One of the more overlooked tools for resort skiers planning to stick their toes in backcountry waters is the Alpine Trekker. It’s a simple adapter plate that allows you to enjoy the freedom of a free heel for skinning back in-bounds while using the resort equipment that you know and trust for harvesting freshies [...]
Archive for August, 2012
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Review: La Sportiva RT binding
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Some things in the backcountry are immutable, like the motivation to reduce weight. One way or another, cutting weight usually involves some compromise in performance. That axiom remains true with La Sportiva’s RT binding, but less than you might expect. Even though it only weighs around ½ pound/foot it has some impressive features built [...]
Tags: News: Backcountry snippets
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Scarpa With the next ski season still a full month or four away Scarpa is offering a sweet deal to prepare for it. Through the end of August all boot repairs will be half off and return shipping is free. The key here is the boots must arrive by August 31 at their Denver [...]
Access: New Tahoe area FS plan avoids snowmobile issues
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The Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit of the US Forest Service have released the draft of a new management plan that distills their policy guidelines for the next 20 years. The bureaucrats new plan does not appear to address winter recreation – implying no changes to their decades old plan. If there were no [...]
Telemark Binding Selection Chart
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This is a dry run of a page that I’m working on for helping people select a telemark binding. Your feedback, input, and criticism are requested. This isn’t complete yet because some of the relevant bindings are still absent in the archives of reviews available. Some will be published soon, others a bit later. [...]
Rerun: Rainey Design’s Hammerhead (v1)
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As a first year binding it is tough to rationalize awarding the Hammerhead an Editor’s Choice for telemark bindings. However, we couldn’t ignore the improvements either. When the beta version arrived it was clear that a new standard in control had been set, and for some that is reason enough. However, lots of folks [...]
Council of Squirrels predict Winter 12/13
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With the heat bearing down in the dog days of summer skiers can’t help but seek relief in dreams of a deep, cold winter. The question always is, what sort of winter will the next one be? If you listen to the global warming proponents, last year’s winter is a clear indication of their [...]
Technique: Removing tough screws
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Replacing the bindings on your skis with a different pair is not all that uncommon, but it usually requires more effort than just unscrewing the screws. If the bindings were mounted properly, glue was used to seal out water and prevent the screw from vibrating loose. With good glue, it will not only prevent vibrating [...]
Review: BD FlickLock® Pro ski poles
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When it comes to chosing an adjustable ski pole for backcountry skiing, one can hardly go wrong with the Black Diamond’s FlickLock® series, the most popular adjustable pole seen on skin tracks throughout America. In recent years a number of competitors have come up with some worthy alternatives, but the flicklock concept is a [...]
News: Ski FREE at Eagles Nest, UT
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When I first heard the term “free skiing” it was over a decade ago from the VP of marketing at Atomic, telling me free skiing was the term they would be using in the future to promote their brand. His manipulation of the English language was a classic example of contrived “marketing speak.” I [...]
