Black Diamond for everything climbing and skiing.    Dynafit -- Speed Up!    Tracker beacons, Stash packs, shovels, more more more.    Terrific deals on randonnee AT rando backcountry skiing gear.    K2 has the skis that stay true to earning your turns.    Garmont boots -- excellent choice for backcountry skiing.

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 Lou’s Denali Boots – Stretching and Molding

By Lou

The two brands of boots that fit me best are Dynafit and Garmont. No mystery, as the two companies are somewhat cross-pollinated in terms of the Italian boot experts that design the things. As I’m still a big fan of how the Dynafit ZZero CF combines performance with lack of weight, I thought it would be fun to use a pair of the “Green Machines” for our Denali trip.

Mark Rolfes was kind enough to let me use his boot fitting bench, which includes a nice array of stretching and punching tools.

Master fitter Mark Rolfes was kind enough to let me use his boot fitting bench, which includes a nice array of stretching and punching tools.

Read more

Posted by Lou on February 3, 2010 | Filed Under Boot Fitting | 17 Comments 

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 Denali Practice Trip 2.0

By Caleb

Denali is definitely big (hence the name) and definitely cold (~150 miles from the arctic circle). However, having previously led my own expedition up this burly peak, I feel the real crux of the west butt route is the camping. Our crew skis well, our crew climbs well, but living for 3 weeks in this harsh environment takes ample planning and practice. As Lou has rightly stated several times, we don’t want to go up there and make do, we want to step on the glacier like a well engineered machine.

Tyler skiing.

Tyler with the Sawatch as the backdrop.

So we’ve been getting out to test gear, cooking, and other camp strategies as often as possible. Unfortunately, with many busy lives it isn’t always easy to get everyone together at once. However when 6 of our crew members are free for a weekend, I consider it a fine opportunity. This so happened a couple of weeks ago, and up into Colorado’s central mountains we went. Read more

Posted by Caleb on February 2, 2010 | Filed Under Backcountry Skiing, Denali McKinley, Gear Mods, Trip Reports, Your Guest Blogs | 20 Comments 

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 Dynafit Technique — Prevent Inadvertant Release in Touring Mode

By Lou

* Our WildSnow Dynafit how-to video has quite a bit of information about prepping the bindings and setting them up for walking. Check it out.

* The sockets in your boot must be clean clean of debris such as frozen mud, and the binding fully closed on your boot after you step in. It’s easy to overlook this, as you can walk away with the binding partly closed, with the pins riding on ice or dirt packed in the boot sockets. Carry a 16d nail for cleaning out the sockets, or use the awl on your multi-tool, or use the small tab on the end of the metal buckle of a “Voile” ski strap (thanks Lee). Know that your boot toe fittings can have some ice in them and the binding will eventually clean this out as you walk (small notches on the binding toe pins act as cutters), but before the ice is ejected, you may tend to walk out of the binding.

* To prevent pre-release, before you step into the binding, check for packed ice and snow under the visible toe-unit springs. Junk packed in the deep pocket under the springs will keep the binding from closing properly. This is the number 2 most common reason the binding won’t stay on your feet in touring mode, and can also cause inadvertent ski loss in downhill mode. Read more

Posted by Lou on February 2, 2010 | Filed Under Binding Reviews, Technique | 73 Comments 

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 SCARPA to Make Lightweight 4 Buckle Boot — Maestrale & Gea

By Lou

We’ve got a few more reports from last week’s Outdoor Retailer trade show. Here’s another one.

Dynafit started the lightweight 4-buckle category with their ZZero boots, and though I still think most skiers really don’t need a 4th buckle on their boots, the magic buckle looks stylish and sells well, so let the vagaries of business take boot design where it will. After all, removing buckles is easy enough, and especially so with Scarpa as they still construct their boots with mostly threaded fasteners instead of rivets (a top feature, in my world.)

So, enter the Scarpa Maestrale and women’s version Gea, weighing in at 52 ounces per boot (size 27). Same size ZZero CF TF comes in at around 56 ounces (depending on power strap choice, etc.) so Scarpa might now be the weight winner in this category.

Scarpa Maestrale boots for backcountry skiing.

Maestrale, left, and Gea, right.

Read more

Posted by Lou on February 1, 2010 | Filed Under Boot Reviews | 21 Comments 

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 Let the Lady Speak — Candace Reviews G3 Tonic Ski

By Candace

Editor’s note: We’re trying to get more female voices here, if for no other reason than the ratio of men to women on WildSnow.com is downright Alaskan in its bias. Candace Horgan emailed a while ago and said she’d do some guest blogs, so here goes.

I’ve been skiing G3 Sirens for about four years, but at the start of this season, I found myself wanting something different. Something a little wider, a little longer for my 5′11 frame; a ski that would feel comfortable while going flat out railing long radius turns but that hopefully wouldn’t sacrifice too much maneuverability for my favorite terrain in the trees and bumps.

Enter the new G3 Tonic. The Tonic, which has a poplar wood core, is at the forefront of G3’s new “Joyride Construction” line. The Tonic was designed by Francois Sylvain, who previously has worked with Line, Karhu, and K2. Sylvain designed the Line Mothership and Karhu Jak, and the 2009-2010 line is his first effort with G3. Read more

Posted by Candace on January 30, 2010 | Filed Under Ski Reviews | 6 Comments 

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

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Backcountry skiing is a dangerous sport. You may be killed or severely injured if you do any form of randone, randonnee and randonnée skiing. The information on this website is intended only as general information. While the authors and editors of the information on this website make every effort to present useful information, due to human error the information, text and images contained within this website may be inaccurate, false, or out-of-date. By using, reading or viewing the information provided on this website, you agree to absolve the owners of Wild Snow as well as content contributors of any liability for injuries or losses incurred while using such information. Furthermore, you agree to use any of this website's information, maps, photos, or binding mounting instructions or templates at your own risk, and waive Wild Snow its owners and contributors of any liability for use of said items for backcountry skiing or any other use.