The Looking-to-Spend Between $10-$90 Gift Guide

It is that time of year: Gift Guide season. Sales abound, Black Friday extends to Monday, and there’s a scurry to infill gifts for those who made the short-list. In the build-up to no matter what you celebrate, the solstice, which we suppose from an available daylight metric is something to observe, goes down in the Northern Hemisphere at 1:47 PM Dec. 21.

 

In this first gift guide, we’re starting small from a cost perspective. Backcountry skiing and riding are pricey; this guide will keep the up-front bill below $100.00, which, we acknowledge, can still be a stretch. And because we believe in some of the smaller items from last season’s On-A-Budget gift guide, you might see some overlap. But maybe that keeps the gift-giving more streamlined.

 

Suggested Backcountry Reading

Let’s start with some reading material. There are four seasons, and we know the readership, although they may prefer sliding on snow, likes to partake in other up and downhill endeavors relating to the outdoors. In the realm of print magazines, we’re fond of the Adventure Journal.

This quarterly is a standard bearer: excellent writing, images, art, and an emphasis on sticking with their preferred medium (the written word). The AJ website is a solid quick hit stop for your daily outdoor fix, but the website is a thimble; the magazine is the pint glass.

Adventure Journal Subscription: $60.00

 

***Rob Coppolillo’s The Ski Guide Manual: Advanced Techniques for the Backcountry is still gold and still something that should be on most (if not all) reading shelves – or at least for those aspiring to be complete backcountry skiers/riders. From seasoned skiers/riders to those new to the scene, The Ski Guide Manual is full of nuggets to make you better at the mountain travel craft.

The Ski Guide Manual: $32.95

 

***This next entry is the just released (review coming soon) and making the rounds, Jeremy Jones’ The Art of Shralpinism: Lessons from the Mountains. Sure, you’ll get a taste, and a good taste, of Jones’ early years of dirtbagging and making a go of it as a pro snowboarder, but this is a tasteful and creative how-to book for splitboarders all premised on the lessons the author has learned over the years. And for those pure backcountry skiers (you don’t splitboard), the book offers plenty of info on snowboard/splitboard basics if you need to understand the splitboard tribe better. What this book is not is a full-blown memoir. Yet it features loads of Jones’ earthy drawings and watercolors.

 

The Art of Shralpinism: $29.95

***Skinning happens. And for most of our backcountry adventures, skinning amounts to something like 90% of the daily 100% allotment of time. So you might as well make the best of the skin track. Alex Geary’s The Art of Up-Tracking: Digital Handbook For Skiers and Splitboarders is an excellent resource. We reviewed it back in October; you can find more here. Geary’s sales mode is “You choose the price!”

 

The Art of Up-Tracking: Find it on Geary’s site.

 

Some Smaller Backcountry Doo-Dads

First off, we are suckers for pink straps. We also appreciate good causes. Back in October, Titan Straps donated 100% of their online pink tension strap sales to a local community-based breast cancer awareness program. That said, we also like solid, simple, and functional stuff. Titan Straps come in an assortment of colors and sizes. And for burlier needs, they have industrial straps too. Strap on!

Utility straps range from 9″ to 25.”
Industrial straps range from “20 to 36.”

Titan Straps: 18″ ski strap $8.99

***We’re going for a couple of birds with one stone here over at Bellingham’s Traverse Equipment. Sure, you can DIY a backcountry ski repair kit. Or you can let the folks at Traverse package all that up in a tidy, clean package. Have a look and decide for yourself; here’s a list of the items included:

Ultralight Crystal Card
Hose Clamps (2)
Voile Straps – 25″ (2)
MountainFLOW Skin Wax (1oz)
Gear Aid Tenacious Tape – 3″ x 20″
Powder Basket
Hex Drill Bit – 9/64″
Binding Screws (2)
Ratchet Driver with: Torx 20, Philips #2 and #3, Hex #4, Flat #7
Through Bolts (2)
Steel Wire – 2′
Spectra Cord – 2′
AAA Batteries (3)

Traverse also sells bio-based skin wax. Skin wax, always carry it!

Traverse Equipment Backcountry Ski Repair Kit: $90.00

Traverse Equipment Skin Wax: $10.00

***Last week we ran a feature on WNDR Alpine. (WNDR uses bio-based material in their skis and boards.) WNDR is one commercial wing of Checkerspot, a Bay Area enterprise specializing in bio-based products. “For people who make real things,” Checkerspot markets pollinator kits to “design, prototype, and build,” with their bio-content polyurethane formulations. Molds are not included, so have something in mind for a mold, the basic pollinator kit has all the rest.

 

Checkerspot Pollinator Kit: Starts at $60.00

***This next item helps shovel away all the BS we might be inundated with. It also handles the job of snow removal, its primary day job, with ease. At WildSnow, we do like light. But we are not ready to endorse plastic race shovels for regular backcountry use. BCA’s Dozer 1T-UL Avalanche Shovel comes in at a claimed and confirmed 440g and meets lightweight requirements and durability when it counts most. The blade is an ample 9″ x 10.5″ (23cm x 27cm), and like any decent avalanche shovel, the shaft is extendable. BCA backs the product up with a three-year warranty, and the Dozer 1T-UL meets UIAA standards for avalanche shovels.

WildSnow had this shovel on hand for a few weeks last winter, and we liked what we saw. For those complaining that their shovel is slowing them down, with the Dozer 1T-UL, you’ll have no excuse.

BCA Dozer 1T-UL Avalanche Shovel: $79.97