Binding Freedom Mounting Tools Update

I'm fighting it with every fiber of my being but the ski season is slipping away as the long days of the Alaskan summer arrive. I was back in Seward last weekend for a solo rematch on Mt. Ascension with a mountain bike and race gear. I rode from Lowell Point this time and was able to do nearly the whole trail approach on wheels. But fog and an isothermic snowpack shut me down. The whiteout was vertigenous and I was fearing some sort of epic if I continued. Of course, it cleared later but....

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Late Season Seward Goodness

Mt. Ascension, dead centerDuring a spot of high pressure and exceptional weather, Karol, Jen, Kyle and I went down to Seward on the Kenai Penninsula for a long weekend vacation. Karol still owns a house there so base camp is sweet. The mountains tower over Resurrection Bay and I've always wanted to get in them on skis. Typically, I'm training for mountain running so all I do is look and dream. But this year, I've decided to forego racing and mix up the activities a bit this summer. This fact opened the door for some ski exploration.

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Spring Powder and New Zones

Skiing in the Front Range of South Central Alaska's Chugach mountains is an acquired taste. In the middle of summer when the mountains are mostly snow free they look like hills and inspire little hope for skiing adventure. But throw some snow on them and suddenly their intricate features and deceptively large scale start to show.

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Scarpa Alien 1.0 Cuff Mod

The ubiquitous green Alien boot seen at every skimo event in the world.When I first got my new Scarpa Aliens early last season and skied them for the first time, it became quickly apparent that the stock liners were not going to work for me. Scarpa tends to run a fairly high volume last on all their boots and the Alien is no exception. For my skinny-ass feet and a svelte race liner, this combo sucked. It was painful when I cranked the cuff tight enough to ski effectively and also ensured that I would not survive the 10,000 meters of climbing and descending promised at the Pierra Menta.

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Bomber Traverse - Part Deux

Speeding through elegant ski traverses here in Alaska is a fun distraction for those of us prone to such shenanigans. When I lived in Jackson, I was an avid skimo racer and spent most of the fall and winter preparing for and competing in races all over the west. I had lots of friends who did the same. It produced a type of momentum in our approach to the mountains that's unique to those that do it.

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