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Basecamp Sleeping Pad Roundup

Basecamp Pad review roundup

A good basecamp pad is built to prioritize warmth and comfort, with packed size and weight a secondary consideration (if at all). Basecamp pads are great for car camping in (more)

2023-2024 WWSRA Ski Reviews

Mammoth Mountain's Chair 23

What with all the storm craziness and urban skiing I forgot to post out links to my video reviews from the WWSRA trade show at Mammoth Mountain this past February, so here (more)

Scarpa F1 GT Review

Scarpa F1 GT Review

Scarpa was kind enough to send a pair of their new F1 GT Alpine Touring boots, so I put together a video review comparing the GT to the original F1, which I own. Both of these (more)

My 2022-2023 Ski Gear

Northern Arizona's Humphreys Peak, from atop Fremont Peak

Toward the end of last winter I switched to a new backcountry rig, going from my Dynastar Mythics with Dynafit bindings to Blizzard's Zero G 95 with ATK's Raider 12's. The (more)

2022 WWSRA Ski Reviews

Cornice Bowl - Mammoth Mountain, California

After the forced hiatus of last year, I very happily attended the 2022 WWSRA on-snow demo at Mammoth Mountain this past week, testing skis in the All Mountain and Touring (more)

WWSRA 2020-2021 Ski Reviews

WWSRA 2020-2021 Ski Reviews

Available now for your viewing pleasure are my 2020-2021 ski reviews (that means these are currently next season's skis!) from the WWSRA on-snow demo event at Mammoth (more)

WWSRA 2019 Ski Reviews

WWSRA 2019 Ski Reviews

After a bit of a ski review hiatus I managed to make it to the 2019 WWSRA show at Mammoth Mountain last month. Conditions were far from ideal, with rain, heavy snow, and high (more)

Quick Look: DryGuy Travel Dry

Quick Look: DryGuy Travel Dry

I myself have no need for boot driers, because my feet of course never sweat, but my kids' boots somehow end up soaked after each and every day of skiing. And I'm the one who has (more)

Scarpa F1 Review

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Maybe Scarpa's F1 doesn't quite fit into the "ultralight" Alpine Touring ski boot category, but at just less than five and a half pounds per pair, it's very, very (more)

Pieps Micro Review

Pieps Micro Review

With its new Micro avalanche beacon, Pieps has managed an impressive feat: they have added a genuine innovation to what would otherwise seem to be a fully-mature technology (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)

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)

SIA 2016: Skis

Climbing Telegraph Peak - 300x300 placeholder

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)

Marmot Front Range Jacket

Marmot Front Range Jacket

For cold but fair-weather Alpine skiing, I love wearing a windproof fleece jacket. But I'd gotten tired of looking like a fuzzy black puffball in my Patagonia R4. When my old (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.