If pro skier Eric Hjorleifson’s first Dynafit boot, the Vulcan, went by the nickname Frankenboot, his newest model, the Hoji Pro Tour, falls more in the image of the hairy, blue Monsters Inc. character Sulley—big, strong and hardworking, but with a friendlier side. Dynafit’s Vulcan, launched in 2012, earned its sobriquet from Hjorleifson’s work cobbling together parts […]
Ace Kvale: An iconic photographer mentors a new generation
Ace Kvale has been on the forefront of adventure photography for the past 40 years, with subjects ranging from Himalayan peaks to the valleys of his southern Utah home. Kvale, 62, kickstarted his career in the ski industry as an athlete and model before moving behind the lens in the 1980s.
Mountain Skills: The dos and don’ts of quick pits
Balancing the need to assess snow stability on the skintrack while also making sure your partners don’t freeze can be a difficult task at times. To be safe in the mountains, you need to gather a lot of information on a variety of aspects and elevations, but spending an hour in a snow hole is less than appealing, especially in inclement weather.
Alta Withdraws Grizzly Gulch “Keystone” from Land Exchange, But Mountain Accord Presses On
You won’t find Grizzly Gulch in The Chuting Gallery, the steep skiing bible for Utah’s Central Wasatch Mountains. But the 284-acre patch of low-angle terrain at the head of Little Cottonwood Canyon has become a flashpoint in a multiyear battle to settle land disputes between ski resorts and conservationists in the increasingly popular canyons.
Backcountry Basecamp 2019
BASECAMP 6.0 – Backcountry Magazine teams up with Scott Sports and Nokian Tyres to spread mountain education across the country Jeffersonville, Vt. (for immediate release) – For more than 20 years, Backcountry Magazine has been committed to educating its community on how to safely travel through untracked terrain. And for six years we’ve been taking […]
Salomon and Atomic’s new tech/alpine Shift MNC 13 aims to do it all with enhanced safety
Quite simply, the Shift is an alpine binding that becomes a tech binding for the ascent. More specifically, the Shift meets the DIN ISO standards for both tech and alpine—it’s a best-of-both-worlds binding that some skiers may lament because of its lack of specialization while others will offer praise due to its quiver-of-one status.
2019 Gear Guide: Travel and Tech
Whether you’re jet setting or hitting the long and winding road, travel can be logistically challenging. Packing efficiently, not busting your budget and keeping some of the creature comforts of home can help alleviate unnecessary stress on your hard earned down-time.
Heady Decisions: Should you wear a helmet in the backcountry?
Helmet technology has advanced over recent years with the advent of MIPS, a technology comprised of a layer inside a helmet to help to reduce rotational motion transferred to the brain, as well as Smith’s Koroyd honeycomb material that disperses the force of an impact. But even with this evolution in head protection, skiers continue to travel in the backcountry without helmets, citing that convenience is king when it comes to bc travel.
2019 Gear Guide: Safety Gear
Skiing deep pow in the backcountry is only as fun as it is safe. And knowing you have the tools to keep you and your friends out of harm’s way makes days on the skintrack all the more gratifying.
2019 Gear Guide: Camping Gear
Whether you’re using four wheels and the open road or a long, quiet skintrack to take you to your backcountry camping destinations, packing can be a tricky endeavor.
