Archive for the '05 Uphill' Category

Working the Skin Pocket

Published on May 16, 2012 in 05 Uphill. 3 Comments Tags: .

In XC/Nordic skiing, the term “wax pocket” denotes a certain zone on the ski where applying wax is going to give you the optimal blend of both grip and glide. A similar concept applies to climbing skins, although the “skin pocket” is fixed as you can’t adjust it fore/aft each day like you can by varying your waxing pattern. The sweet spot on a skin pocket will vary according to how steep you are climbing and what kind of binding you are using. The free-pivoting toe on most AT gear and some tele bindings means that it is almost impossible to pressure the front of your skin when touring, which in turn means most of your grip is going to come from your toe-pieces back.

As your climbing angle increases, the skin pocket becomes narrower and moves farther aft. This is not the end of the world, but it means that you have to be very aware of pushing through your heels on steeper climbs, which can seem unnatural at first.

One of the most common skinning mistakes it to bend at the waist. This has the unintended consequence of shifting your weight forward of the pivoting toe-piece, which makes it almost impossible to apply pressure to the skin pocket. To properly pressure the skin pocket on steeper climbs, keep an upright posture and press through the heels as much as possible.


Bending at the waist = blowing chunks.

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Launch Pads

Published on February 10, 2012 in 05 Uphill. 2 Comments

Ripping skins at the top of a climb is ideally done on a summit or flatish ridge, but it doesn’t always work out that way.  There are a lot of times where I end up stopping on a steep slope next to a cliff or in the middle of a steep pitch to change over from skins to booting or ‘poons, and in those cases, I like to dig what I call a “launch pad.”   In order of importance, launch pads serve three purposes:

  1. Provide a flat, secure spot to sort gear
  2. Dig a quick half-assed snow pit
  3. Stay warm Continue reading ‘Launch Pads’

Keep’er Steeper Skinning

Published on December 3, 2010 in 05 Uphill. 14 Comments Tags: .

The other day I was out skiing with a woman I didn’t know very well and she mentioned something about “macho assholes who set steep skin tracks.”   Good thing it wasn’t a first date as she was most likely talking about me.  I love steep skin tracks in the same way that I love steep, run-out friction climbing.  It’s a fun physical and mental challenge that gets easier the more you do it and at some point it just becomes normal. Continue reading ‘Keep’er Steeper Skinning’

Creek Crossings

Published on February 16, 2010 in 05 Uphill. 21 Comments

I first got into crossing streams with my skis on by accident when I was trying to cross over a slender snowbridge which collapsed and dumped me in the stream.  I was mainly worried about scrapping up my bases and edges, but on the other-hand, my feet stayed dry and it was fairly secure, so now I do it intentionally.  The rocks tend to have some river slime on them, so they are pretty easy on your edges and bases, especially if you just step and don’t slide on them. Continue reading ‘Creek Crossings’

150lb Crusts & The Alpine Crawl

Published on February 11, 2010 in 05 Uphill. 12 Comments Tags: .

One of the more frustrating booting scenarios is when you encounter crusts which are almost supportable… but not quite.  Since I weigh in at about 165lbs with all of my ski gear, I think refer to these crusts by the amount of weight they will support. One-hundred and fifty pound crust is my nemesis as it is just enough to allow me to commit to a step and push up on it before it collapses and I sink in to my groin.  Hateful.  I’ve been out on many occasions where I’ve been able to boot up something, but my heavier partners are wallowing in misery behind me as they punch through every step.  This is usually only funny when it is happening to someone else.

The cure for crust is the Alpine Crawl, which is preformed just like you might imagine, by crawling up a slope on your hands and knees.  There is some booting involved, but the idea is to spread your weight out over your hands and shins so you get a little bit of extra flotation.

You can motor right along with an Alpine Crawl, but it gets tiring.  Fortunately, that perfectly awful zone never seems to last too long – it either tightens up and become supportable 200lb crust, or softens up to the point where it might be easier to switch back to skins. In the meantime, get on your knees and crawl. Continue reading ’150lb Crusts & The Alpine Crawl’

Glue Renew Guru

Published on January 27, 2010 in 05 Uphill and Gear Reviews. 22 Comments Tags: .

I love the idea of regluing skins, not just because it is all eco earth friendly and vegan approved, but because a pair of moderately worn nylon skins have such a nice feel to them – they glide, climb and fold-up like butter.  With this in mind, I stripped the old glue off of a pair of skins last year and carefully documented my first outing with Black Diamond Glue Renew strips in eager anticipation of a KILLER BLOG POSTING.  Yeah, well, it turned out like crap as I have the patience of a two year old and once again forgot to read the instructions until after I finished the job. Continue reading ‘Glue Renew Guru’

Video – Skin Ripping

Published on January 14, 2010 in 05 Uphill. 6 Comments

A little video we shot this morning while waiting (and waiting…) for it to finally snow in the Wasatch. This technique is a slo-mo variation on a racing strip and it takes about one and a half minutes. Out of habit, I like to strip my skins right when I get to the top of a climb just so that I’m all ready to go. After that, I can, and usually do, dink around for a while, but first things first.

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Skinning Over Timber

Published on December 31, 2009 in 05 Uphill. 11 Comments Tags: .

I tend to do a lot of skinning over timber.  Why, I’m not sure as it is not really that much fun, but I suppose it is better than traversing way around a fallen tree, then backtracking.  Timber skinning is especially common early in the season or when it is a low snow year, such as we have now (sniff…). Continue reading ‘Skinning Over Timber’

Favorite Glacier Rope

Published on October 28, 2009 in 05 Uphill. 8 Comments Tags: .

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’

Choosing Climbing Skins

Published on October 20, 2009 in 05 Uphill. 16 Comments Tags: .

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’