We got a little preview of what’s coming at Outdoor Retailer from Scarpa–their all-new Typhoon, Domina and Skookum (Dynafit-compatible) alpine touring boots for the 2008-2009 season. These boots will sit just above the Scarpa Tornado Pro and just below the Hurricane and aim to be the burliest, yet still tour-able A/T boots on the market.
It’s nice to see that these boots will employ a straight-up and simple 4-buckle design (like the Garmont Endorphin’s). The Pebax dual-density shell and build looks to be entirely top-shelf to offer both bombproof performance combined with as light of weight as possible. The Typhoon weighs exactly the same as the current Tornado Pro boots (8 lbs....
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Garmont has long been a leader in mountaineering, hiking and alpine touring boots. They have continued to push the limits of stiffness and power while at the same time making those same stiff and powerful boots lighter and more suited for longer backcountry tours. The Garmont Endorphin has been in the line for a couple of years now, but has been refined for 2008. It’s built on the years of experience and on the shoulders of the latest generation of backcountry skiers who demand more from their boots because they are driving wider, longer and stiffer skis and skiing in unthinkable backcountry terrain.
Not...
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Scarpa has long been one of the major players in the backcountry ski boot market. The Scarpa T1 tele boot has long been the free-heel boot of choice for backcountry and resort adventures. As backcountry skiers have pushed the limits of human-powered access and have begun pushing bigger and fatter skis in the backcountry, alpine touring technology including bindings and boots have had to step it up.
No longer will slightly-modified mountaineering boots hack it for alpine touring. Backcountry skiers want it all… burly and stiff for the down and light and flexible for the up. Several manufacturers are stepping up to the plate and Scarpa is a natural leader in this growing...
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It seems more rare than common for people to say with enthusiasm, “I LOVE where I live!”. Honestly, I LOVE where I live! I’ve got 3 backcountry skiing spots in 3 different directions within 20 minutes of my house. Weber Canyon to the north, Mirror Lake Highway to the east and Wolf Creek Pass to the Southeast. Add to that Park City is 20 minutes to the west and I’m in a backcountry skiers mecca. But don’t tell anyone, mmmk?
It’s about 2 miles to the south and another 15 to the...
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Looking for something that the skier in your life will be stoked on and will appreciate for years to come? You can thank me later.
The photo below is near the top of Mount Superior and was taken on 4-19-2006. The photographer, Adam Barker, is doing a limited run of 1000 of these posters which are 24″ x 36″ and printed on high grade extra thick card stock. $1 from each poster sale will be donated to the Cottonwood Canyons Foundation.
If you’d like to purchase...
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Taking the lead in avalanche education for their lift-accessible backcountry terrain, Alpental Ski Area in Washington State has dedicated a section of their site to educate skiers. Alpental is my home resort. It’s where I learned to ski and it’s where I ski when I head back to the Northwest to visit family.
The inbounds and backcountry terrain at Alpental is mind-blowing for such a small resort. When I say small, I mean it: 302 acres inbounds and 523 acres backcountry with 4 lifts. Here’s the kicker though… it offers 2,280 ft. vertical from top to bottom! I’m guessing that’s more vertical per acre than any resort in the world. It’s no...
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I was reading another blog by Bryce Phillips, owner of EVOGear.com, with an account of an absolutely crazy avalanche incident that happened in British Columbia near Mt. Waddington in the Coast Range. Have a read… it is pretty miraculous that everyone escaped serious injury. The reality is that avalanches are scary buggers. They are unpredictable and can be deadly. So, why do we risk heading into the backcountry and what can we do to cover all the bases every time we go out?
First and foremost is having the proper equipment and knowing how to use it. Without an avalanche beacon and working knowledge on how to use it in a rescue situation,...
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As if Garmont wasn’t already pushing the limits of A/T boots with the Shaman no-nonsense sidecountry boot and their super-burly Endorphin freeride A/T boot, they are introducing the midseason release of the Garmont Axon. The Axon is the burliest and most functional Dynafit-compatible freeride A/T boot on the market. This thing looks solid and no doubt will perform with the burliest A/T boots on the market.
We are anxious to bring you a review of the new Endorphin, but the Axon looks to be the one to beat as far as flexibility and burliness. With a hikable mountaineering sole combined with Dynafit, UNI and DIN-compatibility,...
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For two of the past 3 seasons I’ve started and finished my ski season on Mount Timpanogos in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah. At 11,749′ Timpanogos or Timp as most of us locals call it is one of those peaks that doesn’t come easy and even more so in the early season. It’s a 7 mile and 3200′ approach to get to the permanent snowfield with another 1000′ to the saddle where we usually start to ski. Weather or not there is early season snow the likelihood of skiing any of it on the approach is as thin as your bases will tell you the snowpack...
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As more and more folks have ventured into the backcountry, alpine touring gear has evolved. I remember the first Fritchi Freeride binding almost 8 years ago. It was the first set of burly alpine touring bindings that you could stomp with in the backcountry. Then, the evolution of boots began. Scarpa, Dynafit and Garmont have progressively stepped up the stiffness and overall burlyness of their alpine touring ski boots.
Now, Garmont is stepping it up again with the all-new Garmont Shaman ($750 @ Backcountry.com) sidecountry ski boots. With the launch of the Shaman, Garmont has focused on the growing masses of sidecountry skiers who either ski hikeable inbounds terrain (like the North or South...
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A
foot of April flake just buried the 'Bird, the Crack House is warming
up and the Rollercoaster's drying out. Epic spring lines are calling
and you better be dialed. From bike helmets to top-shelf bike parts, Arc'teryx shells to Marmot sleeping bags, Mountain Hardwear tents, Patagonia footwear, The North Face backpacks and The North Face fleece, Backcountry.com is the outdoor gear dealer who's always holding when your addiction hits. Whether you ski sweet corn, get filthy rad on a snowboard, camp and climb in Moab, or burn it up on two wheels, there's no better place to feed your habit than Backcountry.com.