Category: Accessories

Accessories for backcountry skiing/riding

Review: G3 Escapist climbing skins

G3’s new Escapist climbing skins may be the climbing skins of choice from the 2020 season onward. There’s nothing revolutionary about these skins, just a solid mix of good components from the grip and glide of the plush, to the stickiness of the glue, but my fave ingredients are the tip and tail kits. Tip …

Keep making backcountry turns

Review: DPS Phantom — Base Treatment

The promise of Phantom from DPS sounds too much like a fairy tale to be believed — you never have to wax your skis again and your stick(s) will slide forever like they have been. As with many stereotypes, there is some truth in the pitch, but there are exceptions to the rule. When you …

Keep making backcountry turns

Review: Red Fox Duffels

Staying organized, at least for me, is a constant struggle. Whether on the road, or at home, when it comes to keeping my gear-life under control, too often I feel like the little Dutch boy with his thumb stuck in the dyke, staunching a sea of equipment ever ready to gush out across the floor, …

Keep making backcountry turns

Skeats — Strap-on ski crampons

Skeats™ are small crampons that connect to the bottom of your skis, over and in addition to a pair of climbing skins. They’re attached via a bungee strap around your skis, with the cone shaped teeth pointing down and puncturing the surface of hard snow. The video I saw on Facebook was undeniable proof they …

Keep making backcountry turns

Stoked Stix – better than ‘bucks

Ordinarily instant coffee is reserved for road trips and backcountry tours. However, it only took one sample cup of Stoked Stix for me to modify my daily routine. In fact, I sort of sabotaged my original plan, which was to use Stoked Stix instant coffee on a five day tour along the crest of the …

Keep making backcountry turns

Review: BD Ultralite Mo-mix Skins

Like any decent pair of climbing skins, Black Diamond’s Glidelite Ultralite climbing skins, the mohair mix variety, is a product guaranteed to get you to the goods and plaster your face with at least a smile, if not a giggle of delight for the face shots. As with most climbing skins, the grip and glide …

Keep making backcountry turns

Review: 5-point ‘pons, Tech Crampon 250

  Years ago the thought entered my head while kicking steps up a couloir that I really didn’t need a full set of crampons to boot up it, but some teeth at the toe would be nice. No doubt the same thought has entered your head if you’ve ever cramponed up a steep couloir. Alpinists …

Keep making backcountry turns