This post sponsored by our publishing partner Cripple Creek Backcountry.
A butt lift for Valentine’s surprise? Read on to find out.
Lou always surprises me on special occasions with unusual gifts. I’ve received a cowhide tool belt for my birthday, a bug zapper for our wedding anniversary and a log splitter for Christmas.
But this Valentines Day Lou outdid himself and got me a new pair of ski legs.
Ibuprofen, Cortisone, Synvisc or just skip skiing? Those thoughts have swirled around in my mind as I try to get through another winter of avoiding knee replacement surgery. Eventually I should get it done but I’m hoping to postpone it to a season when my life if less busy and more conducive to the time and attention recovery will require.
The two laps I recently skied with Roam Robotics enlightened me that there are drug-free ways to alleviate my pain and keep skiing.
At this winter’s Outdoor Retailer show, Lou walked by the Ski-Mojo booth and noticed their “pain relieving” knee brace. Intrigued, he made arrangements with developer Martin Hannaford to try it out. A few days later, we met in Aspen, fitted the device and rode up the mountain on the ski lift. I took a few turns: no pain — marvelous! I skied lap after lap. It was so glorious to forget about my aching knees. I didn’t even stop for lunch. The next day my muscles were sore from the full day of skiing but my knees were not even swollen. So psyched, I headed off to ski again.
Ski-Mojo is an analog exoskeleton made for skiing. Rods with internal springs are attached to ski boot and harness, secured with neoprene straps around thigh and below knee. I like the simplicity of the system: there are no batteries to charge and the system packs up neatly into a small backpack: handy for traveling.
But, this is WildSnow so the real test is how Ski-Mojo works while touring. I have not worn them on a long mountain ascent yet, but I skinned up our local ski hill and they were unobtrusive.
In order to uphill with Ski-Mojo, you need to disengage the device. Thus it doesn’t offer any assistance with uphilling, but I didn’t notice any hindrance either.
There are three ways to disengage Ski-Mojo:
A comfortable stretchy harness and pads keep rods in place.
Ski-Mojo can easily be engaged and disengaged with side on/off button.
I plan to do a proper backcountry ski tour test with the Ski-Mojo soon. But this is a quick first look for Valentines Day. During the initial test, Ski-Mojo got high marks, and Lou did too. His reputation as a talented gift giver lives on.
Ski-Mojo specs:
More info on Ski-Mojo here.
WildSnow Girl, Lisa Dawson, is the luckiest girl in the world. Also known as Mrs. WildSnow.com, she tests whatever gear she wants. She gives the WildSnow family of websites the feminine voice.
