Around midnight, I pull into my parking lot bivy for the evening. The trees gently sway back and forth, and the sky is eerily dark. Winds are forecasted to dissipate by sunrise, but intermittent gusts say otherwise. Nervous excitement is typical before a big day on a new line, yet for some reason I can’t […]
Convergent Tracks: The Chameleon
Jibbing was hot as hellfire when Eric Blehm became editor of Transworld Snowboarding in 1995. Most snowboard media focused heavily on freestyle, but Blehm was more fascinated by the Nitro Tour than the glut of twins that graced the 501 pages of the magazine’s 1995 gear guide. Blehm’s tenure at Transworld stretched through 1998, a […]
2021 Testers’ Choice: Jed Doane’s Favorite Boards and Boots
This year at Powder Mountain, Utah, our testers gathered for the 2021 Gear Test Week to review 121 products just before Covid-19 sent us into lockdown. Now, we’re debuting the skis, boards, boots, bindings and apparel that you need to go remote—in the backcountry, that is. At the end of the week, we asked each […]
Mountain Skills: Streamline the Ride
The word efficiency gets used excessively these days. Everything has to be more efficient: cars, computers, factories and, yes, even splitboarders. Over the past several years, splitboard technology has improved exponentially, leaving the door wide open for resort-based snowboarders to access the mountains like never before. Boards are lighter, more durable and more functional, and […]
Mountain Skills: Managing Risk and Responsibility
On February 28, 2014, a Missoula, Mont. snowboarder launched into the Mt. Jumbo backcountry ready to carve perfect turns. Farthest from his mind was triggering a massive avalanche that would decimate two houses, bury three people and kill one. It’s a dramatic example of how someone’s actions in the backcountry can affect others.
Testers’ Choice: Theresa Clinton’s Favorite Boards
This year at Powder Mountain, Utah, our testers gathered for the 2021 Gear Test Week to review 121 products just before Covid-19 sent us into lockdown. Now, we’re debuting the skis, boards, boots, bindings and apparel that you need to go remote—in the backcountry, that is. At the end of the week, we asked each […]
2021 Testers’ Choice: Emily Boyden’s Favorite Skis and Boots
This year at Powder Mountain, Utah, our testers gathered for the 2021 Gear Test Week to review 121 products just before Covid-19 sent us into lockdown. Now, we’re debuting the skis, boards, boots, bindings and apparel that you need to go remote—in the backcountry, that is. At the end of the week, we asked each […]
Former U.S. Ski Team member Sophia Schwartz on Becoming a Jack of All Trades
Former U.S. Ski Team member Sophia Schwartz is all about setting goals. It used to be going to the Olympics for moguls, but after narrowly missing out on making the Olympic team in 2014, she’s pivoted and sought out new, diverse goals. This past season, that included landing a double backflip, skiing Wyoming’s Grand Teton […]
2021 Testers’ Choice: Jason Layh’s Favorite Skis & Boots
This year at Powder Mountain, Utah, our testers gathered for the 2021 Gear Test Week to review 121 products just before Covid-19 sent us into lockdown. Now, we’re debuting the skis, boards, boots, bindings and apparel that you need to go remote—in the backcountry, that is. At the end of the week, we asked each […]
Mountain Account: Unstable Intuition
In April 2013, photographer Chris Christie and three friends ventured north of Pemberton, B.C. to Sun God Mountain and its popular, steep, north-facing terrain. The group split up, and after observing natural avalanche activity backed off from their intended line. Christie and friend Jimmy Martinello chose a nearby north-facing couloir, that from their snow pits and intuition, they deemed skiable. But their intuition was wrong.
