There are a number of projects that I've been working on recently, one of which is turning my pair of "in-bounds" skis into some backcountry powder hounds. I bought a pair of used touring bindings and mounted them on my white Fischer Kehuas. Telemark bindings now come with a free-pivot mode for skinning uphill. For those of you still thinking that telemarking = touring, which I still think is very true, there is better technology out there these days. Anyway, after the bindings were mounted I wanted to cut off the twin-tip tail (actually an old Doug Coombs trick) to better enable me to stick them into the snow while transitioning between skiing and skinning or building quick belay anchors in a more technical skiing environment. Not to mention I'm saving weight by shortening the skis...
I cut six centimeters off the tail and ground a notch to help keep my skins in place while climbing. It's been suggested that I seal the now-naked ends with an epoxy or JB Weld and after the first coat and a day of skiing the protection is chipping a little. I don't really see any problems delaminating but I still don't want water in the cores. It will most likely just be a continued maintenance issue unless putting some heavier-duty JB Weld and grinding it off smooth would be better.
Ski Modification: Twin-Tip Tail Removal from Colter Lane on Vimeo.
This is my first video in a long time, but I want to get back into making them. It will be just one more avenue for creation to add to the quiver along with still-photography and writing. The video may be a little slow and boring so feel free to fast-forward through it. Any suggestions on editing in the future will be much appreciated.
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