internal gaiter with gripper elastic goes over climbing boots. Elasticized waist is backed by a wide 4-cm elastic band that runs across ¾ of the body, with an external adjustable elastic draw cord and elasticized cuffs at the sleeves and legs. You’ll find one inside zippered pocket and one outside, and one 3D pocket on the right leg.

The detachable semi-tunnel hood secures with both a zipper and a broad band of Velcro protecting the zipper and making it impossible to get it blown off. It’s fully adjustable with both an inner draw cord and Velcro on the outside. Furthermore, the brim has been stiffened, giving it a cap-like feature to add protection against driving snow. And as you can detach this hood, you can use the Combi with a Balaklava and a helmet, when you need to watch up and out.

Ralf Dujomovitz and Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner climbing the Cesen-Route on K2 at roughly 7000m  2010. Der Weg ist das Ziel! See the route .

But the key point in this masterpiece is quite simply the "articulation of arms and between legs": When you climb technical and difficult routes, you are confronted by an endless row of difficult obstacles like ice walls, couloirs of vertical rock and ice (mix) and so on, to solve and tackle. And here you go: you can't pass a wall, nor climb up a mixed couloirs, if you can't lift up your arms freely and anchor in your ice axes (get a grip), so the minimum one can expect in a High altitude Combi is, to be able to get the arms up freely, anchor in your axe correctly, and get some traction......bridge out and get some balance, knowing that you are in "the rope party" using a harness. You seriously need to rethink.....and select carefully, as NO mistakes are allowed in this game!

Our High altitude Combi is totally articulated allowing completely free use of arm movement as well as performing a "bit of leg bridging in high altitude couloirs", once necessary. - It's not always just a question of "jumaring" up the fixed ropes at $20.000 unite!

Valandre has turned the drop seat into a masterpiece of fabric. It is constructed with two straight zippers, at a 90° angle that form a triangular shape that easily opens up. Some may think that a single zipper placed in a bow may work better. But zippers are designed and engineered, to work in a straight line, and "bowing" a zipper offers an excellent chance for it to break down. An external Velcro sealed fabric flap protects the zippers from freezing while on the inside; ample insulation keeps all the cold out. So, we eliminated the risk of frozen balls.

French climber Hugues d’Aubarede summits Everest 2004

Watch Eudme Pasaban summit Kangchenjunga 2009 using the Valandre Combi

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