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Alpine Touring (skinning) vs. hiking


SallyCat

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Anybody here skin or hike to ski on any sort of regular basis?  How much will I hate my life if I hike-to-ski mount Ascutney?  It's literally my backyard, so I'm going to want to give it a try. And they do keep the old trails mown in the green season, so it would be ungroomed but not "backcountry."

I know it's fashionable to have a full alpine-touring set-up, but Jaysus who has that kind of money?

I'm thinking of getting a $30 pair of snowshoes and putting my skis and boots on a backpack and just walking up that way.  

I'm just wondering long-term what the advantages are of getting the whole set-up and skinning up. Doesn't seem that much less effort to me. 

 

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Fair enough, yeah I didn’t consider the unpatrolled part. 
I guess I’m wondering how much of a pita carrying a pack with skis would be. Just have to do it and see I guess!

It’s a PITA, especially if there is no boot pack. I would try the snowshoes if I were you, and if you find yourself liking that, move on to a used/cheap touring setup.
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How much vert is it? Skinning isn’t necessarily much quicker if what you’re climbing is packed down, but I think it’s less tiring because you have less weight on your back, and if you’re doing it right (unlike me) your skis don’t actually leave the ground on the way up. If you’re hiking, figure at least 30lbs in your back between skis, boots, at least some water, but also probably beer. Try hiking it in the summer with a weighted pack to test it out, then take that experience and multiply it by the awkward weight distribution factor of skis strapped to your pack. My reco would be to start scouring the interwebz for something with a pair of marker tour 10s or 12s on em, that way you’re still working with an alpine binding that you could comfortably ski on resort days too.


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If you snow shoe on a skin track you will get shamed and should get shamed. Get on Craigs list and find something used. 

Furthermore, I know its the East Coast nothing is going to slide, thats bullshit! Get the training and the equipment and travel with a friend in the back country, your life is worth more than $1000. 

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14 hours ago, NMSKI said:


It’s a PITA, especially if there is no boot pack. I would try the snowshoes if I were you, and if you find yourself liking that, move on to a used/cheap touring setup.

That makes total sense. Thanks!

13 hours ago, Justo8484 said:

How much vert is it? Skinning isn’t necessarily much quicker if what you’re climbing is packed down, but I think it’s less tiring because you have less weight on your back, and if you’re doing it right (unlike me) your skis don’t actually leave the ground on the way up. If you’re hiking, figure at least 30lbs in your back between skis, boots, at least some water, but also probably beer. Try hiking it in the summer with a weighted pack to test it out, then take that experience and multiply it by the awkward weight distribution factor of skis strapped to your pack. My reco would be to start scouring the interwebz for something with a pair of marker tour 10s or 12s on em, that way you’re still working with an alpine binding that you could comfortably ski on resort days too.


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1,800 vertical feet in total. All good points, plus the added pain of having to change from hiking to ski boots. I think I'll see how much I enjoy the actual skiing, and then go from there. If it's a total thrill to ski empty, ungroomed trails, then it might be worth looking for a used AT set-up. And man, the joy of being able to walk out my door and up the mountain on a snow day is pretty attractive! 

5 hours ago, GSSucks said:

If you snow shoe on a skin track you will get shamed and should get shamed. Get on Craigs list and find something used. 

Furthermore, I know its the East Coast nothing is going to slide, thats bullshit! Get the training and the equipment and travel with a friend in the back country, your life is worth more than $1000. 

Oh, man, I've spent enough time in Vermont to know NEVER to walk or snowshoe on ski tracks! No worries, there!

Absolutely, I'm going to start real slow, skiing just above the rope tow/t-bar area and getting used to the ungroomed surface and also getting to know the old trails. This little project is really a long-term one for me.  I live near a lot of good ski shops where I can get advice, and I know lots of people in my neighborhood who skin-to-ski Ascutney and can help me out.

Of course, everyone around here is all kitted-out with at skis and boots; I just wondered if it was totally unfeasible to snowshoe or worth it to start out. Thanks for the great advice!

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On 6/9/2018 at 8:50 PM, SallyCat said:

Fair enough, yeah I didn’t consider the unpatrolled part. 

I guess I’m wondering how much of a pita carrying a pack with skis would be. Just have to do it and see I guess!

You get about two minutes of skiing for every hour hiking maybe three minutes for you with your slow and deliberate turns. I like lifts. I used to sometimes earn turns when I was in college in Vermont and lived in Montana. I used to hike in hiking boots with ski boots in backpack with skis attached. 

Edited by GrilledSteezeSandwich
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23 hours ago, GrilledSteezeSandwich said:

You get about two minutes of skiing for every hour hiking maybe three minutes for you with your slow and deliberate turns. I like lifts. I used to sometimes earn turns when I was in college in Vermont and lived in Montana. I used to hike in hiking boots with ski boots in backpack with skis attached. 

Yeah, but I'd get a good workout, which is something I need in the winter. 

Plus skiing under a full moon would be cool.

I like lifts, too, though.  God knows I didn't move up here and adopt some kind of Yankee work ethic. I just need activity to offset the beer calories. 

Edited by SallyCat
Poor grammar and incomplete thoughts, as usual.
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18 minutes ago, indiggio said:

I always like being out in the winter under a full moon. 

Snowshoeing under a full moon sounds cool.

Try some XC cross-country?  I've been out XCing at night after fresh snowfall under moon light and it was surreal.  Didn't even need my headlamp.

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On 6/12/2018 at 5:11 PM, RootDKJ said:

Try some XC cross-country?  I've been out XCing at night after fresh snowfall under moon light and it was surreal.  Didn't even need my headlamp.

I ride my bike home from work at 10pm; There's nobody on the road, no light pollution, and just the big mountain looming against a bright, starry sky most nights. I kind of want to try night-time mountain biking but I'm scared of startling a bear. 

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On 6/15/2018 at 11:43 PM, SallyCat said:

I ride my bike home from work at 10pm; There's nobody on the road, no light pollution, and just the big mountain looming against a bright, starry sky most nights. I kind of want to try night-time mountain biking but I'm scared of startling a bear. 

I’ve done some night riding on the Columbia Trail, in NJ. That’s a neat spot to ride after dark. Pitch black, with very little visible sky, but once night vision kicks in, you can see clearly, as this was an old railroad line.  The light cinder is such a contrast to everything else. The first night I rode there I was taking a safety break on a bench near Ken Lockwood George when I heard something very large crashing through the woods in front of me.  Scared the shit out of me. I jumped on my bike so fast I forgot to grab my water bottle. Was probably a deer, but bear was on my nerves. Found the bottle the next day.

I have also done a bunch of night rides on the Capoolong Creek/Landsdown Trail with just a 1W CREE light with great success. I believe this trail goes through @Shadows family’s  lands.  Once, I accidentally found a group night ride of about 10 people at the Nassau Trails. I was going to leave, but I rode with them for a while and had one of my more fun rides ever. I’d love to do some VT rides at night. 

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12 hours ago, Shadows said:

shhhh

I'm not as bad as Eaf, right? RIGHT!?  I'm just hyper-enthusiastic about my new home and excited to try new stuff. I didn't know that skinning/hiking was contentious!  I'll probably hate it; I'm pretty lazy. But I also have a car with front-wheel-drive and very little ground clearance,  so there may be times when I can't get out in the winter. Would be nice to be able to ski at least a little. 

 

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  • 1 year later...

I'm doing my best Doug here and resurrecting an old thread. 

 

I need some suggestions on where to get a touring bindings mounted. Any suggestions? I know touring rigs are a little bit of a different beast so any recommendations would be appreciated. I also know Buckmans takes forever but if they do it well then it might be worth it. 

 

 

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