Pictures, pictures and pictures!

[Tom M]

June 10th ski to the saddle below Sublette Peak. Typical summer snow base with a few inches of fresh overnight snow. Skiing the SBound 98's with 3 pin leathers. Most of the snow is gone below 9000 feet but we still have 36 inches or more in the trees. It is sticky but skiable as long as the slope is not facing South.

[Andy M]

Nice, Tom!

We also got new snow, from Monday night into Tuesday, with temps staying in the 20s during the storm. The skiing was sublime on Tuesday, but still good Wednesday morning. Here's a photo from Wednesday:

[Tom M]

Nice, Tom!

We also got new snow, from Monday night into Tuesday, with temps staying in the 20s during the storm. The skiing was sublime on Tuesday, but still good Wednesday morning. Here's a photo from Wednesday:

R0000276b_sm.JPG

Looks like some great stuff. Thanks for sharing.

[jyw5]

Nice pics and video, Tom!

I'm glad a few of us are still skiing.

Awesome. I am still learning to make better videos.

[jyw5]

Friendship Pass and Gold Cord Peak. Today was a friendlier day.

Fischer S112, NNN BC, Alfa Quest Core boots
EZ skins in the AM.

[Tom M]

Friendship Pass and the Pinnacle. Today was a friendlier day.

Fischer S112, NNN BC, Alfa Quest Core boots
EZ skins in the AM.

I really enjoy your photos and videos as well, probably more than most, as I spent most of my adult life in Alaska.
Just for old time sake, here is a photo near Chitna Pass on a week long spring ski trip circa 1978. 1978 was an era before bear spray and I now shutter to think about my spring skis in Alaska without any protection.

[jyw5]

I really enjoy your photos and videos as well, probably more than most, as I spent most of my adult life in Alaska.
Just for old time sake, here is a photo near Chitna Pass on a week long spring ski trip circa 1978. 1978 was an era before bear spray and I now shutter to think about my spring skis in Alaska without any protection.

Don skiing up toward Chitna Pass 2.jpg

Thanks! Wow...Skinny double cambered skis to do a long traverse. Were they at least waxless? did you have skins in 1978? I always wondered about that. I read the old log entries when I did the Eklutna Traverse and can't even imagine how much more difficult it was back then.

My telemark skiing ability has been terrible recently as I have been just doing alpine parallel turns, step and jump turns down steep slushy snow. Old habits...so hard to deprogram.

[Tom M]

Thanks! Wow...Skinny double cambered skis to do a long traverse. Were they at least waxless? did you have skins in 1978? I always wondered about that. I read the old log entries when I did the Eklutna Traverse and can't even imagine how much more difficult it was back then.

My telemark skiing ability has been terrible recently as I have been just doing alpine parallel turns, step and jump turns down steep slushy snow. Old habits...so hard to deprogram.

In the 70's and 80's I skied Fischer Europa 77's, then 99's. The Europa 77's were an off track plastic XC ski with an aluminum edge. Skins have been around for a long time and I remember seeing a set made from real seal skin. I eventually moved up to a wider, softer, ski in the mid 80's, a set of Japanese Swallows, which were a popular backcountry ski in Alaska at the time. I had a set of strap on skins for the Swallows. Waxless skis have been around for a long time as well, but the early versions just weren't a good alternative. I bought my first pair of waxless skis in 2008 and I now ski waxless skis exclusively. Here are a couple of photos you might enjoy.

This photo was taken on a March ski tour as we crossed the Chulitna River on our way over to the Ruth Glacier. Here you can see my ski of choice. I had a narrow, maybe 1 inch wide full length skin at the time. It was one of the first adhesive based skins and rolled over the tail of the ski attaching to the top of the tail. You can see the skin if you zoom in on the photo

And another photo rope skiing on the Ruth

For me, the tele turn is mainly a powder turn. Sometimes it is just easier to do a parallel turn. If you watched my June video, you can see me struggling to do a decent tele turn on the spring snow with my 98's. If the camera wasn't on, I'd probably just have paralleled the slope.

In the video, I mentioned skiing Togwotee in my earlier life. Here is a shot from that era, circa 1975. On that trip I was skiing Silvretta cable bindings with mountaineering boots. The skis on the left were my brother's Bonna wooden skis. They had a segmented steel edge. The skis on the right were my Europa 77's. Both were high tech backcountry options in their day.

[Johnny]

Niiiiice...!
Please keep those nice pictures coming...!

[CwmRaider]

Skins have been around for a long time and I remember seeing a set made from real seal skin.

Awesome pictures!
In Norway it is still possible to get skins made from real seal skin... Even for Åsnes short skin format!
http://www.skifeller.no/
On Fjellforum there are reports of amazing glide with them (supposedly just as good as blue wax on dry snow) and great traction, but they need frequent reglueing.
And my personal view is that no seals need to die just so I can have better glide.