A humbling day
Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2018 7:13 pm
Havent posted in a while, despite poor conditions prior to yesterday, Ive been having a banner year. Some great backwoods/bc skiing while conditions permitted, almost daily XC skiing or uphill-pass-accessed ski mountain runs. Its been awesome, alot of time on my S112s, even on one particularly crusty night at King Pine ($10 PM lift ticket ) I kept it together, fluttering and side sliding like a mf'r, but I was (novice) ripping. OK I thought, Im getting the hang of this. Of course thats wide open terrain, not a 15-20 ft wide trail. Then came 14-18" of fresh snow, a little dense, but gorgeous.
I went for it, Doublehead in Jackson, NH. A local, classic, BC trail crafted by the CCC in the 30s. A staple of our local ski heritage and culture. I thought I had it. Finally I had the gear (s112/T4s), the time and conditions to make an assault. So I thought.
Got stuck in the parking area, had to dig out, before I even parked. A smarter man would have hightailed down to black mountain and bought a pass, but not me, I'm determined.
The Climb
Started out great, low angle striding, fishscales the first 3/4 mi, sweet. Attached my 65mm ez skins like I knew what I was doing.
A half mile later, as angle and altitude increased, Moisture decreased, soon I was wallowing around in almost knee deep wettish sugar. Those little EZ Skins, and maybe the camber just werent doing it. I backslid twice the length of my skis a few times. Had use every technique I know, sidestepping, zigzags, even a dash of herringbone. I was incredibly frustrated. Need full skins. Anyway, I made it.
The Descent
Starts off mellow, a beautiful stretch of woods. My elation was short lived, I wiped out, forward tumbled and cursed my way down the rest of the top third of that trail like I had never skied before. Just couldn't get my skis to do what I wanted them to. Felt like the tails were biting and dragging. Lower sections were pretty excellent, water bars were sketchy, but it was fun as hell.
Im using T4s with a Rotte ST binding, seems to be a lot of boot rocker, waiting on a Voile traverse riser and heel lift kit, hoping it helps, may throw my Voile 3pc on for a bit more power. What bothers me is I know that people have done more on lighter gear. Guys were doing it with wood skis, leather boots and wool and cotton clothes 90 years ago, so Im reluctant to blame "light" gear. I kNow my technique is lacking, perhaps tele turns are necessary in deep heavy snow? Really need to learn them, but I cant help but wonder if boot rocker/rocker launch, or whatever its called is part of the problem. Definitely a good bit of resistance to get the heels to plant...
SHould I go to shorter ski's? Im about 225LBS geared up, and on the recommended 190cm skis...
Kind of a useless rant, had to vent, Im frustrated and unsure exactly what my problem is. All I learned is that I have a lot more to learn... Forgive me if this was better suited to the trip report forum.
I went for it, Doublehead in Jackson, NH. A local, classic, BC trail crafted by the CCC in the 30s. A staple of our local ski heritage and culture. I thought I had it. Finally I had the gear (s112/T4s), the time and conditions to make an assault. So I thought.
Got stuck in the parking area, had to dig out, before I even parked. A smarter man would have hightailed down to black mountain and bought a pass, but not me, I'm determined.
The Climb
Started out great, low angle striding, fishscales the first 3/4 mi, sweet. Attached my 65mm ez skins like I knew what I was doing.
A half mile later, as angle and altitude increased, Moisture decreased, soon I was wallowing around in almost knee deep wettish sugar. Those little EZ Skins, and maybe the camber just werent doing it. I backslid twice the length of my skis a few times. Had use every technique I know, sidestepping, zigzags, even a dash of herringbone. I was incredibly frustrated. Need full skins. Anyway, I made it.
The Descent
Starts off mellow, a beautiful stretch of woods. My elation was short lived, I wiped out, forward tumbled and cursed my way down the rest of the top third of that trail like I had never skied before. Just couldn't get my skis to do what I wanted them to. Felt like the tails were biting and dragging. Lower sections were pretty excellent, water bars were sketchy, but it was fun as hell.
Im using T4s with a Rotte ST binding, seems to be a lot of boot rocker, waiting on a Voile traverse riser and heel lift kit, hoping it helps, may throw my Voile 3pc on for a bit more power. What bothers me is I know that people have done more on lighter gear. Guys were doing it with wood skis, leather boots and wool and cotton clothes 90 years ago, so Im reluctant to blame "light" gear. I kNow my technique is lacking, perhaps tele turns are necessary in deep heavy snow? Really need to learn them, but I cant help but wonder if boot rocker/rocker launch, or whatever its called is part of the problem. Definitely a good bit of resistance to get the heels to plant...
SHould I go to shorter ski's? Im about 225LBS geared up, and on the recommended 190cm skis...
Kind of a useless rant, had to vent, Im frustrated and unsure exactly what my problem is. All I learned is that I have a lot more to learn... Forgive me if this was better suited to the trip report forum.