Voile's introduced two new skis in Janauary 2010: the Charger - 134-112-123 ; 2.8kg pair (171cm); 171/181/191cm, and the Vector - 118-94-107; 2.7kg pair (170cm); 160/170/180cm. Both skis build on Voile's Drifter design incorpating camber with moderate tip rocker and slight tail rocker. The Charger was a top pick in its size category during our testing. The ski is light, responsive and remarkably versatile in turn shape. The Charger is a backcountry powder ski that is at home in all terrain.
Unlike the Voile Insane, a traditionally cambered ski with a pretty darn small turn radius for its width, the Charger opens up the turn radius, yet remains lively and easy to turn. The Charger skis with ease in mid-size boots and its light weight keeps it managable for a full day of skinning.
We have not had as much time on the Vector as we did the Charger, but we should be heading up for some final ski testing and to ride the new BD Efficient Series ski boots in the next week or so.
I got an e-mail this spring about a group called 40 Tribes. Organized by Ryan Koupal, 40 Tribes is laying the groundwork to facilitate backcountry ski touring with local accommodation in the Tien Shan Range in Kyrgyzstan.
Having spent time in western China (directly south of Kyrgyzstan), I found the idea of traveling and skiing in the Tien Shan Range on the Kyrgyzstan side very intriguing, let alone the idea of some guys running backcountry hut trips in such a remote, little known area, so I got in touch with Koupal to find out more about 40 Tribes and what he hopes to do.
Off-Piste Mag: Why KGZ?
Koupal: At the beginning it was all about the intrigue: heading to a place that very few Americans knew about, to explore mountains that I myself knew very little about. Before Kyrgyzstan ever came into the picture, friends and I were pursuing similar adventures in parts of China/Tibet. In 2006, we spent 6 weeks in the Heng Duan and Kun Lun ranges in historic Tibet (present-day Sichuan and Qinghai provinces). We traveled with our skis and splitboards, pulk sleds, pounds of food and insane amounts of gear, and attempted a couple of wintertime circumnavigations of sacred peaks along prominent Tibetan pilgrimage routes. The trip was difficult to say the least - partly because of conditions (consistent -20F temps and a shallow snowpack), and mostly because of the bulls%#! we dealt with given the bureaucracy of the Chinese government (permits, fees, corruption, etc). Though inspired, we were physically and financially wrecked.
But by 2008, we were ready for another adventure. We considered Mongolia, northwest China, and India, and finally settled on Kyrgyzstan - due in part to my rooted interest in the nomadic cultures of Central Asia, and also because I was just so amazed to find out that such an obscure country, with its muddled past, was actually home to more than a dozen developing ski resorts utilizing the original infrastructure that was abandoned by the Soviets in 1991.
Off-Piste Mag: When did you first travel to KGZ?
Koupal: In 2008, after years of traveling/adventuring in China, I decided it was finally time to explore Kyrgyzstan proper. In the spirit of the earlier expedition, I convinced a few close friends to head into the heart of the Kyrgyz Tien Shan with our skis and splitboards to see what the place was all about. We set out in December and spent the next six weeks scouting backcountry routes across the country, with video cameras at hand to document our journey. The terrain that we found was spectacular, and the conditions far better than what we had found in China. Inspired, I decided to round up an even larger crew of friends for a return trip in 2009/10, and over a 3-month period from January-March we laid the groundwork for a community-supported hut program and wrapped up our documentary filmwork with this exciting new objective as the focus. This fall we will head back over to set up the yurts, facilitate trainings for our village partners, and usher in the inaugural season.
Off-Piste Mag:What is 40 Tribes? / What is the KGZ project?
Koupal: The 40 Tribes initiative is an evolved version of "The Kyrgyzstan Plan" development project, which we created and promoted following our first trip. What we found in Kyrgyzstan was indeed a developing ski industry - set very starkly against a severely depressed economy. Kyrgyz resorts are attracting Kazakh, Russian and European ski tourists, and increasingly, wealthy locals from Bishkek, but very few profits appear to be reaching the community level. As is the case in many of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries, corruption is widespread, and much of the money generated through tourism and development of any kind remains in the hands of an elite few. In addition, most of the resorts are owned by foreign parties from Russia, Europe and Korea.
Kyrgyzstan is also home to one of the most successful ecotourism programs in the world, called Community Based Tourism, or CBT. The program came to life shortly after the collapse of the Soviet Union through aid from the Swiss development organization, Helvetas, and has (remarkably) withstood corruption and nepotism and developed into an entity that supports a wide network of rural families through simple home-stays and ecotours (trekking, hunting, fishing, etc). What caught our eye, however, was that CBT's operating season lasts only 4 months, from June through September. With such a short season, the income opportunities generated through the program are just not enough to sustain many families' involvement in the program.
Thus, TKP/40 Tribes was developed to provide rural Kyrgyz families with an alternative source of income during the winter season, an otherwise long and difficult time of the year. The project introduces yurt-based backcountry skiing as a viable option for increasing the length of the ecotourism season in select mountainous areas, taking advantage of both the country's growing prominence as a destination for skiing, and also the momentum towards socially, culturally, and environmentally-responsible travel that exists in the wake of CBT tourism - all of which is very new to Kyrgyzstan. The project trains and employs local villagers as the hosts of our mountain "lodges," and pledges to introduce additional livelihood diversification opportunities to those who are interested, such as ski/mountain guide trainings, in an effort to help them sustain their involvement in the tourism industry.
Off-Piste Mag:Tell me a little about the mountains/terrain, snowpack, huts/yurts, etc.
Koupal: Kyrgyzstan is 94% mountainous, so just about everywhere you look, you face a new breathtaking alpine vista. What's better is that the country is criss-crossed by an extensive network of roads, many of which are maintained through the winter (not to say that they are safe or in good condition, by any means...but they do provide amazing access to backcountry terrain!). The climate can be likened to that of Colorado - i.e. continental, warm summers, cold winters, lots of sun, and huge temperature gradients. The snowpack is most volatile in March, and shallowest in December/early January. Late January-February and April are the ideal months for hitting the backcountry.
Our first yurt-lodge will be set up this coming October, just before the snow begins to fly. For the inaugural year, we will lease two traditional Kyrgyz yurts from our local partners, which will be placed on wooden platforms, insulated with reed mats and felted rugs, and outfitted with wood-burning stoves. One of the yurts will be used for cooking and the other as the sleeping quarters. Yurts were, for a long time, the year-round homes of Kyrgyz nomads, but these days, occupying a yurt in the winter is a thing of the past. We have indeed had to work hard on selling the idea to our local partners.
Off-Piste Mag: How is the current political situation? What’s your take on the future there?
This is definitely a pertinent question. On June 10th Kyrgyzstan's south erupted with violence, leaving hundreds dead and thousands wounded, and sending hundreds of thousands of ethnic Uzbeks across the border to seek refuge in neighboring Uzbekistan. At first, and for some time, the international media reported that the Kyrgyz were killing the Uzbeks, when in fact there were causalities on both sides. There's no doubt that the violence was inter-ethnic, but it is still unknown who, exactly, went after who, and what, exactly, ignited the violence in the first place. The story (and the history behind the story) is too complex for me to dive into much detail here, but the whole scenario was undoubtedly influenced by politics - in some way or another - given that the ex-President, Kurmanek Bakiyev, was forcefully overthrown from his post and replaced by a "pro-democratic" interim government a few months earlier, in April.
In the north, including the Lake Issyk Kol region and the mountain village of Ichke Jergez (home to our inaugural yurt-stay program), rural life continues at this point without many concerns over safety, much as it did during the events of early April in Bishkek and the events of early June in the south. While the situation in the south remains volatile, with hundreds of thousands of refugees returning to cities that were almost entirely destroyed, the north is calm and violence-free - not to mention separated from the south by the huge geographic barriers of the Tien Shan.
As told by our local partners in Bishkek and Ichke Jergez, a more poignant concern is regarding the current prices for diesel fuel and other commodities, affected by the frequent and prolonged border closings that have taken place in the wake of each event. The surge in fuel prices means that many fields have not been planted, leaving many of Kyrgyzstan's already-depressed agrarian economies to brace for an even harder hit this year.
Amidst all of the recent political upheaval, violence, and hardship, however, there is finally hope that Kyrgyzstan is on a path towards stability. Voters recently adopted a constitutional referendum on June 27th that makes the interim government legitimate as Kyrgyzstan's "caretaker government" until presidential and parliamentary elections can be held next fall. Kyrgyzstan's new government will be the first parliamentary democracy in Central Asia, a remarkable feat given the history of autocracy and despotic rule in the region.
The spring issue of Off-Piste included an article on the handmade or boutique ski movement by Don Pattison. The article looks at the current growth of small ski manufacturers, and it looks at a few of the higher profile operations. You can check out the handmade ski article here.
While researching the piece, Pattison spoke with Mike Hattrup from K2 Skis. As one of the biggest players in the ski market, K2 is far from a boutique manufacturer, but Hattrup defended the large scale manufacturer position with the the idea that no small producer can match the testing and R&D that a company like K2 has at its disposal. Hattrup then went on to say that we should check out the K2 testing and prototype factory up in Seattle sometime.
Well, it took a couple months to fit it in the schedule, but Pattison and I took a tour of the K2 facility this spring with K2 ski engineer Ken Schiele. The factory was a mix of testing equipment, ski tooling equipment and K2 ski and snowboard museum. It was good fun and K2 does have an impressive set-up for manufacturing and testing skis. And yes, it is hard to imaging that a small "garage" set-up can match what K2 can bring to the table. Here are a few images of the factory . . .
According to the NOAA Climate Prediction Center we transitioned out of the El Nino influence in late May. Although many forecasts still call for a neutral ENSO effect for the late summer and fall, NOAA says some data is leaning toward the development of a La NIna influence.
"The majority of models predict ENSO-neutral conditions (between -0.5oC to +0.5oC in the Niño-3.4 region) through early 2011. However, over the last several months, a growing number of models, including the NCEP Climate Forecast System (CFS), indicate the onset of La Niña conditions during June-August 2010. There is an increasing confidence in these colder model forecasts, which is supported by recent observations that show cooling trends in the Pacific Ocean and signs of coupling with the atmospheric circulation. Therefore, conditions are favorable for a transition to La Niña conditions during June-August 2010."
In classic Junuary fashion, old man winter has been slow in leaving this year. June is often a little colder and wetter than it seems like it should be, but this year has been even cooler than normal. Given the unstable weather, I have not been too inspired to get out skiing, but as a member of the Hood River Crag Rats Search and Rescue group, I did participate in a local rescue operation here on Mt. Hood this week. It was full-on winter storm conditions in June. Check out the video of me pulling half of a two-piece cascade rescue sled. These conditions were not isolated. It was like this all day. Hard to believe it is June. Thanks to Reuben from Portland Mountain Rescue for recording the moment. Of course, as soon as it hits 85-degrees, I will complain that it is too hot.
Looks like the weather is finally going to cooperate with a little volcano climbing in the northwest, but now the avalanche center is flying the avalanche caution flag. I have not been out in the past 10 days, but it sounds like caution is advised. Curious how the snow conditions are holding up with all this record moisture.
If you have ever thought about climbing Mt Hood or have climbed it, check out our Mt. Hood Climbing Routes poster.
The poster shows all of the classic climbing routes on Mt. Hood, significant geographic feature names and lists the dates associated with first ascents. It is 18"x24" and is printed on high quality 100# card stock.
K2's 2010 backcountry ski line-up has a few notable changes from the 2009 season. First, all of K2's Backside line feature their new p-tex top sheet material. The idea behind the p-tex is to keep snow from building up on the top sheets, a great way reduce uphill weight. Does it work? To be honest, we did not get to tour on the skis in conditions that would normally produce snow buildup. What we saw was good, but it was far from a true evaluation. Other changes include an all new Darkside and the addition of tip rocker to the Wayback (formerly the Mt Baker Superlight).
The new Darkside has loads more tip rocker than last year's and all new graphics.The 2010 Darkside (156-128-144) combines K2's most aggressive tip rocker with a traditional tail. The result is a super stable and fun ski, but it does weigh in at 10.4lbs a pair. But just think, hopefully you will be carrying less snow on the top sheet in the uptrack. No doubt, it is a fun ski, and it encouraged our testers to attempt setting new speed records at the ski hill, but it is leaning pretty far toward mechanized access.
Of more interest to dedicated touring skiers is the 2010 K2 Wayback. The addition of tip rocker to the Wayback makes for a very lively, yet predictable and modestly stable ski. The Baker Superlight of old and last year's Wayback were a fine boards, but they lacked the personality and lively feel of the 2010 Wayback. I will go out on a limb and call the new Wayback a significant improvement over an already good ski. It is not the lightest (6.8lbs/pair) in its class, or the fattest (124-88-108), but it held its own in a variety of snow conditions, and I was impressed.
The rest of the 2010 K2 Backside line remains the same aside from the new top sheet material and some new graphics (women's skis too).
Rooftop cargo boxes are a great way to haul skis and keep your gear out of your vehicle. I have a Yakima Rocketbox and I use it all winter long (and then some), but I have found that my ski edges often rust when I leave my skis in the box for multiple days. Basically, snowmelt from the skis pools in the base of the Rocketbox and the skis end up sitting in water and the edges rust. The problem is particulary noticable when I haul multiple pairs of skis - more skis equals more snow to melt. So, I came up with a quick fix to eliminate the problem. I drilled drain holes in the bottom of the box with a 1/4" drill bit. The holes allow the snowmelt to drain away and my skis no longer have to sit in puddles of water, problem solved. The water issue may be more pronounced in the Northwest where the temps in town are often near or above freezing, but the modification does not compromise the box and will help keep the inside of your ski box dryer, regardless of where you live.
I drilled my box while it was mounted on the roof of the car. This worked fine, but obviously you have to use a level of caution so you do not put drain holes in the roof of your vehicle. If you do not trust yourself, pull your box off the car or create a stop on the drill bit with duct tape. I simply drilled holes in the low areas of the box (see photo). All told, I have about eight or ten holes. Happy drilling.
Rooftop cargo boxes are a great way to haul skis and keep your gear out of your vehicle. I have a 
