Dynafit Salewa Crew Visits Independence Pass

Post by WildSnow.com blogger Lou Dawson | June 25, 2008      

Tim Kelley of Salewa/Dynafit North America called the other day, asking about doing a company trip for some backcountry skiing on Independence Pass here in Colorado. I told him turns could be had up there, though you need to take care and find the smoother areas without too much sun cupping. I met up with their crew yesterday and we had a blast. Two laps, nice alpine hiking to connect some excellent turns, picnic, great weather. Summer skiing at its best.

Tim on our second lap. We climbed north of the Pass, up Blarney Peak. Skied the standard couloir off backside of Blarney, climbed back to Blarney summit, then raked a nice corn pitch back down to our trucks at the Pass summit. We stated at the late hour of 7:00 AM. Such a civilized departure is pleasant, but means if any noonish mountain weather is developing you don’t have as much a time window as those days with an earlier attack. But the snowpack is now what I’d call “summer snow,” meaning most is fairly dense and doesn’t soften quickly after the nightly chill. Thus, you’ve got to start later or the frozen suncups will hurt you like a ride on a bucking bull. Interesting how each season has different logistics — you ARE ready for bull riding, are you not?.

Gaining vertical meant both hiking and snow climbing. Check out those green boots — you could spot this crew a mile away!

Chris tests Dynafit sole rubber. That’s Snowmass Mountain on center horizon, Maroon Bells to left.

Summit. Dynafit North America, Blarney Peak expedition 2008, sponsored by — Dynafit!

Dropping into Blarney north couloir. Funny thing about this time of year is you don’t know if you’ll hit an ice patch or perfect corn, so it’s good to take it easy when you could slide into the rocks below your line. Sarah did a good job, with a cautious entrance followed by confident turns to the bottom.

Ryan gets some too. The snow was beautifully smooth in here, with some rough spots at the bottom but nothing too unpleasant.

Our route. For our second lap we hiked on skins and dirt up to the north, crested the pass south of Blue Peak, then walked the ridge back to Blarney summit. Quite aesthetic as you’re above timberline the whole time, enjoying crisp alpine air and views of Colorado’s highest peaks.

Chris on our second descent of the day. Corn snow was creamy by now. I’d told these guys about the burgers and grill back at the truck. After that they seemed to ski faster. Sarah had a close encounter with a snowbridge over a creek, but even that didn’t stop our inevitable finish at the parking lot.

For trailhead victuals Tim broke out appenzeller cheese, designer bread, and sliced up a tomato. He had a few chocolate bars too, but I had to one-up him by producing a Tobler magnum. Cutting board had to be a demo boot box, but of course! (After all, this is not France, and it’s our own portable gasthaus.)

With the grill smoking and everyone munching on treats from our cache, life was good. Even the weather held, though the usual pile of storm clouds was building an attack from the west, as they tend to do when you’re at 12,000 feet on the Continental Divide.

Today’s crew in total, Tim to left, then Chris, yours truly at center, Sarah and Ryan. Why am I always the guy in the red jacket? Good day. Oh, one other thing, I tried to dish up some insider tidbits about new gear from Dynafit, but the guys were as tight lipped as a CIA security “consultant” getting interviewed by a Moveon.org blogger. All I got was some mumbling about “look for gear that’s light but still big for the North American market.” I think that probably means the high DIN Dynafit binding and some other stuff, but we’ll see. Perhaps I can pry some beta out of them for a summer teaser. Meanwhile, I’d better go wax my skis so they’re ready for the next day of endless winter 07/08.

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Comments

  Your Comments

• Miro: I am talking proper climbing crampons Louis, with wired toe. I have bad exp...
• Kristian: Snow crampons typically have relatively short spikes. These are highly spe...
• See: I wonder if the crampons cause wear or other damage to the tech sockets tha...
• Louis Dawson III: I talked about this a bit in my original review. I still have normal crampo...
• Miro: It is nonsense. Crampons must be at least 10-pick. Otherwise they might cau...
• Louis Dawson: Peter It'd be awesome to take it down to visit you guys in California! I be...
• Louis Dawson III: I haven't weighed it yet, I'll try to do that soon and update the post. It ...
• Paul: Very cool. have you weighed it yet? And are you planning on a water tank a...
• RDE: Hi Louie I was one of those who voiced reservations about the rigidity of ...
• Lisa Dawson: Peter, the camper can only go where there is snow....
• Peter Spieler: Tow that thing out here to Santa Barbara. I would like a closer look. You...
• Louis Dawson III: The XPS foam works better than other foams (including the polyisocyanurate ...
• Lisa Dawson: I had the privilege of sleeping in the Tiny Camper when we skied Mt. St. He...
• XXX_er: Other Aaron I was doing this Phantom instal at this shop myself and it didn...
• billy: Looks like the acorn didn't fall far from the tree....
• Kevin: I was recently wondering how this project was progressing. Very nice, and t...
• afox: Looks awesome! Is that heater vented? If so you can run it while sleepin...
• bill: Great project and write up. I was wondering why you did not use polyisocya...
• Other Aaron: XXX_er Are you sure your tech wasn't just doing lines of your bases? ;P ...
• XXX_er: I was told there should be a lot of white powder coming off the bases when...
• Thom: Lou raises an excellent point about self-application, and remember that his...
• See: So Dx, are you experienced with the product? I’m not....
• Michael: In response to Aaron, I tried the tech crampons. Cool idea and there was n...
• Aaron: I find a significant portion of the time I am cramponing on harder snow whi...
• Lou Dawson 2: Hi Furreti, the safety clip on the leash fits the screw slot perfectly, a s...
• furreti: Is the slot in the tightening bolt/screw up front wide enough for a ice axe...
• Frank V. Pearsall: Cheers Lou, definitely going to get some of these :) Thanks, Frank V....
• x: I have Phantom on the one set of lotus 120's, what I did alot was compare ...
• kevin hjertaas: I've been using this exact set up for 1.5 seasons and it works really well....
• Louis Dawson: attaching the Petzl heel pieces to the techpon toe would be pretty cool, ne...

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