Ski Modification: Twin-Tip Tail Removal

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.

Rock and Trail

Now I have another venue for which to write and this is your invitation to check it out! A couple of friends of mine and I have recently launched a website called Rock and Trail. The three of us wanted to start a site to chronicle our adventures, helping others learn from our mistakes and our successes, and potentially starting a community of bikers and climbers. This project incorporates our combined desires to be in the outdoors, and pulls on the blogging strength of Eric (Abilene Climbers) and I and the web development of Asa.

Whether you are a mountain biker, backpacker, hiker, scrambler, vertical rock climber, gear junkie, or something in between, this is the site for you!

Denali Update: Base Camp Taxi and Sock System

View of Denali with Base Camp in foreground.
Image courtesy of TAT. 

Up to this point I would have said that Dad and I were 90% positive that we were going to Alaska to attempt Denali this June. Now we're about 95%. We filed for our permits through the Park service and reserved our flight into Base Camp through Talkeetna Air Taxi (TAT). The final committing step will be buying our plane tickets to Anchorage. We're waiting to hear whether are permit application was accepted or not, so during that time we'll be shopping air fare.

 The sock system we plan to use on Denali will consist of a liner sock, a vapor barrier liner sock (VBL), and then a thicker wool hiking sock. The idea behind the system is that the water proof VBL will cause your foot to saturate the air around it with moisture and therefore no longer be able to sweat, decreasing the heat loss out of the feet. It will also keep the outer sock and boot liner cleaner and dryer. I tried out the system while skiing at Big Mountain a couple of weeks ago.

I put it to the test while running around the slackcountry that morning. I don't really have a good grasp of how it did, since I opted to pull them off at lunch and go to a one-sock "system" for the rest of the day. The three layers felt kind of weird while skiing, but didn't hinder performance at all. What we will need to do to improve the set-up will be longer/higher liner socks. The tab to cinch down the VBL rubbed the bare skin of my leg uncomfortably since my liners didn't quite reach over the top of them. I just bought a new liner yesterday so I'll give the system another try while ski touring this coming weekend.

Denali 2011

Expedition Training Begins...
We haven't bought permits or plane tickets yet, but it's getting pretty official so I thought I'd start to mention it on my blog.  Dad and I are gearing up for a ski expedition to climb Denali, the highest point in North America this coming June.  I spent most of Friday afternoon rigging up sleds to pull up Big Mountain with weights to train and our first sled-pull came shortly thereafter that evening.  We climbed with 30 pound sleds and 20 pound packs for about half an hour.  I found that it wasn't that difficult, but that weight is still chump change compared to the 80 pound sleds and 70 pound packs we'll have to be able to shuttle from Base Camp on the Kahiltna Glacier.  The sled training configuration needs some work especially the ability to ski down; helpful if we hope to drag them to the top of Big Mountain, let alone 14 thousand feet on Denali.

I know there will be a lot of this the next coming months:

As if we didn't already know we were going the "wrong way"
they had to go and put a big, red sign pointing "Uphill"...

...but thankfully moving uphill on skis more often than not means good partners and equally good conversation.  I can't wait until we can be on skis or in the mountains together again, brother Tim.

Gear Tip: Trekking Pole Baskets

I use my Blackdiamond ski poles for backcountry skiing in the winter and later for off-trail trekking in the summer. The past couple of years I've gotten into a routine of switching my baskets every year, since they get pretty beat up. For skiing, I like the "half basket": similar to a powder basket 3/4 of the way around and a thicker shorter plastic on the other side. But in the summer, that big surface area that's so nice when putting in a skin track in the winter get snagged on brush like crazy in the summer. So I decide to cut them off, leaving a nice trekking-style circle that's much easier to manage in the shrubbery.

Replacement trekking baskets are pretty cheap, around $5, but this is a habit that I've gotten into to have shiny, new-looking, grippy baskets every ski season. However, it's become more of a "changing of the seasons" ritual that gets me psyched about every 6 months than something to do out of necessity.

Hunting Update

Three grouse with a bow. Not out of the air, mind you, but I'm still pretty proud.

Archery season is winding down up here in the mountains of Montana. The weather is feeling more and more like Fall, minus a week or two of Indian Summer. The foliage is changing colors and after watching a ski flick last night (PowderWhore Production Tele-vision) it's tough not to think about snow coming soon. I haven't been able to track down the elusive elk that haunts my dreams yet, but Dad and I have been very successful shooting grouse: I even got my limit of three with my bow while out a couple of weeks ago. A friend of mine, Brandon, and I are heading out for one last big push this weekend to try and get a shot at a bull a few hours south of the Flathead Valley.

One man's trash is another man's treasure.

Car Camping Tip #1:

For your reading pleasure, I thought I would also include a tip Dad and I discovered two weeks ago. We were planning on camping out of the back of my dad's truck on a Friday night, cutting down on driving time to hunt for two days in a row. In the mornings, we don't really have time to have coffee while wolfing down a quick breakfast before heading out before light. So we've gotten into the habit of having some fresh-brewed joe after we get back from the morning excursion. However, in the midst of packing, we forgot our pot to boil water in on the ol' Coleman stove. We tried making a bowl from some old tin foil but it had a small hole in it and leaked out before the water could get hot. Not to be deterred from our savory beverages, we found some old beer cans in the ditch and boiled some water in them! Living out the Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle ethic, eh? And it worked very well. Necessity is the mother of invention...

Ahhh, that hits the spot!