A year ago, several big-time pack manufacturers weren’t in the airbag game- names like Osprey, Black Diamond (BD), Dakine, The North Face (TNF), and more. While BD sorts out what they want to do with their avalung technology, and who knows what Osprey is doing, Dakine and TNF unveiled their airbag packs this year. First, Dakine:
Altitude 40l:

Altitude 25l:

As a fan of Dakine packs like the Heli Pro and the Poacher, I was tremendously excited to see what Dakine would come up with. Dakine decided to contract with ABS, and the ABS system is more or less zipped onto the Dakine pack. On the one hand, this allowed Dakine to use ABS’ many years of experience in this field to produce their own airbag pack, but on the other hand Dakine didn’t exactly come up with anything new or exciting as far as airbags go. Using an existing system won’t do a whole lot to reduce the price or weight of an airbag pack, and those two things remain as the biggest detriments to potential airbag buyers.

Still, they’re not bad packs (called the Altitude 25l for slackcountry and the Altitude 40l for true backcountry). For one thing, this airbag system is released from the sides, so unlike many airbag packs, the 40l pack is a top-loader, which is really nice for stowing an extra jacket or a rope (The smaller 25l is not a top loader). Plus, since it uses the ABS base system (called the Vario), you can easily move the base unit from pack to pack, even with other manufacturers. Or, just zip the ABS off and use the pack alone in springtime or inbounds skiing. As I said, the penalties of this system are weight and price. Combining the price of the Vario base and the packs themselves will set you back well over $1,000MSRP. Reported pack weights end up at a hefty 8lbs for the 40l and 7.4 for the 25l.

Dakine packs have never been known as the lightest out there, but they do tend to be inexpensive, so it was disappointing to see what they came up with. As a big company, Dakine could have thrown a bunch of R and D into an airbag pack but instead they just came up with a so-called “me-too” product. Still, Dakine’s booth was extremely busy, probably because many of their retailers are big-box sports stores like Sports Authority here in CO. So it’s hard to fault their strategy and in the end, they’ll still save lives.

On to The North Face:

The Patrol 24 pack is a 24l pack that also uses the ABS base system, with all its inherent pluses and minuses. To their credit, TNF did their best to reduce the weight and the pack supposedly clocks in at just over 6 and a half pounds. Price will once again be $1,000 or more once it’s all said and done. TNF also has an airbag vest in the works for next season…

Like Dakine, TNF is a big, big player and could have really made some waves in the airbag market, but instead just got a product out there. One more note about ABS systems. ABS uses a tiny amount of explosives to trigger the airbag when it is pulled. This means that your local TSA agent is going to freak out a little bit if you travel with ABS systems. Yes, they are allowed and you shouldn’t have a problem if you follow the rules, but it’s something to keep in mind.

Mammut’s wide range of airbag packs were near the top of our list last fall when we were checking out airbag packs. After seeing them in person at SIA, I still consider them to be some of the best.

Mammut took the existing Snowpulse brand, bought it, and then designed their own packs around it, calling it RAS (Removeable Airbag System). These packs are well thought-out, light (6.5- 7lbs depending on model size), and relatively inexpensive ($850-$900 range). As the name suggests, you can transfer the system to other RAS packs, or remove it when an airbag isn’t necessary.

Finally, there’s BCA. One might think that BCA would have been content with their Float 36 and 18 models this year, but instead they substantially improved them for next year. When I say “substantially improved”, I mean BCA is claiming a 25% reduction in weight and a targeted $599 price tag for next year’s Float 40. That puts the weight at a very impressive ~6.2lbs.

The Float 36 had a back panel compartment for the “guts” of the airbag system, which was not removable. Next year, the guts will be in the main compartment separated by a nylon sleeve (not shown in the sample above), and will be removable. I was also excited to see that the trigger next year can be placed in either shoulder strap- I’ll place it in the left because I believe I’ll have an easier time pulling it there as a right hander, plus I constantly mistake the trigger on my right shoulder strap for a hydration nozzle, since that’s where my bike packs have it.

The back panel access is gone, as is one of the 2 waist belt pockets, so the new pack might not be as user friendly. Still, I’ll take the 1.5-2 pound weight differential. We’ll have to use it in person to make a full review, but so far we’re impressed with BCA in a big way.

Sorry we’re getting so gear-intensive here at 14erskiers, but with so much to talk about from SIA and a lack of good and safe ski conditions here at home base, that’s where we’re at.

First, pick up a pair of these skis. AT $199, plus a free ski bag, plus free shipping, plus no tax in most states, how can you not?

Then, basking in the glow of your purchase, check out “The Ordianary Skier”. I really enjoyed watching Seth Morrison getting his ski mountaineer on in Chamonix. Great Flick- free right now on hulu. Enjoy:

First, some thoughts on my Dukes. I actually like them a lot. Unlike my Fritchis or Dynafits, I can ski them inbounds with 100% confidence. Additionally, unlike my Dynafits I can quickly change from my alpine boots to my AT boots. When I’m unsure if I’ll be touring or skiing inbounds, I can limit myself to the Dukes without compromising too much touring or aggressive skiing inbounds. But any tour more than a couple of hours is just plain brutal.

They’re also very useful for the lazy man’s versions of backcountry skiing- namely slackcountry and sled laps. This is a topic that is rarely discussed, but should honestly be on your mind when you do tours of this type. Let’s say you’re in Jackson Hole and you head out the Rock Springs gate and hike up the pre-existing boot pack. You ski first and then watch your partner get caught in a slide above you. If you’re in standard alpine bindings and you have no skins, you’ve basically signed your partners death certificate- you’ll spend an hour postholing up to the debris just to break out your beacon/probe/shovel to find a corpse. So please, if you find yourself skiing slackcountry make sure you have some sort of backup plan (a touring binding of some sort plus skins) to reach your partners.

Enough of that, let’s get to the Tyrolia/Head offering, the Adrenalin, complete with a high DIn setting of 16.

Tyrolia’s offering seeks to differentiate itself through a “floating” heelpiece. All the cool new ski designs are rendered somewhat moot if a DT binding, with its huge rigid zone, doesn’t allow the ski to flex the way its designers intended. So the Tyrolia binding doesn’t fix the heel of the binding in place- instead it has 2 small cylindrical tabs mate up with two similar tabs on the fixed part of the heel to lock it down while still allowing movement. Even a quick hand flex of a ski will show the system works. The system is visible on the brushed metal fixed part of the binding and the “rail” of the binding above it. Also, unlike the Duke, you don’t have to step out to go from ski-hike-ski modes. The question we’d like to see answered in real-life usage is whether or not the system ices up during the skin, making it difficult to get into ski mode (the duke requires careful cleaning of its track to lock it down).

Does it work in practice? We won’t know unless we get a chance to try the binding out on the snow. Another feature of the binding is that you can adjust the binding length without tools- but really, how hard is it to use a leatherman, even out on the trail? Then there’s this:

Yes, that’s plastic connecting the toe and heel. Not a single bit of metal in there. Now, I had the original white Fritchi Titanal binding, and I broke the metal connecting rod on that binding in relatively short order. The next Fritchi, the blue Titanal 2, had a much stronger and heavier connecting bar that I never did break. I can only hope that Tyrolia did their homework- if that plastic breaks on a skier somewhere exposed, it’s going to be a nasty accident. I’m not sure I trust it, that’s all I can say, but time will tell with this binding. Reported (unverified) weight is 40g more than the Duke, and well over 100g lighter than the Salomon.

Speaking of which, on to the Salomon Guardian.

Like the Tyrolia, the Guardian lets you switch modes without stepping out. This is something that drives me crazy about not only my Dukes, but also my Dynafits. Hit the flats at the end of the run- boom, go to tour mode. It gets steeper again- boom, go to ski mode. This feature alone gets me excited about this binding. The “teeth” that lock the binding down in ski mode look less prone to ice and snow buildup as well. Also like the Tyrolia, this binding isn’t entirely “fixed”, allowing the ski to flex naturally. It’s interesting to note that both bindings addressed both of these Duke downfalls. Still, I’ll take a wait and see approach with this binding given Salomon’s other ill-fated forays into the touring world.

More on the Tyrolia:

More (a lot more, at almost a half hour) on the Salomon:

In any case, one of our first stops was the Tecnica booth. I’ve been extremely happy with my Cochise boots (REVIEW HERE), but I wanted to learn more about them as well as some new offerings in the Cochise line-up. In my review, I stated that the Cochise boot was the first AT boot I’ve skied that truly skied like an alpine boot, something I’ve always wanted and hadn’t previously found. So why do they ski so well?

Not surprisingly, they ski well because Tecnica did their homework. AT boots present a bit of a challenge for boot designers. After all, they’re supposed to be light, have a tremendous range of motion, grippy soles, and then turn around and perform well on the descent. In an alpine boot, the upper and lower cuffs work as one unit, and inputs from the leg are quickly and decisively transferred from the boot to the ski. AT boots, on the other hand, have to separate the upper and lower in order to achieve a range of motion while in walk mode. In general, the upper and lower are connected in three places- the two hinge points at the ankles, and usually with a metal bar or rod in the back of the boot. Just how much lateral stiffness does that provide? Even rearward in some cases? Not much, in my experience. That’s great if the latest greatest stiff boot claims a forward flex of 200- if the lateral flex doesn’t match it, you might as well put some dynafit fittings in your street shoes and ski that way.

Tecnica tried to mate the upper and lower cuffs of the Cochise, and I think they’ve made some great strides in that area. Here’s the lower- notice the metal “H”:

Here’s a combo view with part of the lower cut away. There’s a lot to look at- notice for one thing that the screws on the replacable soles go into T-nuts. Then there’s the Tech fitting (sitting by itself in the heel pocket) that also has metal reinforcement. But you’ll really want to check out the “T” fitting tied to the string in the middle of the boot. This is the part on the upper that fits into the “H” seen above. Click, click- upper and lower mated so much better than before.

Another view with a cut-away window:

So there you have it- a big part of the reason why I think the Cochise skis so well. Meanwhile, the Cochise will have some cousins next year. First up is the Cochise Pro. Basically, it’s the Cochise with slightly thicker plastic. This has three main results- 1) It’s stiffer (130 vs. 120 for the standard Cochise) 2)It’s narrower- 98mm last vs 100mm for the standard 3)It’s heavier. I tried it on and found it to be a “wide” 98– I could probably adjust the fit and make this boot work, something I can’t do with other 98mm boots (Salomon Falcon). The weight is noticeable– it would be a great boot in a place like Jackson where it could handle top-to-bottom tram laps followed by shorter bootpacks out Granite or Rock Springs, but I’m not sure I’d grab this boot on a 12+ hour tour up a 14er. It comes with standard soles (non- tech), so I feel pretty safe saying that this is where they see this boot. (Yes, you can get tech soles). The Pro is on the upper left:

Then there’s the Cochise Light, and I really hope to put this boot to the test this spring. Tecnica replaced the three buckles with lighter weight ones, replaced the top strap/buckle with just a strap, removed the rubber instep grip, and went to a light, moldable (and from what I could tell, awesome) Palau liner.

The result? Reportedly, a roughly half pound per boot weight savings. Yes, that’s about a pound for a pair. Impressive. I would miss the instep rubber while snowmobiling, and I would guess that I’d put a bit of weight back on by replacing the strap with the strap/buckle, but still, I want this boot. That’s it- more to come from SIA soon…

Wonder if they sell the most important piece of backcountry gear here:

Kudos if you know what it is. Stay safe out there folks.

In 1985, as a J3 racer at the Winter Park Comp Center, I started skiing in my first pair of Tecnica boots- the neon Grand Prix racers. Since that time, I have skied Tecnica boots almost exclusively. Yes, I’m a Tecnica fan. They fit my foot and the flex is natural for me. So to say I was excited about the Cochise AT boot is a bit of an understatement. As I slid my foot into this boot, it indeed felt like coming home to an old friend. Still, like other reviewers of this boot, I noticed that they have a lot of room- but that’s easily remedied with some shims under the liner. That’s about all I had to do to get them dialed with my feet.

The ski/walk mechanism on this boot is a thing of beauty- simple, easy to use with gloves, with a solid, positive click between modes. What was more impressive, however, was the smoothness of the boot in walk mode. After dealing with the clunky, herky-jerky motion of my old Dynafit Zzeus boots, the Cochise felt amazing in comparison.

In fact, the smoothness of the Cochise walk mode made me assume that the range of motion was far greater than that of the Zzeus. Turns out it’s about the same in a rearward motion, but less than the Zzeus in the forward motion. Still, in practice I would say that the Cochise is a far more capable touring boot than the Zzeus. Comparison shots:

So, the question remained… would the Cochise ski as well as my Magma alpine boots? The answer, I’m pleased to report, is yes. I’ve skied the Cochise boots inbounds quite a bit this season, something I wouldn’t even consider with my Zzeus boots. They handle it well. Still, I will always have alpine boots for inbounds days- for someone who skis as much as me, it makes no sense to ski an AT boot inbounds except when traveling. In my view, any time you add moving parts (the ski/walk mode), you’ve got a part that can wear out or break, so why stress it pounding out more vert in a day than one might get in a month of touring. The same goes for touring bindings, in my opinion. And then there’s the folks who insist on skiing rubber soled boots in standard alpine bindings- might as well just put a bullet in the chamber and play Russian roulette with your knees. But I digress…

The liner is mediocre. I’ll use them for the rest of this season, but then I’ll upgrade to an Intuition or Palau liner next year. One problem has been a fold in the tongue which is meant to help the touring motion. While it sounds good on paper, in practice it ends up being a part of the tongue which always wants to fold over produce a sharp pain. The tongue needs to be positioned perfectly for me to avoid this. The oval area in this photo by my finger is the area I’m talking about:

The other issue with the liner is the plastic liner covering clashes with the plastic cuff of the boot in tour mode. This produces an annoying click from time to time when the boot is getting the maximum range of motion, as on a flat section of skintrack or while walking. Look at the red spot on the liner and I think you’ll see what I mean.

Still, these are minor quibbles thanks to the downhill performance of the boot. Last season, I found myself using my alpine boots for short tours, not willing to sacrifice performance for the sake of touring comfort. Thankfully, that will not be a type of torture I will endure any longer. Surprisingly, with all this performance they’re still lighter than many other boots in the same class, including the Zzeus and Titan boots from Dynafit, and Black Diamond’s Factor boots.

In summary, I am extremely pleased with these boots. The downhill performance was somewhat expected- the touring capabilities of this boot are much better than I could have even hoped for. They’re the boots I’ve been waiting for. It’s been a long wait.

The rime (or was it rain?) layer in the Anthracites yesterday:

Skiing 7th bowl through the rime crust was interesting- Zach’s skis made the most fascinating sound skiing through it, and at first I thought it was his carbon DPS skis. But no, it was just a weird snowpack.

So, we’ll be spending more time than usual at the resort. Heck, I’ve been spending most of my time on my tele gear. The bummer in this case is that the resort needs a ton more snow to get the steep stuff open, and once we do get snow all the steep terrain will likely slide right back down to the ground. There hasn’t even been enough snow this season for the bootpackers to stomp the sugar down in much terrain other than the Headwall and Teocalli bowl. So we’ll need some really big and prolonged storm systems to get much of the steeps open, and even then it’s doubtful that all of our terrain will open this season (i.e. 3rd bowl and the frontside and possibly even Phoenix/Spellbound).

Yes, I realize I’m being pessimistic, but the reality is that it is late January and Crested Butte Mountain Resort has recorded 40-some inches for the whole year. So we’re finalizing plans to get the heck out of here. Girdwood Alaska looks like our first stop in late February. I hope to find myself in BC at some point in March. April will hopefully find us in the Tetons and/or the Wind Rivers, and if all goes well, we’ll finish out the season on Rainier and other peaks in the Cascades. Suddenly, I’m looking forward to this winter again.

The XLC 390 is a lightweight aluminum crampon whose number, 390, refers to the number of grams a pair weighs (about 13.8oz for the metric-impaired). For comparison, similar steel offerings commonly weigh about 2 pounds, 2 ounces. We’re no weight weenies, but at less than half the weight, we wanted to at least give them a try. We have found over the years that these crampons perform beautifully- so long as they’re used as intended. These are not the crampons to take for a day at the Ouray Ice Park- they probably wouldn’t even last one pitch. In fact, they’re not a great choice for any route that contains a lot of ice or rock. But for ski mountaineering in places like Colorado, which are more often than not just simple snow climbs, the XLC 390 is a perfect choice.

Aluminum crampons definitely require a bit more “babying”. If you’re the type of climber who likes to repeatedly stomp their foot into the rocks to find a hold, you’ll wreck these crampons in a hurry. Same goes if you’re 6’6″ and 250 pounds. The only 14ers we didn’t bring these crampons on were Pyramid and Capitol. For everything else, they were a great choice and truthfully we could have used them on all the 14ers.

Where the XLC 390 really shines, however, is at the trailhead. You know the situation- you’re packing your backpack and out comes the question “Do you think we’ll need crampons?”. Colorado is full of moderate routes that may be safely climbed without crampons- so long as the snow is perfect and you feel completely comfortable with the route. Tossing a 2+ pound set of steel crampons in a pack when you’re not even sure you’ll use them is a tough pill to swallow. 14 ounces and it’s pretty easy to answer, “What the heck, I’ll throw them in.” That’s the real beauty of the XLC 390 crampons.

For those of you wondering, yes- those are the Tecnica Cochise AT boots. Review of these amazing boots coming soon…

Check them out:

I’ve skated on many ponds over the years, but this was my first time on such a large lake (20 miles long and 96 miles of shoreline). I was in for a surprise, as pond skating has as much in common with large lake skating as a one-run bunny hill has with a mega resort in the Alps. Pond ice doesn’t talk- Blue Mesa does.

When I say that Blue Mesa talks, I’m referring to the ice creaking, groaning, and straining as we skated on it. Imagine a snowpack that constantly whoomphed, and you’ll have an idea of what skating on Blue Mesa is like. It was disconcerting to put it mildly.

We explored a few of the inlets, and they had some fun play areas along the shore. Pete:

Occasionally the ice has small cracks, which may not be a concern as far as falling in, but they do pose their own hazard:

Then there’s the big cracks, know as pressure ridges, also something you don’t see on a pond. Kind of crazy, and a scary obstacle to cross.

Experienced skaters actually seek out thin ice, as it tends to be the fastest and can sometimes even forms a wave of ice for extra speed. Yes, this sounds crazy, and no, I don’t think I’ll try it. But we did have a great time and I’ll probably head back down there if the snow doesn’t start falling. I might even make some lag bolt bracelets to claw my way out if I fall in, as Andy is sporting here, along with his rope:

Think snow!

Brittany shredding it up:

Given the state of this year’s snowpack, it didn’t take much new snow to increase the avalanche danger. You can see a small slab that broke loose, but didn’t move, in this photo:

It will take a lot for avalanche conditions to improve this year in Colorado and Utah, so keep it mellow in the backcountry this year, ski the resorts, and travel to places with a better snowpack. Do a little snow dance- it sounds like we might have a better chance at snow in the near future.