Powder Day-Off

Tyler and I have been working like dogs for the last three months, so we decided we deserved a day off this weekend.  We headed out with my wife and brother-in-law.  The timing of the little trip couldn't have been better because a big storm front just came through Washington.  I guess we were "working" because we were "testing" product :).   Needless to say, the testing went well!

Mattia riding a pillow line.

My wife, Melissa, "testing" her splitboard setup.

Playing on the powder marshmallows!

A fun sequence of Tyler playing hide-and-seek through the boulder field...

and breath...

hold your breath...

and breeth...

Now back to work.  We're supposed to have the parts we are waiting on coming in this week, so we should be shipping again soon.

First Production Run Progress

Here are some pictures from our first production run.  Tyler and I are currently assembling the parts we have while waiting for the final parts from one of our local suppliers.  Board Clips will be ready to ship out this week and we are still on track to start shipping Split30s by the end of this month.  Thank you to everyone who has purchased, we really appreciate the support.

Some heelcups racked and ready for finishing.

Cedar came to the shop today to help rivet the board clips.

A bucket full of toe stays.

Heel stays waiting for the second operation.

Some grunt work.  Tyler cutting out side spacers and me deburring them.

Deeper Unplugged in Seattle this Friday

For anyone that missed the Deeper Unplugged showing in Bellingham, it is showing again this Friday August 27th at Evo's location in Seattle.  Tyler and I will be at this showing with our latest set ups for people to checkout.  Click here for more information.  We hope to see you there!

August Testing on Rainier

Tyler and I got out last Saturday to test our improved ride mode interface and our first article bindings.  For this trip we zipped down to Mt. Rainier and hiked up to a little below Camp Muir.  On the ride mode interface we modified the toe attachment portion to be a single bent sheet metal part instead of a sheet metal part and a CNCd aluminum part.  This change makes set-up easier and it shaves .25 lbs out of the system.  All of our engineering calculations showed the part was stronger than the old set up, but we needed to get out on snow to verify.  The snow wasn't great, I'd call it "sun bucketed" instead of "sun cupped" because the pits were two to three feet wide and about one foot deep.  At least we had snow to test on, sliding in August is always fun.  It turns out that our calculations were correct, the bindings felt even more tightly attached to the board!

Deeper Unplugged Premiere 8/20/10

Tyler and I are going to be at the Deeper Unplugged showing at the Boundary Bay Brewery in Bellingham, WA this Friday, August 20.  We'll have our latest binding system for people to checkout.  For more information on the event click on this link to the Boundary Bay Brewery.

Split30 Pre-sale

With the first production run of our Split30 Splitboard System in full swing, Tyler and I would like to announce the details of the pre-sale.  As an introductory offer to those who pre-order we are offering a $50 discount.  Simply enter:

PreSale

as the discount code at checkout on our store, www.karakorambc.com/store .  The $50 discount only applies to the complete Split30 Splitboard System.  If you would like to purchase the Split30 without straps and highbacks please contact me at bryce@karakorambc.com to work out a different discount.  This pre-sale discount will only be valid until September 1st, 2010.

We should be assembling the bindings in mid September and then shipping them out at the end of September or the beginning of October.  If the binding size you need is out of stock send me an email (bryce@karakorambc.com) to let me know what size you need and I will update the quantities in the store.  

All Karakoram hardgood products will be backed with the following warranty: Karakoram warrants its products to be free of defects in material or workmanship for a period for two (2) years from the date of purchase for the original registered owner, validated with an original sales reciept.  Damage resulting from impact, abuse, misuse, neglect, non-factory modifications, and normal wear and tear are not covered.  If in the event there is an issue that falls outside of the warranty we have a "Crash Replacement Policy"  which is a lifetime guarantee.  If you destroy your binding system in any way we will replace the broken parts for a nominal fee and the return of the broken part(s).  For more information on Karakoram's Warranty visit our website, if info isn't posted yet it will be posted in the near future.

Tyler and I greatly appreciate your support, and look forward to having you be a part of Karakoram.  With your support and feedback you are backing a new wave in backcountry innovation.

-Bryce

Split30 Technology Page

We've had lots of requests for more information on how the Split30 system works.  I finally had the chance to put together a technology page and post it to the website. Click on the link below for more information:

Karakoram Split30 Tech Page

We don't have any production bindings built up yet, so all of the pictures are from prototype systems.  The production bindings will be much prettier :).

I'm going through powder withdrawals right now, so I thought I would throw this picture up of Tyler exiting his powder roost.  Snow...........

A New Toy and First Article Board Clips

I just picked up the first article inspection board clip bases on Wednesday.  They look and feel a lot nicer than the prototype versions we've been using the last two years.  The base is a really simple part, but a lot of thought went into making this a cost effective part.  In the picture below you can see the difference between the prototypes and the production bases.  The protos are CNC'd aluminum with a lever mount attached with M4 screws.  The production is a cleanly bent piece of stainless steel, prettier and stronger!

We've had some questions about the lever and loop rattling around while in tour mode.  To prevent rattling the lever base tabs interfere slightly with the lever to create a small amount of resistance, there is also a foam damper on the underside of the lever to prevent the loop from rattling.

Last but not least, we just picked up a CNC Router to run our heel cups, crampons and other miscellaneous sheet parts.

Summer Fun on the Flett

Last weekend we (Bryce, his wife Melissa, my wife Marcy, and I) headed up to Flett Glacier on Rainier for some casual summer touring and camping. The road to Mowich had just opened and after talking to the ranger we were expecting good snow coverage starting at the lake. Unfortunately it had melted out quite a bit so we ended up booting up and over Knapsack Pass.

Crossing the creeks,

scrambling up the mossy roots and across a few snowy patches,

we were over the pass and finally able to start skinning.

Just over the pass we spied some fun little chutes that were too good to pass up. Bryce and I dropped our packs and booted up

and got some perfect corn on the way down, only wish the ride was 3 times longer...

The view looking back towards Knapsack Pass.

Since we weren't in any real hurry to get any where, we decided to set up camp on the ridge,

decorate a few trees,

ate some grub, and watch the sun set on Rainier.

After a casual morning, we packed up, stashed our overnight gear, headed up,

Snapped a photo of the crew with Echo Rock in the background,

and then feasted on some mid-July, sweet corn... yummy!

Our route down the Flett headwall.

We repacked our gear and skied our way through the meadows.

The snow ran out about 2.5-3miles from the car, so we hoofed it out.

Another fun summer tour... where to next :)

Summer Season Riding

Late spring/early summer riding, one of the many great reasons to live in the northwest.

So my day last Thursday: woke up and went to my paying job (no that's not working for Karakoram, yet :) ), cruised home at 5pm, met up with Aaron and headed up to Silver Peak to hit up the last of the late season up at the pass, at the trail head by 6:30pm

a short hike to the snow before we can start skinning

scoped the lines

headed up the ridge

dropped the west face down to Annette Lake

and hit some killer late season corn!

scramble up some heather fields,

over a small snowfield,

and reached the summit as the sun started setting, 9pm

snaped some pics of the raddest split combo almost available (I know I'm a bit biased...)

took in the views

time to drop!

rode down the bowl and we were back at the car before dark.

A couple cold ones to relive the fun and back home before ten.

I love the northwest!