It’s that time of year when we look in our garage, dust off the skis and evaluate if any significant gear purchases are needed or if some things need to be sold off.  It’s the season of ski swaps as well, an excellent venue for making a little extra cash, get a good deal on some touring gear, or to do some trolling for vintage gear.  Ski Swaps can be like ‘Antique Road Show’ for mountain folk.  Or you can get some great collectors items like when Pat O’Neill was selling his skins at last year’s Nordic swap (who knows how many races have been won with those skins!).  I’ve worked a number of swaps and I used to deal with a lot of gear, so I thought I’d start this winter season with a look at my own gear closet. 

I think for living in a ski town and working at a gear store, I’ve kept it pretty minimal with 3 pairs of skis (exluding my skate and nordic gear).  Let’s start with the Movement skis.  Movement is a little known Swiss company that is just starting to gain some ground here in the US.  The Freeheel is their assymetrical tele ski and I gotta say–I love them.  They’re great on the resort, but also nice to tour with.  Their line seems pretty ‘new school’, but across the board, their skis have gotten incredible reviews.  They don’t get that much press (I don’t think they were even included in Skiing Magazine’s Gear Review), but if you get a chance to demo them, you should.  Although then you’ll want to buy them, which could be bad. If you have a recession proof job–go for it!  But if you don’t, don’t even ski them–it’s better off just not knowing.  I put a Voile Switchback on them which I think is the most trouble free of the tele touring bindings.  I’ve tried the 01 and the Ascent, but I really like the Switchback for it’s even flex and it’s reliability.  It’s streamlined–not a lot of parts to break or have issues with and it flexes the most like my old hardwire Chili’s, which were my favorite tele bindings.

Next up is the Dynafit Mustagh Ata, or my ‘Lion King’ skis as Jayson once called them.  If you can get past the crazy chinese lion eyes staring back at you while you are skinning, then you’ll fall in love with this ski.  It’s amazingly light, but still very stiff.  I never drop the knee in the backcountry anyway, so these are my go-to skis for touring.  I’ve had these for a couple of years, and I’ve had so many good days on them not matter what the conditions are (except breakable crust–I just can’t have a good day on breakable crust no matter what skis I have).  They are mid-range in terms of width and I’ve never felt like I needed more ski or should have a thinner ski.  Incredibly versatile.  And of course Dynafit bindings speak for themselves.  I’ve never felt the need to go with the fancy-smancy FT12 binding, the Comfort has always been good to me.  Although I think they are discontinuing the Comfort, so the ST would be my choice.  If I could click my heels three times and get another pair of skis, I’d get the Manaslu’s–love those for deeper powder days.  But if I was searching for a one and only pair of AT skis, I’d probably go with the Mustagh ATA Superlights which are new this season. As far as the Phat Luv’s–I wouldn’t take those in the backcountry unless I was being towed on a snowmobile by Dan Locknecker for every run; the bindings make these fairly heavy. I did have a day of towed skiing up by Irwin last winter with these and they were just the ticket.  When we’re in a nice storm cycle, these can’t be beat for an awesome day on the  hill. I can’t believe I did it, but I did–I sold my Mega Rides this year. I’m trying to keep a stasis in the gear closet and I knew I wanted to get a slightly stronger boot than the Mega Rides, and I’m a Garmont girl, so I went with the Luster. It replaces last year’s Radium (for the ladies) and I swear they feel lighter than my Mega Rides! I’m excited about the wrap around cuff and the stronger flex. I haven’t skied them yet, but I know they’re going to be awesome. I’m now realizing I really could have taken better pictures . .. For tele boots I have the Garmont Elektra (white and silver) and my old Venus boots (blue) that I learned on. I really only ski the Elektra’s, but I keep the Venus’ around for the sole purpose of a lighter boot for the Al Johnson.   Also note my Puma’s there which were my indoor soccer shoes from high school that  are close to 20 years old (which after doing the math, I still cannot believe), I still cannot throw away.  They are literally ‘blue suede shoes’–I mean come on. 

You may be asking yourself why I included a picture of two random pieces of fabric–well this may be the most important $20 that only costs $1.32 to make piece of fabric in your gear closet!  The Buff!  Yes, we made fun of all the Europeans that wore them years ago (and when we saw them on ‘Survivor’ used as tube tops), and then we made fun of our friends that came back from Europe lauding the benefits of the buff, and then we made fun of our friends that wore them after getting them as a prize for the Randonee Rally, and then we finally bought one ourselves. . .I don’t know why this small piece of fabric makes such a difference, but it does. It’s often exactly what you need to shield your face from pin pricks of flying ice, or a little extra warmth around your neck, or the classic ‘buff/visor’ combo (which still makes me laugh at you, but just a little). I may have a Buff photo collection by the end of the season. All the guides love their Buffs. . .

My last favorite item that has proved extremely valuable in the backcountry is my Patagonia Down Sweater Jacket. This is the pullover from last year, but I think making it a zip up is a big improvement. It’s so frickin’ light, and so frickin’ warm. Perfect for when you get on top of a ridge and the wind is howling–it’s like wrapping a sleeping bag around you. It’s light enough not to be a burden in your pack and compact enough to squeeze on under your shell.
Well, that’s some of the items in my closet. We’ll be featuring some other employees of CBMG and find out what’s in their closet. I’ve heard that Jayson has 18 pairs of skis. . . let’s find out.
–Karina Steele (CBMG Office Manager)

CB Mountain Guides

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