December 15th and 16th - Tele Skiing (falling!) and more touring
Another weekend of skiing.
On Saturday, I did something rare for me: tele skiing.
Larger and heavier skis, larger and heavier boots, climbing up to a bowl and then skiing down.
A little different from my main passion in winter. I have not been tele-ing in two years. Needless to say, I did more telemark falling than skiing. :)
Still, it had all the ingredients for a great day in the winter backcountry: Great scenery, fresh powder and good company.
The site chosen was Butler Gulch. We almost went to Jones Pass. The fit of CDT nostalgia was almost too much to take. ;)
It was frickin' cold out (12F at 2pm! God knows the windchill!), so a burger and hot drinks at at a small cafe' in nearby Empire was the ticket for the end of the day.
On Sunday I did an introductory ski touring day. There were eight people signed up, but four bailed out for various reasons. Too much holiday cheer maybe? ;)
And due to some mix-ups, the group of four ended up just being myself and my friend Steph!
So, it was a smaller, more intimate trip. Steph is an experienced alpine skier, but not so much free heel skiing. A little bit of a difficult of learning curve to say the least,
but by the end of the day she was really getting the hang of it. Of course, we celebrated the end of the day with a burger and beer. Gotta keep traditions.
The telemark skiing is fun..but my love will always be ski touring. Give me some wax, some skis with light bindings and boots and off I go. Well, that's my excuse for lacking technical grace anyway!
In all seriousness, ski touring is more like hiking to me. A gentle, meditative and elegant activity that seems out of place with the hectic world we all live in. Something also arcane about just gliding along at a steady pace all day, feeling the cold against the face and seeing the mountains at a subtle and quiet pace.
I love it.
All the photos
On Saturday, I did something rare for me: tele skiing.
Larger and heavier skis, larger and heavier boots, climbing up to a bowl and then skiing down.
A little different from my main passion in winter. I have not been tele-ing in two years. Needless to say, I did more telemark falling than skiing. :)
Still, it had all the ingredients for a great day in the winter backcountry: Great scenery, fresh powder and good company.
The site chosen was Butler Gulch. We almost went to Jones Pass. The fit of CDT nostalgia was almost too much to take. ;)
It was frickin' cold out (12F at 2pm! God knows the windchill!), so a burger and hot drinks at at a small cafe' in nearby Empire was the ticket for the end of the day.
On Sunday I did an introductory ski touring day. There were eight people signed up, but four bailed out for various reasons. Too much holiday cheer maybe? ;)
And due to some mix-ups, the group of four ended up just being myself and my friend Steph!
So, it was a smaller, more intimate trip. Steph is an experienced alpine skier, but not so much free heel skiing. A little bit of a difficult of learning curve to say the least,
but by the end of the day she was really getting the hang of it. Of course, we celebrated the end of the day with a burger and beer. Gotta keep traditions.
The telemark skiing is fun..but my love will always be ski touring. Give me some wax, some skis with light bindings and boots and off I go. Well, that's my excuse for lacking technical grace anyway!
In all seriousness, ski touring is more like hiking to me. A gentle, meditative and elegant activity that seems out of place with the hectic world we all live in. Something also arcane about just gliding along at a steady pace all day, feeling the cold against the face and seeing the mountains at a subtle and quiet pace.
I love it.
All the photos
posted by Paul Mags at 2:57 PM
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