Jan 29 2014

BCTalk: 2013/14 Coast Mountain Conditions

Coastal. Huge amounts of snow and sunny all the time. woot! woot! photo: Alex

Coastal.   Huge amounts of snow and sunny all the time. woot! woot!   Photo: Alex

Now here’s a thread with a pleasing mix of photo stoke and nerdy snowpack analysis.

We did get results at 1930m on a NNW aspect in a full pit. CTE (5) down 18 SP; CTM (11) down 62 SP; and CTM 14 down 119!!! SC. On an extended column test at the same pit, we could only get propagation on the layer 18cm down, and even this was RP, though the block was happy to slide off once the propagation was complete.
—rebob

Keep making backcountry turns

Jan 28 2014

1st Look: Black Diamond’s Evac snow shovel

Who’s your buddy in the backcountry? Whoever they are, when the fit hits the shan they’ll only be as good as the shovel they are carrying. With the new Black Diamond Evac, they might move up a notch or two on your buddy list.

Keep making backcountry turns

Jan 27 2014

Backcountry Boot Roundup for 2014/15

 

Got walk mode?

Got walk mode?

When you look at sales of ski boots with a walk mode it seems like everybody is going into the backcountry. That conclusion assumes everyone who buys a ski boot with a walk mode is using it to go ski touring. In reality, a lot of folks are simply using it to make walking to the lifts more comfortable, and why not? Even if the option to let the cuff shell pivot backwards compromises a 130 flex boot to something like 125, or even a 120 flex rating, that’s still plenty of power for advanced and expert skiers to drive any size ski on any angle slope. Perhaps the bigger question is, except for racers, when are the rest of the skiers going to wake up?

At this point in time the list of brands not offering a boot with a walk mode is shorter than those who do. Although there are plenty of boots being sold with a walk mode that may not ever see a wild snow snake, the ones that come with Dynafit inserts are the ones to be taken seriously in the backcountry and that realm continues to expand.
Keep making backcountry turns

Jan 23 2014

22 Designs joins NTN gang

 

Video demo below

NTN compatible with a free-pivot and Hammerhead power? Stay tuned.

NTN licensed with a free-pivot and Hammerhead power?
Stay tuned.

The options for telemark skiers just got a little bit sweeter this year. Hot on the heels of shipping the very last Hammerhead ever, 22 Designs unveiled their next gen binding at Outdoor Retailer Winter 2014 that is the first binding licensed to use Rottefella’s patented NTN technology. What’s it called? Good question and you might have the answer to that, so send in your suggestions.

22 Designs NTN binding combines some of the elements of the Axl/Vice design, like an adjustable tension spring underfoot, with a step-in function attachment at the second heel of an NTN boot. Not psuedo step-in, easy entry like Rottefella’s Freeride or Freedom, but simple slide your boot in the toe and step down type step-in. No, it does not appear to be releasable; not in the prototype version shown at the OR show.
Keep making backcountry turns

Jan 22 2014

2-pin Tech Binding Roundup for 2014/15

 

To commemorate 30 years making BC bindings Dynafit will offer a gold anodized version of the Radical next season

To commemorate 30 years making BC bindings Dynafit will offer a gold anodized version of the Radical next season

This is the year the diminutive 2-pin tech binding goes mainstream. The lure of the backcountry has beckoned and the eyes of tomorrows best snow riders are firmly on the untracked side of yonder hills. It’s not just about landing the pillows in the canyon tucked to the side, but the other side, the far side that can’t even been seen from their current vantage point, and they know, Duke’s don’t go there without petrol power. So the fastest way in is with strong, lightweight bindings. Dynafit. Techno 2-pins. Those undersized, unbelievably puny-sized bindings that ski alpinists use.

As the backcountry beckons to the next generation of skiers, manufacturers have been quick to build whatever contraption fit their imagination to give a passport out of bounds. Except Dynafit. They simply said, the further you go the more you want what we have.
Keep making backcountry turns

Jan 22 2014

OR Report: BCA wins shoveling competition

 

Team BCA and Ortovox digging for dummies (to prove a point).

Team BCA and Ortovox digging for dummies.

Everybody hates a cocky athlete, but when they win, like Bill Johnson did in Sarajevo, you can’t be denying they might only be sharing their confidence before the event. So it turned out to be when BCA won the “Can You Dig It?” shoveling competition at the All Mountain event at Solitude resort.

Results

There were two teams I was confident had the experience and true desire to win – Backcountry Access and Black Diamond. Back in November BCA’s Bruce Edgerly made that clear when he said, “We’re bringing home the cup.” Team BCA extracted the torso of a lincoln-log dummy buried 90 centimeters deep in bermcrete, a hard chunky mass of refrozen snow, in approximately 4½ minutes. Team BD followed shortly behind at approximately 5 minutes, and the team from MSR took the bronze, yet a minute later.
Keep making backcountry turns

Jan 21 2014

Prepping for “Can You Dig It?”

Yesterday was setup day. Time to set up the scenario for the EarnYourTurns shoveling competition, to be held at Solitude ski resort at 1pm on January 21st during On Snow Demo day of Outdoor Retailer’s Winter 2014 show. The purpose of the shoveling competition is to draw attention to our collective need to practice this oft avoid part of avalanche preparedness.
Keep making backcountry turns