Latest
Blown-In 5 – Ski and Outdoor Industry News
Blown-In — A semi-regular look at the latest ski, outdoor and sometimes bike industry news bits is a collection of press releases, new products, and interesting stuff circulating on the interweb that catches our attention. This week’s edition of Blown-In features the NOAA Winter Weather Outlook, Mammut Barryvox S/S2 Recall, a Pieps Pro IPS Recall, ORTLIEB's repair week and $10k ski passes. Barryvox S/S2 Recall Voluntary Recall Notice: Mammut Barryvox 2 / S2. Mammut has identified a potential issue with the power switch of the new Barryvox 2/S2 avalanche transceivers and issued a recall of all potentially affected products for inspection and, where applicable, repair or exchange. Only Barryvox 2 and Barryvox S2 from this season (24-25) are impacted. The Barryvox and Barryvox S models…
Gear
Ortlieb Fork Packs – Essential Bikepacking Gear
Ortlieb Fork Packs – Convenient Mini Panniers Packing your gear and loading up your bike for an adventure requires a mix of experience, restraint and experimentation. It also takes the right combination of bikepacking bags. I consider a set of fork-mounted bikepacking bags like the Ortlieb Fork Packs to be essential equipment for any multi-day bikepacking trip. Fork-mounted bags are… Read More
Thule RoundTrip Bike Duffel — Get Organized
With bike road trip season rapidly approaching, we take a look at the Thule RoundTrip Bike Duffel. The RoundTrip is a purpose-built bike gear travel bag. It’s designed to keep your gear organized and easy to find whether you’re headed for your local trailhead or on a multi-day road trip. Get Organized with the RoundTrip Bike Duffel Like most people,… Read More
Mystery Ranch Saddle Peak – A Dialed Backcountry Ski Pack
A Clean, Functional Ski Pack for Day Tours “Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.”― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Airman’s Odyssey Testing ski packs is a little like backseat driving; It’s easy to be a critic. In an effort to come up with fresh designs or innovative… Read More
The Future of Waterproof, Breathable Outerwear is PFC-Free
PFC-Free GORE-TEX GORE-TEX has been setting the standard for waterproof, breathable outerwear for more than 30 years. Now, they’re shaping the future of waterproof, breathable outerwear, and it’s PFC-free. The GORE-TEX fabrics we all know feature a combination of materials laminated to a thin membrane called ePTFE (expanded polytetrafluoroethylene) — read more about the different types of GORE-TEX. PTFE is… Read More
Features
2024-25 Ski Season – La Niña Watch
Winter 2024-25 It’s never too early to start obsessing about winter weather forecasts and thinking about ski season. While tracking squirrel eating habits and noting the height of the Beargrass in your local ski stash may well be time-tested winter weather indicators, the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), commonly known by its two opposing influences, El Niño and La Niña,… Read More
How to Choose the Best Climbing Skins
Climbing skins are required equipment for backcountry skiing cause you gotta get up to get down. While all climbing skins work on the same principle, skins vary by material (plush) type, tip and tail connection systems and also the depth or thickness of the plush. Choosing the best climbing skins for your ski touring needs depends on snow conditions, type… Read More
Van Life – Adventure Wagon Style
It’s summer in the Pacific Northwest, and the Van Life crowd is everywhere. From bike races to remote trailheads and grocery store parking lots, you can’t escape them. And I’ll admit it. I suffer from van envy. Half of me wonders how so many people can afford $100,000+ vans, and my other half covets one. I’ve owned multiple vans over… Read More
Bikepacking Meal Tips
Make Dinner a Priority Part of the fun and challenge of a multi-day bikepacking trip is planning the meals. Some routes let you indulge in small-town food stops where you can resupply or simply eat at a restaurant every few days. But what about more remote routes and the days when you need to be self-sufficient with your food? Packing… Read More
Adventure Ride Essentials
Lightweight Solo Bikepacking Tent – Sierra Designs High Side 1
Solo bikepacking missions are synonymous with packing light. There’s no one to split group gear with, so gram counting is essential for an efficient load. One of the best ways to save weight and space while solo bikepacking is with a bare-bones shelter, like a tarp tent or a bivy bag. But tarp tents and bivy bags are about compromise…. Read More
Thule RoundTrip Bike Duffel — Get Organized
With bike road trip season rapidly approaching, we take a look at the Thule RoundTrip Bike Duffel. The RoundTrip is a purpose-built bike gear travel bag. It’s designed to keep your gear organized and easy to find whether you’re headed for your local trailhead or on a multi-day road trip. Get Organized with the RoundTrip Bike Duffel Like most people,… Read More
Ultralight Bikepacking Tents – MSR FreeLight, Marmot Superalloy
How Light is Right for a Bikepacking Tent? My first bikepacking tent was an REI Half Dome—a roomy two-person tent with two doors and a bomber build that handles rainy nights and gusty thunderstorms with ease. But at 4.75 pounds, it’s not exactly an ultralight tent. Nonetheless, I packed it for several multi-day bikepacking trips, including the Oregon Outback, and… Read More
Gravel Bike Tires – How Wide Should You Go?
As the adventure cycling category grows, gravel bikes continue to evolve. One of the best evolutions in gravel bikes is improved tire clearance. Tire clearance is important for a variety of reasons. Clearance translates to versatility, making a gravel bike a quiver-of-one bike. Run 30mm tires for all-purpose road rides. Run 40mm for all-purpose gravel riding. And run 50mm for… Read More
Compact, Easy to Use – Platypus QuickDraw Portable Water Filter Review
A Light, Portable Water Filter for Bikepacking and Adventure Riding Water is a necessity on any ride. Whether you’re on a multi-day bikepacking trip or an epic one-day ride, carrying a small water filter means you are always ready to fill your bottles when there is water nearby. Lightweight, portable water filters are lighter and simpler than ever. This year,… Read More
Can Freeze Dried Meals Actually Taste Good – Backpacker’s Pantry Steps it Up
I’ve long avoided freeze-dried meals in favor of creating simple camping meals like pasta with pesto. But bikepacking offers limited storage space. There are many tricks to packing light, and one of the most effective is using freeze-dried camping meals. But how do they taste? Dehydrated Versus Freeze-Dried A question that came up while researching lightweight camping meals was, what’s… Read More
Industry News
Blown-In 3 The Latest Industry News and Bits from the Interweb
Ski and Bike Industry News Blown-In — A semi-regular look at the latest ski and bike industry news bits — is a collection of press releases, new products, and interesting stuff circulating on the interweb that catches our attention. This week’s edition of Blown-In features EXPLORE Act status, a new multi-day bikepacking route in Oregon, plus new bike-specific gear from Outdoor… Read More
Blown-In 2 – The Latest Industry News and Bits from the Interweb
Ski Industry News Blown-In — A semi-regular look at the latest ski industry news bits — is a collection of press releases, new products, and interesting stuff circulating on the interweb that catches our attention. This week’s edition of Blown-In features a new avalanche beacon from Pieps, a new teleark ski boot from Scarpa, how to become a sponsored adventurer and… Read More
The Future of Waterproof, Breathable Outerwear is PFC-Free
PFC-Free GORE-TEX GORE-TEX has been setting the standard for waterproof, breathable outerwear for more than 30 years. Now, they’re shaping the future of waterproof, breathable outerwear, and it’s PFC-free. The GORE-TEX fabrics we all know feature a combination of materials laminated to a thin membrane called ePTFE (expanded polytetrafluoroethylene) — read more about the different types of GORE-TEX. PTFE is… Read More
Blown-In 1 – The Latest Industry News and Bits from the Interweb
Ski Industry News Updates Blown-In — A semi-regular look at the latest ski industry news bits — is a collection of press releases, new products, and interesting stuff circulating on the interweb that catches our attention. This week’s edition of Blown-In features fresh outerwear news from Norrøna, PHANTOM Glide for Nordic skis, new backcountry gear from HEAD/Tyrolia, a new AT ski… Read More
Avalanche Safety
Avalanche Accident – A Perfect Storm
A Perfect Storm – Reflecting on an Avalanche Accident Never have I fought so hard to suppress the overwhelming urge to panic. Before I realized what I was doing, I heard my own muffled screaming. I told myself to calm down. Again, I realized I was screaming. A few deep breaths later, I gained a small measure of composure. I… Read More
Terrain Tips
Using Terrain to Your Advantage – Seven Terrain Tricks Safe backcountry skiing starts with a big picture perspective (plus reading and understanding the local avalanche conditions report). Experienced skiers often reference terrain as trumping hazard. In fact, “The snowpack is the problem, and the terrain is the solution,” is an old ski guide’s adage that informs a lot of backcountry decision-making…. Read More
BCA Dozer 2H Avalanche Shovel – We Dig It
Avalanche Rescue and Snow Pits – The BCA Dozer 2H Shovel Does It All Avalanche shovels are the kind of gear we hope to never really use for their intended purpose of recovering a buried ski partner. But the shovels we all carry have many other uses, primary being to dig snow pits in search of weak layers and to… Read More
Backcountry Radio Channels – Group-to-Group Communication
Designated Radio Channels for Popular Backcountry Zones It’s commonly understood that avalanche safety often hinges on human-driven factors. Ideas like familiarity with terrain, the expert halo and group communication (or lack thereof) rise to the top of the list as contributors to avalanche accidents. Broadly speaking, group communication is at the root of many mistakes. Communication alone will not overcome… Read More
Movies
The Land of Giants – Matchstick Ski Movie
The latest Matchstick Productions ski movie, Land of Giants, features some incredible footage of skiing the Chilkotan Range near Haines, Alaska. This teaser clip of the Haines footage should whet your appetite for skiing . . . or watch the full-length Land of Giants on Red Bull TV
Is Skiing Art? Check out Abstract
Skiing is not art, and skiers are not artists. Unless, of course, skiing is art and skiers are artists? Abstract, Faction’s fourth feature film, exhibits pure creativity through a series of freeski sequences—from the vibrant streets of Japan to the powdery pillows of British Columbia to the finely manicured terrain parks of Switzerland and Italy. Each location provides a blank… Read More
Backcountry Film Festival – Online Stream
Winter Wildlands Alliance Backcountry Film Festival Presented by Winter Wildlands Alliance, the Backcountry Film Festival captures a range of backcountry adventure, culture and advocacy. You can stream the full two-hour show right at home! Check out the film festival trailer below. Just kick down $20 to support the Winter Wildlands mission, and you can watch the full selection of films… Read More
Kamase – New Sammy Carlson Ski Video
Pushing the Boundaries of Powder Skiing Check out Sammy Carlson’s latest ski video. From Japan to BC to Alaska, Carlson and his ski partners send it again and again. Sammy Carlson: KAMASE Ski video
The Vault
Backcountry Skier Personalities – The Newbie
Backcountry Skier Personalities – The Newbie We’ve all been there. New gear or new to the sport, the Newbie is both endearing and embarassing. The Newbie You needn’t search far afield for the Newbie. This species is ubiquitous around North America and commonly sighted at sidecountry locations and roadside attractions made popular by their easy access and moderate terrain. A Newbie… Read More
Backcountry Skier Personalities – Rando Racer
Backcountry Skier Personalities One could argue that a Rando Racer is not really a backcountry skier, and that the easiest way to take the fun out of backcountry skiing is to time it. But there’s been some bleed over between the rando race scene and the lightweight touring world, so here is the Rando Racer backcountry skier profile. Stay tuned… Read More
