Norrøna Blog

Skiing steep and flying high in Chamonix

editor — Wed, 16 May 2012 07:29:30 +0000

Norrøna Ambassador Michael “Bird” Shaffer reports from spring flying season in Chamonix, France:

“On the 10th of May, we tried and skied the Mallory with Mark Shelp. You can see the track down through the crux with maximum exposure. Tres Difficile td +.Then we got to the diagonal ramp where it was supposed to get easier and it turned into nearly breakable rain ice. We down climbed with two rappels all the way out the exit couloir. What a special place and great experience for us and for the people in the cable car!

The next day i was alone up the Aguille Du Midi alone with my wing. I met French mountain guide and wing suit instructor Jimmy. He gave me crampons because I felt the wind was the wrong direction to do my first north face speed ride and I was going to fly into the Mer De Glace and walk out the bottom.

As two choucas ( the spirit bird of the mountain. our fallen brothers and sisters) flew by me to say hello, the wind change direction. I set up and another speed ride French brother showed up. I told him it would be my first and he said “hey, follow me”. Wing up and skiing along , I took a big left and woooooooooooo ooooo lllaaaa laaa BI KAAAAW!”

Skiing Senja – the fairy tale island

editor — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 09:43:43 +0000

Our colleague Bjørn Fjellstad took advantage of great weather and snow conditions in Northern Norway lately, leaving the Norrøna Headquarters with a clear plan in front of last weekend, and coming back with a big smile on his face monday morning.

Perfect place also for testing the new Norrøna lyngen jackets and pants, coming for winter 12/13, together with the lofoten integral 30L pack

Judging from the photos and video, Bjørn obviously made a good call when jumping on a plane to Nothern Norway, with his skis in the luggage. Senja, also called “the fairy tale island”, is Norway’s seccond biggest island, and a great outdoor destination, both in summer and winter. This mountainous island, with fingers of mountain ridges stretching out into the ocean, lies north of Lofoten, and south of Lyngen, above The Arctic Circle. One could maybe say the geography and ski terrain of Senja includes a little bit of both Lyngen and Lofoten: On the interior: valleys, and mellow terrain between the mountains. On the outside: fjords and peaks with alpine faces diving straight into the fjords.

Back in the French nest – Bird checking in from Chamonix

editor — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 19:40:08 +0000

Norrøna Ambassador Michael “Bird” Shaffer has been enjoying another epic season in the USA, and is now finishing it off with the “steep skiing season” in the European Alps.

Especially at his home mountain, Stevens Pass, near Seattle in the Pacific North West, this season has been a deep one, and “the Bird” reports he has been making only small Journeys away from his home nest. Now, the time has come for migration:

“It took a coupla weeks of patience but it all comes together in Chamonix Valley for those that wait.

The Cham Fam is thriving and well. Everybody is smiling and having some of the best runs of the season. April love is upon us and it rains every night in the valley with powder starting from the midstations of the Grand Montet and Aguilee du Midi.
Huge Windows in the white outs give us the visibility to ride fast in the deep stable snow.
Now that the crevasses are filling in and the big dark walls of the northfaces are painted white, soon it will be time randonee and quiet possibly ski the dream.

looking forward to share the rest of the story.
kaaaaaw kaaaaaa!”

-Bird

Norrøna falketind flex1 – “a true all-round talent”

editor — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 10:06:53 +0000

Once again, a piece from our falketind concept makes us proud, as German magazine “Outdoor” picks the Norrøna falketind flex1 jacket as their “editor’s choice” for summer 2012, presented in their March 2012 edition.

Calling it “a true all-round talent”, and “a flawless softshell for the whole year and all outdoor activities”, “Outdoor” is clear that it’s versatility is something they appreciate about this jacket. Obviously, that’s something we’re really glad to hear, something that makes us proud and something that inspires us to keep working to improve this and our other products even further, along side the many other extremely positive comments we’ve already gotten on this product, from many of our customers as well as our testers and media.

Although our falketind series is not developed first and foremost to be all-round, as our main focus with this concepts is making specialized lightweight gear for mountaineering, our intention is always to make all our products as “all-round” as possible, without making sacrifices when it comes to their intended activity spesific performance. After all, what’s better than having one jacket, or other piece of equipment, that works perfectly for every activity and every condition? But isn’t that something that belongs in Utopia?

“Outdoor” editor Kerstin Rotard writes that “softshell jackets are known as all-round talents, though few are 100% worthy of this reputation”. We just want to say that we don’t think this should be interpreted as the falketind flex1 jacket is 100% all round in the sense that it is ideal and unbeatable in any conditions and any activity, for example being in the mountains in a heavy rain storm we’d of course rather find ourselves in a “traditional” hard shell. Skiing deep powder we’d ideally find our selves in ski specific jacket with a snow skirt and hand gaiters, although the falketind flex1 would actually work too. What we think that she means though, is that as far as we know it’s possible today, the falketind jacket is doing the all-round “spagat” to perfection.

Again, we’re really happy and proud to get this “award” for one of our own favorite “all-round”, all-year products, and another additon to the recognition that our falketind light weigh mountaineering concept has collected, including in example the dri3 shell jacket getting great scores as the very lightest piece in a test of light weight mountaineering shells in Alpin Magazin.

Super strong 5* for Norrøna lofoten 30L pack

editor — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 09:15:19 +0000

Norway’s biggest magazine and website for skiing, snowboarding and other outdoor action sports has tested the Norrøna lofoten freeride backpack, and find it pretty close to perfect. Friflyt.no writes: “Great carrying comfort. Well functioning details without too many straps. Durable. Well made separate room for avalanche equipment.”

We’ve made the lofoten 30L pack to be a versetile freeride backpack for days in and around the ski resort, heli skiing, cat skiing etc, as well as for smaller and bigger hikes into the back country. It’s made with a strap system that carry skis and snowboards in multiple ways, and also pretty much anything else you would want to strap on there, like a tripod, a big rope, helmet, ice axe, poles, snowshoes, a camping mat etc. Even a mountain bike can be carried on the lofoten integral 30L pack, try it .

Friflyt.no writes something like “Once you figure out how it works it’s like a little revelation”, and that the “pack sticks as if glued to the back, also when loaded with skis on the back and gear inside”. They also find it slim enough to use on the chairlift, at least when it’s not fully stuffed, that the compression straps work really well, and that they like the separade room dedicated to avalanche equipment also fitting some of the biggest back country shovels out there.

Big back opening. Picture from friflyt.no

They have given the pack a “super strong 5″ out of 6 points, and say that only a couple of small things have kept them from throwing down “the full monty”. (Read full review in Norwegian.) First that the pack does not have a top opening, second that the straps are a bit long. Good points, and here are our explanations:

No top opening: we’ve chose to skip top opening on this pack to keep it simple and because we just love the full back opening that gives you access to the full main compartment and all the gear just as easily, no matter if it’s on top or in the bottom of the pack. And it’s perfect when you need to grab your facemask on a cold windy lift ride, just put your pack on your lap in the lift and access it all. Yes, you have to take the pack off to access it, but except when you ask your buddy to try and find your thermos of glue wine to heat you up when freezing in line to get into the afterski, most of the time you take your pack off to grab something from it anyway? And besides, the top compartment easily rooms a small bottle of jäeger.

Long straps: Yes, the straps are long. On most packs really, but maybe especially on this one. The reason is that this carrying system is made to be as versatile as possible to carry skis and snowboards of any dimension in pretty much any way (diagonal, horizontal, vertical, X, side by side, one on each side, and so on). When not carrying anything, and the pack is compressed, yes there is quite a bit of “loose ends”. The ends of the carrying straps can how ever be pulled back trough the strap loops and gathered in the middle to clean up the pack.

Another great review of one of our new products and we are stoked as usual, and inspired to keep working on the development of even better equipment.

Check out more details and information about this pack in our webshop.

Have you used the pack? Got any comments, suggestions etc, about this product or another Norrøna product? Or a product you wish we’d make? Please join the conversation on our facebook page: facebook.com/norrona.

Norrøna company ski trip to the Alps

editor — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 10:16:42 +0000

Making outdoor products is great fun. But using them is even better. We just came back from a company ski trip to the Alps with big smiles, after some great skiing and snowboarding around Andermatt, Switzerland. Here is a little movie clip and some words from our colleague Bjørn Fjellstad, as well as some of the photos taken by the group:

“Skis and boards, safety equipment, skins and obviously loads of Norrøna gere was stuffed in the afternoon flight departing for Zurich on Friday the 10th of February, as the Norrøna company sport team sat the course for five full days of skiing in Andermatt, Switzerland.

Some of the powder hounds in the gang felt a little bit worried about the skiing conditions as it seemed too long ago since it had snowed, but the guides, Dan Loutre and Tomas Regelmann, gave us a “powder-to-the-knees-guarantee”, at least! A promise kept.

The first three days gave us some really nice sidecountry skiing in Gütsch and Gemstock, and quite a few admitted that they were a little out of the comfort-zone as we got to ski quite steep sides and couloirs. On day four we really got to use the skins and had an incredible day with top touring and tree skiing. As we already had packed our gear for the return home on day five we started to think about our timing. Four days of bluebird is fantastic, but now it started to snow heavy. We enjoyed as much powder as our tired thighs managed, knowing this was our last day. The pictures and video tells the rest of the story.

Thanks to a great bunch of Norrøna employees and our great guides!”

5* for Norrøna narvik “working gloves”

editor — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 09:24:30 +0000

Major Norwegian outdoor and action sports website, friflyt.no, finds the Norrøna narvik dri1 gloves “comfortable, durable, price worthy and cleverly detailed”, after long term testing.

clipping from friflyt.no

We’ve developed the gloves and mittens in our narvik concept for freeriding in resorts, sidecountry and backcountry, to be comfortable, durable, functional and warm. Nothing is more inspiring and rewarding than getting it confirmed by customers, press, our ambassadors or anyone else using our products in their right environment, that our products are on point. Except maybe for taking them out on the mountain and feeling it ourselves.

Friflyt calls them “working gloves” and writes that “the gloves have been used on tons of ski-days this winter, both on skinning and lift based ski touring”, and that “the gloves show little sign of wear”. Continuing that they “are very comfortable and gives a good grip on the poles”.

Clipping (click to read full review test in Norwegian):

Friflyt also finds the gloves’ details practical, and like the wrist strap (which can easily be detached and removed for those who don’t). The reviewer suggest that the gloves could’ve maybe had removable insulation, as they can be warm on the way up when ski touring, and that he prefers to bring other gloves for the way up. And we totally agree. A pair of thin non waterproof gloves are great for the way up, and it’s even a part of good, traditional mountain safety practice to bring and extra pair of gloves on back country tours. Gloves with removable insulation can be great too, when done right, but will also be more expensive and in most cases less comfortable and practical, especially for resort riding.

For a less insulated and even more breathable glove for back country use, try our lofoten Gore-Tex gloves, for warmer days and higher intensity activity.

Thanks for the review FriFlyt! We’ve allready heard it from our testers first, then a bunch of our customers who have bought it for this season as well as experienced it ourself, but it’s great to hear it from such a respected source in our home market. We are super happy with the gloves ourselves and would actually go as far as to say we don’t think there are any gloves out there when it comes to this combination of warmt/weather protection, comfort/grip and value for money.

The question now, and always, is: how can we make it even better? We’ve already started thinking about it, gathered feedback and will start to experiment and test soon. Do you have any feedback on our gloves or any of our Norrøna products, please share it on our facebook wall. It will be greatly appreciated and taken into consideration. We promise!

A minute of snow – Jackson Hole

editor — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 04:59:59 +0000

Norrøna Ambassadors Nikolai Schirmer and Vegard Rye brings us their third “minute of snow” from their adventures this season. And unfortunately it looks like we will have to wait a while for the next minute from them:

A Minute of Snow: Jackson Hole from Nikolai Schirmer on Vimeo.

“With a two season streak of record high snow falls, and an average far exceeding that of Europe, me and Vegard figured Jackson would be a safe bet for snow in january. Having experienced saharan conditions in Europe the previous season, we set aside a month and waxed our powstaches in anticipation of the coming faceshots as we set off after new years.

Two weeks in, the Pucker Face slide, which quickly went viral in the snow starved lower 48, was the most notable snow related event. While the rest of the US was starving for snow like a runway model, Jackson still had a base. Which in turn was an avalanche death trap.

Any hikes into the backcountry were quickly ruled out, and so we spent our days bouncing between moguls, playing ping pong and drinking beer kindly provided by our fellow skiers at The Hostel. Being 20 years old in the US we were pretty much as privileged as a school kid in detention class. It was dumping in Whistler, and we couldn’t rent a car to get to the heavenly fluffiness or buy beer to help us forget about it. Logically we were freaking out.

The locals, however, were weirdly calm about the alarming lack of snow. The ones over 25 even turned down our pleas to pay their way to Whistler as long as we could rent a car in their name.

- Don’t worry. The snow will come. It always does.

Matt Baker, a long time local, told me one evening I was crying my heart out over snapping my pow skis in the park (yeah, the conditions were that bad. I was skiing park in Jackson).

And he was right. The ancient norwegian proverb, “always listen to the advice of local, experienced mountain folks who know their shit”, turned to be true once again. Our anxieties were buried in the driest, fluffiest powder I’d skied since Japan. While the big mountain was still to risky, the tree skiing was top notch. And as is the case at most resorts, the fun stuff rarely got skied. Even inbounds we found untracked landings and virgin pillows.

Then, powstache fluffy and white, testament to a legendary run, Vegard landed a bit quirky on his signature above-the-liftline-impress-the-ladies misty 7 off a cliff and tore his ACL.

-Ah, shit. Sucks for him. There goes that film project. I suppose we can use him being on crutches to score some sympathy points at the apres ski. Guess I’ll keep shredding. No friends on a pow day!

I thought flying off yet another cliff, expecting the welcoming embrace of chilled ecstasy, landing on a rock that was.. Well. Rock hard. I just missed hi-fiving Vegard as he left the clinic half an hour prior to the ski patrol dropping me off. Total PCL and MCL rupture.

Still, four pow days in a season is better than none!”

Stoked! David Underland in Freeride World Tour Roldal

editor — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 22:10:57 +0000

Norrøna Ambassador David Underland just learned that he has gotten a wildcard for the upcoming FWT competition stop in Røldal, Norway. That means he will be meeting the worlds best big mountain snowboarders to compete on “home ground” in the end of this month. He is S T O K E D!

Home Ground: David in RFC 2011 finals, photo: Sverre Hjørnevik /RFC

Having won both the Røldal Freeride Challenge and the Norway Freeride World Tour multiple times, as well as having competed in the Freeride World tour twice and placed third in the prestigeous Xtreme Verbier, no Scandinavian big mountain snowboarder is better fit, when it comes to experience and results, to represent “home ground” as the world elite arrives in Norway to challenge each others in the mountains of Røldal. Getting one of few wildcards to the competition, where the best of the best have competed thorugh this season and last season to qualify, still came as a big surprise and a honor to David.

David, testing next years Norrøna røldal collection in Hemsedal sidecountry. Photo: Kalle Hägglund

“I’m so stoked! Now I just have to go out and practice”, David said upon getting the good news. “I’ve gotten to ride a lot this season and feel in shape, so I’m definitely looking forward to it”. Originally from Sweden, David lives in Hemsedal, Norway, with his Norwegian family of wife and two daughters, and scores a lot of snowboarding days thorugh the winter, whether at the ski hill, in the sidecountry or touring the backcountry on his splitboard.

Right before heading to Røldal and meeting the world elite, David is going to Sogndal, for this year’s first round of the Norwegian Freeride Cup, and says it could not be more prefect. “I’ll get to test myself in Sogndal, go extra hard and take some risks in order to prepare myself before going straight to Røldal for the FWT”.

We’re stoked too, and wish David the best of luck!

An awesome season! And it’s just getting started.

editor — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 11:04:48 +0000

Norrøna Ambassador to Austria, Thomas Gaisbacker, is experiencing what may become on of the best seasons ever in the Alps. Looking at this pictures, he is obviously one of the many to appreciate this winter’s deep snow across Europe.

“This season is awesome! I have never seen so much snow in austria. The snow layer is so big you don`t have to think about the landing.Just jump. It`s like in heaven snowing – bluebird – snowing – bluebird – snowing ……. You can ski everywhere from Vorarlberg to Steiermark, except in the south where i live ”

more pictures: