Here’s the latest installment of A Diehard’s Guide to Skiing All Year. All summer long we’ll be sharing the next destination to add to your list of summertime snow stashes.
Throwback Thursday: Avalanche Airbags
Avalanches have always been a hazard in the backcountry, and our response to sliding snow has constantly evolved. But the most recent life-saving tool, the avalanche airbag, might be older than you think. The first airbag was introduced in 1985 by ABS founder Peter Aschauer. Backcountry first covered the technology in January 1997, Issue 10.
Biff America: On Underwear
Jeffery Bergeron, under the alias of Biff America, is a monthly columnist for Backcountry. Biff provides anecdotes about some of our favorite things: beer, sex and skiing.
Snow Shooter: Mattias Fredriksson
Mattias Fredriksson is a jack-of-all-trades. He’s worked as an editor, had his own magazine and is now a professional photographer with almost 400 cover images to his name. This September, Fredriksson will add another shot to his already impressive portfolio: the cover of Backcountry’s 2015 Gear Guide.
The Quiver
Whoever said “a quiver of one” anyway? These days, everybody knows your quiver needs at least a few arrows. But how many skis is too many skis?
Throwback Thursday: Stump Classics
In the late ’80s and early ’90s, ski films meant big hair, Iron Crosses and rock music. And Greg Stump was the master of them all. The New York Times called Stump “a maverick film maker in the ski business,” and The Atlantic wrote, “Stump… does not make G-rated, safe-and-sane ski travelogues with elevator music. What he does make are wildly original, nonstop ski action films with comic and dramatic subplots and original scores.”
Backcountry Essentials: Whose-its and Whatsits Galore
These days, with this company telling you to buy a whose-it to monitor your kidney, liver and large intestine functions while skinning and that company telling you to buy a whatsit to quadruple your V02 max, it can be tough to figure out what tech essentials you really need in the backcountry.
Biff America: On Opinions
Jeffery Bergeron, under the alias of Biff America, is a monthly columnist for BCM. Biff provides anecdotes about some of our favorite things: beer, sex and skiing.
Snow Shooter: Chris Christie
Don’t worry; New Jersey’s governor hasn’t taken up photography. This Chris Christie, a resident of Squamish, B.C., has a penchant for stouts and big ski lines, and he doesn’t take being a photographer lightly.
Damn Enthusiasm: Greg Hill’s Pakistani Avalanche
In May, Greg Hill, who’s best known for feats like skiing 2 million vertical feet in a single year or 100,000 meters in a month, ticked off one of his life goals, skiing in Pakistan’s Nanga Parbat region. Then, two weeks into his trip, he got caught in an avalanche and broke his left leg. Two months after the accident, he’s sharing his story for the first time.
