Black Crows arrived on the freeride scene in 2006. With savvy marketing and an emphasis on building skiers’ skis, the Chamonix-based company spread its wings. Here’s a peak under the Black Crows’ hood with product lede Kenji Teshima and skiers Christina Lustenberger, and Adam Fabrikant.

Avalanches and alpha angles are worth considering when deciphering how far a potential avalanche will run. With this introduction to alpha angles from Lou Dawson, we become more avalanche aware. Be safe.

La Sportiva’s new Skorpius CR II makes the best of both worlds: uphill efficiency and downhill performance. This is a boot fond of deep mountain human-powered lines and skiers who need to carve up the snow-canvas with big and fast turns.

The gift of a life well lived: Jeremy Jones offers up some life and mountain lessons in his new book, The Art of Shralpinism — Lessons From The Mountains. Along the way, there’s personal artwork and nuggets of wisdom as the pages turn.

Elan jumps into the ski touring market with their Ripstick Tour line: inspired by Glen Plake, we’re hoping the iconoclast himself adds a splash of fun to these promising skis. Here’s our first look at the Ripstick Tour 94 W.

Behind the scenes, a statewide avalanche center like the CAIC (Colorado Avalanche Information Center) needs support from beyond: Brian Rodine of the Friends of CAIC explains on TDP how the non-profit builds avalanche awareness.