Category: Featured

The Chess Match of High Density Skiing

The Chess Match of High Density Skiing

Written by | Nov 9, 2023

Inter-Party Avalanche Involvements: There is a generally accepted and often repeated assumption that the backcountry is overrun with humans. Are there more of us out there? The idea of party density and the reality of managing autonomous groups touring in the same zone, and often on the same run, is a real dynamic. To say the backcountry is a swarming hive of reckless and adaptable bipeds, each caught in their cascade of heuristic traps, is overreach. But there are crowds.

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Rock Skis

Rock Skis

Written by | Nov 1, 2023

It smells like snow and I love rock skis. 

I fixed a broken boot buckle, ignored a missing skin tail, and freshened up the beacon batteries. Snow line In Alaska still requires a bit of a walk or even more of a drive. The point isn’t really the turns or the vert or the line. It’s about cold fingers and premature seasonality. When I was a kid, I used to wake up in the middle of the night before my birthday to see if midnight had arrived—Fall skiing relies on the same neuro-receptors. 

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Advice on Buying Used Touring Gear

Advice on Buying Used Touring Gear

Written by | Oct 27, 2023

‘Tis Ski Swap Season. Buying used touring gear can make financial sense. If you’re looking for a first set-up or building out the quiver, our Gear Editor Gavin Hess and Matt Zia (Executive Director of the Montana Mountaineering Association, pack builder, and guide) help us comb through the used gear to find the gems and avoid the junk.

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ZAG Adret 85 Review

ZAG Adret 85 Review

Written by | Oct 14, 2023

The Adret 85 fits an interesting niche amidst skinny and light skis. I hesitate to call any 1100g ski “hard-charging,” but relative to its class, the Adret is quite capable at speed and in variable snow. From the inside out, the Adret starts with a Paulownia wood core, wrapped in multiaxial carbon/fiberglass and capped with a phenol reinforcement in the mountain area. Paulownia and carbon—pretty standard fare at this point. The phenol reinforced mounting area is interesting to me. I certainly prefer a metal mounting plate – something about a tapped hole through metal gives me warm fuzzies. That said, I didn’t have any issues with stripped holes or the like—the phenol plate seemed to have a solid bite with screws. A 3.8x9mm bit was recommended. I used a 3.6x9mm as that’s what I had on hand. 

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Life Happens: Becoming a Ski Dad

Life Happens: Becoming a Ski Dad

Written by | Sep 19, 2023

I skied every week of the winter, and yeah, I slid down plenty of vert on skis, and of course, I set my share of skin tracks, enjoyed plenty of ridge top time, and sucked cold air through a buff with snow flying in my face…Fine, maybe I have to concede I skied a lot this year, but it was different. I didn’t get any big days in the backcountry. I didn’t venture off into the big mountains. My summits were all familiar. I never slept in a tent in the snow. I skied no dawn-to-dusk ‘full days.’

My daughter was born last fall. Along with a myriad of major and wonderful life changes, I am becoming a ski dad. 

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