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February 3 - 2005
We're still in the Waaaasatch. Got out today for a classic backcountry skiing adventure north from Alta into the Cardiff area. Locals might classify it as a bit skied out -- for these Colorado guests the backcountry skiing was fine!

Lisa makes it happen!

Louie Dawson -- Utah Wasatch

February 2 - 2005
(Wife's perspective on our work at trade show ) Well, I had fun! What could be better than a vacation full of shopping and backcountry skiing? I'll be doing one of the Editor's Choice backcountry skiing clothing reviews for Couloir Magazine next year and it was a decadent treat to cruise around the show ordering items right and left. There was a plethora of pieces which combined high tech function and runway-worthy style, and vendors were generous. Samples of everything will be arriving on our doorstep - from pink sheerling apre' ski boots (for the trailhead), to a watch that monitors hydration levels. Louie's been doing homework all morning and now we're switching gears to do some skiing. The dogs will lead us up the ridge behind the house for a few turns. The sun is out and it's a postcard day.

Brooklyn Samuels -- apre' ski.

Here's a rundown on some of the swag we'll be testing: scratch resistant, camoflage-colored nalgene from Peter at Liberty Mountain, backpack from Hydrapak, fuel by ProBar and Elete, ski bag by Kiva, ski socks from Thorlo, softshell from Cloudveil, silky base layers from Isis, sunscreen by ProTech and new shades from Coyote. Dogs are howling. Let's go skiing!

Lou again: Beyond OR Show and skiing, the coolest thing about being out here in the Wasatch is checking out the marriage of friends Andrew McLean and Polly Samuels. Andrew is of course a big name in ski mountaineering and the outdoor industry, and Polly's no slouch herself, being a top rated randonnne racer as well as a prosecutor for the Utah Attorney General -- quite a gal! New Yorker magazine is covering Andrew in a major feature, and it turns out that their wedding will not only be on the New York Times wedding announcements -- but also featured in a NYT article! I guess this is a celebrity wedding, we'll see if any paparazzi show up. If they do, I suppose Andrew and Polly's friends at Exum Guides could organize an effective security detail, replete with ice tools.

A final Outdoor Retailer screed: Yesterday I was amused to note that both Couloir Magazine and Telemark Tips claimed the new Ortovox S1 avalanche beacon was the "biggest news of the show," even though the only life sized unit was under glass (no touch), and one had to experience it by reading a white paper and speaking with the guys at the Ortovox booth. I like Ortovox and what they've done for ski alpinism over the years, and have no problem with advance product announcements -- but to call this big news was a reach. More, the new beacon is said to make multiple burials easier to handle and perhaps make searching even more intuitive. Noble features, but not earth shattering unless you're a guide who has to march large groups up and down avalanche slopes (many do) or a person using poor procedures and getting more than one person buried at a time.

Moving on, what really was the "big news? at Outdoor Retailer" I actually didn't see anything snow shattering -- but there was tons of great stuff that represented incremental improvements in gear, food, etcetera.

It was cool how many of next year's packs will have excellent ski carrying features. Indigo has a neato deal with a retractable cable loop that you stick your ski tails in, but it's a bit hard to operate with the pack on your back. Granite Gear's method is a bit more low-tech, but designed so you can both attach and detach your skis without taking your pack off. Very cool if you're an alpinist or randonnee racer. Other companies have similar systems, all based on homebrew stuff cobbled together by Euro rando racers over the past few years.

Louie with the excellent Timbuk2 computer travel case.

In the miscellaneous category, I'd been looking to find a sleek laptop computer bag for traveling, and picked up a beauty from Timbuk2 Designs -- they make beefy bags that still look clean, without all the jingoist junk that hangs off some of the el-cheapos you can find at chain stores and such. Thanks Macy and Timbuk2!

Also, we're always playing around with water bottles and hydration bladders, and found some cool stuff. Hydrapack is making a series of small backpacks that include a hydradtion bladder that turns inside-out for cleaning (just place in dishwasher). More, as Heidi mentioned above, we like the cool style of the camo Nalgene bottle we found.

A bit of backcountry skiing hydration with the Liberty Mountain camo Nalgene -- Brooklyn looking on in anticipation.

February 1 - 2005
Our randonnee binding collection was a big hit at the Outdoor Retailer show. Tore it down today, here is a larger photo that perhaps shows more detail (sorry it's not better -- I messed up the shot) for those of you trying to figure out the bindings for a Couloir Magazine subscription. Post your conclusions on the Couloir Magazine forums (please use existing thread). I'll post the full list of bindings in a few days.

Several Europeans who liked the collection agreed to help us acquire a number of other important AT backcountry skiing bindings to round it out, including the Iser, Emery Chrono, and a number of others. When done with the next acquisition phase, the collection will probably have about 45 bindings! If anyone has a yellow or green Silvretta 404 they would like to donate, we need to add those to round out the 404s with the different colors they were offered in over the years. More tomorrow (I'll have more time for blogging)...

January 31- 2005
Another day in the Wasatch. Doing the city thing today, but got in a short tour this morning.

They even name gear nowdays after the dawn patrol -- but the real thing isn't a jacket. This one was kinda short -- does it qualify?

In the Wasatch foothills, a short fitness ski before hitting the Outdoor Retailer show and lining up terrific new gear to cover here at WildSnow.com. Our posse this morning was interesting, all Dynafit randonnee backcountry skiing bindings. Heidi wearing an Icebox wool hat -- www.iceboxknitting.com.

January 30 - 2005

Backbone Media and Colorado Yurt Company-- yurt in the city -- Backbone banner by David Downing -- Cloudveil Gridlock Jacket modeled by Heidi of the Wasatch, a pro we stole for a moment from the OR fashion show crew.

January 29 - 2005
Outdoor Retailer trade show: Finally, someone decided not to mess around any more with lightweight AT bindings, and make a randonnee backcountry skiing binding for huksters. The new Naxo NX-21 is a beefed out version of the regular Naxo. It cranks up to DIN 13, has beefed rails so it's less sloppy, a strong cocking lever, and much more. The coolest feature in my view is an extra downhill skiing lock that insures the binding will NEVER inadvertently switch into tour mode, (otherwise known as "insta-tele"), while downhill skiing.

Naxo NX 21 pre-production unit. Click to enlarge.

Retail for the NX 21 will be around $475.00, with the regular Naxo going for around $400.00. The guys at BCA (importers of Naxo) mentioned that because of exchange rate ALL rando bindings are going to get pricy. If you've got the coin, consider buying randonee bindings now instead of later.

January 28 - 2005

Journalists tour the Powder Keg.

Spent a nice day taking a tour of the Powder Keg randonnee race course, (in general, connecting Alta and Brighton ski areas). We didn't do the whole pro course -- instead took enough short cuts to not make a huge day, but have some fun looking at the places where the amazing Euro racers show their stuff, including Hidden Couloir in Solitude ski areas's Honeycomb Canyon.

The trip was organized by Backbone Media (they do marketing for outfits such as Black Diamond), and led by none other than "Thrill Daddy" Andrew McLean.

After the tour, we got to check out the new Dynafit Titanium bindings. All I can say is the things are jaw droppers. I "hefted" a pair of race skis with the binding, and I swear, they weighted LESS than my light wooden 3-pin gear from the early 1970s, and that stuff was light (I used to have the broken skis to prove it.

The Dynafit Titanium heel lacks the riser post -- most serious racers don't use them. The toe unit has most metal parts made of titanium as well.

The other new Dynafit product is cool as well, including boot fittings with a locating system that might actually work, and eliminate the issue of getting the toe jaws to close on your boots when you're tired or in deep powder. They've also got a beautiful line of skis, from skinny randonnee racing sticks all the way up to some carbon fiber fatties.

January 27 - 2005

Click image to enlarge

We spent part of today getting Couloir Magazine's trade show booth ready, including hanging our AT backcountry skiing binding collection. We're not sure this pile of old hardware will work that well as booth decoration -- but as we were hanging the bindings, a lot of people stopped by to check it out. If you're a retailer or journalist at OR, please visit, I think you'll be impressed. Everyone: can you ID all the bindings? Start a thread on the Couloir forum if you want to take a shot. We'll give a magazine subscription and perhaps some other swag to the person who can name the most bindings in the collection. Believe it or not, I've skied on all these binding models except one, and starting as an AT binding reviewer in Climbing Magazine, then moving to Couloir, I've reviewed most of them over the years. It's been interesting, to say the least! And even scary at times..

A.M. Well, we shifted the whole clan out here to Utah, as in the Waaaastach. I'm sitting here in a friend's house up above Park City, looking at a light Wasatch storm dusting powder heaven with a light coating of product. Headed down to SLC to help build the Couloir Magazine booth at the Outdoor Retailer trade show. Will hang the randonnee backcountry skiing binding collection in the booth, photos later today -- and some backcountry skiing tomorrow!

Hamish Gowans posted another update. He's doing some fine blogging about his 14er epic, and we're enjoying posting it.

This blog has been going well. Fun to write, with more than a thousand folks a day checking it out! Everyone, please help us out by exploring our advertisers -- enough of that and this will become a full time job and you'll keep my out of trouble <grin>. A backcountry skiing weblog -- yeah!

January 26 - 2005
I'm super excited about this year's Outdoor Retailer trade show in Salt Lake City, coming up the next few days. A preview of some incredible new stuff that I'll be blogging from the show:

You thought randonnee backcountry skiing gear couldn't get any lighter? Think again. Life-Link is introducing new Dynafit backcountry skiing bindings with titanium parts, for an amazing weight savings of fully 1/2 pound a pair! Result, a fully functional ski binding that weighs about 1 pound a pair! This thing is so far ahead of the competition, both telemark and Randonnée, that it is mind boggling. Yes, we'll be testing them soonest! More, all Dynafit bindings will have stronger base plates (a recent weak point), and the Comfort binding will now go from DIN 5 to 12. Yes, that's not a typo, DIN 12! More, the Comfort brakes will now fit up to 90mm ski waists.

Dynafit is also coming out with new skis that look incredible for backcountry skiing. Tim from Life-Link wrote me this:

"The carbon 10.0 at 118/86/111 weighs 6lb. for a 178cm, so it's the same size as the Atomic TMX and BD Havoc but weighs less WITH BINDINGS ON IT! This is not a wimpy, foam core ski....It's Full Wood Core, sandwiched in new style carbon V-shaped layers, which are both sandwiched in fiberglass layers. It's very stiff torsionally, has a stout but smooth flex, and like I said....is worth the wait (of 3 years of working with Dynafit)."

There is much much more, both from Life-Link and from a host of other companies that have new and improved product. Stay tuned. I'll be blogging directly from the OR Show and share any cool and exciting stuff I can find. These are exciting times for our backcountry skiing sport!

previous backcountry skiing blog weblog

Welcome to Louis (Lou) Dawson's backcountry skiing information and opinion website. Lou's passion for the past 35 years has been alpinism and back country skiing -- and all manner of outdoor recreation. He has authored numerous books and articles about backcountry skiing and snowboarding, and is well known as the first person to ski down all 54 of Colorado's 14,000-foot peaks, otherwise known as the famous Fourteeners! Books and free back country information here, as well as tons of Randonnee rando telemark backcountry skiing info.

All material on this website is copyrighted. Permission is required for reproduction, electronic or otherwise. That includes publication and display on other websites by whatever means. For more about this, PLEASE SEE OUR COPYRIGHT INFORMATION. Backcountry skiing is a dangerous sport. You may be killed or severely injured if you choose to do all forms of randonn&eacute;e and randonnée skiing. The information on this website is intended only as general information for a variety of aspects of backcountry skiing and outdoor recreation. While the authors and editors of the information on this website make every effort to present useful information, due to human error the information contained within this website may be inaccurate, false, or out-of-date. By using the information provided on this website, you agree to absolve the owners of WildSnow.com of any liability for injuries or losses incured while using such information.

Always go backcountry skiing with a partner, and learn about avalanche safety before you ski outside of ski and snowboard resorts. The best season for this sport is late winter and spring, when the snowpack compacts and avalanche danger is more predictable. The Colorado wilderness backcountry skiing season reaches its prime in May and June. Maritime snow such as that of the Pacific Northwest may be less avalanche prone than continental snow of that such as Colorado and Wyoming. The California Sierra also provides a relatively reliable snowpack for backcountry skiing, snowboarders, snowmobilers, telemarkers and the like. Backcountry skiing is a wonderful sport, but it can transition in moments from wonder to tragedy. You agree to use any of this website's information, maps, photos, or binding mounting instuctions or templatates at your own risk, and waive Wildsnow.com its owners and contributors of any liability for use of said items.

Keywords: Ski Information, Info, Outdoors, Wilderness Skiing, Randonn&eacute;e and randonnée, Ski Mountaineering, also Ski Alpinismo and Backcountry Skiing.