Look for me inside Outside's Winter Buyer's Guide

Not me literally. But my byline appears twice in this year's Outside Magazine Winter Buyer's Guide, now available. I tested and wrote the winter packs review and wrote about K2's Rescue Shovel Plus, a snow thrower that will help you schlep an injured buddy out of the backcountry.

I personally tested the packs in the backcountry on Vancouver Island, the Coast Range and Canadian Rockies, heli-skiing, touring, bagging couloirs and riding the lifts. Plus I enlisted the help of friends and family, snowboarders, ice climbers and mountain guides across the west.

ESPN.com work

My work continues to appear on espn.go.com/action/freeskiing/ ESPN's skiing arm. Last week an article on Recon Instruments MOD Live went up. I used the Vancouver company's GPS enabled goggles last year and they changed the way I skied. Being able to see my speed on a little screen inside my goggles pushed me to ski faster all the time. It was fun.

This year the company is upping their game by adding Bluetooth connectivity. Plus, you'll be able to stick them in goggles from three different companies. Read the article here.

Shell game: jackets are my gig

My basement is filling up with dozens of jackets, the fodder for my contribution to Outside's Spring 2012 Buyer's Guide (http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-gear/summer-buyers-guide). Like in 2010 I'm reviewing shells for the biannual buyers guide.

I ship shells across the west to avid outdoors friends, mountain guides, sea kayakers and on testing trips. Plus, I try and abuse every shell personally. It's hard work and I love it.

Whitehorse mountain biking

Typical riding in Whitehorse. Ryan Creary photo.

If you think it's getting dark where you live imagine what it's like in Whitehorse, the capital of the Yukon Territory in Canada, where they have about six hours of daylight right now. But don't feel too sorry for these hearty folk they need to rest up from summer.

As one mountain biker told me on my recent visit to the north, "There's enough light after work that we'll go for a ride before dinner and again after."

I would too if their trail network was in my backyard and I had 20 hours of daylight, like they do in June. There's more than 10 kilometres of buff singletrack for every resident of the sprawling city of 26,000. Add in double track, paved paths and old mining roads and there's about 700 kilometres of trails to explore all within the city limits. And it's not just quantity.

During a four day visit in September with photographer Ryan Creary I rode some of the best trails of my life. The shot above is his from our first ride above the Yukon River. It's an out take, he's got hundreds more.  I am about to write an article for Canadian Cycling about the trip and I'm looking for an excuse to go back.