Tips & Technique
First Go at a Real Helmet Cam
About a month ago, perhaps because I wrote an article on how to make your own $2.00 helmet cam, Chris Dickey from VIO helmet cams sent me a demo VIO 1.5 helmet cam to try out, which was most likely a ploy as he knew that I’m a techno geek and once I tried it, I would want to […]
Good Snow Hunting – Elevation
To go high, low or somewhere in between? That is the elevation question. Many of the backcountry huts I’ve been to are located right at tree line, which is ideal for keeping your elevation options open. If conditions are good, you can go up. If not, you have the option of skiing down in the […]
Good Snow Hunting – Angle
After forming a thesis on what kind of snow should be best for the given day and then deciding which aspect might have it, the next consideration is what slope angle to look for. Choosing the right slope angle is often a trade-off between optimum snow quality and safety. Steep, north facing slopes might have […]
Good Snow Hunting – Aspect
Before I started backcountry skiing, I would have been hard pressed to correctly identify which direction on the compass the sun came up on. There are four main options – north, south, east and west, so I probably would have gotten it eventually, but with backcountry skiing and good snow hunting, knowing your aspects (which direction […]
Good Snow Hunting – Part II Conditions Du Jour
Part of the reason I don’t care very much about a ski’s crud-busting characteristics is that I seldom ski crud. This could be because I live in Utah, the fluff-bunny capital of the snow world, but we have plenty of crud here as well if you really want it. Most people don’t. The hunt for […]
Good Snow Hunting – Part I
The best bit of backcountry skiing insight I’ve ever gotten came from a friend who I don’t think has backcountry skied a day in his life. Chris “GroFo” Grover is the Grand PoohBah of Sales at Black Diamond Equipment and has been quitting smoking for the last 15 years, which makes him wonderfully terse. The topic came about as […]
Steep Skinning – Mindset
Having the right mindset is almost as important as the right gear and technique when it comes to steep skinning. You have to be into it. I was out touring with a friend from Switzerland in the Wasatch Mountains a few years ago and he refused to follow any of the existing skin tracks, which […]
Steep Skinning – Technique
The technique for steep skinning is just the opposite of skiing, which makes sense as you are going up, not down. One of the harder things to get the hang of is the idea of leaning back, not forward. Because touring bindings have a pivoting toe, it is hard, if not impossible to pressure the tip […]
Steep Skinning – Gear Adjustment
You don’t need any special gear to lay down a steep skin track, but there are a few adjustments you can make to your existing set-up which will help. Heel lifters are absolutely essential and should be turned to their highest setting. Don’t be bashful. Certified guides dislike heel lifters for their clients as they are […]
Steep Skinning – Part 1
Spring is here and the time is right for skinning in your top pegs. I don’t go out of my way to always pick the steepest skin line possible, but there are times, actually, a lot of times, where a steep skin track angle is much safer, faster and more efficient. Few things in backcountry skiing […]
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