Here’s an intriguing self-inflating pad to challenge the Thermarest dynasty: Big Agnes’ Two Track Pad.

The Two Track incorporates a foam core to boost its insulating value—nearly doubling the temperature rating of the Thermarest Prolite 4-season pad.

Do you really need all that warmth?

If you like to camp on snow the answer is probably yes.

Of course, the extra warmth comes at a price. The Two Track weighs more than a Prolite pad, but the extra weight isn’t as much as you’d expect, and in terms of bulkiness they’re about the same. Big Agnes makes the Two Track in two lengths, two shapes, and two thicknesses, allowing you to customize the pad to meet your warmth/weight needs. Here’s the full review (pending more winter testing): Big Agnes Two Track Pad Review.

According to the Jackson Hole Daily, a skier was killed Saturday, December 27, at the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort by an in-bounds avalanche, making this the third in-bounds avalanche fatality of the 08-09 season.

Statistically, in-bounds avalanches at ski resorts are extremely rare. Three such incidents at the start of this year’s season can thus be viewed as either a dramatic anomaly…or perhaps an early warning of a disturbing new trend (more…)

What’s this? A ski report on SierraDescents? Stop the Presses! Why, I didn’t even know they did skiing on this site! I thought they just talked about sniffing tea cups and losing money in the stock market…Yes indeed, it’s a real-live December ski report, in which I managed to get myself to the mountains and back without sustaining any recovery-harming setbacks. Victory on all fronts!

At Vincent Gap

Baden-Powell’s East Face

Skinning Up

Earning It

Skiing

A Few Good Turns

Friend Bill and I drove up Highway 2 from Wrightwood to Vincent Gap for a little Baden-Powell action today. BP is one of those curious Southland Peaks that occasionally allows drive-up-to-snow backcountry skiing access, provided the road is open past Mountain High—and provided you arrive early enough to beat the traffic up to the ski area, which can be full-on SoCal nutty.

With the proximity of the recent storms, I was expecting good snow. Well, that didn’t exactly happen. Seems some combination of rain, high winds, and ultra cold temps has produced one cranky snowpack, complete with rain crust, surface hoar, and hidden ice glazes. Sheesh! This wasn’t exactly the easy cruise I was hoping for, bad back and all, but it sure felt good to get on snow after the very discouraging start to the ski season that I got four weeks ago in the doctor’s office.

We found it extremely difficult to skin up: the crust was too icy to set an edge without ski crampons (both of us were without), and it was dusted with a very sugary thin coating of snow that only added to the frustrations. Take off the skis to climb on foot, and we punched right through the thin crust, into 3-4′ of unconsolidated powder that truly gave meaning to the phrase “earning it.”

Bill and I got about 1800′ vertical up before we finally decided to call it a day. The climbing was brutal. Skiing down offered a few good turns, but all that icy-crusty action made things challenging, especially as I was trying to avoid doing anything foolish to my back. Still, just getting out there and getting my boots wet was very encouraging. Actually, what’s hardest for me right now is driving, and putting on my socks and boots. Keep me upright and locked in, and I’m good to go.

I did take a few minutes to dig a very cursory snowpit at the apex of our climb, on what would be a due-north aspect around 8200′. The upper layer was a solid crust on top of 4 feet of cold, sugary snow. I kept my eyes out for thicker slabs but didn’t see any. That said, we never saw any of the wind-affected parts of Baden-Powell, where things could be completely different. If a heavy accumulation arrived in the next few days, I would expect very unstable conditions on top of that icy, hoar-dusted crust—plus there is not much support underneath. All in all, I suppose these are fairly typical observations for a December snowpack in the Southland.

Another concern, I’m sorry to say, is going to be ice. Conditions are already slick enough to make exposed areas dangerous in the backcountry. You may recall last season’s ice persisted for months, rendering whole aspects unskiable in certain parts of the range (ie, Ontario Peak). I sure hope we don’t see a repeat this season. That’s it for now. If you do venture out into the San Gabriels, watch out for that ice and be especially cautious if new snow arrives before the snowpack settles.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you! Looks like we’ll be enjoying a white Christmas in the mountains this year. Heavy snows (18-36″) are forecast in the High Sierra, plus a very nice 2-3′ on the way in the San Gabriels. That’s going to be more than enough snow to open up most of our favorite terrain from North to South.

Please remember that in addition to getting gifts, we also get avalanches this time of year.

Expect a very tricky snowpack in all backcountry locations over the next few days. I think that makes this an excellent time to use your off days to ski in-bounds. Sierra backcountry skiers should pay close attention to the ESAC updates this week. Southland skiers have no such resource, but we can *usually* count on things beginning to stabilize 48-72hrs after the last of the snow and wind has subsided (provided temps & humidity return to normal). Stay safe!

Jetboil has issued a recall for certain models of its PCS and Group Cooking stoves. According to Jetboil’s site, Jetboil stoves used three different valves this year. The problem valve is the “Type B” model (see photo), which can leak and lead to ignition of escaping gas from the stove canister.

These values were sold from July 10 through September 9, 2008, though I would expect you can still find them at bargain internet shops or anywhere else where news of the recall hasn’t yet reached. I checked my jetboil stove, which I bought this year: I’ve got the type A valve, which is not affected by the recall.

If you’ve got a stove with the type B valve, first of all, stop using it immediately. Second, visit Jetboil’s website for Recall Information. Jetboil will send you a prepaid box so you can mail in your stove and get a new one direct from the manufacturer (a nice touch – I’ve seen other recalls where you’re forced to go back to your retailer, who may or may not have the item in stock).

Well, it’s been raining all day in the Basin, and our dubiously-accurate patio thermometer is now reading a very frosty 37° as of 5:33 p.m. Pacific (official West L.A. temp at Santa Monica Airport is 45°).

All this cold rain is translating directly into snow in the High Country. Mount Baldy Ski Area now reports a 2-3′ base with chair 1 open all the way down to the parking lot, and snow to the Village. Not bad for one storm!

Now is the time when I’d be planning a quick getaway to the San Gabriels to sample conditions first-hand, but instead I’m going to do my best to behave and stay home. So, if anyone out there wants to send in a report on local ski conditions, feel free to either email or post comments below. Please be sure to stress how poor conditions are, ie, ruined expensive boards on rocks, snow was windcrusted and crappy, got turned back by chain restrictions/mudslides/etc. Enclose photo only if shows self grimacing in disgust.

All right…I’m going to get back to my back exercises. Grrr.

Well I’m shivering here in my SoCal apartment through another stormy day. These storms are COLD! Our questionably-accurate patio thermometer currently reads about 44° F (Weather.com says we’re 50°). I’d guess that translates to a snow level in the 3500′ range, which means lots of cold, dry powder in the local mountains and of course the Sierra beyond.

Seems like now would be a great time to talk about some cold-weather tips. Even better—our work is already done. Over at StraightChuter.com, Andrew McLean has just posted some of his favorite ideas for keeping the toes warm while backcountry skiing. So we’ll just poach a little content today (more…)

The Eastern Sierra Avalanche Center has issued its first Avalanche Advisory for the 08-09 season. And the verdict is…Insufficient Data. But it’s a start!

(Sue says she should have some field observations up later this week)

Yes, it’s a bona fide winter storm! We got heavy rain overnight here in the Southland, and it’s still raining hard now. Looks like this is a cold storm. Mount Baldy says a foot of new snow overnight. Mammoth got 18 inches. Could it be that we’re suddenly going to get a ton of snow this month now that I’m supposed to be resting?

Good news in the online backcountry media world: Backcountry Magazine and SierraBackcountry.org are in the process of making major updates to their sites.

Backcountry Mag is already up and running, with an emphasis on facilitating user-provided content. You’ll find it much easier to share your own stories, videos, and pix on the Backcountry Mag site. Another welcome change is the addition of Backcountry Mag’s print edition content, including current gear reviews. The Backcountry Mag site was kind of a ghost town for a while on this front. It looks like they’re finally putting together a worthy effort to build up their web presence.

Also noteworthy is the return (by Christmas, hopefully) of SierraBackcountry.org, which inexplicably went into decline a season or two ago. The site’s creators have a new Eastern Sierra Backcountry Skiing guidebook coming out, and they’re promising a complete retooling of the site to correspond with the book launch at the end of the month. I’ll keep an eye on this one: this could be a solid new resource for Sierra eastsiders.