Dec 14 2011

Tinkering with Tech Toes + Axl Springs

(Editor’s Note: This is a telemark tinkerer’s system which resembles the commercially available Telemark Tech System® but only in terms of using a Tech Toe. Just about everything else is modified within the limits of a zealous but amateur home workshop. Ben did an outstanding job of creating his own version of a telemark binding using tech toes but some of the conclusions or references to TTS should be understood as creative variations but are not representative of the Telemark Tech System® sold by Olympus Mountain Gear.)

Like many telemarkers I was skeptical of the Telemark Tech System (TTS®) when it was unveiled at the 2011 Outdoor Retailer Winter Show. Being familiar with Dynafit bindings, I knew that the tech toe piece couldn’t be as robust as a standard telemark binding. By removing the heel it was essentially emasculated, becoming a flimsy toe attachment with no controls. Little did I know how two little pins could be so much more. Once the gears were rolling it was only a matter of time before I started to tinker with my own version.

TTS dynafit-telemark shift plate mock up

Dynafit-telemark shift plate mock up

I mounted my first set of tech-toes on Dynafit-telemark shift plates. I used the extra telemark mounting holes behind the tech toe mount to locate the hold downs for the heel assembly. I made the spring assembly hold down (fulcrum) from a polyurethane shim (cutting board) reinforced with aluminum channel and I used a steel pin as the pivot point. I added a riser (more cutting board) to the Dynafit toe to improve clearance between the boot sole and the hold down, and to equalize rocker induced heel rise.
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Dec 13 2011

Review: BCA Magic Carpet Climbing Skins

After several years of simply hanging in there and offering the lowest priced climbing skin in the American market, BCA’s climbing skins were upgraded last season. They wouldn’t disclose who their new source was, but I can assure you that out of the box the new Magic Carpets are indeed an upgrade. How good of an upgrade depends on how well the glue ages.

BCA's Magic Carpet climbing skins (outdated graphics). Improved tip and tail kit with much improved glide.

First impression is that the plush is definitely improved. The older BCA skins (Lo-Fat), besides being more prone to icing up than most other brands, had noticeably inferior glide. Not anymore. On their maiden test climb I paired ’em against a 65/35 Mohair/Nylon mix from Colltex.

It was early December with very little fresh snow left from the last significant storm – over a month earlier. But the local hills have been blowing snow to justify selling tickets on weekends so there was a run available to get a short work out in at Sugar Bowl.
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Dec 12 2011

Game On for Ice Skating

Since the snow has decided to wait but old man winter has not, it’s time to pull out the ice skates. Night time temperatures in Truckee have consistently been in the single digits for over a week now, and day time temps barely break the freezing point. Even better, there hasn’t even been a hint of snow for almost five weeks now, so it was time to check out Prossor reservoir. Indeed, the ice had formed.

Pond league hockey on Prossor Reservoir - a Truckee local tradition.

On Saturday the southwest finger of Prossor was frozen solid, if a bit thin. After slamming a weak spot at the water’s edge with the end of a hockey stick I was able to estimate the thickness of the ice around 4 cm, almost two inches.

Thick enough for one to be sure, and besides, the surface was smooth as glass so I laced up. The ice creeked and cracked as I skated back and forth over the frozen blackness. Because it was borderline safe I kept near the shore. My biggest concern here were the myriad rocks that non-skaters had thrown on to the ice, apparently enthralled by the concept of rocks suspended on water except it’s ice, not water and all the rocks do is provide a trigger to trip up skaters. I pried a few loose and threw them back to shore but never felt comfortable standing in one place for long.
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Dec 07 2011

Rottefella to add Freedom to NTN choices

Ever since their bobbled introduction to the market in 2007 the long term future of Rottefella’s new telemark norm (NTN) has been suspect. Had Rottefella been able to deliver the beta version of their binding to the public, things might have gotten off to a better start. Except they modified it before coming to market to ‘fix’ problems they knew would inevitably kill it anyway.

New Telemark Norm - the shape of things to come,
or that came?

Thus, despite being at least two years late, they had a ‘classic’ introduction to the launch of a new system, full of promise and fraught with niggling shortcomings and problems with durability. Even so, the leading seller of NTN boots, Scarpa USA, has consistently maintained that for a new product introduction sales and growth of NTN are phenomenal. It may not seem that way compared to 75mm offerings, but it is easy to forget the plastic teleboot market had more than 15 years momentum when NTN was introduced.
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Dec 05 2011

Lake Tahoe Adventure Slide Show Series

The Lake Tahoe Adventure Slide Show series kicks off Friday Dec. 9th with Fred Beckey!

Fall is a busy time of year. We all scramble with that first brush of winter to get the wood chopped and stacked, to get the summer gear stored up, and to get the winter tires on the car. Then there’s the rush to spend time with the fam, get in some holiday shopping and still find time to eat and sleep. Take a deep breath and don’t fret. There is plenty of easy fun to be had at the Lake Tahoe Adventure Slide Show Series hosted by the Back Country – Truckee’s premier mountain sports shop.

Organized by Mike Schwartz (owner of The Back Country), this series has become an annual way for locals and visitors alike to celebrate mountain life and culture, as well as experience the expeditions and adventures of leading athletes in the larger Sierra mountaineering community in their own words. This year, the series boasts eleven shows, all free, with well know skiers, climbers and world travelers such as Dave Nettle, Fred Beckey, Doug Stoup, Todd Offenbacher, John Moynier and many more.
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Dec 01 2011

PR: BD does DP on FB

Black Diamond does DawnPatrol on FaceBook

Some of my friends wonder if backcountry skiing has gotten too popular. There is credence to the question.

I pose that before announcing that Black Diamond will be hosting a special FaceBook application to make it easy for you and I to share our DawnPatrol experiences with our FB friends. They launch it today and with the horsepower they have unleashed on building their own very informative and entertaining website this promises to be something special.
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Nov 29 2011

Review: Voile’s Switchback X2 (2011)

Simply put, Voile’s Switchback X2 isn’t just the more powerful sibling of Voile’s popular Switchback binding, it expands the range of performance at both ends of the spectrum – turning and touring.

Voile's Switchback X2. More power, more ROM, only 2 oz. more per foot and $20 more per pair.

As a result, there is little if anything to dislike about the X2. True, it is a tad heavier than a Switchback, but the trade off for power that drives fatties like heavier bindings do for a mere 2 ounces more per foot than the Switchback is undeniably reasonable. By comparison the closest binding with equal power (BD’s O1) weighs 4 ounces more per foot.

Due to the inherent advantages of a free-pivot while skinning the differences in weight tend to dissolve. However, the propensity for icing up by any other telemark binding than either of the Switch brothers makes the X2 a binding that demands a closer look by anyone who telemarks.
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