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In April, I was able to visit the Ski Trab ski company's factory in Bormio, Italy. I was skiing in the mountains nearby and realized it was much easier to ski into the town than it would be to drive or take a train.

Giacomo Trabucchi made his first wooden ski in 1946 and Ski Trab as a company was born. Today, the company is still run by members of the Trabucchi family. Ski Trab is best known in North America for their super lightweight skis designed with randonee racing in mind. Skis such as the Free Rando and the Free Rando Light are very popular with the the fast and light racing crowd. 

Less well known but equally as well designed and constructed are the Ski Trab Stelvio Freerides. It is the fattest ski that Ski Trab makes, but at 84mm underfoot the ski is often overlooked in the North American market. It may not be the fattest board around but the Stelvio is an excellent ski and handles a wide variety of ski conditions with ease. I have been using them for a full season and am impressed with their versatility and fun factor. We have reviewed the Stelvio here.

My visit to the Ski Trab Factory in Bormio was a great window into a small but high-tech company dedicated to making quality handmade skis. From the 3-D software based design room to the custom flex testing machiines and the room where each ski is layed up by hand, Ski Trab uses cutting edge materials and design techniques. They do everything in house, from milling the wood core materials to creating the molds and pressing the skis. For a humble family owned ski company, Ski Trab offers an impressive set-up.

We suggested and questioned about the possibility of producing a wider ski more geared toward the North American touring/freeride market. Our questions were answered with "we are working on it". These guys make some great skis and although the rando race skis may not serve the broader backcountry market here, the potential to blend aspects of their lightweight construction with the characteristics of their Stelvio into a wider ski is there. Our ski posse urged them to push into wider skis, they laughed a little at our insistence on wider skis,  but I believe they heard us too and do have some plans in the works. I will write up a longer article on the factory tour for the mag this fall. 

With spring/summer finally kicking into high gear here it has been a couple weeks since I have skied, but yesterday I made it out for some corn on Mt Hood. Larry Goldie from North Cascades Mountain Guides was visiting so I figured he should add Mt Hood to his quiver of summits. We opted for the easy access south side route given our short window of time. It was aperfect day with a light west wind keeping the snow from getting too soft.

We summited about noon, any earlier and the snow would not have been ready for a ski descent. The upper 200 vertical feet or so remained firm but skiable while the lower five thousand feet of skiing was perfect. There is nothing like a Volcano ski when you nail the conditions spot on. The corn gave perma grins all around.

The Hogsback is a bit climbers left of past years and the primary route up this year is just right of the Old Chute. The Pearly Gates did not look like much fun this season. Despite the firm snow up top, we skied the Old Chute right off the summit ridge. For more details on Mt. Hood check out the poster we have available here.

It was nice to get on skis after a few weeks away. I do not have quite the passion for corn as i do powder snow, but it was a heck of a day. The Volcanos are in fine form this spring, i suggest getting after it now . . .

Friends and snow enthusiasts,

The Friends of the Northwest Weather and Avalanche Center is collaborating with NWAC to upgrade the website for NWAC forecasts and data, and we would like your input for this process! As part of the effort to better serve winter recreationists, collaborators, and other users, The Friends are undertaking a complete overhaul of this important resource to make it more user friendly, more graphical and provide better service to all. If you consult the NWAC mountain weather and avalanche forecasts or rely on the regional telemetry data to plan your trips, your input is critical.

PLEASE take a few minutes to log onto Survey Monkey and complete this user survey:

Your input is extremely important in this development. Thanks for your help.

Benj

I have long been a user of insulated leather work gloves for backcountry skiing. They are inexpensive, offer great dexterity, take a fair bit of abuse, and still seem to keep me warm and dry in most conditions. They are not the best for biting cold or serious storm cycle skiing, but they are excellent for general ski touring.  There are a variety of these gloves available at your local hardware/ranch supply type store and you will pleasantly surprised by the price. I prefer deerskin...

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  In search of the perfect soft-shell for ski touring I have tested close to a dozen jackets. One of the best is the Patagonia Ready Mix shell. It is is one of the most versatile and simplist jackets I have used. Right beside it in perfomance and simplicity is Patagonia's new Ascensionist soft-shell. Both shells are incredibly lightweight and packable, yet offer the true breathable protection that suits ski touring so well.   Both Jackets are lighter than...

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The Winter Wildlands Alliance has a new action item of interest to backcountry skiers in the Bend, OR area. Local skiers are looking to create a dedicated non-motorized area around Tumalo Butte, called the Tumalo Backcountry Recreation Area.

TUMALO BACKOUNTRY RECREATION ZONE Proposal

Presented to Deschutes National Forest Supervisor John Allen on May 8th, 2008

Some winter recreationists (snowmobilers, dog sledders, and skate skiers for example) require marked trail systems, informational kiosks, ready-made maps, warming huts, groomed trails, and lodges. Backcountry skiers, snowboarders, and snowshoers however, neither require, nor desire, such amenities. Instead, they seek the naturalness, solitude, challenge and inspiration that is an integral part of the unaltered and non-motorized landscape.

Although the Three Sisters Wilderness can provide those values, the difficulty in traveling the distance limits wintertime access. Thus, as the Forest Service works to improve recreation opportunities for user groups requiring developed sites and trails in the Century Drive corridor, it is appropriate to also improve opportunities for those desiring undeveloped terrain.

Only by addressing current and projected user conflict can the Forest Service legally pursue an increase in snowmobile parking capacity. It is suggested the following action be implemented in conjunction with the forthcoming Kapka Butte Snopark proposal:

For the sake of public discussion, this is a proposal to create the Tumalo Backcountry Recreation Zone. In reality, it is a simple byproduct of necessary actions required to manage increased snowmobile usage in the Century Drive Corridor.

For more details and to get involved go here