Alexzn's season summary

[Alexzn]

My 20-21 season ended with our ski lease a week ago, so its time for a quick summary. Surprisingly, it was a very average season. 63 days is just about normal for me lately. We didn't move to the mountains during the pandemic, so most of my skiing was on the normal weekends and holidays schedule. Tahoe season this year was generally meh, I only remember a couple of nice powder days. COVID was surprisingly a non-factor, and I have to give huge kudos to Alterra for making it this way, they managed the season perfectly. This was the first season in years when I didn't even managed to get Alpine Meadows. Maybe next year will be easier or whenever the CA-express gondola comes on-line.
Some of the gear highlights:

1. Gear of the season is definitely my ZipFit boot liner. Firm hold, no issues, Cold, but worth it for the added control and glove-like fit.
2. Most under appreciated accessory: A Voormi neck gaiter: ear loops to keep it from sliding, wool fabric is pretty breathable, and it does not stink.
3. Splurge of the season: my BC setup: ZeroG touring boots and Head Kore105 with Shifts. Got a few nice days out on them and now I have a lightweight setup that I can take traveling and that would work in a resort without much compromise.
4. Unexpected performance win: NorthFace Brigandine Futurelight jacket and pants kit. The jacket is a bit long and it has a ton of unnecessary pockets that are mostly too small (why too you need four places to put your BC radio is beyond my comprehension), so all that redundant hardware and stitching makes the jacket 20% heavier than it should be. The bibs are less redundant, but also could be lighter. The color scheme is also quite dorky. But the thing is seriously breathable, so even on a hot spring day I could ski in a bib pant and a zipped up jacket. It is definitely a step above even the best GoreTex textiles. Probably an ideal skiwear fabric for California right now.
5. Ski test of the season: Augment AM 98 and 108. These are serious contenders for the title of the best all-mountain and big mountain ski on the market.
6. Best ski deal of the season: SkiEssentials fire sale on discontinued Kastle MX series. I bought three pairs for my family and at least 4 other people who I told about it bought a pair each.
7. Run score of the season: First tracks on Slot on a powder day. Just got lucky and was there with my daughter when patrol opened Reverse Traverse. It is not often when you can come to there Slot and just point it.
8. Worst run of the season: first tracks on Red Dog right after breaking a pole in half on the top of the lift. Try bombing down in powder while trying to hold the remnants of your pole in your hand and being royally pissed that you (a) broke and expensive pole, and (b) lost the best run of the day (3rd chair!). And to add insult to injury some a-hole was constantly trying to cut me off.

See you all next season!

 

[Tony S]

Guess we just missed you last week.

 

[4ster]

The jacket is a bit long and it has a ton of unnecessary pockets that are mostly too small (why too you need four places to put your BC radio is beyond my comprehension), so all that redundant hardware and stitching makes the jacket 20% heavier than it should be.

In my world there is no such thing as too many pockets! Give me a pocket & I’ll find something to put in it

 

[Dougb]

I want to second everything @Alexzn the Voormi gaiter. I used it all season and even used it off the slopes. Excellent product.

 

[Flo]

My 20-21 season ended with our ski lease a week ago, so its time for a quick summary. Surprisingly, it was a very average season. 63 days is just about normal for me lately. We didn't move to the mountains during the pandemic, so most of my skiing was on the normal weekends and holidays schedule. Tahoe season this year was generally meh, I only remember a couple of nice powder days. COVID was surprisingly a non-factor, and I have to give huge kudos to Alterra for making it this way, they managed the season perfectly. This was the first season in years when I didn't even managed to get Alpine Meadows. Maybe next year will be easier or whenever the CA-express gondola comes on-line.
Some of the gear highlights:

1. Gear of the season is definitely my ZipFit boot liner. Firm hold, no issues, Cold, but worth it for the added control and glove-like fit.
2. Most under appreciated accessory: A Voormi neck gaiter: ear loops to keep it from sliding, wool fabric is pretty breathable, and it does not stink.
3. Splurge of the season: my BC setup: ZeroG touring boots and Head Kore105 with Shifts. Got a few nice days out on them and now I have a lightweight setup that I can take traveling and that would work in a resort without much compromise.
4. Unexpected performance win: NorthFace Brigandine Futurelight jacket and pants kit. The jacket is a bit long and it has a ton of unnecessary pockets that are mostly too small (why too you need four places to put your BC radio is beyond my comprehension), so all that redundant hardware and stitching makes the jacket 20% heavier than it should be. The bibs are less redundant, but also could be lighter. The color scheme is also quite dorky. But the thing is seriously breathable, so even on a hot spring day I could ski in a bib pant and a zipped up jacket. It is definitely a step above even the best GoreTex textiles. Probably an ideal skiwear fabric for California right now.
5. Ski test of the season: Augment AM 98 and 108. These are serious contenders for the title of the best all-mountain and big mountain ski on the market.
6. Best ski deal of the season: SkiEssentials fire sale on discontinued Kästle MX series. I bought three pairs for my family and at least 4 other people who I told about it bought a pair each.
7. Run score of the season: First tracks on Slot on a powder day. Just got lucky and was there with my daughter when patrol opened Reverse Traverse. It is not often when you can come to there Slot and just point it.
8. Worst run of the season: first tracks on Red Dog right after breaking a pole in half on the top of the lift. Try bombing down in powder while trying to hold the remnants of your pole in your hand and being royally pissed that you (a) broke and expensive pole, and (b) lost the best run of the day (3rd chair!). And to add insult to injury some a-hole was constantly trying to cut me off.

See you all next season!

I kind of have a contrary opinion on the futurelight jacket. I like having a lot of pockets, find the jacket light, stretchy and really breathable (compared to the previous one in goretex). However, the fabric is not sturdy at all. The fabric pills all over the jacket, I managed to pull some strings out in different places and most important, the jacket is not waterproof anymore. DWR coating is not working anymore and the outside fabric absorbs water that finishes by going through the membrane. I sent it back to north face for inspection, I might have a got a bad one... Overall this jacket has been great for this year Tahoe's (no) snow conditions but I would have like to have a different one for the few powder days I managed to get ...

I have the goretex brigandine bib and was thinking to switch to futurelight too but I am not sure anymore.

 

[Tricia]

Nice recap. This was a pretty darn good season, all things considered.

 

[Alexzn]

I kind of have a contrary opinion on the futurelight jacket. I like having a lot of pockets, find the jacket light, stretchy and really breathable (compared to the previous one in goretex). However, the fabric is not sturdy at all. The fabric pills all over the jacket, I managed to pull some strings out in different places and most important, the jacket is not waterproof anymore. DWR coating is not working anymore and the outside fabric absorbs water that finishes by going through the membrane. I sent it back to north face for inspection, I might have a got a bad one... Overall this jacket has been great for this year Tahoe's (no) snow conditions but I would have like to have a different one for the few powder days I managed to get ...
I have the goretex brigandine bib and was thinking to switch to futurelight too but I am not sure anymore.

I have a full GoreTex kit for the wet days, so I didn't give Futurelight a serious rain test yet. I feel like it will do well in the snow, its the rain/snow mix that I worry about. The technology is pretty much identical to Neoshell, so it should be reasonably waterproof (at least with DWR intact), but with a wet-out an air-permeable fabric may not hold.