John Bresee

I’ve spent a lifetime watching new dotcoms launch with incremental improvements in user experience. And I’ve tried to copy the best of it for Backcountry.com and our associated sites. And then along comes Mint.com and it humbles me completely. The site works so beautifully and seamlessly that it leapfrogs all other interactive design. Almost everyone is nervous about sharing financial data on the web and yet Mint tackles by pulling in your data so quickly and efficiently it almost happens before you know it. And then it’s all parsed into instantly useful information. It’s so brilliant in its simplicity.

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• User Experience = $5 Million per Employee (adaptivepath.com)

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I’ll be there this year no matter what. Come hell or high water. Nobody’s crazed delusional self-stories will keep me from an event that is about healing and love.

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It was a miraculous thing to see and it defies explanation. He made a great sunflower.

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The first rigid frame tent Dad bought was a tan three-man from LL Bean back when they were the cool gear company. Dad was in awe of its ability to hold itself up just by flexing a few aluminum poles. When the coastal winds of Maine ripped the tent off the beach and flung it skating across the ocean surface Dad just said, “wow, look at it float, look at the way it holds its form.” He watched until it sailed out of sight.

Last night I spent eight hours gear testing a Tent Cot—the unholy mating of a hunting cot and a boy scout tent—and thinking semi-deep thoughts about tent design and tent life. Any time I was tempted to stray to a different topic another drop of water would form on the nylon ceiling above my forehead and, water torture style, get me back on track.

I remember the Bedouin-style tents Dad would erect every summer on the coast of Maine. The gargantuan center pole was as heavy as an I-beam, surrounded by four stout pig iron poles at each corner. The trick was to rig a series of high-tension guy lines all around the tent—and in the full dark of the first night Dad would swear a blue streak as he rigged these origami like structures. The lines functioned like crafty trip-wires and at least once every trip I’d bring the homestead tumbling down when I face-planted over a line. Our clan of seven lived in these circus domes for three weeks every summer. Dad called it vacation.

The best-designed tent I ever spent the night in was on a bitterly cold -26º Vermont night, with winds peaking at over 50 mph. We were students of Sterling College on a four day winter hike and the only tent materials we were allowed were two sheets of cheap plastic and some rope. My hiking partner Steve Bastress channeled MacGyver as he bent a 12-foot sapling over, sheared off two downward facing limbs, and made stakes out of them. Then, using 18 inches of line, he staked the tip of the tree to the ground, forming an arch. Over the top of the arch he strung one plastic sheet. The limbs of the tree splayed naturally to form the perfect frame of a dome tent. All night long we heard our teammates’ two-stick-poles-and-a-plastic-sheet tents whipping about and collapsing.

In the morning the instructors seemed to feel we’d bent the old “leave only footprints, take only artifacts” commandment when we hacked into the virgin sapling. Apparently it was okay for them to teach us Swedish limbing techniques in class, but it was not so kosher to practice it in the field. These outdoor instructors, so fussy.

Last night I lay in the badly leaking Tent Cot and looked enviously out on The North Face Vector that I had foolishly loaned to a friend. Throughout the pounding hail and rainstorm I watched my loaner tent sit unperturbed. In the flash of lightning I could see the Unobtanium poles–as light as a muon–hold the shape of the tent just so and send the water packing.

In the morning I was wet in that eight-hours-in-a-completely-soaked-sleeping-bag kind of a way. My buddy hanging in my TNF continued to saw logs as I glared in his direction. To fail at Warm and Dry 101 is a quick Darwinian slap, a reminder that in many ways we are lamer than those who came before us. Dad would have rigged up some line and oil skin to keep himself dry. Steve Bastress would have built a log cabin. Me? I’ll be getting my Vector back.

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I wrote this for a magazine called Core Sports in 1999. It’s not, well, not very good. But it is interesting, to me anyways, to see what was new and what the shapes were then. And interesting to see how hard I was pitching fat and it still didn’t catch on for years. Consumers move very slowly and yet we always forget and try to get them to rush.

Core Sports Ski Review

Ski technology seeps into the public consciousness about as fast as you can download e-mail in Eritrea…that is to say, slowly. While your dad might be looking to buy you skis this year, unfortunately his idea of hip is parabolic—and people who rip stopped saying “parabolic” right after Urkel entered grade school.

While the world has been wallowing in this collective hangover known as shape skis, the manufacturers have been whipping up a whole new arsenal, and now you rarely hear ski rock stars referring to skis in a way that could be confused with a Playboy centerfold. Now instead of “curvaceous” and “nice shape”, the comments are more along the lines of, “that bitch is fat!” Fat skis rule the world and if you haven’t gotten yourself the latest laminate backbacon, you better get on it. If you bring a pair of slalom skis into the terrain park you can pretty much count on lawn darting. Skis have changed, now it’s time to ride that change. The following skis are the absolute sickest rides on the hill. Whether ripping the park, or tackling the big mountains, these sticks will do you right.

For the East Face of Everest

Dynastar 4×4 Big, $695

800-992-3962, www.dynastar.com

Shape: 115/85/107

188, 194 cm

This is the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. The 194 is so insanely powerful you’ll think you grabbed hold of a bullet bike. But this bullet has edges that could cut through steel, a firm flex that holds the hill, and the ability to take you down any mountain at 70mph or more, regardless of what kind of snow you’re on. If you like people staring at your skis while you stand in line, and then you like leaving them all in the dust, then this is your ride.

Salomon AK Rocket $825

800-225-6850, www.salomonsports.com

Shape: 118, 85, 110

200cm only

The Rocket is big…bigger than the Big even. Yet for such a large ski it’s surprisingly soft and controllable. This is an excellent ski for deep deep light powder. Built with a wood core and a two layer Titanal wrap for sturdiness, the AK Rocket is a ton of ski, and yet still very manageable when skiing in the resort.

For Great Scott at Snowbird

Salomon Super Mountain, $695

800-225-6850, www.salomonsports.com

Shape: 110/78/100

178, 186, 194cm

The Salomon Super Mountain is a fat ski for the rest of the world. When you want to go fast, when you want a ski that does everything, but you don’t want all the fat, go with the Super Mountain. This is Salomon’s strongest move to the hoop since they busted out cap skis. So many companies make “all mountain skis,” but there are very few that can actually do it all. This is a Power Foam PU core ski with a titanium monocoque frame.

Rossignol Bandit XX, $699

802-764-2514, www.rossignol.com

Shape: 107/74/97

170, 177, 184, 191, 195cm

The Bandit XX is the slightly smaller brother of the legendary Bandit XXX. The Bandit’s Dualtec construction is a blend of cap and traditional technology. Yet they have exorcised some of the demons of cap construction—vibration—and gained the advantage of excellent torsional rigidity. This is a great ski for anyone who ever steps off the groomers, even for a minute. The XX can handle all parts of the mountain.

For the Stratton Mountain Half Pipe

Salomon X-scream TenEighty, $595

800-225-6850, www.salomonsports.com

Shape: 108-75-100

161 & 177

K2 Enemy, $600

800-426-1617, www.k2skis.com

Shape: 109-75-97

173 & 183

This ski is often the big boy in the park, yet it gives you the versatility to make your hits wherever you find them on the mountain. This ski is versatile. The classic K2 Triaxially braided core is at work again; giving you a strong ski with excellent feel that encourages you to stick every landing.

For the HannenKahm

Nordica Grand Prix GS, $999

800-892-2668, www.nordicaboots.com

A fast ski on a steep corduroy groomer is as close to God as one man can come. But if you want to get just one step closer to the Almighty, then slip on the Grand Prix GS, from Nordica. These skis are Benneton Green, and some say downright homely. But they inspire confidence at the limit of adhesion that the best

Salomon Superaxe Series 2V, $715

800-225-6850, www.salomonsports.com

Shape: 103-62-93

173, 185, 193, 198cm

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After I interviewed for the Managing Editor position, this is thank you I wrote. Huh….

June 26, 1997

Steve Casimiro

Surfer Publications

PO Box 1028

Dana Point CA 92629

Dear Steve:

Thanks for the day at the Powder offices. It was both challenging and fun. I mulled your interview questions over on the way home, and couldn’t help but laugh a bit. “What makes you snap?” Is roughly equivalent to “have you stopped beating your wife? Answer yes or no.” In an interview situation it is never easy to jump into a topic as awkward as the last time I snapped. Yet in the face of questions like this, and “rule breaking” one is left with two alternatives, the truth, or a bald face lie so transparent as to be pathetic. “I, sir, never snap!” was the obvious, yet unacceptable answer. At any rate, I enjoy mentally awkward situations, and in retrospect it was fun.

The group at Powder seem like a great team, and it was good to meet with everyone. I appreciate your effort in putting the day together.

I rudely neglected to thank you for lunch, so please accept my belated thanks.

Sincerely,

John Bresee

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