Odin

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 sucess and survival. Non proven gear, can not enter adventures on the limite, The Odin from Valandré, is the proven reference, that climbers world wide has trusted for years. (sorry, we are not a new boy on the block!)

The Odin sleeping bag, and as a matter of fact Valandré, has it's historical source in the last French National K2 expedition in 1979.

The French Alpin Club (CAF), wanted to become the forth nation to summit K2 after the Italians in 54, Japanese in 77 and the Americans in 78.

Chamonix is known as the Mecque of alpinisem, and in this valley the French alpinist, had and has the best training ground, for vertical granite, ice - and "Mix"! (Down in town, go to Snell Sports and ask Yas to sharpend your crampons without overheating the metal)

So, the CAF called in 14 of the "creme"  Alpine Climbers, with the aim to climb the south-south-east ridge of K2, witch after C2 (6.500m) represents a serie of 3 rock parts. The most audacjous being the one after the overhanging glacier (7.500m), where you have a 1200m rock barriere 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 assult.

To get 260KG up to C6, you need 14 climbers, who needs Oxygen, food and equipment.....and to get all the gear into BC, you need porters who allso 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 Tyrolyan climber, who climbed Everest the year before, with out oxygen: Reinhold Messner. (Stroh rum Reinhold)

Reinhold engaged 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 sence as Reinhold Messner climbed Everest the year before without oxygen. One of these climbers was: Maurice Barrard, President of the Himmalayan 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 baffel system, that would increase the isolation capasity and at the same time knock of 30 to 40% of the total weight (The passage from a "double stiched though system" to a "compartment (H-box wall) system"). Exactly what Maurice needed for his own Himalayan ambitions. So Maurice "helped" André to developpe the full line of ultra light down equipment (Jackets, Pants, Mittens, Booties and sleeping bag) that he needed for him self and his wife Lillian.

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

Maurice developped a sleeping bag, that could be used with a expedition down parka. The cylinder was constructed using 4 pannels. 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 compartment on the back are open and connecting with the compartment in the lateral bands. The advantage is, that once in the bag, that you "press-out" the down, to fill the lateral compartments. As a result, they are filled "under pressure". Hence a excelent lateral isolation. 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.

As the first  light weight fabrics was interduced on the market, Valandre made a improved version of the Makalu 1000 (named Lhotse 1100), by using a lighter fabric available, witch allowed to ad 100g more down, only increasing the total weight with 50g.

In 95 a "Super Makalu" was interduced under the name Odin 1150. Maurice's Makalu was stream lined, by ading the first generation Tubular Bell technique (see Freja page), to his compartment system, introducing the first micro-lights, 3D draft collar system and a anatomical tree dimentional shape. Once again a new decrease in fabric weight, allowed a 50g increase in fill weight, that went up to 1150g (42.3oz/1198g in reality) with a 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 shaping is made and obtained by shaping the 4 pieces simultaneously.

The "half moon" hood, developped in the Shocking Blue concept, was addapted to the Odin in 2003. This hood offers a maximum isolation to the very extrem fore head and the incorporated static draw cord system, offers the ultimate precision. Precision sharp as a razor blade - thanks!

The draft collar is a 3D developpement. It's anatomical in the sence, that it compensates 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: A bag of volume offering a possibility of layering, side raised compartments, filled with 42.3oz/1198g of the totally mature Gray Goose 95/05 in 27 straight H box wall compartments, total weight of 64.7oz/1836g, easyly capable to resist a negative forty (F and C). And finally an unbelievable compressability that will de-compress within a matter of minuts once taken out of the compression bag. (speed is safety!)

The Odin is a proven Valandré expedition bag for "le connaisseur", and you properly won't find more in action than Masserati Quatro Porte's on the road.

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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