Thirty-eight degrees is widely considered the slope angle at which most avalanches occur. But what exactly does a 38-degree slope look like? Calculating slope angle is relatively simple with an inclinometer, which, turns out, is one of the most affordable and compact items you can add to your kit.
How Rod Newcomb influenced a generation of avalanche education
Through his career, Newcomb has influenced generations of students and guides, including Sarah Carpenter, who now owns AAI with her husband, Don, and business partner Don Sharaf. Here’s what Carpenter had to say about her long-time colleague and teaching inspiration.
Mountain Account: Scott Rokis takes a slide for life on Calif.’s Mt. Williamson
Last March, photographer Scott Rokis planned to ski an Eastern Sierra classic, Mt. Williamson’s Giant Steps Couloir. Rokis hoped that shooting the line might open doors for his business but was apprehensive about the physical undertaking that would require 12,000 vertical feet of climbing. At dawn, just a few hours into the day’s journey, things took a turn for the worse after one misstep.
Nordic Extreme: From the Olympics to Aspen, XC champion Simi Hamilton makes tracks
There are those who go to Aspen for the parties and those who go for the X Games. Some visit for the foliage and others settle down for a season or two. And then there are those who made the trip decades ago, jostling and tumbling across the plains and into the Rockies. Such is the legacy of Simi Hamilton, a fourth-generation Aspenite who’s made a few treks of his own including to two Winter Olympic Games and on the Nordic World Cup circuit. But if there’s a rest day in sight, Simi would spend it on fat skis.
Carl Skoog: Remembering an icon of Washington ski mountaineering and photography
Before his untimely death in 2005 at age 46, Carl Skoog logged innumerable first ascents and descents and shot dramatic imagery in his home mountains—Washington’s Cascade Range—where he explored with his brothers, Lowell and Gordy, and many friends. And for Cascade-based photographer and adventurer Jason Hummel, Skoog’s work provided inspiration aplenty to continue the tradition of adventure ski photography in the state’s rugged ranges.
Romancing the Skintrack: How to find (and keep) love in the backcountry
To further improve your moves on February 14, we’ve polled our field of experts—namely a crack team of editors and contributors—for their best advice on how to maintain a relationship in the mountains. Here’s what the romantics had to say.
Skintrack Sketches: Brooklyn Bell finds her calling in art and the mountains
For 21-year-old Brooklyn Bell of Bellingham, Wash., breaking into the world of skiing was intimidating, but her wanderlust and love of her natural surroundings pushed her to explore new sports and spaces.
Photographer Profile: Grant Gunderson on true locals and finding the sweet spot
In this week’s profile, photographer Grant Gunderson of Bellingham, Wash. talks about finding the ideal vantage point.
Skintrack Sketches: Freeskier Chris Benchetler tops things off with graphic design
For freeskier Chris Benchetler of Mammoth, Calif., skiing is about finding beautiful lines in work and art. First drawn to slope-style competition and then on to filming with Poor Boys Productions, he realized he could make a living doing the sport he loved.
Photographer Profile: Adam Barker Balances Speed and Light
Adam Barker, of Cottonwood Heights, Utah, discusses the finer points of capturing speed and light.
