It takes a lot of gear (toys) to travel safely and play hard in the mountains. Here are the companies currently supplying me and my habit. Like choosing ski partners, it’s important to go with gear you know and trust. Everyone’s needs and wants are different. My experience has led me to chose the following companies and the products they make. Feel free to contact me at noah@powderwhore.com if you have any gear questions.
I remember stopping by this little “store” outside of Heber many years ago. It was BC.com headquarters. You couldn’t buy anything unless it was online and I didn’t own a computer. It seemed like a really stupid idea. Now I sit in front of 5 computer monitors editing movies and Backcountry.com has become THE PLACE to buy your gear. When you link directly through this site and shop they kick back %10. So, shop to your hearts content and help a brother out.
For the past 5 years, I lived just over the fence from BD. I’ve been product testing the O2, O1, gloves, poles, skins, tents, Avalung packs, shovels and skis for that amount of time. That much quality gear coming out of one company is amazing. Black Diamond was the first big company to back Powderwhore Productions and we’ll never forget that. I consider myself very lucky to be affiliated with BD and to have such a good friendship with many of the folks there.
I started in leathers, but went to plastic Scarpa’s over 10 years ago. They continue to be the boot of choice. Fit is key and these are like slippers. Performance is more key and there’s nothing else like the T-1.
This is the newest sponsor relationship that started up mid-winter. I’m very excited so far with the outerwear I’ve been sporting. Everything seems well thought out, simply designed and built to last.
This is my baby, Powderwhore Productions. It started with my brother, Andy Jacobsen and Andy Rosenberg in 2005. We have produced 4 films of which we are all very proud. It’s my full-time “job” now and I love it. When I’m not skiing, I watch skiing and put it to pretty music. What a life!
I would love to know how many calories have been burnt up hiking for turns. What I do know is GU will supply the right energy for the objective. Mark Twight introduced me to the stuff in his book “Extreme Alpinism”. A bit skeptical, I gave it a whirl on Mt Shasta. A handful of GU packs got me to the summits of Shastina and Shasta in a little over 5hrs. I never bonked and still had plenty of juice for the ski descent. It’s been with me on every outing since.
Zeal may seem knew to the world of sunglasses and goggles, but they have been making quality optics for years. I bought some “woody’s” on pro form back in the late 90’s. Vision is clearly very important. If you can’t see over it, you can’t ski over it!