Jeffrey Miesbauer

I grew up within sight of the Blue Ridge Mountains and spent as much time as possible escaping to them. That is until I moved to Boone, NC, the mountain mecca of the southeast. After a college career of park skiing, backpacking, and general adventuring I set my sights on the steep and snowy Wasatch. So far, nothing beats a Utah powder day.

Summer Skiing: Enabling Healthy Addiction

By: Jeffrey Miesbauer | July 20th, 2011
4 Comments »

Eli marching past a waterfall on Superior.

There’s something wrong with me. I can’t stop skiing. Mother Nature isn’t helping, either. Sure, it’s July, but there’s enough snow leftover from our super-snowy Wasatch spring to ski dozens of legendary lines. Although it’s seen as an anomaly for most, summer skiers like Elias Littenberg and I only see it as an opportunity to easily continue our ski-all-year lifestyle (Elias is going on 35 consecutive months, I’m on 23). And this July confirmed that this year’s summer ski season will be one to remember. Since there’s so much remaining skiable snow across the West, I thought I’d list ten reasons why we never put our skis away and perhaps convince you to do the same.

Posted in Outdoor Articles, Skiing |

IOC Approves Ski and Snowboard Slopestyle for the 2014 Sochi Games

By: Jeffrey Miesbauer | July 8th, 2011
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And the peasants rejoice … well, not everyone is overflowing with stoke about the IOC’s July 4th decision to include ski and snowboard (men’s and women’s) slopestyle in the games. With more rules for competing skiers and riders, many feel that this decision puts a box around their sport. If that’s true, then that box is a television, and in 2014 it will be a polished image brought to you by the highest-paying sponsors.

Replace the X’s with rings, and this is what you’ll probably see.

Whether you’re for or against it, this inclusion was just a matter of time. Progressing a sport is one thing, but when any jibber or wanker dedicates all his or her time to competing in a well-groomed park to please sponsors and judges, then they’re missing the essence of the sport anyway. Go freeride. (Well, at least on what snow is left.)

Posted in Outdoor Articles |

Chaco Cleaning: Slaying the Funky Beast

By: Jeffrey Miesbauer | July 1st, 2011
4 Comments »

Hipthongs in the middle of a soapy scrub.

With the return of summer comes the return of our favorite warm-weather essential, the Chaco Sandal. After a winter of toes crammed into ski boots, nothing feels better than to grant our feet freedom while we hike, float, and party outside…. But what is that funky, smelly foot-rot emanating from our beloved platforms to paradise? That is the dreaded Chaco funk, the only downside I know to an otherwise perfect product.

If you’re lucky enough to never smell this nose-wrinkling phenomenon, congratulations; I hate you. Well, not really, but this guide is for all of us who need help dealing with a minor nasal inconvenience that eventually grows into a beast that can’t be ignored.

Tags: footwear, gear maintenance, hiking
Posted in How To, Outdoor Articles |

King for at Least a Day: Father’s Day Gift Guide 2011

By: Jeffrey Miesbauer | June 15th, 2011
2 Comments »

Mad Mies on King's Bluff, MN

Where would we be without the man who first dragged us into the woods, taught us how to build a fire, and even showed us how to hop a fence or two? Because we love ours as much as you do, we’ve put together a few things that can help Dads feel like kings on Father’s Day.

Read More …

Tags: gift ideas, gifts
Posted in Gear Guide, Outdoor Articles |

Snowbird Update: The Life and Death of Dotted Lines

By: Jeffrey Miesbauer | May 25th, 2011
1 Comment »

Perfect????....Photo by Re Wikstrom

Snowbird has blown up the news wire this spring, issuing a dizzying string of press releases to counteract the criticism it received for recently proposed developments. One key proposal involved the construction of an alpine roller coaster; the other was a Master Development Plan to study the effects of a new tram to the top of the American Fork Twin Peaks and the effects of extending the resort into Mary Ellen Gulch. Although nothing has been approved or denied officially, the tide of opinion seems to show that Utahans like ski lifts more than roller coasters.

IOC Approves Ski Halfpipe for the 2014 Olympics

By: Jeffrey Miesbauer | April 27th, 2011
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The word is out. Men’s and women’s ski halfpipe will be an event at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. The decision came as the International Olympic Committee convened in a plush London conference room on April 6, far from snow, mountains, and tall tees. Since snowboard halfpipe brought home the bacon (in terms of ratings and sponsorships) during the past two games, ski halfpipe was the next logical step. But a move from Winter X to the Winter Olympics is sure to spark some controversy from the freeskiing community.

Look out for these names in Sochi 2014.

Tags: halfpipe, olympics, park skiing, skiing, winter
Posted in Commentary, Skiing |

The Cutting Edge: 2011 Piolet d’Or

By: Jeffrey Miesbauer | April 19th, 2011
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We’d like to congratulate Ben Ditto and company for winning the 2011 Piolet d’Or this past Friday in Chamonix. His crew, The Wild Bunch (Ben, Nico Favresse, Olivier Favresse, and Seán Villanueva), share the honor with Katsutaka Yokoyama and Yasushi Okada because “these climbs truly represented the spirit of alpinism,” said Jury President Greg Child to Alpinist.

The Wild Bunch received their award for numerous first ascents they named while on an exploratory sailing trip around the coast of Greenland. Captain Bob Shepton convinced the team to help sail his 10-meter vessel, Dodo’s Delight, after he promised the crew a surplus of unclimbed big walls. That’s what they got for the next three months, along with many days on a tiny boat, which made for lots of Wild Bunch bonding time. Read More …

Tags: climbing, mountaineering
Posted in Climbing, Outdoor Articles |

The Cutting Edge: The Impossible Wall

By: Jeffrey Miesbauer | April 12th, 2011
1 Comment »

Last week, I had the honor to meet and interview climber and expedition photographer Ben Ditto in Bishop, California, where he currently lives. He (along with Sean Villanueva, Nico, and Olivier Favresse) has been nominated for the IXX Piolet d’Or award for completing ten big-wall first ascents on the coast of Greenland. Traveling on Captain Bob Shepton’s 33-foot sailboat, the climbers began their ascents directly from the deck, as you can see in this amazing video of their first ascent of the Impossible Wall. (It’s part two of a five-part video series sponsored by Patagonia and shot by Ben and his crew.)

Tags: climbing, mountaineering
Posted in Climbing, Interviews, Outdoor Articles, Video |

Traveling With Skis and Snowboards

By: Jeffrey Miesbauer | March 23rd, 2011
1 Comment »

If only it were this easy ... Photo credit: Lee Cohen

Whether you live at the base of the Cottonwood Canyons or in the heart of the Carolinas, you’ll eventually hear the call of a faraway mountain range and travel by air to ski or ride. Since spring is go-time for places like Alaska and interior British Columbia, and it’s been known to produce big Pacific storms throughout the west, we thought we’d share some advice on traveling with your closet of gear in tow.

Backwoods Skiing: An Appalachian Reaction

By: Jeffrey Miesbauer | February 4th, 2011
4 Comments »

Deep turns on Pinball Wizard, Moses Cone Memorial Park, NC

In an industry geared toward park jibbing and max-vert powder skiing, Right-coast snow-slayers are left with only dreams of super parks and 30,000 feet of fluff. But, as some attest, the numbers and names can get in the way of what sliding on snow is all about: good turns with good people.

You don’t need a world-renowned ski resort to have a life-changing experience on snow. All you really need is snow, a little creativity, and a lot of patience.

Backwoods Skiing

noun \ˈbak ˈwu̇dz skē-iŋ\ (1) The planning, waiting, and eventual act of making turns on the best snow available to you (2) A guerrilla skiing tactic that sticks it to the man for trying to charge you $70 to wait in long lines and ski on 500 feet of groomed-to-death granular (3) The dirty redneck cousin of backcountry skiing and a rural opposite to urban jibbing Read More …

Tags: backcountry skiing, backwoods skiing, skiing
Posted in Outdoor Articles |

Monday Q & A

By: Jeffrey Miesbauer | January 24th, 2011
1 Comment »

Continuing last week’s snow theme, I’d like to use some of my gear-abusing experience to answer some questions from our awesome community.

ContourHD 1080p Wearable Camcorder

Q: How well does the helmet flat surface mount hold up? Is it steady and secure? -Cory Wight

A: Yes, it is secure. At first, I tried the included goggle strap mount and, even with a helmet on, the camcorder felt floppy and at risk of falling off. But once I attached the adhesive flat surface mount on my Smith Variant Brim helmet and let it set overnight, the CounterHD became an extension of my head with no rattling or shaky recording. It’s so lightweight and tiny that there isn’t much to move around anyway. Read More …

Tags: helmet cams, q&a
Posted in Gear Guide |

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