The snow is melting, it’s T-shirt weather for the first time in months, and you heard that friend of a friend of a guy who knows a person rode a smooth, tacky trail yesterday, and it was great. Well, it’s time to brush the dust off your mountain bike and get that aluminum steed running smoothly for the upcoming season. Read More …
Washing your down sleeping bag will make it seem like new. Natural oils and dirt from grimy hiking pollute the down and make it lose its natural loft. Over time, the bag will look less puffy and those insulating properties go poof.
Whether you’re washing your winter bag prior storing it for the season or finally washing your nasty summer bag, the procedure for down is the same. Read More …
Butter knives dull and worn from too much abuse in the park? Your seasoned pow planks suffering from case of dated artwork? We painted our boards and skis and put together a step-by-step guide. We also enlisted the help of the custom painting pros at TOWR13 Customs to show you how to do it yourself. Read More …
BEFORE
AFTER
It’s the middle of winter, freezing cold, and climbing on real rocks is out of the question. What’s a dirty climbing bum to do? Clear some space in the basement or garage, and build yourself a home bouldering wall. Read More …
Terrain parks aren’t what they were in the footloose and fancy-free early ’00s. While some resorts continue to build innovative features (thank you Whistler, Breckenridge and Park City), others have succumbed to the onslaught of personal injury lawyers and dumbed down their parks or removed them altogether.
In the spirit of a sputtering economy, here are some steps for making your own funboxes and jibs. This simple, three-feature mini terrain park cost about $60 (less than a half-day ticket at some resorts), and it provides hours of litigious-free entertainment. The only person you could sue is yourself. Read More …
Decades ago, Mr. Young warned us that rust never snoozes. I’m pretty sure Neil was referring to ski edges. Snag-tears in your gloves and pants, and rust stains all over your matching kit: all nasty side effects of poorly maintained ski edges. Read More …
Sharks, demons, and other ski-hungry beasts lurk beneath the clement whiteness that we all ski on top of. Believe it. If you’ve yet to hear the tell-tale crunch of a ski-vs.-rock core shot, consider yourself blessed. Rocks, stumps, and other hard sub-snow nasties want to eat your skis bases, and if you aren’t wary, they’ll eat your ski right out from under you. Fortunately, we have some triage tips for when the ski-eaters pounce. Read More …
Fresh wax smells better than incense any day—just one of many reasons why you should regularly wax your skis.
A well-waxed ski runs more smoothly on any and every snow surface than non-waxed ski. While some novices may feel that a lack of waxing will help them from ‘going too fast,’ this is actually faulty logic. Read More …
Catching an edge on manky snow sucks. Deburring your ski edges smooths everything out when you’re making turns. Here are some easy steps to deburr your ski edges. Read More …
Factory-fresh edges are magic underfoot, but let those tips and tail go untouched for long and you’re aiming to hook your way into edge-catch city and tip-dive town. Sharp, tuned edges are there to help you slow and control your descent on the mountain (and so you don’t die on East Coast ice). Thing is, while most of your ski is wrapped with a metal edge, you don’t actually use your entire tip-to-tail edge for control. In fact, the tips and tails of tuned and new skis often hook and catch on the snow, making for bad days on the mountain. Read More …
Paired with some AT or telemark bindings and a hulking set of quadriceps, climbing skins are like your own person ski lift that requires no diesel fuel, packs up to the size of a Nalgene, and costs just a bit more than a day pass at your local mega resort. Some skin manufacturers make pre-cut designs, but most require at least some custom trimming to your skis before you can paste them on and set off into the backcountry. Here’s a few tips for cutting your new skins to fit and keeping them fully functional throughout the season. Read More …
Shoes to packs, hit the trails.
Backcountry house-hunting, simplified.
Stay dry out there.