Snow & Winter

Most outdoors enthusiasts dabble in weather forecasting, but Jim Steenburgh takes it to a whole new level.. An avid backcountry skier, Steenburgh also happens to chair the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Utah, and has developed a better way to predict whether he’ll get to ski deep, fluffy powder or be stuck plowing mash...

Leather gloves used to be for farmers and ditch diggers. Skiers and snowboarders eschewed animal hide in favor of nylon or some other weather-proof synthetic with a few Cordura patches sewn in for toughness.. Now, thanks to advances in fabric technology, that’s all changing. A number of manufacturers are using leather in construction of this...

Andrew Temple, of the Center for Snow and Avalanche Studies, in Silverton, Colorado, looks out over the dusty snow of of the San Juan Mountains. Courtesy: Center for Snow and Avalanche Studies. Dust deposited on Colorado’s high peaks is causing snow to heat up and melt sooner, meaning paddling season starts earlier, but ski season...

What I love about Boston is that it is a vibrant city that’s easy to escape. Located in proximity to a lot of the different landscapes found in the Northeast, Boston is a hub for a variety of outdoor enthusiasts. For skiers and snowboarders, winter means it’s time to hit the slopes!. When I moved...

Photographer Jason Sutton captures snowboarder, William Hughes, riding in an LED suit in Tignes, France. Pretty amazing footage. .

Southern California is better known for its warm weather offerings, but several ski resorts are located within a few hours drive of both Los Angeles and San Diego.. Resorts Near Big Bear Lake. These neighboring ski resorts are found on the mountain slopes surrounding Big Bear Lake in San Bernardino National Forest. In decent traffic,...

If your getting outside in a northlerly clime lately, chances are you’re taking photos with snow in them. Snow can be fun to shoot, but it requires some technique to produce really striking winter photographs.. Here are a few tips, in case you’re headed out this weekend:. ADJUST THE CAMERA WHITE BALANCE. Camera’s tend to...

A skier and a snowboarder have died in separate tree well incidents Montana in the past two weeks, and other tree-well related deaths have been reported in California and British Columbia.. A tree well is a deep area of loose snow that typically builds up around. the base of a tree. When a skier, snowboarder...

Looking for a college where the average GPA is less important than the average snowfall? U.S News and World Report has your number.Famous for helping students pick colleges through its yearly rankings, the magazine has released a college list for snow enthusiasts – skiers, snowboarders, mountaineers – of schools in close proximity to world-class mountains.. Here’s the...

Ski and snowboard season has arrived and with it the cool, crisp air, the snow-kissed pines and the gorgeous mountain views. A few winter gear manufacturers have embraced the beauty of the winter landscape by using recycled or renewable materials to produce high-performance gear with less environmental impact. If this is the year to replace...

Kiwi college student Nick Eaton won New Zealand’s Best Product Design Gold Award for developing snowboard boots that easily convert into crampon equipped mountaineering boots.. Designed with backcountry snowboarders in mind, the DuoTrek boots feature titanium plates in the souls that can be flipped to hide or expose crampon teeth, depending on whether your boarding or climbing.....

In the recent article Jonathan Stalls contributed to STRAY about his walk across the United States, he included a photo of his trusty sidekick Kanoa sporting dog booties.. Clearly Jonathan was concerned about the wear and tear of asphalt on Kanoa’s furry feet. But what about snow and ice?. Dogs can’t just lay around all winter, gnawing on bones...

The North American Avalanche Danger Scale, a system for warning . backcountry skiers, snowboarders and snowshoers of avalanche threat . levels, has been revised and released for winter 2010.. Years in the making, the new system standardizes the use of icons across. countries – including icons that can be understood by vising Europeans –. and...

Columbia Sportswear is releasing a new line of waterproof, breathable winter outerwear this fall called Omni Tech, lined with a shiny reflective material reminiscent of the space blankets developed by NASA back in the 1960s.. In contrast to insulating layers based on the concept of loft, like polypro or wool, that trap heat in the air between...

Ken Kamler was the only doctor on Mount Everest during 1996 storm that killed eight climbers and was chronicled in Jon Krakauer’s book Into Thin Air. In the video below, Kamler talks about the miraculous survival of Beck Weathers, who survived the storm after being assumed dead and spending nearly 36 hours buried under the snow...

Want to feel like a fighter pilot? Slap on a pair of these new GPS-enabled ski goggles from Zeal Optics.. A built-in GPS unit by Recon Instruments records information such as speed, altitude and change in vertical feet. An LCD screen inside the goggle displays the stats in real time as you skiing, snowboarding or snowshoe.. After your...