G3’s Alpinist Splitboard Skin has risen to the need in creating a functional splitboard skin that features an innovative tip and tail clip for the offset skis of traditional splitboards on the market.

Thank you to everyone who participated in G3's 'Touring Season' Contest. It's great to see everyone still jazzed about skiing while others are busy rushing into summer. In G3's backyard we've been lucky enough to enjoy both this month! The weather gods have dished out everything from cold, wintery powder days to hot, sunny biking/climbing/kiting days. No complaints!

Congratulations to Cam Johnson; Winner of the Touring Season Contest.

Cam just scored himself $500 worth of touring gear from G3, including...

Owls couloir has been the objective but Mt.Cook keeps blocking. I've been wanting to ski this line since I did the Wedge to Currie traverse from parking lot to Pemberton in under 22 hours with my brother and a couple of elite mountain bike racers back in the 90s.

It's close but far as day trips go. I've spent a lot of time in the Wedge area from the introduction to mountaineer days. Neck belays, grovelling on the south side of Wedge up the boulder fields and cornice drops on the NE arete.

I was lucky enough to have a fun day ticking classic steep lines on Mt. Stanley (3120 m) in Kootenay National Park a few days ago, with Joshua Lavigne and Ali Haeri.  

If you missed it... Read Part 1 Here.

1:15am… Woken up by some loud German voices, we started to second-guess our idea to not get an alpine start to the day. With most of the groups being on their skis by 2am, Andrew and I both were thinking that we may have just compromise our chances to get to the summit that day… would the weather turn on us? Would it get too warm to travel under the broken icy faces?

From the day we set foot in the cabin in the alps, I could not help but wonder if the stars would align for us to reach the summit of the magical Mt Blanc. All winter long, it was there, keeping an eye on us during our multiple training sessions up La Roche Pourrie. It was also there when we raced the Pierra Menta and was always so prominent every time we would climb up any summit near or far.

Mt Blanc is known to be the dream of a lot of climbers and mountaineers and it certainly has been the subject of a few discussions at our dining room table.

A few days ago I finally skied the NW couloir on Mt. Burgess, a 4000' line I had been wanting to take a closer look at for about ten years.  When staring up at it from the Emerald Lake, one of the signature landmarks Yoho Park is famous for, it's a very obvious split in the North face of Mt.

Lucky for me, this winter in Southcentral has been different. The early season had no snow. On free days we ice climbed like fiends. 2,000-foot gullies up the sides of mountains. Then it began snowing. I taught avalanche classes. The snow stabilized. I ski guided non-stop. Then I snuck in a five personal days of skiing.

After a long season of racing and skiing which already includes over 100 days on the planks and over 20 events, the question was: is it time to take a small break from the white fluffy stuff and switch to summer activities or is it time for seeking the lines that have been haunting our dreams all winter? Well, every skier out there knows the answer. Once the weather was finally calling for sunshine, even if still tired and sore from the last ski mission, we took our winter weapons and went couloir slaying! (Main image: Roignais by Andre Dugit)