Tales from the Hinterland: 2015/2016 edition

Wow!  Glad you guys are so groovin' on our humble little piece of the pie... I've always thought of it in a pretty simplistic (but altruistic) way.. It's just what we do. It's winter, so we ski.  Norwegians even have a word for it - friluftsliv - the outdoor life.  

Oh, and yes, I too, have to take out the garbage/recycling and compost every week. (Actually the garbage is every other week in the winter... )

Harvey wrote

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.

Funny, all my favourite pics of activities I enjoy are ones that blend the culture with the activity; skiers after a long day walking back through downtown Chamonix, skis on shoulders, to a cafe; mountain bikers chilling at a pizzeria in Finale Ligure, bikes leaned against tables against the backdrop of a busy street.... Those scenes create a message, and a connection.. The Tribe.... My tribe.  Scenes like those show a place where skiing (etc) is seamlessly embedded in the culture, not an fringe or outlier activity.  I have a vivid memory of walking back from the Tram in Engelberg - it's literally in town- skis on shoulder, back to my hotel.  Everyone did it.  Locals rode bikes carrying their skis.  It s not like North America where the Ski area/resort is a drive up the road or a separate contrived "village" like so many IntraWest resorts.

So anyways, I guess what you like about the above pic Harv, is the casual, put our skis on in the driveway atmosphere.  It is a pretty cool thing to do, actually.  We just don't recognize it as such.  C'est la vie.  

Speaking of ski culture, the snow conditions and frigid temperature yesterday (-15 C plus wind chill, maybe - 25, = -13 F), we decided that it was International Ski in the Woods on Wood Skis Day.



Most of the gear being used predates that recommended by the Knights. The boots are Merrell Ultras, so I suppose they qualify. Yes, I need to tidy up the workbench. See those shingles leaning against the wall? They came from the roof of the original Stateside Lodge at Jay Peak. Any suggestions for creative use? I only have the two.



There was definitely a Scandinavian theme to the day, despite the Italian leather boots:







Can't smoke it, might as well wax my skis with it. Carefully hoarded, the last stick. Though I know a  guy that has nine bars of Jack Rabbit! Hoarders.



Let's not talk about the rocker launch. Actually, the flexy boots and cable made it disappear once weighted. There are no pins on those bindings, just wings that hold the duckbill in place.



Smile, Dave, you are skiing!



Since we don't have any Viking helmets, fur hats seemed appropriate. Even the Patagucci shell is vintage.



Crossing a crik on 215s takes some special moves.



Even the birch grove added to the Scandi flavour.



After breaking trail on the old logging trail, we joined a "groomed" single track snomo trail, made by some friendly neighbours, with a sort-of trackset made by heavy toboggan. Very nice, no pics. Whoever claims that wood skis don't glide either doesn't know how to wax and/or is skiing on camber-less skis.

Skiing on gear like this once in a while keeps you humble, the heavy stuff spoils you.

YES! 5 star update right there!

But....you need to find viking helmets for the next Scandi vintage day. :)

raisingarizona wrote

YES! 5 star update right there!

But....you need to find viking helmets for the next Scandi vintage day. :)

Like this?    

Although SBR has a hoarded small quantity of the old Jackrabbit wet/dry (Afghani/Lebanese), I sourced out some new Tar grip wax - it's still made by Vauhti in Finland.  Old school grip waxing is pretty easy, as the skis are single cambered.  The trick is to grip wax the entire base, as there's no "wax pocket", like modern track set XC Classic skis have.  You use a colder wax than the current temperature would dictate; as the full running surface is used, you need less "grip"  than required when waxing the short area under your foot with modern equipment.  Also, as you tend not to be in modern machine set and groomed tracks, you don't want to have a too soft a wax as you will get a snow build up.

It's actually quite remarkable how quickly this knowedge has been lost by the polarization of the ski tribes, around here people either go lift served alpine skiing, or track set Nordic skiing.  Which of course, leaves a whole big bunch of skiing possibilties for the few of us who see one big ski area everywhere we look..

Oh, and the Tar wax sure smells real too.  Probably be banned soon enough...

Hooked up with Jeff LeChef and Matt the Forest fire fighter today to ski Nickle Peak near Algonquin Park.  The snow cover here has been consolidated substantially, and as well, has a random breakable crust.  In other words, pretty crappy.  But it is snow and we were on skis, so it was all good.  No pics of actual skiing, which was probably in hind sight a good thing.  There was occasional carnage and a few wounds.. Such is skiing the backbush.  

We were hard pressed to find a parking space, so being where we were, we simply parked on the road.

This is the only evidence I have that we actually skied.  Trust me... If we make the effort to skin up, we usually ski down.

The mining company plow driver left us a nice note!

Haha.  I missed the last one with Scandi day.  Nice job guys.  I was hoping to see a lurk though

Thanks Mike.  I actually took my lurk, but left it at SBRs.  I'll have to devise a shoulder strap so I can carry  it along with poles as well.  Probably a wise choice, as we are always humbled whenever we go for a woodie/leather tour.  Mostly it's the 215 cm, infinite side cut, lignostone edged skis that slap us upside the head.  Total respect for the old ways...

Excellent report, TD. Can't go wrong when you are skiing with a prospector and a firefighter.

TD ...Delivers !!!!  lovin the retro vibe brother !

warp daddy wrote

TD ...Delivers !!!!  lovin the retro vibe brother !

Thanks Warp D.   Funny, it's easier and easier to be retro as you get older...  

Telemark Dave wrote

raisingarizona wrote

YES! 5 star update right there!

But....you need to find viking helmets for the next Scandi vintage day. :)

Like this?    

that's awesome!
i'll have to find out where jake got his

^ That guy doesn't need a helmet to be a Viking.

Meanwhile, back in the Hinterlands, winter has returned. I'm glad we skied yesterday, as it is currently -31.4 C (-26 F) outside SBRHQ. No wind, yet. Blue Toes and I are supposed to go to a "skating on the lake party" later today. Very Hinterlandian concept but somehow I think it may become a "drinking around the woodstove inside" kind of affair.

So, the chair tells us that there has been some accumulation:



We haven't been this way for a whle, so it was back to breaking trail:



TD weaving his way through the obstacle course. This is low angle gnar, dudes:



Maybe we should start wearing our helmets. No harm done this time:



TD showing the style on the Secret Hill runout:



Chargering back home, no skins attached:

^ i love it.  all of it !

Chargers... bah... that's S Bound turf

I'm off the make the most of a mighty two inches on the golf course

MikeK wrote

Chargers... bah... that's S Bound turf

I'm off the make the most of a mighty two inches on the golf course

Conditions are ideal for S-Bounding, six to eight inches of new snow on a very supportive crust base. If it wasn't so frickin' cold today, I would be out on the S-Bounds right now. I recently figured out that the Lite Spike binding will work with leather duckbills. This is revolutionary. Sadly my S-Bound 112s are 3 mm too wide for Knight spec.

Sick Bird Rider wrote

Conditions are ideal for S-Bounding, six to eight inches of new snow on a very supportive crust base. If it wasn't so frickin' cold today, I would be out on the S-Bounds right now. I recently figured out that the Lite Spike binding will work with leather duckbills. This is revolutionary. Sadly my S-Bound 112s are 3 mm too wide for Knight spec.

I just tried some new skis today.  Retro suckers.  Wax and all that.  I'm going to write something about in another post.

To me, 109 is the same as 112.  They are the same damn ski profile (but much different flex I think)...

'Twas cold here.  Only a balmy 0F, but the wind was howling on ye 'ole golf course.  It's sad when you are forced to ski 2" snow drifts and frozen grass.

I like the verb "chargering!"