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2009-2010 A/T Boot RoundUp

Online at last are all of my boot reviews for the not-exactly-annual SierraDescents Alpine Touring Ski Boot Roundup.

The majority of these boots were provided as loaners by the manufacturers—thank you! I must note, however, that after the thrill of seeing so many new pairs of boots sitting in my living room wore off, actually skiing and writing about each of them proved to be a lot of work.

I must also note with some embarrassment that differences between boots weren’t always that apparent. In fact, there were times I couldn’t tell a difference, or else it was so small I had no confidence that I was actually detecting something—and this included tests in which I skied boots head-to-head, or foot-to-foot, as it were.

My sentimental favorite remains the Garmont Mega Ride. Even compared to the best of today’s boots, the low-volume Mega Ride remains a hell of a performer, notable for its fine balance of downhill performance, uphill climbing comfort, and low weight. Sadly, the Mega Ride has been retired by Garmont.

The Mega Ride’s apparent successor is the Garmont Helium, a brand-new design employing Garmont’s wrap-around, Alpine-style shell. The Helium matches the Mega Ride’s weight pound for pound, and perhaps offers a tad more control on the downhill, though after a full day of testing I wasn’t sure if I was imagining a difference or not. For me, the Helium was a disappointment. There was nothing about it that I could solidly point to as better than the Mega Ride, and I did miss the fourth buckle. That said, as far as I could divine, it delivers much the same performance up and down as the Mega Ride, with possibly a smidge more toe room up front.

I remain of mixed opinion on the two Scarpas, the Spirit 3 and Spirit 4. Both are inarguably built for ski mountaineering, with a range of specialized features suitable for big mountain adventures. Compared to the Spirit 3, the Spirit 4 adds a fourth buckle and better forward flex to almost exactly match the skiing performance of the Mega Ride. But Scarpa’s rounded last will make for bootfitting challenges, and I got the sense overall that boot design has moved on a bit. In terms of fit and feel, the Spirits seem dated to me. They however remain very popular with the hardcore crew.

The Black Diamond Factor delivers easily the best downhill performance and feel of the entire group. In fact, it was quickly obvious there was no point in making direct comparisons between the Factor’s ride and any other A/T boot. I chose instead to focus on comparing the Factor to my formidable Alpine racing beasts, the Lange L10. Remarkably, the Factor held its own against the L10. The only real knock you can level at the Factor is its weight: 9lbs 2oz per pair. The Factor will also likely benefit from another year or two of evolution to get some minor kinks out of its design.

I’m giving my 2010 King of the Hill award to the Garmont Radium. Yes, a pair of Radiums weigh half a pound more than a pair of Mega Rides, but you get a vast leap in downhill performance for the extra eight ounces. Stiffness in all dimensions is radically improved with the Radiums, allowing you to ski big skis and bad snow, and more importantly allowing you to ski them with the same mechanics as an Alpine boot. The Radium’s stiffness does raise comfort concerns over the long haul; this might not be the boot for 18,000′ vertical-in-a-day adventures. But the Radium nicely updates the Mega Ride’s downhill chops while still preserving the soul of its predecessor.

» view spec comparison chart

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Jean Peak: East Face

Driving across the L.A. Basin on Saturday was like being transported to a new and wintery world. Snow levels were down around the 3000′ mark across Southern California, putting snow atop nearly all the foothill ranges, and coating the major ranges in vast sheets of gleaming white. I confess I actually felt a bit of anxiety looking at it (more…)

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Avalanche Education: Reluctance

One of the questions that occurred to me while taking an AIARE Level I avalanche class this past weekend was, “What took so long?”

I actually think that’s an intriguing enough question to warrant some attention. Why was I so reluctant to take an avalanche class? I’ve certainly been interested in avalanches for some time—and I’ve especially been interested in avoiding them.

I mention this because in the aftermath of the class, I’m really glad I did take it, and I hope I can encourage at least a few of you out there who are for whatever reason on the fence yourselves to consider taking a class as well. So, after a bit of reflection, let me list some of the things, real or imagined, that have served as barriers between me and a more formal avalanche education (more…)

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Some Gear Updates

The past three days in the field under a variety of conditions gave me the opportunity to continue testing some of my current gear.

Both the class setting and the utterly fierce weather led to some new observations. In some cases I learned things that were worth adding to my existing reviews, so here are some updates.

On Monday (as the first big storm hit), I wore my Marmot Genesis Jacket. This is a “storm proof” softshell designed to be waterproof and breathable. How did it do? In heavy wet snow that gradually soaked everyone in our group, the Genesis was absolutely fantastic. I was warm, dry, and comfortable the whole time. I loved it.

Not quite so much of a slam dunk were my Black Diamond Prodigy gloves. Yes, they’ve got a Gore-Tex liner for waterproofing, but the exterior gradually soaked through. My hands stayed reasonably dry inside, but if I had been out for the night instead of just the day, having to deal with waterlogged gloves would not have made me happy. To be fair, the precipitation was intense, and the Prodigy really is a cold-weather glove. Still, in a transitioning wet-to-cold storm, they weren’t a good choice.

In other news, I learned from our instructor that the American Avalanche Association’s Avalanche Review journal gave the Black Diamond Transfer Shovel a “Skull-and-Crossbones” score in their Feb ’09 shovel tests. As you might guess, that is not a favorable rating. I have the Black Diamond Deploy, which is a very similar model. Are Black Diamond’s shovels unacceptable, as the AR article suggests? I don’t think so. The AR testers were using their ski boots to stomp on the back of the Transfer shovel’s blade. This caused a lot of damage to their ski boots—hence the poor rating. My own experience with the Deploy shovel remains entirely positive.

Finally, I made a considerable effort to get acquainted with the new Pieps Freeride Avalanche Beacon. The Pieps is a very small, low-priced, single-antenna beacon that probably should come with a “experts only” warning sticker. Time and time again, I was completely baffled by the Freeride in beacon search drills.

With a lot of practice, it is possible to get at least familiar if not comfortable with how the Freeride operates, but think very carefully about the situation and conditions before you or a partner wear this beacon in the field. I do think the Freeride has a legitimate place in your gear closet. I don’t think, however, that the Freeride is appropriate for all conditions regardless of who is using it. That is all.

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3 Storms

Just got back last night—drive home from June Lake was very challenging. I’ll be writing quite a bit over the next month about my Avalanche class experience. For now, let me say I’m really glad I did it. Did the class make me an expert on avalanches? Absolutely not. But I did learn a great deal, and just as importantly, I got motivated to keep learning.

Obviously the big news right now in the skiing world is the storm cycle. Whether or not this is a classic El Nino pattern I’ll leave to the experts. Suffice to say I’ve seen potential rainfall totals (for the combined systems) estimated in the 8-20″ range (that’s rain, not snow!), meaning we’re going to be seeing a wide range of impacts, some good, some not so good. Sierra snowfall totals should be in the 6-12 foot range, which is massive. Local mountain snowfall is harder to call, as many areas will see rain mixed with snow, making the totals misleadingly low. Still, Mount Baldy is reporting 7-16″ of new snow this morning.

It should go without saying that only the most experienced winter mountaineers should even consider going out into the backcountry this week, and even they are probably best advised to stay home. Even those thinking about heading to the mountains for inbounds skiing should beware potential road closures, mudslides, bridges destroyed, traffic accidents, etc. Whatever you do, be conservative. As I was reminded just last night, it’s not a good feeling when you know you’re right on the edge of spending an unplanned night in your car (or worse) in a raging blizzard.

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Back to School

This coming weekend I’ll be up north taking my first-ever avalanche course, an AIARE Level I offered by Sierra Mountain Guides. While I’ve probably picked up a good deal level I and higher info over the years, there are a lot of holes in my knowledge. I also thought it would be valuable to write about the experience of taking the course, which might inspire others to improve their own avalanche education. I must admit I’ve had a lot of reluctance to do this—more on that later. For now, I’ll say that many of you probably have exactly the same concerns about taking an avy course as I do.

Locally, I skied inbounds again this past weekend to continue my never-ending boot tests. I should have reviews up for the Radium and Helium soon. The Spirit 4 Review is here. Conditions in the backcountry look depressingly similar to par for the past few years. You’ll need a little creativity and a lot of effort to find snow in the San Gabriels. Baldy Bowl looked pretty burnt. The north face has good coverage, though I assume most of it is ice (which may be true of other aspects as well. That’s it for now.

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The Factor Review

It’s impossible for me to assess Black Diamond’s new Factor ski boot without considering it in context: the Factor represents the flagship achievement of Black Diamond’s audacious (some might say crazy) 4-year project to turn itself into a major Alpine Touring and Telemark ski boot manufacturer.

Ski boots, please note, are really, really hard to make.

In terms of effort and infrastructure, you might think of the process of building a boot from the ground up as somewhat akin to announcing one day that you’ve decided to start a new car company. And in today’s economy…well, the timing could hardly be worse.

It’s probably obvious that I’m a huge fan of Black Diamond’s gear. No other maker’s equipment so dominates my gear closet. So, when a pair of new Factors arrived here at Sierra Descents, it was not without a little anxiety that I began testing them. How does the Factor fare?

Well, exactly what kind of boot the performance-oriented Factor is remains open for debate. And, I did encounter a few design issues (some minor, some less so) which will need to be worked out over time. But for me, the Factor is ultimately a formidable debut. For the results of my on-snow head-to-head tests and my extensive thoughts on the matter, please see my Black Diamond Factor Review.

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