The Goat

It would be easy to write off High Society as another handmade ski brand that can’t measure up to the advanced construction techniques and materials of big manufactures, but it’s worth taking a look at their gear for a moment anyway. High Society makes skis and snowboards (Freeride is their common bond) with bamboo cores and rubber dampening sheets. Their skis and snowboards are made in Aspen sell for between $350 and $500, so they’re not outrageously expensive. As much as I like the idea of a small company like High Society cutting skis from bamboo in their shop/garage like a ski version of surfboard shapers, I just can’t imagine how their products can measure up to skis made with CNC machining and modern construction techniques. I think skis are such a different animal than bike frames or surfboards. These small brands are doomed unless they get their skis made by some big company, but at that point why even bother?

Learn to Freeride has taken on the ambitious task of teaching you to ski and snowboard while you’re parked in front of a computer. It’s kind of like the downloadable PodSki lessons, only you don’t even have to put on your ski clothes.  They break down ski and snowboard tricks to basic moves you can easily find online, and then they give you a thousand things you’re sure to forget the first time you get to the top of a run. Need a push?

Now that Rollergirls are back competing in the totally confusing yet fun to watch sport of Roller Derby, you’d think it might be acceptable to go outside in your Heelys—but you would be shamefully wrong. Heelys are skate shoes in the most literal sense with a couple roller skate wheels embedded into the heels. Wearing them continues to be the best reason to get beat up by teenagers at a skatepark. Let’s hope this is one trend that doesn’t catch on in America.

The company that built its brand on blue collar work clothes is adding a camo iPod case to its line. The iPod case will only be available in Europe, so Americans will have to just keep using their pockets on the jobsite. It’s a pretty common move for U.S. companies to release this kind of gear in Europe and then protect their brand in America by not letting us get the good stuff.  Well, in this case Carhartt might just be worried that some American would try to use the carabiner for climbing in the land of liability—they’re probably just be trying to avoid a lawsuit.

via Freshness

While Smith is pushing a ski goggle with an easy-to-swap lens, Zeal has quietly trumped them with the Link PPX. They gave it a photochromatic/polarized lens that adjusts to the light so you don’t need to mess around with dropping extra goggle lenses off the chairlift.

After patiently showing a customer different water filters, purifiers, tablets, and in-line hydration pack add-ons one day, the guy asked, “So do any of these really do anything?” For the first time (maybe ever), I thought before I responded. “I have no idea,” I told him.

All we really have to go on is the marketing material that comes with each filter. I’ve used a couple water purification methods and only gotten sick once (MSR Mini Works) when I was on a trip, but being sick could have come from something I ate, so I still don’t really know.

The U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine has put the results of a Water-Treatment Shootout! on their website. They divide the test between filters and disinfectants. The best disinfectant they tested was the Katadyn Micropur tablet, while several General Ecology, Hydration Tech, Katadyn, and MSR took top marks.

via The Piton

When I saw this ad today I was surprised to find out that the ski company famous for its one-piece suits and vibrant teal color ways even made bike shorts. Apparently they’re trying to get a little attention by standing on a soap box and telling people that grinding their crotches on bike seats for five hours at a time might not be all that healthy. My guess is that if you’re riding road bikes enough to fill a Viagra prescription, you probably already have this information. This kind of ad only serves to convince naïve people that they should take the motorized State Park tour instead of renting some dangerous bikes for a leisurely pedal.

via Shut Up and Drink the Kool-Aid

Throw away your snowboard and season pass. The Scarpar is an all-terrain motorized board slated to come out in 2007 that replaces the need for mountains, people will be flocking to the wide open terrain of North Dakota. The Scarpar is marketed towards snowboarders, skaters, surfers, ATV riders, and snowmobilers—which are all such closely related sports that I don’t see much of a problem.

via Trendhunter

Get into spring by hanging up your snow skirt and going for a trail run in the New Balance Bonita Run Skirt. Fellow trail runners will probably assume you can’t wear shorts due to some religious observation, but at least it’ll be easy for you to go to the bathroom on the side of the trail.

When pro cycling doping gets you down on the sport, take it back to the days where riders shared cigarettes instead of Amgen EPO in the peloton. Vintage Velo is making this replica Salvarani Wool Jersey of the team’s 1963 to 1972 jersey. They also have the Molteni Jersey that Eddy Merckx used to wear—start calling yourself “The Cannibal.”