Friday, February 24, 2017

What's Your Preference, Bounce or Blower?

Ski touring this morning was the epitome of too much of a good thing, at least where we were.  New snow depths based on the highly scientific ski pole insertion were around a meter.


Trail breaking, especially on the ridge we were ascending, was a pig wallow.  Special thanks to the two gorillas (you know who you are) who broke the first 2/3 or so ahead of us and eventually bailed off for a run.  Your efforts are appreciated!

Options for turns were limited.  Diving into steep terrain invited the potential for powerful sloughing. Lower angle terrain required downhill trailbreaking.  Occasionally one could find a happy medium, but as soon as the slope angle backed off, you just augured in.


Nevertheless, there were some visits to the white room.



Those pictures look good, but I'll be honest, the skiing wasn't all that great.  Given the choice between a Goldilocks storm with good "bounce" or over-the-head blower, I'll take bounce every time.  Today was too deep, at least in the backcountry.  My bet is that it will ski better tomorrow after some settlement.

Back to work.

Addendum

Better one taken by my partner illustrating the downhill "trench" breaking to get over to another line.


5 comments:

  1. I skied Emma Ridge on Thursday evening - too deep to even turn. Went to Mill D South this morning, where it seemed like there was a bit less snow (still almost waist deep though once you stopped) and the skiing was actually more fun. I'm with you - the goldilocks storms are the best skiing, but last night was definitely a unique experience - just climb to the ridge and straightline to the road :-)

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  2. West Porter today Professor Pow?

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  3. Sorry... but I don't get it. I've had free refills of knee deep powder for two full days at Alta, and never had to hike anywhere to get it. Fresh tracks each run, sometimes down the same run I took 10 mins earlier. Good Gawd! What a great 48 hours! I thanked the lifties profusely for "breaking trail" ;-)

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  4. All about terrible climate creating crap for all everywhere. love ya Jim but look for a bit o gratitude. Love your book btw.

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  5. I'm with you Jim, and it's tough to find just right, right?...This snow snob has taken to describing the skiing experience with my scale I call the "pleasure factor" it is a 1-10 scale...For me both Wed and Thurs were (only!) 8/10, I've found skiing bliss (10/10) isn't often realized on the deepest days. I was hoping Thursday would earn a 9/10, but for me it was too physical, too heavy/dense, and a little unforgiving...I'll keep searching:)

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