Wasatch Solo: January 2018

Sunday, January 28, 2018

New Boots, Broken Binding and Thin Cover

Kara's Pot Farm, 13-inches of snow, 48-inches of Gamble Oak, at 6.5k elevation.

One cut, a drop in the bucket in a bad snow year.

Snow stake tells a grim story.

18-inches at Rudy's Flat. . .

. . . and about 30 in mid-Rectangle Bowl.

Upper Rectangle Bowl.

First day in my new Scarpa F1's, and they feel pretty good right out of the box, no pro-fitting, no heat-molding and zero manipulation other than wearing socks. I've owned a lot of ski boots since I started skiing in 1972 (10 years old) and I've had the best success just letting my ski boots mold themselves through hard use. Yes, be totally OCD when selecting the size, and try on hundreds of boots before your decide, but once purchased, just ski them to see where they need some tweaking.

I bought new boots this years because I've been miserable the last four years in Dynafit TLT6s, losing multiple toe nails, perpetual blisters on the tips of my toes, and just plain bloody toes for the last four years. But I was too proud to give them up after paying full price and having them professionally fitted. Never again will I let anyone tell me how to fit my ski boots. I bought the Dynafits at the Black Diamond Store in SLC and "professional boot fitting" was included "free" with the purchase. My inclination was to fit them myself, which I've done numerous times with good success, but four years ago I thought what the hell, why not get free, pro fitting? But hell it was!! The fitter was younger in years than the number of ski boots I've owned! The young age of the fitter was no problem, the problem was this: she didn't listen to me through-out the fitting session and basically told me I was full of shit every time I offered input. She acted like some wizened "boot-whisperer" and had an answer for every suggestion I made. She was condescending, and told me I was 'man-splaining' when I was describing how the boots felt. Can one really 'man-splain' when describing how a ski-boot feels? I'm no chauvinist, but in this case the term was misused and not understood by a young lady who really shouldn't be in the business of boot-fitting. She was looking for a fight when all I wanted was a ski boot that fit. So, lesson learned, this time I'm doing it my way, and so far so good.

But new boots don't help when your binding explodes at the top of your first (and only) run. This is the plastic bolt-sink that anchors the binding for sole length. It broke when I tried to lock in my left heal for my first ski run. When it broke the binding slid backward an inch or so, which meant there was no way to lock down. I tried to reset the length but to no avail, so I finally "skinned" back down the trail. It was just too awkward to ski with one foot locked and the other not, so I left my skins on to help control my speed. Plus it's not a good idea to 'tele' on tech-bindings and AT boots. I love to tele, that's the only way to ski groomers when one skis at a resort, otherwise groomers get boring incredibly fast. But tele boots are flexible at the ball of the foot whereas AT boot are stiff from toe to heal and they can rip the toe binding out of the ski without much torque. So, I 'skinned' downhill from the top of a beautiful, steep mountainside of Utah powder, and was feeling really sorry for myself, but then realized how pathetic it was to feel shame when in it was such a beautiful day and such a beautiful environment. It just didn't matter.

This picture shows the difference in length and how my left binding was way too long with the broken plastic base plate. Oh well, they are eight-years old, nothing lasts forever.

Binding removed from ski, showing the small missing plastic which made all the difference for locking down the heal.

Monday, January 1, 2018

Cutler Ridge, Friday, December 29, 2017

Cutler Ridge, on the east side of Mount Ben Lomand, is the 'snowiest place in Utah' as per Wasatch Weather Weenies, but not this year. The skiing still sucks because, like Wednesday (12/27/17), we were on maybe even less snow than Bountiful Ridge (15inches or so) and constantly hooking ski tips. In fact, I got tossed into cartwheel face-plant falls - TWICE - upon hooking a ski tip on the descent. We went up to the 'Dead Tree' just above the Cutler snotel, then called it a day due to the lack of snow. The immense landscape of exposed rock and brush was just completely demoralizing, at least ski wise. The upside is that any day on a snowy, sunlit mountain feels like heaven!! Much better than sitting at home and binge watching "The Crown" on Netflicks. Yes, I've kind of morphed into a 'Royal' aficionado, if only to lust after their totally self-absorbed, indulgent "do whatever-the-hell-I-want-whenever-the-hell-I-want" lifestyles. Hell, they go ski the Swiss Alps and whine about the Vodka Service. I'd be pickled to ski anywhere east of of Evanston and drink tap-water. We can only dream . . .

Is this someone's idea of Utah-entrepreneurialship? Buying ice when it's like 10-degrees F? I'm guessing it'll be a multi-level marketing set-up...

A year ago we skied the lower left-side bowl which, as you can see, is currently all brush.

Jonah, and the dead tree.

Brett (l) dead tree and Jonah (r). No snow but that sun felt glorious on my face.

Brett and Jonah overlooking Cutler Bowl with the mighty Mount Ben Lomand overhead.

and Willard Peak, the cliffy face seen just above Brett and Jonah.

Despite no snow, I did manage to link four turns without hooking a tip.

Then the madness started (hooking tips) as we started down the approach trail. I fell hard - twice - but Brett and Jonah are better skiers than I and never went down.

Sugar, Weeds and Rocks, Wednesday, December 27, 2017

Very little snow (15 to 18 inches max), and what was there was totally rotten and not supportable. We heard constant collapsing, we saw shooting cracks everywhere and saw the brush twenty feet ahead moving with the settling snow. The movement was all on the surface but it will be scary if - or when - we get a big snow. Plus the skinning and skiing was a constant battle with brush and rocks. That said, there is no bad snow, just bad skiers.....And, regrettably, I didn't see any moose! Hopefully the hunters didn't take them all - again! They were gone for a few years due to harvesting, but they were back last winter and summer.

KPF. It's growing back quickly....where are you'all from last year when you're needed? Yes, I said way too much last year and was way too territorial, and I apologize profusely. No solitary ski day is worth losing a friend or making an enemy in an already way-too hostile world. That said, I encourage everyone to go ski it under current conditions, if only to get a taste of the total hell of the old days. Today KPF (the shortcut access) was almost impossible to ski down due to the constant hooking of skis on snags and the risk of an eye-pluck on the taller Gamble Oak. It reminded me of the old days - just a bit. Before the 'improvement' the HELL was much worse.

Near the North Canyon divide.

Snow stake rock. We need snow.

Approximately 15 inches at Rudy's.

Jonah nearing Rectangle Peak.

Ski tracks in Rectangle bowl. Trailing Jonah and Brett to get some video, I hit five rocks, inflicting major damage to my old rock skis (BD Justices - purchased new in 2010). Jonah and Brett claimed to hit no rocks, so either they're telling tales or else I shouldn't be skiing in their tracks . . . or both.