Telemark Talk / Telemark Tips Forum

Most of the way down from a mountain, I often end up on a narrow, twisty summer hiking trail, with snow packed down by various traffic into a trench, or--as it feels to me--a toboggan run. As a poor and timid skier I become terrified by the loss of control, even at low speed and angle. Occasionally I try putting climbing skins on for the descent...but this is a nuisance, and usually I finally do it just before the trail moderates and I would prefer to have better glide. I just purchased some “Skeats”, which are Voile straps with a studded metal bar, sold as an ascent aid, but which I might keep in a pocket for downhill use. They might be easier to deploy than skins, for my downhill purpose...but will surely ruin any hope of pleasant gliding. So the challenge will still be to decide whether and when to bother, just for particularly challenging sections of trail. I think I can at least stick them on without taking skis off, although it might be harder than it looks.

A better solution would be to be a more competent skier. Can anyone tell me the secret technique? I resort to dragging one ski along the side of the trench, shooting off the trail and uphill at switchbacks, grasping desperately at overhanging branches, etc, feeling like a kook. At least please someone tell me I am not alone in this.

If the sides are soft enough sometime you can rub the sides with your skis. Usually I hope there is deep snow on the sides and keep at least one ski in it to control speed. If I couldn't ski it, I would think about taking the skis off and walking.

Hiking trails aren't always the best. When they're steep I avoid them.

You are not alone.
Trees and branches can be our friends.
Falling is ok as long as you dont get hurt.
That is how you learn..
Ideally, skiing is just graceful falling,
Sometimes leaving one ski out of the track helps; hopefully you have sufficient stamina to hop one ski in-out as needed.
Stop often.
Catch your breath.
Then enjoy the downhill challenge for the next run.
Connecting turns in those conditions is a dream; not reality.

The toboggan run sounds familiar! Old snow, refrozen uneven, beaten down, snowshoe tracks…..
On XC skis most people I see take skis off. I got pretty hurt once trying to XC ski it anyway. On plastic tele boots and wider S Bounds it’s cake. I’d say. Your Garmont Excursions and SB112 should do it!

Depending on on the steepness of the trail and how hard packed it is… When I’m on my Europa 99’s, I’ll either try to ski on the uphill side of the trench or just squat down, put my :poles under my arms, hands out front, use my arms to hold my knees together…. And pretend I’m going down the Matterhorn chute at Disneyland. And if I’m going to crash, make sure it’s uphill!

OP, do you mean something like this?
https://telemarktalk.com/viewtopic.php? ... =20#p55837
https://telemarktalk.com/viewtopic.php? ... =20#p55838

TallGrass wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 22, 2023 12:37 am

OP, do you mean something like this?
https://telemarktalk.com/viewtopic.php? ... =20#p55837
https://telemarktalk.com/viewtopic.php? ... =20#p55838

Those trails seem pretty skiable compared to what I'm thinking about. I'm thinking of deeper snow with a deep trench packed down by walkers or snowshoers and a lot of brush on the sides.
I guess a lot has to do with the particular trail and your skill level.

How long is it? Last week my wife and I came upon a situation like this. It was really steep. I skied off trail, zig zagging back and forth through the trees, and fell three times. It was maybe a couple hundred yards long so my wife took her skis off and walked (the track was very firm). She beat me down and didn’t fall once.

But if we’re taking a long section of trail, walking would suck. Those kleats look interesting. We occasionally use skins to limit speed on sketchy downhills.

Yes! Krummholz' picture captures the situation perfectly. My ski-brain started whirring instantly when I saw that: Don't want to take off skis and walk there, because that snow looks soft enough to post-hole in (and the commenters on the Facebook Backcountry Ski group would HATE that!); the short-term prospect looks pretty good, if I pick up enough speed I could hop out of the trench and make a turn on that open snow; but further ahead it looks like maybe a choke point, just where there is a little drop, possibly followed by a sharp turn that I can't see? This is where I start getting anxious. But that scene looks pretty nice, and I wish I were there, wherever it is. Not sure I'm so keen on the Tall Grass approach of skiing it in the dark...

I have found that slightly shorter skis have made me feel a little better, on narrow trails.

And speaking of Skeats, I also have the thought that when the point comes that I take off skis and walk, on a really hard, icy track, that I might even try strapping the Skeats onto my boots. I'm too lazy to carry crampons, when I don't expect to need them.

The trail in krummolz picture looks very skiable. Check your speed right from the start.