‘It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.’ – JRR Tolkien I had a feeling when I…
“You’ve been punked!” scoffed the text, snarky in its confidence. “Steamboat never opens early…” “They have lease guidelines with the forest service to be open an exact number in any given season,” explained another. “It hasn’t happened in all the years…
When I first wore the Outdoor Research Sonata Hoody to a late fall backyard campfire, my friends noticed. All of the girls wanted to try it on, and several of the guys asked me if I could hook them…
We’re counting down the days until the mountains are thoroughly coated in the fluffy white stuff. In the meantime, we’re drooling over the hottest gear of the season and doing this: We’ve been getting down on some Pumpkin Ale from…
The SCARPA Freedom RS 130 wins every major magazine award in 2016. First published Oct. 13th 2015 By SCARPA Four years ago, when our boot designers launched the Freedom Project, we had one goal: make the best alpine/AT hybrid boot in…
Clear, accurate communication is a critical tool for all adventure-based activities involving risk. In fact, clear communication is critical for our daily activities involving risk. Think about driving through a busy city or highway. Communication is everywhere, just not in…
This post was first published April 2015, here’s an update from Wil: “The Spectres go unchanged so far this season which means they are a known commodity. By the end of the last season I had managed to ski them…
I felt like a kid at a birthday party opening the much-awaited Osprey Mutant 38 alpine climbing pack. It looked sleek and streamlined online, and now I was about to ground-truth my expectations. As an alpine, ski, and rock guide,…
2015 marks my 18th year of heli ski guiding for Valdez Heli Ski Guides on Thompson Pass, Valdez Alaska. I’ve watched the weather patterns change, skis get fatter, the evolution of beacons and the birth of the air bag. Avalanches are a reality.…
Can you drive in your ski boots? If the answer is no then it is time to build a pyre and burn them in a mass of toxic nasty-ness. You are now in a position to buy a boot that…