Vertfest is the Northwest's mid-winter celebration of backcountry culture and a chance to test your stamina in a fun uphill /downhill ski race. The beer will be flowing after racers cross the finish line, so come join in the festivities and catch up with your friends even if you don’t tape on a bib number. There will also be a rescue companion clinicto build your snow-safety know-how. While there is only one Vertfest this year, mark your calendars! It’s going to be a good one!
We heard from Tannis up at Sorcerer Lodge near Golden, BC last week. Here is what she had to say about the conditions in January...
My week in Jan at Sorcerer was excellent! We had better than average stability, excellent skiing and sunshine! What more could you hope for! The following week, however, was a bit more of a challenge. The Dec 29 surface hoar layour was hammered by over a meter of heavy new snow and became very reactive. The group had great tree skiing for the week but was unable to push up onto the glaciers as the weak layer was reactive.
Things seem to be settling out now and improving with time so the skiers were up on the ice yesterday in excellent conditions. They are being conservative and cautious still but enjoying better weather for sure! Please refer your readers to www.wisegoat.ca for details on Sorcerer’s conditions etc. This is a valuable link to several lodges in the area as well as a few more sprinkled across the province. Updated daily – at least for Sorcerer!
Jim Thornton (USFS) and Roland Emetaz (NWAC) will be presenting an Avalanche Awareness Program on February 11 beginning at 7 p.m. at the Dog River Coffee Shop, 411 Oak Street in Hood River.
The avalanche awareness session will cover how terrain, snow cover, weather, and human factors all contribute to avalanche danger. Clues which indicate probabilities of avalanches, characteristics of relatively safe winter travel routes, and essential gear needed on winter outings are just some of the topics discussed. Information on what to do if caught in an avalanche will also be presented.
The program is free and open to the general public. For more information, please contact the Barlow Ranger District at 541-467-2291 or the Hood River Ranger District at 541-352-6002.
“This photo contest is for those who have a reputation for babbling on about the deep powder days, meandering summer hikes and chance wildlife encounters they’ve experienced in British Columbia's world-renowned backcountry.” said Brad Harrison, BLBCA’s Executive Director.
The Grand Prize includes backcountry education with a vehicle for adrenaline:
CAA approved Avalanche Skills Training course for the winner and three lucky friends, plus a pair of G3 El Hombre skis, G3 skins and more.
Winning submissions will be judged on how much the image and accompanying tale exemplify someone’s best day in the BC backcountry, the submission’s visual energy and how much it aligns with BC’s adventurous spirit. Canada's highly respected mountain image experts Pat Morrow and Roger Laurilla will act as final category judges.
The contest is open until February 15th, 2010. To submit an entry, learn more about the contest or check out the full category prize packages, www.bcbackcountry.ca or check the press release here
Black Diamond Drift - 136-100-121 (176cm) 3.31kg pair; 166/176/186cm
We skied all of these and they all delivered excellent performance at the demo day. The Stoke (short for Revelstoke, BC) takes the successful Manaslu platform, adds abot 10mm all around, and truley steps up performance. It weighs in at a respectable3.1 kg (just under seven pounds). Sure, it is heavier than the Manaslu, but it is signifigantly more powerful, too. The ski combines a Paulownia wood core with synthetic material and a mild rockered tip. Although the Stoke may not replace the Manaslu's quiver-of-one status, it will be a welcome addition for deep days.
The Voile Charger was inspired by the wider Drifter and uses the same tip rocker and camber profile, but drops some 10+mm in width. The result is a light and lively ski that was easy to control and capable at speed. The Charger's manueverablity and overall personality were super lively and fun. The Charger and the Vector will replace the Insane and Asylum in Voile's line-up. The new skis both use mild rocker, lightweight aspen cores, and are made right in Salt Lake by the Voile crew. Inspired b the Drifter's performance, Wally, Voile's founder, saw a need to update the line with more versatile rockered skis. The Vector will vie with the Manaslu for quiver-of-one touring ski status, while the Charger goes head to head with the Stoke for powder touring fun.
Black Diamond introduced six new skis at the show; all part of their new Efficient Series. The Flagship board from the new line is the Drift. It is great to see BD move to ski design than keeps an eye on weights. The Drift was a solid performer at the demo. At 100mm underfoot, it could be viewed by many as an all conditons touring ski. Like many of the lighter skis, the Drift uses Paulownia wood in its core. Its rocker tip is relatively subtle, but the tip is soft and makes for a maneuverable and lively ski.
Our annual ski testing session wll ramp up in about a month, and this year's line-up has some excellent potential for serious touring-minded boards. I look forward to getting to know these boards and more in the coming months.
Four years ago, I travelled to the Altai Mountains in northern China to help Nils Larsen document the remnant use of primitive skis as travel and hunting tools. We spent six weeks in the area exploring and connecting with the local, semi-nomadic people of the Altai Mountains. Our trip exposed us to a very small slice of a ski culture that most people thought was long overcome by the modern world and the evolving lives of remote populations. Our trip is documented in the film Skiing in the Shadow of Genghis Khan.
Nils has returned to the area several times since our first trip in a effort to further document the use of skis and the importance of skis to the culture of the people in the Altai Mountains. In fact, Nils is in the Altai again, right now. I got word from hime via email last week that he had arrived safely in Beijing.
Here is what he had to say upon his arrival in Beijing:
...the most snow I have ever seen here - They have cleaned the streets by hand (shovel and push cart) and continue to shovel the piles in little carts and haul it away. Cold too.
I head to Urumqi tonight and Ayken (interpreter) will pick me up and hopefully head out with me tomorrow for Altay City and the first ski race (traditional). Lots of snow and lots more in the forecast for the next 4 or 5 days - looking forward to it. We are winging it from there, but it appears Ayken will head into the mountains with me. I have heard the roads are all close to vehicle traffic again due to heavy snow so we will be doing the chana (horse drawn sled) thing.
I hope to get an update from him once he returns from the mountains.
Lightweight Alpine Touring Ski Boots - Scarpa - Black Diamond
The go-light AT scene appears to be on the rise. Black Diamond showed four new lightweight AT boots (all tech binder compatible) . The new line includes one women's model and three men's boots - Quadrant 4-buckle, Prime 3-buckle, Slant 3-buckle, and Swift 3-buckle (w's). I actually had the opportunity to ski several of these boots last summer during development. They ski well, matching solid downhill perfomance with lightweight Pebax construction and a generous toe box fit. The boots are competitively light with boots like Zzero, Spirit 3 and 4, and the Radium, all of which weigh in the neighborhood of 3.2 - 3.6kg pair.You can get the full propoganda from BD's microsite. The Prime is my pick as the nicest of the new collection, but we will be sure to get time on all of the production models this winter and spring.
I was surprised to see Scarpa offering a new lightweight four buckle boot called the Maestrale (Gea women's model). It takes over for the Spirit 3 and 4. It is lighter (3kg/pair) and Scarpa now claims the lightest four buckle AT boot on the market. The boot has a couple unique features/construction characteristics. First, the tongue system is unique and folds out of the way for easy entry. Second, Scarpa has redesigned its forward lean mechanism (throughout the tele and AT lines) reducing flex in the system. Finally, Scarpa is using a new plant based Pebax that not only reduces the boot's carbon footprint, but the new material also holds its characteristics through a wider temperature range than traditional Pebax. I was surprised to see the Spirit 3 and 4 out of the line as I have been using both boots for several seasons and see them as leaders in their categories. The new boots still use Intuition liners (some of the nicest most durable liners in the business) and weighing in at 3kg a pair, they are now the lightest four buckle boot around.
Scarpa also added a walk/tour mode to the long popular T-Race tele boot. The original red T-Race boot had a tour mode, but when it went through the redesign a few years back, the white model lost the tour mode switch. It is good to see it back.
Garmont and Dynafit each showed two boots that set a new standard for lightweight At boots. More on those in the next entry.
The annual Outdoor Retailer Trade Show (OR) took place in Salt Lake City last week. The show offers an opportunity to see what's new for next season. Just about all of the backcountry ski related companies are there showing everything from skis and boots to packs, beacons, and socks. The Wasatch received some badly needed precipitation during the week sending the avalanche hazard to high and setting off a series of close calls in the backcountry. You can check out the currrent conditions page on the Utah Avalanche Center for a window into the conditions. There are some interesting shots of slides - check for entries dated 1/19-1/22 or newer.
As for interesting products at OR, the backcountry ski market is alive and well. There are a number of new touring minded skis from the likes of Dynafit, Voile, and Black Diamond. There are new beacons from Ortovox and Backcountry Access, new boots from Garmont, Black Diamond, Scarpa, and Dynafit, several new packs of interest, not to mention some good looking new softgoods for ski touring minded users.
Skis are always a point of main interest and between Black Diamond, Dynafit, and Voile, there are three new touring minded skis over 100mm wide underfoot, all with rockered or early rise tips. The new Voile Charger is modeled on their Drifter ski (120mm+ underfoot), but is narrower at 110mm underfoot (171cm). It was light and responsive at the demo, but handled the resort push piles with ease. It should be a standout in the powder touring category. Likewise the new Stoke from Dynafit (105mm underfoot) was also light and responsive with a rockered tip. The Stoke (named after Revelstoke, BC) was developed with the help of Revelstoke resident and all aorund ski touring fanatic, Greg Hill. Black Diamond also stepped in this year with six new skis all dedicated to the light touring market. The Drift was the standout ski in their line - 100mm underfoot and features an early rise tip, too. BD has a new micro-site dedicated to their new touring minded line. Like the Stoke and the Charger, the Drift was a lot of fun on hill at the demo day.
Here is a short slide show of the OR show visit. More on specific gear this week.
The Backcountry Lodges of British Columbia Association
We skied all of these and they all delivered excellent performance at the demo day. The Stoke (short for Revelstoke, BC) takes the successful Manaslu platform, adds abot 10mm all around, and truley steps up performance. It weighs in at a respectable3.1 kg (just under seven pounds). Sure, it is heavier than the Manaslu, but it is signifigantly more powerful, too. The ski combines a Paulownia wood core with synthetic material and a mild rockered tip. Although the Stoke may not replace the Manaslu's quiver-of-one status, it will be a welcome addition for deep days.
The Voile Charger was inspired by the wider Drifter and uses the same tip rocker and camber profile, but drops some 10+mm in width. The result is a light and lively ski that was easy to control and capable at speed. The Charger's manueverablity and overall personality were super lively and fun. The Charger and the Vector will replace the Insane and Asylum in Voile's line-up. The new skis both use mild rocker, lightweight aspen cores, and are made right in Salt Lake by the Voile crew. Inspired b the Drifter's performance, Wally, Voile's founder, saw a need to update the line with more versatile rockered skis. The Vector will vie with the Manaslu for quiver-of-one touring ski status, while the Charger goes head to head with the Stoke for powder touring fun.
Black Diamond introduced six new skis at the show; all part of their new Efficient Series. The Flagship board from the new line is the Drift. It is great to see BD move to ski design than keeps an eye on weights. The Drift was a solid performer at the demo. At 100mm underfoot, it could be viewed by many as an all conditons touring ski. Like many of the lighter skis, the Drift uses Paulownia wood in its core. Its rocker tip is relatively subtle, but the tip is soft and makes for a maneuverable and lively ski.
