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SierraDescents | 2016

The Couloir To Nowhere – Full Version

The Couloir To Nowhere - Full Version

I am very pleased to offer the full version of my 2011 film, "The Couloir To Nowhere," now online for your viewing pleasure at YouTube. I'd been wanting to put a copy up for a (more)

Mammoth Opens

Mammoth Opens

Conditions out there, I know, are stormy—very, very stormy. We'll talk about skiing for now. For now. Mammoth has officially opened for the 2016-2017 season, making for a (more)

October

October

Fall colors arrive and my thoughts turn to winter. For me, October is the most contemplative of months. An in-between place in which we mark the end of one cycle, in which we (more)

Summer At A Glance

Summer At A Glance

Well, rather than trying to catch up on my hopeless backlog of unfinished summer posts, I've instead created this handy collage so you can see, at a glance, what I've been doing (more)

Pedaling Breakthroughs

Pedaling Breakthroughs

It is interesting, looking at video of myself from this past weekend, how similar my technique looks to earlier footage...yet how different it feels to me now. I am doing some (more)

Getting to Know You: Dynastar Mythic & Scarpa F1

Getting to Know You: Dynastar Mythic & Scarpa F1

Quick thoughts here on the Dynastar Mythic and Scarpa F1. The Mythics are mine—I bought them after trying them last year at WWSRA Mammoth. The boots are next year's model, (more)

Steep Technique: Revisiting The DesLauriers Article

Steep Technique: Revisiting The DesLauriers Article

In their 2001 article, The New Pedal Carve Turn, brothers Rob and Eric DesLauriers attempt a detailed explanation of the mechanics of the pedal turn, plus three exercises designed (more)

Salomon MTN Lab Review

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Salomon continues its quest to transform itself into a major Backcountry/Freeride force with its new, tech-compatible MTN Lab ski boot. As you might expect from a brand-new (more)

Mammoth News

Mammoth News

Back from Spring Break at Mammoth Mountain and trying to catch up on the usual backlog of things I'm supposed to be doing. Let's start by talking about Eastern Sierra backcountry (more)

Anselme’s Turn

Anselme's Turn

One of my technique goals this year has been to teach myself how to do Anselme Baud's steep turn (this would be one of the two variants of the original or classic pedal turn, as (more)

Information Underload

Information Underload

As we progress through what must our driest wet winter ever (or is it the wettest dry winter?), I have really been struggling to piece together what has happened, will happen, and (more)

SIA 2016: Skis

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On to Skis...Rossignol's Soul 7 (in fact, the entire 7 line) sees its first major upgrade with the Fall 2016 debut of the Soul 7 HD. What's new? Carbon. Yes, carbon fibers now (more)

SIA 2016: Touring Boots

SIA 2016: Touring Boots

For Backcountry folks, we have some auspicious boot news from this year's SIA Snow Show: two very interesting new tech-compatible touring models from Tecnica and Lange. The Lange (more)

Hips Over Tips?

Hips Over Tips?

Back from a quick gear tuneup trip to MM, which means it's time once again to resume my never-ending quest to deconstruct steep skiing technique, 2016 edition. In contrast to (more)

Return To Baldy

Return To Baldy

Apparently I had blocked the memory of just how hard it is to tour in the San Gabriel Mountains. No longer. Dave, Al, and I returned to The Devil's Backbone, Baldy Bowl, and the (more)

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About SierraDescents

When there is snow, SierraDescents is Andy Lewicky's California backcountry skiing and mountaineering website. Without snow, sierradescents becomes an ill-tempered hiking and climbing blog.

Pray for snow.