November 2013 archive

Review: Nordica’s Hell and Back

  Nordica first introduced the Steadfast and the Hell and Back a couple of years ago. At the time they were one of the first companies to heavily tout the lightweight “sidecountry” ski concept. Those two models have evolved into Nordica’s two best selling skis despite the nichey market position that they billed it as …

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Technique: Pedal Hop Turn

Virage Sauté Pédale Historically there has been a lot of “skiing with consequence” going on in Europe and America. Many of its roots can be traced to Chamonix, France. This is the hub for modern alpinism, with a large concentration of snow and ice climbs waiting to be skied. Things began with the first generation …

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Review: Volkl Mantra

The Mantra has been in the Volkl lineup for a long time as an Alpine model. This has been their best selling ski for the past few years and it is among the most popular expert level skis in Tahoe until just recently. Volkl has also had a backcountry version of this ski called the …

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First Look: K2 Shaxe®

What do you get when you cross an axe with a shovel? In the years I’ve spent skiing, mountaineering, and, writing about skiing and mountaineering, a steady procession of ice axes and snow shovels have passed through my hands. One thing, however, that I had yet to see was a serious mountaineering ice-axe capable of …

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Rerun: Mt. Greylock’s Thunderbolt Ski Run

The Year of the Thunderbolt Muscat called me from the operating room late Tuesday night and said that because he was on call until six a.m. and had Wednesday off, and because, since it wasn’t a weekend, the nannie would be coming tomorrow to look after Rachel while his wife was at work, and because …

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Review: Salomon Quest 98

For this year, Salomon is expanding and redesigning the established Rocker2 collection into the “Quest” series in an effort to penetrate the mid-fat, 98mm width segment a little better. Like many brands, Salomon is slowly backing away from heavily rockered skis in the all mountain segments and so, while the new Quest 98 does have …

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Wireless speaker for Camp Decadence

  Got me one of them newfangled wireless speakers sent last week, made by Hercules called the WAE, which stands for Wireless Audio Experience. Their BTP04 model is a relatively small package, a bit smaller than a one liter bottle. Small enough that you wouldn’t mind taking on it an overnight backpack, especially if you …

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