When adventuring in the mountains, an insulated mid-layer jacket is essential gear. While down jackets are super warm, they don’t insulate when wet, so synthetic is always better when weather gets cold and damp. These days, I’ve been taking the Sherpa Adventure Gear Om Jacket along with me because it is a super light-weight synthetic puffy jackets that I like for its versatility and packability. Sherpa Adventure Gear is a small outdoor gear company founded by Tashi Sherpa, an actual Nepalese Sherpa dedicated to the betterment of his small Himalayan nation through his gear company. As a result, I...
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If you ski the backcountry in Utah, then there is something you must do right now. Get on Facebook, and “like” the Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center page. There has been a lot of activity on their wall these days as several videos have been posted showing the extremely weak snowpack we have right now, and how easy it is to trigger an avalanche on the faceted, sugary snow that lurks beneath the surface. Scroll down and watch some of the videos embedded below.   Utah’s avalanche forecasters have been busy these days, shooting informative videos along with...
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Martin Luther King Day means a long weekend for many people to take their ski vacations. This also means that anyone with certain passes are subject to blackout dates around this time. But Brian Head Resort in southern Utah is going the opposite direction by actually giving away free lift tickets to military members on Martin Luther King Day, Monday, January 16, 2012. According to Brian Head, all active duty, National Guard and reservists are included in this offer. If you’re in the military, you simply need to present appropriate military identification at the ticket window. This represents a...
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Sarah Burke, a pioneering Canadian freestyle skier, was seriously injured after crashing in Park City Mountain Resort’s Eagle Superpipe during a training run. According to the Salt Lake Tribune, ski patrol stabilized her at the scene before transporting her to Base Patrol, where she was airlifted to the University of Utah hospital in Salt Lake City. The exact injuries Burke sustained is not yet known, but have been described as “very serious.” Other reports say that she is in a coma. Burke is known as a leader is getting women’s ski superpipe into the Winter X Games, as well...
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Ever dreamed about being on the ski patrol? Ever looked from the lift as those red-jacket knights of the mountain carried an injured skier in a toboggan down an icy run and thought, “I want to help people like that?” Ever imagine how cool it would be to ski at a resort for work or as a volunteer? Well now is your chance as Brighton Resort is holding a Ski Patrol Open House and Ski Test for prospective ski patrol volunteers. On January 14th and 15th, you can spend the day skiing or snowboarding with the Brighton ski patrol....
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Ever since backcountry skiing has exploded in popularity, ski companies have struggled with finding the most efficient way to build a binding that switches between tour and ski mode in a simple, effective way without compromising downhill performance. Salomon and Atomic have partnered to create the Guardian 16 and Tracker 16 backcountry bindings that will be released for the 2012/13 ski season, and promises to be the end-all of the tour/ski mode problem. Well, I got to take the Salomon Guardian 16 bindings out for a tour in the Alta backcountry to find out, and came back seriously impressed....
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Winter has been slow-in-coming around Utah this year, but maybe a celebration of all things cold and snowy will make the skies open up and cause temperatures to drop. The 2012 Ogden Winterfest may be just the thing to cure our winter doldrums when the city transforms the Historic 25th Street and Ogden Municipal Gardens into what they are calling a, “Winter Wonderland.” The theme of this year’s Ogden Winterfest is, “Where Cold is Cool.” Festivities will include all sorts of traditional and unusual winter activities for kids and grownups alike. Games, friendly competitions, and lots of spectator sports...
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Backcountry skiing at Rocky Point should really be called “slackcountry skiing” due to its proximity to Alta. A short traverse north from the top of the Supreme Lift takes you to Catherine’s Area and Rocky Point, where in-bounds skiing can be had when ski patrol drops the rope, and backcountry lines spread out in all directions if you’re willing to work for it. But if you enjoy the skin up as much as the ski down, you can turn Rocky Point into an enjoyable ski tour despite the small chance of finding any fresh lines. Rocky Point is one...
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Backcountry skiing is all the rage right now, but sometimes you just want to ride the lifts and find untracked powder beyond a resort’s boundaries. In those instances, you don’t need a full, heavy pack filled with tons of gear to get you through an entire day of touring. Enter the Karve 11 pack from Osprey. This small, functional pack is just the right size to carry your avalanche safety basics (probe, shovel) and still have space for water, food and an extra layer while shredding the sidecountry. I got to ski with the Karve 11 for the past...
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All too often, action sports focus way too much on guys. Whether it’s biking, climbing or snowboarding, the world’s attention locks its gaze on the dudes, while the much better looking ladies do their thing with limited support. But there are events out there that are just for the fairer sex, like the International Ladies Shred Day at Brighton on January 14th. International Ladies Shred Day is a world-wide event aimed at grass-roots efforts to get girls on boards. First time riders or women who need a lesson to brush up on their skills and take things to the...
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As amazing as it sounds, there are people who have lived in Utah their whole lives, yet have never been skiing, not even once. Despite having some of the most famous, world-class resorts on earth in their back yards, these Utahns, for some reason, have been deprived of the exquisite feeling of sliding down a mountain on snow. Hell, I’m ashamed to say I’m friends with some of these poor souls, who always make excuses about the cost. Well right now, there is no excuse as January is Learn to Ski and Snowboard Month. Utah resorts are participating, offering...
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