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Skiing may be scarce in the northern hemisphere right now, but there are plenty of options for staying tuned up. My latest pursuit is slacklines. I am no pro in pursuit of heart dropping highline antics, but I was keen to get good enought to actually walk a decent line. I have set up a few lines with one-inch webbing, but have never been terribly succesful. I recently got a "packaged" slackline kit from Gibbon Slacklines and have had a lot of fun with it.

What's a packaged kit? In this case, it is essentially a 50-foot tow strap with a mechanical tightening system that makes setting up the line a piece-of-cake, and makes getting and keeping the line tensioned super easy.In addition, the Gibbon line is two-inches wide versus the standard one-inch width of basic climbing webbing. The added width makes for an awesome trainer line.

I have gone from struggling to walk a line to being able to jump on and spin around with the Gibbon line. The balance required is akin to skiing fast pow through tight trees - moving from balance to recovery mode as you walk the line . . . check it out. The Gibbon Site has some great video on it.

I got a call a couple weekends back to join some buddies on a jaunt in search of turns. Unfortunately, I was otherwise obligated. Fortunately for Jason and Andy, they did not need me to get after it. Jason put togther a great report on their adventure.    A Mid-Summer Night’s Scheme   By scheme, I’m referring to the cockamamie variety. And as any endeavor to ski in August clearly falls within the scope of a cockamamie scheme, this one was right on target.  ...

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The crew at Sweetgrass Productions just launched the trailer to their new film Signatures. Filmed entirely in the coastal mountains of Niseko and Hokkaido, Japan, Signatures follows last year's well received Hand Cut film and offers countless reasons to start planning a trip to Japan this winter . . .

  Call for entries to the Backcountry Film Festival is on!   Who can enter a film? You don’t need a degree from a film school. You don’t need footage shot while dangling precariously, camera in hand, from an ice wall in the Rockies. All you need is a compelling story, some quality footage and a keen eye for a fun, educational or juicy topic. Your film should be short—no longer than 30 minutes—and tell a thought-provoking, interesting story...

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    Jarl Berg from Berg's Ski Shop in Eugene, OR has been traveling in Norway and had a chance to visit Sondre Norheim's home. Norheim is recognized as a pioneer of modern skiing. He lived from 1825-1897 and helped to pioneer early ski techniques and equipment.   Jarl sent us a couple video clips from his visit to Norheim's home and workshop. Check it out . . . Thanks Jarl!    

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