Nels N

I've long loved my old avy shovel. How can one improve a shovel? Shovels don't have "features," they're shovels. So I thought. Actually it turns out you can improve a shovel! When seconds matter, I love that the oval cross-section shaped shaft means I'm dealing with one less axis to rotate to align the buttons - and that the shaft receiver has ramps to accept the buttons, no fine motor skills required. I do wish it were pear-shaped so you couldn't accidentally insert the handle backward, but I stuck some re...

Maybe I just lucked out, but I haven't had any problems with the pins that others have been reporting on here. Mine have worked well, nice and simple design, lightweight. When you need 'em, you need 'em, and they work. I have the 90mms paired with my ski trab gara titan bindings and 80mm underfoot skis.

These have been my first pair of race skis (yes yes, to the elite racers these don't count as race skis, but really...), and I've really loved them. I was hesitant to add a race pair of skis to my quiver (I'll never be a pro racer, just a local circuit guy), and thought I would be sacrificing a lot in the way of performance, but I've been impressed with how well these ski, enough so that I've chosen to tour with them on several occasions. I'm 5'11" about 150lb, and have the 172s have the 116/80/100 sidecut,...

The simplicity of these bindings leaves a strong impression, and makes everything else on the market seem bulky and overly complicated. I got the 4.5mm bar, and so far have not had any accidental releases, and thankfully haven't had any spills of significance where I wanted to release, but thus cannot review the release (I'm 5'11" and about 150lb). Sometimes a little snow/ice has built up and made it hard to transition, but less so than most other bindings I've used. Overall, transitions have been smooth an...

These came with my Blacklight Pros, and I've used them in all my local races this season, including the PowderKeg. I've raced with them in through everything from powder to sub zero temps to corn, and can say they are sweet skins. Great grip, great glide, and seem to stay on better than most race skins, even in the cold (I assume thanks to the pin system). I will say the pin does pose a challenge when ripping them off, I usually have to rip the skin as off as I can, then slide my hand down and grip it close...