November 2014 archive

Beacon Review: Arva’s Neo v2.0

  When you consider what the most important criteria are in an avalanche rescue, keeping it simple has to be one of the most important. There are plenty of things going on and you don’t need complications when you’re already facing the most serious one possible. To that end Arva’s Neo is undeniably one of …

Keep making backcountry turns

Review: Dynafit TLT 6 AT boot

  When you’re ready to go long, whether that means deeper into the backcountry, or higher, or simply maximizing vertical even if it’s just line of sight from the trailhead, you know that weight matters and downhill performance will be compromised. Whether that compromise is too much depends in large part on how well you …

Keep making backcountry turns

Review: G3 Carbon Synapse 101

Carbon is the rage in skis these days, and for good reason. From the rumblings I’m hearing, it won’t be going away anytime soon. One example of why is G3’s Synapse. It has the requisite muscle necessary to make up for what heavier skis do with mass. At speed they get a bit skittery, but …

Keep making backcountry turns

Review: Buried  by Ken Wylie

  Book signings are not the sort of thing to make headlines much, but the subject of Ken Wylie’s book entitled Buried is about his contribution and assessment of what is arguably the biggest headline in avalanche news in a hundred years, the tragedy on Tumbledown Mountain, January 20th, 2003. Seven people died in one …

Keep making backcountry turns

Review: Salomon Quest Pro TR 110

  Salomon is taking their sweet time developing products for the backcountry. Though the development seems slow, with consistency and time that translates into being relentless. This year’s Quest Pro TR 110 is a moderate example of that. By moderate, I’m referring to a moderate flex rating of only 110, hardly stiff by alpine standards. …

Keep making backcountry turns

Eulogy to Black Diamond’s telemark boot line

  Although the story announcing the demise of Black Diamond’s teleboot line was not unexpected, nor is it unlamented. It might be easy to read into that a sense of good riddance because of the reference to BD boots fitting like buckets. That was not universal, a small but clear majority of bootfitters I spoke …

Keep making backcountry turns

Bean & Rice: High Attitude, E2-SII

  Sakson’s back, this time in Colorado. Never was I ever jealous of Colorado’s snow until the last three years in California. Now I’m only jealous because it seems our snowpack conditions have flipped. That’s what I love about California, how solid the snow is. It used to be reliable too, but the recent trend …

Keep making backcountry turns