tele tele!

So I took a pair of the 165s out in the backcountry on lots of fresh powder, and these skis were amazing...skiing some steep trees, they like to go fast and are really nimble. In crappy snow, you can haul if you're an aggressive skier, but they could be pretty unruly if you're not ready. My only complaints: they were kind of a pain for skinning; the tails walk all over each other. Also, I'm not a huge fan of the graphics--if you see what the boys got on their version of this ski (the team 100s), you might feel the same way.

I bought this pack several years ago to take out for fieldwork. Despite being made of ridiculously thin material, it has held up really well. It really does fit into it's one zippered pocket, and the compression stuff sack straps serve as a quick waistbelt if you take this pack on a trail run. You can still use a hydration bladder with it--really can't go wrong if you're wanting lightweight and no extra frills.

Just got a pair of these pants--I ordered a 2 Long, and they're short. I've got a 32-33 inch inseam, and these pants barely graze the top of my foot. I figured I'd be safe with a Long but I guess it's all relative--it's definitely no 33 inch inseam as I saw claimed on a size chart. What IS long about these pants is the crotch! I went with these 'cause I was tired of having a really long crotch in all my carhartts, and that's still the case with mtn. khakis!

So I bought some pretty stiff planks at a swap and they came with the targas. Trying to be cheap, I decided to try the targas for a season rather than buy new bindings. After a full season of heavy skiing on these (these skis/bindings stayed inbounds), I think these bindings are gentle and lightweight, but they don't have your back on steep, fast turns. In short, they are just not active enough. That, and the barrel was ALWAYS coming unscrewed from the cable, which really sucks when you're haulin' and lookin' cool, cause you end up not lookin' cool on your face.

I upgraded from an older two-buckle boot to this boot, and found that I could really push my skis around a lot better. I especially noticed my performance improved when I was able to go faster with more control through cruddy snow. It fits a narrow foot really well, and I definitely prefer the wrap-around liner that Scarpa uses as opposed to the Garmont liners that have stiff tongues--way more comfortable! I use these boots with Karhu Jils and BD lyrics and have a lot of fun on both.

This jacket fits really well; it's long enough and the powder skirt really does work. I've had it for a full ski season now and haven't been easy on it and it's held up really well. I thought the sidewinder zipper might be annoying when unzipped, but it stays put and doesn't get in the way. If you have longer arms, this jacket actually has sleeves that are long enough!

I have had my sharp point for several years now, and I still love it. I was looking for a very warm but lightweight softshell, and this fit the bill perfectly. I use it for an all purpose jacket around town, for cross country skiing, and for backpacking in the fall and spring.

This jacket is great for stuffing into its tiny stuff sack and throwing into a pack for any trip. I have used mine for cold mornings in fire camp and for ski trips as well. I really like how small it can get, and so far, the down has held up really well with all the stuffing and unstuffing. The only thing I don't really like about it is that it is pretty short in length and in the sleeves. By the way, the pictures of the colors on this site don't do it justice. The actual colors are much brighter.

This fleece is AWESOME. It's super thick and durable and warm, and it looks really good. It doesn't pill up after multiple washings and it layers really well over a base layer or under a ski parka.

I mounted this binding on my all-around skis, and it works really well for backcountry and pretty well for resorts. It is not a super active binding, and so if you have it on a soft-flex powder ski, you might not have as much fun on groomers as you would with a more active binding. In the backcountry, however, it is an excellent binding; lightweight, easy to switch between tour and ski modes, and comes with climbing bars. I liked this binding because it seemed a lot simpler than other releasable bindings. It is really easy to change the release pressure and easy to put back on once it releases. The only complaint I have is that snow tends to get jammed up under the toe area when in tour mode, which can be annoying.