The forecast is for rain Sunday afternoon through Monday. Heard rumors about snow up high and the last time we had rain and snow up high—just two weeks ago— there were folks getting face shots off of Job’s Peak on the Nevada side of South Lake Tahoe. Can’t say it will be that deep in Truckee, but this page needs a fresh face, so why not update it with two year old fresh snow. Sigward Moser makin’ tracks in shin-deep fluff.
Oct 16 2010
Freshies comin’
Oct 07 2010
Telemark: 1.4-million strong?
A look at recent SIA statistics
by Craig Dostie
Companion article on WildSnow
Making turns on the south side of Mt. Baldy in Los Angeles country in June 1990.
Back then we knew that 80% of our readership were telemarkers, 25% were using Alpine Touring gear, and about 5% were snowboarders. That was around 1996.
Keep making backcountry turns
Oct 04 2010
Rottefella’s NTN Binding, Beta Version ’07
Beta Version Review
Reprinted from Couloir Vol. XIX-5, March 2007
by Craig Dostie
The long awaited NTN (New Telemark Norm) binding from Rottefella has arrived. And how! Is it the Holy Grail of telemark bindings? If Holy means perfect, then no. But if it means you will feel more righteous while genuflecting through your tele dance, it certainly delivers a holier than thou tele turn, especially when it comes to holding an edge on the bane of telemark—dicy, icy snow.
Product Manager for K2 Telemark, Mike Hattrup, says, “it has more edge control than any alpine [touring] binding out there.” If you thought tele only ruled in the realm of soft snow, NTN changes all that.
The first thing you notice with NTN isn’t edging power, but rather, how easy it is to get in to the binding. Say goodbye to bending over to snap a heel lever on to your teleboot. To latch your boot into NTN, put your boot toe into the metal toe plate. Then, before you push the frontmost (there are two) lever, stand flat and make sure your heel is aligned in the center of the ski. If it is, then push the lever down with the grip of your ski pole. As the lever goes down, it pulls the rear clamp of the binding on to the second heel of the boot (in front of the heel).
Keep making backcountry turns
Oct 01 2010
Review: Garmont’s 2-buckle Kenai
A case of less = more.
In the telemark line, one of the most obvious visual elements of this ongoing refinement in performance is the elimination of the toe buckle. Sporting only two buckles, Kenai is the replacement for the SynerG, a svelte mix of power and touring pragmatism. So the question is, are two buckles enough?
Keep making backcountry turns
Sep 25 2010
NTN Rebate Program & Demo Tour
It’s official. Rottefella is turning up the heat to motivate telemark skiers to switch over to the new telemark norm they pioneered by offering a $100 rebate this fall. The rebate is an attempt to overcome the high cost of switching to the NTN system because it requires buying a new pair of boots and bindings with a retail cost of over a thousand Yankee dollars.
The new system promises a lot of features that telemark skiers have requested for years in a single package. It is powerful, adjustable, has a free-pivot touring mode, is releaseable, and while not exactly step-in, allows you to get in and out of the binding without bending over to latch a cable to your boot. It delivers the most lateral control of any telemark binding on the market, and since NTN compatible boots have Alpine Touring standard dimensions at the toe and heel (meaning no duckbill) they can work in AT bindings too. Scarpa’s NTN boots come with Tech fittings so they will work with G3’s Onyx or the complete line of Dynafit bindings.
Keep making backcountry turns
Sep 23 2010
California TRs from The Back Country
A few of you have noticed that I’m starting to make a bit of progress with filling this site out with content related to backcountry skiing. To that end, I’d like to start compiling a listing of great sites that post good trip reports. There are a ton of them out there so if you know of a good one, please post a link to it in a comment below and I’ll start adding them in.
To kick it off, I thought I’d start with Mike Schwartz, the owner of The Back Country in Truckee. Not only does he have a shop with all the toys we love to play with (skis, bikes, kayaks, climbing gear, etc.) but he uses them himself on a very regular basis. From the outside it appears he is doing a stellar job of balancing work, play, and family. Put another way, I wish I could get out and ski, climb, bike as much as he does. As proof, check out his website, in particular the forum. He calls it the message board, but it’s forum software. There are tons of trips posted throughout California, but especially the Lake Tahoe area and the East Side. Mike is the author of a majority of the trips listed. Even though he won’t claim to be a pro photographer, he takes excellent shots which make you drool with envy, or anticipation, for going there yourself.
Looking for beta on places in those regions? Read the accompanying descriptions with lots of local tips on which fork to take to get to the goods. It’s all at thebackcountry.net’s message board. There is also a Tahoe specific guidebook for backcountry skiing around the big lake. If you have never toured in the area and need specific info on trailheads and typical routes, this section provides downloadable topo maps.
The Back Country is also a good place to get your gear, especially if you want a little advice on which piece to get. Mike’s tried ’em all and knows what folks they work best with. He does an excellent job of boot-fitting too. You might find some gear cheaper elsewhere, but you’ll be hard pressed to get any better personal advice or boot-fitting included when you buy boots.
Don’t forget, leave a comment with your faves below.
Sep 21 2010
Tram Bar
It started out as just a practical way to make the most of standing in the tram line at Jackson Hole. With a typical wait in the neighborhood of an hour or more, core skiers know that’s a good time to eat except to do so food needs to be something you can handle while holding your skis and poles and gloves and still shuffle forward in a crowd so anything on a plate is out, as is a submarine sandwich and a lot of other things too.
To deal with that Kate Schade started making a chocolaty sort of trail mix ball. She’d share it with friends while standing in the tram line. At first they were simply grateful for a delicious snack. Then they noticed that it satisfied their hunger and delivered lots of energy. And finally they told her she had to start doing something with these tram bars, or they’d do if for her. The result is Kate’s Bars, the Tram Bar and Caz Bar.
Keep making backcountry turns
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