skins

Backcountry skiing how-to book is super useful, full of information and tips.

After a couple of nice wet storms early on, we’ve had weeks of high pressure systems; beautiful Indian summer days that are nice for things like bicycle rides and rock climbing, but tend to leave less than the required snowpack.

Blogsters: Aspen area guide Ron Rash (part owner of Aspen Alpine Guides) is helping get me off the keyboard (and out in the backcountry) every so often by contributing a newpaper column style guest blog. Here is his first. Boot…

oday we finish up our “10 Things to Know series.” The ultimate part of any endeavor is perhaps how your mind interacts with the day. In terms of mountaineering, using mental processes to avoid pride and resulting bad decisions is key. I’ve messed up a few times in that area, and also had some success, but thought it would be nice to hear some other people’s words about this so I trolled my celebrity address book for likely helpers. But don’t let the celebs have the last word, I know you blog readers have some ideas about this, so fire a few comments to complete today’s blog.

Alp Control ski mountaineering boot system for climbing and skiing

We’re going for some collective “blogodacous” wisdom on this one, but I’ll mention the main trick first. When it comes to keeping your feet toasty in backcountry ski boots, fit is key. All too many times I’ve had friends and…