SierraDescents | Page 23
March 31, 2013
Esha Peak
This was a bit of Sierra serendipity: as I was driving into Mammoth last weekend, I found myself staring at an unknown peak up the McGee Creek drainage. I snapped a photo through (more)
March 28, 2013
Birch Mountain Benchmark
I like Birch Mountain as a benchmark for Eastern Sierra snowpack conditions because it's gigantic and because it's readily viewable from Highway 395. Birch's upper face tells us (more)
March 23, 2013
‘The Turn’
One of my more esoteric quests is the search for the perfect steep skiing turn. Steep technique turns out to be a fabulously nuanced and dynamic field of study. There are lots (more)
March 19, 2013
Rossignol Soul 7
Think of the Soul 7 as the sum of everything Rossignol has learned about making All Mountain/Powder skis over the last five years—and that turns out to be a lot. The Soul 7 (more)
March 18, 2013
Point of No Return?
Well there just hasn't been much news this winter in the current conditions category. For the Southland mountains I'd say we're fast approaching the point of no return (though (more)
March 16, 2013
The Microchill Jacket
Mountain Hardwear's Microchill Jacket is much more a midlayer than true outerwear, but however you wear it, the warmth to weight ratio and comfort are excellent. In terms of (more)
March 11, 2013
Kids: Chasing The Cousins
I think my son was four when we first skied with his cousins. At that time, he was very cautious on snow, preferring to follow me at all times rather than lead the way. He kept (more)
March 8, 2013
Volkl Shiro
Volkl's Shiro is unquestionably a powder specialist, built to thrill in steep, deep, and preferably expansive Big Mountain terrain. Objectively and subjectively I noticed the (more)
March 7, 2013
Volkl Katana Carbon
New for the 2013-2014 season is Volkl's Katana Carbon, a V-Works carbon-fiber version of Volkl's Big-Mountain Katana. What the heck is 'V-Works', you ask? It's a light-is-right (more)
March 5, 2013
A Telluride Storm
Telluride, Colorado. It wasn't supposed to snow Wednesday night, but it did—nine inches of perfectly light snow on top of nearly three feet of fresh snow that fell earlier (more)
March 1, 2013
Blizzard Bonafide
The word is out: Blizzard's Bonafide is one of the best skis on the mountain today, a versatile All Mountain masterpiece that consistently surpasses expectations. With the (more)
February 28, 2013
Blizzard Scout
The Scout enters the 2013-2014 All Mountain/Big Mountain class as essentially a metal-free version of Blizzard's award-winning Cochise. If the prospect of a lighter, more (more)
February 25, 2013
Salomon Rocker 2 108
Salomon's Rocker 2 108 returns for the 2013-2014 season as your go-to "everyday powder ski," replacing Salmon's excellent but highly specialized Czar. Compared to the Czar, we (more)
February 25, 2013
Blue Ridge Benchmark
Yes that is indeed Mount Baldy's north face (aka Mt. San Antonio), as seen today from the Blue Ridge Road viewpoint on Highway 2, and yikes! there sure isn't much snow up there. (more)
February 23, 2013
K2 Backdrop
K2's touring-oriented Backdrop feels a lot like a big, heavy, in-bounds powder specialist. But surprise: the ski weighs only eight pounds per pair. The good news, then, is that (more)
