26 Aug 2010

August Testing on Rainier

Innovate 1 Comment

 

Tyler and I got out last Saturday to test our improved ride mode interface and our first article bindings.  For this trip we zipped down to Mt. Rainier and hiked up to a little below Camp Muir.  On the ride mode interface we modified the toe attachment portion to be a single bent sheet metal part instead of a sheet metal part and a CNCd aluminum part.  This change makes set-up easier and it shaves .25 lbs out of the system.  All of our engineering calculations showed the part was stronger than the old set up, but we needed to get out on snow to verify.  The snow wasn’t great, I’d call it “sun bucketed” instead of “sun cupped” because the pits were two to three feet wide and about one foot deep.  At least we had snow to test on, sliding in August is always fun.  It turns out that our calculations were correct, the bindings felt even more tightly attached to the board!
18 Aug 2010

Deeper Unplugged Premiere 8/20/10

Splitboard Events No Comments

Tyler and I are going to be at the Deeper Unplugged showing at the Boundary Bay Brewery in Bellingham, WA this Friday, August 20.  We’ll have our latest binding system for people to checkout.  For more information on the event click on this link to the Boundary Bay Brewery.

04 Aug 2010

Split30 Pre-sale

Product News No Comments
With the first production run of our Split30 Splitboard System in full swing, Tyler and I would like to announce the details of the pre-sale.  As an introductory offer to those who pre-order we are offering a $50 discount.  Simply enter:
PreSale
as the discount code at checkout on our store, www.karakorambc.com/store .  The $50 discount only applies to the complete Split30 Splitboard System.  If you would like to purchase the Split30 without straps and highbacks please contact me at bryce@karakorambc.com to work out a different discount.  This pre-sale discount will only be valid until September 1st, 2010.
We should be assembling the bindings in mid September and then shipping them out at the end of September or the beginning of October.  If the binding size you need is out of stock send me an email (bryce@karakorambc.com) to let me know what size you need and I will update the quantities in the store.  

All Karakoram hardgood products will be backed with the following warranty: Karakoram warrants its products to be free of defects in material or workmanship for a period for two (2) years from the date of purchase for the original registered owner, validated with an original sales reciept.  Damage resulting from impact, abuse, misuse, neglect, non-factory modifications, and normal wear and tear are not covered.  If in the event there is an issue that falls outside of the warranty we have a “Crash Replacement Policy”  which is a lifetime guarantee.  If you destroy your binding system in any way we will replace the broken parts for a nominal fee and the return of the broken part(s).  For more information on Karakoram’s Warranty visit our website, if info isn’t posted yet it will be posted in the near future.

Tyler and I greatly appreciate your support, and look forward to having you be a part of Karakoram.  With your support and feedback you are backing a new wave in backcountry innovation.

-Bryce
04 Aug 2010

Split30 Technology Page

Innovate, Product News 1 Comment

We’ve had lots of requests for more information on how the Split30 system works.  I finally had the chance to put together a technology page and post it to the website. Click on the link below for more information:

Karakoram Split30 Tech Page

We don’t have any production bindings built up yet, so all of the pictures are from prototype systems.  The production bindings will be much prettier :) .

I’m going through powder withdrawals right now, so I thought I would throw this picture up of Tyler exiting his powder roost.  Snow………..

30 Jul 2010

A New Toy and First Article Board Clips

Innovate No Comments

I just picked up the first article inspection board clip bases on Wednesday.  They look and feel a lot nicer than the prototype versions we’ve been using the last two years.  The base is a really simple part, but a lot of thought went into making this a cost effective part.  In the picture below you can see the difference between the prototypes and the production bases.  The protos are CNC’d aluminum with a lever mount attached with M4 screws.  The production is a cleanly bent piece of stainless steel, prettier and stronger!

We’ve had some questions about the lever and loop rattling around while in tour mode.  To prevent rattling the lever base tabs interfere slightly with the lever to create a small amount of resistance, there is also a foam damper on the underside of the lever to prevent the loop from rattling.

Last but not least, we just picked up a CNC Router to run our heel cups, crampons and other miscellaneous sheet parts.

20 Jul 2010

Summer Fun on the Flett

Ride, Splitboarding, Tours No Comments

Last weekend we (Bryce, his wife Melissa, my wife Marcy, and I) headed up to Flett Glacier on Rainier for some casual summer touring and camping. The road to Mowich had just opened and after talking to the ranger we were expecting good snow coverage starting at the lake. Unfortunately it had melted out quite a bit so we ended up booting up and over Knapsack Pass.

Crossing the creeks,
scrambling up the mossy roots and across a few snowy patches,
we were over the pass and finally able to start skinning.
Just over the pass we spied some fun little chutes that were too good to pass up. Bryce and I dropped our packs and booted up
and got some perfect corn on the way down, only wish the ride was 3 times longer…
The view looking back towards Knapsack Pass.
Since we weren’t in any real hurry to get any where, we decided to set up camp on the ridge,
decorate a few trees,
ate some grub, and watch the sun set on Rainier.
After a casual morning, we packed up, stashed our overnight gear, headed up,
Snapped a photo of the crew with Echo Rock in the background,
and then feasted on some mid-July, sweet corn… yummy!
Our route down the Flett headwall.

 

We repacked our gear and skied our way through the meadows.
The snow ran out about 2.5-3miles from the car, so we hoofed it out.
Another fun summer tour… where to next :)

 

28 Jun 2010

Summer Season Riding

Ride, Splitboarding 2 Comments

Late spring/early summer riding, one of the many great reasons to live in the northwest.

So my day last Thursday: woke up and went to my paying job (no that’s not working for Karakoram, yet :) ), cruised home at 5pm, met up with Aaron and headed up to Silver Peak to hit up the last of the late season up at the pass, at the trail head by 6:30pm
a short hike to the snow before we can start skinning

scoped the lines
headed up the ridge
dropped the west face down to Annette Lake
and hit some killer late season corn!

scramble up some heather fields,
over a small snowfield,
and reached the summit as the sun started setting, 9pm
snaped some pics of the raddest split combo almost available (I know I’m a bit biased…)
took in the views
time to drop!
rode down the bowl and we were back at the car before dark.
A couple cold ones to relive the fun and back home before ten.
I love the northwest!
18 Jun 2010

Lassen Peak and Mt. Shasta

Ride, Splitboarding No Comments

A couple weeks ago JimW invited Tyler and me to join the California splitboard crew on their trip to Shasta.   We jumped at the opportunity to check out a little more of the California split scene and also invited Russell to join.  50+ emails later the plan on where we were touring was still in flux, but we hit the road anyway.

We just finished our new crampon concept around 5 pm Thursday and were looking forward to testing them out on the frozen late spring corn.  Despite finishing building the prototype crampon and hoping to be in bed at a reasonable hour before the Friday drive down, we couldn’t break with tradition.  True to Kloster form we were up late again, but this time it was to help Russell complete his DIY split Nitro Pantera.  Sick looking SPLIT!


Friday morning we packed and hit the road for Lassen National Park.  After about 8 hours of driving, Shasta came into view.

11 hours in and we were finally at Lassen National Park as the sun was setting.

We were the first to arrive at the Devastated Area trail head so we made dinner and went to bed.

Morning came too quickly as we all started moving around 6:00 am.  Our crew consisted of Jim (Jimw), Storn (Sanfrantastico), Josh (jbaysurfer), Dave (Fullers2oh), Darren (powderjunkie), Russell (russman), Tyler and myself.  We started the tour around 7:30 am.
The approach to Lassen Peak was pretty easy.
We crossed a huge avalanche run out,

skinned on dirt,


skied past a natural stone obolisk,


cruised up to the north shoulder,



snapped some pictures of Shasta,



and then got pelted with marble sized ice balls flying in the 50-60 mph winds.

We continued up to about 9,200 ft but decided the wind was too strong to continue up the ridgeline.  The decision was made to descend in to the bowl where the winds were not as strong.  Darren and Dave continued up a little higher, and had some fun with the wind… losing a helmet, a backpack and one ski of a splitboard.
The snow on the descent was perfect corn.
Storn enjoying the snow conditions.
Tyler cruising back into the bowl.
Josh having some fun.

After moving out of the wind, the group divided up to ascend different parts of Lassen Peak.  Tyler and I went up to hit a cool looking narrow rock line and the rest of the group boot packed up the center of Lassen Peak to the summit.

I reached the top of the line I was aiming to ride and snapped a photo of Storn and Russell on the summit.
I took another photo looking down my line and then dropped in.
This was my first time on a Jones Solution and man was it a fun ride.
After my run down I snapped some pictures of everyone else descending.
Darren ripping down a ridge.
Storn, Josh, and Dave dropping in.
Jim surfing the corn snow.
Russell with one of the coolest lines of the day.
Tyler on a tight melt out line and showing off his fine ski pole attachment technique.
I reluctantly let Tyler give the Jones Solution a try on the last 1500 ft of Lassen Peak.  I think he was enjoying his first run on the Solution.  SLASH!
The whole crew heading back to the trailhead.
The original plan was to have a quick easy day on Lassen and then summit Mt. Shasta on Sunday, but our day on Lassen ended up going a little longer than expected.  We ended up getting back to the car around 5:00 pm.  After drying out our gear and resting a bit we packed the truck and headed up to Shasta arriving around 9:30.  Dinner took a little longer than expected and we finally got to Bunny Flat trailhead at 11:30.  Because of the long day and the late hour, half of the group decided to bail on the 2:00 am summit departure.  Jim, Storn, Darren, and Dave some how managed to get out of bed with 2 hours of sleep and went for the summit.

Josh, Russell, Tyler and I decided to sleep-in until 7:30, which was a great decision.
Russell and I rolling out of our tents.
We moved a bit slow and didn’t leave Bunny Flat until 10:30 am. Our line choice for the day was Green Butte.
The skin up was exciting.  Josh, Russell and Tyler were trying a new skinning technique…
I had some hotspots coming on, so the duct tape came out to save the day and kept my ankles from blistering.
Just before we got to the top of Green Butte we saw Storn ripping down the Avalanche Gully (he is the little dot to the left of Josh).
On the way up we found a cool looking chute to ride into Powder Bowl, so we pushed up to the top of Green Butte and rode down a ridge into Powder Bowl.
Josh was the first drop the chute and ripped the center line.

 

I dropped in next and went for a little rock dodging.
Russell went next.
Tyler came down last, hoping to hit the tightest rock line but figured out how steep the wall was when he was actually on it.
After riding the cool little chute we decided it was a little too warm for a second lap so we goofed around on the mellow terrain heading into the mossy trees bellow.
Russell airing a little wind lip.
Tyler buttering the Jones Solution.
Russell with a rail grab.
Josh ripping down.
The cool mossy trees.
We got down to the road and skied back to the cars.

It turns out our choice to stay low was reaffirmed as we saw four helicopters come in to take away injured climbers from a morning icefall.  The summit group aborted their route up Avalanche Gully and went for the west face (bowl?) to get away from the crazy crowds.
After a great weekend of riding we hit the road around 3:30, for our 9 hour drive back to Snoqualmie, WA.
Portland with the sun setting.
Psychedelic “Welcome to Washington” sign. 
Another amazing trip!
25 May 2010

Late Season Snow!

Ride, Splitboarding No Comments

It seems like this is the snow season that never ends, I’m not complaining because I love it.  I woke up yesterday to two inches of snow at my house in Sandy, UT.  Late April and May have been good to us in Utah.  My only problem is my normal touring partners have hung up their boards and skis and turned to biking and climbing.

May 1st, Cruising up White Pine

May 4th, PM patrol

May 11th, lunch time pow run down Lone Tree at Alta

May 14th, looking down down the Cirque at Snowbird

May 22nd, looking down a chute on lower Baldy that has filled in with all the late season snow

May 23rd, my wife, Melissa, finally had a day off so we got out for a late morning tour into Alta.  We went up  to the top of Baldy and dropped in towards the Sugarloaf lift.

Looking back on the Pfeifferhorn and Coal Pit Headwall

Melissa dropping into a little chute

Melissa ripping the lower wind packed powder

Melissa doing her best skier pose next to the infamous Alta rope tow.

The funniest rope tow video ever…
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-6pQwo_9r4]
May 24th, hi hoe, hi hoe another 9″ of snow… :) and up to Baldy we go.  Mike, Lauren and I got a late afternoon tour up to the shoulder of Baldy.
I don’t own a helmet cam, so I shot this video by holding my cell phone in my mouth… I call it mouth cam :)  Not the best video, but it shows the good late season snow.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XX-o7bRQehw]
20 Apr 2010

Kalifornia SplitFest

Explore, Ride, Splitboard Events, Splitboarding 6 Comments


Two words to sum up this last weekend: Freakin’ Amazing!

Day 1
Bryce and I really didn’t know what to expect going down to the Kalifornia Split Party, except that it was going to be an adventure. We decided last minute we were going and scrambled to get plane tickets. Keeping with tradition… the night before was another long one. Finishing up parts and packing by 1:30am and crawling out of bed at 4:30am, I sleepily flew to Reno where Bryce and I met up and began our road trip to Convict Lake.






Taking in the epic views of the Eastern Sierra,

 

we anxiously anticipated the backcountry adventures that lay ahead. Stopping along the way we snapped a few photos of Mono Lake.

 

Arriving at Convict Lake around 5pm,

 

we met up with the California splitboard.com crew at the Mt Morrison Cabin.

 

It was nice to see a few familiar faces (The Tahoe crew: Aaron, Kelly, Denny) from the Baker Splitfest. We grabbed some grub and and spent the night talking of the days adventures (an epic tour to Mt Tom, slushy fun on hippy chutes, the road trips in) and of course gear!

 

A few last minute preps

 

and it was off to bed.

Day 2
The next morning we awoke to the blue bird singing, another beautiful day in the Eastern Sierra! Crews were headed all over for the day; we cruised over to a nearby ridge line for some laps with Mike, Denny, JimW, Greg, Chris, and the whole Sentury Snowboards crew.

 

Lap 1- At the bottom we thought it’d be ~1600ft to the top. After a steep switch backing skin track up the ridgeline to the top it ended up being close to 2700ft per JimW’s altimeter.

 

The group split up with Mike, Denny and crew hitting up the skiers left trees and drainage while Bryce, Jim, and I ventured over to a steep rocky spine for a helping of some little narrow shoots.

Me (Tyler) popping out of a turn

 

Bryce dropping in
Jim slashing the wall of the little chute and Bryce pointing it down the chute.
Jim rallying down to the bottom
Bryce playing all the way down
Me (Tyler) with a rail grab to finish off run 1

Lap 2- we switched our system onto JimW’s board for a side to side comparison

 

and then headed up to the lookers left bowl. I dragged myself up the 1900-2000ft ascent, feeling it the entire way.

 

Greg, JimW, Bryce, I pinned it to the bottom down the bowl.

Me (Tyler) airing off a small cornice, little rock drop, and pointing it down the bowl

 

Greg soul carving his swallow tail!

Surprisingly good snow at the top, which quickly changed to board stopping slop.

 

A few rock hops to the bottom and we were spent.

A picture of our lines down the second run.

 

After a quick trek back to the cabin

 

for a well earned frosty beverage we relived the day with the others and start plotting the next days adventures.

 

After a quick chats with a few others in the group including Jbaysurfer and JimW. our sights were set on the Power House Shoots off the Dana Plateau (near Tioga Pass) with JimW.

Day 3
The next morning we were up at the crack of dawn, packed the car, said our goodbyes, and headed for a quick breakfast with JimW. and Larry. Larry kindly lent us an ice ax and we were on our way.

 

No warming up for this tour. It’s right into the icy steep stuff from the car!

 

don’t want to fall here or it’s all the way back to the road :)

 

The stiffness of the the Split30 tour mode became very apparent on the up, allowing us to easily skin up the steep crispy slope without using ski crampons.


We quickly ascended to the first shoot and booted up. Jim was an animal with his verts booting the trail and left Bryce and I in the dust.

 

Again I found myself dragging up the hill, but the goods were now in sight with our first glimpse of the basin and the Power House Shoots!

 

We skinned up to the base of the main couloir, put the boards on the pack, and cramponed up.

Jim getting ready to boot pack up the chute

 

The snow in the couloir showed no signs of instability, but we were a little concerned with warming of the looming cornices above. After a quick discussion, we decided to boot up one at a time to minimize exposure to the cornices from above.

Me (Tyler) just about topping out. Again I would like to thank Larry for the crampons and ice ax :)

 

The views from the top of the Dana Plateau are unbelievable; definitely a classic tour.

After a quick bite, we were on our way down before the sun could heat the snow anymore.

Me, Bryce and Jim ready to rip up the Power House Chute on our Split30 Splitboard Systems (Mt. Dana in the background).

 

The main couloir offered a little bit of everything perfect corn at the top, wind blown pow, to compacted hard pack chunder, and finally opening up to the mellow apron below.

Jim dropped in first with Bryce snapping photos from the opposite side of chute. All I can say is EPIC! This was Jim’s second day on the Karakoram Split30s. We’ll let you decide if he was confident in the gear…

 

I dropped in next

 

After a few high fives we were on our way for the remaining 2000+ ft down to the car.

 

A few more open bowls to slash

 

Bryce snapped this cool silhouetted sequence of me.

Jim ripping to the bottom.

 

and Bryce slaying the exit shoot

 

through the trees,

and finally the car! Definitely a tour to remember!

 

We capped off the Eastern Sierra experience kicking it in a local hot springs reminiscing about the days adventure and talking gear with JimW. An awesome end to an awesome weekend!

 


Many thanks to Josh and Mike for putting this on. Truly an amazing event. We will definitely be coming next year hopefully with a few more folks from the PNW. Special thanks to JimW. for showing us the goods and for putting our bindings through the ringer. It was definitely cool to see a fellow ripper shredding his home turf on our new binding system! Schwalbster- Thanks for the feedback on the bindings, bummed we didn’t get to ride together on the plateau, we’ll have to hit it up next year followed by some surfing! To everyone that gave us feedback on our system, thanks! Your feedback is what will help us bring the best possible product to market!

It was great meeting everyone, too many to name, you all rock! Definitely a solid crew. This trip was definitely the first of many more to come!