Objective / Subjective Danger in Tree Skiing

And what about those pine cones of the 100 foot trees....



_ Some do get quite big 30-40 cm. I think they only fall in
the summer though. I've never seen them on top of the snow.



I don't care what season they fall, they look like they would hurt. ;^)

--Chris

We get pine cones on the snow in New England, but they aren't big enough or
hard enough to hurt. In fact, you can pretty much ski or ride over them
without any consequence as well.

Tommy T.
bbense+rec.skiing.backcountry.Feb.06.04@telemark. slac.stanford.edu wrote
in message ...
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In article , Chris Webster
wrote:

_ There's another objective danger in the trees that I have only
seen in the Sierra. Falling snow clumps. The snow can be so heavy
and wet that it accumalates into large 20-30 lb lumps high in the
trees. On warm windy days following a storm these lumps fall out
en mass. 30 lbs from 60 feet can ruin your day.


And what about those pine cones of the 100 foot trees....


_ Some do get quite big 30-40 cm. I think they only fall in
the summer though. I've never seen them on top of the snow.

_ I remember the first time I saw those lumps. It was a warm
windy day and I was on a relatively flat spot. I saw all these
lumps around me that were "obviously" sun balls, but I couldn't
figure out where they had rolled down from. It wasn't until one
dropped about 20 feet behind me that I finally looked up. Oh.....

_ Booker C. Bense


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"Chris Webster" wrote in message
...


And what about those pine cones of the 100 foot trees....



_ Some do get quite big 30-40 cm. I think they only fall in
the summer though. I've never seen them on top of the snow.



I don't care what season they fall, they look like they would hurt. ;^)

Sugar Pine (the King of Pines) cones are the longest known pine cones. They
would hurt if a green one beaned you.

Gray Pines (Digger for the more vulgar) are truly fearsome and could result
in significant injury if one nailed you.

But for the Heft Award you have to look to the Coulter Pine, also in
California. (I believe Cal has more native pine species than any other
state, by far). These things are armoured and weigh in at 10 to 15 pounds.
If one hit you square from 100 feet it just might send you through the glass
darkly.

But Grays and Coulters don't grow in the snow, so I'm rambling I guess.

Cheers
DMT