Spring rolls in and the icefields open up. Lines get skied that only exist for a few weeks a year. It's also the time of year when more skiers than usual find themselves roped to partners on glaciated terrain for the first time, staring at a tangle of cord and hardware and wondering if they've brought the right stuff.
Modern ski mountaineering ropes are 6mm and pack down to the size of your folded skins. They're not just lighter, but also more cut resistant and more water resistant that traditional nylon ropes. There's several specialized models available from various manufacturers but they each have pros and cons. I've reviewed each of the options available in North America to help you sort out the differences.
At SkiUphill, our goal is simple: to be the trusted source of expertise for everything backcountry skiing and trail running related in Western Canada. We love being challenged in our knowledge and all our staff loves geeking out on gear over a good cup of coffee. Recently, Jeff Perron, well known industry rep in the Bow Valley (Black Diamond, Pieps, etc.) swung by the store and we had a great talk about avalanche transceivers. We quickly realized that while we understood beacon basics and features, we lacked the in-depth knowledge. This led us to the question: How can you optimally use an avalanche transceiver without understanding clearly how it works? At SkiUphill, we care about that, so here is the result of our research.
