Category: Gear

Review: 22D’s ski crampon for AXL

  You probably don’t remember 22 Designs announcement at last years OR show (OR Winter 2012) that they were going to make ski crampons for their renowned AXL binding. I might have overlooked it myself except for the fact that the sample they had in their booth had backwards teeth. It was certainly contrary to …

Keep making backcountry turns

OR Report: Splitboard Bindings

Time to pull a fast one on my two planker brethren and recognize the elephant in the room. Yeah, those blasted snowboarders won’t go away. They have the same mountain spirit you and I carry, but they like surfing the slopes. Who can blame them? It is an excellent way to ride on waves of …

Keep making backcountry turns

Technique: Modifying TTS Heel Post

The original Telemark Tech System binding was a bit crude but was close enough to yield a glimpse of what the future of telemark bindings might provide. Mark Lengel, the inventor of the system admits that the binding is effectively still a beta binding, but the current incarnation is vastly improved over the first prototype. …

Keep making backcountry turns

Fritschi Diamir’s NEW Zenith 12 Tech Binding

Fritschi Diamir is joining the tech revolution in the backcountry. At the recent Outdoor Retailer trade show Fritschi unveiled their new Zenith 12, a tech binding that has lateral release capability at the toe, and an easy mode switch without exiting the binding. Although there is no standard for calibrating the release values of lightweight, …

Keep making backcountry turns

OR Report: Interest in airbag packs explodes

Can the US market really support more than a dozen airbag manufacturers? That’s right, there’s thirteen I know of that plan to distribute airbag packs next season, and two more soon after. At the moment the two biggest are the originator of the avalanche airbag pack, ABS, followed by SnowPulse. ABS uses compressed nitrogen to …

Keep making backcountry turns

OR Report: Backcountry Access’ BC Link

  Besides being adopted by K2 Sports, what’s new at Backcountry Access? More of what you might expect, and a little of something unexpected. The Tracker3™ is the follow up to the Tracker2™, utilizing the same real-time digital processing but now with the ability to separate multiple signals and mark a beacon you have located. …

Keep making backcountry turns

OR Report: On Snow Demo notes

The Outdoor Retailer Show began yesterday up at Solitude ski resort in Big Cottonwood Canyon, Utah. It’s always a blast checking out new skis, boots and bindings. The sun was blaring and the snow was tired, groomed, and firm so it was a good day to lock the heel and just cruise at speed to …

Keep making backcountry turns