Type Conrad Anker’s name into Google and you’ll learn that he’s a renowned, award-winning mountaineer who has put up dozens of first ascents. He’s been a key player in a handful of movies, he was The North Face Climbing Team leader for 26 years, and he helped locate George Mallory's body on Everest. Anker is one of the most accomplished mountaineers of our time. He’s also one of the most humble. Talk to Anker, and he’ll tell you that now that he’s 60 he’s “a carpenter by therapy,” and that he likes to do trail maintenance out in the woods.

“It’s my enjoyment after hours,” said Anker. “I love to do trail maintenance out in the woods, and Silky saws are my tool of choice. If you're in the know, you’re in the know.”

When it comes to carpentry, Anker says that his Silky Bigboy is his go-to tool for “handy-manning” around the house. “When California got hit by the huge atmospheric wave, I used my Silky Bigboy instead of a chainsaw to remove blowdown that fell on the fence surrounding my family’s ranch, and it worked out really well.”

But Anker’s Silkys don’t always stay stateside. This fall, he’s planning to bring his Katanaboy on an Everest expedition where he’ll be the expedition manager. Anker and his team will use it to build an eight person ice cave at 7200 meters (23,622 feet!). He says it’ll be far superior to a snow saw for the job.

“When I saw how efficiently the Katanaboy cuts, I realized it’s tough enough to get through the dense neve we have to deal with at high altitudes, where plastic shovels break, aluminum shovels bounce, and Silkys make quick work of snow and ice so they can easily be removed.

For now, Anker is putting his saws to use at home in Montana, where a lot of the access trails for local climbing zones are on Forest Service lands, where chain saw operators need to be certified. “You don’t need to be certified to use a Silky saw,” said Anker. “That makes trail days a lot more efficient because everyone can cut.”

Anker and fellow volunteers are on their sixth summer of developing new rock routes in a side canyon near Anker’s home in Bozeman. He’s using his Bigboy to trim deadfall in the canyon and on the exit, so ice climbers can ski out once they’re done kicking and swinging up seeps and waterfalls.

Follow Conrad on Instagram @conrad_anker and visit his website www.conradanker.com