Dashing through the woods in winter means dealing with snow, frozen mud and terrain that may look familiar but will feel quite different to the feet. This is where the Solomon Snowcross CS comes in. This lightweight trail running shoe features a water-resistant zippered gaiter, with second skin material, and one-pull laces. There are ankle pads to protect the feet and ankles from twists and turns on the path, while carbide metal spikes in the sole will bite into the ice.
We’ve seen a variety of technology that allows those in a wheelchair to go off-road, but usually only on hard-packed and more importantly dry ground. Most winter conditions remain a difficult, if not impossible proposition, for those in a wheelchair. Wheelblades looks to change this.
These small yet high-quality skis can be mounted to the front wheels of a wheelchair with a simple click, and can allow for easier movement through the snow. While obviously not intended for downhill skiing, or traversing deep snow, these could still allow users greater flexibility come winter.
Snowshoeing is an activity that most able bodied people can do during the winter, just as long as there is enough snow. This is proving to be a fairly light snow year, at least in Colorado, but hopefully as we get into the later winter months that will change. There are quite a few companies that still manufacture their snowshoes in America, and one recently caught our eye due to its unique features. The MSR Lightning Ascent, by Cascade Designs, looks like a traditional snowshoe from a far, but has a whole list of features that set these shoes one step ahead of the competition. Read the rest of this entry »
Named after Wyoming Highway 22, which travels over the 8,431-foot Teton Pass a favorite spot for backcountry skiers, TwentyTwo Designs is dedicated to producing some of the best telemark ski bindings in the world. Started in 2004 by two mechanical engineers, Chris Valiante and Collins Pringle, TwentyTwo Designs inherited the HammerHead binding design from Rainey Designs and continued to improve upon it along with creating their own bindings.
While deep snow is reportedly good for business at ski resorts, there was a downside to it. The Kirkwood Mountain Resort reported the 500 inches of annual snowfall and high base elevation make for some of the deepest, driest powder conditions in the Sierra. This is good for skiing, but it can create a dangerous situation – namely avalanches.
This season the resort purchased a fleet of 42 Backcountry Access Float 30 avalanche airbags and Tracker 2 beacons for use by the ski patrol. These products actually improve the survival rates for those unfortunate enough to be caught in avalanche conditions. The technology is still in its infancy, and it is a physical, not electronic, weapon against the avalanche burials.
The concept of the Float 30 is simple: if caught in an avalanche, pull the t-grip and a 150-liter airbag deploys out of the backpack and essentially “floats” the skier, now with increased mass, to the top of the slough as smaller debris fills in underneath. This decreases odds of a full burial and response time of potential rescuers due to increased visibility. BCA reports that in 98% of the recorded Float 30 deployments, the avalanche victims survived. Read the rest of this entry »
For years batters have walked up to the plate whilst wearing protective headgear. Now soon pitchers may be required to take the mount with helmets on as well. This wee Easton-Bell Sports announced the development of new headgear at the Helmet Technology Center, internally known as “The Dome.”
Easton-Bell Sports CEO Paul Harrington, along with Little League International President Stephen Keener, California Interscholastic Federation Executive Director Marie Ishida and Marin County high school baseball player Gunnar Sandberg in Scotts Valley, introduced a new helmet prototype. The Easton-Bell Sports pitching helmet prototype uses lightweight energy managing materials to provide protection to the most vulnerable areas of the head, without compromising comfort or performance. The helmet is made of expanded polystyrene polycarbonate, which is attached to a comfortable liner and elastic strap. Read the rest of this entry »
The snow sports market is big business, and according to numbers from last week’s Snowsports Industries America trade show, which took place in Denver, more than $1 billion (with a B) worth of equipment apparel alone, and reached $2.1 billion season-to-date.
So while the evening news may be complaining about the falling snow, and cities on the East Coast continue to dig out, this has been a boom time for those who partake in winter sports. This is also the first time that in history that snow sport sales have topped a billion dollars for sales in a single month. Sales this season are also 16 percent higher than last year, suggesting that despite a still sluggish economy winter sports are taking on the winter blues. Read the rest of this entry »
Walking through really cold wet snow means wet cold boots. It is the kind that could practically bring you to tears. There isn’t much that you can do about that, except maybe warm up the boots in the car in the car. DryGuy offers a line of boots/shoe warmer and dryers including one model that offers AC/DC power (Model – DG00301). These won’t exactly dry your eyes, but better still they can warm up your boots, and do so from the car! These use a ram-air ventilation system so that air can be forced through the shoes to remove wetness or warm up cold boots in a short amount of time.
DryGuy also has a line of regular boot drivers as well, so no need to throw the boots in front of a heater anymore. You can call the DryGuys instead.
While mountain bikes can handle reasonable amounts the white stuff, usually deep snow means it is time to hit the rollers or exercise bike instead. Two wheels and thick packed snow just don’t mix. But the British Environmental Transport Association (ETA) might have an alternate solution with a special bike kit that utilizes a caterpillar track-driven snow bike.
BikeRadar.com reported that the bike, which was designed as a proof of concept device for the Cycle Show 2010 in London, actually found use following the recent snow fall in Britain last week. The concept converts any existing 26-inch mountain bike (hard tail or full suspension) into a snow bike by replacing the front wheel with a single ski and using a rubber track setup with the rear wheel. This solution allows the rider to retain the use of the gears and rear brake. Super villain and Bond girl not included.
[Via BikeRadar: Taking the ‘Bond bike’ for a spin in the snow]
