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When the snow conditions are firm, nothing offers uphill security like ski crampons, or as the Euros say, ”harscheisen”.  As a long-time telemark skier, I only came to appreciate the utility of ski crampons when I began to more regularly use alpine touring gear a few years ago. However with many telemark binding manufacturers now offering crampons and the B&D Ski Gear aftermarket options, ski crampons are accessible to virtually all binding set-ups.

Unlike boot crampons, most ski crampons pivot under foot so that they engage in the snow when you step down and pivot up and slide when you lift your ski to stride forward. There is very little resistance or even change in the cadence of your stride when using ski crampons, but there is considerable benefit and grip when they engage.

If you know the feeling of “holding on” while skinning on firm snow or steep side-hills, imagine how much energy can be saved if each step is significantly more secure feeling. Well, that is what ski crampons do for you. They offer security and stability that is unmatched by skins. They are not a standalone climbing tool; they work in conjunction with your skins, and they save climbing energy.  

Most binding companies make crampons that fit their bindings; Black Diamond has crampons for the 01 and 02 tele bindings, Fritschi makes crampons for their bindings, Dynafit makes ‘em for theirs and G3 makes one that works with their Targa Ascent. There are also a couple of universal options available from Voile and B & D Ski Gear.

B & D makes a variety of crampons and they are compatible with virtually all bindings except the 7tm tele binders. They also make a fixed crampon; one that is fixed to the ski and does not pivot as you stride.  Voile’s universal crampon is also a fixed style. It mounts under the boot and is locked in the “on” position. The advantage of the fixed program is that it works the same regardless of your heel lifter use. The downfall is that it does not stride as cleanly as the pivoting variety. B & D makes a variety of shims and accessories that allow pivoting crampons to work better with heel lifters (personally, I rarely mix heel lifters and ski crampon use). B & D also makes crampons that accommodate wide skis (100mm+). Not all of the in-house varieties are compatible with all ski widths, but most folks seem to be catching up with the ever widening ski widths available.

The ease of use varies for the various crampons varies, but for the most part they are designed to be installed on the fly, and are easily removed when not needed. Obviously, you can live without ski crampons, but they are a pretty useful tool to have along, especially on high alpine and spring adventures. There is very little weight or space penalty for carrying them, and the reward when the going gets firm is big.

In this day and age, it is pretty normal to take some level of electronics into the backcountry with you. From cameras to gps units and mobile phones, there are a multitude of gadgets to help fill your pack. Said gadgets require batteries and or charging. On a multi-day trip keeping your gadgets charged can pose a problem.

A few years ago, while on an expedition in the remote reaches of central Asia, I needed a way to charge the battery on an ipod that I intended to use as a storage device for digital images. Short of carrying a load of double-A batteries and an external battery-pack for my ipod, there were few options available. I came across a portable solor charger at  the annual Outdoor Retailer show that looked promising. A company called Solio and had a single product, a compact portable solor device that could charge a phone or ipod size unit. To make a long story short, I got one and it worked great.

The unit was not large enough to charge my camera batteries, so I had to use a portable, roll-up panel made by Brunton to do that, but the Solio charger unit was perfect for keeping my ipod powered up as a portable, digital storage unit.

Solio now has a couple of products in addition to the original Solio unit that I used on that trip. This season, I upgraded to one of their new units, the Hybrid 1000 . It still works on the same principal. Essentially, it is a solar chargable lithium-ion battery that can pass its charge to a seperate device or it can be plugged into a variety of devices and act as a power source.  The new unit weighs in at five ounces, is about 3/8 of an inch thick, six inches long and about 2 inches wide.

The unit takes eight to ten hours to fully charge and then will charge a hadheld device in the normal charging time. Eight to ten hours sounds like a long time, but functionally it works great. I simply clip it to my pack while out skiing or climbing for the day and then can charge in the evening when I return. You can also run a device directly off of it. Specs show that it will run about ten hours of play time on an MP3 device of fully charge a phone. I found it charged my ipod just enough to allow me upload about a Gig of data before the ipod ran out of power - almost a full charge.

The new Hybrid 1000 comes with a variety of tips to allow the unit to interface with different devices.

Wy'East Nordic's annual Mt Hood Summer Telemark Ski Camp just wrapped up on Sunday. The weather held for three great days of freeheel skiing on Mt Hood's Palmer Glacier.

Shelley Hakenson runs a great camp. This year marks the event's 26th year, which should tell you something about its quality. Skiers come from all over the country to attend the clinic. This year's long distance travel award went to Andre from Manhatten, NY. Instructors included, Nils Larsen from freeheels.com and Stuart Craig from Snow Performance. This year's group of skiers and instructors made for a fun crew. Thanks to Jarl from Berg's Ski Shop in Eugene setting up the waxing bench and offering his technical expertise on wax and binders - and for taking some good natured grief for his dedication to the NTN gear.

The skiing on the Palmer is in good shape with full skiability all the way to the lodge. Conditions were warm and soft by 2pm when the lifts close, but the upper elevations remained fast and fun all day long.

Thunderclouds threatened each afternoon, but never materialized. The alpine race camps are getting into full swing this time of year as are the park and pipe freestyle camps so there is plenty of action on the hill. If you are jonesin' for a ski fix, a day on the Palmer is a unique experience - big wide-open terrain, fast and carvable snow - it is a hoot.

Summer is here in the Northwest and the snowpack is holding up well. A quick tour on Mt. Hood this week proved the skiing is still in fine shape. Long days make for some fine summer outings in these parts, and it is a great time to take advantage of the conditions.

We were on the casual tour program and simply explored from Illumination Saddle to Zig Zag Canyon on Hood's southside. The snowpack is holding up well and looks good down to between four and five thousand feet. Access for Mt. Adams and Hood's northside are still long with the roads yet to fully open, but that is changing quickly with the warm temperatures.

I spent the day on a pair of G3 Onyx bindings. It was my fourth good tour with the binding this spring. The heel unit is excellent, and moving between tour and ski modes is accomplished by a quick flick of the heel lever with a pole tip. It is a clean and easy system.  I still find the toe unit to be the most stubborn aspect of the Onyx. Opening the toe requires a significant amount of pressure (applied with a pole tip, pole handle or by hand). Once open, you can hold it open with relative ease, but overcoming the initial force to open requires effort. The toe unit is secure and functional, but does not get any easier to get into or out of with time/practice. The binding I have is a "beta version". In fact, G3 has a fleet of "beta" bindings out on the snow this summer. Hopefully, feedback from folks will help refine the final production unit.  It skis great and feels as secure and positive as any binding on the market.

Remember, skiing is not just a winter pursuit. Take a road trip and enjoy some summer turns.