A couple of weeks ago Jason posted about some of the new AT boots from Scarpa that will soon find their way to store shelves and hopefully onto some of your feet. As a Dynafit Disciple I can’t wait to ski the Skookum with it’s alpine style tongue, booster strap and reinforced “power ribs”. It looks like a dream for the predominantly backcontry skiing crowd who will play in the slackcountry once in a while, spinning laps on the lifts to get the goods. Here’s a little video that goes down the features of the boots that Jason covered in his review. The video also introduces the Scarpa Terminator X-Pro which is the NTN tele compatable boot....
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Scott has long been a household name in goggles and poles, but their other product lines–namely skis–have been, until recent years, schlepped overseas. I don’t know if the migration of Scott skis came after some Euros inadvertently left them here in the States and they multiplied like rabbits, or if it was a deliberate effort from Scott USA–I’ll leave that up to your imagination and good sense. Either way, their versatile ski line serves up top-shelf performance at still affordable price-points. After realizing that my Atomic Beta Rides were a little too narrow overall, I went in search for an inbounds ski that would be versatile enough to tackle bulletproof hardpack as well as float through deep Utah...
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Robert Redford’s little Sundance Resort has got to be nestled in one of the most beautiful corners of Utah. Just 15-minutes up Provo Canyon is a quaint little hill made up of only 3 regular-speed lifts covering barely 450 acres of skiable terrain. Sounds pretty small… well, it is small for a reason. Mr. Redford is one of the more outspoken environmentalists I know of and his resort does its best to preserve the beauty of the location against the southeastern flanks of 12,000-foot Mt. Timpanogos. Sundance was the first ski resort I skied in Utah during my freshman year at college in 1993. Just like that winter 15 years ago, Sundance is mostly filled with local college...
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The legendary Mt. Baker Ski Area, just south of the Canadian border in Northern Washington State is getting pummeled once again. I just saw posted on their site that they have had 220 inches of snowfall in the month of December alone! That doesn’t even count the endless powder they have received recently. The last La Nina season, Mt. Baker broke all annual world snowfall records with a whopping 1,140 inches (1998-1999). On a great year, Alta will get 600 inches, so that’s absolutely insane! Even moreso when you consider the water content of the snow at Mt. Baker. If...
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I love the latest trend of going back to natural fibers. It conjures up memories of wearing old Army surplus pants and shirts on cold-weather outings in the Cascades as a kid. What worked well then, still works. The trend is to mix natural wool fibers with some of the latest technology to create the ultimate warmth, comfort and durability. Enter the upcoming Varitherm Dri-Release wool base layer from Duofold. The Varitherm tops and bottoms are made of a mixture of merino wool, polyester and spandex to maintain a 360-degree stretch and have just the right amount of comfort next to the skin. The fabric mixture is dubbed Dri-Release wool and is rounded out by FreshGuard technology to keep...
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It’s a new year and it’s time for everyone to spend some introspective time thinking about self-improvement. Let me suggest one thing that will change your outlook on life… ski at Alta more often. The place is money. Yeah, it gets tracked out the day after a storm, yeah it can be crowded at times (though today we only waited 7 minutes max in any lift line), but the terrain is flat out awesome. We got a late start today, but got to the backside traverse to East Greely by 11am–just after it opened. Sloppy seconds mixed with untracked goodies here and there were the rewards for...
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Holy smokes, Batman! More like, holy Benjamins actually. Vail’s day lift pass for 2007-2008 will cost you $92. With that kind of pricing, fewer and fewer kids will be learning to ski unless they have a trust fund and last names like Hilton, Gates, Buffet or Moneybags. The next most expensive resorts are Aspen ($87) and Deer Valley ($81). I have a hard time believing that the majority of skeirs can realistically afford to ski at those prices. Yeah, fixed resort costs increase every year like the price of gas, but at some point you end up hurting the locals who just want to get...
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There are a lot of places that are only for “those in the know.” For example if you are visiting San Juan, Puerto Rico all the tourists eat at some restaurant on the Condado strip. But the locals know that a place off the strip called Compostella is THE place. If you are a tourist in Colorado, you know about Vail and Aspen. If you are wiser than a tourist, you go to Silverton. And if you are reading this article, you know about the big-name Utah resorts. If you are a Utah skier worth his salt, you “know” about Solitude Resort. Solitude Resort is celebrating its 50 year anniversary, and the resort’s VERY appropriate tagline is: “50...
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Smith has long been the market-leader in ski goggles. Their simple goggle designs have been classics for years. In fact, the Smith Cascade is likely the most popular goggle of all time–I happen to have three pairs in my closet. You likely have or have had a pair or two in your lifetime. They are great goggles for the money. Over time, Smith has developed more progressive goggle designs to provide better vision, ventilation and overall fit with helmets. The popularity of helmets and widespread adoption by most skiers and boarders has created some challenges for some goggle manufacturers. The aforementioned Smith Cascade goggles worked perfectly with most helmets because the goggle design had been used by motocro...
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Burton launched their poaching contest, “Sabotage Stupidity” earlier this month, garnering media and resort attention. Afraid of the onslaught of poachers, Taos buckled (well, not just because of poachers, read more here) and others will now be more vigilant to one-planker knuckle-draggers on their slopes. Utah’s Alta and Deer Valley resorts will be on high-alert, I’m sure. Whatever Burton wants to do is fine with me, but I hope people don’t go to jail for this. Give it up already… Alta and Deer Valley will not allow snowboarders in my lifetime. They have thousands of loyal skiers who revel in the fact...
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