Are you an Audiophile? Are you a bike commuter, mountain biker, or festival goer? If so, this could be the next big thing for you.
The Skullcandy Link Hydro Pack is a backpack that is completely wired, with speakers on the shoulder straps, a built-in mic, internal laptop case, and a half-gallon hydration bladder. You can put your cell phone in a side pocket, plug it into the wire , do the same with your mp3 player, and take off. As you ride or roam you can answer the phone by pushing a button on the shoulder strap and just talk, no headset required. You can also jam to your favorite music with headphones or through the shoulder straps. Volume can be adjusted, and you can switch back and forth between phone and mp3 using the controls as well.
I used this on my commute last week and flatted out on my bike. I hopped off to change the tire and sat the pack on the ground. I turned the headphones off and turned the shoulder speakers on and listened to music while I changed my tire… or didn’t change it. I forgot my tire changing tool, so… I listened to music while I waited for my wife to come pick me up. It was sweet.
My only worry with this backpack is that I wouldn’t take it on a plane since as it goes through the xray machine at the airport it might look slightly suspicious with all the wires inside. But, for any other use, this thing is amazing. Pretty soon all our electronics will be wired into our clothing and run through solar panels made into the material on the shoulders. I’m calling it, you heard it hear first folks…
Retails for $139.95
Comes in Orange/Grey or Camouflage (you won’t be sneaking up on anybody while rocking Metallica though…
This is a question we should all be asking ourselves as we prepare for the upcoming warm weather and all the outdoor fun we’re going to be having. Fist Aid Kits are perhaps the most important piece of gear you’ll take with you into the wilderness.
So what do you need inside? This really all depends on which outdoor activities you’ll be partaking in. Different activities will have different sets of hazards. If you are fishing, you may need to bring along first-aid for cuts or pricks from those hooks. If you are camping you may want to be sure you have everything you need to treat burns since you’ll most likely have a fire and be cooking. Backpacking and hiking often see twisted ankles. And so on…
If you already have a First Aid Kit, now may be the time to pull it out and restock. You can replace bandages alcohol pads and ointments you depleted last year. You will also need to check the expiration dates on any medications.
Here are some excellent First Aid Kits, ranging from basic needs (lightweight) to more advanced kits.
When the UPS guy finally came on Friday, I felt just like this!
What did he bring me as my first piece of gear to test? Yeah, a rocket sled, from Mad River Rocket!
Not a nitro fueled, go-to-the-moon, rocket… better! A backcountry, shred-the-pow rocket.
After playing on their website (see here) a little, it was easy to see what this thing was made / designed for,,, backountry powder. We “earned our turns” fo a while, figuring out how to manuever the sled.
After our backcountry testing, we were anxious to show this thing off. I heard a little rumor about a hill where some of the local kids were known to race. We din’t find any competetion, but we did find the jumps they left behind for us. (We only recommend jumping in soft snow! Jumping on hard-pack, off sketchy jumps built by 10-year-olds, can lead to back injury.) It’s a good thing there were no kids there to laugh at us. Steering the sled almost completely goes out the window on hard icy hills. We did have to experiment a little on positioning variations as the kneeling position was a little uncomfortable for us on the hard-pack.
While “The Rocket” could be fun on any hill, it really performes best in what it was designed for. Keep this pointed towards fresh tracks, and leave the crowded hills to the kids. A ride down on “The Rocket” is a perferct reward if snowshoeing for exercise is your thing. Much better than hiking up to take a ski lift down! Ludicrous, yet a very popular activity here in Vail.
For our last run of the day, we couldn’t agree on who got the last ride down. Like any two rational adults we compromised, deciding we would ride double. (seated tandem style) After a little arguing over who had to ride in front, we shredded down to the car. This worked suprisingly well. I’m just glad no one saw us.
A coyote attacked a young skier at Copper Mountain ski resort in Colorado last week. The coyote bit the kids parka and had bitten the snowboard of another. The picture above was apparently taken by the childs mother as she watched on. Wildlife officials determined the only way to handle the situation was to destroy the coyote. Officials assume the coyote had been fed by people and turned aggressive when it saw humans as a source of food.
The wind here is unbelievable. It can totally change the landscape / snow conditions overnight. Durning the day you never know what to expect. Break a sweat in the trees and pay for it with fogged goggels and freezing wind up top. Ever had sweat beads freeze to your skin? Not awesome. This morning we left in a light snow, rode all morning in sunny yet cold conditions. Mid day the clouds rolled in, the wind blew hard and the temperature dropped. Then after lunch, we found a sun facing, clear-cut slope. Perfect wind lips for blasting and just railing as fast as you can.
Thats how to say “get r done” in Canadian. I learned that here, but I’m using it a lot here in the mountains. Conditions continue to be amazing. Every night we get pounded with snow and wake up to fresh tracks.
The grey skies and low visilbility mean we have to stick to the trees. I mean we GET to stay in the trees. Once you get over the novelty of the high-alpine stuff, it’s hard to beat the tree skiing. So steep, and bottomless. It’s an unexplainable feeling that I can only compare to flight, or controlled free-fall. The trees have also provided a few intense moments: Lost my partner in a treewell for a little while: Rag-dolled through a perfect pillow line, losing my hat and goggles; Stayed on the fall line a little too long, brilliantly missing the turn to the heli-pickup. I got to swim/crawl/wallow 100 yards up to the pad. I’m still sweating.
Avalanche Pit
The trees also provide safety. This latest system dumped a few feet on top of an especially dangerous layer, so Avy danger is pretty serious on exposed faces. That means keeping your partner in sight and making smart choices.
Wow, it has been such an amazing few days I don’t even know where to start. One thing I’ll never get used to is how freakin cool just RIDING in a helicopter is. Much less getting out of it to shred thousands of verticle in untracked, bottomless pow! My imagination runs wild like I am a special agent on a top secret mission to rip… I can’t stop giggling from the moment I hear them coming in the morning until I pass out at night. Even my dreams are awesome here.
Where Should we go next?
1,000,000 acres of territory. That means Vail’s “huge” footprint is one half of one percent of the terrain we have access to here. Our first day was especially lucky, being blessed with bluebird conditions. These “brochure cover” days are few and far between and allowed us to ride high-alpine peaks with perfect visibility. The Heli can perch on a ridge the size of your couch, and drop you on top of the most breathtaking views.
Trusty sidekick.
Today, around mid-morning the blue skies began to cloud up and visiblity got a little flat. I had no idea how great the alternative to the high-alpine would be. The tree skiing here is just as good. Steep steep pitches, deep snow, and hundreds of mushrooms, rocks, and ledges to jump off.
Our Austrian guides are a trip, and mimicing their accents provides a lot of fun in the heli. Yesterday after watching me and a buddy roll into a blind 15-20 footer, our guide skied up lauging and said…(best if said in your best Schwatzenager/Deter voice) “Ooohhh ve finds a leetle supriizze down here, don’t vee? He he.”
Have you seen that SNL skit where they keep asking, “Do you like luxury?” I’ve been saying that a lot too. This whole operation is top-notch. I had curry shimp and the best soup I have ever tasted on a galcier yesterday. I know, I know, I’m the luckiest jerk ever.
Bye for now. I think I have to go have some beef wellington, soak in the hot-tub and drink a few “Piley’s”
All this talk about the NKOTB reunion, and then they show the faces of those girls that were just losing their minds at the sight of these dudes… I used to make fun of them. Now, I understand these girls. I feel that way right now. It’s as if someone gave me tomorrow’s winning lottery numbers. Smooth talking and a semi-official Outdoorzy press credential have helped me get invited on a FREE heli trip! Here!
I haven’t been able to sleep so well the past few nights. I’m sure tonight I will be sleeples, eyes open, practically vibrating with excitement.
I will have wi-fi at night, so I will try and update the blog with our adventures every couple of days.
As far as the X games went, well sorry your on-the-spot reporter let you down. I finally recovered from my hangover yesterday. While I have no pictures of the weekend due to a camera malfunction, I have some pretty amazing stories. For future refrence, a guy on crutches, a “team manager” with an all access pass, and another with 2 trophies “won” at the Powder awards, makes for an awesome trio.
White pulled off a 1260 this year, which is pretty much not done, ever. He did it on his final run to seal the gold medal for himself at this year’s Winter X Games in Aspen, CO. This is his seventh medal.
straps, a built-in mic, internal laptop case, and a half-gallon hydration bladder. You can put your cell phone in a side pocket, plug it into the wire , do the same with your mp3 player, and take off. As you ride or roam you can answer the phone by pushing a button on the shoulder strap and just talk, no headset required. You can also jam to your favorite music with headphones or through the shoulder straps. Volume can be adjusted, and you can switch back and forth between phone and mp3 using the controls as well.
machine at the airport it might look slightly suspicious with all the wires inside. But, for any other use, this thing is amazing. Pretty soon all our electronics will be wired into our clothing and run through solar panels made into the material on the shoulders. I’m calling it, you heard it hear first folks… 
