How can you be so sure, that the wonders you make in your life will be seen, by the millions and millions, who follow to visit the sight of your dreams?

A high altitude sleeping bag is key to success and survival. Unproven gear cannot enter adventures near limits, The Odin from Valandré is the proven reference, that climbers worldwide have trusted for years. (Well, we are not a new kid on the block!)

The Odin sleeping bag, and as a matter of fact Valandré, have their roots in the last french national K2 expedition in 1979.

The French Alpine Club (CAF), wanted to make France the fourth nation to summit the K2 after the Italians in 54, Japanese in 77 and the Americans in 78.

Chamonix is known as the Mecca of alpinism and in this valley, the French alpinist had and still have the best training ground for vertical granite, ice, and "Mix"! (Down in town, go to Snell Sports and ask Yas to sharpened your crampons without overheating the metal)

So, the CAF called in 14 of the "creme" french alpine climbers with the aim of climbing the south-south-east ridge of K2, which after C2 (6.500m) represents a series of 3 rock parts. The most challenging being the one after the overhanging glacier (7.500m), where you have a 1200m rock barrier to pass.

14 experienced high altitude climbers is a big bunch of boys. This number is explained by the fact that the locals in high valley in Pakistan did not have the experience, like the Nepalese Sherpas do, to carry out high altitude portering, so the expedition needed 14 men to carry 260kg (TWO HUNDRED AND SIXTY KILOS!) up to C6, for the final assault.

To get 260KG up to C6, you need 14 climbers, who need oxygen, food, and equipment.....and to get all the gear into BC, you need porters who also need food and gear......so you need 1200 porters to transport 12 tonnes of equipment into the K2 BC. - The French expedition did not summit and was a total failure.

The K2 expedition was followed up the same year by a "semi-light" expedition leaded by a South-Tyrolean climber, who climbed Everest the year before, without oxygen: Reinhold Messner. (Stroh rum Reinhold) Reinhold used the same route as the French, but traversed to avoid the third rock wall, to join the italian ridge, and summit this way!

During the expedition, several climbers doubted that lifting 260kg to C6, needing 1200 porters, had any sense as Reinhold Messner climbed Everest the year before without oxygen. One of these climbers was: Maurice Barrard, President of the Himalayan section of the French Alpine Club. - It simply had to be: "super light, non ox - alpine style expeditions".

Broad peak: 6500m (2009)

Back in France, Maurice contacted a "Tech-guy" André Vandeputte, who was working on a new revolutionary baffle system that would increase the insolating capacity and at the same time knock off 30 to 40% of the total weight (The passage from a "double stitched though system" to a "compartment (H-box wall) system"). Exactly what Maurice needed for his own Himalayan ambitions. So Maurice "helped" André develop the full line of ultra light down equipment (jackets, pants, mittens, booties, and sleeping bags) that he needed for himself and his wife Lillian.

From scratch, products were directly developed to serve in the most severe conditions, so André and Maurice needed a name.....Valandré or the Valley of André.

Maurice developed a sleeping bag, that could be used with an expedition down parka. The cylinder was constructed using 4 panels. One on the top, another on the back and two lateral panels. One of the more interesting features in this bag was (and is) that the compartments on the back are open and connected to the compartment in the lateral bands. The advantage is that once in the bag, that you "press-out" the down, filling the lateral compartments. As a result, they are filled "under pressure". Hence an excellent lateral insulation. This bag was filled with 1000g of the gray goose that Maurice and André sourced in the South West of France and was launched under the name: Makalu 1000.

When the first lightweight fabrics were introduced on the market, Valandre made an improved version of the Makalu 1000 (named Lhotse 1100), by using the lightest fabric available, which allowed the addition of 100g extra down, increasing the total weight with 50g only.

In 95 a "Super Makalu" was introduced under the name Odin 1150. Maurice's Makalu was stream lined by adding the first generation Tubular Bell technique (see Freja page), to his compartment system, introducing the first micro-lights, 3D draft collar system and an anatomy three dimensional shape. Once again, a new reduction in fabric weight, allowed a 50g increase in fill weight, reaching 1150g (42.3oz/1198g in reality) with an identical total weight.

As the initial Makalu is a rectangular 4-piece bag consisting of one top layer, one back layer, and two side bands, the anatomical shape is made and obtained by shaping the 4 pieces simultaneously.

The "half moon" hood, developed in the Shocking Blue concept, was adapted to the Odin in 2003. This hood offers a maximum insulation to the very extreme forehead and the incorporated static draw cord system offers the ultimate precision. A precision as sharp as a razor blade - thanks!

The draft collar is a 3D development. It is anatomical in the sense that it compensates for the different lengths needed to protect the shoulders, and at the same time has less width on the neck and on the throat.

Now we are getting to the Barrard point of how a technical high altitude expedition bag should be: A bag of volume (offering a possibility of layering), side-raised compartments (offering optimal side insulation), 27 straight H box wall compartments (optimal down fixation/instantly operational), total weight of 64.7oz/1836g, easily capable of standing a negative forty (F and C). And finally an unbelievable compressibility that will decompress within minutes once removed from the compression bag. (Speed is safety!)

The Odin is a well-proven Valandré expedition bag for"le connaisseur". (POINT)

The video at the top of the page gives a full tour of the Odin’s features. (Listen to the sound, as it lands on the table!)

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