Reviews
Reviews of the lastest gear
Friday, 01 December, 2006
Scarpa Spirit 3 and Matrix compared
Italian boot manufacturer Scarpa quickly followed up the introduction of the dual density Matrix in 2003 with the Spirit 3 in 2005. A fairly rapid product cycle for two boots that seem to fill a similar space. We have had both boots on test, the Matrix has completed over 100,000 vertical meters and the Spirit 3, 50,000 meters last season.
Scarpa Spirit 3
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Saturday, 11 November, 2006
The Keys to the Trois Vallées
After his excellent Keys to Paradiski Didier Givois, photographer and ski guide, is back with a new book covering the off-piste in the ski resorts of the Three Vallees: Val Thorens, Meribel-Mottaret and Courchevel. With over 600km of marked ski runs the Trois Vallées are the biggest ski area in the world and the lifts also give access to a vast off-piste area. In nearly a decade in the resort three times Freeride world champion Manu Gaidet says he still hasn’t explored every corner of the domain.
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Friday, 10 November, 2006
Apocalypse Snow - le retour
Anyone who is a fan of garish pink and yellow one piece ski suits, sweat bands, mullets, monoskis and Zorbing should procure themselves a copy of the cult movie Apocalpse Snow. Up until now video tapes of Didier Lafond and Regis Rolland’s classic had been hard to find. You would have to ask your local Blockbuster manager if he had something a little bit raunchier than the Warren Miller you rented last week hidden under the counter.
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Monday, 06 November, 2006
Mister Avalanche
Robert Bolognesi grew up in France where he studied geography and computing at Grenoble University before getting interested in avalanches. In 1991 joined the Swiss Federal Snow and Avalanche Research Institute (SLF) in Davos where he developed a model for avalanche prevention for his doctorate. The Davos institute then entrusted Bolognesi with the task of setting up a new center in the Swiss Valais. However the arrival of a new director at the SLF and a difference of opinion over the direction the new center should led Bolognesi to go it alone.
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Friday, 03 November, 2006
Send aquatic sheep
There is an old story about a Russian/English computer translation system. Apparently Russian engineers asked the English to “send us hydraulic rams” and the English read “send aquatic sheep”. Such are the dangers of letting a computer do a man’s job. We have been toying with the idea of producing an English version of the French avalanche bulletin for the past few winters but doing it by hand would take too long and even with advances in computer translation the results are horrible.
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Wednesday, 01 November, 2006
climbingskinsdirect.com
In comparing climbing skin options available this year, I came across a website called: climbingskinsdirect.com. I am wondering if anyone has heard of this new skin company? From their website they seem to have high quality skins at a very good price. I thought this would be worth mentioning and hearing some feedback.
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Friday, 20 October, 2006
The Avalanche Handbook
The Avalanche Handbook is perhaps the definitive book on snow science and avalanche mechanics. The previous edition of the guide was published back in 1993. The authors, David McClung and Peter Schaerer have completely revised the book. This third edition has new information on snow slab stability, terrain factors and avalanche triggering. There is a completely new chapter covering avalanche forecasting and decision making.
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Wednesday, 20 September, 2006
Naxo extends binding range
Swiss based binding manufacturer Naxo is adding three new bindings to its range for the coming season. Naxo bindings are designed for freeriders looking for a performance ski binding that can also be used to climb. The new bindings are named nx02, nx11 and Prinzzess.
Hello Prinzzess
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Sunday, 17 September, 2006
Sexy Shovels and Probe
It is hard to imagine how technology as mature as the humble snow shovel and avalanche probe could be developed further but next season will see a number of interesting developments. It is also curious how manufacturers come up with very similar developments at the same time. Anke von Birckhahn representing Black Diamond told PisteHors.com that it was down to designers looking for solutions to current problems. We like to think of Alias like industrial espionage.
Black Diamond Deploy… deployed
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Sunday, 10 September, 2006
Divide and conquer?
Snowboarders are not well catered for when it comes to reaching the backcountry. The most popular choice is to climb on snowshoes or even mini skis with the board lashed to the back of the rucksack. A heavy rucksack is not ideal aid for carving fluid lines in deep powder. Back in the mid-90s Voilé had the idea of cutting a snowboard in half to use it as mini skis for climbing. The two halves would then clip together for the descent. The split board was born.
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