Snow Skills

Trekking poles are essential for winter trekking and powder baskets for those poles are, too!

“I’ve only made this mistake once and I’ll never do it again!” I’m referring to heading out for that first snowshoe trek of the winter season, grabbing the backpack, the snowshoes, and the trekking poles on the way out the door. Upon arrival at the trailhead, I noticed that the trekking poles had the small baskets that had served me so well through the summer. Well, they’ll be fine in snow, right? “I’ve only made this mistake once and I’ll never do it again!”
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The Black Diamond Sabretooth Crampons are an excellent crampon choice for winter climbing and hiking. Read the rest of this entry »

Posthole is winter hiking slang for stepping into snow that isn’t dense or strong enough to support your weight. Your foot will drive down into the snow, making it hard to remove your embedded foot from the snow cover and leaving behind a deep, distinct footprint in the snow. What happened there was that your weight was greater than the support of the snow and your foot drove downward, stopping only when the snow compacted to the point where it held you.
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The arrival of spring brings the end of the lift-serviced skiing: so what’s stopping you from going unlift-serviced skiing?!? Probably the absence of a backpack capable of hauling your gear and the day’s necessities up the hill under your own power. Try the Gregory Zulu Pack to address your needs and you’ll be able to extend your season.

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Since shaped skis have become the norm in alpine gear, it’s become common to see skiers going down the hill in a carved turn pretty much everywhere. To keep up the times, you can improve your carving through effective edging:

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For hiking in snow, snowshoes are usually the tool of choice. Climbing in deep snow or ice? Crampons will do the job. But what do you wear for traction when there’s icy conditions without underlying snow? A company called 32 NORTH INC. just down the road from the Snowskills.net headquarters produces several awesome products for increasing grip in freezing conditions. One of their products that any winter hiker should own and carry is called Stabilicers.

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An important part of outdoor recreation is understanding the impacts of weather and the effects of windchill are a huge influence on your comfort level in the winter.
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It’s probably the oldest skiing tip in the book; stay forward! Having trouble with control? Stay forward! Want to start parallel skiing? Stay forward! Want to ski faster? Stay forward! Fine, got it; can do it great in the living room. But just how does one stay forward on slick, uneven, steep snow at speed? Read the rest of this entry »

The snow conditions in Australia are largely dictated by the fact the air temperature rarely gets colder than 5 degrees C (say 20 degrees F). With the addition of that warm Aussie sun, these factors tends to keep the snow surface from freezing fully into frozen granular and generally keeps skiing Downunder softer and quieter.
For our folks in the Southern Hemisphere, busy whiling away their days skiing and riding, here are a few thoughts on skiing in soft(er) snow:
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Cheers and hello to fellow Sugarloafers Jano and Crusher who are vacationing out in British Columbia. These two hard-corps free-heelers are driving cross-country in their camper for an extended vacation now that the snow’s leaving us here in the Northeast. Here’s a telemark tip for all of us, with them in mind: Read the rest of this entry »