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Focused heavily on hardcore backcountry exploration, Minturn, Colorado-based Weston Backcountry makes heady skis and snowboards for advanced outdoorists. To help make this rather inaccessible and exclusive environment more accessible—and make their latest product drop even better looking—the small independent brand has released a new collaboration with artist, skier, mountain biker, and all around rad outdoorist Brooklyn Bell, which directly supports scholarships for BIPOC women with the American Institute for Avalanche Research & Education (AIARE).
Weston commissioned Bell, who is based in Bellingham, WA, to dress up a new, limited collection that includes a pow board, a splitboard, and a pair of touring skis with her characteristic, colorful painterly artwork. All three feature the same resulting piece—an abstraction of a mountainscape that contrasts dark ethereal landscapes with warmer, craggy mountains.
"I wanted something witchy, spooky and mysterious but also powerful and groovy. I wanted it to feel magical, in a sense. When I create art I put a lot of intention and energy into it and I want whoever is on these boards [and skis] to just feel that energy," said Bell via press release.
Beyond encouraging the channeling of aesthetic energy into on-mountain pow creativity, a portion of Weston x Bell board and ski sales go to AIARE scholarships for BIPOC women. Recipients will earn Level 2 avalanche awareness training—a course that can cost $600+—with the hope that by making this knowledge more accessible, the backcountry can become a more diverse space.
With all that said, it's also worth mentioning we've had the opportunity to test a range of Weston snowboards, splitboards, and skis over the past two winters in Colorado and Vermont. And can attest that they're playful, poppy, and a generally fun time, particularly with a few inches of fresh or some ripe spring corn.
Price: $599
Published 12-13-2021
