RSSTips & Technique

Cornice Stomping

Cornice Stomping

| January 5, 2010 | 11 Comments

Stomping cornices is by far and away my favorite and most used snow stability assessment technique.  Test slopes are a close second, but there is a lot to be learned from dropping a big fat ol’ cornice directly onto a loaded slope and seeing what happens.  I like cornice stomping as it is something you […]

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Skinning Over Timber

Skinning Over Timber

| December 31, 2009 | 11 Comments

I tend to do a lot of skinning over timber.  Why, I’m not sure as it is not really that much fun, but I suppose it is better than traversing way around a fallen tree, then backtracking.  Timber skinning is especially common early in the season or when it is a low snow year, such […]

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Power Assisted Skin Ripping

Power Assisted Skin Ripping

| December 21, 2009 | 5 Comments

Super sticky skin glue can be a mixed blessing – it is great for adhering to your bases, but can nearly impossible to pull apart.  The little center strip of non-glued material definitely helps with this as do the nylon mesh skin savers, although I personally just throw the mesh in the trash right after […]

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Ski Bag Packing

Ski Bag Packing

| October 31, 2009 | 9 Comments

Whether you like it or not, skis count as a piece of luggage when flying, so I always try to maximize my ski bags utility by both stuffing it full of 49.995 pounds worth of gear, and also using my gear to pad my skis.

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Favorite Glacier Rope

Favorite Glacier Rope

| October 28, 2009 | 8 Comments

I’m slowly assembling my Antarctica kit and pulled out my favorite glacier rope tonight.  The sad thing is, I don’t even know the brand, but it doesn’t really matter – what is important is my fast and easy, do-it-yourself modification.  Starting with a 60m dry 9.1mm’ish rope, find the center, apply a sharp blade to […]

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New Addition to Glacier Kit

New Addition to Glacier Kit

| October 21, 2009 | 17 Comments

Much to the dismay of my partners, I am a minimalist when it comes to the amount of gear I bring for performing a crevasse rescue.  I bring a snow pickett for an anchor, waist and foot prussick loops, a 20′ cordelette, about six Oz carabiners, a screwgate locking carabiner and 2-3 full-length Dynex runners.  […]

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Choosing Climbing Skins

Choosing Climbing Skins

| October 20, 2009 | 16 Comments

There are many variations on the skin theme available nowadays – nylon, mohair, mixed, hybrids, domestic, European, tip catchers, tail rippers, no tails and everything in between.  I’m partial and opinionated about what I like for the Wasatch, but am the first to admit that the best skin for the job is probably whatever the […]

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The McClean Turn

The McClean Turn

| September 28, 2009 | 34 Comments

STOKAGE! Scot Schmidt has the Schmear Turn, the Eagen Brothers are credited with the “1-2-3 Turn” and Sylvan Sudan is synonymous with the Pedal Hop Turn, but until recently, all I had was a stupid website with a hard to spell url.  But no more.  In a bit of a backhanded compliment, the McClean Turn […]

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Ultra Heavy Backpacking

Ultra Heavy Backpacking

| August 20, 2009 | 13 Comments

Ray Jardine would be spinning in his grave if he saw this, except for the fact that he is still very much alive and hiking.  Ray is a leading proponent of Ultralight Backpacking and often covers up to forty miles a day while carrying an eight-pound pack.  At the other end of the spectrum, I […]

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PackRafts – Small Miracles

PackRafts – Small Miracles

| August 17, 2009 | 12 Comments

I’d heard about PackRafts from a few adventurously inclined people, but didn’t really get the full picture until I was up in Alaska last spring and had a chance to see a real, live version at the AMH store.  In short, PackRafts are very compact, high quality, lightweight personal rafts made out of durable raft […]

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