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The Ski Pole Belay

Over the years I’ve learned a few tricks and tips that can make life a little easier in the backcountry. I’ve been doing some of these so long they seem obvious to me, but they may be a secret to you, so I thought I’d share a few. Here’s one I call the “Ski Pole Belay”.

No, it’s not an attempt to arrest a fall with your ski pole (though I’ve tried that before!), but rather a way to belay yourself in dicey situations by jamming your ski pole into the snow and stepping on it.

Here’s the typical setup: you’re skinning up hardpack or crust without ski crampons, and the angle is steadily climbing. Suddenly, you realize that your skins/edges are about to break loose and send you whooshing down the hill in one of those unforgettable “death slide” moments. What do you do? (more…)

Posted in Skiing, Tips | 1 Comment

Cold Storm & Tips

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…)

Posted in Skiing, Tips | 0 Comments

Down Bags: GoreTex vs. Microfiber

I got an email the other day from a Sierra mountaineer who was wondering what the pros and cons were of getting a down sleeping bag with a GoreTex Shell versus microfiber.

GoreTex, of course, is the famous waterproof-breathable membrane that dominates the outdoor clothing industry.

Microfiber, or its relatives, refers to the standard nylon or polyester sleeping bag exterior, which is usually woven as tightly as possible, and DWR treated to make it water-resistant (more…)

Posted in Gear, Tips | 4 Comments

Do-it-Yourself Diamond Teeth

One of the fun parts of running a website is tracking browser stats. This information is useful in site design (matching your content to your users’ interests). It’s also just plain…interesting.

So I was looking over a list of keywords that brought people to SierraDescents this week when I came across this search phrase: “putting in a diamond on your teeth yourself”.

Now, this may sound crazy, but I think I understand why Google referred this searcher to my site (more…)

Posted in Health, Off Topic, Tips | 0 Comments

Traveling in Bear Country

Late season storms aside, I’ve been looking forward to ditching the ski gear and switching to hiking and climbing.

After all, summer camping in the Sierra is easier in almost every respect than winter. There is one big difference, however: in summer, we share the mountains with bears (more…)

Posted in Camping, Health, Hiking, Tips | 1 Comment

How to Melt Snow for Water

WITH OPPRESSIVE TEMPS currently baking Southern California, I thought I’d escape for a moment by listing a few tips on melting snow for water that I’ve learned these past few seasons snow camping.

What’s attractive about melting snow instead of carrying water is you can save a lot of weight.

One can of fuel (weighing about five or six ounces) can easily give you four liters of water or more, which would be prohibitively heavy to carry up the mountain—especially when you factor in the cruel load of winter camping gear and climbing hardware.

Regardless, carrying water becomes moot once the temperature drops past a certain magic number and your bag or bottle of water freezes into a solid brick.

So, if you’re going to camp in winter, you’re going to want to know how to melt snow to get water.

Sounds simple enough, right?

Well, I’ve found it’s a little tricker than you’d expect.

Melting snow takes a great deal of energy—ie, fuel. Efficiency is therefore going to be one of your primary goals. If your melting methods are poor, your water yield per can of fuel will plummet. Here are a few tips that should make a big difference: (more…)

Posted in Camping, Tips | 3 Comments

Pine Sap Party

Climbing Mount Williamson via Bairs Creek leaves you with a lot more than memories (and scratches): you also get gummed up with quite a bit of pine pitch.

It gets on your clothes, your hair, and your gear. So what do you do when you come home with everything covered in sap? Well, assuming you resist the temptation to just back your car up against a dumpster and get rid of everything, you’ll probably want to find some way to clean off the sap.

I know of two cleaners that work effectively against sap (more…)

Posted in Tips | 1 Comment