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GearAre You Beeping?
Are You Beeping?
A new backcountry checkpoint in the Tetons. Photo courtesy of Outerlocal.comWhoompf. A slab avalanche breaks underfoot, and you tumble tips over tails down the mountain. Seconds stretch, and finally the slide stops, burying you. You open your eyes and try not to panic—the signal transmitting from your avalanche beacon will bring rescuers in seconds. But what if you forgot to turn the beacon on? A program called “Are You Beeping?” that recently launched in Wyoming’s Tetons aims to prevent this scenario. It’s pretty simple actually: Checkpoints at backcountry trailheads and gates will confirm that a beacon’s transmission signal is…...
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CultureEarly Season Wake Up Call
Early Season Wake Up Call
Kent Scheler digs a pit to assess snowpack layers in The North Face’s “Know Boundaries” web series on avalanche safety. The rising fever of winter anticipation broke abruptly on November 13 with the death of pro skier Jamie Pierre. The father, husband, and new ambassador for Moonlight Basin in Montana triggered a slab avalanche while snowboarding at Utah’s Snowbird Resort. Pierre suffered fatal trauma after being swept 700 feet over rocky terrain. The ski area had not yet opened for the season. Pierre and a friend wereriding in uncontrolled, backcountry conditions. The Utah Avalanche Center reported 17 other avalanches on…...
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CultureSurfs Up in Tahoe
Surfs Up in Tahoe
Brennan Lagasse surfing Lake Tahoe. Photo by Ryan SalmFor surfers living in Lake Tahoe, getting up on a wave can mean a trek to the California coast. But there are days—usually in advance of a winter storm—when high winds bring surf to the lake. This happened last week, and surfers clad in wetsuits paddled out from Kings Beach, Tahoe Vista, and Incline Village to session the waves. “It was as good as Tahoe gets,” says Scott Gaffney, who was out for two hours. “The water was still relatively warm, and that combo is a unique thing.” Gaffney says there…...
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GearThe Ultimate Fall Jacket
The Ultimate Fall Jacket
The Claim: No high-tech allusions here: ROM stands for Range of Motion, not computer jargon. Marmot says the combination of its permeable M2 softshell under the arms and Gore-Tex’s Windstopper material on the chest, shoulders, and back, creates a jacket that is breathable, windproof, and water resistant. The Trial: The ROM has been my constant companion for hiking, camping, and climbing this summer and fall. I’ve worn it on 14er summits, around the campfire, on shadowy multi-pitch climbs, and in fresh snow at 12,000 feet. The Verdict: The softshell breathes enough to be comfortable when I’m moving on…...
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BikeSneak Peek: Yeti SB-95
Sneak Peek: Yeti SB-95
Yeti’s SB-95 brings out the bad ass in Sydney Fox. I just got back from the Yeti factory in Golden, Colorado where I tested a production model SB-95. In Yeti-speak the name translates to a Super Bike with 29-inch wheels and five inches of travel (more photos below). The SB-95 was released at Interbike and is scheduled to hit the market in February. I was intrigued by the idea of a Super Bike that climbs like an XC machine but descends like a squishy freeride bike. Because I typically ride a 26-inch bike, I started on the SB-66 (see our…...
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BikeOriginal Flow
Original Flow
Riding the Kingdom Trails in East Burke, Vermont. Photos by Greg PeruzziThe East Burke, Vermont network of mountain bike trails still rules back East It’s been more than 15 years since I first ventured out to East Burke’s Kingdom Trails in search of speed. Learning to ride mountain bikes back in the eighties on the slow-speed technical terrain (roots, mud, beaver dams, spleen-busting rocks) of New Hampshire made my skills sharp. But, the one thing we lacked here, and everywhere else in the Northeast for that matter, was fast, buttery track—the kind since made famous by Fruita, Colorado out…...
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EnvironmentNisqually Glacier Rock Fall Stumps Scientists, Guides
Nisqually Glacier Rock Fall Stumps Scientists, Guides
“I’m not religious,” an incoming guide said as she described the rock fall on Mount Rainier. “But the only word that does it justice is biblical.” Sprawled out on couches chugging cowboy coffee for our pre-trip guide meeting, we all sat up a little bit. “Be careful,” she said. Later that day, June 26, I saw it for myself: The rock and ice wall that makes up the Nisqually Cleaver was breaking off in chunks the size of apartment buildings. In 36 hours, the entire shape of the drainage—one of the largest glaciers on Mount Rainier—had changed. Rock and ice…...
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RunTransRockies Run Report: “There is Room for Luxury.”
TransRockies Run Report: “There is Room for Luxury.”
Billy Brown (left) and Kevin Fonger share a high five after crossing the finish line after a 24.2-mile run on Stage 3 of the Transrockies Run. Photo by Kelly Blake Last week was anything but routine for Billy Brown. From August 21 to 26, he was competing in the TransRockies Run, a trail running race over forest roads and singletrack from Buena Vista to Beaver Creek, Colorado. Brown planned to run the six-day event with his partner, Kevin Fonger, covering 120 miles and 25,000 feet of elevation gain. Instead, he had to pull out after the third day with a…...
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GearTested: La Sportiva Ganda
Tested: La Sportiva Ganda
The Claim: La Sportiva makes big promises with this approach shoe. From their website: “We pulled out all the stops to produce a shoe that will withstand multiple resoles, let you carry a 30-pound pack, and climb 5.12.” Oh, is that all? The Ganda are board lasted (the upper is formed around a 3D model, or last, with a supportive insole as a platform) in the back and slip lasted (a sock-like upper gets its form from the last, with rubber and insole added after), with Vibram Dot Rubber on the sole. The Trial: The Ganda were on my…...
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Gear
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BikeBRECK Epic Photo Gallery
BRECK Epic Photo Gallery
Some of the world’s best endurance mountain bike racers are pedaling their way through six days-three for the spark notes version-of calf crushing climbs, massive miles, and endless elevation changes. Here’s a photo gallery of the action so far. Stay tuned for more to come. Photos by Liam Doran Click below for a photo gallery of the action....
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BikeFirst Time Mountain Biker
First Time Mountain Biker
Scott House leads a White Pine Touring group on the trail in Park City. Photo courtesy of White Pine Touring I like the idea of mountain biking, but I’m terrified of going over the handlebars. I took that fear with me to Park City, Utah, on a trip designed to put me atop two wheels and send me down singletrack for the first time. After arriving in Park City, I headed to a reggae concert with an old friend. We tracked riders moving through the trees above us at Deer Valley, and his trail map kept drawing my attention…...
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Culture
Mile High Mountaineering
Mile High Mountaineering
Jeff Popp and Casey Lorenzen of Mile High Mountaineering say they’re often mistaken for brand reps rather than business owners. “They don’t assume that guys our age would be so involved with a new company and be the backbone,” Lorenzen says. “Or if they know that we’re the ones behind it, they’re kind of skeptical about the product.” But MHM backpacks, with their innovative features and bright colors, are quickly correcting that image problem for Popp (founder and president) and Lorenzen (VP of marketing), both in their 20s. Popp and Lorenzen grew up in Colorado backpacking and snowboarding, and…...
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BikeSun Valley’s Endless Singletrack
Sun Valley’s Endless Singletrack
See more from Sun Valley in the slideshow below. Photo by Scott Markewitz Ever since I started out as an intern at a national outdoor magazine back in the ’90s, I’ve been fielding pitches about the glorious riding in Sun Valley, Idaho. Yeah, yeah, I thought, I’ve lived in Missoula, Montana, and Plymouth, New Hampshire, and Santa Fe, New Mexico. Not exactly slumming it in terms of backyard singletrack. I’ve ridden great fat tire destinations like Fruita, Moab, Crested Butte, Salida, Park City, Steamboat, Sedona, and tiny East Burke, Vermont. There’s a lot of great riding in this country.…...
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CultureColorado Ghost Town
Colorado Ghost Town
This weekend, I drove south past Leadville and turned up the dusty Clear Creek Reservoir Road, spotting mountain bikers, boaters, hikers, rafting operations, and trucks bearing ATVs along the way. Two forks of the creek meet 12 miles down the road, where all that remains of Winfield is a schoolhouse (now a small museum) and a handful of miner’s cabins that are still in use. Before scrambling up a peak overlooking town Saturday afternoon, I filled my water bottles from a spring crowded by wildflowers. Afterwards, I dunked my blistered feet in the icy water of Clear Creek. Fly fishermen…...
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BikeSpark Up
Spark Up
Photo courtesy of Scott Markewitz. More photos of the Scott Spark Carbon below. Well, maybe this is more than a sneak peek, since I just spent four days and more than 12,000 feet of climbing on the latest Spark Carbon. (See related Sun Valley Bike Festival posts.) To begin with, pay attention to the sub-head above: With just under five inches of travel and a feathery carbon build, the 26-inch Spark is both trail bike and race machine, depending upon the day and how you spec it out. In that regard it’s reminiscent of the Yeti ASR-5 Carbon and Trek…...
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CultureBugging Out
Bugging Out
Making sense of the mountain pine beetle infestation. By Patrick Doyle | Photographs by Matthew Staver Entomologist Bob Cain is wandering through a lodgepole pine forest looking for mountain pine beetles just east of Loveland Ski Resort. He’s been hunting for 30 minutes with little luck. Many of the trees are already dead, the beetles long gone. Our timing, Cain says, is off. The bark beetles tore through this part of Colorado last year and the Forest Service has already cut down many of the infected trees for firewood. Still, Cain, who’s the Forest Service’s Rocky Mountain Regional Entomologist—aka the resident…...
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