Taking some in the San Juan Colo. backcountry community by surprise, a May 3 ruling by the Bureau of Land Management granted Silverton Mountain Guides a five-year Special Recreation Permit for helicopter skiing in the Illinois/Hancock, Minnie/Maggie, Round and Southeast management pods northeast of town. The final decision gives heli access to more than 16,000 […]
Child’s Play: Kid’s AT gear is here, but will Daddy kick down?
Parents have been cobbling together kid’s touring rigs for years. A quick and incomplete modern history of kid’s backcountry gear would certainly start with three-pin bindings, cross-country boots and double-camber skis.
Not For Sale: Arc’teryx/Gore-Tex Pro Demo Jacket
The late bass player Donald “Duck” Dunn had a great line in Blues Brothers: “If the shit fits, wear it.” Never an image guy and, frankly, a tough fit for jackets, I can abide. Enter this sample Arc’teryx/Gore-Tex piece that I picked up at a press event last year in Chamonix. Made of Gore-Tex Pro throughout, it’s like nothing in the Arc’teryx line. Well, aside from its high-quality construction and anatomical cut.
Backcountry Basecamp Dispatch: The Backmobile
Ten hours into the white knuckle, whiteout drive from Jackson Hole to Denver en route to the Crested Butte GORE-TEX Backcountry Basecamp a light came on, accompanied by a discomforting ding. With two kids in tow and 5,000 lbs. of gear in the trailer, that little check-engine icon frayed some already frayed nerves.
Tried & New: Black Diamond Patrol
If you’ve ever patrolled, chances are you used leather gloves. Once you’ve had a leather glove, nothing else comes close to its fit and function. I got this sample pair of the Black Diamond Patrol back in 2006 or ’07. As a former patroller, I value a glove with a lotta leather. You beat the […]
Solitude’s Backtracks program 10 years after….
While the number of resorts offering a guided backcountry experience continues to grow, one program remains unique: At Utah’s Solitude Resort patrollers literally cross the line, doubling as guides in their Backtracks program. It started in 2003 and in early February of that year editor Adam Howard joined line patroller and lead guide Ian Reddell […]
Remembering the fallen of Colorado’s Sheep Creek Avalanche
There’s nothing that drives home just how small the backcountry community is more than a tragedy. So when I heard the vague radio report on Sunday morning of Saturday’s catastrophic avalanche that claimed five young men near Loveland, Colo., there was little doubt a text or phone call was soon to follow. By noon, there it […]
