The Icefields Parkway Confessions of a Ski Bum (skicanadamag.com) With 6,641 sq km of mountains to explore in Banff National Park, where does an adventurous skier start? Nowadays, most backcountry skiers start with Marcus Baranow’s Confessions of a Ski Bum guides. Baranow has […]
Plum Summit 12
Last season Plum sent me a Summit 12 binding to try and although it’s not a binding type I would normally steer towards, it proved to be a great choice for my resort/backcountry crossover setup. The Summit 12 seems to […]
Plum R150
In the past I have steered clear of anything that’s called a “race binding”, my feeling was this category was meant for the single purpose of being as light as possible while being used less than a normal backcountry binding. […]
Mammut Alugator Light Avalanche Shovel
A few years ago I was looking to lighten my pack weight and after skimming most other areas I was left with safety gear. I already had a bad experience with the BCA Shaxe in regards to finding light weight […]
Consolation Col
Brandon and I’s original plan this week was to ski Bell Couloir starting from Moraine Lake, heading over Consolation Col, climbing the south aspect of Bell and then looping back down through Taylor Pass. We headed out from Moraine Lake […]
Wapta Summer Skiing
It’s officially summer but it sure doesn’t feel like it. Most days around Lake Louise have highs of 15C and there is still snow at treeline in many places and deep snow in the alpine. Leading up to our weekend […]
Canoskimo
A week prior Brandon messaged me looking to get some turns and I had just the adventure to fit the bill. I had been watching the snow levels above Bow Lake for a couple of weeks and I wanted to […]
Get Into Backcountry Skiing PT 1 : Why?
The other day it dawned on me that I have answered the question “how do I get into backcountry skiing” more than any other but had yet to write about the topic. Over the next few posts I’ll go into […]
Get Into Backcountry Skiing PT 2 : Gear
In part 2 of this series I’m going to go into detail about buying gear for backcountry skiing. If you haven’t already read part 1 of this series check it out to make sure you want to drop a bunch […]
Get Into Backcountry Skiing PT 3 : Education
In this section I’ll be talking about gaining experience through education. If you haven’t read parts 1 and 2 of this series please check them out. Geared Up And Ready To Go If you have taken my advice so far […]
Get Into Backcountry Skiing PT 4 : Culture
In part 4 I’m going to dive into the dirty world of ski bum culture so you can prepare to deal with kooks, jaded locals and “know it all newbies”. If you haven’t read parts 1-3 you should check them […]
Helena Ridge
Everyone had been hitting up the Icefields but Nick and I kept getting bad weather windows on our days off so this week we decided to check out the Castle Mountain area. I often go to this zone when the […]
K2 Wayback 88
It dawned on me today after buying a new K2 Wayback 80 for summer use that I have never reviewed my 88s. I’ve owned 2 pairs of Wayback 88s and for several years it was the setup I used the […]
PHD Xero Half Bag
A few years ago I was trying to figure out how to drop weight from my overnight kit. I started by weighing all my items and it was obvious that the sleeping bag was the first area I needed to […]
Pika vs Oazo
This afternoon I opened my IG inbox to find a simple question: “Pika or Oazo?” I had meant to write up a comparison review before the global pandemic started but I had forgot about it amidst the chaos of preparing […]
Eisenhower Couloir
On March 13 2020 Nick and I went back to Rockbound Lake in hopes of skiing the full Eisenhower Couloir. There is a chockstone in this run but you can’t ski under it so we brought a small rock rack […]
Two Ways To Talus
In the evening on December 11th I noticed a press release from Talus Lodge about their new Climate Action plan, the move to self propelled access for a lodge that traditionally only did fly in access seemed like a bold move. […]
Rockbound Lake Couloirs
It’s been several months since I did a trip report and I was surprised I never made one for this day as it was sweet. On Feb 28 2020 Nick, Brandon, Nathan and I went up to Rockbound Lake to […]
Plum Pika Binding
After using the Plum Oazo Binding last season and being very happy with the product, I agreed to sign on with Plum to represent them in Canada. The first binding I received was their Pika model and I have been […]
Natalko (Talc) Peak FWA
Earlier this month Nick and I attempted to get up Natalko (Talc) Peak but were turned away for a few reasons during our 3 day trip to Egypt Lake. After looking at more pictures and satellite imagery we decided to […]
The Needle
For about 10 years I’ve been looking at the east aspect of Natalko (Talc) Peak and wondering what goes and what doesn’t. A few times I have attempted to ski some of the lines by booting up them but always […]
Plum Family Rockies Week
Last year I was able to test the Plum Oazo binding thanks to SkiUphill and I loved them and in the summer I contacted Plum to see if they would be interested in working together to promote their product in […]
Fischer Hannibal 106 Ski
Full disclosure, these skis were sent to me for free by Fischer via SkiUphill. This review of the ski was not something Fischer or SkiUphill requested before or after sending me the ski and I am writing it in order […]
The Mind Shaft
I believe the first time I saw this run was 11 years ago (2009) on a trip to Egypt Lake, (or maybe in Lost Horse Creek, where you can actually see the whole run). The line was huge with massive […]
Mind Shaft – Chugach Mountain Institute
Mind Shaft | Chugach Mountain Institute (anchorageavalanchecenter.org) By Mat Brunton I spent a week in the Canadian Rockies (based out of Lake Louise) while driving back to Alaska after a three month 2019-20 snow season road trip during which I […]
December Pow
Today as I looked at my website I realized that I forgot to post anything in December, maybe it was all the fresh pow clogging my brain that made me forget to post? In early December the Rockies got hit […]