philip.ak

@IrishGav wrote:

Whats pack did you end up getting

It’s a Hyperlight Mountain Gear (HMG) Porter in the 4400 size. It’s a roll top, so it sort of gets rolled down or unrolled to match your load. It has a very simple suspension, but carries pretty well. I added the HMG front pocket option for my shovel, skins, and some clothes. I also added some…[Read more]

Cheers. That makes infinitely more sense now. :thumpsup:

@firstlight wrote:

I had the same issue with mine, helicoil and problem solved, used M3 from memory.
I supprised they didn’t just fall out as mine did before bending the Al.
I suggest you chamfer the tounge too to stop them catching, have a close look you will see what I mean.
Did the same to my verts as the pucks came out with the screws.

I don’t…[Read more]

I’d agree with that. I blue Loctite every thread on my bindings and I STILL had a ladder ratchet fall off recently. Sheesh.

I figured it out.

The plastic bar that holds the back of the touring pin had its 3 fixing screws work a quarter turn loose each. I had tightened them before the trip, but they do seem to like to back out on mine. The other binding wasn’t tight, but also not as loose as the one that got damaged. The small amount of play let the crampon get…[Read more]

They are regular Mr Chomps on an Ultracraft, which is a pretty standard 260 waist width. Not sure how this would have manifested itself either. I need to mount them and manipulate them by hand to see where the loads come from.

Like this:

So glad you liked it. The song is Dance Yrself Clean by LCD Soundsystem. I really should update the vid with that info at the end too.

I did some tweaks to the video, mostly by correcting the exposure in the snow scenes and I added an animated map of the route in the beginning and reuploaded to vimeo.

Cheers.

Jones snowboards put the vid up on…[Read more]

@ozsnowbum wrote:

Hey man, thanks for the quick reply.
I notice you have a Burton Spliff which is what I’ve got and spent 50 days on.
Can you compare the Ultracraft to that in terms of weight differences? noticeable?
Powder riding?
Skinning, side hilling?

I can get the Ultracraft for about 1100usd, is it worth the money in your opinion?
I love…

[Read more]

The Jones carbon Solution is supposedly very stiff. Apparently much more so than the regular Solution. My Ultracraft is pretty similar in ride feel to my regular Solution though. The carbon in the Carbon Solution is there for stiffness while the carbon in the Ultracraft is there for weight savings if I understand the design behind them…[Read more]

Thanks for all the kind feedback, gents.

I have to agree that most gopro snowboarding footage makes me want to gouge my eyes out too. I am glad I can please a fellow teletubbie skeptic. 🙂

To carry the board under your arms through brush, I use an 18″ Voile strap and double loop it over the board, passed through the vertical daisy chain on the…[Read more]

For comparison purposes, here is the summer version of the same trip. I tried to get some similar shots on both trips, so you may recognize a few locations.

http://vimeo.com/70740983

[vimeo:1rxu86vs]http://www.vimeo.com/70740983[/vimeo:1rxu86vs]

Cheers!

@TEX wrote:

Whats the wildlife threat on a trip like this in Alaska? Do you carry a gun? Just wondering if thats part of your equipment checkoff list ?

I have lived and backcountry traveled in Kodiak and south central AK for 25 years, and all I carry is bear spray. We have lots of Kodiak brown bears, obviously, but they tend to be wary of humans…[Read more]

@firstlight wrote:

What are those snow anchors?

Home made?

What size ultra craft are you on?

The anchors are some 2 liter silnylon stuff sacks I sewed a loop of webbing around and tied a length of cord to. So yes, somewhat home made. They hold amazingly well, weigh nothing, are easy to dig out, shake clean of snow, are not likely to be damaged…[Read more]

Can’t you just grind the post on the channel hardwear down, or does that leave you with too few threads (I think you need 4 to fully engage if memory serves)?

US shoe size to Mondo conversion is supposed to to be an industry standard thing. It is a defined relationship. It is NOT supposed to be up to the manufacturer any more than a thermometer manufacturer gets to decide what the relationship between Celsius and Fahrenheit is.

This is my gripe with Fitwell. I wear 11.5 US men’s street shoe size.…[Read more]

My wife has been using her new ones this winter (charcoal plush, red glue) and the glue is definitely less sticky than the old versions. The material woven to make the skins likes to ‘roll’ towards the plush side, so given the chance the skins will try to expose the edge of the glue where it gets contaminated with snow. This process repeats…[Read more]

The Spark Sabretooth crampons do free hinge (passively follow the binding base plate when you slide forward) but still get pressed down fully with every heel riser level or without heel risers.

We’ve had a crappy winter here on Kodiak, so less touring days than normal. My Tesla Magnetos have had one of the touring pins work it’s way out about 2mm on two occasions, but after shoving it back in and subsequently greasing the touring bracket interface, things have been good. Both our sets of Tesla Afterburners have been good. Still, not a…[Read more]

The whole time I rode HBs, on the climbs, I wondered what all the fuss was about. I wasn’t any faster, they certainly aren’t more comfortable, I didn’t notice any reduction in weight manifested in feeling fresh at the top, etc. I didn’t see an improvement in climbing, but the annoyance on the descents was palpable, so I ‘de-evolved’.…[Read more]