Ski Touring Backcountry News Roundup — Greece, Arcteryx & More
We wish our Greek friends had a better economy, but what is, is. Due to the euro/dollar currency exchange rate as well as the Greek financial situation, it is incredibly affordable to travel the land of Aristotle. But what if we want to ski instead of sun bathing and eating Moussaka until we can’t move? And how about something positive about a country that’s been so dissed of late?
We are intrigued by reports of spring skiing in Greece that involves velvet corn snow along with excellent weather on peaks with thought provoking names such as Grammos, Gamilla, Smolikas and Olympus. More, apparently winter happens down there as well!
Give the Grecians some help and check out this Kickstarter that film maker Constantine Papanicolaou is doing to get the word out on what Greece offers skiers and snowboarders.
In case you’re wondering just how you’d organize a Grecian ski trip, the trick is to contact George Klaoudatos via the travel company he works with.. He is the man to help make it happen.
Did you grow up (or grow) in a ski town during the 1970s or 1980s? Perhaps the sheriff was a bit behind the times. Perhaps you left the town of your parents behind and found a place that was paradise, then proceeded to get involved in growth control and battling evil developers. Perhaps you or your friends were living off a drug money windfall. Perhaps.
Reality or fantasy, Rob Conery wraps it all into his fictional account, “Winterland.” The protagonist is innocently fishing in Florida and gets a big “tip” from benevolent drug runners. A bar is bought in paradise. The sheriff is scary and the developers want their chunk. I found some of the situations to be overdone, but then, this is fiction and you need to keep the reader’s attention. Personally, I’ve seen or even experienced just about everything Rob includes, so let me vouch for his fictional authenticity! Stick “Winterland” on your e-reader for that next stint of downtime, see if you relate.
Our advertising partner Arcteryx just went live with another sweet video. As our style here dictates, their ads in the WildSnow sidebar don’t animate — so please explore their banners as a thankyou! I’ll also embed the vid below even though it looks better to the prehistoric bird’s eyes if they get some banner traffic. I’ll admit the skimo objective in this vid had my hands sweating, and not in a good way. That’s all I’ll offer as a spoiler, check it out for yourselves:
I got off the phone with Tecnica, stunned by how nice the new 2015-2016 iteration of Cochise ski boot sounds like it’ll be. Yeah, freeride, baby! But this isn’t hype, this is a real alpine boot that tours and gives you the beef on the down. New for this season, even the alpine sole blocks will have tech fittings. That means those of you who do such deeds as use CAST plates and alpine bindings, or a hybrid such as Kingpin, can have your cake (solid sole blocks) and eat it too (as in the face shots you will create without having wobbly rubber soles latched into your alpine bindings). It sounds like the main change other than some variations in plastic composition, and tech fittings in alpine sole, is they reworked the lasting for less volume. That can be good when the “shape” somewhat matches your foot. If not, boot fitters have their job security. Check out the 2015-2016 Cochise versions here, I’ll admit it’s a beautiful lineup and the yearly improvements are always exciting.
Not Bigger – but with more snow ;-)! This will be the 3rd edition of the SPLIT & RELAX Festival at Hochkönig. Organized by splitboarding.eu and Livingroom Hochkönig, you can test the brand new splitboard stuff from the 11th of December till the 13th of December 2015. Break out of the Christmas stress and get up to the mountains, update your avy skills and do the obligatory training at the search area. In a relaxed atmosphere and with lots of like-minded people you can exchange experiences, find new touring partners and discover Hochkönig. More info.
I’ve been saying for years that the big issue with land use for ski touring is access. The Tahoe Backcountry Alliance seems to agree.
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35 Responses to “Ski Touring Backcountry News Roundup — Greece, Arcteryx & More”
Will the whole Cochise lineup be offered in polyether/triax? Or just the top models such as the Lite and the 130? Do solid sole blocks equate to Tecnica doing away with the switchable sole blocks completely? Let’s hope so.
Gdreej, my talk with them indicated the swap soles stay. Main point is that _all_ the sole blocks now will have tech fittings. I’ll check about the plastic, it’s always confusing. Lou
The main change to the non-DIN (touring) toe block that Tecnica should consider is adding more rocker and having it attach a few millimetres aft. This would improve the walk mode considerably.
Hi Lou, was hoping for something more exciting when I read the words News and Arcteryx in the same sentance 😀 Have you heard anything more about their avy-pack?
I’m pretty sure all shall be revealed in just a few weeks… you got any rumors you want to share?
I actually just bought the 2015-16 Cochise 130 Pro … It will be replacing my First Gen Cochise 120 that has been beaten pretty good but served me up so well !!! The 98mm last of the Pro feels quite big actually and the tox box area is huge (My big toe ll thank me when skinning). I haven’t skied it yet, should give it a try this Friday, but size wise, I had to go up one shell size… I had a tight fit in a 26.5 (Shell Size 26/26.5) in the first generation, but couldn’t fit the same shell size in the new one without major discomfort. I actually had to go to the 27/2.7 shell in the Pro (from 100mm last on Cochise 120 to 98mm last on the Pro) to get a perfect fit, because the 100mm felt too big for me. With the boot board on this one, you can do a lot of customization, and as far as ROM, it’s WAY better than the first generation…. Ohh, and it does fell much lighter too. Paired with my Intution Pro-Tour liner, this should should be a pretty good setup for the Up and the down. The stock liner does flex way better than the old one, and the fit is REALLY good … but I won’t use it for longer tour as it weight a bit much, and doesn’t flex as nicely as the Intuition Pro Tour does.
Waiting with bated breath to see them bring in a polyether-shelled Cochise at 1700 grams . . . my 2016 Mach 1 LV 26.5’s (polyether shell and cuff this season) weigh 2286 grams without inserts for swappable soles.
There are at least two other major brands with plans for stiff Grilamid “crossover” boots for 2017; at least one will have ISO 5355 shaped soles with tech inserts . . .
Lou, I’m a bit confused by your Tecnica notes. Does “this season” mean that changes you’ve listed apply to the boots currently on the shelves, or are do they have a new version in the works? All of the current product media shows the DIN soles without tech fittings. In other words, will I be able to buy DIN + Tech soles in 2015, or will I have to wait until the new year?
@Sam: Lou means “next” season, 2016-17.
Thanks Greg, I confuse myself (grin), but yeah…
Speaking of skiing in Greece. The telemarkskico out of the UK have gone to Parnassos irregularly in recent years as well.
Take a look http://teleskiconews.com/PhotogalleryParnassos.html
Lou, I’m sure there will be some very cool and interesting releases in a very few weeks from Arc’teryx 🙂
Fede, are you talking about ISPO Munich 24.-27.jan or an actual “for sale now” type of release? 😀
Kristian, those will be PR information releases they are orchestrating. I’m headed up to Canada to a journalist event to check it out. It’s a convention for mouth breathing gear bloggers that Arcteryx is hosting, that’s why it’s mandatory we send someone from WildSnow (grin). Lou
Lou, it’s you coming in December or you send somebody else? not sure I understood your last message. Hope to see you there! Last time was long ago!
Yes, I’m coming up to Canada in December assuming weather/flying works out. I was told you probably were not going to be there?
Who said that?, I’m there 😉
Last week I saw some of this new things by Arc’teryx and I’m really impressed!!
I can’t say anything by now but I’ve never see nothing like this before.
Not sure if it can be a game-changer for most people, as it was tlt-5) bur sure something really new.
Well, Fede is known for game changers. So we’ll see.
Yes we will see .. this one we are talking about is my favorite so far 😉
for what i can saw last week you can be very proud of it Fede!
veramente é un bravo disegno!
Fede as in Federico Sbrissa? Are we seeing new footwear already? The Acrux AR isn’t even on the market yet! Must say I am super exited about this, when in December did you say the presentation was again Lou? I am hoping for a SL/FL mountaineering shoe that can compete with La Sportiva Trango Cube and the like. Or is it something entirely different…a new ski boot perhaps? Cant wait! 😀
I would say it’s definitely an interesting hybrid … I hope it will be understood 🙂 … Pablo, how is it possible you saw it? are you some sort of backcountry CIA agent? 😀
Fingertips to forehead, channeling Obewhanskinoobie: Mountaineering boot with tech fittings for approach skiing, or perhaps an anti gravity airbag backpack?
… or some sort of mind blowing new tele boot …
that would be cool
That’s easy Lou (boot) , more interesting than that 🙂 … you will see.
Electronic built-in crampons.
Hi Fede, hehehe no, I’m not a MGIA (Mountian Gear Information Agency) agent.
But i’m in the bussines and someone from Arc let me have a quick look of a pic on his iPad…
That’s all. But i loved what I see there!!
Don’t worry, I will keep the secret until the oficial presentation.
Lou talking about electronic built-in crampons…
Why not electronic built-in boot and binding mode (and lifts) changer ??
I would love to just press a button on my poles, some kind of trigger ala (F-16 combat fighter) and my boots and binding turn to ski mode or chanche lifts, or change to skin mode….all via Bluetooth Smart.
Hardboot splitboard boots! *very wishful thinking*
Just curious, when exactly is the Arcteryx event?
Not sure which event you’re referring to Kristian, but they’re having some media folks up there in Canada next week. A bunch of mouth breathing gear bloggers from what I hear. Lou
These “secret” product launches are always a hoot. “Three can keep a secret, if two of them are dead.” – Benjamin Franklin
well, will you {ahem} be live blogging this Lou, like an apple product launch?
Rich, we never know till we get there. Sometimes the embargo prevents real live blogging, or else the desperate gear bloggers are tripping over each other to use throttled wifi and everything gets delayed, or else we end up in a place with zilch for connectivity… Believe me, despite the obsession of PR people “launching” things, exactly which day this stuff goes public is not going to rent a tear in the fabric of the universe — though it’s probably pretty cool. Lou