Ascension ClipFix Climbing Skins…for Snowblades?
We have no idea how long these have been around, or whether Black Diamond finds them as terrifying as we do, but the first time we see this…individual…flailing up the skin track, we expect them to be followed by four pale men on horseback. Judging from the fact that they are “for the 05/06 season,” and that Armageddon has yet to arrive, we’re making the assumption that nobody in the last 3 seasons has taken Ultimate Gaper status into the backcountry. Here’s hoping it stays that way.
Words Fail
SkiGym Home Simulator
Or maybe this option is more up your alley for post-icecap-melt skiing? After all, prices keep dropping on flat screen TVs and you wouldn’t even need to leave the office to take a ski vacation. The SkiGym home ski simulator runs off a PC and includes 32 race courses from 18 real-world mountains. The setup only costs about $2300, so I’m sure there will be a few setup in the break room at Backcountry.com within the next couple days.
ByClay Surfboard Fins
These Dr. Seuss fins comes to us from Clayfin and are made with Raku fired stoneware, which is earthy talk for ‘clay.’ They’re colored with an underglaze then topped with a clear glaze, and they sell for about $35 each. If you’re like me and wonder how well clay surfboard fins work, well, the answer is ‘not at all.’ Turns out they’re just to look at on your wall.
via 70percent
ByMIT Backpacking Exoskeleton
It’s about time technology started doing something for me. The MIT exoskeleton can make an 80 pound backpack feel like only 16 pounds to the wearer, and it uses only 2 watts of power instead relying on a series of springs and dampers to transfer weight to the ground. It’ll be nice for carrying my own firewood and several jugs of Gatorade into the backcountry—and by “backcountry” I mean someplace close to a robot repair shop, which shouldn’t be hard to find.
Thanks Daven
ByConcept Bikes from Specialized
Good design brings simple, elegant solutions to problems. Except maybe when you’re Specialized and trying to conceptualize a new bike that answers the question, “How do you ride a tandem by yourself while sitting on the backseat?” The designs on Trendhunter try to reinvent the wheel in Akira red but lack the laser cannons all future bikes will require.
via Trendhunter
ByLazy Sunday Exercise
If I don’t lock my bike up when I duck into a coffee shop, I’ll just leave it in the highest gear to make the getaway a little tougher for any bike thief. Maybe I’ll just get an exercise bike and stop worrying about it altogether.
photo via Wend
ByFreaky Animal Stories of 2008
It’s one thing when a hoax is discovered, but it’s a little unsettling when things like the Montauk Monster’s corpse go unresolved. They’re saying that the Montauk thing might be a bloated, decaying raccoon, but I didn’t think raccoons had beaks. Cryptomundo has a list of the Top 10 Freaky Animals of 2008.
via Cryptomundo
ByBASE Jumping the Peak-to-Peak Gondola
The most interesting part of this BASE jumping clip comes at about 1:04 when a shot from the bottom gives you an idea of exactly how far off the ground Whistler’s Peak-2-Peak Gondola hangs. The collapse of one of their gondola towers last month isn’t exactly confidence-building when you’re about to climb into this thing. Maybe they should start giving out parachutes to everyone who rides across and then they’d just take the windows out of the gondola cars.
ByBike Sales Falling Off in Spite of High Gas Prices
Apparently the surge that bike stores saw last year in the face of high gas prices isn’t holding up quite the way the two-wheeled community has hoped. The New York Times has this story about bike shop owners loading up on winter commuting gear after about a 30% year-over-year increase during the summer, and now a lot of them are stuck with overstock and extra mechanics. As much as I wish all the people who bought new 27-inch tires for their old Schwinn Varsitys would ride through the winter, I mean, come on—you can’t expect someone who doesn’t look at a bike as a way of life to want to ride through an unplowed bike lane in 10F weather.
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