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For the first time in a few years there were several new telemark ski bindings at the trade show. G3 debuted two fully redesigned telemark bindings, the Enzo and Enzo R.

The G3 Enzo marks a new era in G3 telemark bindings. It includes a free-pivot for touring and adjustable settings to tune performance from active to neutral in feel. The new set-up blends features and design styles found on other freeheel bindings and addresses icing/snow build-up in tour mode as well as the demand for powerful bindings to match today's powerful boots and big skis. It weighs in at 3.82 lb/pair and will retail for $290. 

The G3 Enzo R is a resort-specific version of the Enzo that drops the free-pivot touring mode and adds an additional active/neutral performance setting but retains the same underfoot cable/cartridge system. It is a little lighter than the Enzo at 3.7 lb/pair and will retail at $225.

Black Diamond's telemark binding line-up is mostly unchanged, but the BD 01 has a redesigned mounting pattern that adds two screws to the mounting pattern to address the demands of big boots and powerful skiers.

There is also big news on the NTN front. Rottefella introduced the new NTN Freedom binding. The Freedom puts design and power of the NTN system into a binding designed for ski touring. The NTN Freedom is lighter weight and offers an increased range of motion for touring in its free-pivot mode.The new binding weighs in at 3.25 lb/pair - 1.25 lbs less than the standard NTN. It's a welcome addition to the NTN line-up.

Perhaps, the most impressive offering of gear at the show was the number of new Alpine Touring boots. Not only did the usual suspects like Dynafit, Scarpa and Garmont have multiple new offerings, but alpine boot strong holds like Tecnica even showed a new lightweight tech-compatible boot.

The biggest growth in boot designs is in lightweight four-buckle alpine touring boots and ultra-light randonee racing style boots. Here are some highlights starting with Dynafit boots:

Showing a staggering seven new boots (including women’s models), Dynafit gets the prize for the most comprehensive new boot offering. The big news here is that Dynafit has taken the one-buckle cuff and 60-degree cuff movement technology found in their lightweight TLT5 boots and integrated it into a full line of AT boots called the Dynafit One series and two new freeride boots called the Vulcan and Mercury. The TLT5 boots are ultra-light race minded boots that have gained momentum with the touring crowd given their great walk mode and light construction. The downside has been in fit and comfort. Dynafit's new boot offerings obviously target the comfort and more aggressive freeride user using the same lightweight and walk-friendly systems of the TLT5.

At the top of the collection is the Dynafit  Vulcan - a carbon-cuffed, three-buckle boot that touts four-buckle power and a 1590-gram weight. The Mercury uses a fiberglass reinforced cuff, but is otherwise the same design as the Vulcan. These two boots, and the One series, all build on the TLT5 design adding a more comfortable fit, more substantial moldable liner, a taller cuff and the same one-buckle cuff release system. The result, so says the propaganda, is lightweight boots marketed at the backcountry touring market versus the racer market. They look and feel very nice, but we have yet to ski them (none of the Off-Piste crew at the show fit the 27.5 sample size - but given the number of new boots, we'll be running through them come March/April).

You'll also notice in the specs the use of a material called Grilamid. It's light, strong and appears to be the material of choice for lightweight AT boots - Garmont is using it and I suspect Scarpa too, but Scarpa refers to their material generically as polyamide, which is the non-branded technical plastic name. (click on boot images for larger views)

Dynafit Vulcan – this is the high-performance, lightweight freeride boot that leads the Dynafit charge for light and powerful.
Weight: 1590 g
Shell / cuff: Grilamid® / carbon fiber and Grilamid®
Buckles:Ultra-lock system
Forward Lean: 15-18 degrees
Cuff rotation: 60 degrees

Dynafit Mercury – Still high-performance and lightweight but the cuff is more forgiving than the carbon cuff, not to mention a couple hundred bucks cheaper.
Weight: 1590 g
Shell / cuff : Grilamid® / carbon fiber and Grilamid®
Buckles: Ultra-lock system
Forward Lean: 15-18 degrees
Cuff rotation: 60 degrees


Dynafit One PX – TF
Weight: 1490 g
Shell and cuff- Pebax
Buckles: Ultra-lock system
Forward Lean: 15-18 degrees
Cuff rotation: 60 degrees

Dynafit One U – TF (PU cuff body =  lower cost)
Weight: 1650 g
Shell / cuff: PU
Buckles: Ultra-lock system
Forward Lean: 15-18 degrees
Cuff rotation: 60 degrees

Check out AT boot reviews from the printed mag

Shop for Alpine Touring Boots at evo.com.

Enjoy an inspiring evening of free riding in the rugged Cascades and majestic Tetons with Crest Pictures and KGB Productions. The two filmmakers have teamed up to share center stage for a fun-filled evening in Seattle on Feb 3.

Follow local Northwest splitboard mountaineer Kyle Miller on his “epic hunt for good snow” in the U.S. premiere of Crest Pictures’ newest film FreeRider.

Take a journey deep into the mountains of Wyoming with a group of hard-charging skiers and snowboarders in KGB Productions’ Wyoming Triumph.

FreeRider is a 14-minute documentary chronicling Miller's great passion for his sport, his love of the mountains and the wilderness, his ski bum lifestyle, his triumphs and disappointments, his pain and his joys, and his unyielding dedication towards fulfilling his riding dreams. Snowboarding has come a long way in the last few years, and splitboard mountaineering is at the forefront now. Miller is part of this new vanguard. He is an admired and respected splitboarder who has been featured in Off-Piste, Backcountry and Frequency magazines. Each season Miller sets a high bar for himself. In 2010, he successfully climbed and rode all 25 volcanoes in the Western United States. Last year he went for and completed Washington’s 10 highest peaks while the cameras rolled during the filming of FreeRider.

Wyoming Triumph is a 55-minute grassroots film featuring a veteran and youthful band of ski and snowboard friends and professionals, including Rob LaPier, Trevor Hiatt, Max Hammer, Tucker Mead, North Parker, Matt Luczkow, Trevor Thomas and Aidan Sheahan. Two years ago they set out on a mission to scout the vast and mostly unskied rugged interior of their home state, where more folks own elk rifles than skis. They traveled throughout the great big mountainous backcountry terrain of Wyoming in search of fresh lines and remote locations. The film not only explores the drive of this unique group of passionate individuals, but also takes the audience on a Wild West journey through parts of the “Old West” that still exists today. Following countless broken bones, close calls and getting lost, they return home with a story.

Websites and trailers
FreeRider
Wyoming Triumph

Presenting on Friday, Feb 3, at The Mountaineers Program Center, 7700 Sand Point Way NE in Seattle. Admission is $10. The doors open at 6:30 PM so come early, drink beer, buy raffle tickets, and hook up with friends. The show starts around 7:30 PM with a brief introduction of FreeRider by filmmaker Robert Chrestensen and local rider Kyle Miller. Then KGB screens its feature-length film Wyoming Triumph. A raffle for gear from EVO and Eddie Bauer’s First Ascent will follow the show. Proceeds are for the benefit of the Northwest Weather and Avalanche Center (NWAC).

Tickets

The annual winter outdoor industry trade show took place last week in Salt Lake.  The Wasatch Range has a habit of delivering less than legendary ski conditions during the event, and this year was no exception. A long dry spell leading up to the show offered hardpack demo day snow, and the subsequent warm storms during the week pegged the avalanche hazard to high for the remainder of the week. If you enjoy looking at avalanche photos and video, the Utah Avalanche Center’s current conditions page has loads of images and vids of the ongoing avalanche cycle in the Wasatch Mountains. It’s worth a peek.

On the new backcountry ski gear front, there's lots of news. Although I'd be hard pressed to pick out a single product innovation that topped the list, there are loads of new lightweight four-buckle AT boots, plenty of good looking (and wide) new skis and some new telemark bindings worth mentioning. Airbag packs are the buzz of the avalanche safety world, and both BCA and Ortovox showed new beacons that are expected to be available in October 2012.

I’ll skip right to my favorite category, backcountry skis (I'll get to other gear in the next post). Light and wide is the buzz here. Here are a few highlights:

G3 Empire: 153/127/139; Lengths: 183, 177; Weight: 4.3 kg / 9.5 lb; Rocker: tip & tail, semi cap construction (similar style women’s ski called the Cake: 138/110/128

Black Diamond Carbon Megawatt: 147/120/126; Lengths: 178, 188; Weight: 4 kg / 9 lb; Rocker: tip & tail

Voile Buster: Don’t have full specs on this one yet – it’s 118 underfoot and will replace the Drifter. It uses sidewall construction and is still in development, but it had a cool look.

Dynafit Huascaran: 136/115/125; Lengths: 177, 186, 191, 196; Weight: 3.6 kg / 7.9 lb; Rocker: tip & tail

K2 BackDrop: 142/112/131; Lengths: 181, 174; Weight: Similar to Coomback; Rocker: tip

DPS Wailer 99: 126/99/110; Lengths: 168, 176, 184, 192; Weight: 3.6 kg / 7.9 lb; Rocker: tip & tail

La Sportiva Lo5: 125/95/115; Lengths: 168, 178, 188; Weight: 2.9 kg / 6.4 lb; Rocker: tip

BD Revert: 120/95/108; Lengths: 165, 173, 181, 189; Weight: 3.3 kg / 7.25 lbs; Rocker: tip & tail; Sidewall construction.

You can check out a variety of backcountry skis at evo.com

Winter has finally kicked into gear! Portland, Oregon area skiers can show their support for the Northwest Weather and Avalanche Center on Friday, January 27 by attending the Portland premier of Being There, a film by Field Productions.

Where: Mazama Mountaineering Center: 527 SE 43rd (cross street is Stark)

Doors open at 6pm - film at 7pm

Tickets available at the MMC or online on the Mazamas website
    $5 members & $8 non-members (in advance)
    $10 at the door (members & non-members)

Bring extra money for food, drinks, and raffle tickets.

All proceeds to benefit NWAC.

Come on down to enjoy the movie, gear raffle, beer, wine and share tales from the past week of storm cycle skiing.

BEING THERE - FIELD PRODUCTIONS from Field Productions on Vimeo.

A shovel, the most basic of avalanche safety tools, is one of the least glamorous items in our packs, but we all carry them. We have to. Because when the situation calls for a shovel, there is no substitute. K2 has been slowly introducing backcountry tools into their product line (there is even news of K2 ski boots in the future), and I’ve been using the new K2 Backside Shovel and Carbon Avalanche Probe this winter. The shovel is designed with companion rescue in mind, but has several cool details that add to its overall utility beyond that of basic avalanche rescue.

The K2 Rescue Shovel delivers a strong first impression, literally. Obviously built to last, everything from the powder coated handle to the blade gusset and handle/blade interface are stout. Still, it weighs in at a respectable 1 lb 14 oz (850 g) including the  rescue sled hardware that is included with the “plus” model. You can find a slightly lighter shovel, but given the 9”x11” blade size and extendable handle, the weight is competitive.

One of the first things you notice on the K2 shovel is the asymmetrical t-grip. The grip is designed to attach to the shovel to create a hoe tool, so one side of the grip is longer to interface with the blade. The idea seems pretty cool, and the hoe configuration proved useful for clearing snow in some basic digging scenarios. In practice, this shovel digs, chops and moves snow great, regardless of which configuration you use. The secure handle/blade interface delivers a solid feel when digging. The handle also happens to doubles as a hammer for driving pickets (or stubborn gear and ski partners).

The blade is middle-of-the-road in size, offers holes for creating a deadman-style snow anchor and I found its shape great for easily creating flat snow pit walls and conducting various stability tests. The fully extended handle measures about 22 inches, pretty average when compared to other brands.

A feature unique to the K2 Rescue Shovel Plus is the addition of hardware stored in the shaft to facilitate the construction of a rescue sled using the shovel components, a pair of skis with holes in the tips and tails and the addition of a cordelette. The idea is simple enough, and works great, but  only if your skis are set up with holes – tip and tail, like K2’s Backside line. Without the holes, the added hardware is just an extra few ounces in your pack.

All in all, it’s a great shovel. Although I hope to never have to use it for companion rescue, I am confident it is up to the task. More on the carbon avalanche probe in a subsequent post.

Buy the K2 Rescue Shovel

more avalanche rescue shovel reviews

You'll find the K2 Backcountry Rescue Shovel at evo.com

It's no secret that the snowpack is less than inspiring in many locations around the US right now (interior BC and Alaska are having great seasons btw). Of course, it's still early, right. It could all turn around any moment. In the meantime, we might as well stew in our misery - check out these maps from the National Weather Service comparing the snowpack as of January 7 for the last three years:

January 7, 2012

January 7, 2011

January 7, 2010

I posted a video clip and information about the the new Gecko glueless climbing skins back in November. At the time, I had yet to use the skins on snow. With the season underway, I have now had the Gecko skins in about every condition possible except bitter cold. The results have been great. They work every bit as good as any skin I have used. In fact, they function incredibly similar to a typical glued skin, in a good way. The biggest difference being that they are very easy to peel apart from one another.

Although they are called glueless, the Geckos are still adhesive. It's just not a skin glue like we all know. It's a proprietary tacky silicone adhesive and, according to the specs, requires no reapplication. Debris like pine needles, leaves and dirt can be washed off with warm water.

Will it last forever? I don't know. The adhesion has been great for the two months I have had them, and I plan to keep testing them (if we could just get some more snow). They work every bit as good as they did the first day I opened the box, and the adhesive side is every bit as clean and smooth as it was when new. Interestingly, they actually stick to my skis better than some of the glued skins I have used. Not that I have really had trouble with glued skins staying on my skis, but the Gecko's grip to the ski is actually more vigorous than a glued skin when it comes time to rip skins for the descent. They still peel just fine, but it's comforting to know they are securely attached.

One characteristic the Geckos share with traditional glue skins is that you need to keep them out of the snow. Snow on the adhesive side has the same effect as snow on a glued skin. So when dropped in the pow, they need some attention. The good news is they are easy to clean, just rub them along  your ski edge or pop them inside your jacket, and they return to full functionality just fine. If your looking for a truly glueless skin, you need to check out Clip Skins. Made in Canada, the Clip Skins use small stainless clips to stay attached to your skis and have no adhesive of any sort. You can read more about the Clip Skins in this review of climbing skins or in this blog post about skins.

The bottom line thus far with the Geckos is all good. The tip and tail work well and the mohair plush glides (and climbs) very nicely. The glueless adhesive has been treating me great, and I look forward to more time with them, not to mention some fresh snow for the forecast!

You can pick up climbing skins from evo.com

Happy 2012! Kick off the new year by entering our G3 Avy Gear Givaway this month. That's right, we've got another chance to win G3 avalanche safety gear this winter!

We've already given away G3 shovels, probes, saws and skins and there will be two more lucky winners this month - one will receive a 240cm SpeedTECH probe and one will a SpadeTECH avalanche shovel.

In March, we will award one lucky subscriber their choice of skis from the G3 Mountain Series.  The winner will be able to choose from the Tonic, Zen Oxide and the Saint.

Current subscribers can enter by sending us an e-mail requesting to be entered in the contest!

All new subscribers will be entered upon subscribing. If you subscribed in November or December or requested to be entered, you are still eligable to win this month and for the ski drawing in March.

Subscribe Today!

You can pick up avalanche safety gear from evo.com