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 Kode v. my tried and true Dakine and there’s an obvious adjustment period needed. A couple first impressions/early thoughts:
- The pack feels light. Not UL backpacker light, but feels lighter than my smaller Dakine. I don’t have a scale to verify whether I am/am not crazy.
- Avy tool pocket needs some sort of shovel/blade pocket to keep items from shifting. There’s a small stretchy part inside the tool pocket but it wouldn’t hold any blade I’m aware of.
- It’s not the quickest pack to access your non-avy gear as you’ve got to unbuckle two buckles before you can unzip the pack
- The above being said the pack carries well (in part due to those buckles/load lifter straps), especially with a board on it, and feels compact on your back
If there are any angles/measurements/etc. you’d like to see let me know in the comments section and I’ll get’er done. Also, if you have any questions you’d like me to address in testing I’ll do my best. On to the pics.
Front view. Pack is empty thus it looks a bit flat. Will get better pics when I drop a review.
 Osprey Kode 38 front view Back view
 Osprey Kode and IKEA chair caught on film in hot steamy embrace Back panel open. Threw a Downmat 7 in there to give some perspective to interior size.
 Open up and say aaaaahhhh Unlike the Kode 30 the avy tool pocket on the Kode 38 isn’t zippered.
 Drawcord avy tool pocket closure Interior shot of avy tool pocket
 Osprey Kode chewing with it's mouth open (just like my co-workers...) Nice zipper pulls
 Pull my zipper Buckles and load lifters
 Osprey Kode buckles If you can’t find it at your local outdoors shop the Osprey Kode is available at a few online retailers. I’m trying something new by throwing a bunch of retailers in the below banner, hopefully helps you find the best price quickly and save you from clicking from site to site (I used to just have a big list of retailers here). Ping me with any feedback you’ve got on the widget.
*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 to decide how you’d like to structure your base.
 Pondering Step 3:
Crack beer and drink while continuing to ponder. Throw in occasional curse about POS tripod that broke and how it’s cramping your photo steez.
 Drink and ponder Step 4:
Ride down hill ’til the snow runs out and you’re faced with at least a 30 foot (research shows 30 foot is the minimum to get a quality grind) section of sand and other non-snow surfaces. Tell buddies that you’d just ollie the gap or ( __insert miscellaneous BS here____ ) if it were light out and you could see, but as it’s not you’ll just ride over it. Bonus points for snagging nose on a tree or rock and throwing in a sommersault halfway thru the base grind.
 Midnight Wintersteiger Step 5:
Meet back up with snow, turn back and admire your work, then proceed to ride ’til you hit pavement. Call it a night knowing you’ve just saved yourself $50 on a basegrind/structuring.
 Sand meets snow Step 6:
Admire handiwork in the daylight the next day, confident that the structure you added will help channel water off your base this spring.
 Mission: accomplished
Check this post over at Steve Romeo’s site today. That wet slide goes for a bit. Imagine yourself in it. Good vid to watch and keep in mind now that spring is upon us.
Seriously, they are. Picture how much happier the world would be (well, at least my world would be) if weekends were Monday thru Friday and you just worked Saturday and Sunday. I guess that idea is a lot like my ‘we should get to play until we reach retirement age, than when we hit retirement age we just work the rest of our lives’ idea, but the reality behind that one is everyone would commit suicide on their 65th birthday. The worst part about weekends is that as they are usually the days that people DON’T work they often get interrupted with adult real-life crap like weddings or baby showers. Weddings were cool when I was single as they can be a tremendous opportunity for TRs of a different sort, but when you’re not single they lose some of their potential charm (the reality is they lose all of their charm, unless of course there’s a keg of Racer 5 present and you get the bride and groom’s father to do kegstands). So, with my Saturday halved due to a wedding and a near full moon figured I’d try for a night sesh with Schralph Macchio (note: not his real name). No action shots as it was piss poor riding.
 Looking out towards Tahoe by moonlight
The below pic would have been kind of cool had my tripod not shaken a little bit everytime the shutter closed. I guess I could tell everyone I took it on a Holga and get street cred and be called a photographic genius.
 Crappy tripod + shutter clap = blurry night pic fail Next day got an early alpine start of 11 AM and headed out to see what was left at another locale.
 Schralph pondering infinity It was softer than expected given the sun baking it
 Quite possibly the last few pow turns of the season Quick and dirty pano of the potential lines. The sky was actually two shades of blue with a hard dividing line just as seen in the picture.
 Lots of potential areas I call the next two pic series “Pinwheels and Pwnage”
 Pinwheels  Pwnage
Victory beer, and the world’s worst shirt. When you order online and it says the color is ‘black’ beware the neon lightning bolts. For some reason I always think of this video when wearing this shirt.
 Beer good, shirt bad
Good times indeed.
Bored out of my mind at work, I was looking thru some photos from this weekend’s tour and noticed that most people were smiling when we found our little pow stash. However, noticed one person wasn’t, which was odd as it was his first trip into the backcountry ever, would have figured him to be smiling like crazy – especially as he was stoked out of his mind that night!
 First pow turns  Pow turns = srs bizns
Just came across this today, Eddie Bauer’s First Ascent. Interesting stuff as maybe, juuuust maybe, it means that Eddie Bauer is going back to it’s roots (though not going so far as to manufacturing in the USA…) and actually trying to put out quality outdoor gear again.
First thought: Sweet, a potential source of outdoor clothing available in tall sizes for those mongoloids like myself, and I’m always a sucker for a picture of Mt. Rainier so that got my attention.
Second thought: This stuff is pretty expensive. $349 for the Rainier jacket with it’s ‘WeatherEdge Pro’ generic waterproof/breathable laminate (assuming just another post-Goretex patent expiration knockoff) seems a bit steep for unproven gear – though they have (or at least used to have) their lifetime warranty so you could always ‘rent’ the garment to test it out. In fact…maybe I’ll do that for a future review.
 First Ascent Rainier jacket The down sweater, 800 fill, quoted weight of 13.4 oz. puts it in the same weight realm of the Patagonia sweater, not sure how much of the weight of either is down fill v. the shell though.
 First Ascent Downlight sweater Could be interesting stuff, they’ve certainly got a decent team (including PNW loc Kyle Miller) helping shape the product, assuming they are actually helping shape and not just licensing their name out. When it goes on the inevitable supercrazywhackfunky clearance I may pick up an item or two and test it out, unless they want to send me something beforehand…
Yes, another one pic TR ( aka I’m busy at work but want to throw some stoke up) from the splitboard.com meetup this weekend
 This > what I'm currently doing
Bluebird pow two weeks after the last storm? Yes, I’d have to say this was better than going to a wedding.
 Red Pwned Bowl earned it's new nickname on Saturday (click to view larger)
Been getting the stuff laid out and packing this week, been down and out with a bit of a cold this week though so hopefully didn’t forget anything. Still in a bit of a codeine induced fog this AM.
What percent of the enjoyment of a trip comes from the anticipation? Is it like dating, where a good part of the thrill is in the hunt and the pre-deal close anticipation, or is all the enjoyment had once you’re at your destination and riding? For me I think a good part of a trip’s enjoyment comes in fantasizing about epic pow under bluebird skys, even though 9 times out of 10 that’s not how it turns out.
Pic below paying a bit of homage to Lou’s post from the other day
 Living room floor this AM
“While Snowboarding I feel like I’m aligning myself with the universe.”
 Craig Kelly about to align himself with the universe Craig Kelly was, is, and always will be the man. The most influential snowboarder of our time, Burton would not be where it is today had Craig never ridden for them and given his input on the product. Even Terje refers to him as the best snowboarder to ever live. Before the pro snowboarding scene became a scene – back when we were still more make blog than Perez Hilton – Craig was evolving his game, kicking ass and taking names. And he took a lot of names on his way to influencing a lot of future names.
 Craig Kelly represents the MBHC at the US Open Baker Banked? Yup. In fact won the first one ever.
US Open? Yup. He won the slalom event. Oh, and the halfpipe. Oh yeah, and the overall title. In multiple years.
World Championships? Yup, seven of ‘em.
After tiring of the contest scene Craig evolved his game by going back to riding’s roots and spent most of his time riding backcountry powder, and using his acquired knowledge to continue to move the industry forward.
“Snowboarding is something that I think should be done on your own terms as much as possible. Society is full of rules and I use the time I spend in the mountain as an opportunity to free myself of all constraints. During the past winter I decided that competing on the World Tour restricted the freedom that I found from snowboarding in the first place, so I decided to try a year with very little competing. Now that I have recaptured the feeling that made snowboarding special to me, I am not about to give it up. This is not retirement. I am simply revolving my snowboarding professionalism around freeriding rather competing. It sure feels right.”
Sadly a piece of snowboarding’s conscience and soul was taken from us in a large avalanche near Revelstoke on January 20, 2003.
Obviously a nobody snowboarder writing a nobody blog can’t do Craig Kelly’s legacy justice. But hopefully by bringing a little bit of awareness to him on this day, what would have been his 43rd birthday, some kid will stumble across this and Google his name and learn there’s a bit more to snowboarding than what they are force fed every day.
Happy birthday Craig Kelly, and RIP.
 Craig Kelly was killin' it the first time Oakleys were cool
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