Gear Review: 2010/2011 K2 Backlash (Now I See)

I swear I didn't plan this shot.  Really.

It’s really hard to find bad reviews of backcountry products online. When was the last time you ever heard someone tell you that the item they tested was a piece of garbage? 

Maybe bad reviews get buried.  Maybe people are a bunch of liars.  Maybe when there’s nothing nice to say, people don’t say anything at all.   Personally, I think there’s a tendency to rationalize or justify a purchase: especially with large ticket items.

So let me readily admit that my earlier ski reviews are total bullshit.  I was blind and now I see.   I can thank the folks at K2 for my new perspective.

Rudy Traded

Even great players sometimes need to move on.

-Trip Report- Whitewall: Abundance of Caution (January 2010)

                                                      Going Ninja on Whitewall

The thermometer registered 9 degrees above zero as we pulled into the parking lot.

It was already 7 pm and dark.  The plan was to get up to Zealand Notch, camp overnight, ski Whitewall in the morning and then possibly ski Mt. Hale on the way back in the afternoon.  We calculated a total distance (round trip) of around 12 miles-- even without a trip up to the top of Mt. Hale it was ambitious.  Gered and I had already spent the better part of the afternoon braving high winds and zamboni grade ice at Cannon Mountain.  Our legs were tired and our spirits were low.  And we still had a long two days ahead of us.

Rudy Reborn: Better, Stronger, Faster

"We can make him better than he was before. Better, stronger, faster."

From Sean Astin to Steve Austin, Rudy is reborn.  It didn't exactly cost six million dollars, or even six dollars for that matter, but Rudy's back and better than before.

Update: Rudy Sidelined

It figures.  After espousing the virtues of Rudy, Murphy and his freakin law would catch up with me in the mountains of Vermont.  Alas, this last Sunday Rudy found his match in the glades of Andre's Paradise on Jay Peak..  I finished my first turn at the top of the glades, and lept into a second jump-turn when my left foot came flying out of the binding.