Tales from the Hinterland - an ongoing saga

For most people, on either side of the Hinterlandian border, this is a holiday weekend and tonight is the "winding down" part. Tomorrow you have one chance to do whatever it is you left home to do before heading back to the city. For those of us who work in the ski and tourism industries, it is one of the busiest weekends of the winter. In my world, it is Monday night. Before you all say, "Oh, poor SBR, how do you survive this agony?," let me remind you, if this is my Monday, then I was free on Friday and Saturday.

So, there was this big THAW in the forecast but it wasn't quite as bad as the weatherpersons' prediction. Up here in the Hinterlands, we had mild temps and rain on Thursday but Friday dawned bright, sunny and mild. Springlike, even. Spring-skiing-like, even. After weaseling out of some household duties (something about the snow being to soft to haul firewood and the skiing being good for my recuperating knee), I headed over to Hidden Bump for some afternoon entertainment.

It was full-on spring parking conditions:


These were all the cars in the parking lot:


As a result, the hill was pretty quiet:


I started out on tele gear but after an hour of surfy turns on the lovely soft snow, my 10 month post-ACL surgery knee began to complain. Lift-served tele skiing seems to be the hardest thing om my new ACL. Probably because I haven't done enough hamstring curls, or leg squats, or something besides everyday life and yoga. Anyhoo, I took a break, switched over to the locked-heel gear and decided to break with my usual rule of NOT having any alcoholic refreshment while skiing. You know, the sun was shining, it was warm enough to sit on the deck, so how could a guy resist?

So of course this:


Led to this:


And then it time go skiing again. Comfortable in my post-beer glow, I decided to test out some skis I had been interested in for some time. The Salomon Enduros were one of the skis carefully considered in the quest for a new set of planks for my brother, the famous Jonny Jay. Even though these were not listed in the blog post, JJ discovered these and tried to convince himself that this was the ride for him. While they were ultimately rejected in favour of the Line Prophet 90, it was close. I am glad JJ chose the P90. The Enduro is a ski that is hard to dislike but on the the other hand, it is a ski that is hard to get excited about. As the temperature dropped over the afternoon, the snow changed from smooshy spring corn to semi-frozen proto-mank. The Enduros slayed this with ease. They are smooth, predictable, fairly carvy and the tip rocker plows over crust, crud and weirdness. I think they would be a good second ski for someone skis reguIarly on big skis but wants a narrower hardpack ski, or, conversely, a racer type who wants a wider ski for freeskiing in cruddy snow. I was so lulled into a false sense of security that when, after five or so runs, I returned them, clicked into my Prophet 100s, took two lazy turns at the top of the hill, hooked an edge and promptly fell on my butt. The one hour post-beer hypoglycemic slump may have had something to do with this but nevertheless, SBR does not like to fall, especially under the chairlift. Especially when everybody at the local hill now knows you as "the guy in the bright red jacket." After taking another run to regain my composure, I decided to call it a day and headed home.

While the groomed trails are in reasonably good shape after the brief thaw/freeze event, the Muskoka backcountry will need some time, and fresh snow, to recover. Trees are down all over the place from the gale-force winds on Friday night and Saturday. Meanwhile, the dog is in his glory as he can walk on top of the crust instead of sinking in over his head. If only this was true for the two-legged snow lovers!

SBR - your TRs/Health Updates/Gear Reviews/Cultural Analysis are extremely informative and yet they defy categorization.

I got sidetracked by this part:

Sick Bird Rider wrote

I thought of skiing in Switzerland, with the great food and beer they serve in the huttes on the mountains. Nothing like teleing through huge corn bumps with a bunch of teenage alpine rippers after a few beers.  Funny I would never consider a beer in the middle of a ski day in the US.

After viewing the above pics, like Pavlov's pooch, I headed to the fridge.

After downing my cheap Americano imitation malt beverage I did scan the rest of the report.

I even tried to imagine the consistency of proto-mank, but then... went back to the Polly Pocket Winter Olympics.

Harvey44 wrote

SBR - your TRs/Health Updates/Gear Reviews/Cultural Analysis are extremely informative and yet they defy categorization.

Why, thank you. Being extremely informative and yet defying categorization is pretty much the story of my life. Blue Toes concurs.

Powder reports may abound in the northeast but here in the Hinterland, we still have CRUST. My big objective on Thursday was to find out if I could stay on top of the crust on skis. Since the big thaw and re-freeze of last week, the dog has been in his glory, zipping about, sniffing rabbit tracks and not breaking through. On the other hand, when on foot, bipeds have to stay on the beaten path. SBR decided to go for a ski tour in the back 40.

There is definitely an advantage to weighing in at 30 pounds and having four legs


I decided that the metal-edged Karhu XCD GTs would be the ideal ski for the day. Waxed up with Swix Blue, I headed out down the logging road. Turned out that the crust was slightly breakable, completely unsuitable for standard XC downhill technique and all manner of ski skills were required. During the first downhill stretch, I employed the snowplow, careful traversing, "grab the tree" turns, the "intentional fall," side-stepping and more snowplowing. I began to ponder the fact that the fundamentals of skiing are woefully under-instructed these days. Do modern ski schools, whether XC or Alpine, teach side-stepping, kick-turns, herringbone and basic falling? I doubt it. I pondered the concept of the "total skier," espoused by my telemark mentor Steve Kahn. Steve thought that the "total skier" would be the person who could ski all conditions and all slopes on one set of equipment. In the early 80s, when he developed this theory, skis like the XCD GT, combined with beefy leather boots and burlier 75 mm bindings, allowed skiers with telemark skills to approach this lofty objective.



The sensible skier would have just taken off their skis and walked. I, sadly, am not a sensible skier but one who aspires to be a "total skier."  I flailed my way to the bottom of the hill and carried on. The rest of the tour was pretty nice. I skied across a frozen bog, found some long-lost ski trails, got a little bit lost (or at least under-located) and decided to retreat instead of having a full-on bushwhack adventure in the late afternoon. The great thing about skinny metal-edged skis like the XCD GT is that they allow you to employ a full range of technique. In the course of this tour, I did all the downhill techniques described above, plus diagonal stride, offset skate, marathon skate, double pole, one-step double pole and any number of downhill survival skills. When I returned to the bottom of the first hill, I took off my skis and walked up.

What a great sport!

Yes, there are boats in the Hinterlandian ski wilderness


We skied into a maze of tubes and trees. This image shows Hinterlandian ingenuity at its best: hockey sticks and maple syrup lines.


I picked up a fallen trail sign and made the dog go first


Mr. Wolf has been here already (BD pole basket for reference)

Due to circumstances beyond my control, I have not skied since the NSBS. I was planning to head into the bush tomorrow for some spring "crust skiing," which is always fun.

Currently, I can hear thunder, the NCP is drumming on the steel roof of SBRHQ and the radar pic is not good. The Hinterland is getting lake effect r**n, even though Environment Canada has not changed the legend from snow to that other thing.



This is very depressing.

Ah, you be experiencing a wee bit o' the Irish mist Lad. Try some Guiness and a bonney Lass.

^^^^ Thank you Snowballs, that is excellent advice.

Lost a lot of snow last night but there is still full coverage in the trees. Things will firm up tomorrow so it could be a good day for rippin' through flat trees on skinny metal-edge skis. It all comes back to the "total skier" concept discussed above. If you have a broad skill base, and the right gear, you can have fun in just about any snow conditions. Except glop, which is what we have this morning.

At this time of year, we just have to make do with what is there until it is gone.

Just saw a robin at SBRHQ. This is not good.

Yea, they say some robins winter over here in Queensbury, but you never see them til March.

The chipmunks are out and about. I wage battle with them and the squirrels, live trapping them and shipping them out. So far, I've only had one escape, a fugitive squirrel who was, well, to " squirrelly " for the live trap to hold. Hehehe. I think he's still here and taunts me from the fence, flipping me the Tail from a safe distance.

I used to use the SuperSoaker water gun to blast them off the birdfeeder. The squirrels would be all " AAAAAAH! " freaked when hit with a good blast. The Varmits learned to hide when they heard me pumping up the Supersoaker. They'ld get behind the feeder and peer around to see me taking aim. Now I have the springload bird feeder but the squirrels still give me the evil eye.

Squirrels and I have a history.

Quick note to Snowballs: you and I will have to swap "squirrel VS bird feeder" stories over a few pints some day.

Now, on to the business at hand. Today dawned clear, cold and spring had obviously sprung back to winter. Perhaps the effects of the "super moon" had something to with it. With the rapid change in snow conditions, I decided to do some snow safety assessment.

Despite having specialized tools, my attempt at digging a snow pit failed miserably:


So I used my Red Green pro-model snow durometer testing device:


Satisfied that the snowpack was indeed crusty and skiable (walkable, even), I rummaged through the quiver for the ski of choice: the old reliable Trak Couloir (AKA Karhu Catamount). Full metal edge, Kinetic base, new Rottefella Super Telemark binders fresh out of the box:


Sorry, I don't have a Go-Pro so you will just have to imagine me skittering through forest, snowplowing down the slightest of hills, sidestepping and herringboning up stream beds, grabbing trees when none of that worked and wishing I had worn ear-plugs to drown out the ungodly racket my skis were making on the death-crust.

Not only that, I had to dodge frozen moose tracks:


And avoid getting trapped in a dangerous tree well:


Fortunately, I was accompanied by a highly trained crust-skiing dog. Utah the snow-probe checks out Secret Hill. It's definitely not flat enough for safe skiing today:


Retuning home, I discovered another hazard while skiing across the deck – the chair well:


I skied off the Deck Headwall. My tracks were so impressive that I had to take a picture of me taking a picture of them.


By this time, the temperature had increased and the snow was softening up. I knew that I must celebrate the polar opposite of the woodland ski experience by visiting the ski hill. After lunch and few household chores, to keep the Good Husband Points account in the black, I headed over to Hidden Bump for what I thought might be a busy afternoon. Today was the last Saturday of Ontario March Break, there is excellent snow coverage on the slopes and the weather was creating spring skiing conditions. Imagine my surprise to get a parking spot very close to the lodge. Where was everybody?

There were a few members on the Member's Deck, celebrating (as they often do) the fact that it was beer-thirty:


But not many skiers and riders on the hill or on the lifts:


The snow was variable. Surprisingly hard and fast in many areas but enough of this to keep things interesting:


Sadly, there were signs of the inevitable march of spring thaw:


So get rid of the spring blahs and enjoy the snow while you can!

Sick Bird Rider wrote

...

Good to see the killer TR stoke is BACK!

Warning: this TR contains images of dead forest creatures and animal poop.

I keep hearing about this cold weather pattern called a "Canadian Block" that helps create snowstorms in the Northeast. Here is a report from inside the Canadian Block. If any fellow Hinterlandians are reading this, you will note that I'm not inside the Bloc, given our looming and predictable election. Enough of that - no politics, says Harv.

For the last week, our weather has been dry, clear, cold and not that spring-like. Overnight lows have been in the -15 to -20 C range (approaching zero degrees F) and daytime highs a few degrees above or below freezing. The more than knee-deep snowpack is hard enough to walk on in boots and by late afternoon has softened up to an edgeable crust, perfect for spring tours and careful tree skiing. With Daylight Savings Time (a Hinterlandian invention, BTW), it is possible to ski after work with plenty of daylight.

Living in the forest has its advantages. Beyond our 50 acre property line, there is a huge expanse of privately-owned woodland, laced with ponds, wetlands, hardwood bush and trails cut by the various landowners for small-scale logging. They don't seem to mind if a few random skiers leave temporary tracks in their woodlot. This little paradise, which I call Wolfland, is also home to many forest creatures, including deer, moose, bear and in particular, a small band of eastern wolves known as the Ripple Lake Pack. The Ripple Lakers are a study group being investigated in a research project into Wolf-Coyote hybridization dynamics. Over the last few years, Blue Toes and I have become volunteer observers and provide "John the Wolf Guy" with anecdotal observations about the pack living in our back yard. We hear things, we see things, we tell him about it.

With the snow conditions as they are, not just the skiers are out and about. The signs are everywhere. Deer are on the move, unhindered by deep snow. Even the moose aren't breaking through too much. Beavers and otters are coming out of the ponds and skidding across the snow. Snowshoe hare tracks are everywhere. The elusive fisher walks by now and then, leaving a distinctive impression. The wolves are tracking all of this and occasionally signs of their carnivorous lifestyle emerge from the snow.

The photo TR follows:

These are not dog tracks and are 10 feet from our house.


I don the new spring touring setup and head out to investigate.
There is some rocker launch but I can deal with that.


The dog is a blur of excitement!


We made a grisly discovery at the bottom of Telemark Hill.


Somewhat detached from the spine above was a lovely prize (photo taken back at home).


I had to ski like this for about a mile to get my prize home.


The next day we returned and found more evidence nearby.
I believe the wolves buried the leg in the snow, then dug it up recently.


Some south-facing aspects are getting a bit thin.


I booted up Secret Hill in the magic light. The ski down was sketchy but fun enough to do twice.


The next day, Telemark Dave came along, so I can prove we skied down hills. You may remember this location from earlier posts.
Not so powdery today but great conditions for chasing skiers if you are a short-legged dog.


We continued on and skied across a lovely pond...


Only to find to the great blue heron rookery a few neighbours had told me about.
Looks like something you'd find in Whoville!


And more wolf sign. Hmmm, where did the rest of that deer go?


Not wanting to be stuck between a wolf, a rock and a hard place, we headed home.


Next on the agenda? Spring corn slayage in Algonquin Provincial Park! Stay tuned.

Sick Bird Rider wrote

I've been telling Harv we need to move north of the border. Conditions look axe-ellent!

" Hinteresting " tale. It's unusual to find antlers in the woods. Usually the critters eat them fast.

Wasn't Daylight Savings Time Ben Franklin's idea ? Other Franklin wisdom.....

Early to bed, early to rise, makes a Hinterlandian healthy, wealthy and wise.

Older women are the best, they don't tell, they don't swell and they're grateful as hell.

A penny saved is a penny earned.

Why fart and waste it when you can burp and taste it.

Don't fly kites in lightning storms and don't take the rockers off my chair so you can ski with them.

Snowballs you are correct. DST was first proposed by Ben F, then developed by others. Full story here.

I was thinking of famous Hinterlandian Sir Sanford Fleming, who invented both Standard Time and the concept of the time zone.

This is the best time of year to find antler sheds still frozen in the snow before the darn mice and microbes get at them.

Zelda and Harv moving to the Hinterland? There is 25 acres for sale next door and I'm sure you would make for nice neighbours. Time is fleeting...

Thanks to our Chief Foreign Correspondent for such consistently great work all season long:

 

The photojournalism...

Sick Bird Rider wrote

The deep literary knowledge and context that is applied to each feature...

Sick Bird Rider wrote

Looks like something you'd find in Whoville!

The tools that are brought to bear to bring you the story...

Sick Bird Rider wrote

You just can't get this kind of quality journalism off the shelf.

Fantastic. I need to check into this thread more often.

Thanks again for another classic SBR.
And, thanks for including the farenheit conversion - your centigrade temps always sound so unfairly cold.

Adk Jeff wrote

Thanks again for another classic SBR.
And, thanks for including the farenheit conversion - your centigrade temps always sound so unfairly cold.

Until they reach -40.    

Excellent winter updates. I am looking forward to the next installment.

Sadly, the Algonquin Park expedition did not transpire (yet). While others may lament the closure of local ski hills, some of us think it is not such a bad idea. Despite full coverage and outstanding spring conditions, the members of Hidden Bump and good citizens of Huntsville have given up on skiing.

It seems they are shopping for BBQs and other items related to Fixing and Living:


Some of us, on the other hand, were rolling in excitement for the spring snow:


Sadly, Utah the Wonder Dog stayed at home for this expedition. A small gang of Hinterlandians had arranged a secret meet-up at an undisclosed location. The white blob at centre right is a Samoyed named Pow Pow, who came to greet us but was content to remain at the bottom:


Thanks to the clever designers at Black Diamond, the refreshments were safely stowed:


After some arduous uphill, we gained the first summit:


Being the only photographer, I was of course last to the top (cough, hack):


Once on top, we noticed this strange idle conveyance, apparently designed for carrying snow-sliders to the top of small hills:


Quickly coming to our senses, we escaped the lure of the conveyance:


Hondo demonstrates how new-school boots, shorts and old-school tele skis can work together:


The Peelstickah made us telemarkers wonder about the value of AT gear:


After gaining the second summit under our own power, it was time for a break:


And yet another run, fueled by barley stoke. Warren Miller, this synchro skiing is for you:


Even SBR got in on the action, slaying the icy steeps of Member's Dip:


We hiked up for another run, underneath the strange and silent conveyance:


The Fishscalers reached the summit ahead of The Skinners, and, in spite of the changing weather, taunted the poor slackers mercilessly:


At the summit, we met a random skate skier, who despite our encouragement would not rock the downhill. He did however, rock the uphill:


Back at the ranch, SBR celebrated the first birthday of his new ACL. I am a miracle of modern medicine: