The Local Line — Black Canyon, Mt. Si
https://karakoram.blog/2617911Click "open" on the right to jump into the digital mag. Enjoy!
Builder’s Journal 2– McClellan Butte
https://karakoram.blog/3617961Click "open" on the right to jump into the digital mag. Enjoy!
Performance Matters: Julien Herry & Another First Descent
Before we really get into this post, it must be said that we (Karakoram) don't necessarily want to encourage our friends or customers to partake in this style of snowboard alpinism. In case you're really wondering, snowboarding on the terrain that Julien "Pica" Herry enjoys, is more akin to full-throttle, full-stakes big range mountaineering. For those with experience in large-scale, high-angle environments, you'll understand what the magnitude and consequences of these photos really are. For those without a trained eye or experience on peaks and slopes like this, all we have to say is, "Don't try this at home!" It
When the Mountains Were Wild
Check out Karakoram Ambassador Mitch Toelderer's award winning splitboard film "When the Mountains Where Wild." WHEN THE MOUNTAINS WERE WILD - A freeride journey to the Albanian Alps from Whiteroom Productions on Vimeo.
The Middle/Path Project Episode Two – “Tools of the Trade”
Check out Karakoram Regional Ambassador and Steven's Pass, WA local Ian Wood in the second episode of The Middle/Path Project. Ian and friends get away from a dismal Pacific NorthWest winter and head to Montana in search of snow. [video_responsive] The Middle/Path Project Episode Two - "Tools of the Trade" from Sean Fithian on Vimeo.[/video_responsive] Mid way through winter, our season was gone in the PNW. With a strong determination to stay off Jet planes, we searched for the nearest location with good snow. The forecast in Montana was looking good and we set our sights on big sky country,
When The Mountains Were Wild
Karakoram Global Ambassador Mitch Tölderer and his crew with Whiteroom Productions just released their newest film WHEN THE MOUNTAINS WERE WILD - A freeride journey to the Albanian Alps. Show your support and check out their incredible full-length freeride movie online. Available for purchase on Vimeo OnDemand at https://vimeo.com/ondemand/wild . [video_responsive] WHEN THE MOUNTAINS WERE WILD - A freeride journey to the Albanian Alps from Whiteroom Productions on Vimeo. [/video_responsive] On the search for mountain wilderness in Europe Mitch Tölderer and his crew jump in a van and drive down the Balkan peninsula. The journey leads them through wild landscapes passing some theatres of the Yugoslavian wars before
Kevin Sansalone Interview
Above photo by Erin Hogue Kevin Sansalone Professional Snowboarder, Cinematographer, Movie producer, Business Owner, Coach, X Games Gold Winner, countless video parts, pages upon pages of editorial coverage, surfer, skater, bike rider and recently Snowboard guide, Kevin Sansalone has done it all over the space of his 20+ year career and he is still going. Interviewed by Chad Perrin: During his many successes I had the distinct pleasure of being right there with Kevin for 9 years of those successes as I was his Team Manager during the Option Snowboards days. To say the least Kevin had a positive
Splitboarding BC and Alberta by Van
Words: Kyle Hansen Photos: Kyle Hansen and Brandon Huttenlocher I’m guessing you’ve heard this before: this past winter was terrible. Most winters, I expect to be able to go snowboarding or splitboarding at Snoqualmie Pass every single day. It’s pretty much what I’ve scheduled my life around since high school. This winter, warm weather left us skunked: we were looking at grass on cat tracks in January. So when March rolled around, long after all the Northwest ski hills shut down, I took a five-week sabbatical to spend some time in a van with a couple good friends (Jay Hergert and
Norway Trip Report from Kyle Miller
Our good friend Kyle Miller went on another adventure this past spring to the mountains of Norway! Take notes and get a good look at what Kyle's been up to. Also, if you'd like to keep with Kyle and all his adventures, follow him on Instagram: @kylemiller411 Words and photos: Kyle Miller It all started with a roundtrip plane ticket to Munich, Germany and an generalized plan to ski and stay with friends it two of the ski touring meccas of Europe Innsbruck, Austria and Tromso, Norway. I left the Cascades admist a bleak seasonal snowpack and days after attending and MCing the Mount Baker
Getting Rowdy on Mt. Adams with Karakoram
Words, Photos and Video by Paul Stanley With the incredible stretch of warm, dry weather we've been having here in the Pacific Northwest, the volcano shredding has been firing in recent weeks. In our last blogpost we highlighted three volcanoes we went splitboarding on lately. One of them being Mt. Adams (12,280'/3,743 m). The trip we had on Mt. Adams was one worth talking a little more about. Mike, Russman and myself (Paul) made the climb up Mt. Adams with our friends Theresa, Adam and Saign. Our goal was not exactly to just climb the volcano, but also to go get
Snowboarding and Splitboarding in Switzerland
In February we were wrapping up the long trade show season. As usual our feet hurt from standing in convention centers and talking to people all day long. Talking about splitboarding is great and all, but after two straight weeks, you kind of go stir crazy. We couldn't wait to get out into the Alps to refresh our spirits. After ISPO Munich Tyler and I decided to check out Klosters Switzerland since it's a great name. At ISPO we meet downhill skateboarder Patrick Switzer who live near Klosters. Patrick likes snowboarding and we like snowboarding, so we decided to shred some powder together.
Exploring the Land of the Rising Sun with Kyle Miller
Words and photos provided by Kyle Miller "Over the month of Febuary I had the good fortune to make a pilgrimage to Japan and see for myself what everyone was talking about with the waist deep snow to be found, epic sushi on the cheap and a culture filled with kindness and respect." "Simply put the rumors are true. I quickly got into a routine of waking up at 5a.m. to the alarm of avalanches falling off our roof, eating a bacon and egg breakfast and putting my board in the chair line at 7:00. We would ride bell to
Making the Most of a Dismal Winter
There is no question the entire Western half of the U.S. is having a rough Winter. Here in Washington State, splitboarding and ski touring at lower elevations has been a struggle and our ski areas are barely open if they aren't already closed. The Summit at Snoqualmie and now Mt. Baker, two major ski areas in our region are both closed until there is more snow, IF there is more snow. Weather forecasts don't look too promising unfortunately. Our mountains haven't seen any serious snowfall at lower elevations (below 6-7000 feet) since the end of December. Not only that, but heavy rains
Splitboarding Mt. Clemenceau
This past spring Karakoram Guide Ambassador Naoyuki Kato made his second attempt at climbing and riding the north face of Mt. Clemenceau. Read about his adventure below: Words by Naoyuki Kato 1. Introduction Deepest in the Rockies, Mt Clemenceau is far more remote than any mountains in the range. We headed to Red Rock Harbor, 150K east from Revelstoke, BC to launch our expedition. From there we kayaked windy sometimes wavy Kinbasket Lake to Wood Arm for 25K. The following day we started hiking old logging road in 60s with possibly 50kg backpacks on and skinned to tree line. Through
Nipple Deep Webseries: Splitboarding Alaska
Looks like our friends from True Color films had a good time camping out in Alaska. In this Nipple Deep RedBull webisode check out Stephan Maurer, Lisa Filzmoser, David Bertschinger Karg, Nicholas Wolken and Alvaro Vogel splitboarding and shredding. http://www.redbull.com/en/snow/stories/1331689222716/nipple-deep-chapter-1-ak-camp-out
Splitboarding is Fun
One of our favorite splitboard tours is a little couloir in Common Wealth Basin on Snoqualmie Pass. We can do the whole tour in about 4 hours door to door from our shop in North Bend, WA. It's a nice little morning split tour and we can get back to the shop and still get some work done. Here is a little video of the tour: [br] [video_responsive][/video_responsive] [br][br] Russell ripping the East Couloir. Russell was like, "Oh snap, that was fun!" [br] Thanks to Paul Bagels for putting the video together. Paul is pretty talented, so if
Splitboard Season Just Around the Corner
With Splitboard season just around the corner, most of us mountain people are getting ready. Summer is changing to Fall, the anticipation builds. We are taking inventory of our gear, waxing boards or skis, and sharpening edges. Some of us are looking to upgrade our backcountry kits with a new set of bindings, a new board or a new back pack. We’re improving our fitness so we can take that third or forth lap. One thing that is sometimes forgotten is to ask the questions, “How am I going to stay safe this year? How am I going to improve
Summer Splitboarding
Not all of us have the means to migrate to the Southern Hemisphere to follow Winter. Whether it is lack of funds, a full-time job, or family commitments there are still a few of us that yearn to slide on snow after our Spring snowpack dwindles into Summer suncups. Here in the Pacific Northwest we are lucky enough to have a deep snow pack that lasts late into the Summer.
Alaskan Dreams: My Wilderness Experience
What is this all about? To find one’s self here, complete with a beating heart and inflatable lungs? To find that we have legs, arms, and a mind that thinks… WHY, are we here?
SIA, ISPO and Austrian Splitboarding (Trade Show Detox)
Before starting a business in the snowboard industry I used to think that I’d snowboard a lot more if I worked with snowboards every day. Little did I know that trade show season falls right in prime snow season. Trade show prep, OR, SIA and ISPO basically take up all of January and February. This was our third year at the trade shows so we were a bit more prepared, but it is always exhausting being on your feet all day and talking for eight hours straight. To make matters worse the brilliant planners of SIA and ISPO decided to
Mitch and Bibi Splitboarding Praxmarerkarspitze
Mitch Toelderer sent me this picture a couple weeks ago pointing to his next splitboard mission.
October Splitboarding in Tahoe
Story by Allison Lightcap, Photos By Seth Lightcap Have you ever had the feeling that Old Man Winter was going to come early? I started to get this feeling in Tahoe a few weeks ago when I saw the squirrels rushing around collecting food. They knew what was up. Then I got this subconscious urge to clean out the garage and find all my winter stuff. I never like to clean the garage. Something was seriously screwy. But then all of a sudden it made perfect sense. Tahoe got dumped on last week of October!
Jeremy Jones’ Further Trailer
Every once in a while I take a step back from the daily grind to think about how far Karakoram has come in the last three years. Watching the Further trailer is one of these moments. We started making production bindings in our garage three years ago and now we are working with some of the most talented athletes in the world like Jeremy Jones, Forrest Shearer, Lucas Debari, Mitch Toelderer, Bibi Pekarek, Ralph Backstrom, to name a few. Thank you to everyone who has supported us along the way. Innovate. Ride. Explore.
4th of July on the North Twin Sister
There is some fun summer shredding going on right now. Our friend Kael Martin sent us this nice little report of his trip with Lucas Debari and friends. A Mountain Adventure to Celebrate America’s Independence Lucas Debari, Kael Martin, Anthony Gervais, Calvin Patterson, Daniel Sandberg, Jerry Mark, Quinn Baumberger, Cody Garrington July 4th, 2012 was a unique day not only because it marked the bicentennial of the War of 1812 in which America went to battle with our northern neighbor Canada, but also seemed to be the beginning of summer in the Pacific Northwest. It was hard to complain about
Spring Time in the North Cascades
The North Cascades have to be one of my favorite places to tour. We are pretty spoiled with the variety of mountainous terrain we have within a three hour drive Seattle. The North Cascades are a little different than the rest of the mountains in Washington. They seem a bit more grand, maybe it’s the higher elevation, maybe it’s the larch groves, maybe it’s just that I always end up going to the North Cascades when have a bit more time to tour on my splitboard. What ever it is I always have a great time splitboarding up north. This
Mt Shasta and the Great Pleiadian Eclipse Alignment
“On May 20th, 2012, for the first time in 26,000 years the sun, the moon and the constellation responsible for our evolution and ascension, the mysitc Pleiades, [aligned] in a spectacular total solar eclipse directly over one of the most powerful, mysterious, spiritual vortexes in the world: the mighty Mount Shasta” (http://www.divinetravels.com/Shasta.html). Chris, Tyler and I drove down from Seattle to meet up with the Jones, TGR, twsnow and Further crew, for this was a once in 26,000 year event we couldn’t miss. Anticipation was high and everyone was on the look out for Lemurians, UFOs and Crystal Cities ascending.
Spring Time Splitboarding
[br]Once a year, whether you live in the northern or southern hemisphere, the earth’s spinning axis tilts towards the sun. This has a profound impact: days get longer and temperatures rise. Just about every eco-system on the planet responds to this. Just as life has evolved to use water, so has it evolved to use sunrays. It’s Spring Time! And every year this seems to elicit a population-wide increase in happiness levels.
Mt. Baker Splitboard Fest Recap
The third Mt. Baker Splitboard festival was great time. The last two we worked up until the last minute to finish off prototypes and demo bindings. This year we were a little bit more prepared, but we still rolled in a little late for the Demo set up on Friday evening. We’ll be on time next year… I always look forward to the Mt. Baker Splitboard fest because it is the time of year that I actually get to ride my snowboard a bit more.
Forrest Shearer in Haines
Forrest Shearer splitboarding and getting after it in Haines, AK with the Patagonia crew.
Neil Provo Splitboarding in Silverton
[br]There are some lucky people that get to follow the snow for a living. I think everyone who loves to ride has done it or wishes they could pull away from their 8-5 job and live the dream of riding powder everyday. Neil Provo is one of those lucky people. Neil has teamed up with fellow Outdoor Research Ambassadors Zack Giffin and Molly Baker to chase storms in their "Tiny House." They've followed the snow to Silverton Colorado. I wish I was there as it's raining here in the PNW... Click here for more info on the OR Sidecountry sessions.
Winchester Lookout Trip: A Magical Return to Winter
Just got this trip report from our friend Kael Martin. I’m incredibly jealous of the snow he got to shred last weekend. Heading deep into the Northern Cascade mountains provided an incredibly satisfying and refreshing start to the 2011/2012 snowboard season. Many uncertainties nearly hampered our trip plans, but in the end it all came together and we were thoroughly rewarded for our persistence. We all gathered in Bellingham on Friday night and set out to the Winchester Lookout via the Twin Lakes Trail very early Saturday morning. Almost 4 miles out on the skin track were alarmed as we
Karakoram Split30 Splitboard System Video
We just finished up a new product video showcasing our Split30 Splitboard System.
Jones Solution Video
Check out the new Jones Solution Video. Jeremy is riding the Snowboard Mag Editor's Choice splitboard set up and Backpacker's Ultimate Splitty Setup: the Jones Solution and Karakoram Split30 Splitboard System.
Forrest Shearer Shredding on Karakoram Splitboard Bindings
With winter approaching quickly it's video premiere time. Check out Forrest Shearer shredding on his Karakoram Splitboard Bindings in the following films this September. Forrest had this to say: Snowboarding to me is all about evolving my riding and adapting to the terrain in front of me. Now that I splitboard almost my entire season the right gear is crucial for taking it to the next level in the backcountry. Karakoram is the interface that I rely on to get the job done. [br] Sweet Grass Productions: Solitaire World Premiere next thurs sept. 15th Denver, CO Gothic Theatre Powder Whores:
Press Release: Jeremy Jones Partnering with Karakoram
PRESS RELEASE, Snoqualmie, WA- Karakoram is proud to announce a partnership with Jeremy Jones, renowned big mountain snowboarder and owner of Jones Snowboards. [br]The partnership will combine Jeremy’s legendary backcountry freeriding experience and Karakoram’s innovative design capabilities with the goal of delivering products that redefine the backcountry experience for snowboarders around the world. “We started Karakoram to create backcountry snowsports equipment that challenged the norms and provided performance beyond expectations. The opportunity to work with Jeremy on this journey will bring a perspective destined to help take our designs and products to the next level. Jeremy is truly an inspirational
Mt. Shasta with Jeremy Jones and Friends
Last week I got a phone call from Chad at Jones Snowboards saying that Jeremy was putting together a crew to climb and splitboard Mt. Shasta and he wanted to know if Tyler and I would like to join. My immediate reply was, “Ummm… YES! When are we going!”
Splitboarding in the North Cascades
This past winter I haven’t been out on my snowboard as much as I’d like, so I’ve made it a goal this late spring and summer to get away from my computer and out into the mountains. Russell called me on Thursday and it turned out to be a great excuse to head north. We had originally planned on climbing Eldorado Peak, but a late start, lack of a permit, and a Ranger turning people back at the 7600ft camp changed our plans. We headed back to Marblemount to get a permit, but then decided to be lazy and drive
Kalifornia SplitFest
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