SierraDescents | Page 33
July 3, 2011
Mammoth: Top to Bottom
Yes, it's another entry in my critically-acclaimed 'Top-to-Bottom' video series, in which I go to the top of a ski area and ski all the way down to the bottom! What an absolute (more)
June 26, 2011
Jetboil Sol Ti
Ever since I got my Jetboil PCS stove, I haven't used another backpacking stove in the backcountry—that's how much I like it, despite the extra weight. But there's a new (more)
June 20, 2011
A Double Dose of Dana
Looks like this is going to be it for me this year: a double descent of Mount Dana via Solstice and then Dana Couloirs. Tioga Pass opened on Saturday, so we hit the road and (more)
June 14, 2011
Split’s North Face
It is one of California's big mountains, colorful, complex, and consequential, and for ski mountaineers, it holds not one but several of the range's most coveted lines. Split's (more)
June 13, 2011
K2 Wayback
As its name implies, K2's Wayback is a touring/ski mountaineering-specific plank designed for longer and deeper forays into the backcountry. The Wayback weighs in at a (more)
June 4, 2011
Arcteryx Motus Crew
When it comes to clothing, I tend to bounce back and forth between synthetics and wool. Arcteryx's ultralight Motus Crew makes a strong case for the synthetic argument. First of (more)
June 2, 2011
Mammut Creon Light
Mammut's Creon Light backpack offers us a significant ultralight achievement: a load-worthy backpack weighing less than two and half pounds. Traditionally with backpacks you must (more)
June 2, 2011
Say No to Summer
Okay, it's June 2 and I just bought a new pair of skis...for this season. (more)
May 31, 2011
Split Mountain
Huge, huge day on Split yesterday—we skied the north face right off the top of the north summit, then down into the Red Lake basin right beneath the east face and the (more)
May 28, 2011
Skiing Whitney’s North Face
Whitney has eluded me. When I first tried to ski this mountain the defeat was so humbling and so absolute it was years before I dared return to the Sierra backcountry. But, every (more)
May 24, 2011
Eureka Casper
Think of Eureka's Casper as an economy-class sleeping bag with higher aspirations. At roughly 1/4 the price of a high-end down bag, the Rteq™ synthetic 15°-rated Casper is (more)
May 23, 2011
Skiing Whitney!
I'm so excited—Whitney has eluded me since 2006, when I passed on skiing the Mountaineer's Route, figuring I'd get to it next season. Every year since then, I've waited for (more)
May 19, 2011
Panasonic TM700
Panasonic's TM700 hi-def camcorder offers us the technology equivalent of a Faustian bargain: you get something extraordinary, but it comes with an unexpected cost. The good can (more)
May 18, 2011
Steep Turns & ‘Edge of Never’
One of the things I love about ski mountaineering is that there's always something new to learn. Over the course of this season I've been trying to improve my steep skiing (more)
May 12, 2011
Muir’s East Buttress
In a way, I wished I'd never seen it. I was having a nice, easy backcountry skiing season, perfectly fine, and I didn't need any trouble. I didn't need to do anything special. I (more)
