Tales from the Hinterland: 2015/2016 edition

The chair abides:



Along with regular conspirators TD and Jeff LeChef, there were some special guests on today's tour: Paul, our host for tonight's showing of Banff Mountain Film Festival, and Chuuurles, who drops in NYSB from time to time. Chuuurles gets A for effort, since he drove 2 hours north from the city to ski with a bunch of old guys.

The parking lot was a little crowded at SBRHQ:



Chuuurles also got points for touring with Alpine Trekkers on his alpine boards. Here he is about to drop into Secret Hill:



Things were happening too fast to get any decent action shots but here is LeChef threading his way through the trees:



With gear ranging from leather tele boots to Look Pivots, everybody had something to fiddle with before skinning up:



Happy crew on the beaver pond below Bonk Hill:



Then we skied out and decided to go over to The Pipeline, in order to give our guests the full Hinterlandian experience. Paul lives in ski country, near Banff, and kept commenting on how our snow was "just like out west." We'll take that as a compliment.



The Pipeline had not changed much from Dave's pictures posted yesterday. It was interesting. I'll post some pics later.

thank you so much for the hospitality, in you're beautiful neck of the woods . I had a very fun day with you guys. Sry for the kooky gear  

Treckers are brutal! Good work.

Chuuurles wrote

thank you so much for the hospitality, in you're beautiful neck of the woods . I had a very fun day with you guys. Sry for the kooky gear

The only thing kooky was the people you chose to ski with...

"the chair abides."

Does it have a choice?    As a friend, I've been meaning to talk to you about this... Leaving your chair outside all winter borders on neglect, perhaps even blatant abuse.   It's self serving.  Your cavalier attitude is disconcerting.  Would you leave your skis sitting out like that? I thought not.

It's sheer neglect, that's for sure. He could at least give it a solar panel for crying out loud....... wait, then it's an .....electric chair ?

Beautiful, I really enjoy those ski tours in pristine conditions, thanks for another great post.

Thanks, PT, we try to make do with what we have. As someone in the group said the other day, "we're going to spend two hours skiing, then five hours talking about it on the Internet."

As for the chair, we are going for the rustic, weathered look.

I was thinking about touring the other day and how much time during a big day is actually skiing. For here in flag it's kind of ridiculous or at least for me being sort of slow it sure seems like it. A big day will take 6 to 8 hours, basically out all day and in good conditions you are lucky if 5 to 7 minutes of that time is actual skiing. By actual skiing I mean skiing fall line down a reasonably steep pitch with good snow, this isn't including the time spent traversing, side stepping, skinning, or eating lunch. 8 hours for 5 minutes, that's sort of a trip when you think about it.

raisingarizona wrote

I was thinking about touring the other day and how much time during a big day is actually skiing.

Don't think about it too hard. I did once.

The driving, the chores, the putting on kids boots, the earning of money to be able to do it. The summer, the fantasizing, the blogging. The first 40 years of my life when I didn't ski.  If you are only in it for the DOWN the ratio is extreme.

RA I may be off base on this but I think you dig the up too.  That's one great thing about having nordic roots.  It's all skiing.

The Hinterlandians take this to the next level. They not only dig the up, they've created culture and they seem to thrive on almost every minute of their existence.  It's a beautiful thing, IMO.

raisingarizona wrote

I was thinking about touring the other day and how much time during a big day is actually skiing. For here in flag it's kind of ridiculous or at least for me being sort of slow it sure seems like it. A big day will take 6 to 8 hours, basically out all day and in good conditions you are lucky if 5 to 7 minutes of that time is actual skiing. By actual skiing I mean skiing fall line down a reasonably steep pitch with good snow, this isn't including the time spent traversing, side stepping, skinning, or eating lunch. 8 hours for 5 minutes, that's sort of a trip when you think about it.

In the High Peaks we are lucky to get that. You hike in several miles hike up several thousand feet and then ski down. Once or maybe twice. There are a few places where the hike in is not so long but the jaw dropping vista terrain takes more work.

I think at first you start these tours just for bragging rights, many people stop there after a few trips, kind of bucket list stuff. Then there are others who are thrill seekers who hang in longer. Finally there are those of us who just love being outside, have no problem with turning around if they sense danger or are just not feeling it, but we just keep going because we love the cold crisp silence, the beauty of the snow, the work in the climb and if we get a little downhill and some nice powder or corn, well that's pure gravy.

Harvey wrote

raisingarizona wrote

I was thinking about touring the other day and how much time during a big day is actually skiing.

Don't think about it too hard. I did once.

The driving, the chores, the putting on kids boots, the earning of money to be able to do it. The summer, the fantasizing, the blogging. The first 40 years of my life when I didn't ski.  If you are only in it for the DOWN the ratio is extreme.

RA I may be off base on this but I think you dig the up too.  That's one great thing about having nordic roots.  It's all skiing.

The Hinterlandians take this to the next level. They not only dig the up, they've created culture and they seem to thrive on almost every minute of their existence.  It's a beautiful thing, IMO.

Beautifully written, could apply to any effort in life...

Oh don't get me wrong, I love everything about touring. Mountain travel and being able to make observations and decisions based on what the mountain is telling you are all just as much a part of skiing as flying down hill at fast speeds through deep powder snow. It's the total package imho. I have always felt that you aren't at a true high level of skiing until you are proficient in all aspects of back country mountain travel on skis and the beauty in this is that you never actually stop learning.

It was a short lived and sort of a funny thought I had. I think it was brought on by a thread in the epic forums about a typical day of skiing and the average vert expected. Another reason I don't believe in getting hung up in the numbers!

raisingarizona wrote

8 hours for 5 minutes, that's sort of a trip when you think about it.

Those 5 are great, but so are the other 7:55.

Adk Jeff wrote

raisingarizona wrote

8 hours for 5 minutes, that's sort of a trip when you think about it.

Those 5 are great, but so are the other 7:55.

 
Quoted for the truth! The 7:55 make the 5 that much sweeter too!

Our main chair lift here (the only one to really ride if you are an expert) is really old and slow. I don't really have the patience or the drive to sit on it unless the conditions are really fun. The ski area is a fine little hill but it's no Snowbird or Jackson. It lacks the features of places like that and that's why after moving here I got so into touring. If you want that kind of skiing you have to tour. I discovered here the love I have for just being out their regardless of snow quality. I found myself chuckling though after adding up the numbers, I didn't realize how much is put into those few moments of descending.

raisingarizona wrote

I found myself chuckling though after adding up the numbers, I didn't realize how much is put into those few moments of descending.

Someone (I forget who) once said that the thing that makes downhill skiing so addictive is those fractions of a second you spend weightless between turns.  If you add up a good day's worth, maybe it's a minute or two. I guess there's some truth to that, but I think those of us who stick with skiing as a lifetime sport discover there's plenty of cool between and around those microseconds too.

We Hinterlandians are a simple bunch, and appreciate the kind words. That said, we still take the garbage out every second Thursday.

True, it is all about being outside, being in the moment, but it is also about that 20 seconds of joy. Whoosh.

Adk Jeff wrote

Someone (I forget who) once said that the thing that makes downhill skiing so addictive is those fractions of a second you spend weightless between turns.

I'm sure I'm not be the person you are quoting but I've definitely said and felt that. I think that why we gravitate to steep as the feeling is more dramatic the steeper the pitch.  (It's also, for me, the appeal of bumps.)

Not to be too dark but some say heroin addicts are going after that first rush they feel the FIRST time they try the drug.  You never get to feel it again, but you are always after it. How's that for short.

RA I wasn't questioning your love of the game, the total game. Just trying to reaffirm it.

Hinterlandians, sorry for all this drift. Still great stuff.

Sick Bird Rider wrote

Something I really like about this most basic image. Makes we REALLY want to visit even more.

I heard some talk, by some Adirondackers, who had the same idea.

Harvey wrote

raisingarizona wrote

I was thinking about touring the other day and how much time during a big day is actually skiing.

Don't think about it too hard. I did once.

Don't think at all.  Leave the thinking at your day job.

Just do.  Skiing is skiing is skiing.  Better off sliding or slogging than riding a lift.  At least it's skiing.

Best thing about skiing, especially by yourself.  No think.  Deep in thought about nothing am I.