I’m no master…but I do have my own thoughts on some aspects to the the sport of ski mountaineering. Ski descent ratings can be very helpful when traveling to a new area or trying to describe the line you just skied. Unfortunately, unlike climbing, there isn’t a universal system that has been adopted by skiers. […]
Gear
I’m off to Mount Shasta with Reed for a few days of California sun and will be blogging when I can. Last week I saw the Mountain Khakis Land Rover parked on the road on my way to work. Now this is not surprising, since the Jackson Hole based company recently relocated to some office […]
Warning: These modifications to the Black Diamond Whippet are in NO way endorsed by Black Diamond or any of its employees and will nullify any warranty possibilities. The use of the Whippet in any other way than that intended by Black Diamond is NOT recommended. Ski mountaineering, backcountry skiing, and climbing are dangerous. Please…ski, climb, […]
Well it’s getting to be that time of year when the snow gets firm on just about all aspects and steep skinning can be a challenge. I have a pair of Dynafit ski crampons, but I really don’t use them that much. I am one of those backcountry skiers that prefers to skin over bootpack, […]
Dave Simpson, from Scarpa PR, called me last week to see if I wanted to test some of Scarpa’s new boot offerings for the 07/08 season. I have been skiing Scarpas for the past few years now and they tend to fit my foot well, so I jumped at the chance. Dave had a pretty […]
Christmas came a little late for those who wished for the new Ortovox S1 avalanche transceiver….but at least it came this season. We just got the new S1 in the shop yesterday, and sold one the same day. Pretty surprising considering the current snow conditions and overall vibe I get in town these days when […]
I know everyone has their own way of describing the millions of turns we all make (at least the luck ones) in our lives, so I thought it would be fun to share some that I’ve heard of, and some that my ski partners and I have created over the years. Some of these may […]
Today was cat-skiing day with the crew. A couple more people from Black Diamond joined us, Matt Law, who is a photographer and graphic designer, and Ben Walker, who heads up the product development team. We were all skiing on the new BD skis for next season, and all the feedback was positive. I rode […]
Light is right when it comes to rando race gear, and Dynafit has some of the lightest around. Every ounce counts as you race up the mountain and ounces add up to pounds as you gain elevation. Although being a good downhill skier is key, I feel that most of the races are won on […]
Since the heli was canceled yesterday, I took some time to work on my taxes, but did get out for a quick run on the Pass at around noon. The wind was ripping pretty good, and I skied Twin Slides back down to the parking lot. My last pass run was about a week ago, […]
I went to Jason Petervary’s house last week to talk to him about the Iditarod Trail Invitational (AKA, Iditabike) he will be competing in on February 24th in Alaska. Jay is an accomplished adventure racer, having competed in multiple Eco-Challenge and Primal Quest events, as well as being pretty much good at everything that revolves […]
Just a quick recap from my day at yesterday’s Outdoor Retailer. It all started out with a breakfast with all the shops in our buying group, The Grassroots Retail Group. Here, we talked about products we like and past performance. Many of the shops in the group are from the south, so it can be […]
Pretty productive day down here in SLC. Started off at the Ortovox booth with Marcus Petersen and sounds like there is still hope for the S1 avalanche transceiver to be available this season. They have some nice backpacks, and some different shovel designs. One interesting item was a beacon receiver built into the tip of […]
Well I’m down in SLC right now, and today will be my first day at the Outdoor Retailer Trade Show. I have been to many summer shows working for Skinny Skis, but this will be my first one in the winter. I guess I’ve always been too busy skiing or racing. While I’m here, I […]
Well I’m off skiing in the Winds tomorrow for the next three days and I’m psyched. I love to go winter camping and the weather looks good. I am also with my two bros…Reed Finlay and Dustin Lemke. Last April I took a trip to a nearby area, but had to hike in AT boots […]
Well we had about 12hrs of clear, windless skies…too bad they were at night. The short break in the weather wasn’t enough for larger endeavors yesterday, so Dustin and I went for a morning lap on The Pyramid. This is my first time on The Pyramid and only Dustin’s second, and he’s born and bread […]
Looks like I’m skiing The Pyramid today, something I have actually never skied before. Maybe the ‘champagne chutes’ down into Jensen Canyon. Here is a picture of the upcoming ‘Terminator X’ boot from Scarpa for Fall 2007. The new boot is more or less a beefed up F1 which is also compatible with the much […]
I got out for a couple runs on the pass before work today and I think I was the first person up Glory. Sometimes it’s hard to tell cuz the bootpack fills in so quickly. It was cold and windy. I was tempted to ski Glory Bowl since it looked like it had been freshly […]
Note: To view larger images, right click on photo and select view image…thanks. I received these Click-Clack heel piece adapters for Dynafit bindings from Randogear last spring and have toured with them quite a bit now. They are compatible with all Dynafit bindings and besides the titanium ones, are lighter than most of the stock […]
Today we had some visitors from Aspen in the shop pushing their portable oxygen product OXIA. The idea is that it is small enough to travel with you and have enough oxygen to make it worth it. Cartridges hold from 60-100 breaths. It can be applied in a training sense for faster recovery and be […]