by randosteve January 12th, 2012
Black Diamond Fall 2012 FreeTour Series Skis.
From left to right – Carbon Megawatt, Carbon Justice, Drift, Starlet and Revert.
When Black Diamond started selling their own ski and boot line a few years ago, the common mantra was that it was “All About The Down”. Well, it seems as though the tides are changing a bit down in Salt Lake City, and every year we see a little more focus put into not only making gear work better for us, but also making it lighter. This continues into their Fall 2012 offerings, as Black Diamond will make some tweaks to boot and liner fit, skin glide and glue performance, and…what I’m most excited about…the addition of three new skis to their Touring Series (which was known as the Efficient Series for the past few years) that will make those of us that think skiing is also a little about the up…smile. Read More…
by randosteve January 11th, 2012
Click all photos for larger image.
Remember when Dynafit was known for making ultra-skinny and short skis for rando’ers that liked to spoon tight wiggle turns and put in low angle skin tracks? Well, they still make skis for that, but for next fall, Dynafit will add a new stick its collection called the Huascaran (a 6,768m peak in Peru) that will one-up the Stoke as their flagship powder slaying ski and is sure to be a hit with the fat and baggy crowd. Read More…
by randosteve January 10th, 2012
Last Friday, I got out with Reed Finlay to ski an obscure line on the southwest side of Teewinot Mountain that drops down into Glacier Gulch. I’m not really sure what to call this route, but we dubbed it the “Son of Southwest”, after Teewinot’s more prominent and more often skied Southwest Couloir, that lies a little further to the east. I hope you like this little video I put together from the day. Still images in remainder of post. Ciao for now! Read More…
by randosteve January 9th, 2012
They probably have one of these for every state that thinks
they have off-the-charts wind. Still kind of humorous though.
by randosteve January 7th, 2012
I’m not much of a dog dude, but this sure is an amazing story about Ole, a little corgi’s will to live after an avalanche took his owner’s life (RIP David Gillard of Bozeman, MT) up in Cooke City, MT, on New Year’s Eve day. Pretty impressive little guy and thanks to BeartoothPowder.com for sharing the story! (See the comments section for a video by Doug Chabot, from the Gallatin NF Avalanche Center, investigating the avalanche incident.)
by randosteve January 6th, 2012
…today would have been a rest day.
Glad I’m not. Have a siCKteR weekend!!
by randosteve January 5th, 2012
To-Pin or Not-To-Pin…that is the question. (And I don’t mean telemark.) 
Alas, after a couple weeks in limbo, Dynafit has now released the new Radical binding heel-pin upgrade. The pin is made of brass and has a skinny end, as well as a think end with a small ring indented into it. When installing the new pin, the thin end goes in, towards the heel-post. I’m not sure what the indented ring is for, but it may add a bit of bite to the lock-out feature or be some sort of break-off point so as not to damage the plastic housing. All-in-all, the new pin is reported to decrease the amount of force it takes to spin the heel-piece in a counter-clockwise motion and over-power the auto-rotate lock-out feature of the Radicals.
Here are some instructions for pin replacement if you need them. (Note: Don’t get confused by the arrows and follow the numbers under the images. See last page with text for additional guidance.) FWIW, for the past couple of weeks, I’ve been testing a new ski for next season (Fall 2012) from Dynafit called the Huascaran (AKA, the Landfish) with a Radical FT12 binding that had the pins removed. It’s temping to go completely sans-pins, since I really didn’t have any problems or excessive auto-rotation issues without them being installed. Anyway, food for thought.
by randosteve January 4th, 2012
There is nothing more annoying (well, maybe there are some things more annoying, but…) than having to pull your sunglasses off, or away from, your face because they have fogged up. Clearing your lenses of fog and moisture, and bringing them back to shape for clear and crisp vision also tends to be a huge PITA since most of the materials on our bodies when we are skiing don’t suck up moisture that well. For the past month, I’ve been testing out some Bausch + Lomb FogShield Sport anti-fogging treatment for sunglasses and goggles, and have found it quite helpful at reducing fog-ups. Read More…
by randosteve January 3rd, 2012
Click all photos for larger image.
Considering that there is virtually zero snow in the Sierras right now, and not really to my surprise, legendary Sierra Slayer Glen Poulsen and friend Sarah hightailed it to Jackson on New Year’s Eve for a few days of skiing in the Tetons. Unfortunately, I’m smack dab in the middle of my work week, but I was able to scrounge a day off and get out skiing with them yesterday. We even found some pretty stable snow out there. Read More…
by randosteve January 2nd, 2012
If you haven’t followed the mass migration to Jackson yet, since we are one of the few places that have snow, here is another reason to get on up here. This weekend is the US Ski Mountaineering National Championships to be held at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. Race starts at 8am on Saturday, January 7th, and here is a link to this year’s race course.
by randosteve December 31st, 2011
Barring multiple avalanche warnings and overall sketchy snow conditions, it’s petty hard to sit around the house or wait in lift-lines with a bazillion other skiers, and I’ve been trying to get out into the backcountry and ski what is available…without getting killed in the process. After getting denied and turning around at 8k’ in the park a couple days ago due to wind, weather and yeah, extreme avalanche danger, I skied the pass yesterday, but felt the need to get out into the park again today and do some snow control on the areas I like to ski most. The reported 9” of new light density snow meant the skiing would be killer! How could I resist?
Clearing skies and cold temps kept the stoke level high as our group moved into the more open terrain below Wimpys. The cold temps made travel so much easier than just a couple days before, when the guy breaking trail would sink well above their knees in the sugary snowpack. We moved smoothly through the lower field this time, and then proceeded to get on the lower, steeper flanks of the Wimpster. Read More…
by randosteve December 30th, 2011
For those of you that just can’t get enough weather info and love to crunch the numbers and study graphs, TetonSnowInfo has created a nice Snow/Weather Summary Report web page that puts all of the past month’s weather and snow information into easy to read graphs. You can pick different snow and weather stations to focus your attention on, as well as set the dates to a pre-determined range and customize your summary data. While this web page was mostly designed for avalanche forecasters and instructors, I think some of you ski bums out there might find it useful, or at least interesting to look at and space-out on.
by randosteve December 29th, 2011
Just in time for the epic avalanche cycle we are about to enter is the release of a new mobile avalanche and weather website for Teton County, called JHAvi.com. You might ask what makes this site better than the BTNF 7AM forecast that gets emailed to your phone, I mean it doesn’t get any more convenient than that…right?
Well, there are a few things that just might make it a little better for one-stop-shopping, as JHAvi.com combines all your weather, webcams, emergency phone numbers, snow depths and avalanche information all in one place that is easy to access with your mobile phone. The site works well IMO, and the information, like temperatures and snowfall, update throughout the day. Emergency numbers like ski patrol and SAR are also included with push to call functionality, which is nice when the shit hits the fan.
Plus, with most smartphones, you can make a shortcut to the bookmarked webpage so it works like an app, which make access to all the information even faster and more convenient. It made the home screen on my Droid phone, so give it a try…I think you will like it!
by randosteve December 28th, 2011
I don’t know about you, but my knee has been killing me over the past few weeks. I’ve had a couple surgeries on my right knee (ACL reconstruction/Spring 1994, meniscus clean-up/Summer 1996) and it often pops, clicks and swells up on occasion. Some say that certain types of weather patterns can influence joint pain and that periods of low pressure (storms) can cause swelling and achiness. But, from my experience, it’s the long-term high pressure stints that really bring me to my knees when it comes to knee pain. Read More…
by randosteve December 26th, 2011
Thanks to Jordan Manley for putting together this video from a ski trip to
Baffin Island last spring. It reaffirms my need to visit the area and explore.
Not looking forward to the 130km snowmobile ride, though.
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