After a full day looking for cool stuff at the temple of gear here in Salt Lake City, Dynafit stuck some of us on a bus, took us up to Snowbird resort, and we hiked to the top to enjoy sunset (and get some product story for the Salewa footwear line as well as Dynafit's new line of summer gear -- more on that later). This shot is sunset from the top of Snowbird resort, looking west over Salt Lake City into the great desert over there, and perhaps a bit of the Great Salt Lake? Click to enlarge.
Summer trade shows can still be good pickings for a snow oriented blogger. Other than the aggro panhandler I had to call 911 on, things are going well (a psycho in the parking lot, kind of sad, but scary). Overall, this year’s Outdoor Retailer continues to have a good collegial vibe and is well attended. That of course means ever more people doing your favorite sports, but also means everything like conservation initiatives to gear innovation will continue to respond positively to the popularity of outdoor recreation. A few items below, more later.
Versions of lightweight 'survival' bivvy sacks are common, but most are potential slime pits made from non-breathable fabric. But breathable ones can be expensive. SOL (Survive Outdoors Longer) will be offering this guy. Said to be waterproof breathable, the SOL 'Escape Bivvy' might be the perfect sack as it's light (318 grams) with MSRP $50.00 and fits two people. This sort of bivvy shelter saves lives. Any group of backcountry skiers who venture very far from their car should consider having one such shelter in their group to protect an injured person while waiting for rescue.
Always amusing to see which internal combustion items become part of the show. This classic Chevy pickup fits the scene, as in, 'some things under heaven are just cooler than ....' Carhartt booth, and they've got all sorts of slightly retro, beefy and interesting clothing I'd suggest anyone check out over the next year.
Ever feel like your classic Dynafit TLT bindings have too much ramp angle for modern skiing? Tried to rig your own toe risers? Hack no more, instead contact B&D Ski Gear (see banner to left) for the toe riser. They're intended to work with the longer screws used with Dynafit Comfort/ST/FT/Radical series bindings. Speaking of which, get this: Bill at B&D is a machinist and knows fasteners. He told me a big problem with binding screws is that they're made by a bunch of different machines at different factories, with loose tolerances. Result is thread pitches and diameters that vary enough to cause new screws to damage the threads in older holes, or even hold poorly because they're a narrower diameter. Considering that, in my view solutions involve using the same screws over again if you're swapping bindings to the same holes in a ski, and in any case using plenty of epoxy while as always being careful to not over tighten and damage holding power due to incipient stripping.
We're still great fans of Cilo Gear backpacks. On parts of their packs they're now using a fabric that's a combo of woven and non-woven Dyneema for ultimate durability along with keeping the weight down. This 30 liter model is a pack to aspire to. Would last a lifetime for most people. It's white, but a pack that lasts forever is green.
See Cilo Gear website for more info.
B&D is here for things like Dynafit binding shims, crampons, more.
WildSnow.com publisher emeritus and founder Lou (Louis Dawson) has a 50+ years career in climbing, backcountry skiing and ski mountaineering. He was the first person in history to ski down all 54 Colorado 14,000-foot peaks, has authored numerous books about about backcountry skiing, and has skied from the summit of Denali in Alaska, North America’s highest mountain.
