Barb

That looks like a spicy hill for skinny skis

I remember how those northeast winters felt.

No inversions. They were pretty common in Boulder but haven’t seen one here yet

Went to Buttermilk yesterday hoping it would be a bit warmer since it’s lower elevation. When I grabbed my skis from the shed they were so cold I could not carry them with bare hands. Been -10 here every morning for about a week. Temps were 12 when I arrived, 16 when I left BRR. Buttermilk was uneventful but quiet. Today was due to be warmer so went to Snowmass. Used the parking lot for the pass I bought for the first time. It is literally right next to the lift! Amazing. It’s the other, quiet side of the mountain. Dumps you off at top of elk camp Gondola. I took the second elk camp chair to the top, never been up there (Snowmass is absolutely huge). Really pretty views. that lift is about 1500’ of vert. Ended up at the bottom of Village express not meaning to, just meandering around. It was a gorgeous bluebird day and 30 degrees when I got back to the car. My plan is to cross country ski somewhere local tomorrow. Deep freeze coming in Sat-Tue. Temps due to be -30 at night, real temp not wind chill temp.

I haven’t skied in tracks in years! It was really fun.

Went to Frisco Nordic center today. Some really nice views there. It’s all wide open. 2 degrees but the sunshine felt nice.

For the toe piece I find if you turn your pole upside down and smash the springs up and down a few times, open and close, it clears the snow

After 3+ days being down with the dreaded stomach flu I finally felt well enough to take my new XC skis for a neighborhood spin today. The neighborhood part of the ski, before I got to the air strip was extremely icy! Temp was about 12 when I left my house. Not being used to these new skis I walked down one of the hills. Have to get used to stopping on these, or at least slowing down. started following these tracks down to the river, but the snow was pretty thin so I turned around.

My bindings work as follows; in tour mode, you hold down the back piece while turning the “tower” part that has the pins. One turn to the right. The pins are now not aligned with back of your boot, so can’t lock in. Brakes also held up by this. Then when transition, turn pins back so you can click in boot. I am sure I am in the minority, but I never feel great going downhill in my touring setup. Touring boots def do not feel as structured, and the pin bindings do not feel as secure. Not as much power transfer from boot movement. I always ski more cautiously and my turns are not as clean. But that is probably just fear on my part. Also, my legs usually feel like spaghetti after a long uphill slog, so that may play a part as well. demo starts about 54 seconds

Mine have brakes. Would assume it’s a weight saving measure

These look good! Very similar to my dynafit radical bindings. No brake on them? Guess you have to be super careful on the transitions that they don’t get away from you.

Yeah, I think I will just get traditional buckle boots when it’s time. I took my son’s snowboard boots to be fixed once years ago and it was not cheap. The guy fixing them told me boa’s were bad and we should get lace up boots instead. I had lace up boots once and could never get them tight enough, so not sure I agree with that for snowboard boots. Thanks for the replies

Glad you were able to ski! It always feels so good getting back to activity after an injury. Are you hot uphilling in a puffy?

What is everyone’s opinion of boa’s in ski boots. When I used to snowboard, all my boots were boa and I liked them a lot. But for ski boots, I don’t know, I am apprehensive. Thanks to tracking my stats here, I realize I am due for some new boots. Will probably wait until the Prez day sales. My current boots, Atomic Hawx, are great for me. They were comfortable right out of the box. I see now that the newer ones all have boa’s in that model. Anyone used them?

Glad you are in the mend @toast21602 I start PT for my arthritic knee Monday 😂. Did some uphill at Buttermilk today and grabbed these on the way home. Love my BC Nordic skis, but they stink on groomed stuff and don’t fit in a track. Gonna play around on these tomorrow hopefully

XCD is both fun and terrifying. I only do little short hills.

Another good morning on skinny skis. Brought my dog this time. 2 out of 4 arm length booties stayed on, not bad.

They will absolutely do this. 😂

The woman that is care taker for our local air strip shut it down to xc skiing last year. Too many tourists I guess. This year as long as you have her verbal permission you can ski it. I finally ran into her and got my OK. Woke up to 3” and socked in skies. Used my fat xc skis and skied from my front door to the air strip. It’s an open straight run for about 3/4 of a mile then it goes into the trees. I went way back in the trees and I know inward on someone’s land but that someone isn’t here full time. Nobody else around, breaking trail. Those skis excel at ungroomed stuff. No hills or anything but fun little jaunt.

winter park gondola had a huge crack yesterday in what looks like a high stress point. Over 100 people had to be evacuated by ropes

There is a lot to dial in. Still figuring out all the features. But so far it has not identified when I am skiing bumps. It always says terrain is groomed. I think it is pretty cool it knows what resort you are skiing and even the individual runs. My friend tried the active coach yesterday but she found it distracting after a while so just took out her ear bud. Seems like a good tool.

My friend from Denver asked if she took a personal day from work, would I meet her at Copper. Took about 2 hours 20 min and as I pulled into the free lot with a line of cars, she was right behind me, good timing! Parking was very full but the runs were not. First run off the American flyer lift and it was in the shade (and a popular lift) and it was all scraped off and icy. Blech. We decided to try and find some better snow. We went on American Eagle lift and the one above that and the snow was so much better. Did mostly all ungroomed runs all morning. Lift lines were about 1-2 minutes and never full chairs. Making snow all over the place for the holiday. Last run we did the bumps were bigger then expected. Her and I both got the CARV gen 2 on their Black Friday sale. I have only used it 2 days but love all the info and stats it provides. 4th ski day wearing my mesh base layer and can confirm its awesomeness for keeping you dry. Would not make a habit out of the long drive to ski, but it was great to not ski alone. No snow in the forecast which is a bummer.

@Johnny Law yeah I think was on either Wineskin or Whispering Jesse. Took one more run off Big Burn and ran through Sneaky’s Glades popped out and finished with the short Jack of Hearts bump run. When I got to the bottom of Big Burn I knew I didn’t have another one left in me as it’s 3200 from top to base. Scooted down to the base, almost ate shit on some out of nowhere rocks. Stopped to compose myself and heard some girls saying “Be careful lots of rocks here” to each other. Overall stellar day.

Real time Snowmass report. It’s sunny and feels warm. After 2-1900’ baby bump runs I came in for a snack. Empty chairs and slopes! paid $9 for chips and a tiny yogurt. 😂. Back out in 5

Been slowly getting back to normal after I got a gel injection in my knee last week. Woke up following morning with my knee looking like the elephant man and had to use a hiking pole to hobble around my house. Didn’t feel quite ready for downhill, so I went to a new to me xc place about 45 min away. It’s free (donation based) and there are marked trails and they do groom it. I brought both my ancient skinny skis and my newer backcountry xc skis. I assumed my old ones could be used with my newer backcountry xc boots but I guess the metal clip is too long. So I used my fatties on the skate ski part of the trails. Also got to test out my new Brynje mesh base layer shirt. It def made a difference, my back was wet, but dried quick and my secondary layer was dry by the time I got home. Anyone try these or similar? Anyway, nice sunny day, temp was 15 with light wind felt good to move the legs