Pictures, pictures and pictures!

[jyw5]

it was really strange. moving slowly in the downhill direction, there were moments when I thought I had stopped but was still moving, and turning up the fall line instead of down. a couple of times I had to firmly stop and look at a tree to verify up/down and that I was stopped. I totally understand now why pilots of small planes crash .

legendary Alaska bush pilot Don Sheldon would throw stuff out the window like orange peels, cracker boxes, etc. onto the snow to get a sense of his altitude as the altimeter isnt useful when flying over high mtns and snowy passes

in this photo we used our bags to make a runway as the light was flat on the glacier and our pilot barely made it through a weather window to get us out. (hard to make out the 4 black dots lined up horizontally behind my friends)

[Musk Ox]

it was really strange. moving slowly in the downhill direction, there were moments when I thought I had stopped but was still moving, and turning up the fall line instead of down. a couple of times I had to firmly stop and look at a tree to verify up/down and that I was stopped. I totally understand now why pilots of small planes crash .

I sort of love this! The feeling of moving in a really weird, isolated, bubble of gravity/ space. It's so strange. Am I going too fast? Too slow? Really only fun on a very wide, open, low angle descent with no cliffs nearby, I imagine.

[TallGrass]

it was really strange. moving slowly in the downhill direction, there were moments when I thought I had stopped but was still moving, and turning up the fall line instead of down. a couple of times I had to firmly stop and look at a tree to verify up/down and that I was stopped. I totally understand now why pilots of small planes crash .

I've had similar on the road at night in Nevada where it felt I was on a slight downhill grade but was going uphill, or vice versa. The way I checked was by pulling in the clutch and I slowly coasted to a stop then started rolling backwards. Sometimes you need a improvised gauge like blowing bubbles (underwater to know which way is up), dangling something on a string ala a plumb line, or dropping plucked grass blades or dirt/snow.

[Stephen]

@TallGrass, what is this thing you call “Clutch?”
I can’t find one on my car.
Do I need to buy a car with an 8 track tape player to have this thing called “Clutch?”

[bauerb]

so some of went out today and skied as fast as possible up/down mountains. some people opted for gear that is really no more than glorified Nordic gear, and others, quite a few really, were on Tele gear...and I don't mean home-brewed franken-tele, I'm talking 4 buckle TXP and TXcomps...on skis at least 106 underfoot. I opted for not-tele. the 17yo kid on the USST who won today basically floated up the mountain. incredible.

[TallGrass]

@TallGrass, what is this thing you call “Clutch?” I can’t find one on my car. Do I need to buy a car

That's because it's a motorcycle, hence "pulling" versus a car where it is "pushing".

Try finding a motorcycle (not a scooter) without one.

[Rodbelan]

@TallGrass, what is this thing you call “Clutch?”
Do I need to buy a car with an 8 track tape player to have this thing called “Clutch?”

Nope... just an old beta player and a Starsky and Clutch tape...

[Spiny Norman]

Carb cleaner.

[randoskier]

Some days lift-served skiing is OK. The missus having a few turns.

[randoskier]

it was really strange. moving slowly in the downhill direction, there were moments when I thought I had stopped but was still moving, and turning up the fall line instead of down. a couple of times I had to firmly stop and look at a tree to verify up/down and that I was stopped. I totally understand now why pilots of small planes crash .

I sort of love this! The feeling of moving in a really weird, isolated, bubble of gravity/ space. It's so strange. Am I going too fast? Too slow? Really only fun on a very wide, open, low angle descent with no cliffs nearby, I imagine.

I am the opposite, I hate it! I was skiing at Cervinia which is the Italian versant of the Matterhorn (not the best view!) and the white out began. Remembering the early days of French ski lessons in my youth (bend zee kneeze bend zee kneeze) I went into a crouch to absorb any bumps I might encounter, I thought I was skiing about 30 mph. It cleared for a moment and I realized I was not moving..at all!

There was a large wind that came across Europe in the early 2000s, it was a narrow wind and highly focused- it came off the Atlantic and I think it terminated in the Czech Republic or someplace, but it cut a narrow swath about 1km wide and leveled almost every single tree in that path, it took years to clean up what they could of these fallen trees. The wife and I were skiing at Chamonix (Savoyardes pronounce the X) when it came. We were on the chairlift, it started swinging like crazy. Got off at the top and the attendant said- ski down everything is shut, the storm is huge. The wind was so strong you did not need to turn, you could put your skis in the fall line and point em straight down, you still went slow, when it shifted direction slightly it knocked you over. Visibility was mostly piss poor. It took forever to get down, side stepped or slipped the hard spots, it was pretty harrowing. The same type of narrow wind event came in October 2018, came through Austria and Italy, and headed east- still cleaning up here. I was supposed to ski that weekend at Stubai but they saw that one coming and shut the lift system for two days.

The worst white-out wind event I was ever skiing in was in the Narvik mountains, right above the Tysfjord, lasted three days. The worst wind I was ever in on foot was on the Strandir Coast of Iceland two summers ago.