I don't ski and it's bringing me down

[Water]

the arva axis was up on steepandcheap.com for $225 or something ridiculous earlier this week. deals can be had, a bit. thats a modern 3 antenna beacon.

[christophbenells]

splitboards and skis are great. splitboards can be a little frustrating on runs where there is a lot of traversing or flat areas between downhills. mostly those runs are a bit of a waste of time anyways...use creativity and you'll find amazing top to bottom splitboard runs all over the cascades.

 

if you're slow you're slow...no matter what you're on.

 

physical fitness and being in tune with your gear is the key to being fast. not to toot my own horn, but whenever i splitboard with skiers i'm usually at the top a couple of minutes faster...i rarely find that skiers are waiting for me at transitions.

 

use AT boots like tlt-5's for splitboard mountaineering.

 

more than anything though, just have a good time. this aint no race, chad kellogs got that shit wrapped up, your never gonna make any money off of skiing or mountaineering so just do what feels right and tell everyone else to go kick rocks.

[Water]

ortovox 3+ beacon, $239 on SAC right now. this beacon is nifty, takes only one AA battery.

[wfinley]

Just to chime in echoing what others have said... I learned to ski in the backcountry in invernos and in silvretta 300s. I never destroyed my knees (but had a very close call once with a sled, rope, crevasse and a twisting fall that hurt for days) but I was in my mid 20s and wasn't too concerned about wrecking my lower body. If you have the money get real ski boots and Dynafits. You will have more fun and learn faster - and be less likely to wreck your knees. If you don't have the money you can get by and you might even have a bit of fun in the process.

 

If you don't like resorts then go out and learn on your own -- spend the money you save on lift tickets on gear. It will take longer to get good and you'll probably always have shitty ski form - but who cares?

 

As for snowboarding... I ski with a snowboarder who uses Dynafits for the up. If I get to the top at the same time as him, and I'm not cold, hungry or whatever then I can transition about 30 seconds faster than him. That said.... don't know if I've ever gotten to the top before him.

 

 

[E-rock]

Snowshoes are the only item known to man that immediately drops your IQ 50 points the moment you strap them on your feet.

[rob]

Snowshoes are the only item known to man that immediately drops your IQ 50 points the moment you strap them on your feet.

 

Also, crocs and those Tom's shoes they sell at wholefoods

[Fairweather]

A bit of shameless salesmanship here: Nate, I have a couple of setups I'm parting with--a low end (180cm Fisher "tour extremes" w/ Silvretta 404s) and a heavier combo (173cm Black Diamond Kilowatts w/ Marker Barons). Skins for the latter. Also have a pair of Garmont Axon AT boots size 27.5. PM me if you're interested.

 

As for advice, I think it's been well covered already. Hope you have fun up there! (ps - the plastic climbing boots/silvretta cage binding combo is bad, bad, bad. you will hate skiing forever if you start out this way.)

[Coldfinger]

Snowshoes are the only item known to man that immediately drops your IQ 50 points the moment you strap them on your feet.

 

That's right, it's at least 100 points for a snowboard.

 

[mountainsandsound]

 

After careful deliberation, including the input of the CCers here who frequent the the internet machine, I'm going with renting this season before I buy anything. I will start out on one of the mole hills here in the midwest they call a resort, before I fly back to my beloved Cascades to enjoy winter break. The "ski areas" are cheap here, and there aren't any cool climber types or potential partners to witness me falling during my first couple times. So that's the plan.

 

Keep spraying as the need arises.

[Cobra_Commander]

raw mileage will improve performance far more than any equipment will

[zeroforhire]

Just get some real AT gear. If you look around, you can get setup pretty cheaply. $100-$300.

[Alex]

dude, there is no shame in learning to ski and yard saleing all over the bunny slope, that's what the mightly Summit at Snoqualmie is for! I'll be there with my two budding alpinists all winter again this year!

 

everyone who skis had to learn, and everyone who learned fell a lot at one time or another! What you really don't want to do is go backcountry skiing with poor skillz and either get injured far from the car, or die in an avalanche, those are just poor form.

 

[tvashtarkatena]

I got a fair amount of shit from a couple of 'hardmen' on this site for posting some early aid learning aid TRs. 3 years later I was standing on the summit of El Cap. Yup, my more experienced partner lead half again as many pitches as i did, but that didn't detract from the pure magic of that experience.

 

Anyone who gives you shit about whatever technique helps you learn a new skill really needs to go fuck themselves. For every one of them, there are 100 who are cheering you on. In any case, the real hardmen - the cream of the crop, do not engage in that kind of crap.

 

I fell 200 times my first lift day of skiing. Yup, I actually counted. Standard procedure. Don't worry about it. The joy will happen, freedom of fluid movement through winter's paradise will be gained, and it will be amazing. You're unlikely to become the best skier on the planet, but then, you probably won't be the worst, either.

 

I'm not especially talented in any area of backcountry travel or climbing - but I'm OK enough to have incredible experiences with the folks I love in just about all of them, and that is more than OK with me.

Edited October 22, 2013 by tvashtarkatena

[mountainsandsound]

Whoops, my style of humor once again did not translate well through written word. I don't care what I will look like while skiing. I actually fully embrace nerdom.

 

Looking forward to winter. Maybe some collaboration with CCers on some objectives as well. Enjoy the high pressure system you got now.

 

 

 

 

[Alan Trick]

It is unfortunate that we will have one less gumby in our resorts. It is a true joy to watch them as they slip, fall, and do the splits because it lets us feel so much better about or mediocre skills.

Edited October 22, 2013 by Alan Trick

[ZimZam]

As my friend who skis the big spines of AK told me, "As a beginner you have to embrace falling." Listening to his sage advice, I'd fall and laugh it off. Have a blast. Now it's time to go practice my backside 1080 rodeo.

[Mtguide]

Skiing, as it's considered among European climbers, is more than just a sport- it's an essential skill of the complete alpinist, a door and a passport to the full freedom of the high places.

 

I also found myself in a similar situation at age 40, with over 25 years of x-c experience, but no real alpine, telemark, or downhill experience, and AT gear was still nowhere near as advanced as it is now. This is what I did:

 

I signed up for an all-day lesson in telemark with Wyeast Nordic of Sandy, Oregon. By the end of that day I had the basics down, and my instructor advised that the best way to keep it going and make it develop well, was to go skiing every weekend, for 3 or 4 more times, BY MYSELF,to really digest and solidify what I'd learned, (no skiing friends along to give well-meant but unskilled teaching)and then to take another lesson, go skiing, again alone, and all day, for 3 or 4 more times, take another lesson, and so on through the entire season.I skied by myself that entire season. I often went up with friends, but did my own skiing, not trying to keep up with anyone else, and the only instruction I had was from my professional at Wyeast Nordic. It wasn't cheap, but it wasn't THAT expensive, and it was

well worth every penny. Then in June, Wyeast Nordic did their yearly weeklong Telemark Ski Clinic at Mt. Hood. They usually have 10 or 12 of the world's finest professional skier/instructors, the classes are usually only about 5 or 6 people, they video your progress and review the film at the end of every day, it's a priceless opportunity. Wonderful instruction by great people, and the cost is extremely reasonable considering the excellent quality of what you're getting.

 

By the end of that first season I was able to get out on alpine tours and ski-mountaineering trips and keep up with my far more experienced friends, even if I was no where near as skilled, and over the following seasons my confidence and abilities progressed to where I felt capable of going on all but the most extreme terrain. It takes more time to gain skill beyond the age of 40, but if you keep at it, you can go a long ways. I hope someday to do the Haute Route in the Alps; it's only the expense, not my skill level, that has kept me from being able to go.

 

Learning to ski with professional instruction may not be entirely necessary, but why try to re-invent the wheel on your own, when you can go so much further, and really faster, in the long run, with the right kind of help. becoming a skier truly has opened the door to the full range of year-round climbing and mountaineering for me; my only regret is not having started it at the same time I was learning to climb in my teens.Get after it, now; and best of luck.

[unsunken]

I'm in a similar boat and decided to learn how to ski this year.

 

Does anyone have suggestions for a good place to get acquainted with and condition for skinning? Something like Mt Si but for skiing instead of hiking. Preferably somewhere that is reasonably safe to go solo, snow conditions permitting.

[alpine et]

Hyak or one of the other areas on the south side of I90.

 

 

 

Does anyone have suggestions for a good place to get acquainted with and condition for skinning? Something like Mt Si but for skiing instead of hiking. Preferably somewhere that is reasonably safe to go solo, snow conditions permitting.

[mmeyers]

yeah, Hyak is good. look at the uphill policies at the resorts - that's about as safe as you'll get from a avalanche perspective, but a higher risk of getting run over by the downhill crowd.

 

I'm in a similar boat and decided to learn how to ski this year.

 

Does anyone have suggestions for a good place to get acquainted with and condition for skinning? Something like Mt Si but for skiing instead of hiking. Preferably somewhere that is reasonably safe to go solo, snow conditions permitting.

[Alex]

I actually don't think a resort is a good place to go, the conditions are not "real", and the patrollers for one might not be very happy with you if you are toodling around during business hours.

 

I would offer the Crystal backcountry, eg the uphill track heading out of the lot on the N? side to go into Buillon Basin or the track to get to Hermann Saddle next to Table Mountain as much better exercises in travel with skis even for the beginner. These are relatively safe, well travelled winter backcountry corridors.

 

And once you are ready, you simply drop into the other side, eg into Gold Creek or Buillon Basin, or back side of Table, for real turns ...

[Fairweather]

I'm in a similar boat and decided to learn how to ski this year.

 

Does anyone have suggestions for a good place to get acquainted with and condition for skinning? Something like Mt Si but for skiing instead of hiking. Preferably somewhere that is reasonably safe to go solo, snow conditions permitting.

 

Suntop Road off of Hwy 410. 3000' gain, and avy-safe.

[tvashtarkatena]

you hardly want to try to learn how to ski in 'real' conditions. that'll take you about a century. Groomers for getting the basics down, fo sho - a lift ticket will accelerate progress 10x. Formal instruction's even better. Why make it any harder than it needs to be? And why get unnecessarily injured early on?

 

Never had a patroller say a word when skinning up at the resorts - so few people do it that i wonder if any resort even bothers to have a policy about it. just stay to the side, keep your eyes upslope and don't become a piling. Many patrollers are BC skiers. Not a big deal.

 

Sorry, Alex - but that's some crap advice, yo.

[Ben Beckerich]

Never had a patroller say a word when skinning up at the resorts - so few people do it that i wonder if any resort even bothers to have a policy about it. just stay to the side, keep your eyes upslope and don't become a piling.

 

I've gotten grief on the Palmer when the lift is running from those redcoat bazderds... which is extra retarded, considering the run becomes essentially BC for 7-9 months out of the year.

[Ben Beckerich]

I should add; I still do it, and with abandon, however. I don't know if they have the authority to actually boot me or not.