What ski would you use?

[MikeK]

You know Woods had a fun little game going with the Tour de Gaspisie thread that got me thinking. How 'bout we throw up some stuff we ski and decide what ski you would use?

I have a couple in mind, a couple trails I want to ski that well in the range of XCd but have some maybe challenging or long hills.

First up:



I've hiked, biked and skied this many times except I've never skied the stick of lollipop, only around the lake. The lollipop part adds in a relatively steep, 150' climb and descent. It's been a while but I think it's pretty narrow and taking to trees could be rough as there's often a lot of big erratics in this area. The lake portion loop is easy up and down, rolling terrain, double wide track in most places.

Next:



This, I can tell you, you ain't going to make it the route they show. The last 1/4 mile gets wicked steep and cliffy. The backside of the mountain however (north and north-east), is a much nicer grade and the forest is mostly open hardwoods. There's a route up that way as well. Up and back that way is probably about 6 miles round trip. I'd be going to ski this now if I had a recent recollection of that ridge. I can't recall it's a hogsback or if it's fairly graded.


And one more:



This one isn't outlined but the start is in Thendara and up Moose River Mountain. You can continue on past the mountain to Middle Branch or Big Otter Lake. Both are quite far and I think round trip to Big Otter and back is around 20 miles. The track is mostly an old truck trail (single lane jeep road), somewhat graded. The part up to the peak of Moose River Mtn is a single track or open hardwoods.

[Cannatonic]

is this multiple choice - what are your options? Can you just point 'em down the hills or do you need to make turns?

the biggest question for me would be, is the track packed out or not? If you're the breaking trail you'd have to go with something wider.

[MikeK]

Well you can choose whatever you have in your quiver.

I'll say for Bub and Sis, you can shoot 'em down any hill except the first and last one which is tight and steep.

For Black Bear Mtn, there's probably a way you could shoot 'em down, but why?

For Moose River Mtn, there's no need to make turns, unless it was really hard packed and fast.

Generally... consider you pulled up in your car and had all your skis... your chances of it being tracked at all are about 50/50 and 50/50 the whole thing will be. Most likely Moose River Mtn won't be tracked past the summit and Black Bear most likely not tracked at all. The loop around Moss lake is almost always tracked - it's an easy xc ski.

I'm with you, I generally choose my skis based on the snow pack, but given these terrains you might go in one direction or the other.

FWIW I am positive all this has been skied with everything dating back to long-ass woodies.

[Woodserson]

FWIW I am positive all this has been skied with everything dating back to long-ass woodies.

Haha! There's my answer for all of them! I kid. This is a good exercise. I'll post more on a bigger screen.

[MikeK]

Men (and women) were manlier in those days. None of this wussy sidecut, short lengths and metal edges.

[Cannatonic]

speaking of wood skis…saw this interesting story in the paper recently -


http://www.newburyportnews.com/opinion/ ... 9b4d4.html

Column: From Locke's Hill to Mount Cranmore: skiing in the 1940s

>>It wasn’t until I returned from WWII that I tried skiing. I went into the army and navy surplus store in Boston to purchase a pair of skis and ski poles, which were typically used by paratroopers. I could buy them fairly reasonable there. A clerk showed me how to measure them by standing next to one holding it upright so your palm went over the top of the ski. I found out much later that I should have bought something shorter.

[Woodserson]

For Nordic skis.... That's exactly how I would size them, plus/minus 5cm depending on abilities and where one would use them...

As far as Mike's trips are concerned, after looking at the elevation I think I WOULD be on my 99s or Madshus woodies. The descents are not much, the steep sections are short. I'd be wasting lots of energy on my shorter SBounds on the significantly longer flats. Then, I would grab a sapling and ride the "witch's broom" back down the hill. Of course, maybe after seeing these places in person, maybe I'd change my mind (black bear man.), but the others I would certainly keep the long and straights.

[MikeK]

Having skied some of this, I'd do the same, depending on the snow. E89s or my Eons/S78s/USGI.

The Bub and Sis descent I think I'd go for my Eon/S78s. The trips around the lake has a lot of up and down, so you don't need a ton of glide. It doesn't show up on the topo map so much, but it undulates a lot. The locals rate Bub and SIs trail as Expert and Moss Lake as Novice.

Moose River Mountain is brutal. You want max glide for that. There a couple short downhills but not very steep. It's wide and graded as it was an old rd. To do the whole trip you need to conserve energy. I did part of it last year with the S 98s. The only reason I did was I was breaking trail through relatively stiff, deep snow the whole way. I didn't go much more than 5-6 miles RT though. Going was too slow. This is definitely one where I want E89s and dense snow or a broken track. Likely it won't be broke all the way though, so a bit wider ski might be a safer bet if you want to do the whole 20 miles. This trail is rated Novice-Intermediate.

For Black Bear, I'd definitely use my S 98s. It's a look for turns kind of ski. Lots of open hardwoods along the way. You don't even need to go to the summit, poking off the main trail there are 100' glades everywhere. Once I get boots on the ground intel for the backside I'd have some better info for skiing to the summit. Despite the moderate grades it might still be cliffy, erratic or just too rough for skiing. A lot of mountains in this area are really jagged and cliffy near their summits. This trail is rated Expert.

[MikeK]

Here's another one.



I've not skied it yet, but I still know what I'd use.

[Woodserson]

SBounds 98. Never heard of this one, intrigued. Thanks for the tip.