BACKCOUNTRY SKIING

BACK COUNTRY SKIING

The weather has been such the last few days that Connie and I have been in the house more than out.  So it was clean a few storage closets out!!  Yikes – what a job, but every once in a while, you got to do it.  I can’t believe how much “stuff” Connie and I have accumulated over the years.  But I think we all do.  Anyway, in the process of going through our stored rubber maids trying to cut down on the number of them, I came across our old climbing skins for backcountry skiing from back in the day (70’s and 80’s).  We would put them on our wood skis and climb up hills usually around Portage or Hatcher Pass in Alaska.  After spending a good portion of the day climbing and exploring we would ski down to the parking area.  I always said it was 3hours going up and 30 minutes coming down.  I don’t think those are the exact times, but you get the idea.  I am getting back into backcountry skiing this year and was just trimming up the new skins that are being used nowadays.  What a difference.  Back then we used old WWII type Army surplus ones.  They strapped on with cotton straps and were always loosening up.  They did have a synthetic type of hair like the new ones that is pointed towards the tail of the ski, but the new ones have a sticky surface that you just stick on the bottoms of your skis.  There is a loop in the front and a clip in the back to keep them on.  Easy on – easy off with no frozen straps!  Quite a change. 

And the size of the skis is also quite different.  The old woodies are 61mm at the widest and my new ones are 86mm at the narrowest and 136mm at the widest.  Today, all the alpine type skis are wider, some being called “fat boys”.  But they are really good in the powder.  Ross commented the other day when I was showing him my new ones that they looked wide enough to water-ski with.  All of the gear is different.  The old bear trap kind with the cable hooking around the back of your hiking boots has been replaced with a very high tech binding that you can use as both a “free heel” type and the regular downhill with the heel locked down.  The boot you use with the new binding is the same boot you use with regular downhill bindings.  I am going to really like the idea of being able to lock down your heel and come down the hill as I am most used to.  My telemark turns with the free heel type binding left a lot of room for improvement.  I sure did a lot of face plants and never really mastered it.  But now I don’t have to. 

We are patiently awaiting more snow in the mountains.  There is some, but not enough for me at least.  Below are some pictures of the old and new type backcountry skis and a few of the deer that have shown back up in our yard after hunting season.  As always you can click on the picture to enlarge.

 

This gives you an idea of the size difference of the skis.  Skins are laying on the backs of each one.

The old Army surplus skins on the bottom - new ones on top.

The bindings.

 

 

 Deer in the yard.  Nothing is better than flowers even if they are dead and frozen.