Apr 01 2012

TR: Tahoe West Shore Epic Tour

There was no doubt, Sunday was set to be the best day of the Eleven-12 season. The snowpack has been thin, but there had been more storms in March than any other month this season, so the base was as deep as it had been all year. It wasn’t deep by record standards, something we had been spoiled with last year, but it was max for the year, and one of the few serious storms of the season was predicted to come in right side up leaving a solid 18” up high with a coat of super light and cold snow for the final layer.

Blue-bird day after a fresh two-footer hits the Tahoe area.

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Mar 30 2012

Sierra Spring Ski Season in Full Swing

For most of this anemic Eleven-12 season the snow has simply avoided the Sierra. Other ranges throughout the lower 48 haven’t exactly had stellar seasons either. Only Alaska has done well, but from a climate perspective Alaska is in another world anyway so that doesn’t quite count.

Brad Rassler enjoys fresh snow from Wednesday's storm. More in the forecast too!


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Mar 29 2012

Review: Marquette Backcountry skis

When the concept of the Marquette Backcountry ski was first explained it sounded like a great idea. Kudos to the marketing department for truth in advertising. The sticker adorning the ski says these planks are 30% snowshoe, 70% ski. After having ski toured with them I concur one hundred percent with that assessment.

Everything you might want in a waxless ski except metal edges. Fat, rockered, budget conscious.


One of the unique things about the Marquette Backcountry ski is how it is constructed. Unlike most skis, this is an injection molded hunk of recycled plastic that is shaped like a ski. It is wide enough to be considered a super-fat, even obese ski with a waist width of 130mm. That makes the Marquettes super stable.
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Mar 28 2012

PSA: Unified Avalanche Website format?

The Utah Avalanche Center is applying for a competitive grant to fund a major project to help unify our website, email, SMS, and social media alerts and create an open source platform that could be used by any avalanche center. This could lead to more ways to get the advisories, an easier-to-use website, and more consistent websites and information state-to-state. We need your ideas and your support – check out the link and spread this among your friends.
Keep making backcountry turns

Mar 26 2012

Review: Telemark Tech System (ver. 2.0)

To the casual observer, the updates to the Telemark Tech System look cosmetic. To a user, they transform a fledgling idea in beta form into a product worth owning, especially if you already have the boots.

The new TTS with a heel lever that latches solid and strong on the heel step of compatible boots, adjustable tele resistance and it stands flat.

Gone with this production version of TTS is the phenolic base plate which held the toe piece and cable posts in position relative to each other. The bad news is, now you get a paper template for mounting, so you better be good or get someone who is to mount these. The good news is the cable posts now come with three positioning slots, so you can make the binding more or less aggressive relative to the beta version, which is somewhat akin to Axl#2 or HH#4.

Another improvement with the cable posts is they don’t stand as high, so your foot can rest flat when you want it to. The beta posts put you mildly on your toes. It was bearable, but noticeable and is now thankfully corrected.
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Mar 24 2012

Techniques: Kick Turns on Steep Terrain

Back in the day when skis were skinny and kick-turns were for downhill too!

Kick turns are an extremely useful tool to have in your bag of backcountry tricks. One variety, the snap-kick turn is useful in deep snow, and practically essential on steep terrain. Without the snap-kick turn you can be in a rather precarious position when it comes to changing direction on a skin track, especially in glacial terrain where the consequences of a fall might be fatal.

With good kick turn technique you can easily navigate complex terrain with less energy and far less anxiety. It takes a bit of practice but only a bit, and is worth it.
Keep making backcountry turns

Mar 23 2012

Truckee Conditions 23mar12

Avalanche danger was low - breakable crust danger high. But, ha ha, I managed to skim a few turns in without breaking through.

My tour for the morning, a simple workout tour to get a sweat for the day, revealed the bane of all good tours – breakable crust – was everywhere. It was the perfect blend of being thick enough to almost hold you, but not quite. As soon as you put your weight on it, it would give way. Since it was almost thick enough to hold you – once it did break through it was also strong enough to grab your ankles and send you sprawling.

Adding to the grab factor that breakable crust was mush underneath. On top of it a fresh coat of cold snow which made it look inviting, but it was not deep, just a delusional veneer. Even so, turns were possible though not exactly reliable or safe.
Keep making backcountry turns