C Dostie

Author's posts

News: Ski FREE at Eagles Nest, UT

  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 …

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News: Outdoor Retailer Summer 2012 report

  As ever, the Outdoor Retailer show was an excellent time to meet with manufacturers and see what they have brewing for the future. Since it was the summer show there wasn’t a whole lot of product visible that related to snow and skiing, but there were a lot of cool electronic gadgets to check …

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BC News: Resort skiing Down, Tele Up.

  SIA has released their annual survey results and the numbers are what you would expect, if you know how to interpret them. Any way you slice it, the number of people skiing was down for the 11/12 season compared to the 10/11 season. Considering last season got off to a late start, and the …

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Review: REI’s Shuksan Jacket

  For years I’ve been hearing about how much more breathable eVent™ is compared to Goretex™. As luck would have it, the samples that floated through the Couloir office always ended up covering another editors’ body. Frankly I was perfectly satisfied with my Schoeller™ jacket for most days since it was clearly more breathable than …

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Review: BD’s O1 doubles down!

After six years Black Diamond’s O1 will feature a six-hole mounting pattern. As with all other telemark bindings using a six-hole pattern, it doesn’t match any other binding on the market. That’s the bad news. The good news is the two extra holes extend the overall length, and thus the retention surface area of the …

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BC Ski Review: Black Diamond’s Revert

s soon as there is any depth to the snow surface, the shallowness of the early rise tip and tail allow the Revert to dig in and deliver nice round turns with the same flex and springiness you would expect for a full length traditionally shaped ski. This makes them an excellent backcountry ski where speed is not the norm…

Review: Exped Downmat UltraLite

When it comes to getting a good nights rest you don’t want to cut too many corners. In the backcountry that means down insulation, top to bottom. Nothing is as light or lofts up as well and thus, is as warm as down. When camping on the snow it would seem obvious this means a …

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