In late 2012, Mountain Hardwear unveiled Ghost Whisperer, the pinnacle of the Bay Area company’s 24 years of high-alpine fabric innovation. Developed in collaboration with Ueli Steck, the late Swiss mountaineer who pioneered the “fast and light” school of alpinism, Ghost Whisperer was, at Ueli Steck’s request, outrageously light. One jacket weighed just 7.2 ounces — no more than a machined pen. Yet somehow, it was also windproof, water-resistant and generously insulated with 850-fill goose down. It was, quite simply, one of the most advanced alpine jackets on the market, and it remains so.
Now, Mountain Hardwear is channeling the success of the original Ghost Whisperer jacket into a technical down sleeping bag. There will be two models: 20-degree (weighing 1 pound 13 ounces) and 40-degree (1 pound 1 ounce). Scheduled to launch next spring, the ultralight sleeping bags will feature the Ghost Whisperer’s namesake ripstop nylon, 900-fill goose down, spacious mummy shape and a drawstring hood. Both can be squeezed into just about any backpack crevice; the 40-degree model compresses down to about 5 x 11 inches. Prices will likely be revealed later this summer.
