I’m happy to report that I’ve got some new socks in for review from Stance. There are several models/styles for varying sports.
Performance Socks
For general sports the “Performance” model is the stance offering. I’ve got some tab height nylon blends in black, gray and white. I just tried my first pair on a mountain bike ride this evening. I just happened to bag my biggest ascent ever. Coincidence?
Hiking Socks
I can’t wait to try out the mid cushion Jimmy Chin model hiking socks, and the merino wool blend hiking socks.
Skiing Socks
It’s 105 degrees here, but it’s never too early to get the gear ready for next ski season! I’ve got a couple of pairs of Stance ski socks to try out when the snow flies.
My summer tradition of skiing Gunsight at Alta Ski Area continues. I hit Gunsight a couple of days ago and it was, uh, not good skiing.
The chute was full of large sun-cups, rocks, pine cones, branches, and even one lady’s season pass to Jackson Hole. When I got home it took me quite a bit of time to rub off the pine sap from the bottoms of my skis.
The summer road wasn’t open yet, so I had to hike up from the Albion parking lot, which added about another 2 miles round trip of hiking in the heat. At the start of the hike it was 80 degrees and when I finished it was 85. Very hot for up there. By the time I got to the top of Gunsight I was asking myself if my season was finally over due to the ever worsening effort to reward ratio.
Captured some of the avalanche damage in Little Cottonwood Canyon today with my latest drone, a slow flyer which is designed for more “cinematic” filming. Only flown it a couple of times so far but I’m digging it. The damage is stunning, including of parts of Tanners Flat Campground. Below are two versions of the video, a long and a short one. The short one is going viral on Twitter, at over 40K views in 24 hours!
My Tecnica Zero G backcountry boots were extremely expensive. I was very surprised and unhappy to find that my boot boards, also known as Zeppas, had completely fallen apart. I had taken my liners out to let them air dry since they were wet with sweat from a tour and found the carnage:
I called the Tecnica dealer that I got the boots from and they did not have my size (25.5). I called other local dealers and none of them had replacement Zeppas either. I looked all over online and nothing. I called Tecnica and I was happy to hear that they would replace them under warranty. One problem. The replacements will not come until some time after November 1st. It is may, and we have a 165 inch base. There is a LOT of backcountry skiing left this spring, plus fall of next season. Waiting until November means missing out on potentially dozens of backcountry ski tours with my Tecnica Zero-G boots.
Solution!
I’ve been into 3D design and 3D printing as a hobby for quite some time, and this was a perfect opportunity to put some of those skills to good use. I designed up a new version of the Zeppa and did some test prints, revising and printing numerous times. Eventually I came up with a satisfactory design so I printed the Zeppas in a softer rubber material that has some cushion to it, like the original boot boards.
3D printed replacement Zeppas (boot boards) for Tecnica Zero-G boots
The work awesome! Better than the originals!
Need Some?
I’ve had many people reach out to me who apparently have the same problem and want me to print them. Sounds like a business opportunity! Let me know if you need some. Reach out to me via any of the social network links in the header.
Started the day intending to do something I’ve never done, ski Mount Olympus Couloir (a.k.a. Memorial Couloir #2). I tried but unfortunately (and fortunately) I did not ski it because it was too sketchy to even get to it.
But I did do something I haven’t done before after I got home! Ate a peanut butter sandwich in the shower. I wanted my peanut butter sandwich so much, and wanted a shower just as much…
Written by: Tony Korologos | Sunday, April 30th, 2023
Categories: Backcountry Skiing
Heaven’s Half Pipe was an…. “experience” yesterday. Every part of my body hurts. I’ve got blisters on my hands from my ski poles. Cuts all over my hands, arms, legs from bushwhacking.
If you’re looking for professional ski shredding, move along! This was a very long, difficult, suffer-fest of bushwhacking, sweating, slogging, post-holing, mashed potatoes-slush, misery, muscle cramps, and falling through broken snow bridges into rivers…
Written by: Tony Korologos | Sunday, October 30th, 2022
Categories: Backcountry Skiing
2nd backcountry skiing session of the season was a little bigger than the first. 1800-ish vertical from the lower lot to the top of the Collins lift at Alta, via Ballroom.
Written by: Tony Korologos | Tuesday, October 25th, 2022
Categories: Backcountry Skiing
It wasn’t much because I ran out of daylight, but I skinned up Grizzly Gulch and made some turns coming back, on snow. I skied! The season has begun. The base has some hazards but it is solid.
This was a tough video to make. So many awesome clips from the 2021-2022 ski season to choose from! Some of the clips feature pow on Mount Baldy, East Castle, backcountry skiing, Main Chute (Mount Baldy), Perlas, High Boy (Alf’s High Rustler), Jitter Bug, Stone Crusher, Gunsight, Deseret Peak’s Twin Couloirs and more.
What a thrilling day it was for me to record my third time “down” the Main Chute in the Baldy Chutes at Alta Ski Area a couple of weeks ago. I say “down” because I’ve only technically skied it twice as the first time I attempted it I fell 1,100 feet from the top to the bottom.
This time around was a nice spring day with mostly soft snow conditions, though some parts of the chute were icy. This was certainly my best run at it. I was in the most control, most relaxed (if that’s possible) and best turns. The first time I hit it after my fall I was terrified and was simply trying to get down it without getting hurt.
I was happy to take my buddy Mike there for his first time. As can be expected, he was psyched out at first. It is visually intimidating at the first. But after watching a couple of other skiers do it, he got up the will and did it without incident. Nice job Mike!
