June 2012 archive

Rerun: The Backside of Beyond

Edward Abbey referred to the urban scene as “syphilization.” We read between the lines and suspect a cure for the most subtle of modern maladies, the condition caused by the strained nervous sense of urgency that seems to define life in the city.

Technique: Steep Skinning

  As much as I lobby for people to wake up to the advantages of setting a low angle skin track, the fact of the matter is most people prefer to set and/or follow a steep track. By steep I mean in the neighborhood of 20°. Without actually measuring it, how do you know you’re …

Keep making backcountry turns

Review: Jet Boil stove system

The stove itself isn’t the hottest burner on the market, but when combined with efficient heat transfer and insulation, the Jet Boil regularly shames hotter burning stoves.

Mammoth Shutters June Mountain

  Even considering the current state of California’s economy and the anemic ski season this past winter it is still surprising that Mammoth Mountain has decided to close June Mountain permanently. This certainly closes the door on an old goal of Mammoth founder Dave McCoy to link Mammoth and June mountain with lifts along the …

Keep making backcountry turns

Review: LiteDogz, Step-In 3-pin Binding

…when Louis Dandurrand explored having 22 Designs distribute his binding they realized he could fashion the basic toe piece like the Hammerhead toe – as a unitary, wrap-around piece of stainless steel – and the Bulldog became the Lite Dogz. It not only looked stronger and lighter, it was.

TR: Mt. Shasta, Hotlum Glacier

  This is my favorite time of year. Early summer corn season at Shasta! As usual, I was jibbing solo. The plan was to head to the east side. I didn’t really have a plan beyond that, just trying to get some good turns. Ended up skiing something a bit different than usual. The hunt …

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Technique: Headplant Stop

  One of my favorite tele tricks is ye’ ol’ shoulder-roll-biff turn, also known as a starfish turn. When I was riding a single plank, it was sometimes referred to as a 3-point landing. Whatever you call it, it is a way to avoid getting tweaked by simply going with the flow of momentum and …

Keep making backcountry turns