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September 27 -- 2005
Retracting Dynafit Brakes With Ski On Foot

We're in an ongoing research and mod project for Dynafit Comfort ski brake retraction. I was a bit quick on the trigger in the last post, saying our "ejector" mod somehow worked with Dynafit Comfort brakes. Actually, what's going on here at the WildSnow Modshop is by doing a series of small modifications and technique tweaks, we've figured out how to get the brakes retracting more easily when changing from downhill mode to tour, without taking skis off. At this point it's a bit disappointing, however, as even with our tweaks it still takes quite a bit of force to get the brakes to retract by rotating the heel unit.

Below are the developments so far, a list of ways to make the Dynafit Comfort Binding brakes retract more easily, no matter how you change modes. Some of these tweaks might help with Dynafit TLT brakes as well, but we're experimenting with the Comfort model at this point.

1. Remove one of the springs from the brake mechanism, so it takes less force to retract. Downside is the brake doesn't punch into the snow as strongly when deployed after a release, but it'll still stop your ski.
2. Clearance the front BOTTOM edge of the plastic pad under the boot heel, so it hits slightly later during retraction.
3. Lubricate the circular shaped steel plate that the binding rotates over when it retracts the brake. Do this daily.
4. Most important: Stand on the ski in such a way as to force the brake to partially retract. This is easy on harder snow such as dense corn, more difficult in powder (you may need to shove a ski tail under the brake prongs for them to rest on).
5. Learn how much force the retraction should take, practice at home. Don't exceed this force in the field or you'll break something.

As for our "ejector" mod detailed in the post below, it allows the brake to fully deploy when you change from downhill to tour mode, thus the brake must retract as you rotate the heel unit to your selected tour position. Thus, the primary advantage of other methods of changing Dynafit bindings from downhill to tour without exiting the ski may be that such methods start rotating the heel unit while the brake is still retracted under the boot. Thus, perhaps the "ejector" is best used on rigs without brakes. Research is ongoing.

Department of Naxo Backcountry Skiing Bindings
Someone emailed me asking where the info is about the Naxo torque plate mod. I added the link to the Naxo index, just click "Naxo" in the vertical menu bar on the left side of this page. As with all other mods detailed here, use at your own risk.

September 27 -- 2005
Dynafit Mod -- Easy Switch Between Tour and Alpine Mode

This modification adds a small device to a Dynafit backcountry skiing binding for easy switching between tour and downhill mode without taking your skis off. Unlike other methods of switching, it requires no contortion or gymnastics, and won't break the red post off the binding. We're in the process of figuring out how well it works with ski brakes installed, will report back on that soon.

click images to enlarge

This trick little mod is made with a 1 1/4 inch paint scraper blade, a chunk of angle iron, a small section of steel tube, and a length of 5/8 inch aluminum plywood trim "C" channel. I got the idea from Brian Litz, who told me over the phone he'd seen a guy who'd made something that you "push down with a ski pole to change modes with a Dynafit." It wasn't tough to figure out what such a thing would be. A bit of trial an error, and here it is (this is an experimental version -- we'll build a cleaner one with nicer finish when we have time, as it works quite well). Check out the video (Windows media, broadband). I riveted all the essential parts together, and welded the small chunk of tube used for the "pole tip socket (see video)." When we refine the design we'll post a how-to, but I thought this would be a fun pre-season idea release for all you Dynafit fans out there.

September 26 -- 2005
Autumn Weddings and Turns All Year DONE

Spent a beautiful day yesterday up in the Castle Creek Valley near Aspen. The fall foliage colors might have been at their peak -- combined with bluebird sky it was so stunning we had to pull over on the side of the road a few times to take it all in.

My old ski buddy from Aspen, Bob Perlmutter, was getting married to Sue Shufro, with festivities up at the Pine Creek Cookhouse at the end of the valley. It was a beautiful and touching wedding, with a backdrop of golden aspen trees and looming peaks, incredible!

But hey, what's a day up Castle Creek without some skiing? We needed our September turns for TAY (turns all year), so we brought our Jeep upvalley and 4-wheeled to Montezuma Basin near Castle Peak. The skiing was incredible -- as Louie said, "like frozen ocean during a hurricane" Nonetheless, it was better than August because the surface had a nice coating frozen corn that kept us off all the summer rocks and dirt. DONE! 12 months in a row of skiing every month, (a few more months and we'll have skied every month of 2005, that's not our main goal, but will be cool as well).

September 24 -- 2005
Blogging Software, and, THE Femfactor in Avalanche Safety

We've decided to probably use WordPress for this blog, we'll see how easy it is to use as a homepage that integrates with the huge amount of existing content already on Wildsnow.com. I might make the switch next week, we'll see.

Femfactor
Last page of the most recent issue of Couloir Magazine proves through statistics that if you backcountry ski with women in your group, you're more likely to get killed in an avalanche (if you're a man). I guess it's the ultimate result of the testosterone factor -- men get around women and they tend to get stupid, or something like that. As presented in the article the idea of a "femfactor" in avalanche safety makes sense, and leads to some interesting conclusions.

Since men are the predominant participants in backcountry skiing, and the vast majority of ski groups are all male, one wonders what will happen to avalanche safety numbers as more and more women participate. In other words, say 10% of the groups going out these days are mixed gender, and over the next several years that grows to 80% -- does that mean the number of avalanche deaths will increase 70% ? Or will men learn to mellow out when babes are nearby?

Perhaps retailers should start selling avalanche beacons bundled with a bottle of estrogen pills, then us X chromosome challenged humans could pop a few tabs before that mixed gender trip, for an extra margin of safety.

If you're married, just wait till your wife reads the Couloir article (she does read it cover to cover, yes?). Soon you'll be hearing a rattling sound coming from the kitchen while you're getting ready for a backcountry ski trip, and your sweetie saying, "did you take your estrogen pills yet, honey? I'm heading out with you today and I don't want the femfactor getting you hurt..."

The next thing you know Clyde Soles will be reviewing estrogen pills for Gear Trends Magazine, and we'll be testing different flavors at the Outdoor Retailer trade show. And I can already see the mega-thread title at Telemarktips.com: "Got longer avy probe, need estro now?"

September 23 -- 2005
Blogging Backcountry Skiing, Movabletype?

Well, that was a waste of time... The new server is working well and really is fully featured. Bluehost.com. appears to be a good company. Got started on an install of Movabletype blogging software, turns out it needs some stuff this fully featured server still doesn't have, and is also built for the Firefox browser, even though most readers of this blog are using Internet Explorer according to my stats. Ah yes, software, always such fun fun fun!

I actually like doing this blog with basic HTML as you're looking at now. It's super search engine friendly, easy to backup and archive, and easy to customize for look and feel. Blogging with basic HTML lacks some important (and not so important) blog features however, so I will be changing. Thus, back to the software search. Gotta get this done before the backcountry skiing season goes into full throttle!

So, if anyone out there has an opinion, here are the blogs that I can autoinstall on Bluehost for Wildsnow.com:

• b2evolution
• Nucleus
• pMachine Free
• WordPress

I'm inclined to go with WordPress, but will research the others before pulling the trigger (ah, reminds me of elk hunting). Please Email me if you have any opinions about any of these options.

September 22 -- 2005
New Server for Backcountry Skiing Weblog

Well, it looks like our new server is working. Got quite a bit more bandwidth and possibly more uptime. Let me know if it's working or not, seem faster or slower than the old one?

Been having some mighty wet weather here in central Colorado, though not much high snow yet. Portent of things to come? Another epic winter? RE global warming, I hear a lot of negativity about it, and such is probably all reasonable concern, but let's face the fact that in many alpine regions slightly warmer winter weather can produce more snow. Perhaps that's what's going on here? We'll see. Every cloud has a silver (err white) lining.

Next project for this website, perhaps MT Blogger?

September 21 -- 2005
Server Change and Wind Rivers

Well, if you can see this blog entry we're coming from our new servers at Bluehost.com. Our former server was reliable, but didn't allow the bandwidth we needed. Also, we're changing over to "real" blogging software (probably Movabletype) and figured we'd better make our server switch before installing any new stuff, since servers come in different flavors.

Fishing Lonesome Lake under Pingora, click to enlarge.

I can't stop thinking about hanging out in the alpine of the Wind Rivers, hikin', fishin' and just plain diggin' the unique environment of those mountains. One of the highlights of our trip this past August was heading down Texas Pass to Cirque of the Towers, where I'd spent some days climbing while working for NOLS back in the 1970s. It was a nostalgia trip beyond radical -- actually gave me an adrenaline rush. To relax, I whipped out my fishing gear and pulled a few nice sized trout from Lonesome Lake, with the beautiful rock of Pingora soaring above like a silent eruption from deep earth. It was simply breathtaking to be fishing Lonesome 30 years after I'd been there as a young man, just beginning what turned out to be a long and exciting life as an alpinist. And to be there with my son now. They say life is the great adventure. Amen to that!

Later that day, around the campfire, I told Louie an amusing story about the time I was taking the first NOLS instructor certification course (1969?). Paul Petzoldt and some of his instructors had us meet them at Lonesome Lake, where we were supposed to grab some unsuspecting students from a NOLS course there and take them 5th class climbing. I headed straight for Pingora, of course, and lead up a crack system just to the right of the black streaks you can see in the photo. The climbing was fun, Goldline rope, mountain boots and all, but I'd forgotten a couple of minor details. One, don't guide 5 grades harder than your client can climb, two, if you traverse while guiding such a route, put in tons of protection to keep your client from taking a pendulum fall. Yep, he fell and took a big ripper pendulum, banged his head pretty bad, and I had to lower him off for a couple of pitches, mountain rescue style. So much for my first day ever of guiding! (It went much better for the next 30 years).

September 20 -- 2005
Server Change for Wildsnow.com

We're changing our web server, so if anything goes wacky you know why. If you see this, you're looking at wildsnow.com on our new server. The plan is to have much greater bandwidth, so we can blog a few video clips and lots more photos.

September 19 -- 2005
Backcountry Skiing Prep Issues -- Homebrew Gu?

It's not exactly backcountry ski season yet up here in the northern hemi, but it is certainly backcountry skiing "prep" season. Most of our junkshow is in good shape, but we've got skin issues -- and not the kind that a trip to the dermatologist takes care of. Namely, just about all our climbing skins got dropped in the dirt last spring during our epic corn season. I'm looking at the best options for re-gluing, stay tuned.

Another concern is the amount of money we spend on athletic gels. They work, but can you face spending about 2 bucks on a tiny little packet of food the size of your thumb? I mean, as gasoline prices go through the roof, do we have to pay through the nose for body fuel as well? How much extra coin do you really have? This guy makes his own, and that sounds like a good idea. Google it and you'll find all sorts of ideas -- I guess we're not the only ones getting tired of expensive fuel.

Department of Motorheadism: You might notice our Jeep has new tube fenders front and rear. Details here.

September 18 -- 2005
Driving School?

Had to take the boy to his driving school appointment yesterday, in Grand Junction, Colorado. Didn't make it to Moab, got distracted by 21 Road.

Dream on kids -- here is the reality.

After Louie's driving school session we ended up wheeling 21 Road, an excellent trail near Grand Junction that takes a boulder filled creek bed up into a backcountry area that's incredibly beautiful. The trail has some tough obstacles that require quite a bit of thought and care if you don't have a monster rig you can "point and shoot." We got wedged in one spot and had to winch out. Managed to clean some other tough lines though. Good stuff.

Carnage can make me smile -- at least when it only costs a can of spray paint or a roll of tape to fix!

September 16 -- 2005
Every Marriage Should Have... a Trailer?

We love trips to Moab for mountain biking and Jeeping, but we're getting tired of flat towing Rumble Bee. 20th Wedding Anniversary comes up, so we buy each other a trip to Mexico? Nope, we buy a trailer to tow our Jeep around so we can have FUN. Spent every evening this week configuring the thing. Had to reduce weight to the max so it would be safe to tow with our Tacoma. Final tweak today was rigging cool tie-downs that hold the Jeep to the trailer. Off to Moab in the morning, will report from there, or Monday when back in the office.

The RIG poised in the direction of Moab, 4 hours away. Click to enlarge. What's this have to do with backcountry skiing? Simple, it's all about the adventure.

September 15 -- 2005
Just in Time for Backcountry Skiing -- Couloir Forums Back Up

In case you are wondering... it looks like the Couloir forums are back up, see http://www.couloirmag.com for the alternative forum (grin), or use the link in my main menu to left.

September 14 -- 2005
Rednecking in Rifle

Rifle, Colorado is in the midst of an energy boom (natural gas), so it's a fun place to visit and see all the big service trucks running around, along with the general upbeat attitude. More, it's interesting to note where our home heating comes from. Was down in Rifle today at CODE 4x4 getting a tranny service for the Tacoma TAV, and getting a "certified" weld on our new 14 foot PJ car hauler trailer.

We purchased the trailer a few days ago, for hauling Rumble Bee to Moab for backcountry adventure, and transporting sundry items such as topsoil and perhaps a few snowmobiles or quads if the opportunity comes. The custom hitch on our Tacoma is built as high as possible so it doesn't drag offroad, making it tough to hitch a standard trailer. All the ball mounts I could find with enough drop were too weak, so we had to raise the hitch on the trailer 2 inches by grinding the hitch welds off, installing 2x2 square tubing as a spacer, then re-welding the hitch. I was able to do most of the work in about 3 hours at my home shop, including enough welding to get the rig safely down to Rifle for the beef welds to make it safe.

Had a nice adrenaline rush today when the trailer breakaway wiring shorted out and caught fire. The factory PJ wiring was routed through a tiny hole in the frame with no chafe protection, and as it turned out, no fuse. It got cut on the edge of the hole while I was unhitching at CODE, and the next thing I knew the full amperage of the emergency breakaway battery was trying to melt all the wiring. Smoke was pouring off everything, and heck, I was a bad redneck and didn't even have my multi tool on my belt to cut the wires before the battery exploded, so I'm shouting to Chris "I NEED A KNIFE -- ANYTHING TO CUT THESE BLANKTY BLANK WIRES!" So he hands me his Spyderco (unlike my yuppie self, Chris ALWAYS has a pocket knife), and I cut the wire just in time to prevent the battery from blowing up. Several wires are somewhat fried, however, so we'll see what PJ will do on warranty. Blessing was that the regular trailer brake system still worked after this adventure -- it's only the breakaway part we'll be needing to renew. Yes, adventure is where you find it!

Code 4x4 service manager Brian operating their primo transmisson flushing maching. No muss no fuss, everything is contained for recycling. We installed an aftermarket transmission temperature gauge while we were at it, since we're using the Tacoma for towing at the upper limit of its rated capacity. Photo note: I used the Canon Rebel for this shot, on the setting that mixes flash with ambient light, at 800 ISO. It did an excellent job (Photoshopping this image only took a couple of minutes, mainly sizing it and sharpening), but the flash was not powerful enough to balance the background sunlight. Too bad Kennedy wasn't around, as I'm sure he could have done a much better job.

Previous backcountry skiing blog weblog (photo tips, Michael Kennedy)

Welcome to Louis (Lou) Dawson's backcountry skiing information and opinion website. Lou's passion for the past 35 years has been alpinism and back country skiing -- and all manner of outdoor recreation. He has authored numerous books and articles about backcountry skiing and snowboarding, and is well known as the first person to ski down all 54 of Colorado's 14,000-foot peaks, otherwise known as the famous Fourteeners! Books and free back country information here, as well as tons of Randonnee rando telemark backcountry skiing info.

All material on this website is copyrighted. Permission is required for reproduction, electronic or otherwise. That includes publication and display on other websites by whatever means. For more about this, PLEASE SEE OUR COPYRIGHT INFORMATION. Backcountry skiing is a dangerous sport. You may be killed or severely injured if you choose to do all forms of randonnée and randonnée skiing. The information on this website is intended only as general information for a variety of aspects of backcountry skiing and outdoor recreation. While the authors and editors of the information on this website make every effort to present useful information, due to human error the information contained within this website may be inaccurate, false, or out-of-date. By using the information provided on this website, you agree to absolve the owners of WildSnow.com of any liability for injuries or losses incured while using such information.

Always go backcountry skiing with a partner, and learn about avalanche safety before you ski outside of ski and snowboard resorts. The best season for this sport is late winter and spring, when the snowpack compacts and avalanche danger is more predictable. The Colorado wilderness backcountry skiing season reaches its prime in May and June. Maritime snow such as that of the Pacific Northwest may be less avalanche prone than continental snow of that such as Colorado and Wyoming. The California Sierra also provides a relatively reliable snowpack for backcountry skiing, snowboarders, snowmobilers, telemarkers and the like. Backcountry skiing is a wonderful sport, but it can transition in moments from wonder to tragedy. You agree to use any of this website's information, maps, photos, or binding mounting instuctions or templatates at your own risk, and waive Wildsnow.com its owners and contributors of any liability for use of said items.

Keywords: Ski Information, Info, Outdoors, Wilderness Skiing, Randonnée and randonnée, Ski Mountaineering, also Ski Alpinismo and Backcountry Skiing.