epoch and annum speed

[Raventele]

It's not just the micro aspect..You find yourself in some steep shit-snow area only to discover at the bottom of the run that you buckles literally popped off! And you thought you just sucked!

[tnevins530]

Is the Svartisen sold in the US? I see it listed for euros not dollars. It looks like a sweet boot.

The bcx seems easily obtained and priced decent also.

[MikeK]

It is, but it's hard to get. Contact Telemarkdown (telemarkdown@hotmail.com). Erik Fey has the leathers. I contacted him about one for my wife and he said they didn't have it in stock (a EU 39). They might have some large sizes. I was able to have in my possession a 44 and a 43 (kept the 43).

BCX is the next best bet I think. If I couldn't get the Crispi I was going to get a BCX6.

[tnevins530]

Thanks Mike.
I see you are in upstate NY. Are the trails out by Mt. Marcy as good as the sound online? Avalanche pass looks cool. It would be a three hour ride for me. Think its worth it?

[MikeK]

Depends on what you are after. Avalanche pass is cool. It gets a lot of traffic. Pretty much anywhere in the High Peaks WIlderness is going to be beat down. It's a really pretty tour i.e. you are surrounded by 4k footers, slides, cliffs most of the way. I've yet to get up to that neck of the woods this year but I always monitor conditions here:

http://www.jackrabbittrail.org/conditions

I regularly drive anywhere between 3 and 5 hours to ski the Adirondacks. I think it's worth it.

You could probably ski 95% of the Adirondack tours with your Voss skis. Avalanche pass or Marcy is where you might find a couple spots to appreciate your Annums. I'm pretty sure most use skins on the upper parts of Marcy. I've never skied Marcy so I can't give you much detail except to pass on what I've read. The Mountaineer in Keene Valley would be a good place to get some info on that kind of tour. It kind of bridges the XC and AT/tele range in that it's an expert XC tour and relatively mild AT/tele ski.

As far as the Adirondacks in general, it really becomes a matter of how you want to ski the hilly sections, and if the trail is broken out or not whether you might want something fatter underfoot and stiffer in the boot. Avalanche pass will almost always be broken out. Some of the more remote tours may not. Some of the hills you may be able to make some turns on if you like, or just bomb 'em if you don't. There are mountains that are climbable and skiable, well I'm sure almost all of them would be if you took the right route, but some trails could be quite formidable.

The Adirondacks are huge, and there is a ton of state land. Start on the trails and look for places to bushwhack in the future. The possibilities are endless.

[tnevins530]

I like that jackrabbit trail website. They seem do a good job listing the conditions. I'm definitely going to check out some of the ADK trails later this winter. I'm closer to the Catskills and I have a couple good spots locally. This will keep me occupied for a while

I am drawn to the Adirondacks for some reason, must be those yellow and brown street signs.

[MikeK]

I tell you what I've been going to the Adirondacks since before I could walk, and when I got old enough to drive and make my own decisions I'd always veer north past Syracuse. I've actually never been to the Catskills.

I actually once had a notion I was going to try going to the Catskills and I noticed one thing. Lack of water. There are almost no lakes there. Some of the bigger water in the ADKs is flooded reservoir, but beyond that there are literally millions of ponds and smaller lakes. May not seem like much but it definitely adds to the landscape (and I'm a paddler in the summer). The rocks are different in the Adirondacks. The trees smell different. The soil is different. It's quite literally very discernible when you are there. It's very much unlike the rest of NY that I've been to. And yes the signs are all brown and yellow (it's supposed to have less of a visual impact on the scenery).

Plus they also tend to get more snow and hold the snow longer. The western parts get the goods from the lake, the eastern parts from the Nor'easters.

In 34 years I've never been tempted to head south. There must be a good reason

[tnevins530]

Haha, the Adirondacks have a certain amount of nostalgia for me as well. I spent a lot of time up north as kid.

[MikeK]

I have an extra trail book if you are interested. I might be convinced to part with it for less:

http://www.telemarktalk.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=429

It'll definitely give you something to work with. If I ever ski half of whats in this book I'd be doing pretty good.

[Johnny]

Oh yeah, I've been wanting to ask you about that book... Is it good? Does it covers the whole Daks?

What's your best price?