Cannondale Topstone, Gravel Bike Review

New bike: Cannondale Topstone Carbon RX, view SE of the Wasatch Mountains from the City Creek Canyon overlook on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail. 

Wasatch Peaks (left - right), starting with the white face just above the left grip of the bike:

     Gobblers Knob (10,246 ft)

     Mt. Raymond (10,241 ft)

     Wildcat Ridgeline (varies between 9,400-9,800 ft, but ending at 10,241 ft on Mt. Raymond)

     Hobbs Peak (9,410 ft)

     Dromedary Peak (11,107 ft)

     Sunrise Peak (11,275 ft)

     Broads Fork Twins (east peak 11,330 ft, west peak 11,328 ft)

     Mt. Olympus, in front and below of Broads Twins, (9,026 ft)

     Pfieferhorn (11,326 ft)

     Chipman Peak (10,954)

     Thunder Mt. (north peak 11,150 ft, south peak 11,154 ft)

     Bighorn Peak (10,877 ft)

     Lone Peak (11,253 ft)

I've been tormented the last several years with an interanl debate of whether or not to buy a gravel bike. I've fought the fight and held it at arms length, but this Covid 19 isolation thing has me messed up. I have had too much time reading reviews, comparing specs and shopping for best prices, and I lost the battle - I bought a gravel bike. To be clear, this is a need, not a want. It will bridge the gap between my road bike and mountain bike  (Specialized Tarmac and Specialized Epic). Plus it will provide another way to access ski terrain locked behind gates and dirt roads.

April 18, 2020, I rode from home up to the snow line on Skyline Drive above Bountiful, which was about a half mile above the site of the old Buckland Flats Campground, at around 7,000 feet.  Skyline Drive is a total cluster-F@*CK on weekends with shooters and ATVs everywhere. I saw gunners at every pullout, very large people shooting high powered firearms from the tail gates of their trucks, at targets just a few yards from the heavily used public road. Skyline Drive switchbacks up the mountain and too many of those shooters were aiming at targets in direct line with the road above (less than a quarter mile above) albeit at a lower angle. Ricochets are real. I would never feel good about shooting knowing there are people directly ahead, even if 200 feet above. Guns are great, but shooting is much like back country skiing, done enmasse it's dangerous and no fun.

Skis on gravel bike, ready to roll up City Creek. I had big plans for Saturday, April 25th to ride up City Creek Canyon then ski Grandview Peak (9,420 ft), but we had too many family functions that day, so I pulled the plug. It's still on the calendar for this spring, but temperatures are on the rise with low temps forecasted for the mid-50's at 5,000, which means freezing will be at over 10,000 feet. I checked the temperatures last night (April 26-27) at Alta (mid mtn. weather station at 9,662 feet, ) which showed the low temperatures in the upper 30's. The low temperature last night at the Farmington Canyon Snotel (7,901 feet) was 40 degrees, which occurred at 1:00AM, with temperatures rising to the upper 40's by 7:00AM. The long-range forecast is for temperatures to be 10 degrees greater than average for the foreseeable future.

My intent was to ski corn, not wet cement, so my Grandview ski day is temporarily on hold. If nothing else I don't want to toy with wet-slides. I've done that enough already. Wet slides are usually easy to avoid, but, based upon the ground base, they could become a glide slide, which are catastrophic and deadly. Unlike a true wet slide, a glide avalanche has immense speed and powder due to large volumes of wet snow sliding at high speeds. Cottonwood Gulch, the access to Grandview from City Creek Canyon, doesn't have large slabs of rock, typical of terrain where glide-slides occur, but Cottonwood Gulch has no forests, it's open terrain  so it mimics areas that are above timber line. With no trees there are few anchors for unstable snow.

Safety is a concern but since when has that stopped me? The bottom line is when wet-slides happen, the skiing sucks. I'm hoping the snow will last for awhile in Cottonwood Gulch, until temperatures cool and there is a solid refreeze. That is the only recipe for skiing corn.    

Cannondale Topstone Gravel Bike Review:
The realization is not lost that I'm a total princess/elitist to even think I need to bridge that gap. I've always hated the OCD aspect of the biking community, especially the road biking community. You know who I'm talking about, it's the folks who must ride at least 50 miles every day, winter, spring, fall and summer, or else their lives are total shit. They'll vacation with their spouses in Hawaii but spend most of their time cycling, only dipping their big toe into the Pacific once or twice, and only for the obligatory beach photo. When I go to Hawaii I go surfing. Fuck that bike, it's time for real fun. I like calm, collected, well thought-out decisons in everything, but I HATE obsessive-compulsion in anything, whether it be career, politics, religion, skiing, climbing, biking, you name it, I'm only there for a good time. I gravitate towards free thinkers who can walk away from anything and try something new, just because they feel it. One really expands their mind only when one is brave enough to look at the other side of any equation. Religion tells us that one must experience the bad to know the good, but very few look beyond their own walls. I'm not suggesting that you go shoot-up heroin, or heist a money-truck just for the experience, I'm arguing that getting trapped in a narrow mind-set is not good for one's long-term growth. That said, I'm not a risk taker in the least, one reason I'm trapped in a lower middle-class existence, so my diversions are small and calculated and non-committing, but I find real satisfaction in trying new things and breaking away from my inner-idiot mind-set. When I'm not challenged I get bored, and a bored mind is not good for anyone.

Yes, my formula is a formula for mediocrity. I've never excelled at anything, especially career, cycling and religion, but somehow I still love road biking. That said, I need ample diversions into mountain biking and trail running, just because too much time on a road saddle gets pretty damn boring, pretty damn quick. I am a skier and climber at heart, but cycling and trail running fill the gaps when I can't ski or climb, they calm the mind and maintain strength and endurance for the the things that I really love, skiing and climbing. And when I say skiing and climbing, it is backcountry skiing, away from the crowds, and climbing long alpine routes, like in the Tetons or Wind Rivers, not sport climbing at the gym or the over-used quartzite or granite at the popular routes just 20 feet off the Cottonwood Canyon highways.

I rode LOTOJA five times, the first three were fun, the fourth I was questioning "I'm totally Lance Armstrong, but he was a dick, so why am I doing this?" The fifth time I was thinking "this is total bullshit, I'm riding in a lemming-line of 2,000 gumbies - for hours and hours - and there' not an original thought among any of these jokers." When I pulled into Jackson that evening, I looked longingly up to the Grand Teton, wishing I was climbing rather than riding. That was my last LOTOJA.

View NE from the City Creek Canyon overlook. I rode from home to Tunnels Park, up the Bonneville Shoreline Trail on the double track to the Beck Street Antennas, then, on the single track to the overlook. Bountiful Ridge on the left, Black's Peak (8,650 ft) the first high point when following the ridge l-r, and the high point (middle) is Burro Mine Peak (8,958 ft) 

I did a lot of research and reading of reviews before buying the Cannondale Topstone. It's tough for me to believe any review without knowing the reviewer, otherwise I really can't separate personality from fact, so the best way to really review something is to try it out, experience it for yourself. I did a short demo of the Topstone and I was impressed, so I bought it.

After four rides here are my impressions.

Pros
1 - Light, 18lbs 6oz, with pedals (Shimano XTR pedals), which is just a bit heavier than my road bike, a Specialized Tarmac (expert build), presumably due to the wider tires. My Tarmac and the Topstone have similar components: Shimano Ultegra shifters and derailures, double chain-rings, hydraulic disk brakes, carbon-fiber frame, carbon-fiber rims.  It's tough to single-out one or two items as the big difference in weight, so I'm going with the wider tires.
2 - The Topstone feels quick, sporty and responsive in the dirt, as much so as my Tarmac on the pavement.
3 - Low-gearing so climbing feels easy (thats a relative term coming from a 58-year-old, fat-accountant (5ft8in 162lbs)).
4 - Rear suspension seems to be a real thing. Cannondale says the Topstone has 30mm of travel in the rear frame and it did feel smooth on the rough trail, at least in the rear.
5 - The biggest surprise was how it handled the trails. In short, it tracked much better than expected and gripped the loose sections much better than expected. I was worried that I'd loose my line when those skinny tires  (700x37mm) encountered loose rock gardens or deep, sandy spots, but the Topstone tracked right through them, not as well or as fast as my 29x2-inch tires on my full-suspension Specialized Epic (albeit a minimal travel suspension XC bike), but surprisingly well. I was worried about the front tire getting captured by the loose sections, and tossing me, but I never got tossed and never had to unclip due to the bike not handling the trail. Granted, the Bonneville Shoreline Trail is an intermediate single-track at best, but still, a big relief that the Topstone took it well with no major explosions.

Cons
1 - Bouncy ride on more technical single tracks (rock gardens, root gardens, tire trenches). With zero front suspension, I had to be much more selective in my line because the Topstone doesn't roll over terrain the way my 29" Epic does. The Topstone is much lighter than the Epic, but the Epic is faster on mixed terrain if only because it rolls over obstacles without a thought. For example, when I got to my turn-around point at the City Creek overlook, one of my arm warmers had fallen down from my shoulder to me elbow, like over-sized socks falling to your ankles. That has never happened before while riding my mountain bike or my road bike. It's an indicator of the rough ride on the Topstone compared to a mountain bike with a front suspension.
2- Slower descending. Without a front suspension and without the 29x2in tires, I don't have the confidence to let it rip, so I rode the breaks much more than I do on my full suspension mountain bike. I'm sure a rider with better descending skills than I could descend almost as fast as a mountain bike, but the fact remains, smooth equals speed and this bike is not as smooth as a full-suspension bike. That said, on a wide gravel, non-technical road such as Skyline Drive, my descent speed was over 20mph and I was passing cars, if only to get in front of their dust.
3- Upper Body Fatigue. My upper arms, shoulders and neck got tired more quickly than when riding my mountain bike on single track trail due to harder impacts. It was noticeable but not a show stopper. Our bodies adapt to what is thrown at it, with time I should get stronger where it's needed, but only if I ride the Topstone repeatedly on similar terrain consistently.
4- Braking. My mountain bike is easier to brake because of the handle bar logistics. On the Cannondale I kept feeling like my hand was going to slip off the grip and I'd go off the front, but when I looked down at my hand position I had plenty of grip above my hands, so not likely my hands would come off. Another equipment "I'll get use to it" as I ride it more and more. When down in. the drops this wasn't an issue.

I should've gone with Crank Bros Eggbeaters - no platform.

XTR SPD Pedals
Just one thing to say, I love my Crank Brother Eggbeaters, the pedals I've used for years on my mountain bike. I regret buying the XTR SPDs for the gravel bike. I've only used them four times now, but they are much more difficult to clip-in and clip-out and I almost fell on my face at the CC overlook because of it. I haven't done that in years. A a few seconds of terror fighting to unclip on a rocky hill-top. The hikers sitting there almost had a great laugh, ok, they did anyway, watching me 'Harry-Houdini' my way out of a trap, but I barely saved it. Hopefully it's just operator inexperience and I'll get use to them. After four rides I'm ready to buy another set of Eggbeaters for the gravel bike.

Much lighter than my soft tail Epic 29, but the Epic rolls much better when the trail gets just a little bit technical.

City Creek Canyon, with the open slopes of Cottonwood Gulch peaking out just right of Blacks Peak / Burro Mine Peak.

Day Three Review: BD Helio 105, Atomic Backland Carbon Boots

I haven't had a 184oz Mountain Dew Big Gulp in over two weeks due to this Covid isolation thing, so my mind is all over the place. Somewhere below is a review of my new rig . . . . with a lot of rambling . . .

For a real review, go to Wildsnow.com, or Skimo.com (or store) or the BD Store (Cottonwood) or Wasatch Touring, they have the knowledge, time and money to provide the best reviews. The magazine reviews are mostly bullshit because you get more reviewer personality than an objective review, so it helps to know a bit about the reviewer to put that review into perspective.

Sorry for the cursing, I learned it from 30 years of employment at the Williams Companies, where "GD-Fing-BS" was included in every conversation - multiple times, and that coming  from those who pretended higher callings, Bishops, Stake Presidents, Ex-Mission Presidents, etc. There was a direct correlation between religious rank and foul mouth. The higher the rank, the saltier was their language. I'm not joking, that was my reality of my last 30 years, and I've got a $100 retirement gift card from REI to prove. Yes, 30 years = $100. I'm the bad example, don't become a company man, get out when the walls close-in.

The Helios have a low rise tip but only a problem when I skinned pigeon-toed, at which point I tripped over my own skis. They never porpoised downward in deep snow, but I have seen that complaint on the BD website. I'm guessing it's not a problem unless your skis are too short for your weight, or you mount them forward like a park-rat.

So if ski reviews are more reviewer personality that real information, here is a bit of my personality: I'm much more Bob Dylan than Donny Osmond, more Nirvana than Kiss. Make that ALL Nirvana, ZERO Kiss. I grew up in the ‘70’s and my roots are in making small-arc turns, a habit I am trying to break, but quick turns are where my muscle memory lies. If I ski a resort I always gravitate to skiing bumps, because, let's face it, there is NO powder at a resort, unless you are lucky enough to be on the 6am shift with the Ski Patrol. So I ski bumps. I love the challenge of quick, fluid turns on a steep slope, without stopping until the legs are ruined. I'm getting old (58), so skiing bumps is getting harder, not as quick from edge to edge and certainly not as fast top to bottom, but I still try every time I ride a lift. 

And why quick edge to edge? The ability to make quick turns in a pinch, like the ability to move quickly over long, varied terrain, is a real safety tool in the back country that many skiers just don't carry. They pack all the avy gear, they know how to dig a pit, and they lecture on and on about stability and hidden layers, but many are damn scary to watch trying to ski through aspens or down a narrow chute. I've read some terrible stories of skiers getting wrapped around an aspen the wrong way. If that happens it's usually game over, and you're not walking out to the trail head.

Bottom line, I don't like big surfy skis, I find them too heavy, too hard to turn. I like to savor my runs with as many turns as possible, not swallow it all in three huge, high-speed turns.        

Day Three Review 

Only used thrice, so the jury is still out, but so far the new rig has exceeded expectations. 

Skis - Black Diamond Helio 105 (175cm, 132-105-119 mm):

The skis were better than expected. Due to their width, 105mm under foot, which I consider  quite wide, I did not expect a quick-turning, nimble ski, and the Helio 105's seemed to defy that notion. I'm not sure why but Black Diamond skis have always felt good to me. BD skis are not always highly rated by the gear review folks, but they have always worked for me. My experience with them is they are easy to turn, always responsive, even when conditions suck and when I'm on the wrong width for the conditions. They seem to work above their stated purpose. In general, overall BD skis have always been the best turning back country skis I’ve owned. The Helio 105 is now my sixth pair of BD skis going back a long way: Arc Angel, Kilowatt, Justice, Aspect (my personal favorite), Helio 88 (my current go-to rig for every day use) and the Helio 105 (my current go-to for deep snow).

When I say ‘best turning ski,’ that sentiment goes back to my 1970's mogul days. I like a ski that can turn on a dime, which is critical for back country skiing, because quick turns are paramount for skiing tight aspens or skiing steep technical faces on an icy crust. I'm more of slalom guy than a super-g guy. Yes, turning is a simple equation of ski width and turn radius, but it’s not that simple. Build materials, lateral stiffness, longitudinal stiffness and weight all have an impact on a skis ability to turn at the dictates of its master. After three days on the Helio 105s, in conditions across the board - creamy old powder, sun and wind crusts, perfect corn, way-over-ripe corn, unsupportable slush - the Helio 105 were surprising nimble on all fronts. They turn quickly and nimbly in manky conditions and in soft, dry snow they fly effortlessly. I love my Voile V6s which are a full centimeter narrower under foot, but in comparison the the Helio 105s they seem slow and cumbersome in the same conditions.

A good freind loves Voile skis and is always giving me shit for buying Black Diamond. He tells me I need the Voile BC version of the V6's. He argues that he uses his skins 1/3 less due to the fish-scale bases on his Voiles, but I'm not convinced. MY V6s don't have the fish-scales and they are still a bit cumbersome turning-wise, so adding fish-scales would just slow them even more. The V6s do great when making big, fast, GS turns, but not so good when skiing in tight places (trees, steep technical faces). I think it boils down to tail stiffness: the 105s have a stiffer tail so I get more end-turn-power than I do on the V6s. The Helio 105s excelled in both fast, quick, small turns and fast big turns, and a complete surprise in tight trees for how quickly they could go from edge to edge given the 105mm underfoot. They are now my powder ski and the 88s my everyday ski if the powder is old.

The low-rise tip is not a problem, especially on the downhill. I tripped on them on the skin track only when I got lazy and wasn’t paying attention to ski placement, which I’ve done with higher rise tipped skis too, like the V6s, it’s just a more common occurrence with the Helios. I did find a real benefit to such a low-rise tip: they act as a glob remover, low enough you can step right on that tip without losing balance, then sliding ski back/forward to remove the stuck snow from a saturated skin.

Another plus for BD skis, my BD skins attach much more security. This is more of an annoyance, but when using BD skins with my Voile V6s, the tail clip continually unclips and flops around while skinning. It hasn't been a problem, yet, because the glue holds the skins onto the ski, but one day it could be. I assume my BD skins unclip from my V6's due to the thickness of the Voile ski vs. the BD tail clip. The sizes seem to be inconsistent. With the Helio 105s (and 88s) the tail clip has never unclipped, other than operator error like when I botch a kick turn.       

Early rise tips profiles - Voile V6 on top, Helio 105 on bottom. The V6 has a much more pronounced rise, but I've skied on Helio 88's and now Helio 105s, both with low-rise tips, and it's not an issue while skiing. The only time I've noticed it in negative terms, is when I get lazy in the skin track and step one tip on top of the other, then I trip. I must have been pigeon-toed in my youth? 

Wider, but the Helio is lighter due to its carbon layup. That said, part of the lightness is due to different bindings. The Helio is mounted with an Atomic Backland (no brake) and the Voile V6 is mounted with a Dynafit Speed Radical (no brake). Not sure what the difference is in the binding weights.

V6's (183cm) with Dynafit Speed Radicals 1.32lbs heavier than the Helio 105s (176cm) with Atomic Backland bindings (no brakes on either rig). 

You can see the wider footprint of the Helio 105 when the Voile V6 is centered over the Helio.

Don't judge me on my poor hot-wax technique, using too much wax is another bad habit I'm trying to break. 

The Helio 105 is slightly wider than the Voile V6 but it has a stiffer tail and slightly wider tail but with a similar flex in the shovel. With a stiffer tail, the Helio 105 feels more powerful at the end of a turn.  

The Helio 105's are 1cm (10mm) wider under foot but they completely eclipse the Voile V6s, and the Helio 105s are HUGE compared to my favorite ski of all-time, the K2 Super Stinx. That said, the 105s seem much quicker and easier from edge to edge than the V6s, and I love quick turning skis. That Super Stinx is the quickest ski edge to edge that I own. I'd love to see the industry swing back in the direction of narrow, turny skis vs. the current surf-board mentality that dominates the ski market. 

Ok, I'll just come out with it: in general today's skiers don't know how to turn. Fat skis surf and do all the work so setting an edge is not necessary. If one knows how to carve a turn, ski width is an afterthought. Just know, good technique on a skinny ski requires less effort than bad technique on a fat ski. Watch world cup ski racers and learn: balanced, hands forward, head up, hips in (around turn arc), feet out (around turn arc), ankles rolled in.    

Boots - Atomic Backland Carbon (Size 27-27.5):

That's an old milk can from my grandpas farm in Corrine, Utah, where my Dad grew up, leaving when he was 18 to serve in the US Navy's Submarine Service in the South Pacific during WWII, and that's how he met my Mom. He was serving on the USS Blower (look it up, it had a tragic end after the war), stationed at the US Submarine Base in Fremantle, Western Australia (a suburb of Perth). He, being a good Mormon boy (much better than his son), found the only LDS Branch in all of Western Australia at the time (an area the size of the western third of the US) and he attended Sacrament Meeting on Sunday's in the small branch located in Subiaco (another suburb of Perth, where my Mom's family lived). My Grandmother, Annie Elizabeth Badilier Whitton, invited my Dad home every Sunday for dinner when he wasn't out to sea trying to torpedo Japanese destroyers, and the romance began. (My Grandmother is French/English by way of India (where she met and married my Grandfather (Scottish/Welsh by way of Scotland/India), a school teacher to the youth of the occupying English, and, after emigrating from India to Perth they converted to the LDS Church.) Long story short, my Dad survived the war, he went home to Corrine, went on an LDS mission to Southern Cal/Arizona, while my Mom's family left everything in Australia and moved to Zion and started a new life in Utah.  When my Dad finished his mission they got married, had six boys (I'm number six), then a girl then another boy - five river runners, all skiers, several climbers, and none that really give a shit about careers when compared to floating, skiing, climbing. They settled in Bountiful, Utah, where they raised their family, then slowly faded as the years rolled by. My parents lived long lives with a strong work-ethic, integrity, honest to a fault - not a gullible, arrogant bone between them. Both have left us now and I cry when I realize how much I still miss them . . . .

Old milk cans carry a lot of history . . .   

But we're talking ski boots. . . . the Atomics are just a bit taller, lighter, thinner (liner and cuff) and stiffer than my Scarpa F1s.

The boots are indeed stiffer (just a bit) than my F1s and TLT6s, with much less fiddling, which is huge for me. I'd still prefer a single buckle over the BOA because the BOA seems to top out short of "tight enough." With a buckle you can yard on it until your foot is effectively 'tourniqueted.' I like the additional control that comes with a buckle. Compared to the F1 or TLT6, the Backlands are easier to transition both to ski or skin. The Atomic boot cuff/gaiter/tongue is much simpler than either the F1 or TLT6. Both of which took extra care and effort to ensure all the layers were in the right place and everything was wrapped correctly, like wrapping a multi-layered taco, where if you got one layer wrong the boots were either painful or did not have full responsiveness. I'm lazy and don't like to mess with details when transitioning to ski. I hated the removable tongue on the TLT6s, so much so that I never used them after the first several days and I only missed them when conditions were really jacked (deep wet snow or breakable wind/sun-crusts).

The Atomics are just simpler to transition. It has one gaiter you need to place correctly, which is simple to do, then just buckle it down. Another huge benefit of the Atomic is the upper cuff has a smaller circumference than either my F1 or TLT6, so it fits under my ski pants better (yeah, I should buy baggy pants). I can easily pull up my pant cuff to lock the boots to ski or unlock to skin. With my other boots I was constantly wrestling with those damn pant cuffs during transitions. It took a lot of work to pull the cuff up and over the buckle, then reverse the process when done. Last, the Atomics are both lighter and stiffer than the F1 of the TLT6, if only slightly but I could tell a difference at once.

Skinning is really where the test of a boot comes into focus. We spend much more time skinning/hiking than actually skiing, so a good-fitting boot makes all the difference. Ski racers like their boots tight enough to block blood flow, which is great while skiing, but it is miserable while skinning. Ok, race boots are always miserable, evidenced by immediate unbuckling at the bottom (watch world cup racers at the finish line, after flashing there skis at the camera (it's a sponsor requirement) they immediately unbuckle their boots to regain blood-flow). The trade off for tight boots which provide great ski performance is pain and cold feet. A boot that's too large will often lead to bloody blisters, but hey, they are warmer due to better circulation. It's a fine line between just tight enough and too tight.

Due to the fear of getting a boot that's too-big, I never heat mold my liners because I feel that heat molding only hastens the packing out process. When that happens you have a boot that's too big, and I'm too cheap and too middle-class to buy a new pair of boots every year. Yes, I can hear you saying "a good boot fitter will bring you seven years of great skiing," but that has never been my experience. I've had one too many boot fitters that tell ME how my foot feels and when I complain they insinuate that I'm merely a stupid accountant (so true), but they know nothin about the pain in my feet. With my last three pairs of boots I did not heat-mold them. I let my foot mold the liners naturally over time. As such, I buy boots on the small side then expect some pain ( a-lot?) for the first days of use, until they mold to my foot. So far it has worked out better than the heat-molding route. I've skied the Atomics three times now, not enough beta yet to pass along, just this: they are tight-ish which is uncomfortable at times but not painful, my toe nails are not purple and I have no blisters. For three days I consider that a big success.

Finally, the Backlands have a greater range of motion than both my F1s and TLT6s, so, while skinning, I've noticed a bit less fighting with resistance, not that the F1s or TLT6s where bad on that front, but with the Backlands less resistance, even just a tiny bit less, is a good thing. 

The liners in the Atomics are quite a bit thinner than the Intuition liners in the Scarpas, which means they will be colder, and I've struggled with frozen toes the last few years in those Scarpa's.

Atomics thinner and lighter and probably not as warm, and I've only skied them in the spring, so 2020-2021 could be a long, cold winter with frozen toes.

The Scarpas (without the power strap) are 3oz shy of a full pound heavier than the Backlands.

Drink Coffee NOT Mt Dew.

Bindings - Atomic Backland (no brake):

This is my second pair, I mounted my Helio 88s with these last year. So far I have no problems. The risers are just right and they are rock solid. Before going with Atomic Backlands last year, I was a long-time Dynafit devotee. I only went with Atomics after I broke a Dynafit when stomping down to lock-in to ski, while at the top of a peak after a long-skin to the top of that peak. When I stomped down the plastic base plate split in half, and the rear binding slid backward along the length position screw. With the broken base plate there was nothing to hold the rear binding in place and effectively turned me back into a tele skier. At heart I am a tele skier, that is where it all began, but tech toes and the mounting screws are not burly enough for the physics of a real tele turn. For good reason the new tele bindings that incorporate a tech toe binding do not use the tech toe for the restraint while turning, that comes from springs in cables or the NTN clamp underfoot. A tele-turn with a tech toe is notorious for pulling-out the mounting screws and sometimes delaminating the skis. When my Dynafit binding broke my day was over. I skinned back down the skin track and went home.

Negative comments I have with Backland bindings, although very minor, are this:

1- Rotating the heal to ski while clipped in to the toe can be tough. It's more lack of flexibility of the operator than anything, and I'm getting better. More Yoga! In fairness, that is my complaint with my newer Dynafits as well. I love my older Dynafits with the towers that allowed for rotating the heals with a ski pole. I miss those towers.

2-  Because the lever is flush with the ski it is difficult to pull up the lever on the toe piece with your fingers, to release the tension on the springs. I do it only to dry and sometimes lubricate the bindings. Annoying but not impossible, just requires extra effort. Yes, a very minor complaint, but it was easy to do on all my Dynafits. Old habits die hard.

3- Ski Crampons. Atomic does not make a ski crampon for the backlands, but you can use Dynafit crampons with one caveat: they require a plastic clip to hold the Dynafit crampon centered over the ski so that you don't impale the ski with the crampon, with your full weight, which could cause some serious damage. If you're like me you don't want to mess with a tiny plastic clip that I will lose the first day anyway. My fix for this problem was to buy Plum ski crampons. Annoying because I already have several Dynafit crampons. The Plums have two small ridges in the center of the mounting pin to keep it centered on the ski, so problem solved other than another $80 x 2 (one each for the 88s and the 105s). FYI - the BD Helio 

ski crampon does NOT work with Atomic Backland bindings because the aluminum frame does not have an opening large enough to accept the crampon mount. After using Dynafit, Helio and now Plum ski crampons, the Plums are the best design I've seen. Well made, easy to install, no plastic clip required. But they are noisy! A factor of my foot-dragging gate and the aluminum which seems to amplify the sound of crampon cutting into frozen snow. It's no wonder I never see Mountains Lions.

A Dynafit crampon shown with the Atomic Backland centering clip. Without the clip the crampon can float to either side and possible damage the ski. I'm old, my eyes are bad, and I'd lose those clips the first day, so I simplified and went with the Plum crampons.

The Plum crampon has the two center ridges which center the crampon. No plastic clip necessary.

Where it counts, that is holding ski to boot, the Backland bindings are rock solid, never a pre-release.  

Moto-Ski, Farmington Canyon, April 11, 2020

These are strange times and it's tough to always be postiive. These lyrics gently remind to accept fate, but make it better. . .  

"You Are Here"

-- Wailin Jenny's

You wonder why you wonder when

You wonder how now and then
How you became who you’ve become

You are here
And yet you dream of being there
Of being where you think the good life has begun

Every darkened hallway
Every fallen dream
Every battle lost and
Every shadow in between
Will bring you to your knees and
Closer to the reason

And there’s no making cases
For getting out or trading places
And there’s no turning back
No you are here

Who can say who made the choice
In the matter of your birth
Who brought about that fateful day
Well you are here and born with fire and desire
You’re the only one can stand in your own way

And every broken arrow
Every hardened smile
Every foolish gamble and
Every lonely mile
Will bring you to your knees and
Closer to the reason

And there’s no making cases
For getting out or trading places
And there’s no turning back
No you are here

And every sign of love
Every seed that’s growing
Every sweet surrender
To that silent knowing
Will bring you to your knees and
Closer to the reason

And there’s no making cases
For getting out or trading places
And there’s no turning back
No you are here

The objective, Rice Bowl from just above the beaver ponds. 

Bountiful Peak (9,271 ft) from two-thirds the way up the Mud/Rice Divide.

Mud Peak (8,745 ft). Those stunted trees have welcomed me to the summit for over two decades. Sad, they now look like they're dying, with brown needles and thinning. 

View west from the top of Rice Bowl.

Bountiful Peak (9,271 ft), view south from the top of Rice Bowl, Mud Peak (8,745 ft) at left.

Turns down the east side of upper Rice. Chris is the dot climbing over the drift at the top.

Fuller, nearing the top of Mud/Rice . . .

 . . .  cornice and Fuller . . 

 . . . kick-turn, Fuller and cornice. . . 

 . . . cornice 

View east from upper Rice, the Unitahs way off on the horizon.

Antelope Island from the top of Rice.

Rice Peak (8,730 ft) and cornice over the west side of Rice Bowl.

Fuller (l), Chris (r) on top of Rice Peak (8,730 ft), view west.

Oquirhs and and Stansburys.

Bountiful Peak (9,271 ft).

Chris (l) and Fuller (r)

Turns, upper Rice. 

There are series of Beaver Ponds (10 or so, this one at 7,170 ft.) of various sizes in lower Rice Creek. The ponds are not nearly as deep as they were a few years ago, and, though hard to tell with a deep snow pack, it looks like the Beavers might be gone, the ponds are slowing filling in. 

Mostly cloudy today, but when the sun peaked out it was hard not to stop and look for our turns in upper Rice.

Several more Beaver ponds. I've heard some folks say that Beavers are vermin and they destroy streams and rivers, recommending trapping the Beaver and dynamiting the dams to reestablish the streams. I disagree. I like to see wildlife in their natural form, and Beavers and streams are an example of a natural co-existence in this world. They should be left alone unless introduced unnaturally. Leave the Coyotes and Mountain Lions to restrain the population, or limited human trapping/hunting. These Beaver's weren't planted by humans, they established this series of ponds naturally, so why should humans remove them?

Yes, we are part of nature and we needs to harvest resources to survive, but total annihilation,  like the Beaver community in Farmington Canyon, does not serve a benefit for our survival. These ponds have now been here for approximately 15 years (yes, I remember when they were't here) and I have not seen a degradation of anything. Yes, some Aspens have been sawed down for making dams, but it's a natural process and, let's face it, Aspens are weeds. Beautiful yes, but they are weeds, they spread without restraint until no more space exists, limited only by more dominant life forms like Spruce, Fir or Pine Forests (natural limits). If you've ever planted an Aspen in your yard, you know. Any Aspens taken by the Beavers have quickly been replaced by sibling trees.

This is the easy way up Farmington Canyon, around the gate then rode up the road for six to seven miles; parked motos where road was blocked by snow at 6,580ft., .5mi past the Sunset Campground; booted .9mi to the Sheriff's cabin; transitioned to skis; skinned up the Mud/Rice Divide to the top of Rice Bowl (cabin to Rice Peak - 2.3 miles, 1,904 ft vert gain).
Yes, pedaling up the canyon is much more honorable, but the effort of pedaling takes-away from the skiing. I like skiing while we still have snow. There will be plenty of time to pedal this summer. 

 . . . a few pics from Fuller 

Reeder, coming over the drift at the top of Rice Bowl . . .

 . . . and dropping off Mud Peak (8,745 ft). . . 

 . . . then down the middle of Mud Bowl. . . 

. . . slightly over-ripe corn, but still supportable and fun, just a bit too wet to be fast and fearless.

Back up for run three, Mud Peak (8,745 ft) just ahead.

Stream crossing at the start of the day. We were lucky to have a snow bridge today. I've waded the stream several times in bare feet or ski boots, usually bare footed going in, but wearing ski boots when coming out when tired and finished, with attitude of "who cares about wet boots?"

We parked at the snow-line(6,580 ft.) about .9 miles down the road from the Sheriff's cabin (6,835 ft.); walked the road to the cabin; transitioned to skis then skinned up to the top of Rice/Mud Peaks from the cabin (cabin to Rice Peak via the Mud/Rice Divide - 2.3 miles, 1,904 ft vert gain).