Better then where's waldo

Spot service has released a "Track Me" page so now everybody can find out where I am

yeah thats right, cause all of you out there REALLY care about where I am

anyway I think its a pretty cool little function

Check it out!

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=047szCTbxT9DZ7REbx7Ixg2oV0EOOeixE

The Gear Weight List

I've been keeping a list of weights elsewhere on the internet but figured it would be a good idea to back it up here as well

unless otherwise noted weights are for a pair

Skis

160 K2 Sahale 2318g
160 Volkl V1 20/20 2460 g
180 Alpina Cross Terrain 2816 g
177 Atomic TMX 3260 g
177 Volkl G3 3500 g
180 Atomic Heli Daddy 3640 g
165 Volkl Explosive 3688 g
178 G4 3808 g
187 Bluehouse District 3984 g
179 K2 Public Enemy 4140 g
180 Volkl Explosive 4244 g
180 Atomic Powder Plus 4800 g

Bindings

Voile 3-Pin Mountaineer 432 g(3 pin + stock heel)
Voile 3 Pin Mountaineer on riser 740 g (using riser heel)
Dynafit TLT Classic 822 g
G3 Targas 1264 g
Black Diamond O3's 1440 g
Black Diamond O2's 1532 g
Silvretta 300 1660 g
Salomon 977's 2052 g
Fritschi Freeride(w/o toe shim) 1976 g
Fritschi Freeride(Stock) 2052 g
Fritschi Freeride(w/ heel shim) 2076 g
Naxo NX01 VRS 2280 g
Tyrolia Mojo 15 2360 g
Naxo NX21 2500 g
Marker Duke 2720 g

Salomon PS plate 728 g
Voile 3 pin Riser 352 g
Dynafit Rental plate 284 g

Boots

Scarpa F1 3196g standard
Scarpa F1 stripped down(no heel throw and removed all hardware except lower buckle assembly) 2680 g
Dynafit TLT 700 3576 g plus rear spoiler and WC booster 3676 g
Lowa Struktura Evo 3920 g
Scarpa T2's 3920 g (non thermo liner) 3432 g (thermo liner)
Dynafit FR Aero 4300 g Stock 4436 g modified
Dalbello Avanti V12 5284 g(standard liner) 4764 g(thermo liner)

Go Pro Helmet Hero

Just purchased a helmet hero from go pro



First impression is-"damn this thing is tiny"

Its incredibly small, and once out of the box it feels about the same as one of the toy spy cameas you would get when you were a kid

Photos/Video are saved to a SD card, suposedly you're able to shoot 2 hours of film with a 2GB SD card.  Camera is 3 megapixels, and is hyped to take fantastic shots, but I'm not buying it for the camera function.  I'd give a full rundown on tech specs but I'm lazy.

The entire camera can be encased in a plastic case that is waterproof to 100 feet, so taking photos/video underwater should be no problem.  The other cool thing is the plethora of helmet mounting attachments included with the camera.  From straps to glue I have no problem saying that you will have NO problem whatsoever finding a method to attach your camera.

 

On my Nine.9 I decided to use the glue, but on my G10 I went with the straps.  Not only is it quckly removable, but it doesn't interfere with the operation of the vents.  Operation is ridiculously intuitive: one button turns it on and changes modes and the other controls the shutter.  The buttons are very easy to find and I doubt there will be any problems with operation while wearing gloves, which is a major plus

Here's another pic to show just how miniscule this thing is

And one final one showing how the mount shouldn't interfere with googles

Sample footage, make sure to actually go to youtube and check it out in High Quality.  I can't seem to find any way to link to the high quality version.

The only drawbacks I can see so far are the batteries, the Helmet Hero takes 2 AAA batteries and my guess is that unless you upgrade them to lithium, you're going to run out of juice fairly quickly in the colder weather.  Another minor gripe is the lack of any kind of display screen, which makes it difficult to orient the camera, but having delt with large LCD screens sapping batteries in the cold, I can completely understand the reasons behind leaving it out.

I'd always wanted to have a helmet cam but was turned off by the hassle of running wires, the difficulty of finding a safe and secure mounting location, and the prohibitive cost of buying a video camera with imputs and a lens to attach it to.  If that wasn't enough, you then had to find someway to edit and upload your video.  The helmet hero is wireless, comes with numerous mounting options, and easily transfers video via SD card.  Add in the extremely reasonable price of $169 and I think this thing is a winner.

Bluehouse Taco Stand Flex Video

Sick skis, I can't WAIT to get my hands on my Mavens!

Boo Weekly is my hero

kick Westwood's prissy ass

Bluehouse is down

Wanted to buy skis,

Website crashed from too much traffic,

Go to bed and hope they're there in the AM or stick it out and hope the site goes back online?

Update:

Powstash is the MAN, one pair of Bluehouse Mavens on their way to me!

A busy day at K

The boys made the executive decision that one night wasn't enough so we decided to stay another day

Early morning in the pool, the leaves are just starting to turn

air temp 47* and minianimal really doesn't care that the pool is outside

While we were swimming there was a helicopter working on Skye Peak

After the pool we drove over to Bear to see what was going on but the heli was grounded and we didn't want to walk through a work zone.

Instead we went for a Snowdon hike, looks like the triple is getting a new coat of paint

At first glance I thought they were putting a waffle hut at the Snowdon quad, but now I'm not possitive as it could be a feature for the new Stash park

We made it all the way up to the Poma, before calling it a day.  I figure if minianimal can make it to the poma this year, next year he should be all set to make it all the way into the glades for early season turns ;-)

And of course to end the day one has to hit Long Trail Brewery for eats and drinks!

9/17 Killington Golf

With mommy away for the next few days, Mini-animal and I decided to head up to Killington for the night

we arrived to find the golf course relatively deserted so we decided to play a quick 9 holes

Practice Green at the Killington Grand

Mini IS Tiger Woods(or at least he has the same headcover)

Is it snowing YET?!?!

Mini-animal on the range

Mini does his best John Daly impersonation

Now the Stack and Tilt

Mini on the 1st hole

Mini-animal chilling in the Cart on 2

Daddy can I PLEASE drive the cart?

Mini needs to work on his touch on those 2 footers

The two of us had an awesome time

First Look: Black Diamond Bandit Pack

I'm constantly looking for a lift serve/sidecountry pack that works.  In the past few seasons I've been through the Dakine Heli Pro, Black Diamond Slide, Dakine Tram, and finally back to the Heli Pro(version 2).  

So in the search for the better moustrap, this years entrant is the Black Diamond Bandit.  Its 11L which transates to 690 cubic inches which puts it on the small side of packs.  For those that desire it is availible with an avalung but for my purposes I feel that the standard non avalung version is sufficient for my needs.

My problems with previous packs have ranged from poor fit, to lack of ski carry, and finally too many bells and whistles getting in the way actually doing the packs job.  In order to successfully win the job my pack has to do the following things.  

1. Its got to fit on the chair.  There is NOTHING worse then dealing with an overstuffed pack on a chairlift.  Especially on the East Coast where stupid people will flip the saftey bar down with no regard to whats in the way.  Seriously people if you're not coordinated enough to sit on a chairlif without falling off, perhaps you should drop skiing and take up checkers, ok?  The Slide was a great pack but it never compressed properly and you felt like you were carrying a turtle shell when you sat down.

2. Get rid of all the stupid straps and pockets.  The latest version of the heli pro is the WORST for this.  Its got integrated hydration so why the heck do I need a pocket for carrying a water/soda bottle?  Furthermore I HATE compression straps and buckles espeically when they cover the zippers.   All they're good for is coming loose and snagging on trees/lifts/etc.  Plus everytime you reach into the bag you have to unbuckle and re-adjust the compression straps.  I realize that on larger packs compression straps are a good thing but there are ways of using compression straps without interfering with the access to the pack al-la the Frenzy that I reviewed here. 

3. It needs to carry at a minimum: hydration, skins, change of googles and gloves.  Being able to organize all this stuff is a plus as well.   Both the old and new Heli Pro packs were lousy at this, the new one in particular.  There was no way to store small things like clif bars and chapstick away from large things like skins and gloves.  This ment that you were always digging through your pack looking for tiny crap.  I also get annoyed at companies that make packs for winter use and simply add the probe/shovel storage as an afterthought.  I'd be fine with a pack that didn't have shovel and probe storage.   But if you're going to put that feature into a pack, at least put SOME thought into what the best way to store them would be.  The newest version of the Heli Pro is absolutely abhorent, I don't know how anyone could easily extricate their shovel and probe, its hard enough getting them IN the Heli Pro.

4. A good ski carry, I honestly don't know why this bugs me, but it does.  The Dakine Tram was almost the holy grail, it was small, streamlined, well orgazined, and had a GREAT outer sleeve for shovel/probe.  But it lacked the ski carry which just killed it for bootpacking or any other task that required strapping skis to the pack.

So without further yammering here's my first look at the Black Diamond Bandit

The back is completely clean, no straps, no mess.  One outside pocket allows quick access to smaller items and as a bonus is NOT blocked once you engage the ski carry.  The material feels durable enough to take on ski edges but there isn't a specific wear area so I will be interested to see how it holds up over the course of a season.  The ski carry loop can be adjusted to fit wide ski tails and can be snugged up when not in use by means of an internal buckle system.

As you can see the pack is pretty low profile, I don't think you'll have any problems fitting this on a lift. It also retains its shape very well even when not full, which is a bonus since there are no compression straps.

The inside organization is almost subconcious.  There is very little excess space and therefore everything fits perfectly in exactly the space it's designed to go in.  Another neat little feature is that the zipper is designed so the pack can be enterly opened meaning you'll never have to dig for the stuff on the bottom.  It also has taller walls near the bottom of the pack which prevent anything on the bottom from accidentally falling out of the pack when its opened completely.  I'd say you'd have room for skins, h20, avie tools, goggles, hat, gloves.  You might POSSIBLY get baselayer or lightweight windshirt, but that'd be pushing it.  I don't think a down jacket or other top layer will fit inside.

Its also got a wet/dry divider, I'm not sure how well that's going to work, but its there.

The one area I fel like could really use an upgrade is the waistbelt.  It's mearly a peice of webbing with a buckle thrown on.  I know its a minamilist pack, and most of the extreme rando dudes will simply cut it off, but because its so light and tiny, I find that the waistbelt is very easy to tangle and lose behind you.  Adding padding would at least give you someplace to start looking, and would allow you to add a hip pocket to hold a digital camera or energy bar.

UPDATE

I took the pack on a quick dayhike and it worked fairly well, my only complaint is the waist belt, its somewhat uncomfortable and perhaps completely useless as I felt like the pack carried BETTER when I unbuckled it for a while.  I don't want to get rid of it before it gets some work carrying skis, but I could see taking a razorblade to it come ski season.

UPDATE #2

People have been clamoring for ski carry pictures so here they are

Setup is quick and straighforward

Loop the top strap through the reinforced loop.  Note that there are two loops, one right, one left meaning that you can set your carry up whichever direction you prefer.(also means you can use it for a board carry)

The bottom loop is pretty large, I'm carrying my bluehouse districts but as you can see there is plenty of room for a larger ski.  As I mentioned above the bottom loop has some adjustment so it can be sized to fit different skis, and retracted when not in use.

Note that even with skis on the pack you can access both the top outside pocket and inside clamshell fairly easily

Ski carry is solid, and theres not a ton of movement and its also pretty comfortable even without the use of the waistbelt.  It should be fine for a quick bootpack but I wouldn't want to do a 4-5 hour long slog with it as the heel of the binding/brake arm tends to rub a bit.  Again if you're considering this pack, you probably either have a pack for longer tours, or don't care about carrying skis for a long distance.

First Look: Bluehouse District

Just picked up a pair of last years Bluehouse districts to fill the role of inbounds pow day/sidecountry touring rig.  First impressions are that for their size they are VERY light which is due to their bamboo core construction.  Out of the box the tune needs work, the bases are very fuzzy and the edges aren't quite where I want them, so thats the first thing that will need to be corrected.  Flex is definately medium to soft, I'd peg it really close to Pocket Rocket/Gotama softness, I'll be very interested to see how they hold up on EC hardpack/mixed conditions.  Granted thats not the kind of conditions I got them for, but even on powder days out here you will see some mixed conditions.  In any event I think with Public Enemies, Heli Daddies, and Districts I should be covered regardless of the condtions.

187 cm long 

134-103-122

3984 grams(pair)