Cheese & Rice it’s cold up here! We need to get going. Taking a waypoint with your GPS, you notice that it is 2:00pm and decide to follow the sun as it sets to hopefully gain a little warmth. The descent is moderate and along the way you notice a few climbing wands, which gives you hope that at least your body may be found by future climbers if you freeze to death.
Completing the descent (wheesh!), you reach a broad valley and set your 14m NASA Wing kite in a stiff breeze. The wind is to your back and blowing from the North/NW as you catch a downwind ride across the open terrain. Traveling at 20 miles per hour, you go for about six-and-a-half hours, skirting mountain ranges on your right.
As you near a small sub-range, you hit rock-hard blue ice, patch out and take a five-star digger. Visions of football teams, Jefferson, Hamilton, Paine and lethal missiles dance like snowflakes through your rattled cranium as you stare at the nearby hills. Recouping, you check your GPS and see that you have come 134 miles since leaving the summit. Pondering your location, you notice what appears to be a tent city with some oil drums and Weather Haven shelters. Figuring it is either haunted or a mirage, you blink your frozen eyes and continue on.
Six to nine miles later, you stop for a rest near what appears to be a random prong of snow. Downing the kite and taking off your pack and skis, you feel the call of nature and walk a discrete distance to lighten your load.
The snow surface is flat and smooth as far as you can see, but as you drop your drawers, you suddenly punch through the surface and fall ten feet! Much to your amazement, the landing is cushioned. Shock, relief and dismay are suddenly all forgotten as your eyes adjust to the dim light, and then glancing to your right you see an apparition offering you… a BRAND NEW PAIR OF BLACK DIAMOND BOOTS!
Oh. My. Heck. :) The places you’ll go and the things you’ll ski with theses puppies boggles the mind!
With technical exactitude, within one meter, where are you?
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Entry Format:
Continent – (your answer)
Zone/Region – (your answer)
Mountain Range – (your answer)
Specific Peak – (your answer)
Specific Location – (your answer)
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A versatile tele boot ideal for inbounds ripping and backcountry touring, the Black Diamond Men’s Push Telemark Boot blends commanding power and silky smooth flex. Black Diamond made the shell with a MidStiff bellow so it has a 110 flex rating, which is ideal for advanced freeheelers who want a lightweight, backcountry-capable boot with the power to drive big skis. This boot’s thermoformable liner features Black Diamond’s exclusive Boa closure system, providing the snug fit of lace-up liners without the added bulk. The Push’s adjustable forward lean covers eight degrees in three setting and the mechanically integrated ski/walk mode and mid-height cuff ensure excellent uphill efficiency. Outside Magazine liked this boot so much it slapped on the Best of Backcountry award and said “the best off the shelf fit and feel of any boot liner out there.”
Bottom Line: Float like a butterfy, sting like a bee.
