It’s important to look your best and follow the rules of the fashion police when backcountry skiing, as you never know when the paparazzi may jump out from behind a snow drift and take your photo, or when a tele-tubbie POV’er may ski up to you and include the cameo in their next 10k pageview YouTube creation. Faded jackets from the 90s and boring colors just don’t cut it anymore in the World of Steeze 2011, and you don’t want to be that guy unwilling to let go of that traditional, conservative look with zero flare on the ski slopes.
This year’s rando-steeze…the Arc’teryx Snowdome Toque.
Some people are willing to lug big, tall, long, over-sized jackets and baggy, crotch dragging pants up the mountain in order to fulfill their need to maintain that steezy look that is so hip right now. But for many, weight and function over-ride the rules of fashion and we are left to only express our steezyness in one place…with our hats. Some say that like the hipsters of the urban environs, the skinny jean look might make its way into the ski industry. I guess that might mean lighter steezy ski pants, so there is light on the horizon for us weight and bulk conscious fashionistas.
Skinny Jeans look? Don’t know about that but we rock the tight pants and spandex because skiing is aerobic and function is fashion. Haven’t been able o find any dynafit ski tights in popping colors though. Any way you can talk to your contacts and get some steezy tights made?
actually andy…i was referring to dudes like this…
…not the package popping lycra/spandex skinny ski rando’ers like yourself.
Accourding to Gangstarr…
“The wilderness is filled with this;
so many people searching for false lift,
I’m here with the skills you’ve missed…
You know my steez…”
Im pretty sure hes talking about backcountry skiing on dynafits with tights and a funky beenie!
What is wrong with the second Picture??????????? Guy is in the park and I see powder in the background. This is a scary trend, much like skinny jeans.
>Guy is in the park and I see powder in the background.
Sounds fine to me. I wish everyone would do that. I find no problem with having the powder to myself, especially if I bother to ski resort! 🙂
Steez Nutz!
Totally off topic…. I think I remember reading that you were using mohair skins these days. Have you used the Ascension mixed mohair/nylons? What are your thoughts on them, how well do they climb compared to the standard nylons?
justin…i’m assuming you are referring to the grey bd glidelite mix skins? the name “ascension” refers to the orange, all nylon versions…fyi. i love the glidelite nylon/mohair mix skins and think they have plenty of climbing performance. not quite as much as the orange nylon version, but IMO there is plenty and i don’t miss any of it. they are lighter and fold up smaller and more easily as well. maybe not quite as durable, but that shouldn’t be a problem.
the glide is out of this world too! i was out skiing/skinning with a rando racer last year who was on race skis (i was on justices w/ glidelites) and i was matching his stride on the flat sections of skin track. of course, when he commented on how much glide i was getting, i told him “it is all in the technique”, but i knew it had a lot to do with the skins. 🙂
Hahaaa. That rail picture is gross.
Steve, I’m surprised to hear that you found the glidelight mix skins to glide so well. I had the opposite experience. I did a lot of comparisons between glidelight mix skins and BD orange skins of the same width on the same skis, some of it on flat approaches like the approach to Glacier Gulch. The glide on the glidelight skins was no better than on the BD orange skins, maybe even a little worse. The climb was also slightly worse, but, as you say, not significantly worse. A friend of mine who is a professional ski guide had the same experience. After trying for a while to “break in” the glidelight mix skins, we both gave up and sold them.
geoff…that sounds strange to me. i’m wondering if you compared new glidelights to older orange skins, which would make a huge difference because the older skins would be much more broken in and the new ones would also have more waxy DWR on them which can also reduce glide depending on the snow conditions.
how you actually compared them? did one dude have glidelights and the other orange ascensions? were you in the same skin track? who was in front? depending on snow conditions, this can really make a difference in glide. skinner technique makes a huge difference as well.
i’d say its pretty hard to really compare skin glide unless you just stand/tuck and glide down a slope, making two laps, same skier, same skis, different skins and compare the results.
Steve, Yes, I was comparing new Ascension mix skins with older BD orange skins, so that may be part of it. I talked to customer service at BD, though, and they said that not much break-in is needed. I skied on the mix skins for about 5 days total, averaging about 5000 ft of climbing each day. There was no noticeable improvement over that time. I tested in different ways. Sometimes I would swap several times with my partner. Sometimes I would carry two sets of skins and swap back and forth on my own skis. Sometimes I would put one skin on one ski and a different skin on the other ski. The conclusion was always the same. I also compared with a new pair of G3 skins. They had much better glide than either the Ascension mix skin or the BD orange skin. Their climb was also good on fresh cold-snow skin tracks, but they slipped a lot more than the orange BD skins on steep, glazed tracks or refrozen tracks.