Welcome to the home of the backcountry skiing blog from Off-Piste Magazine. Here we post backcountry ski gear reviews, feature stories and avalanche safety advice, plus ski news, events and more.
The Ski Area Citizens Coalition (www.skiareacitizens.com) has been publishing the Ski Area Environmental Report Card for the past 10 years. The report evaluates the environmental policies and practices of ski areas in the western U.S. based on a system of 35 criteria including: preservation of sensitive lands within the ski resort area, actions related to water conservation and quality, and… Read More
December is here and snow is a flyin’. The December issue of Off-Piste Mag (Issue 43) is at the printer and will begin shipping 12/2. Subscribe or renew now to get the best in grassroots backcountry adventure. Subscribe, renew, or buy some Off-Piste Schwag (hoodies, hats, voile straps) for the holidays and you will be entered to win 1 of… Read More
The crew over at Backcountry Access has produced a series of informative avalanche rescue technique videos. The videos cover beacon searching, probing, and shoveling techniques. All of the videos are worth checking out. I chose to post the shoveling technique video here, because shoveling, one of the longest steps in avalanche rescue, recieves very little attention relative to search protocols…. Read More
While some lucky folks are out enjoying the early arrival of winter (see above photo of Ray Thomas courtesy of Larry Goldie at NCMG), we are working on finalizing the next issue of Off-Piste. All of the computer time making the issue happen results in some good time wasting fodder like the Bond clip from earlier in the week. well,… Read More
In the spirit of the internet as a tool of distraction, here is James Bond – the original ski base jumper…
We just got new ball caps and a small run of 100% organic cotton hoodies here at the office. The new ball caps are the same style as previous hats and are 100% organic cotton. The Hoodies are navy blue with the Off-Piste logo embroidered on the front. You can click the photo for a closer look. Get ’em while… Read More
Skiers bound for Eastern Oregon’s hidden gem known as the Wallowa Mountains can add the newly created Wallowa Avalanche Center (WAC) to their list of resources. Until now, avalanche conditions in the Wallowa Mountains were not officially monitored and the nearest center to the Wallowas was the Payette Avalanche Center in Idaho. With an increasing number of winter visitors enjoying… Read More
Anyone obsessed with skiing enough to be reading this blog probably does not need an academic paper to prove that ski resorts often embellish thier snow report numbers, but the following report from a couple of Associate Professors in Economics from Dartmouth College is a pretty entertaining read. In addition, it raises the i-phone issue again. Apparantly, there is yet… Read More
I posted a blog referring to the Ski Bum contest sponsored by a consortium of BC ski areas a couple weeks back. The contest is a take on the widely successful campaign run by Queensland Australia Tourism last winter. I just checked back on the Ski Bum site and am surprised to see only two entries thus far, and they… Read More
October is here and snow is gracing the high country once again. The latest issue of Off-Piste Mag (Issue 42) is at the printer this week and will begin shipping next week. Subscribe or renew now to be in the loop for a full season of Off-Piste Mag delivered to your door. If you subscribe online by October 11, 2009,… Read More
Slacklines 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… Read More
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…. Read More
Following 20 years of litigation, White Pass Ski Resort has begun clearing and construction for its 700+ acre expansion this summer. White Pass is located about 50 miles west of Yakima, WA, and cleared the final hurdles for the expansion back in September when US district Court ruled in favor of the Resort in the last of a string of… Read More
