thanks for all the fish

This is the World Famous TelemarkTalk / TelemarkTips Forum, by far the most dynamic telemark and backcountry skiing discussion board on the world wide web. We have fun here, come on in and be a part of it.
User avatar
t-$
Posts: 272
Joined: Sat Dec 02, 2017 7:29 am

thanks for all the fish

Post by t-$ » Sun Dec 03, 2017 9:59 am

hey all,

total newb here, and been lurking around for awhile. just wanted to say thanks for all the intensive reviews, discussion, memoirs, etc. it's nice to find people on the web that you feel a connection to. turns out i have been chasing this XCD thing since i started skiing, but have just been calling it cross country skiing.

i only started skiing 4 years ago when i moved to fairbanks and was dating a girl who lived on a popular ski mountain in town. the "nordic park" and a black diamond were right out the back door. i thought it was normal to have to ski up the mountain and back down. then we went to the oosik classic in talkeetna and had the most fun on the rolling woods section where everyone else was walking.

fast forward a few years and i am now back in my homestate of michigan and missing the cold, dark, silent skiing of the alaska bush. i long for snow. it's bad. my longing has forced me to read about gear and buy new gear. got the alaska's, go figure, and the magnum binding. mounted those to my play-it-again specials, a pair of 200 fischer country crowns. i've been skiing in the living room.

i also bought 2 pairs of the asnes usgi skis from coleman and am eagerly awaiting their arrival!! gonna mount them with a bc magnum also and see how they compare to the fischers. all of this is depending on snow of course! snow already, damnit!

anyways, thanks again for entertainment and info. hopefully my turns can keep improving if i can find some snow in the backcountry here. nothing like tight woods runs to hone the skillz. happy holidays, e'rybody...

User avatar
STG
Posts: 149
Joined: Sat Mar 21, 2015 3:16 pm

Re: thanks for all the fish

Post by STG » Sun Dec 03, 2017 12:36 pm

Thank you for posting and sharing the passion! You will find your special places to ski in Michigan. It will just take time. Keep us posted on your XCD adventures.



User avatar
Woodserson
Posts: 2967
Joined: Wed Feb 11, 2015 10:25 am
Location: New Hampshire
Ski style: Bumps, trees, steeps and long woodsy XC tours
Occupation: Confused Turn Farmer

Re: thanks for all the fish

Post by Woodserson » Mon Dec 04, 2017 8:52 pm

T-money, get the goods and take pics, let us know how you like the Combat skis. The Fischer Country Crown/Wax are awesome skis, I have several pairs. They just do the job. Good luck in the transition to the midwest. Where are you in MI?



User avatar
t-$
Posts: 272
Joined: Sat Dec 02, 2017 7:29 am

Re: thanks for all the fish

Post by t-$ » Tue Dec 05, 2017 5:09 am

hey woods,

i am in traverse city, back with the fam. when looking for jobs back in the lower 48, i said either northern mi or colo, otherwise i would keep travelling. but landed a gig here so here i am.

those fischers seem to be great skis. i've gotten 2 days on them so far this year (we got a decent snow a couple weeks ago, melted 2 days later). for running thru the woods they are ffantastic, and they can climb better than my old fischer 95's. i only had to duckwalk once, and was amazed at the grades i could k&g. waxless is pretty nice, i must admit. even though i am pretty light (135 lbs) the 200 cm feels great underfoot. i had no problems engaging the pocket and they are light enough that i get some good glide. love them really. i ordered a pair of 200's and 210's from coleman, hopefully the 200's are similar to the fischers, we'll see. i can't wait to play with the usgi's, but they are taking their time getting here! the 210's will be a present for my brother-in-law.

any other midwest folks who would be interested in doing the shore-to-shore? that's my first big trip goal. maybe i'll scrap that and do the northcountry trail instead due to less road time. also the midwest telefest in the UP is coming up in Feb, and i'm thinking i will be heading up there to get some turns in.

i will post pics of the usgi's mounted up when i get them. i hope they get here before wednesday, cause we are forecast for some white stuff!!!! yay for winter!!!

happy trails...



User avatar
fisheater
Posts: 2509
Joined: Fri Feb 19, 2016 8:06 pm
Location: Oakland County, MI
Ski style: All my own, and age doesn't help
Favorite Skis: Gamme 54, Falketind 62, I hope to add a third soon
Favorite boots: Alpina Alaska, Alico Ski March
Occupation: Construction Manager

Re: thanks for all the fish

Post by fisheater » Tue Dec 05, 2017 9:31 am

T-$,
Welcome from lower Michigan in Oakland County. I saw you mentioned the North Country Trail. I mountain biked a section from the Marilla Trailhead going west. It was huge fun on a mountain bike, lots of ups and downs. I wouldn't mind a partner for a day trip some weekend if that is your thing. For MI it is pretty rugged terrain.
If you like to yo yo I have been trying to get to the abandoned well known ski resort in Acme. I have been told by several Nordic shops, that people hike up and ski down regularly with no issues from law enforcement.
I know there are several trail systems in your area. There is a really good Nordic shop in Grayling, you could get some good trail info from them.
BTW, I have a pair of the USGI skis in 200. I really like them, you should like them better as where you live you can get by with blue wax most of the time. Down here I get to deal with red and red/silver :(, I like blue much better when it works!



User avatar
connyro
needs to take stock of his life
needs to take stock of his life
Posts: 1233
Joined: Mon Jan 26, 2015 11:46 am

Re: thanks for all the fish

Post by connyro » Tue Dec 05, 2017 10:56 am

If you had to choose an area to live and ski in MI, the Traverse City area would be one of the top choices! There's a pretty good ski culture in that area and some pretty good terrain for touring and turning. The UP would be closest to AK in terms of cold, snow, ruggedness, and open wilderness. I suggest getting a Plat map for your area and looking for any CF (commercial forest) land that's easily accessible. Up here, with the Ottawa NTL forest, McCormick tract, Porcupine MTNS, Hiawatha NTL forest, Seney Wildlife refuge, Pictured Rocks NTL Lakeshore, and a TON of private but CA lands, there's an almost inexhaustible amount of exploring to do. Head to the North-west side of the UP for bigger, steeper, more rugged terrain.

For flat tours, I also like to use the 210cm USGI skis. Like Fishy said, blue wax most of the time.

The midwest telefest is usually a great time. The Porcupine MTN ski hill is pretty fun, has GREAT views, and the telefest crowd is great. It's been going on, in some form or another, for over 20 years.



User avatar
t-$
Posts: 272
Joined: Sat Dec 02, 2017 7:29 am

Re: thanks for all the fish

Post by t-$ » Tue Dec 05, 2017 6:00 pm

hey folks, nice to see michiganders here :)

@fisheater - word in the paper the other day was that they are finally cracking down on that place. i think we missed the window on it, and i don't need a trespassing conviction :( ahhh, to be young again....

but i would definitely be up for a day ski sometime! whatever, whereever, but most likely weekends for a day-trip. forbush corners is pretty good, and you can go off trail and ski on thru to hartwick pines and do their trails, so that's a nice one. there is also a blog of a couple of guys doing 3 days/nights on the shoretoshore. they cached supplies along the way but didn't make near the progress they planned, iirc. seemed pretty tough at points...roads, ruts, snow...but i think i should try anyway! looking at sat images of the nct, it appears much more wild (obviously in the up) than the sts. you also gotta get a shuttle over the bridge.

i know my kind of ski culture exists here, i just have to find them :) there does seem to be some good folk up here but looks can be deceiving! :lol: there are a lot of groomers and skaters and there is nothing wrong with that. but the looks from the gentlemen at forbush was classic. me bumming off thru the woods while they skated by with their mouths open. i'm pretty sure one or two would have rather been with me! i think the rest had disdain...whatever. costumes for telefest??

winter is here!!!



User avatar
lilcliffy
Posts: 4112
Joined: Thu Jan 01, 2015 6:20 pm
Location: Stanley, New Brunswick, Canada
Ski style: backcountry Nordic ski touring
Favorite Skis: Asnes Ingstad, Combat Nato, Amundsen, Rabb 68; Altai Kom
Favorite boots: Alpina Alaska BC; Lundhags Expedition; Alfa Skaget XP; Scarpa T4
Occupation: Forestry Professional
Instructor at Maritime College of Forest Technology
Husband, father, farmer and logger

Re: thanks for all the fish

Post by lilcliffy » Wed Dec 06, 2017 7:23 pm

Welcome T-$!

Wonderful to read your story and looking forward to reading more.

Anxiously awaiting snow here in the New Brunswick hills!

IT is VERY late.

Snow in the forecast this weekend and throughout next week.

I think it is finally almost here!
Cross-country AND down-hill skiing in the backcountry.
Unashamed to be a "cross-country type" and love skiing down-hill.



User avatar
t-$
Posts: 272
Joined: Sat Dec 02, 2017 7:29 am

Re: thanks for all the fish

Post by t-$ » Wed Dec 06, 2017 9:04 pm

thanks LC, the season is upon us!!!! get yours yet tonight??

took a couple quick laps in the woods behind the house tonight since winter has finally arrived...first run on the alaskas and magnums. it is a much different feeling than i am used to. so much more control than my previous boots/bindings! no problems kicking for the couple miles, other than some rubbing at the top of the cuff on one leg. the boots are so comfortable, it's amazing really. the other possible negtive thing i noticed was that the heel seemed a bit hard. that's being really nit-picky though, it was a wonderful first ski with them.

skate skiing is actually much easier too, and i thought it would be harder with the stiffer boots. but no, actually better.

so in the interest of full disclosure i really can't make true tele turns yet. i'm working at it, but you all would laugh your asses off at me and leave me on the bunny hill if you saw me ski. on this set-up though, i am much more confident and could actually put some decent turns together on the extremely shallow snow (maybe 3 inches with a leaf and stick base). going really slow on the small hills back there was perfect for me tonight. can't wait to hit em again tomorrow!!

some other observations from tonight: night skiing is the best. safety meetings are necessary when solo or in a group. i love snow.


also the usgi's are here!!! gonna mount them up for tomorrow night after work. i'll take pics of them, better pics than the ones i took tonight! hahaha, hope you all are having as good a night as i am... :)
image (32).jpg
image (31).jpg



User avatar
lilcliffy
Posts: 4112
Joined: Thu Jan 01, 2015 6:20 pm
Location: Stanley, New Brunswick, Canada
Ski style: backcountry Nordic ski touring
Favorite Skis: Asnes Ingstad, Combat Nato, Amundsen, Rabb 68; Altai Kom
Favorite boots: Alpina Alaska BC; Lundhags Expedition; Alfa Skaget XP; Scarpa T4
Occupation: Forestry Professional
Instructor at Maritime College of Forest Technology
Husband, father, farmer and logger

Re: thanks for all the fish

Post by lilcliffy » Wed Dec 06, 2017 9:31 pm

I ski at night most every day in the winter.

It is dark by 5pm here most ski days.

I occasionally get a BC tour in during daylight during the week- but most of my daylight BC tours have to wait until the weekend.

I have a number of 5-20kms tours that I can safely do in the dark- and with the full moon on snow, I can go anywhere!

During the work week, I hit the groomed track in town to fly through some miles.

It is very hard for me to judge/compare "telemark" turning skill- because it depends so much on the complex context of snow, terrain, and ski equipment. If I am in stiff, high-cuffed boots, with active bindings, I can carve telemarks effortlessly.

In flexible XC gear my technique is TOTALLY different- and though I use the telemark whenever the snow and terrain suit my BC-XC gear- I also use a wide range of turning techniques.

I am a passionate free-heel Nordic skier- with a particular passion for touring, trekking, and XCD skiing in the backcountry. I LOOVE the telemark turn- but I am not obsessed with it- it is just one of many turns I use.
Cross-country AND down-hill skiing in the backcountry.
Unashamed to be a "cross-country type" and love skiing down-hill.



Post Reply