WildSnow Reader’s Rides — Michael and Julie
We're not telling how many of these tracks are Julie's, but it's a few. Her K2 Gotbacks were the lift ticket.
It’s always fun when we get to set up our friend’s backcountry rides. Michael Kennedy is of course super busy with making Alpinist magazine into something that embarrasses most other rags, while his wife Julie jams on the 5Point Film Festival. So yeah, Julie and Michael know our destiny here at WildSnow HQ is to fiddle with ski gear, so we get to set up their rigs. Then if the planets align with the snow crystals in a special way, we all get to go out and test the stuff with our friends. So we did.
Julie Kennedy with her Gotbacks, love at first ski.
Julie has been two planking for 53 years — definitely a skiing goddess. She began her glisse career during child years in the northeast, ski instructed in Aspen, then spent years backcountry skiing with the likes of Chris Landry, husband Michael, and many other illuminati of the snow.
You really wonder why Julie doesn’t just stay on the same gear she used back in 1976, as it’s certain she’d make that stuff look good. But every backcountry skier deserves to be pampered, especially those of the female persuasion. So that’s exactly what happened when Julie got in her first run on her birthday present K2 Gotbacks.
Actually, she was more than pampered, more like fall-over-ecstatic after feeling what a modern rockered fatty could do. “Skiing for 53 years has been good,” she said, “and it just got a whole lot better!”
Michael, new knees deserves new skis.
Michael and I were climbing buddies during our misspent youth. I continued my misspent youth longer than he did, but he ended up getting new knees before me. Go figure that one out. At any rate, new knees deserve new skis, and what better choice than a Manaslu for the Colorado backcountry pow Michael loves to hunt? We mounted the Manaslus with a set of Dynafit ST Vertical, and he’s flying.
Interestingly, I’ve been mounting all Manaslus in the rear binding position, and everyone is happy. This in spite of some folks saying the ski does better when mounted in the more forward position. My theory? Those who want the forward position are testing the ski at the resort where they’re hitting hardpack and bumpy terrain requiring a quicker ski, while those who prefer the rearward position are on 99% backcountry soft snow, and have no problem being in the “couch.” Just a theory, anyone else tried both mounting positions?
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24 Responses to “WildSnow Reader’s Rides — Michael and Julie”
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One of my kids, 6’3″ size 30 boot, prefers the forward heel position for backcountry. Better balance for snap turns and turning. Had to drill the forward 3 holes 12mm in the Titanal sheet. Great snow at Marble last week!
Looking forward to this discussion.
New knees, as in knee replacements? Gawd, is there hope for us old farts.. to see Michael out there and those tracks.. I have hope..
Santa was VERY good to me this year, Manaslu”s and Vertical ST’s. Do you even have a choice in fore or aft positioning, given the pre-drilled holes? On a side note the bindings were white and I can’t bear the thought of putting them on the ski, so still trying to source out the mud colour. Any takers?
Mike, you’ve got two choices, or if you’re careful you can drill more holes. Yet, no need to get obsessed — Mansalu ski has a huge sweet spot, so positioning the foot is not that critical. What we’ve discovered is that you get a really relaxed ride in the rear position, but it takes some getting used to for skiers who have been on quicker more agro skis.
When are we gonna start blogging knee/hip hardware? I have a friend who is a tech rep…
John, yeah, long feet would make the front position work fine and it would be the way to go. I should be more clear about that aspect of foot positioning. Sorry about that. Also, it’s true that being in the rear position makes snap turns a bit more difficult. To me, it’s worth using more skill for my snap turns so I have the best ride down. But each to his own. To some folks, the snap turn is the highlight of their day? :angel:
Two new artificial knees are what Michael is using as an excuse to go ice climbing instead of skiing. He could be making it all up, but he’s usually pretty honest. :angel:
Jimbo, if one cares to google, they can find excellent videos of knee replacement surgery. I won’t share the link as I might be sued for the cost of the barf bags. But if you can take it, they’re pretty interesting, even amazing.
Lou
i think your theory about the mounting position is right. skiing winter snow i hade no problem with the rear mounting position, aldo in the spirng sometime i moved evrything forward and found the ski to perform much better on harder snow… up to very steep hard snow actually..
What I usually try to do with the mount is pick a rear hole position that’ll allow use of either set of front holes. Not always possible, but very nice when you can set it up that way.
Is that first photo for real? Did someone install a T-bar??
good to see Marble Ski Area is open for the season, and with new terrain south of town it seems 🙂
Look at all those tracks in the first photo. And people say that the Wasatch BC is busy.
Greg, it took two weeks to make all those tracks. :biggrin:
You guys have been hammering that zone. I speak out of jealousy. Looks like I need to head over soon.
That would never happen in the wasatch because it never goes more than 3 days without another 24 inches of 5%.
Except for, say, the last 3 weeks of little snow.
Oh yeah. I think I had fallen asleep for a moment and was dreaming
Lou, the new knees make it possible to go ice climbing again. Too painful walking around in crampons before!
They are working great so far for skiing. I’m still working on getting fit … can’t help the age part of the equation but certainly could lose a few pounds.
Um, I just ate half of Julie’s Christmas cake for breakfast. Now I’ll join you at Weight Watchers.
Wow that slope in the first picture got tracked up fast! We were the first ones to ski it on Sunday and we didn’t start dropping in there until noon. Here’s a shot of what it looked like before the carnage: http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=71027&stc=1&d=1262567103
I’d seriously like to get some of those “K2 Girl Coombas”, but I’m wondering how heavy the two smallest versions of the ski are? Do they ski ‘short’ because of the tips — looks like Julie chose a lower forehead length. Any chance of a review?
HI ALL,
I’m a guy from BARCELONA who is coming to UTAH next week to freeski. I don’t know if it’s necessary or not to bring the ARVA or if it’s possible to rent the ARVA here in Salt Lake and where can i rent it????
I would appreciatte if someone can help me…… I use to ski in the french alps but it’s the first time I will ski in the US, and I really don’t know if ARVA is needed or not, if I have to bring also my RECCO….
Many thanks in advance to everybody…..Gracias y adiós!!