Subscribe RSS

Tag-Archive for » september «

Monday Stoke
•

Sorry for the radio silence, but after two weeks on the road in Salt Lake City and Las Vegas for the Outdoor Retailer and SIA tradeshows, we’re finally back in the office. There’s a huge backlog of emails, messages, blog entries, and skiing to be done, but here’s a little “good to be home” stoke.

We caught up with Karhu athlete JT Robinson at OR, freshly home in UT from a trip to Japan with Sweetgrass Productions. JT described some incredible powder during his trip, and Sweetgrass just released a little teaser from their January filming with a couple shots of JT in it. Without further ado, your Monday stoke:

Category: Ski  Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,  Leave a Comment
Quick Pic from the Road
•

We’re on the road in Utah this week for the Outdoor Retailer Winter Market tradeshow, and then in Las Vegas all next week for the SIA tradeshow. We had great weather yesterday for the OR Backcountry Basecamp at Snowbasin, UT, with lots of folks psyched on their Karhu ski demos.

Things are pretty busy on the road, but I thought I’d share this photo from the weekend’s sunny weather in the Northwest. The snow was pretty poor skiing, but Saturday’s views from the Tatoosh Range just south of Mount Rainier National Park could not be beat:


(Chris Barchet, Charlie Lozner, and Elizabeth Lozner looking out at Mount Rainier. Photo by Graham Gephart.)

Category: Ski  Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,  Leave a Comment
Alta Stoke
•

Photographer Stephen Gelb sent us these three snapshots from Alta recently, of Matthew Tosi from Alta’s Rustler Lodge ripping on Karhu Team 100s just after New Year’s Day. Great images, and great stoke… love how the cold smoke and the clouds hang together against the blue sky background. Thanks Stephen and Matthew!


(All photos by Stephen Gelb.)

Category: Ski  Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,  Leave a Comment
Loving Old Man Winter
•

Big snows across the country this week. Seattle has been snowbound for the past week, and skis have been better than cars for getting around town. On the other side of the country, it will be a deep white Christmas in the Northeast this year. Brian Mohr checks in after a winter solstice ski:
He makes us shiver. He makes us sweat. He also brings incredible joy to our lives…

Welcome back Old Man Winter.
We love you.
Brian and Emily
Moretown, VT

(Skiers: Andy Weis, Dylan Crossman, Emily Johnson – Mad River Valley, Vermont – Winter Solstice 2008)

Category: Ski  Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,  Leave a Comment
First Tour in the PNW
•

Rain was still falling in the pre-dawn darkness on Saturday morning, but the chill in the air confirmed what we’d seen on the mountain telemetry data. The arctic system that blew in on Friday packed a punch, leaving 18” of snow down to mid-elevations and bringing a much-needed start to winter in the Pacific Northwest.

Crystal opened the lifts to the south, but we gathered the troops and swung north to follow the heaviest part of the storm. With little existing base, we headed to the closed Stevens Pass ski area, with the hopes of a tune-up tour and some powder without too much damage.

(Karhu Brand Director Charlie Lozner checks out the liftline on the backside. Photos by Graham Gephart.)
We certainly weren’t the only ones with the idea, but there was enough snow to go around. Winter suddenly felt very real again, and I realized how much I’d missed the patter of snowflakes falling on my steaming head and shoulders while skinning. From the top, we skied a couple laps, the muscles coming back into the groove more and more each time.
(Bruce Jahnke from the test lab crosses a water hazard.)
(Development engineer Chris Barchet goes exstream skiing.)

The lack of base meant enough hazards – rocks, down logs, open water – to break up any real long flow of turns. But there was enough to link a few together, and we even found one little pillowy section that teased at the goods to come.
(Elizabeth Lozner makes short work of the pillows.)

By the time we climbed up for our third lap, the snow picked up again with urgency. In no time flat, we were all climbing with shoulders covered in a solid inch, and a light puff emerged from under step as the skis slid forward on the skintrack. All in all, a great warm up to start the season, and looking forward to more to come.
(Chris leads back up for more turns.)

(Acculumation on the skintrack up, can’t wait for more.)

Category: Ski  Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,  Leave a Comment
Next Entries »