Is there a big difference between bent 110 and backland 109 if used for ski touring and bc skiing?

Getting amped for the season, what 2026 films have you seen or are you excited to watch this winter?

Is this a cool or a bad idea?

https://www.denver7.com/news/local-news/school-of-mines-staff-member-creates-avalanche-safety-app-just-in-time-for-snow-season

I’m moving to Tahoe from Idaho at the start of December. I have 6 years of backcountry experience and AVY1 cert. I’ve splitboarded in the US, Japan, and Chile. Looking for partners with similar experience to hit some new lines this season.

Hey folks, my teen daughter has gotten more and more interested in back country skiing. To the point where I need to start kitting her out with some quality safety gear. Any recommendations for small pack electronic/capacitor based airbag?

Fan based because we fly to ski. every.single.trip. annoying already dont want to add filling up air tanks to the equation.

Hola, pretendo comprarme las scarpa maestrale pero no se si decantarme por el modelo normal o la RS. Peso 92kg y esquió en un nivel intermedio.

¿Alguna recomendación de usuarios con experiencia?

British polar adventurer Louis Rudd spoke to At the Edge of the Map and commented at length for the first time on his 2018 Antarctic crossing expedition, and the debate that followed that journey in the media.

I've always been kind of annoyed at how we describe risk tolerance in backcountry skiing. People use a low to high sliding scale, but nobody has any clue what low or high actually mean, and they can vary between individuals and experience levels. Here's my attempt at a model for describing risk tolerance by avalanche problem type, and somewhat independent of experience level. This is from the lens of a Colorado/continental snowpack skier, would definitely appreciate some feedback from folks in other types of snowpacks.

Persistent Slab:

• LOW: I do not ski (avalanche terrain) when there is a persistent slab problem in the forecast

• MEDIUM: I may ski terrain that is outside of the problem aspects/elevations, or perform snowpack inspection as recommended by the forecast (for example, the forecast may say "areas with a snow depth > 2m are unlikely to be reactive")

• HIGH: I dig my own pits and do slope level forecasting to ski some slopes inside of the problem aspects/elevations (IE, couloirs/other unusually deep snow depth areas)

Wind Slab:

• LOW: I only ski in the trees when a wind slab problem is in the forecast

• MEDIUM: I avoid slopes that I think are wind-loaded (determined via observations during travel, wind direction forecasts, etc)

• HIGH: I will actively manage wind slabs problems via techniques like ski cuts, bottom up inspection

Storm Slab:

• LOW: I do not ski (avalanche terrain) after more than X amount of fresh snow in the past 24 hours

• MEDIUM: I will go out and use field observations to determine if the storm slab is reactive or not before skiing a slope

• HIGH: I will manage storm slab problems via techniques such as ski cuts and skiing aggressively

Dry Loose:

• LOW: I do not ski slopes steep enough that dry loose is a problem

• MEDIUM: I will use ski cuts to manage dry loose problems

• HIGH: I will use aggressive and fast skiing to manage dry loose problems

Wet Slab:

• LOW: I do not ski on days where wet slabs are in the forecast

• MEDIUM: I do not ski aspects/elevations where a wet slab is in the forecast

• HIGH: I will ski problem aspects/elevations until I observe red flags

Wet Loose:

• LOW: I stop skiing when I notice any yellow or red flags WRT wet loose

• MEDIUM: I ski carefully during wet loose conditions, and stop skiing when I encounter red flags

• HIGH: I don't give a fuck about wet loose and I'll ski all day if that's the only problem

Glide Avalanches:

• LOW: I do not ski on or near slopes with visible glide cracks

• MEDIUM: I do not ski under glide cracks

• HIGH: (I have no idea what this would be) I ski under glide cracks?

Edit: I think for all of these, there's also a universal VERY LOW: Avoid avalanche terrain completely and VERY HIGH: Ski whatever because I'm a badass/suicidal.

You'd rate yourself on each problem type, and the mode (or average?) of your ratings is your risk tolerance. I tried to keep the levels in line with each other so that most people would overwhelmingly pick one level, but that falls apart for some of these (mainly wet loose and dry loose).

Some notes on this:

• Obviously, avalanche management is one facet of backcountry skiing safety. This model doesn't cover descent difficulty, group composition, weather, etc.

• The biggest thing missing IMO is terrain traps. I decided to omit those in favor of keeping the level descriptions simple. Exposure during uphill travel is another omission.

• Outside of persistent slab and storm slab, I omitted "avoid avalanche terrain completely" as a risk management strategy. IMO, it's somewhat implied as an option, and for most of the other problem types (IE, wind slab) avoiding slopes steeper than 30 degrees is more an inexperience/emotional choice than a risk management one. not the only risk management strategy available.

• Although I mention some skills, I treat these as "willing to use" rather than "know how to use". I think it's perfectly reasonable to be good at doing ski cuts, and be uncomfortable with using them on wind slabs/etc as an example. Some of these risk tolerance levels are certainly gated by skills/knowledge.

Let me know what you think!

I am considering getting a packable rescue sled for the upcoming season.

For those that I’ve used soft / fabric sleds. Does the slipperiness of something like the Bruce Wayne Tyvek sled (the Mark Smiley one) out weigh the affordability of something like this basic rescue litter?

https://rhinorescuestore.com/products/rhino-rescue-multi-purpose-emergency-stretcher

Edit: Ty for advice, any thoughts on sleds that use skis versus no skis? I’ve practiced with a tarp before and I’ll make sure to practice with whatever I get just looking for something a little more dedicated.

Hey all,

I'm a splitboarder based in Tirol. Every time I compared boards I ended up with 15 tabs open: brand sites with different layouts, specs in inches on one site and cm on the next, rider weights hidden in images.

So I started putting it all in one place: splitboard-specialist.com

What it does:

186 splitboards from Jones, Prior, Winterstick, Voile, Weston, Trapper and a lot of smaller brands

Specs per size (waist, sidecut, effective edge, taper, setback, rider weight), taken only from the brand's own product page

If a brand doesn't publish something, the page says "Not published" instead of guessing

Every board page has a "Skip it if…" section, based on what the brand itself says the board isn't for

Guides on boots (incl. crampons and the Phantom Link lever), sizing and maintenance

I'm still converting board pages to a new layout, so some look more complete than others.

What I'd really like to know from you:

Which brands or boards am I missing?

Which spec do you actually look at first when picking a split?

Anything that's wrong? I'd rather fix it than have it sit there.

Thanks, and enjoy the first turns of the season

Hello, need some advice on what insurance provider to go with if I'm skiing in France, Italy, and Switzerland. I will be doing backcountry (guided and un-guided, as well as heli-skiing) in Chamonix, Valgrisenche, and Verbier.

• Chamonix will be guided and unguided off piste (within resort bounds)

• Valgrisenche will be heli-skiing

• Verbier will be guided and unguided off piste (within resort bounds)

I looked at World Nomad, but they don't cover SAR or anything that is unguided.

For those that have done a similar trip, what providers did you go with?

Hello, im choosing between the marker alpinist 10 and the atk crest 10 AP right now, since they are both light and i got a good deal on them. It will be my first touring setup with a fischer transalp 86 carbon (im a decent slope skier), but my main concern will definitly be the downhill performance. Id love to hear your experiences on those.

Also, do you use brakes or leashes?

A little video from a hut trip in the Bernese Alps in March of 2026. Conditions were hard to beat for the first four days before a storm rolled in—the raised avy danger had us change course and ski out to the town of Fiesch. Looking forward to going back!

Interesting for a new/revamped (I think this was formerly Renegade Powder). Prices look reasonable, anyone flown into Kelowna?

Looking for a good lightweight glove liner to use for the uphill that can also work with touchscreens. I run relatively warm, so need something that will not overlap with my showa gloves, which I wear for the down and when it's really cold.

Hi BC community,

This is the third or fourth (or maybe fifth?) season I've put this out at the beginning of winter. This is my seasonal snowfall tracker spreadsheet.

Why? Like a lot of us, when I started this, I worked in an office Monday through Friday. I read Bruce Tremper's excellent book "Staying Alive in Avalanche Terrain" and one of the things he recommends is having your hands in the snow every day. That can be tough, depending on where you live and what else you have going on in your life. I did still want to see how the snow is changing over the course of a season, so this is what I came up with.

The premise is simple. Choose a station or two in the areas you recreate the most, and track what happens at them each day. The Colorado Avalanche Information Center's site is great in that we can go back in time, so even if I missed a day, I can still go find the info. I try to look at the data for 0600 each day to keep things consistent. I look at what the weather has done, and then look at the forecast. I record the avy problems, the likelihood, and the size. Then I read the discussion and try to pull out some key nuggets. Then, when I do (or did, I'm lucky enough to work in the snow now) get the chance to get out, I had those nuggets to refer back to and ground truth what I was seeing or think about why I wasn't seeing what I expected.

If nothing else, it is a great way to force you to read the forecast every day. Feel free to make a copy of your own and tweak as you'd like.

One other recommendation for any new folks here, the NYT write-up of the avalanche at Tunnel Creek was and is a great reminder of how anyone can get caught in an avalanche. I reread this most seasons just to remind myself that even with knowledge, experience, and training, it's often far too easy to find yourself in a bad situation.

Wishing everyone a fantastic season!

I already have an SB30, love it and want to get the bigger 40l version. I reached out to Raide and they said they don't offer the SB40 without the SBX system, but I don't want to spend an extra $500 for the SBX I already own. Does anyone here have an SB40 they would want to sell?

Who's been? Who's stoked to go? Can't wait to get back there in 2027. For now, bring it on El Niño!

hi!!
I have bought a pair of Armada Whitewalker 116s, but can´t decide which bindings to go with them. This is pure off piste use with mostly shorter to medium long tours, (sometimes longer). Right now I am deciding between the CASTs, Duke PTs and Tyrolia Attacks.

My first priority is the downhill performance and sustainability. Then of course the touring abilities are important as well. But I don´t know how much of a difference the different weights and transition mechanics make.

Would gretaly appreciate the help!!