Climbers ascending Urus Este in Peru's Cordillera Blanca. Mountaineering in the Ishinca valley is simply breathtaking! Photo: Zeb Blais
Not sure what to get your favorite adventure partner this holiday season?
That's a no brainer! Get a Gift Card and let them decide! Snag a Blackbird Mountain Guides Gift Card!
Want something a little more personalized, that fits what they love to do?
Great gifts for Backcountry Skiers & Riders
Looking to stoke out your favorite backcountry partner or fill your own winter with adventure? Check out these awesome trips:
Backcountry Ski Tours in South Lake Tahoe and Mount Rose!
Avalanche Courses and Ski Mountaineering Skills
Get your skills up to speed with educational courses for backcountry skiing and ski mountaineering. Our most unique trips include:
Rope Skills for Skiers and Riders - Looking to step up your game to access iconic lines that only a select few will ever ride, like the Grand Teton or Cosmiques Couloir? This course will teach you fundamental skills for technical ski mountaineering, including how to build a snow anchor, rappel into a line and travel on a glacier. We know you’re not rope wizards, you’re skiers and riders! Get the skills you need to handle the mountaineering side of skiing!
Avalanche Skills Tour - Refresh and sharpen your skills as you explore the best backcountry zones around Tahoe. On this mission the objective is not just finding the deepest snow in the basin (you'll get that too!), but learning from the decisions your guide is making at every turn.
Avy Pass - This unique offering serves up a number of our best avalanche courses in one sweet package to provide a season's worth of learning. We have to varieties here that are the perfect way to begin or continue your lifelong avalanche education.
Gifts for Climbers of all sorts
It's not too early to start thinking about mountaineering trips in the Eastern Sierra, the Cascades or the greater ranges of the world like Peru! We're excited about upcoming alpine climbing and would love to share these amazing trips with you:
Peru's Cordillera Blanca. Explore one of our favorite ranges in the world with us this summer! This trip is an awesome way to experience and incredible expedition style climb with a great mix of high altitude, huge glaciers and beautiful granite. Inquire today!
Eastern Sierra Alpine Climbing. Work with us to pick the perfect objective climbing among 14,000 foot granite giants of the High Sierra. This is an alpine rock climber's paradise with hundreds of high quality rock routes to choose from!
Ski and Snowboard Equipment & Gear
Are you in the market for a new backcountry setup or some stylish technical outerwear? If you are looking to get your avy gear dialed in for the season, our shop partners in North and South Lake Tahoe can help. You can also rock the same kit as our guides, courtesy of Rab.
North Lake
Granite Chief
South Lake
Sports LTD
Winter Season Gift Checklist
Make sure you and your partners have the right gear for the upcoming winter and alpine climbing season!
-
Alpine Touring Skis - Light to Midweight Setup with “Tech Bindings”. We love Salomon QST 106 for Tahoe alpine touring skis.
-
Splitboards - The Weston Ridgeline is the board to own them all in the Tahoe backcountry!
-
Alpine Touring Boots - Our Favorites are the Scarpa F1 for long tours and Atomic Hawx XTD Ultra as a lightweight, but stiff and beefy feeling crossover boot.
-
Climbing Skins - Mohair Mix is Best. Black Diamonds are reliable and grippy.
-
Touring Backpack - A Pack with Avalanche Tools Pocket. The Lowe Alpine Revolt 35 is our pick. It's A light weight pack with just enough room for the essentials, including a helmet carry and avalanche tools pocket. Plus it's got a great fit that comfortably balances the weight on your shoulders.
-
Ski Poles - Lightweight, Adjustable Poles with Baskets. BCA Scepter 4S poles have a useful handle switch that makes it easy to flip your risers up and down.
-
Ski Helmet - Lightweight that fits your head. We don't recommend buying these without trying them on first, but try to get something that isn't too bulky for the backcountry. The Salomon QST Charge MIPS is a good option.
Avalanche Gear
-
Avalanche Beacon - Digital Avalanche Transceiver - The BCA Tracker 4 or Mammut Barryvox are our favorites in this category.
-
Avalanche Shovel - Collapsible, Aluminum Shovel - BCA B-1 EXT or BCA Shaxe
-
Avalanche Probe - Quickdraw Style Probe like the Arva Guide 260 or BCA STEALTH 300
Ski and Climbing Apparel
We are psyched to be partnering with Rab Equipment this year. Our guides will be rocking the Rab Khroma Cirque Jacket and Khroma Kinetic Pants. Engineered for the up and the down, this high performance, breathable 3-layer GORE-TEX Active shell jacket is designed for ski touring.
If you've got any questions on our recommendations or offerings for the winter season and beyond, please feel free to reach out! We'd love to help dial in your kit or help you find the perfect trip for you or your favorite backcountry partner!