Hunting ines

[StormyMonday]

So much talk about this gear and that gear, I thought it might be fun to discuss finding place to actually use it! We live all over the place and probably all types of terrain, and we probably all have different ways of finding new lines. Here's a scenario I had this weekend; I was at the top of a local New England hill. Lots of snow and 50 degrees, so shin deep, heavy stuff. Due to some issues I missed the powder but was determined to ski, so I followed some game trails up to a ridge. I do that a lot. Looking down it was just a tangle of thickets; like literally clawing through since I lacked a machete. In places like this, which abound here I look beyond the thickets for white birch. It seems like everytime I bushwhack towards birch, no matter how bad the approach, I wind up with at least some decent lines. What works for you?

[lowangle al]

I'm a sucker for a patch of white. I've been skiing a gasline the last 5 days. Power lines can be good. There's lots of hilly golf courses. Looking for good ski hills is a year round activity for me, I even see them in Hawaii. For me any hill steep enough to turn on and 100 feet long is better than looking out the window with your teeth in your mouth.

[StormyMonday]

Atomic used to have those ads where the path of a raindrop, or other everyday items look like ski lines and it said "We see it too". Like minds Al! I'v found a lot of the ones like you describe right off the highway as I commute. I love watching all the traffic head north to "Ski Country" as I make untracked turns. Mountain bike trails often have some good lines off them too, and a lot of hiking trails reputed to be "unskiable" might be but the terrain they access can be good as long as you bring some extra gear (I'll sometimes pack a harness and rope for those - not major cliffs but little 15'ers just in case I get somewhere sketchy)

[lowangle al]

I don't know how you're skiing but with wax or scales there are many more options since short lines make more sense if you don't have to put skins on. I can spend hours on a small hill with less than 100 ft. of drop if the snow is good. It's all about good snow to me. I skied the last 5 days and my phone tells me I climbed the equivalent of 108 flights of stairs per day and I never got more than a mile from the trail head.

[lilcliffy]

Interesting you speak of white birch stands. Although there is nothing more beautiful than a white birch stand- in Central and Northen NB white birch stand unfortunately typically have a very dense softwood understory- almost impenetrable- unless you are on snowshoes and/or a bush ski like the Hok...

The best lines in my region are the following:

1) Closed-canopy northern hardwood (maple-beech-birch) stands with an open understory.

2) Closed canopy, older spruce and/or hemlock stands with an open understory.

3) Steep agricultural fields.

Anything that is wide and linear is absolutely destroyed by snowmobilers (at least destroyed for skiing on fresh snow that is!)

The hills near the river valleys are full of excellent low vertical, but steep side-hill fields.

The more remote hills have plenty of open northern hardwood stands on the tops and moderate slopes, with open spruce-hemlock stands on very steep slopes.

The entire "wilderness" is transected by old abandoned logging trails and roads that quickly become closed in enough to keep the snowmobiles out! The old trails serve as excellent routes between excellent glades!

I live, work and breathe forest ecology, so I have a good feel for where to look for open glades to carve a great line.

The biggest problem is how intensive the logging has become in our region. Young stands in our climate are so dense that they are almost impenetrable to ski through. There are many excellent glades that have been recently clearcut.

New Brunswick is a wilderness dissected by rural communities along the large river valleys. The snow conditions in Central and Western New Brunswick are consistently excellent- one can backcountry ski most anywhere.

The best backcountry skiing is at mid-elevations. There are no elevations above tree line- like the mountains in the Gaspe- therefore the highest elevations in NB are covered in dense boreal forest not suitable for skiing.

[Cannatonic]

looks like the same deal with New England and Adirondack woods as eastern Canada. Here in the coastal flats I'm often at local state parks and land reservations looking for small hills. I have even resorted to skiing a couple old landfill mounds (capped) of 60-70 feet vertical. Today I was just aiming for the snow with sun shining on it.

One problem I discovered with corn season in February is that the sun isn't high enough. It was upper 30's today and only directly south-facing snow was soft.

[connyro]

Out here near Lake Superior, it's all about the snow. We've got a lot of steep rugged hills (100'-500' vertical) with a lot of ledges, ravines, benches, waterfalls, and cliffs which are fun to ski but ONLY if there's a deep base (4'+) of snow. Forests with lots of beech seem to have an inordinate amount of whips, so generally we stay away. Mature stands of sugar maple/yellow birch seem to be more open and skiable than most. Mix hardwoods and evergreen forests are usually the worst due to thickness of brush and branches. Hemlock stands can be fun provided that there's enough snow that got through the canopy! Some hills here have open exposed rock/slabs/slides which when full of fresh snow and not wind-scoured (rare), are really fun.

There's a lot of CFA land (public is allowed non-motorized access) around here, so we don't worry about trespassing. Also, GoogleEarth is very useful for finding slopes and routes to the slopes out here. If you use a platt book/map overlay, you can find routes that avoid trespassing.

[StormyMonday]

I don't know how you're skiing but with wax or scales there are many more options since short lines make more sense if you don't have to put skins on. I can spend hours on a small hill with less than 100 ft. of drop if the snow is good. It's all about good snow to me. I skied the last 5 days and my phone tells me I climbed the equivalent of 108 flights of stairs per day and I never got more than a mile from the trail head.

I have pretty good variety. Right behind my house I have hills like you describe and there for me it's waxless; Outtas or Cross Terrains (better for me in non-powder conditons). We have a lot of ledges and deadfall so need a good base, but have that now. Then, with a 10-30 minute drive I have the next step up for hills ranging from 300' to 1200'. I still like the waxless here but the bigger ones I'll use skins with Tua Mitos or first generation Super Stinx. I explore a lot of the old areas on the New England Lost Ski Areas Project site. The bigger ones people seem to know about, but the smaller, more obscure ones sometimes turn up some gems. Last one I hit the actual ski area was toast, but it turned out I found some really nice glades on the opposite side of the hill. I think it was maybe 1,000'. Did it once with waxless but future trips I used skins for that one as it was a steep climb on that side. From December through April I leave my Cross Terrains, Excursions and ski clothes in the car all the time so I can pull over during my commute. I drove by a cemetery once on a big hill, took a few right hand turns and found a really nice hill on the back side of it that was not part of it. Turns are like partridge, they are where ya find them...

[lowangle al]

I have pretty good variety. Right behind my house I have hills like you describe and there for me it's waxless; Outtas or Cross Terrains (better for me in non-powder conditons). We have a lot of ledges and deadfall so need a good base, but have that now. Then, with a 10-30 minute drive I have the next step up for hills ranging from 300' to 1200'. I still like the waxless here but the bigger ones I'll use skins with Tua Mitos or first generation Super Stinx. I explore a lot of the old areas on the New England Lost Ski Areas Project site. The bigger ones people seem to know about, but the smaller, more obscure ones sometimes turn up some gems. Last one I hit the actual ski area was toast, but it turned out I found some really nice glades on the opposite side of the hill. I think it was maybe 1,000'. Did it once with waxless but future trips I used skins for that one as it was a steep climb on that side. From December through April I leave my Cross Terrains, Excursions and ski clothes in the car all the time so I can pull over during my commute. I drove by a cemetery once on a big hill, took a few right hand turns and found a really nice hill on the back side of it that was not part of it. Turns are like partridge, they are where ya find them...
Re: Hunting ines

I skied a lost ski area in NH, I think it was developed by the Dartmouth Outing club, it would have been fun if it weren't bullet proof ice. It would have been a better day for a hike, but back then if I came to ski I skied, even if it was a bad idea.

I can see using skins more in the East than I do in Ak. Back East if you are climbing a trail you have to deal with the slope of the trail, but above tree line I can adjust my angle to whatever works with wax. Unless I am using an already set skin track.
It's cool that you stop on your commute for some turns. To me it should be like surfing, a quick commune with nature combined with the physical bliss of the sport. It doesn't take a lot of time, and I don't need a big hill to get my battery recharged.

[StormyMonday]

The quick commute skis are a lot like surfing. The Wounded Warrior surfing guys say "Surfing Heals All Wounds" and so does skiing a few lines. Last week I lost my Mom to pancreatic cancer, it sucked as you can imagine and I spent the epic snow event we had between the edge of her bed and the hospice. The day after she left us I found myself alone in the house, unable to get off the couch really. The weight of the 5 month battle just beat us down. The temps had risen into the 40s so that deep powder was now deep mank. I pretty much forced myself in to the car and hit one of the lost ski areas. It's like thickets in there now but up I went with waxless Cross Terrains. I got in 5 or 6 laps, some pretty half hearted, then on a whim I headed for some birches and found the perfect line for this type of snow. It was like a top to bottom SL course with one continuous flush. It was the best line I skied in 2 years and for once I skied it well. I finished up with that run. I will say I went home with a slightly less heavy heart. It wasn't a panacea, there is no such thing in this case, but for one hour I was able to stop replaying the events in my head, concentrate on the up/down I needed in these conditions, concentrate on facing down the hill and see nothing but trees and snow in every direction. It didn't heal al wounds, but it sure as hell helped brighten my day just a little. And on that day a little meant a lot. There's a song by Lyle Lovett called Step Inside This House. It reminds me a lot of the joys to be found on these little hills...