Tales from the Hinterland - winter of 2011/2012 edition

Winter has finally arrived and I have finally put skis on my feet. After dodging the bullet of a forecasted ice storm yesterday, the best thing happened: the torrential rain turned to snow.

This morning, the Hinterlandian Snow Depth-o-meter showed significant accumulation:


Since there was no point in doing bike repair for the Cuba Project, I did the logical thing and went shwacking.


There were a few minor obstacles:


But it was pretty nice skiing along in the winter wonderland:


There are still some puddles to avoid:


Woohoo! First linked turns of the season!


I had the bright idea of skiing down our road but the snow was too wet to get much speed up. Thankfully, Blue Toes got first tracks in the car so I straightlined the tire track chute and managed one turn. Oh well, it's a start!

I saw that it was dumping out your way in the radar. Good stuff! send it east

.........Meanwhile, 30 minutes down the road.....

There was a bit less snow than up in the high alpine of S.B.R.'s home in the Ravenscliffe Highlands...

But I gathered up the tools of the trade anyway...gotta keep up with the S.B.R.'s.....




So off I ventured, looking for 1st tracks....on our road.
Of course I got snaked.....



Lesson learned......If one wants first trax.....get the <expletive deleted> off of the interweb.....


All I got was 1st tracks in my driveway....next time I'll really slay the gnar, right off of the sichter scale.

I'm sure the answer is in here someplace, but I've had a few Davidson Brother's Oatmeal stouts, a few of their Anniversery Ale's, an IPA and a Coors Light.... and just tell me... Where the hell is Hinderland?

Tug Hillish?

(Adirondack Phantoms won tonight, 4-3 over the Syracuse Crunch)

Anyway, congrats on the snow, may there be feet more in your future

Chris wrote

Tug Hillish?

Funny.  Hint:  think centimeters, not inches.  Centigrade, not Farenheit.

An enjoyable report as always SBR.  And just what do you call those "Adirondack chairs" up there, Hinterlands chairs?

Adk Jeff wrote

An enjoyable report as always SBR.  And just what do you call those "Adirondack chairs" up there, Hinterlands chairs?

Aaah, very good question, because the answer is a clue for Chris: Muskoka Chairs.

Another clue hidden in the TR: Hinterlandians holiday in Cuba on a regular basis.

Canadia, Onter-eo

 Eh?

Welcome to TFTH's new home in The Woodstove! It feels warm in here...

Speaking of wood stoves, I took a break from wood-chopping and went for a short bike ride on the trail I skied a week ago.

Roughly the same location as pic 4 in my ski TR above:


Of course, I was wearing the latest in winter cycling attire:


It was fun but ultimately depressing. I can't remember the last time I rode a bike in December.

Sorry about the anti-stoke. Our forecast does look promising and the weather report has even suggested there may be snow squalls.

Sick Bird Rider wrote

Welcome to TFTH's new home in The Woodstove! It feels warm in here...

So does that mean Harv is a chimney sweep?

Finally I have a visual....



Sorry Harv.

Man, we really, really need some snow.

T.D.

This lack of snow thing is getting old. The only report I have is that there is no report.

Went for a long walk today, took this picture of the dog sitting on "the rock" on Secret Hill:



Here's the same rock on Dec. 12, 2009. Instead of a sitting dog, we see Telemark Dave sticking the landing:



And since there is snow, we have to find other sources of amusement. While splitting firewood yesterday, I noticed something odd on our deck. On closer inspection, it turned out to be a dead (and quite frozen) grouse, looking fast asleep beneath our big window. That explains the the loud thump we heard the other day. So I moved the bird to a more dignified resting place and then today, recorded it for posterity:



Of course, he could be pining for the fjords. Personally, I am pining for some snow.

Despite our more northerly latitude, The Hinterlands have been suffering the same snow drought as the Land to the South. At the moment, any skiing is taking place on man-made snow. Our beloved BC stashes are far from being in play so for some post-Christmas entertainment, we headed for the WROD at Hidden Bump. December 26 is a holiday in The Hinterlandian Empire, known as Boxing Day. It is, for some folks, a day to stand in line at the big box store and get redonkulous deals on the iPods and flat screen televisions you wish you had got for Christmas. For me, it was a day of firsts: new skis, new boots and NO KNEE BRACE.

Blue Toes and I entertained a friend for Christmas, and needing to work off this, we headed for headed for the hill:


Except for those funny white skis, things were looking decidedly retro before we even hit the slopes:


The hill itself did not look too promising:


The "closed area" was even less inviting:


The "blue chair" however, did look promising. Despite the lack of vertical, the snow was quite nice here:


The "red chair" accesses the entire 350' feet of vert but looked less inviting. The snow on this run was an enticing mix of scratchy crust and death cookies.


This is actually a view of the run off the Red Chair. The lake is not even frozen!


Despite the mediocre skiing, we had fun. There was a holiday fashion show going on:


And how can a guy complain about spending the day with two lovely women!


OK then, this is SBR saying "over and out till next time." Keep yer stick on the ice and don't forget to use your head!

SBR - LOLzer all the way around. Favorites:

• Redonkulous deals on Boxing Day
• Theoretical Black Diamond
• Enticing mix of scratchy crust and death cookies.
• Double LOL: I actually think the terrain of the red chair looks pretty sweet.
• And of course the holiday fashion show.

Great Holiday yarn SBR.

Sorry 'bout the Grouse.

Despite the rain/snow event on New Year's Day, last night's forecast was predicting 15 cm (about 6 inches) with snow squall activity. The cosmic alignment of New Year's Eve scrabble letters suggested that that the skiing was bound to improve:


As I watched the radar, much excitement and preparation ensued. A powder day was coming! Once the early morning gloom brightened up, I could see that the accumulation was a bit lower. Ever optimistic, I headed for the hill.

First tracks on the road are always a good sign...


Getting stuck behind a snowplow is a good sign:


I even managed to get second chair:


Sadly, the squall missed us and conditions turned out to be "thick dust on crust." The groomers had done an awesome job smoothing out the mush from yesterday, and that snow (?) had set up nicely, to be be covered with a thin veneer of fresh. Not exactly the powder day I had been expecting but a fun, fast and uncrowded morning. The Sir Francis Bacons again proved their ability to perform on hardpack. Just to make sure sure I wasn't imagining things, I demoed a pair of carving skis as a comparison. The Salomon X-Kart is, according to the Salomon website, a "High performance short-turn carving ski with first ever SL rocker shape for nimble, fast turning and playful sensations." Excuse me?


While I can't deny that the 72 mm dedicated carving ski out-carved the 108 mm rockered fat ski, I will say that the Bacons carved very well and are much more fun. The Solly ski was predictable, solid and quite happy doing a certain arc. The Bacon is predictable, nimble, quicker turning and much more fun. I was pretty pleased when the liftie opined that "those are some cool-looking sticks." When the ski instructor watched goggle-eyed as I carved through his carving class on fat skis, I knew I was on to something. This is an awesome ski.

Crowds were light and the day was cold and wintry:


Despite the positive ski vibrations, 350' vertical starts to get old pretty quickly on a cold day. You just can't stay warm: zoom down, quick ride up, zoom down again. Brrrr. Around noon the late sleepers started to show up and I knew it was time to go:

Just a quick post on my first visit to the place we around here call "Pipeline".

Pipeline isn't skiable until there's a significant base to cover all the nasties.
Given the snow of the last couple of days, I decided that I couldn't just sit around and let SBR or even
possibly someone else get first trax ...it's been a long wait this winter.

The drive down the access road to the trailhead was unplowed, and it was still dumping.



The 1km ski in is a peaceful escape from the realities of the daily grind.
I skied up, setting the first skin track of the season - lots of huffing and puffing.



The view from the top was familiar and comforting. And it was still snowing - lots!



I only had time for 1 run...schweet just-below-the-knee powder!
I paused at the bottom only long enough to take a pic, and admire my tracks.
Well played, sir. Time to get back to my busy life.



Stay tuned for more Tales From The Hinterland.

After yet another "snow event" (newest media catchword...FFS!), I went for a BC foray into the woods of
Ravenscliff.

Today, the roads were plowed, and the snowbanks started to look normal for this time of year.



Regular readers of the Hinterland Tales will recognize this place...the start of todays adventure.



These skis would be my "guides".



This was the view from the top of Secret Hill before someone skied all over it.



After yet another first tracks, I set the skin track back up.....and admired my tracks from the first run.



Another run left this view from the bottom.



That's all for today. Stay tuned for more tales....

Well played, sir.

Oh, and by the way, that is Ravenscliffe, with the "e."

SBR and TD went skiing this morning. It was a grand adventure involving dogs, irate snowplow drivers, attempting to drive in ski boots, fiddling with gear, big skis and, oh, yes, some pow skiing in a secret stash.

Here is a preview, more later. After I get back from yoga. Seriously.

Sick Bird Rider wrote

Here is a preview, more later. After I get back from yoga. Seriously.

Are you back from yoga yet?

I, for one, cannot wait to find out what happened!