Hi, I'm Max
I'm Alpenglow's Director of Marketing. It's an absolute pleasure to be here! I splitboard in the winter and ride bikes all year round. Look for my big red van, Clifford, at trailheads and campsites throughout the Sierra.
Find me on Strava and Instagram @maxrehallday.
My Story
I was probably seven or eight, riding the whoopdees trail on Mount Watson, when I first caught proper air on my mountain bike. I did a tiny little bar turn but in my mind that was a full-on X-up. From that moment on, I was committed to being a mountain athlete.
I chased the mountains to Boulder, Colorado where I learned to love champaign pow and bigger adventures on 14,000ft peaks. I learned marketing and software development in school, skills I'm stoked to use here at Alpenglow Sports.
My biggest progression was stepping into the backcountry in 2020. I learned the value of mentorship and community and used both to hone my skills. I'm currently trying to find the limit of hardboot splitboarding. I haven't found it yet!
"I choose gear that eliminates excuses and doubt. When your gear's not holding you back, you can be your absolute best.
My Staff Picks:
Phantom Slipper HD
I dropped five pounds underfoot when I switched from softboots to the Phantom Hardboot system. Then I got the boots on snow and realized that wasn't even the best part.
Softboots are designed to have lateral flex so that you can have a wide stance without tweaking your knees. That side-to-side flex hurts you in the backcountry when all your weight dumps into your ankles on a long sidehill traverse. I immediately felt the boot's lateral stiffness supporting my ankles and driving the edges of my split into the mountain. This helped me overcome a long-standing issue of slipping in the skintrack. Better grip, support, and a lighter weight system helped massively cut down fatigue on big days.
The other constant concern on my biggest missions were unreliable strap crampons that kept falling off. The confidence I gained by using automatic crampons helped me step up to lines that defined my season and splitboarding carreer.
Jones Stratos Splitboard
I previously rode a Jones Solution and thought that was going to be “the solution” to all my splitboard problems. Then I got a Stratos and found the one board that can do it all. The Stratos is a freestyle board that's made to pop off features and stomp with confidence. I was stoked to discover that it's also playful in the trees and stable at speed.
This is an excellent board to daily drive on the West shore while being capable enough for big missions on the east side. In a backwards kind of way, the Stratos is the solution.
Phantom M6 Bindings
I came off of Karakoram gear with LOW standards for splitboard gear. It took dozens of days of flawless operation for me to finally break through and realize that Phantom's M6 bindings are bomber.
I like how they squeeze the board together and help align the board vertically. These bindings go on quick and contribute to an efficient practice that helps me keep my setup light without sacrificing durability.
I'm stoked to try all the hardboot splitboarding hardware, but I'm doubtful these bindings and the phantom system will be displaced anytime soon.
My Secret Weapons:
Voile STS Tech Toe
A weakpoint in hardboot splitboarding are the tech toe options, most of which are converted ski tech toes. The conversions manage to compromise a few of the options and I have broken every tech toe I've mounted, until now.
The STS tech toe is built ground-up for splitboarding and promises better reliability than any of the other options. It's massively simplified and is the lightest tech toe offered. Check back here to see if I break it!
Ultralight Butterfly Split
This board inspired a completely new perspective on splitboard mountaineering. The Ultralight Butterfly split is lighter than our lightest pair of skis(and all the splits) but it doesn't ride like ultralight gear. Skiers constantly complain about their noodley lightweight skis and I don't have a single complaint with how this thing rides.
The long effective edge makes this board confidence inspiring in steeps and the length and weight make it super easy to hop-turn in tight spaces. The directional full camber profile and setback make for better edge hold than anything else I've ridden.
In the spring of 2023 I had ambitious big mountain objectives and I bought this board to give me the confidence I needed to set up to some huge lines. My experiences riding this board last spring were so profound that I have. a new hot take that I haven't heard from anyone else: The next generation of ski mountaineers will be on ultralight splitboards. Pair this board with Hardboots and you will be unstoppable.
Summit MIPS helmet
For a long time I was resistant to having a dedicated backcountry helmet. My resort helmet was light enough and never bothered me in the bc. Then I picked up the Summit MIPS and immediately understood how a backcountry-specific feature set makes a huge difference.
The weight savings and packability of this helmet will be the first things you notice, followed by some subtle improvements you didn't know you needed. This helmet is designed to be worn over the hat or hood you are already wearing for the uphill. I saved that step of stashing my hat and find the helmet to be accommodating for beanies and more on cold days. I find I haven't missed the goggle clip and other traditional resort features that this helmet forgoes. An overall nice addition to an ever-changing kit.
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