Jan 03 2012

To Sulk or to Skate? W’ither it be?

Before there was skiing, there was skating which inevitably leads to hockey. Not the blood hockey on the boob tube where gladiators on razor sharp blades duke it out for control of a rubber disk, but friends and neighbors playing a faster, meaner version of soccer with sticks.

It’s still a rough game. When you go down, you go down hard. Not if you go down, when you go down. Everyone slips while charging for the puck, or just as likely, after being checked to the deck even though it’s a ‘gentlemans’ game. When two bodies careen together one is bound to go down. If that doesn’t get you, catching your blades in a crack will do it every time.
Keep making backcountry turns

Jan 02 2012

Review: Black Diamond Aspect Ski

For the turn happy skier Black Diamond’s Aspect ski makes an easy first impression. There’s a lot of shape compared to many of today’s moderately curved skis as evidenced by a wide 126 mm at the shovel, but only 90mm at the waist.

Black Diamond Aspect - Won't weigh you down or knock you up.

Whether it’s delicious powder, velvety corn, even soft chunder and day-old funk the Aspect likes to make short, rounded turns. It does okay with medium radius turns as well, and can be made to run straight but it prefers to keep turning. That same 126mm early rise tip that makes for quick turn engagement also makes it act like a much wider ski than you would expect.
Keep making backcountry turns

Dec 30 2011

Telemarkers Make Better Lovers

It was Tuesday when I saw her.

After escaping the cry of telephones and cringe-worthy office politics, I skittered down a few city blocks to the escapist pleasantries of the neighborhood theme-park-urban-ski-lodge-recreational-megastore. Surrounded by mountains of gear, rain rooms, and $40 socks, I browsed the magazines, fondled the water filters, and brushed up against every waterproof fabric I could find. I strolled past the fake mountain wall covered with fake climbers and went outside to listen to the fake waterfall. And there she was.

And you thought yo-yos were just about powder?

In the blossom of a parking garage elevator, my anonymous Venus was revealed. Unveiled by hydraulic doors, framed by clouds of visible breath, she was a Madonna in Merrells, an Aphrodite in a North Face anorak. The wind slapped the overly-long grey flannel skirt across her chunky but sensuous shins, and tussled her firmly-buttoned shirt. A lock of hair ran untethered from her sassy, secretaryish sort of hairdo, and she pushed her thick glasses up the slope of her nose with an undeniably beautiful, if only slightly hairy, index finger. Her dull eyes looked far past me, undoubtedly perusing distant volcanoes for adventure, the passion of knighted climbers, and the intrigue of the rain-drenched North Cascades.
Keep making backcountry turns

Dec 28 2011

Review: La Sportiva GT Skis

One of the surprise skis of the mid-fat review quiver from last season was La Sportiva’s GT ski. It shouldn’t have been, considering the reputation for quality from La Sportiva, but it is hard to overcome that natural tendency to automatically disregard first generation skis from any manufacturer, let alone the inaugural effort from a company known for performance on rocks and dirt, not snow.

La Sportiva GT Skis • 123-89-111 (mm) • 6 lbs. 3.5 oz./pair

Looking past the graphics to the dimensions of these planks was the first step to viewing them on the same level as more established ski brands. In fact, if it weren’t for the graphics it would be easy to mistake La Sportiva’s GT for K2 Waybacks because of the dimensions.
Keep making backcountry turns

Dec 26 2011

Review: Fischer BCX875 Boot

Fischer has added some beef to their Nordic ski boot program with their BCX875 boot. This is a 75mm soled boot, aimed at the rugged touring (S-Bound) crowd who like to make a few tele turns while cruising the woods and foothills. It reminds me of a stripped down version of the Merrell SuperComp with a plastic cuff wrapped around a leather boot, except that this boot only provides the structural skeleton of a plastic cuff for enhanced turning power. So the big question is, is it enough? That would depend on what size ski you have.

Fischer's BCX875. A stripped down SuperComp for Nordic-style turn earning tours.

Being a turn earning telemark skier, the smallest ski in my quiver is Karhu’s Guide (Madshus Annum, Fischer S-Bound 112), with a full 80mm of girth at the waist. The binding was a pair of Burnt Mountain Designs Lite-Dogz, a step-in version of the classic 3-pin design. For comparison, I used a Garmont Excursion on my left foot, the Fischer BCX 875 on my right.

Making turns in soft snow was no problem for either boot, but in frozen crud, Fischer’s BCX was a bit underpowered. So was the Excursion, but not as much. I think if I had been using slightly smaller skis, like a pair of S-Bound 98s with a waist width of 69mm, the BCX would have felt right at home. With bigger touring skis, like the S-Bound 112 (waist width @ 78mm), the skeletal cuff needs bigger bones.
Keep making backcountry turns

Dec 21 2011

Review: G3 Alpinist Climbing Skins

G3 Alpinist Climbing Skins • $130 - $180

You have to be pretty particular, or simply have skis that are too thick at the tip to not like G3’s Alpinist Climbing Skins out of the box. The tip and tail kit are impressive, as is their welded attachment to the skin itself. And then there is the reduced thread count, laid-back weave of the synthetic fibers in the plush for good glide and a glue that doesn’t appear to be excessively sticky out of the box.

Because the tip and tail are welded, there is no adjustment of length possible. That means you need to buy the correct predetermined length. Consider applying a variation of the carpenter’s rule: measure twice, buy once.
Keep making backcountry turns

Dec 18 2011

Review: Petzl Tikka XP CORE Headlamp

Petzl’s Tikka XP is a great utilitarian headlamp for around the home, lighting the way on dawn patrol, or basecamp duties. Where it really shines, however, is in the rechargeable lithium-ion polymer CORE battery that uses a power cord that plugs into any USB port. Or you can use the included power converter for plugging in to 110 AC in case you don’t want to bring your laptop along just to recharge your headlamp.

Petzl Tikka XP CORE comes with CORE battery, recharger & USB cable.


There’s more to the battery than being good for 300 refills. How the power is delivered can be adjusted too, via that same USB cable while hooked to your computer where you can not only switch between a regulated or unregulated discharge of power, but also the rate of discharge if you opt for the regulated mode.
Keep making backcountry turns