24/25 Women's Scholarship

24/25 Voile Scholarship for Women in the Backcountry

For the sixth year in a row, we’re proud to bring back the Voile Scholarship for Women in the Backcountry! This initiative is all about breaking down barriers and helping more women step confidently into the world of backcountry skiing and riding. Applications open on Saturday, March 8th, and will close on Tuesday, April 8th. Winners will be announced the …

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How to Mount Voile 3-Pin Bindings

If you’re interested in learning how to mount Voile 3-Pin bindings onto your skis, you’ve come to the right place. This guide will walk you through the process using a paper template. However, before we dive in, we want to emphasize a few key points: If you still want to tackle this yourself, we’ll walk you through how to mount …

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How to find the recommended mount point on a Voile Ski

Mounting a 3-pin binding on your Voile ski? You’ll need to know two key measurements: In this guide, we’ll walk you through finding both, ensuring a proper mount for your setup. What You’ll Need Before we dive in, gather the following tools to get the job done accurately:– Tape measure– Straight edge– Masking or painter’s tape– Pen– Voile Boot Center …

science of slop angles

The Science of Slope Angles

The Delicate Science of Slope Angles I have a very privileged position as an avalanche instructor. Not only am I lucky enough to be many people’s first guide into the backcountry, but I am constantly in a mindset that critically looks at decision-making systems and how to present those systems to my students in a way that is engaging and …

Deciding where to drop

Backcountry Decision-Making and the psychology behind it

Decisions, decisions, decisions We make an uncountable number of decisions every day. For each of them, there are two different processes at work. The conscious and the subconscious. Some decisions, we make with logic and thought. This is the conscious. Spoiler alert, most of our decisions are not made with the conscious. As you can imagine, this greatly impacts our …

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Seasons of the Ski Guide: Adapting to the Changing Backcountry

Working as a Ski Guide throughout a winter season encompasses a seasonal shift that essentially mirrors the snowpack as well as the seasonal life span of a recreational skier. I would break the seasons of the ski guide into four distinct chapters: Hopefully, this post works in two ways. To inspire folks who are looking for more mentorship in backcountry …

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A Geological Ski Tour of Mt. Shasta

The young summit looked like a volcanic rock fortress, a specter surveilling the crater below, covered in rime but otherwise untouched by time. According to the map, it was only 600 ft. or so above where we stood, but it appeared a thousand times taller before us.  Just before midnight, Nathan and I began the drive up the long, curving …

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Legend of the Dusty Foot Philosopher

While living in the land of the Rising Sun for ten years, Dr. Fanon Wilkins, aka The Dusty Foot Philosopher, taught African American history at Doshisha University. He also became one-half of the founding partners of Epic Life Adventures, which curates exotic international ski trips for people of color to unworldly locations all over the planet. And, although the Dusty …