Whether you like it or not, skis count as a piece of luggage when flying, so I always try to maximize my ski bags utility by both stuffing it full of 49.995 pounds worth of gear, and also using my gear to pad my skis. Continue reading ‘Ski Bag Packing’
Monthly Archive for October, 2009
I’m slowly assembling my Antarctica kit and pulled out my favorite glacier rope tonight. The sad thing is, I don’t even know the brand, but it doesn’t really matter – what is important is my fast and easy, do-it-yourself modification. Starting with a 60m dry 9.1mm’ish rope, find the center, apply a sharp blade to it, and turn it into two ropes. (That is, two 30m ropes, not two 60m 4.5mm ropes.)
There are a ton of advantages to having two similar/identical 30m ropes for glacier travel, but the main thing is flexibility. You can travel with four people on a 30m, or break into two groups of two each with their own 30, or clip two ends to the middle person and go three or five on a 60, or leave one section in camp if you don’t think you’ll need it, or coil one 30m section up and bury it in a pack if you are traveling tight and fast… and many other options. You can also do the same length rappel with as you would anyway (30m) by tying the two sections together. The one big disadvantage is that you lose the ability to lead 60m pitches with gear placements (the knot won’t pass through biners), but that usually isn’t a big concern with ski mountaineering. One the positive side, since 9.1’s are a bit sketchy for taking big whippers on (at least mine is), you can double up on the ropes and still lead 30m pitches. Continue reading ‘Favorite Glacier Rope’
I made it back from a quick trip to Alaska where, once again, I had a great time. I love that state. Thanks to Joe Stock and all of the Friends of the Chugach National Forest Avalanche Information Center, the slideshow on skiing the AK Family was a success and raised a sizeable whack of cash for the avalanche center. Many people take their local avalanche centers for granted, but having worked at one for a season, their very existence is always tenuous. If they do too good a job and nobody gets hurt, they are one of the first to get chopped for state funding, so they often have to rely on outside funding (such as Friends groups), to supplement their annual expenses. Nobody is getting rich off of avalanche forecasting and it is a labor of love for almost everyone involved in it.
If you live in Alaska, I will be up there today giving a slideshow at the Beartooth Theater Pub on skiing Denali, Mt. Hunter and Sultana. Please stop by and say “hi” if you can make it! Continue reading ‘Alaska Family Slideshow in Anchorage Tonight (Thursday)’
Much to the dismay of my partners, I am a minimalist when it comes to the amount of gear I bring for performing a crevasse rescue. I bring a snow pickett for an anchor, waist and foot prussick loops, a 20′ cordelette, about six Oz carabiners, a screwgate locking carabiner and 2-3 full-length Dynex runners. It may be less than ideal, but I hate having a ton of extraneous clanking gear clipped to my harness, plus, the best way to avoid taking a screamer crevasse fall is to make sure your rope is taut in the first place. Continue reading ‘New Addition to Glacier Kit’
There are many variations on the skin theme available nowadays – nylon, mohair, mixed, hybrids, domestic, European, tip catchers, tail rippers, no tails and everything in between. I’m partial and opinionated about what I like for the Wasatch, but am the first to admit that the best skin for the job is probably whatever the locals use in a given area. First off, the locals are bound to know their snowpack and what skins work best on it, and secondly, their skin tracks are going to reflect that. When Europeans bring narrow mohair skins to the Wasatch with no tip or tail loop, they inevitably get frustrated with the steep skin tracks and then the cold, dry air causes their glue to fail and their skins fall off. Conversely, bringing a pair of burly nylon skins to Europe would be like walking around with sandpaper on your skis as the snow pack and skin track favor the gliding properties of mohair. Continue reading ‘Choosing Climbing Skins’
I know – I’ve been a slack-tart on updating StraightChuter.com and apologize profusely. We had family in town last week, plus I’ve been working on a cool little website addition that has to remain top secret until our Antarctica trip.
But, on to more important items. Taking a cue from the ISSW, the Friends of the Utah Avalanche Forecast Center have put together the Utah Snow and Avalanche Workshop (USAW) which will take place on Saturday, November 7th from 1:00 to 4:30pm at The Depot in Salt Lake City. The idea with the USAW is to present a condensed cross-section of professional avalanche presentations, and this premier event should be off the charts. Among the highlights are Larry Dunn from the National Weather Service (and an avid BC skier) talking about the new Snow Web Pages for the upcoming year, Bruce Tremper presenting a case study on the 2008/09 Little Water avalanche incident and Ian McCammon talking about critical slope angles. As an event capper, there is an afternoon social at the Blue Goose Bar at the Depot sponsored by High Angle Construction. Continue reading ‘Utah Snow and Avalanche Workshop’
When I was into Alpine Racing, one sign of how serious you were about the sport was if you went to the trouble and expense of getting custom made orthopedic footbeds. The idea was that you wanted your foot perfectly supported, but more importantly, totally flat so you weren’t inadvertently riding an edge. We were all convinced that our feet were freaks of nature, but I’ve come to realize that I have pretty normal feet and that everyone thinks his/her feet are weird. Continue reading ‘Insoles’
Another favorite image from my two day scanathon, which is now thankfully complete. From where I now sit I will scan no more forever. Continue reading ‘Thunder Skin’
The Future of Ski Areas
I attended a lunchtime presentation in Park City yesterday as the keynote speech by Michael Berry was “The Future of Skiing” and it promised to answer the question about why skiing growth was flat and what was going to happen when the Baby Boomers exited. I was eagerly awaiting the magic words “Resort skiing has become moronically expensive and we need to reduce ticket prices by at least 60%…” but they never came. Instead, it was almost the opposite, and at one point a speaker even stated that one of her organization’s goals was to “increase the daily spend” of people who come skiing in Utah. Sigh. But, it was still interesting.
Annual skier days in the US have been around 57 million for the last 5-10 years, with about a 1% growth. Of this, there are about 9.5 million “active” skiers in the US who make up the majority of the visits. Eighty-five-percent of the people who try skiing for the first time never return and fear is one of the biggest obstacles to getting people to try it. Getting beginners hooked is tough, and in that regard, shaped skis were a boom to the industry as they made learning easier. Three-percent of America skis, and Albany, NY has the highest percentage of skiers in the US (not sure how that was measured).
Skiing and ski areas are considered “multi-generational gathering areas” for families, and when it comes to making vacation plans, Moms wear the pants, or Bogners in this case. The “magic line in the sand” for skiing families is an annual household income of $75,000 or more. Below that (or if the weather sucks), people won’t go.
I’ve been out of the resort loop for a while, so whenever I do go, I’m blown away by the prices. For $100ish per person, per day, it better be damn good, but apparently people don’t seem to care. As far as this goes, Michael admonished the ski industry to “… not retreat from the quality experience. If people are use to sleeping on 400 thread count sheets, you can’t go back to muslin.” Much of the emphasis on keeping existing skiers skiing is aimed at increasing the quality of the experience, which basically means adding value, whether you want it or not.
One of the more interesting points, at least for me, was a comparison of early skiers who were considered “elite athletes” because they had to master floppy boots, stiff skis and dicey bindings. Through steady improvements in grooming and gear, the athletic bar has been lowered, while the financial bar has been correspondingly raised, which makes today’s skiers elite earners. Sure, there will always be dirtbag skiers, but it is less the norm nowadays.
Hmmmm. There you have it.
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