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.
Thule Prologue Pack Bike MountQ: Will this rack work with a thru axle design on the front forks?
By: W.Ward 
4 days ago
A: Unfortunately, this rack will only work with standard drop-out designs. Since you’re like I am and you run a through-axle fork, your only option is to either get a different rack or buy a through-axle fork adapter. Yakima and Thule both make them, and you can get them in any size out there. It’s not as easy as using a rack like the Thule Sidearm, which is designed to work without forcing you to remove the front wheel at all, but it will do. It’s also handy to have one of these adapters when you’re shuttling with friends, since your pals’ racks may not fit your bike. Read More …
Andy using leashes in Peru
Packing for the first ice trip of the season, I called a friend to get the conditions report: Things had been rained on in the San Juans, but were coming back in quickly. The new ice offered enough to warrant a trip. After hashing things out, he added, almost as an afterthought: “So I took my first whip on ice today.” “Nice. How’d that go?” I eventually got the synopsis: 15 feet above a screw his feet blew. Pumped from cleaning lots of junk ice on steep terrain, he was unable hang on to the tool. After the fall he used his partner’s tools to retrieve his, which had remained in the ice.
Last week I found out that a friend and colleague from Backcountry.com Jeff Bates is battling cancer—melanoma to be exact. He had fought skin cancer into remission several years ago. It’s back with a vengeance.
Jeff Bates Talking up 29ers for HuckNRoll
Friends have established the Jeff Bates Foundation as a way to support him and his family, and to help others in need in the future. The good news is that after a pretty dismal prognosis, Jeff has found a way to kick cancer in its gold-brickin’ ass (again). Click Here to check out Jeff’s latest update from the Jeff Bates Foundation Facebook Page.
We thought we’d take a step back and have a closer look at this nasty thing called melanoma. We all live to get outdoors and play in the sunshine, so this is important stuff to know. Read More …
Photo: Austin Holt
If you’re interested in getting into backcountry skiing and snowboarding, the first thing that comes to mind is the huge pile of expensive gear you’ll have to amass. (The second thing to come to mind is likely, “OK, once I’ve auctioned my gall bladder on the black market and taken my rhythmically challenged roommate’s drum set to the consignment store, I still need to learn how to use this stuff.”)
You’ll get past those obstacles, though. You’ll pull the money together to purchase the basic gear, you’ll take an avalanche safety course, you’ll assemble a posse of worthy pals to go out with, and you’ll figure out how to get your AT bindings into touring mode (tip: practice this before your friends are watching). You’ll get to the point where you can really start touring.
Hangboard workouts
Following up on yesterday’s intro to hangboarding, I’ll now delve into some workouts. When you are hanging from a fingerboard, keep in mind you are training the small tendons and ligaments in your fingers and hands. It’s really easy to over-train and get injured. Err on the side of caution. The workouts posted below are based on what I’ve read and set/rep structures my friends and I have developed on our own. As with all things in life, personal accountability is huge. To quote Pavel Tsatsouline: “If you get hurt, it’s your fault!” So with that in mind, a few caveats … Read More …
Hangboarding at home
With winter in full swing, climbers in most locales have to settle for gym training to stay fit. While there is no substitute for actually climbing—even on plastic—a hangboard (or fingerboard) is an indispensable tool that every climber could benefit from. My first exposure to concerted hangboarding came after a major traumatic accident involving more injuries than I care to recall.
Two months after the accident, climbing was still a LONG way off: I couldn’t move, but I could hang. Following the guidance of Josh, my climbing partner and spiritual advisor regarding all things geeky, I paired some time on the fingerboard with my physical therapy. Despite being largely incapacitated, and initially skeptical, I greatly improved my contact strength. Once I could finally start climbing, I was well ahead of the curve and was eventually able to come back to pre-accident levels of performance on rock. Read More …
The Wizard. Photo by: Andrew McLean
If you’ve spent some time in the Wasatch backcountry, you probably have crossed paths with a grizzled dude with twinkle in his eye. That guy is the Wizard of the Wasatch, Bob Athey.
“I was going to be a lawyer, but I discovered powder snow,” Athey says. “So I went skiing instead, and have been working on a different education.” Read More …
JOE’S VALLEY, UT — The desert sky was a comforting light blue and the air frosty as Stephen Koch traveled to central Utah to review ice climbing techniques on a local flow. Climbing up frozen H2O can be intimidating to say the least, but with an experienced climbing buddy guiding you, the right gear aiding your ascent, and solid physical strength and an adventurous spirit propelling you through the most challenging moves, it can be a rush and one hell of a workout.
So kick back and spend a few minutes watching Stephen Koch’s ice climbing tips. Whether you’ve been swinging tools for years or are just getting started and looking to soak up some insider beta, Stephen has something for you. This week’s videos cover basic crampon and ice axe techniques. Read More …
Grab a friend and get after it
Racking up over 100 days in one season is a feat that many snow addicts fantasize about but few ever actually accomplish. It’s one thing to take a resort job for eight bucks an hour, live in a roach-infested ski-town apartment with six roommates, and ride every day. … But when your life includes stuff like loan payments and a “real job,” putting together a triple-digit season gets a lot tougher. But that’s not to say it can’t be done; follow these handy tips to better your odds of reaching the ultimate snow-bum benchmark.
For the next month, we’ll be sharing some of Backcountry.com athlete Stephen Koch‘s ice climbing tips and techniques with readers. Whether you’ve been swinging tools for years or are just getting started and are looking to soak up some insider beta, Stephen has something for you.
Tip #1: What’s in Your Pack
Stephen Koch takes you through what to pack for a day of climbing routes at your local zone.