First turns



Wow splitboarding . what a difference. E and I (my snowshoeing partner the last 2 seasons) finally bought splitboards this winter and we tried them out this weekend. Gone are the clumsy snowshoes and the 30+ pound pack on the back that used to carry the snowboard. Skinning refers to the "snake skins" that are placed underfoot; these are long thin strips that have a heavy-duty adhesive on one side, and a velvety surface on the other. The velvety surface is actually composed of thousands of bristles that are bent in one direction, so that there is minimal friction as the ski slides forward, but tons of friction as the ski tries to move backwards. Surprisingly, these snake skins allow for some pretty steep climbing.

Unfortunately, the snow pack was not as deep as we hoped, so now powdershots to report, but we skinned uphill for a hour and a half at Alta ski resort, then came back down a groomer. as one person said, "never had so much fun on a green groomer!"

there's an active storm system here currently, its dropped a foot or more of high density snow. we have a week of clear weather coming up, so i'm hoping to get out soon.

this is from snowbirds new snow cam . kind of cool.

Posted: Tue - November 14, 2006 at 09:03 AM          

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