Can’t believe they still have these:

The sky was beautiful in the late afternoon.

Hagar and Citadel in the distance.

Kim.

Frank.

This backcountry experience had me hyper-alert compared to most others, simply due to the snow pack. While I love the backcountry and what it has to offer, Frank and I wish to stay safe and will be backing off from it for a while – likely until we head to Alaska in just a little over two weeks. Until then, enjoy the reviews and other food for thought we offer!

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

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

As we skinned up, the windscouring was evident everywhere. And even though temperatures were forecasted in 20′s, it felt much warmer, as we all stripped down to our thermal layers.

Mike dropped in first.

Though the snow was certainly wind-affected, we did find some good turns. However, our turns were most abruptly interrupted when we hit old frozen tracks beneath the new snow.

Grete.

Rachel.

Mike.

Though I enjoy blue skies, it’s certainly good to have the white clouds this week. With snow falling every day since Saturday, this season is finally starting to turn

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.

I kept my eye out for sales and finally buckled down at the end-of-season sale at our local mountaineering shop, the Alpineer. I tried on a number of boots and also demoed a few pairs before determining that the Black Diamond Shiva was the right one for me.

However, after using the boot for a few weeks without working out a few kinks, I developed a foot issue that stuck around for the rest of the spring. I had to return to my Divas to give the foot issue a break. I finally dug the Shivas back out of the closet last month.

Sizing
My feet are small and I typically use a shell size of 2 or 22.5 in an alpine ski boot. I prefer slightly larger boots for touring so I usually settle on a size 23 as most AT boots don’t come in a smaller size. The Scarpas and Garmonts I’ve used in the past have been slightly on the big side for me. However, I’d say BD’s sizing runs a tad small. A size 23 was much smaller than any size 23 I’d ever tried on before. I might have been better off with a size 23.5, but the Alpineer had none in stock at that time. However, I’ve been told that BD’s sizing has changed this year. Whether that’s true or not, I have not yet verified myself. As always, it’s best to try on the boots to determine which size is best for you.

The Liner
I liked the concept of the liner. It’s thermo-moldable, though not on the same level as an Intuition liner. I liked the lacing system and how it could be tightened by turning the knob at the top of the liner. The lacing could quickly be released by pulling the knob out.

However, in practice, the liner wasn’t all I thought it would be. The heal of the liner continually pulled out when touring. Though the liner was fairly comfortable while touring, I felt a lot of pain in the shin area while skiing. The tongue of the liner is soft compared to the shell of the boot and I kept feeling the cuff of the boot right through the liner.

It didn’t take me long to ditch the stock liner with a custom Intuition wrap liner. Immediately, I felt the boot skied a lot stiffer. With the stock liner, I didn’t feel that the Shiva performed at it’s rated flex of 100. With the Intuition liner, I think a Flex of 100 is about right. Although I can sometimes feel the cuff of the boot through the liner, I don’t feel it to the painful extent that I did with the stock liner. I also don’t have the issues of the heal pulling out of the shell while touring.

Other Features
The Shiva comes with a few features that I like. For example, I like the canting adjustment pictured here.

There is also a forward lean adjustment pictured here.

In addition, the Shiva comes with replaceable sole blocks. So, when the rubber on your sole wears out, there’s an easy fix. As with most AT boots these days, the Shiva is compatible with Dynafit bindings.

Touring
I tend to tour with buckles fairly loose. I tour as recommended, with the 2nd buckle up from the toe loosely locked. I usually have all other buckles hanging loose. The touring mode in the Shiva does not go quite as upright as some AT boots, including the Divas I’ve used in the past. But, I don’t notice what while touring at all. The Shivas tour well.

Overall
I am happy with my Black Diamond Shivas, especially after adding the Intuition liners. The Intuition liners make the Shiva properly perform closer to its rated stiffness of Flex 100. While a touch heavier than my previous Divas, I immediately feel a difference in skiing performance. And the Shivas tour efficiently and comfortably.

This year’s Shivas come in fun new colors. Be sure to check the Shiva out if you are looking for a stiff women’s AT boot!

Check out the Shivas from some of our different affiliates below!

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.

In any case, Brittany and I will keep trying our best to keep the faith and have fun with what little snow we have. So rather than party hard on New Year’s eve, we stayed in and were joined by our friends Ben and Jonathan on a tour up Richmond. In addition to the lack of snow, we’ve also had a steady diet of strong winds, so rather than attempt to seek out powder, we were actually hoping for smooth wind buffed snow. We found some, as well as punchy crusts and scree-covered snow. The conditions weren’t all that surprising, but what may have been surprising was how much fun we still had despite it all. On with some photos…

Skinning:

Near the summit we transitioned to booting, which went fine until the windpacked snow turned back into sugar and we decided to skip the final 100′ of climbing. Beautiful ridge, though:

Fun skiing off of our highpoint (Frank):

Brittany sends a rooster tail:

Brittany finds the light:

Frank:

Ben:

Jonathon (I can’t imagine dropping a knee in variable crusty conditions like that.) He killed it:

Brittany:

Like I said, we actually had fun and found a number of good turns along the way to go with some absolutely horrible ones as well. The wait for snow will continue, and we’ll continue to make the best of it. Support 14erskiers:

Our intended line, but strong winds kept us from venturing above treeline.

Instead we stuck to a few lower pitches. Frank at the top of one of our ski lines.

We don’t have many ski pictures due to some camera mishaps, but this shows another area we skied.

And me, at the bottom.

A few days later, we went ice skating at Evergreen Lake with the Konsella family. Despite warm temperatures which made the ice turn to mush, we still had fun.

Frank showed off his mad hockey skills.

And we enjoyed a beautiful sunset!

We enjoyed our frolicking in the Front Range. But, it’s good to be back home in Crested Butte

As we made a quick stop in Downieville, wind blasted ice and gravel in our faces. I won’t deny that I nearly gave up just then. “Maybe we should just turn around and go back now.” But, we were almost there. Why not just stick it out and at least check out the actual conditions on Berthoud Pass? We were pleasantly surprised when we stepped out of the car on top of the pass- the hurricane we’d felt down valley was a mere breeze up high.

Frank and I last skied Berthoud Pass prior to the days of the warming hut. Ah, the memories of changing in the exposed parking lot, with snow and wind blowing all around, trying to buckle icy boots with frozen hands. Today, we decided to reap the benefits of this new shelter.

So, the flashbacks of our old stomping ground continued as we began skinning.

The views were beautiful despite the clouds and lack of snow.

The changeover.

The skiing, although variable, was better than we expected.

Me.

Frank even smiled as he found a nice puff of powder to play in.

But, there’s the ever-present reminder, which became even more of a reality as we passed through the weather station- less than two feet of snow on the ground and it’s the end of December. We need snow!

Like the poster on the wall of my classroom says, “Attitude is everything.” There is no doubt that snowfall totals are hurting so far for this winter. But, bringing the right attitude with you as you head out for turns can turn an otherwise mediocre day into a day of fun. Even though we aren’t getting face-shots in epically deep powder, it’s still enjoyable to get out in the backcountry. That being said, let’s hope the New Year brings us the gift of more snow