The last days of April are approaching fast and, with that, many avalanche forecasting centers across North America end their daily bulletins for the season. Montana’s Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center and Flathead Avalanche Center have already thrown in the daily forecasting towel for the season and other centers, such as the Utah Avalanche Center and the Chugach National Forest Avalanche Information Center, are getting ready this week to call it quits for the summer months.
Duct Tape Studios presents “Elk Mountains Grand Traverse”
The 2016 Grand Traverse, an annual endurance skimo race, kicked off in the depths of night on March 25 at Crested Butte Mountain Resort. This year’s event drew more than 200 two-person teams hoping to race across Colorado’s Elk Mountains. To document the Traverse, Denver-based Duct Tape Studios interviewed participants upon their return to Crested Butte Mountain Resort.
Chic Choc Chicks and Five Reasons To Backcountry Ski With Women
Yesterday, Ski The East released “Chic Choc Chicks,” a short video that follows my friend Paige Fitzgerald and me on a backcountry trip to Québec’s Chic Choc Mountains last winter. The snow was incredible, the mountains were beautiful and big, and the vistas over the Saint Lawrence Seaway were spectacular. What I remember most from trips with Paige, however, is how much fun it is to travel in the backcountry with other women.
Boardroom: Four Techniques To Improve Your Splitboard Ascents
Like every gratifying, adventurous inclination, splitboarding involves a sometimes funny, sometimes frustrating progression for resort-turned-backcountry snowboarders. Most riders learn to snowboard inbounds and then make a transition to the backcountry. Because of this, using two planks to climb a mountain and mastering additional uphill travel skills can be daunting. So to glide off on the right foot, here are four, easy-to-practice ascent techniques.
Avy Report: Spring is here, and so are wet avalanches
As ski resorts begin to close, more skiers flock to the backcountry to savor the last taste of winter. Spring can be a time of long days and fun ski missions in the sun, but caution must still be exercised as springtime snowpack can be dangerous and variable.
2017 Board Test Week: Variable Conditions Close Out Crested Butte Test
The final day of 2017 Board Test Week was far from uneventful. After a week of riding at Crested Butte Mountain Resort and in the surrounding backcountry, a crew of 11 splitboarders put more than 20 standout boards to the test at Irwin Guides, a renowned cat skiing operation in Irwin, Colorado.
Height of Land Publications to acquire Cross Country Skier Magazine
Height of Land Publications (HOL), publisher of Alpinist and Backcountry Magazine, is acquiring Cross Country Skier Magazine (XCS). Under the terms of the purchase, all operations of XCS will move from Cable, Wisconsin, to Jeffersonville, Vermont. Current XCS Publisher and Editor Ron Bergin will stay on as an advertising sales representative and will continue to write for the magazine.
Ten Years Later, La Grave Memorializes Doug Coombs and Chad VanderHam
It’s been 10 years since the ski world lost pioneer Doug Coombs and aspirant guide Chad VanderHam. While Coombs made a name for himself on this side of the pond, La Grave was his home for 10 years, and that’s were he was skiing along with VanderHam on April 3, 2006 when both men fell […]
Boardroom: A look into the life of a Rocket Scientist splitboard revolutionary
Phantom Splitboard Bindings, designed to be used with lightweight alpine touring ski boots, have quickly become a go-to for splitboard mountaineers around the world. In addition to Phantom providing a cool new product, its story is unusual. With a marketing plan based almost entirely on word-of-mouth sales, Phantom has successfully grown in the years since its founding. What’s even more interesting about this revolutionary company is that founder John Keffler is a full-time rocket scientist.
Skiers Complete First Attempt at Colorado’s Hardrock 100
A team comprised of accomplished ultrarunners Jason Schlarb and Paul Hamilton, skimo racer Scott Simmons and videographer Noah Howell, have completed the first attempt at skiing the Hardrock 100, a 100-mile route through southwestern Colorado’s San Juan Mountains. The route, traditionally a summertime endurance run, is well known for the sheer mental and physical tenacity required—it boasts 34,000 feet of elevation gain, crosses 13 passes above 12,000 feet and maintains an average elevation above 11,000 feet.
