05 Uphill
Keep’er Steeper Skinning
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, […]
Creek Crossings
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 […]
150lb Crusts & The Alpine Crawl
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 […]
Glue Renew Guru
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 […]
Video – Skin Ripping
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 […]
Skinning Over Timber
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 […]
Favorite Glacier Rope
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 […]
Choosing Climbing Skins
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 […]
Steep Skinning – Mindset
Having the right mindset is almost as important as the right gear and technique when it comes to steep skinning. You have to be into it. I was out touring with a friend from Switzerland in the Wasatch Mountains a few years ago and he refused to follow any of the existing skin tracks, which […]
Steep Skinning – Technique
The technique for steep skinning is just the opposite of skiing, which makes sense as you are going up, not down. One of the harder things to get the hang of is the idea of leaning back, not forward. Because touring bindings have a pivoting toe, it is hard, if not impossible to pressure the tip […]
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