Sbounds...leathers

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greatgt
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Re: Sbounds...leathers

Post by greatgt » Sun Dec 20, 2020 7:07 am

Lots of skiing on small amount of snow....First......man....hope those of you who got that dump are having a blast....We got two inches of sweet powder out of it....Mostly hitting logging roads up in the Highlands...Did some base waxing a while back and the skis got fast,,,,,real, fast....Up in the Highlands there is about one and a half inches of mealy easily skied old snow ...Up around 2600 feet there is close to three inches of this heavy blanket of snow with two inches of powder on it....If I were younger I would probably go for it but at my age am worried about hitting stuff that will cause serious problems...so out in the forest and high hills I take care.....logging roads not so much....They have zillions of raspberry plants and hardwood whips that can be skied straight on....Skis are fast so can turn on almost no slope....All in all a very "tough" year because of the lack of snow.....But that will change.....Today....head up...find a decent place....Start a raging fire.....eat some food....drink some beer.....Enjoy Nature in a gonzo place...TM

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greatgt
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Re: Sbounds...leathers

Post by greatgt » Mon Dec 21, 2020 8:18 am

At about 2500 to 2600 feet the snow was sweet....Again about 5 inches with 2 inches of fast powder on top.....Blue wax worked well and as the temps rose...about 25o the blue wax got a whole lot faster....We all looked for a hollow tree to fire up but settled on a horizontal pile of burnable fallen tree.....Telekid got the fire started with just a bit of paper as we didn't have much and there were no white birches around....The fire got bigger and before long we had a rager going and took a few minutes ...uh....a bit more to get a large part of a tree for up close heating for a seat....Oh yeah....Beer flowing and stories told....Could see far off to Burke Mountain and to the West Caspian lake and beyond....After a while we headed back the boys (Teleking and Telekid)...headed down some steeper lines and I went down the easier side...By then the newer 109's and blue wax took off down the whip infested logging road where a turn here and there were had....All in all a good time was had and with another inch last night it's getting better...Heh! TM



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greatgt
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Re: Sbounds...leathers

Post by greatgt » Thu Dec 24, 2020 11:02 am

Tale of two days....Two days ago logs...stones...branches...whips and a shot here and there...Couple miles in and the thought of slogging back was a downer...The one good thing...Quiet....visuals....and the knowledge that this was good for me...uh...????....yesterday across the road was a different vision....Blue sky....white rhyme glittering ...Cold close to 10o skis were slow making for easy shots with a few arcs....wonderful!.......Were lucky campers Teleking and I just to be able to be out there.....AND.....never scraped or hit a thing...Excellent base and now we lose what we have....TM



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fisheater
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Location: Oakland County, MI
Ski style: All my own, and age doesn't help
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Favorite boots: Alpina Alaska, Alico Ski March
Occupation: Construction Manager

Re: Sbounds...leathers

Post by fisheater » Sat Dec 26, 2020 11:08 pm

I got about two inches for Christmas. I mean the front lawn was covered completely, the road covered in hard pack. I’ve been reading this thread for a while, so I asked my self “what would Teleman do”? I figured I would give it a try on the county park gravel trails. Twenty three degrees, but thin, lots of walkers, figured I would break out the Rex Univeral, as it has a warmer high temp than Swix Blue.
Started slipping a bit out of the gate, skied a couple hundred yards then added a couple layers same wax. Well, now I’m missing glide, but I’m coming to the first hill so no slipping on the way up. Shoot over the top, point them down and instant stoppage on gravel. That could have been a good tumble with more speed. Well a couple more hills, and more sudden stops. Too many snakes in the woods with no cover. Well, I have quite a bit more hill country stone ground base structure. No core shots or tore up edges. Those Åsnes USGI have tuff bases.
I tried. I guess I’m back to using my old minimum depths. I guess I just got impatient.



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greatgt
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Re: Sbounds...leathers

Post by greatgt » Sun Dec 27, 2020 8:03 am

Too funny! We just got your two inches!!!!! All white out there and yes am about to get ready....All my bottoms have had their day and will get beat a bit more now!!!!!!!.....Don't care...Just get out there sliding and I too Fish will hit thingeers....But from your warning will get the right wax on then go like the wind....and when the bottoms hit bad things the double camber will save me...Uh....Tough start to a tough season....TM



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lowangle al
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Location: Pocono Mts / Chugach Mts
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Occupation: Retired cement mason. Current job is to take my recreation as serious as I did my past employment.

Re: Sbounds...leathers

Post by lowangle al » Sun Dec 27, 2020 8:32 am

greatgt wrote:
Sun Dec 27, 2020 8:03 am
Too funny! We just got your two inches!!!!! All white out there and yes am about to get ready....All my bottoms have had their day and will get beat a bit more now!!!!!!!.....Don't care...Just get out there sliding and I too Fish will hit thingeers....But from your warning will get the right wax on then go like the wind....and when the bottoms hit bad things the double camber will save me...Uh....Tough start to a tough season....TM
fisheater wrote:
Sat Dec 26, 2020 11:08 pm

I got about two inches for Christmas. I mean the front lawn was covered completely, the road covered in hard pack. I’ve been reading this thread for a while, so I asked my self “what would Teleman do”? I figured I would give it a try on the county park gravel trails. Twenty three degrees, but thin, lots of walkers, figured I would break out the Rex Univeral, as it has a warmer high temp than Swix Blue.
Started slipping a bit out of the gate, skied a couple hundred yards then added a couple layers same wax. Well, now I’m missing glide, but I’m coming to the first hill so no slipping on the way up. Shoot over the top, point them down and instant stoppage on gravel. That could have been a good tumble with more speed. Well a couple more hills, and more sudden stops. Too many snakes in the woods with no cover. Well, I have quite a bit more hill country stone ground base structure. No core shots or tore up edges. Those Åsnes USGI have tuff bases.
I tried. I guess I’m back to using my old minimum depths. I guess I just got impatient.
You guys need fatter skis. 110 in the waist does good for me in about 4 inches, for 2 inches I'd probably need at least 120, but I'm not that hard up. ;) With fat skis hitting a rock doesn't affect you as much as hitting the same rock with a skinny ski.



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greatgt
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Re: Sbounds...leathers

Post by greatgt » Tue Dec 29, 2020 8:13 am

Double camber helps a lot!!!!.....Skinny helps a lot!!!!! In other words you can find a kind of perverse pleasure in doing something that SHOULD NOT BE DONE!.....So Fish did go up there and....Hit everything that was there to be hit...Camber made it kinda easy to shift weight when the stones began to scrape the bottoms....The raspberry thorns and whips in the logging rod helped as they were the RESISTNCE...that slowed me down.....till....I saw that water and mud zone coming up real fast...Did a couple preliminary turns which accelerated the skis because when in a tele they take off.....Crashed just before the water and if sombody sees the tracks it will elicit a good laugh....So Fish.....I pay the price too but get stronger every time...er....TM



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lowangle al
Posts: 2741
Joined: Sat Jan 11, 2014 3:36 pm
Location: Pocono Mts / Chugach Mts
Ski style: BC with focus on downhill perfection
Favorite Skis: powder skis
Favorite boots: Scarpa T4
Occupation: Retired cement mason. Current job is to take my recreation as serious as I did my past employment.

Re: Sbounds...leathers

Post by lowangle al » Tue Dec 29, 2020 11:17 am

Double camber helps the touring for sure, but when you need to rely on bushes to slow you down and you are still crashing after probably 50 years on skis I think you are on the wrong gear. If you like it, that's good for you, but be safe out there, ya old fart.



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greatgt
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Re: Sbounds...leathers

Post by greatgt » Tue Dec 29, 2020 12:03 pm

know you won't believe....but....the gear we are using is "RIGHT".....for the conditions....This is different from Alpine telemark and that made all the difference...Thanks Frost!!!!! Skinnies can fit into places that a wide ski can't. Double camber makes it easy to change weight easily without totally grinding the bottoms....Running through "WHIPS" for speed control is essential on 2-3 inches of snow with NO base of any kind...In other words all is well and getting better!!!!!! Tomorrow will hit that wet zone at speed and see what happens...I mean will hit it really fast or hopefully it will be frozen...Crashing isn't all that bad of a thing.....long as you don't hit anything.....And this Al.....those skis were really fast....with no base and almost no snow....snicker....sh.. happens...TM



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greatgt
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Re: Sbounds...leathers

Post by greatgt » Thu Dec 31, 2020 9:25 am

In powder the short skis that I have get "locked in" and ride pretty nice...Old style e 109's....at @178 in length....Easy to turn and can take a beating...yesterday on three inches of snow....base is the ground....So have to run the skis pretty flat to turn...Still yesterday was pretty good for the conditions with mny rounded turns had up at Boot's place...Old farm roads with few stones to scrape....Short sweet and a beer from Boots and a friendly welcome from Aspen his wonder dog...TM



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