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Highcountry Skating (was: For inspiration: a truevikingbreaks a record)
Andrew,
I'll take a hack at your question. Ken and I have somewhat different, but both very valid, approaches to backcountry skating. As he says, his perspective is from the frequent visitor. Mine is from someone who lives in the Sierra, and thus can to be a bit more "patient" in getting just the right conditions for a backcountry tour on skating gear. And as i alluded to in an earlier post, those conditions can change by the day, so "flexibility" in planning is essential. One reason the corn snow in the Sierra is so good is that you need: 1) A thick snowpack with a higher than average water content 2) Long, Warm days 3) Cold, clear nights Without both of those elements, the corn just doesn't form, and the snow isn't firm enough to skate on. It's pretty simple. One cloudy night and you can forget the corn for the next day. Another reason skating works in the Sierra is that is a very "friendly" mountain range, with steep peaks and all, but lots of gentler terrain in between them. Trying to do this in the Alps, for instance, just wouldn't work because of the type of mountains. (That's why they call it ALPINE skiing). I don't know enough about the terrain and conditions in your area, but unless you have all 3 of those elements, you probably aren't going to get good corn snow for skating on. And like I said earlier, unless it's really steep, metal edges are just overkill. As far as your turning preference question, it's really quite simple. You use what you got. Because of the shortness of the skis we often use, tele turns are a little problematic - Revolutions parallel turn a little better. That doesn't mean I can't crank a series of tele's when the conditions are right. I just find parallel more appropriate. I have friends who are excellent telemark technique skiers who prefer to tele when they descend. It's whatever floats your boat. Hope this helps, Mark (Andrew Bolger) wrote in message ... Thanks for taking the trouble to reply Ken, the Sierras sound a great area but I'm not planning a trip there; if I ever do I'll take your advice and my ski-touring gear. I was more interested in checking out the suitability of this gear/technique combination for British use. My ski-ing is oppurtunistic straight out the front door stuff, Scottish day tours or telemarking on Alpine pistes. I tend to use 3 pin bindings and leather boots but the Scottish ski touring scene seems to be moving inexorably towards heavier kit: plastic boots beefy cable bindings wide skis etc. . So I am always on the look out for ways of lightening up. Short skis, metal edges and skate gear sound like they could be a fun way to tour the plateaux if we ever get that nice hardpack I remember from years ago... As for the telemarking question, I'm not sure if I understand your response. As I'm sure you know telemarking is a bit of a cult, an end in itself, so I wondered if the skate tourers were devotees. cheers andy b |
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Highcountry Skating (was: For inspiration: a truevikingbreaks a record)
Andrew Bolger wrote
Short skis, metal edges and skate gear sound like they could be a fun way to tour the plateaux Sounds like a fun thing to be ready for. I am amazed at how many days of "backcountry" skating I've gotten in New York over the years, in the middle of the winter. The temperatures switch above and below freezing so often during the winter that surface crust is frequent (but often not with enough support for skiing). And it surprises me how effective non-metal-edge skate skis can be for that. Since you're accustomed to using ski lifts, you might want to consider trying out your regular skating skis on some very gentle beginner slopes at a downhill resort in good snow conditions, and find out what's possible on them. Then think about what slopes at your downhill resort correspond to what slopes you might encounter out on the plateau, and how you'd get down them in various snow conditions. A modern high-end skate boot and binding provide a lot of edging leverage -- more than most of the NNN-BC boots that I looked at a few years ago. As for the telemarking question, I'm not sure if I understand your response. Just that I've talked with lots of people contemplating a committing Sierra backcountry traverse, and parallel vs telemark is not a question that's come up before. I would hope people had enough experience to already know that techniques worked best for them in a variety of situations. As I'm sure you know telemarking is a bit of a cult, so I wondered if the skate tourers were devotees. Myself, out in the backcountry I'm a "devotee" of having fun exploring and getting back safe. Over the years I have found myself less than happy with my experiences out in real backcountry snow conditions with telemark "devotees" who needed to prove that they could make their telemark turn work anywhere. Too much time spent at the bottom of the slope looking up and wondering if the flailing telemarkers could get down faster if they just took their skis off and glissaded (or walked down). Seems to me that modern skate bindings are designed to apply turning torques with the heel down. They are not designed to withstand strong torques in the heel-up position. Ken |
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