As a navigation tool, CalTopo offers a complex feature set that sometimes takes time to hone. With a little savvy, CalTopo offers some hidden gems to make backcountry skiing/riding trip planning more useful. Here are three specific features to dial in your ski and winter climbing plans.
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A 2020 Q&A with Hilaree Neslon, North Face team leader and 8000 meter peak skier on lessons learned over decades of ski mountaineering, favorite expedition gear and tips for aspiring ski mountaineers.
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Aaron Rose, a Colorado splitboarder, brings a grounded perspective to interpreting the dynamic backcountry realm. “The observed and felt clues yield the most evidence to consider terrain management and avalanche avoidance. Snow sense is fundamentally built on a visual-tactile experience. Auditory stimulus is secondary, at least for me.”
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Ortovox and Arc’teryx have co-designed the new LiTRIC electric airbag system. It’s a solid fusion of elegance and function. The system is user friendly, relatively minimalist, and provides multiple deployments off a single charge. Here’s WildSnow’s review.
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SoothSki, a site presenting troves of backcountry ski data, evolves the process Lou Dawson helped launch. It, too, might catch your attention if you are in the market for backcountry skis.
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The island of Crete offers a cultural legacy and some high terrain. It’s a solid stop for backcountry go-getters looking for Mediterranean turns. It was a long dark COVID winter. After years of skiing every winter day on hot pow…
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