02 Gear
Antarctic Peninsula Gear List
I must be getting excited about skiing as I spent the day compiling a list of 30 gear recommendations and accompanying photos for the upcoming Ice Axe Ski Cruise to Antarctica this November. A lot of this gear is just variations on a general backcountry theme, but having been down there four times, I’ve developed […]
Gear List Blowout
As I was packing up my gear for a two-stage trip to Alaska, I decided to shoot photos of it for future gear lists on StraightChuter. I’ll have to see how long it takes me to get around to the actual list and details, but in the meantime, here’s some/most of what I take on […]
New Spring Skiing Setup
Not that there is any snow in the Wasatch to actually use them, but I just finished mounting, skinning and tuning my latest ski mountaineering ski set-up today and can’t wait to get out on it. If nothing else, it is a very sexy looking little rig in a 124/80/108 mm kind of way. I […]
Cranium Cam
I like everything about helmet cams, except the helmet part. Most recently, I’ve been doinking around with a Contour, which after about a year of experimenting, is finally working pretty well. It took a lot of web research for figure out the right settings for snow, as well as a UV lens, but now now […]
Adding a Tip Hole to Your Skis
Step 1 – Void your manufacturer’s warranty. Step 2 – Be brave. Don’t fear the drill. There are a lot of advantages to having a tip hole in your touring skis, and while not every manufacturer adds one, they are easy to retrofit. Tip holes are traditionally thought of as haul points for emergency sleds, […]
Tuning Bench Tie Down
Most of my hasty ski tuning jobs end up resembling a Quentin Tarantino movie with lots of blood, slow-mo howls of pain and severed appendages. Even though I have ski vises, they have a hard time clamping onto skis with narrow profiles, tapered sidewalls, rocker or extra width, which covers about 95% of the current […]
Cheap Core-Shot Base Repair
After getting a cavernous core-shot repaired, I was so impressed with the quality of the repair I asked how much a good base-welder costs. “About $1,200.” Hmmm, I probably don’t need one that badly, but I do often rip moderate gouges in my bases that I’d like to repair, but aren’t worth the time and […]
The Sound of One Skin Slipping
Although I worry about it all the time, last weekend was the second time in my skinning history that I actually lost a skin while skiing, which creates a dilemma; do you posthole back uphill through deep snow in the hopes of finding it, or accept the loss and sacrifice your lone skin to the […]
Cook Tent Architecture
My first impression of pyramid style tarp tents was not good. After arriving at a barren, windy trailhead late at night, we set the tent up, stripped down and crawled into our sleeping bags. The next thing I knew, I felt a cool breeze on my face could see the stars. Realizing the tent had […]
Whippet Sharpening
Whenever I’m in JHole with Rando Steve chugging down GU Chomps and Cucumber Mint Nuun chasers, he asks me how I sharpen my Whippets. Here’s how…
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