TR: Ski day trips near Tahoe, ski reviews and questions.
Posted: Sun Mar 03, 2013 1:11 pm
Trip report: Ski day trips near Tahoe, ski reviews and questions.
Last two weekends I was cross-country skiing near Lake Tahoe.
I wanted to try what it takes to access backcountry on skis. Hopefully these experiences can help some beginners.
The first weekend was in Donner Pass area.
Saturday we went to Royal Gorge Cross Country Ski Resort. I rented metal edge skis, even though metal edge was not really needed, because I wanted to try them out before using such skis in backcountry. 62/52/60mm width. With my son we went to Horseshoe loop near Devil's Peak. Going on wide groomed trails was easy, except the steepest sections. We tried a little off trail, not steep - it was OK.
Sunday I went to Round Valley near Castle Peak. See route. I rented similar skis from Tahoe Dave's. Soon going uphill became tough. Trail was narrow, icy, uneven, and steep in places. I had no skins, so going uphill was a struggle. People on snow shoes were passing me. At the steepest section before the top of the pass I took off my skis and walked next to the trail. Some other skiers were coming up going towards Castle Peak. They seemed to have alpine touring (AT) equipment with heel risers. With skins, of course.
After the pass, going down was difficult wherever there was not much room around the trail. It's hard to maneuver the skis to slow down. I saw on the map that the trail steepens as it arrives to Round Valley. So I left the trail to the right on what looked like a manageable slope with hopefully soft snow. As I skied down the sparsely wooded slope, I found that even there I pretty much could not turn these skis. The shoes were even softer and smaller than the day before. The groove easily popped from the ridge in the binding and when I turned my foot the shoe turned but the ski stayed straight. I ended up skiing in straight traverse sections, turning at the end of each switchback awkwardly, attempting not to slide down when my skis were not perpendicular to the fall line (a term I learned the next week). The snow had crust on top that broke under my weight which made controlling the skis harder. It was not snowing for many weeks, and the snow was old.
Once down in the valley it was nice and easy. In the Peter Grubb Hut there were many people, including someone playing a small backpacker guitar. There was cookware, backpacks, sleeping bags, clothes, etc. After exploring the valley I managed to climb up (again with awkward turns at switchbacks) and go down back to the SNO park. I took off skis 2 times going down, when I could not switchback around the somewhat steep trail.
Side room in Peter Grubb Hut. I had skied cross country twice before, in Badger Pass area on medium difficulty trails (I even broke an unbroken trail there in a few days old snow - it's not that hard, but of course much slower), but this was much harder. It wasn't dangerous though. Any time I could simply take off skis and walk out.
Between weekends I did more research. I learned about kick-turn. Few inches of fresh snow fell. I rented telemark skis with fishscale pattern at the middle bottom (it seems that most telemark skis don't have it). 98/69/88 width. Fischer S-bound. I also rented skins.
The next weekend we went to Carson Pass area. Just like previous week, forecasted avalanche risk for Tahoe area was low. Hillmap slope analysis shows I would be away from areas with slope over 35 degrees.
Saturday I went south to Frog Lake and Winnemucca Lake. See route. Lakes are not very interesting in winter - simply a flat area of snow. I saw some people skiing down eastern side of Elephants Back. Weather was mostly cloudy with some snow sprinkles. I didn't have to use skins this day. Picture in another thread.
Winnemucca Lake Sunday I went to Meiss Lake. See route. Soon I had to put skins on. Skins make climbing much easier. Skis with skins can go up pretty steep hills. Almost like long narrow snow shoes. I went up too high initially, following some tracks. I had to ski down before climbing the pass. I didn't want to fuss with skins so I skied down on skins. This may be a good way to slow down if slope is too steep. It was cold and windy morning. Some lifts at Kirkwood were stopped that morning due to wind. I wished my fleece hat could block the wind better. But it wasn't cold enough to put up a hood. After skinning up to the pass I removed skins and easily skied down to the valley. The wind died down and it became a nice sunny day, not cold at all.
In the southern end of the valley there were some people snow-camping. I toured the series of inter-connected meadows - very nice. I was the only person there - I saw only one set of fresh tracks going in opposite direction - someone left that area earlier that morning. It was a good trip.
Telemark bindings give much better control of skis. Turning is much easier - the skis actually follow the direction in which I want to turn. One doesn't have to know how to do telemark turn. The springs press the heel down, which helps to control the turns. Even though the heel is free to lift, the cables transfer lateral heel motion into ski to turn quite well. The force of the springs can be decreased by flipping the back lever down 90 degrees, which helps when touring on flat terrain or when climbing. Wider skis help prevent sinking too much when breaking a trail (which I was doing most of the time in the valley). I think that even wider skis would be better.
One down-side of telemark setup is the boots. They are heavy stiff boots without any flexibility to move the foot at the ankle joint. Similar to regular ski boots for downhill alpine skiing. This is heavy weight if one wanted to go for multi-day trip.
Are there any light-weight, more flexible telemark boots? Or AT boots? Or other binding systems that still give good ski control? Would BC binding work? I am afraid not, because they are similar to regular cross country bindings where turning of leg/foot doesn't transfer well to ski, because the shoe is too soft, especially in toe area where attached to the ski. What about SNS Pilot binding that has two rods?
Last two weekends I was cross-country skiing near Lake Tahoe.
I wanted to try what it takes to access backcountry on skis. Hopefully these experiences can help some beginners.
The first weekend was in Donner Pass area.
Saturday we went to Royal Gorge Cross Country Ski Resort. I rented metal edge skis, even though metal edge was not really needed, because I wanted to try them out before using such skis in backcountry. 62/52/60mm width. With my son we went to Horseshoe loop near Devil's Peak. Going on wide groomed trails was easy, except the steepest sections. We tried a little off trail, not steep - it was OK.
Sunday I went to Round Valley near Castle Peak. See route. I rented similar skis from Tahoe Dave's. Soon going uphill became tough. Trail was narrow, icy, uneven, and steep in places. I had no skins, so going uphill was a struggle. People on snow shoes were passing me. At the steepest section before the top of the pass I took off my skis and walked next to the trail. Some other skiers were coming up going towards Castle Peak. They seemed to have alpine touring (AT) equipment with heel risers. With skins, of course.
After the pass, going down was difficult wherever there was not much room around the trail. It's hard to maneuver the skis to slow down. I saw on the map that the trail steepens as it arrives to Round Valley. So I left the trail to the right on what looked like a manageable slope with hopefully soft snow. As I skied down the sparsely wooded slope, I found that even there I pretty much could not turn these skis. The shoes were even softer and smaller than the day before. The groove easily popped from the ridge in the binding and when I turned my foot the shoe turned but the ski stayed straight. I ended up skiing in straight traverse sections, turning at the end of each switchback awkwardly, attempting not to slide down when my skis were not perpendicular to the fall line (a term I learned the next week). The snow had crust on top that broke under my weight which made controlling the skis harder. It was not snowing for many weeks, and the snow was old.
Once down in the valley it was nice and easy. In the Peter Grubb Hut there were many people, including someone playing a small backpacker guitar. There was cookware, backpacks, sleeping bags, clothes, etc. After exploring the valley I managed to climb up (again with awkward turns at switchbacks) and go down back to the SNO park. I took off skis 2 times going down, when I could not switchback around the somewhat steep trail.
Side room in Peter Grubb Hut. I had skied cross country twice before, in Badger Pass area on medium difficulty trails (I even broke an unbroken trail there in a few days old snow - it's not that hard, but of course much slower), but this was much harder. It wasn't dangerous though. Any time I could simply take off skis and walk out.
Between weekends I did more research. I learned about kick-turn. Few inches of fresh snow fell. I rented telemark skis with fishscale pattern at the middle bottom (it seems that most telemark skis don't have it). 98/69/88 width. Fischer S-bound. I also rented skins.
The next weekend we went to Carson Pass area. Just like previous week, forecasted avalanche risk for Tahoe area was low. Hillmap slope analysis shows I would be away from areas with slope over 35 degrees.
Saturday I went south to Frog Lake and Winnemucca Lake. See route. Lakes are not very interesting in winter - simply a flat area of snow. I saw some people skiing down eastern side of Elephants Back. Weather was mostly cloudy with some snow sprinkles. I didn't have to use skins this day. Picture in another thread.
Winnemucca Lake Sunday I went to Meiss Lake. See route. Soon I had to put skins on. Skins make climbing much easier. Skis with skins can go up pretty steep hills. Almost like long narrow snow shoes. I went up too high initially, following some tracks. I had to ski down before climbing the pass. I didn't want to fuss with skins so I skied down on skins. This may be a good way to slow down if slope is too steep. It was cold and windy morning. Some lifts at Kirkwood were stopped that morning due to wind. I wished my fleece hat could block the wind better. But it wasn't cold enough to put up a hood. After skinning up to the pass I removed skins and easily skied down to the valley. The wind died down and it became a nice sunny day, not cold at all.
In the southern end of the valley there were some people snow-camping. I toured the series of inter-connected meadows - very nice. I was the only person there - I saw only one set of fresh tracks going in opposite direction - someone left that area earlier that morning. It was a good trip.
Telemark bindings give much better control of skis. Turning is much easier - the skis actually follow the direction in which I want to turn. One doesn't have to know how to do telemark turn. The springs press the heel down, which helps to control the turns. Even though the heel is free to lift, the cables transfer lateral heel motion into ski to turn quite well. The force of the springs can be decreased by flipping the back lever down 90 degrees, which helps when touring on flat terrain or when climbing. Wider skis help prevent sinking too much when breaking a trail (which I was doing most of the time in the valley). I think that even wider skis would be better.
One down-side of telemark setup is the boots. They are heavy stiff boots without any flexibility to move the foot at the ankle joint. Similar to regular ski boots for downhill alpine skiing. This is heavy weight if one wanted to go for multi-day trip.
Are there any light-weight, more flexible telemark boots? Or AT boots? Or other binding systems that still give good ski control? Would BC binding work? I am afraid not, because they are similar to regular cross country bindings where turning of leg/foot doesn't transfer well to ski, because the shoe is too soft, especially in toe area where attached to the ski. What about SNS Pilot binding that has two rods?