The Mountainsmith Scream 55: the ultralight backpack for those who wish to carry more than the bare, 3-season essentials. In testing the Scream 55, I wanted to take this backpack out of the traditional, 3-season ultralight backpacking environment, and highlight…
When it comes to backpacking gear, especially anything ultralight, I’m like a kid in a candy store – well when I first got wind of the Octal 55 Ultralight Backpack by Gregory it was no different! Reading the specs on…
For those that recreate in the lofty mountains of Summit County, variable conditions involving both powder and hard pack snow exposed rock and wild grasses, dense thickets of pine and expansive alpine tundra, are seemingly the norm. Utilizing the correct…
To explain my appreciation for the design of Native Eyewear’s Backbowl Goggles, I have to explain a little bit of my history working in the ski industry. I began my “career” down under at New Zealand’s Cardrona Alpine Resort (also…
Somewhere there’s an unofficial spectrum of what a dirtbag can or should be in the outdoor industry, existing solely in the minds of our own individual communities and ethos, and it ranges from the old-school cat-food-eating Stonemasters, modern van-dwellers with…
Montana’s Yellowstone National Park is a land of extremes. In winter, the pristine snowy landscape is dotted with boiling hot thermal features nestled amongst epic mountains. Combine this beautiful landscape with some of the deepest snow Montana has to offer…
As most of you know, Outdoor Retailer, THE staple trade show in the outdoor industry left the state of Utah and settled into its new home in Denver, Colorado. After 20 years of being hosted in Salt Lake City, conservationists…
I have skin problems. To be more specific, I have skin-trimming problems and tail-clip-keeping problems. And sometimes I have skin glue problems, which often go hand-in-hand with skin sticking problems. It’s not like I don’t try to take care of…
Get Up to Get DOWN! For when those couloirs are finally filled in, you’ve shaken the summer rust off your ski legs, and you’re ready to really get after it, the Atlas Spindrift Snowshoes are there for you. When it’s…
Recently, my partner (fellow OPL gear tester Patrick) and I went on a 6-week journey to the Balkans in Eastern Europe. We wanted to do it all: climb, hike, camp, sightsee, learn, explore, and eat delicious food. That meant we…