April 11, 2010

Back to normal; ski until I drop, relax, eat, sleep.

I suppose I should find some time to finish my essays.  Kris has been diligently working on hers.  I have at least one draft per topic and I think it is a short effort to finish.  And Kris hasn’t been dealing with the exhaustion of skiing since she is still having back pain.

I was surprised by the skiing this week.  I showed up Thursday with my oldest skis expecting to make high speed runs on the groomed snow.  I found out on a lift ride that three feet of new snow had fallen at the beginning of the week while we were in Vegas.  I made a few fast groomer runs before returning to the van to swap skis.  I didn’t have my powder skis, but my shorter skis are better in powder than my old ones.  The old ones showed their capabilities in a top to bottom run in 3:15, a full 9 seconds faster than I accomplished on the short skis the previous week, even with the burden of a couple slowdowns to avoid some slower skiers.  I tried another run late in the day on the short skis and could only match my previous 3:24.  I don’t know that I can comfortably beat that on those skis.

On my first run on the short skis, I dove right into a rare opening of New Year’s Chute.  In five seasons, I had never skied New Year’s.  It was easier than Christmas, wider and less visually intimidating.  It did neck down near the outlet of the chute, but I chose a ‘goat trail’ out.  Trails that traverse out of chutes are terrifying.  They inevitably have you crossing incredibly steep and sometimes rocky terrain.  It feels like you are skiing on a ledge.  On this one, I had to ski across a few rocks as the trail turned across the nose of the chute.  In terrain that steep, the last thing on my mind was protecting my skis.

This brought me out at a midpoint on my favorite run, the Monies.  I poked at the snow as I traversed and it was firm.  Monies had slid and the debris was visible down below.  I kept traversing.  This took me to another place I had never been, the far boundary with a view of the Winter Creek valley.  I recognized the valley that Kris and I have hiked.  From there, I enjoyed some nice snow along the boundary, flirting with a few stretches of steep trees. 

I also took a run on Max’s.  I have only skied Max’s once before.  It is a lot of work to follow High Traverse that far and then have to climb a bit further.  I had scoped my line from the lift earlier in the day and was pleased to find the chute through the trees that I saw from below.  The chute was almost untouched because it required skiing through some avalanche debris to get in.  The debris wasn’t particularly bad.  It was a great run until the elevation was low enough that the snow conditions changed to slightly crusted heavy snow.  The last third was difficult.

On Friday, I continued expanding my Alyeska experience.  The Headwall was open.  While I have skied part of the Headwall by climbing Center Ridge and traversing around below the cliffs, I had never climbed to the ridgeline.  Kris lent me her ski strap which allowed me to strap my skis to my back instead of carrying them up the steep climb.  The climb was further than I thought, probably 800 feet straight up a steep slope to a saddle.  From there, I followed the ridgeline a couple hundred feet higher, just short of the limit that ski patrol had set for the day.  It was an exhausting climb.  I took my coat off to cool off and drank most of my water before finally putting my on skis.

I wasn’t planning to go that far up the ridge, but once I was up there, the desire to explore took over.  The best snow was probably pretty close to the climbing line.  Further out the sun bakes the snow which then freezes into a crust overnight.  I knew I didn’t want to go further because it was curving around to face the sun more, but I was well beyond the lines I had scouted from below.  I knew I could traverse out of any problem, but seeing the problems was going to be the challenge.  The ridgeline rolled away quickly.  As I skied over the roll, the steepness presented itself to me.  I was sort of relieved to recognize my location, but I was above a big cliff line.  I quickly began working my way to the right.  The snow changed from soft to crusty.  I found a compromise location between the cliffs and the crust, a steep section that exploded into a surface of sliding snow with every turn.  The slough was beyond anything I had ever experienced and a pause along the edge of it still had me being swept down the mountain. 

The line worked out as I knew that below the cliffs was a nice slope of untracked snow.  I cut left under the cliffs and away from the slough.  I made about a dozen more turns in decent snow at a more moderate pitch.  It was a little crusty and required effort, but it was still a nice finish to the run.  Mostly, though, I was happy to have checked off the last part of Alyeska that I hadn’t skied.  I can now say that I have skied practically everything at Alyeska.  There are lines and cliff bands that people ski that I haven’t, but I have now at least explored everything.  There will always be new lines to ski.  At my age, there will always be lines that don’t pass my risk-benefit analysis.

I finished the day with another pass down Max’s.  Another day of baking in the sun outdid the benefit of having the right skis.  The lower third was even less skiable than Thursday.  The upper two thirds were pleasant, although my line choice did not work out as well as I had hoped as a weird gully pinned me against the trees.  With only two runs, Friday’s 3,700 vertical feet added very little to my season total, but it was as exhausting a day as any.

The van continues to please me.  It runs so smoothly.  Perhaps spending the last six months on studded tires makes a vehicle with normal tires seem smooth.  Perhaps the engine and transmission really are in great shape.  It just seems oddly nice for such an old vehicle.  I am also getting over 15 mpg now that it is warmer and I am operating primarily at highway speeds.  I am hoping this cheap truck works out to have been a smart choice, but it is looking likely.

I towed the trailer for the first time.  The storage lot manager asked me to change parking spots and I agreed.  While I was hitched up, I took the trailer up the street to put some air in the tires.  The van accelerated adequately.  I didn’t feel the need to push my foot to the floor.  I could tell I was towing something, especially on the rough driveway of the storage lot.  The bouncing will probably smooth a little with the load distributing bars.  I didn’t bother hooking them up as I wasn’t going very far. 

I appear to have some wiring problems.  The trailer lights are always on and the trailer brakes don’t seem to be working properly.  I suspect that the trailer wiring does not match the plug wiring on my van.  I verified that I have the van wired to the standard wiring convention, so I think the trailer might have a couple wires reversed.  I will need to look at this more closely.

This morning we were back at the airport at the same early hour as last Sunday.  This time it was to pick up our friend who is visiting for the first time since his move to Hawaii.  We all got a couple more hours of sleep at our place before going out for a late breakfast.  We also stopped at REI as he was having withdrawal; Hawaii doesn’t have an REI.  I hadn’t really thought about it before, but the convenience of having a gear store like that just around the corner will be something to miss when we leave.  While we aren’t obsessive shoppers, it is nice to have such a store when we need something.  Online shopping isn’t as immediate, doesn’t provide the chance to see the product, and is a complete impossibility for things like hiking boots.

Yesterday I solved a dilemma.  My scanner broke a week or so ago.  I took it apart to see if it had a loose connection, but it is dead.  Kris wants a small printer for her computer and many of the basic printers now include a scanner.  In fact, it appears to be impossible to find a scanner like my old one anymore.  We looked at printers and I began trying to understand the benefits of each brand.  I was not particularly excited by any of the scanners.  I only need a scanner to complete my old photographs and then maybe an occasional document after that.  I identified a Canon printer/scanner that seemed acceptable, but no one carries that model here. 

I really wanted an imaging system that I could rely on.  Then I realized that I already have an imaging system that I can rely on – my digital cameras.  I experimented with some shots and was pleased with the results.  To go into production, I set up a tripod, some lighting, and hooked up my computer.  After a little tweaking of white balance and exposure, I was cranking through photographs faster than the scanner ever could.  And the results have been quite acceptable.  It seems odd to take a picture of a picture, but that is all the scanner was doing.

Now we just need to find a small printer, which will be much smaller than the printer/scanner units.  Size is important since the days of living in a trailer are soon upon us.