Poor Mans Heli » backcountry

First Look: Mountain Hardwear Koa 55 pack

Justin — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 20:10:53 +0000

In an odd stroke of timing I was talking about wanting to try the Mountain Hardwear Koa 55 early last week. It really seems like a good mix of light (though not ultralight by any stretch) and feature filled. Fast forward to Friday and I discovered MH was doing their semi-annual warehouse sale, which

Review: Westcomb Mirage jacket

Justin — Thu, 28 May 2009 18:23:00 +0000

It’s been awhile since I’ve fired up a review, and I’ve been sleeping on this one for awhile. Took the pics a few weeks back and just haven’t set aside the time to fire up some thoughts on the jacket.

Marketing speak The Westcomb Mirage jacket is part of the Hardshell AX line of

Jeremy Jones/Deeper Awesomeness

Justin — Wed, 27 May 2009 23:27:58 +0000

Somewhere on Hood a kid is working on getting another 90 degrees of rotation and stressing out about his style, contest scores and sponsorships. Meanwhile, on the other side of the world Jeremy Jones and crew are progressing the sport in a different manner while stressing about avy hazards, leaving for their line at

First Ascent team reaches Everest summit

Justin — Wed, 20 May 2009 00:44:17 +0000

Looks like the First Ascent team reached the summit of Everest today. Congrats to them, as that’s a burly achievement and chosen suffering at it’s finest. You can follow their every foostep an rib breaking cough at their blog here. It remains to be seen if First Ascent is an authentic attempt by EB

Avalanche beacon review round up

Justin — Wed, 13 May 2009 17:56:15 +0000

Haven’t been posting much lately due to time/energy commitments. Figured I’d take a moment to throw these two avalanche beacon review sites up to help out anybody who is looking for a beacon, especially as now it’s the offseason and the sales are going to start – and if you’re lucky you’ll find a

Sharing the bloggity blog blogger love

Justin — Thu, 07 May 2009 22:31:34 +0000

Bored at work and/or killing time at work? Check out the below blogs, maybe one (or all) will be new to you. Some are snowboard, some ski, all good for a few extra mental vacation minutes.

Jeremy Jones blog Lou Dawson, first guy to ski all the 14′ers in Colorado Lots of good cooler

Influences v1.0

Justin — Tue, 05 May 2009 18:58:07 +0000

If a picture is worth a thousand words this post falls somewhere between your average blog post and ‘War and Peace’.

Craig Kelly

Jamie Lynn

Nirvana

Greg Galinsky v. Eames

Temple Cummins

Tropical locales

A few Avalung vids

Justin — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 17:44:33 +0000

Yeah, I know most of you out there have probably seen these vids, but I was thinking about the Avalung and other ‘avalanche safety’ devices this morning (it’s 80 out, you’d think I’d be thinking about surfing or something right?). I actually own a standalone Avalung that was a gift from the lady friend

Photo sneak preview: Osprey Kode 38 pack

Justin — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 06:27:07 +0000

Dying tonight in our heatwave (RIP snow) and melting on the couch figured I’d snap a few pics of the Osprey Kode 38 that recently came into my possession. I’ve only got two days on the pack so want to hold off giving any real review yet as I’m still getting used to the

(mock) How to: on the hill base grind/structuring

Justin — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 18:29:32 +0000

*warning: blurry photos ahead, do not adjust your eyes*

Step 1: Find east facing slope that has been baking in the sun all week. Climb said slope.

Step 1: Hike up east facing/melted out peak

Step 2: Achieve a zen-like state and sit/ponder the conditions you’ll be encountering in the near future