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Skier's
Webcams Please help support our efforts with this website,
shop the links below: More backcountry skiing shopping links to help us with this blog and website |
Lou Dawson's Backcountry Skiing Weblog
October 22 - 2005
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Interior of The Gear Exchange, Glenwood Springs, Colorado. Click
image to enlarge. |
So, how is our $1,000 backcountry skier doing with their budget? First, let's add a pair of AT boots from Sierra Trading Post. Then we'll scrawl out a quick budget sheet:
| Skins, Ascension, Sierra Trading Post (see below) | $ 87.25 |
| Bindings, Diamir, Ebay | $195.00 |
| Skis, friend's attic or remount your own | $000.00 |
| Beacon, Pieps 457, web forum sales | $165.00 |
| Avy Shovel, Sierra Trading Post (see below) | $ 59.95 |
| Boots, Sierra Trading Post (use link above) | $309.95 |
Total to date |
$817.15 |
October 20 - 2005
Colorado Snow, and Budget Backcountry Skiing
This is EXCITING! After one huge October dump, Colorado's western slope is getting hammered again. This happening when we usually have weeks of dry Indian Summer weather. As well as providing some of the earliest powder skiing on record, what's incredible about these two storms is they've created a tight base of somewhat dense snow that may prevent the formation of Colorado's usual avalanche causing TG layer. If so, and if we have an average winter from now on, look for Colorado to provide some of the biggest lines ever! A while ago I blogged the non PC idea that if global warming is happening, it could actually make it snow more because warmer air tends to produce more precip. Writing anything positive about climate change could get me exiled, but I can't help being an optimist when it comes to snow for backcountry skiing!
Budget action
Okay, you $1,000 backcountry skiers out there, can we stay on-budget
and add an avalanche beacon to our booty pile? Fancy digital beacons
such as the Barryvox (my
favorite) will eat your budget faster than your cat eats tuna. But
there is an alternative. Older analog beacons such as the Peips 457
are still a totally functional choice if you're planning on
moderate levels of slide risk while backcountry skiing, and they're
available new and used for reasonable prices. Best place to start
shopping is Ebay. Just search for the term "avalanche beacon." Our
family used the Pieps 457 for quite a few years and we're happy with
it, so that's the budget alternative I'd recommend. If you go this
route do two things: Learn how to do an analog beacon search (kind
of fun and really not that tough), and test your send/receive range
with all your companion's beacons.
In other shopping action today: Skis? Simple. Stay under budget by getting a pair of used boards at a swap, or from your friend's attic ski stash (they'll never miss 'em). Look for skis at least about 70mm under the foot, fairly short, and with a smooth limber flex. My favorite budget backcountry ski is the venerable K2 Four. Thousands of these planks are still in rental fleets and thrift shops over the world. Play it right and you can probably find a pair for free. Don't worry about a few sets of binding holes -- the things are so strong you could use them for leaf springs on a 4x4.
Lastly, more about budget bindings. You can usually find AT bindings on Ebay this time of year. Avoid all the older Silvrettas (model 404 or lower) and leave those for antique collectors or climbers that need bindings for welted mountaineering boots. Nearly any Fritschi Diamir is viable, but avoid the original model Titanal in favor of the Titanal 2 or 3. Avoid Dynafit bindings if you're on a tight budget, as they limit your boot choices.
October 19 - 2005
The $1,000 Backcountry Skier
Could you switch from being a resort skier to being a backcountry skier for $1,000.00? It's possible. Some of the companies that help support this website have excellent deals on things like climbing skins and backcountry bindings. I'll blog a few items below. If you need something and buy it by clicking the links we include here, you help support our work here at WildSnow.com, thanks in advance!
Need climbing skins? Sierra Trading Post has a bunch, check these out:
Ascension 110mm Climbing Skins
Okay, what else does our $1,000 backcountry skier need? Ah, an avalanche shovel. Here you go, the price is right::
Komperdell Avalanche Shovel
Stay tuned, we'll finish our budget shopping over the next few days.
October 18 - 2005
Naxo NX21 Goes Under the Modder's Knife
Binding mods rule! Yeah, the Naxo NX21 is solid, but anything can be improved. Check out this guy's tweak. Clever use of simple plumbers tape as shim material.
October 17 - 2005
Backcountry Skiing Rating System
The D System proposed by Andrew McLean and I has been flogged for months now. As a result it received numerous changes based on feedback from a wide variety of sources. Thanks everyone!
Andrew and I still like the D System and feel it gets past problems that other ski rating systems have, but whether it catches on or not is of course unknown. We gave it our best shot.
The biggest gripe people seem to have about the D System is that it doesn't have categories. That's by design. As a sport progresses any system with categories based on difficulty would end up with routes shifting from one category to another -- unless the categories really mean nothing, in which case it's just a linear scale like the D System. (Categories could be based on slope angle, but doing so makes the system effectively unworkable as a pure linear rating of difficulty, since some routes are harder even though their angle is not as steep.)
Another gripe I've heard more than once is that the D System has too many divisions. Baloney. Just look at the D System page rating examples and you'll see that routes are easily spread over the span of ratings. The whole idea of the D System is to rate routes on a divided linear scale, with enough divisions to easily express which routes are harder or easier. More, the idea is to prevent lumping a bunch of obviously different routes in the same rating, which is what happens if you don't have enough divisions.
And the final gripe is that the Toponeige system already exists in Europe, and using the D System would get in the way of standardizing ski ratings around the world. All I can say to that is if we're going to pick a standardized system, it should be better than Topneige. It should be more cross-language friendly, not attempt to define categories, and be logical and linear so routes will NEVER have to be re-rated as the sport progresses. In my opinion the D System provides all this. More, is standardizing ratings all that important? It never happened with rock and climbers seem to do fine. We'll see what happens with skiers.
October 16 - 2005
Backcountry Skiing News - Sunday Variety Pack
Races: It's official, "24 Hours of Sunlight" is going to happen! On February 10, 2006, skiing endurance racers from around the world will gather at Sunlight Ski Resort in Colorado to see how many vertical feet a human being can ski under their own power in 24 hours. I've been asked to help MC the race, and I'd like to participate in the rec team category as well (perhaps with a couple of families or something). But mainly I want to be there to see how many vertical feet Greg Hill can do in a day, without having to break trail. Also, there are some mighty uphillers in this area, many of whom are Olympic caliber athletes who've figured out how to do this stuff on nordic race gear. One wonders if the course at Ski Sunlight will have gnarly enough downhills to require real backcountry ski gear, or if it'll favor racers who go nordic.
I'm disappointed that the Sunlight
race is scheduled such that a sanctioned randonnee race is being held
the next day (Feb 11) in Crested
Butte.
I'd imagine any racers who are going for points in the rando race series
will have a difficult time skiing for 24 hours straight at Sunlight,
then getting over to Crested Butte a few hours later and going in a
randonnee race, but these folks are tough so who knows... Perhaps Greg
Hill would relish skiing for 24 hours straight, then jumping in car
for 4 hours of sleep while driving to CB, then competing in a rando
race.
press
release Sunlight
race website randonnee
race website
Department of televangelism: When you get a chance check out the new Fall 2005 print issue of Ski Press USA. Study it hard. In 65 pages you'll see plenty of backcountry, a few snowboards, one breast, and NO telemark turns whatsoever! What gives? I mean, are not tele turns a regular, if not iconic image in nearly any ski magazine these days? It seemed weird to see not one lifted heel. Or set me straight, is this normal, and I've just been reading Couloir and Backcountry too much?
Crash survival: And speaking of televangelists, telemark author and Garmont gear guru Paul Parker was recently injured in a bicycle accident. Paul is a good friend who I admire greatly -- the Dawson family wishes him a speedy recovery so he can get out there and out-ski me again with free heels. (It sounds like he's on the mend.)
Ski Hall of Fame: It still feels weird to write about this. I mean, I've had to spend my life as a self-employed shamless self-promoter, but when this kind of thing happens it's more of a humbling experience than anything else. Who better knows their faults and shortcomings then yourself? Thus, when you do get props like this it becomes a dance of the "why me?" feelings and the "hey that's cool, thanks, I'm honored" point of view. If anything, it sure makes me think deep and take stock of my life.
The induction gala is this coming Saturday -- I even went out and bought a new dress jacket! For my family it's turning into somewhat of a reunion for the siblings on my side of the marriage. I'm the oldest of four brothers. C. (the second in line) and I did a huge amount of backcountry skiing and climbing in the 1970s, and I've spent many days skiing with my other two bros as well, T and T. It'll be cool to see them all, and swap a few lies about the old days around Aspen.
Here is one story for you: As many blog readers know, I'm not a big fan of closed roads. Well, back in the early 1970s (well past statute of limitations, so I can tell the tale), the Independence Pass road out of Aspen was NOT gated during shoulder seasons. They quite plowing eventually when the winter dumps came, but all fall and early winter you could drive up there and rock climb, ski, or whatever.
Then, one dreadful day around 1972 we drove the Indy road to go climbing and a huge steel gate had been locked across our path to paradise. Stunned, we drove back home and ranted, whined and cussed, but didn't know what we could really do to get our access back.
A few days later, one of my siblings (we shall use no names) went back up there to see if by chance the gate was a temporary thing. Alas not. But, near the gate was a pleasantly large Caterpillar bulldozer. With the keys in it. And the rest is family legend. For a few years after that the road remained ungated year around. As as I drove through the former closure I'd see the mangled gate lying in the weeds, a smile would split my face, and I'd be glad that D-9 was aimed in the right direction because not one of us ever knew how to really drive a bulldozer!
October 15 - 2005
Colorado Friends Hut Founder Jim Gebhart -- Goodbye
Yesterday was a sad occasion -- I drove over to Crested Butte, Colorado to attend the funeral of Jim Gebhart, who died of a heart attack this past Saturday, Oct. 8.
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| The late Jim Gebhart at a Friends Hut work session in 1985. |
Jim was longtime local who moved to CB in the early 1970s, and led an exuberant lifestyle that included business success, a beautiful wife and daughter, and numerous outdoor pursuits. He backcountry skied, white water rafted, hiked, biked, and just about everything else the mountain lifestyle had to offer.
But beyond recreation, Jim was a giving man who was instrumental in the founding and building of the Friends Hut. When I say instrumental, I mean INSTRUMENTAL. Jim's business and negotiation skills helped move the hut from concept to Forest Service special use permit; his familiarity with alpine construction helped immensely with hut design and construction; his ability to work hard physically was key to everything from log walls to the legendary outhouse. Yet most of all, I believe Jim brought to the Friends Hut a spirit of cooperation, joy, laughter and optimism.
My best memories of Jim are his smile and happy voice when he'd arrive up at the hut for a work session. Now he's gone, but he's still a mentor. When I'm down, I just picture Jim's happy face in my mind, and a smile breaks out.
Condolences to Jim's wife and daughter during this difficult time. Indeed, as was said at the funeral, their time with Jim was an awesome gift. What a man! high-rez printing version of Gebhart photo Kaddish
October 14 - 2005
Rock Climbing, Snow Sliding and Yes, Webcams
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| This is what Montezuma Basin was like after Colorado's recent dumps. Nice one Ted! |
Ah, Colorado! While folks were backcountry skiing (see photo to right), we headed down to Rifle, Colorado yesterday for rock climbing with a crew that included old friends friends Molly and Larry Bruce. Some of you climbers out there might remember your climbing history and know that Molly did the first all woman ascent of El Capitan, along with Barb Eastman in 1977. Molly is still climbing, and doing it well, leading 5.10 after more than 30 years on the rock! Larry was a very active climber in the 70s and 80s, known to many Boulder and Aspen, Colorado climbers as a friendly and skilled alpinist who traveled widely (or wildly). He's still on the rock as well. My theory: rock climbing keeps you healthy.
Most excellent events of the day were when two of our younger contingent did their first lead climbs, congratulations Jake and Louie -- thanks goes to Hayden Kennedy for the inspiration.
Department of Webcamitation: Thanks all who fired us the backcountry skiing webcam suggestions. I added a number of them to the webcam list in the menu to right.
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| Bonus shot from Ted -- his quad on Montezuma road, Colorado. He got this quad last year for ski access. I've always thought a quad would be useful for Colorado ski mountaineers -- perhaps even more useful than a snowmobile. The trend toward keeping roads gated during shoulder seasons drives us to such means. For example, the Independence Pass road out of Aspen is gated early in the fall and stays gated during the best of the spring ski season. Certain individuals, including hunting outfitters, somehow obtain permission to unlock the gate and drive the road, but the rest of us are ignored. ATVs are allowed on the closed Independence Pass road (at least 'till someone decides they need to be "regulated." Motors are sometimes the solution when we're shut out of our own land by the whims of government 'crats. |
October 13 - 2005
Backcountry Skiing Mountain Cams
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| Lou on Longs Peak north face, 1990, after three failed attempts due to poor snow cover that could have easily been evaluated with a web cam. (This ended up being the third ski descent of the peak and face. John Harlin did the first, Howie and Mike Fitz and Bob Pfeiffer did the second.) |
Mountain cams have eased backcountry skiing angst by providing real-time remote observation of conditions. For nostalgia reasons my favorite is the Longs Peak cam in Colorado, but Mount Shasta runs a close second. Back when I was trying to ski Longs Peak for my ski-the-teeners project, it was nearly impossible to get a good read on conditions up there. Sure, I could call someone and get them to look at the mountain with binoculars, but that was inconvenient at best, and usually the observer didn't know exactly what to look for. Last winter several groups made brilliant descents of Longs, both thanks to good timing supported by the Longs web cam.
Check out our list of webcams for backcountry skiers -- cams that show a specific backcountry mountain, or at least show conditions on a ski mountain or in a town near backcountry terrain. The list is in the menu bar to your right. Please contact me with suggestions.
Previous backcountry skiing blog weblog (movies, homebrew goo)
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. |
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