Archive for February, 2010

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TR: EAST COAST TRIP (mostly scenics) 2/3 – 2/18


2010
02.26

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From the 801 (Utah) , I flew to the 802 (Vermont) .  Ski gear in hand and hoping to hit it lucky for a big dump I arrived in Burlington to find out that there was a massive noreaster destroying the mid atlantic. The weather report was showing nothing but sun, how could there be a noreaster and we wouldnt even get clouds? My first day skiing i spent at Smuggs. It was vermont day, 1/2 price ticket. Smuggs brings back alot of memories having skied there for about 8 years. The snow was  good,  the weather was great. Skied the day with my sister Ashley and her boyfriend Andy.

The top of Madonna Lift

Ash and Andy from Mt. Madonna

My second day of skiing I drove up to Jay, Vermont to ski ‘Big Jay’ having never been to the spot I skined up on the access road and up to a spot where the skin track went up to the ridge. At this point I was lost until I caught up to a few friendly Canadiens. They showed me a few super soft and fun lines and some thick bushwacking back to the cars.

Skinning through VT forest

Jay Peak

I spent 3 days at Stowe thanks to pete (sweeturns) on ns. He hooked me up with a 3 day ticket he won for a great price. First day there they had picked up a few inches the night before. I ended up skiing great powder in the trees around the resort. Also took a few runs on ‘GOAT’ and i have to say was really impressed by that run. Off fall line ice to soft bumps it was all a blast, especially to ski non stop. That afternoon I decided to head up to the top of Vermont, Mount Mansfield which is easily accessable from the top of the gondola. It was wild to be up in the alpine zone. I skied off the top down the briefly exposed and rocky long trail north. I scurried over to hellbrook which was tough with the stumpy trees all exposed. The skiing in hellbrook was good, there was a wind slab on the top part but the sheltered areas were great.

Mt. Mansfield from Cambridge

Classic Vermont

2 hikers in the "alpine zone" Mt. Mansfield, VT

A rainbow from air born ice

Summit of Mansfield, skied down the ridge from the summit.

Hellbrook hadn't seen much traffic (me)

Long way down to Smugglers Notch

Hellbrook is the obvious gash left of center

My last day at stowe was decent. Maybe the highlight of the trip I decided to hike up to the nose for sunset. It was bitter cold and windy. I am thankful for my puffy coat because I would not have made it to sunset with out one.

The Nose on Mt. Mansfield

Looking south down the 'green mountains'

Tough livin for the alpine zones trees

Sunset

I also got to climb and ski camels hump. My buddie Matt took a day off engineering things to climb and SLED the mountain. We took the Monroe trail which put us to the summit in 3.5 miles seemingly friendly pitch for a mad river rocket. The summit was freezing fog and the windchill was WELL below zero. Quite the contrast from the woods approaching the peak which was calm and warm. We saw a few other people out all were jealous of our abilty to fly down the mountain with minimal effort.

Frigid summit of Camels Hump

Matt mountain sledding

TREE

Fun trip.

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SAGA AND TREW IMPRESSIONS


2010
02.24

Posted in Gear Tests, Outerwear | No Comments »

SKIER/REVIEWER:  DAN CURRAN 5′7” 135 LBS (1.70M 61.36K)

Trew Jacket
size:  Large

First impressions:  Nice fit but a little too big for me, and the cuffs of the jacket  seem a little large.  Made of a heavy material that seems really tough and durable, and all zippers are sealed.

Impressions after use:  Wore jacket through a week long storm that dumped 7 feet in LCC and stayed dry the hole time the jacket has very good waterproofing.  The jacket is pretty warm and I did not need much for base layers to stay warm just a mid weight base layer and a North Face flight series jacket.   When I did get hot the pit vents worked well but with 15 minuet hikes it got warm.  The jacket maintained a comfortable temp very well while skiing or just standing around watching a night event.  the powder guard worked well and the cuffs were not to large and functioned well.   The material is tough I hit a lot of tree branches and there was no wear to show.  Used the jacket for a while now and really like it.  Jacket pockets hold at the least 12 beer cans comfortable.

Saga Jacket and Pants
size Medium

First impressions: Nice fit,  pants adjust to my 30″ waist, and jacket fits really well.  Material seems really nice and lightweight.  Jacket has a lot of good pockets and most zippers are sealed.

Impressions after use:
Jacket – The fit is really good and through all the storms it has kept me dry.  The powder guard works well and all pockets stay dry.  The jacket is not a warm as the Trew but with just one more light base layer I stayed warm.  When hiking at the resort the jacket stayed comfortable and the pit zips worked well for venting.   After about 40 days of skiing the jacket has held up well and it still stays dry.
Pants-  Fit pretty good maybe a little long for me at 5″ 7″ but still a good fit.  When in the tram line I have to loop pants over bottom toe buckle to keep from walking on pants.  But they have still stood up really well to the abuse and use that they have seen, and there are no cuts on the cuffs.   The Cross venting works great for hiking at the resort or on long tours, the fit of the pants is also great for taking large steps while hiking.  They kept me really dry during storms and wet days but probably won’t make it on a poncho day at Mt. Baker.   The clip on the powder cuff works great to keep guard down below boot top.  After about 50 days the pants are still in good shape and the waterproofing is still going strong.

Thanks DAN!

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SHOWER TIME


2010
02.14

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The original shower test. I took the suits to the local spa, the idea to get water into the suit somehow. Obviously the suits claim to be water proof, but is it true?  The suits were all less than 3 days skied in at this point, aside from the saga which was about 2 weeks old.

THE TEST

I showered under cold water for 1 minute. 30 seconds of the minute i spend sitting on the bottom of the shower, i changed my under layers after each go. I made little pieces of paper with various inks on them hoping that when and if they got wet it would be easy to see. I attached the paper to places i thought were most likely to get abused by elements SHOULDERS, HOOD, BUTT, THIGHS. I started with one minute test, but in the future plan to do this again and do it longer.

The first suit i tested was the TREW, it let in no water and repelled every ounce off of the fabric. The butt did not even saturate.

Second suit was the SAGA anomie, i noticed after about 30 seconds, water saturated the fabric on the shoulders of the jacket, then by the end most of the jacket was saturated, water did not seep through the fabric after one minute. The pants repelled all water off of them aside from the butt which saturated from the 30 seconds sitting in water. My butt did feel damp afterwords, but no leaking of any ink.

Third LDC, the suit was brand new, LDC repelled most water off of it. butt got saturated and just a few spots of the jacket were saturated fabric. The factory DWR coating did its job. My butt also felt damp after this.

The fourth suit is my previous personal favorite set up. Its a burton idiom jacket 2.5L (20k/20k) and eider goretex proshell mountaineering pants. The fabrics completely soaked through, (the jacket is 3 years old and the pants about 50 days) both untreated. The jacket though soaked, water did not penetrate. The goretex proshell pants were soaked, but nothing felt wet.

THE CONCLUSION:

TREW owned the shower test, i literally shook off the coat and pants and they were dry again. LDC #2 though these set ups were new.

your DWR coating is a large factor of staying dry. unfortunately how long it lasts is a big deal, i think once the fabric is saturated it has a much better chance of getting through.

THINGS I AM GOING TO DO DIFFERENTLY NEXT TIME:

Film to make it more appealing. LONGER shower time. Test when dwr’s have completely worn off at the end of the season.

Jon F.