Thursday, July 2, 2009

Show and Tell - ski mountaineering


This is my show and tell. This is me ski mountaineering in the Sierra Buttes. Don't know what ski mountaineering is? Five years ago, I didn't either.

To be brief - essentially you have a more or less normal downhill ski and boots, but the binding detatches at the heel to allow you to lift your heel and slide the ski forward, much like a cross-country ski binding. You put synthetic "skins" on the bottom of the ski with a special adhesive, and this allows you to walk uphill without sliding backwards. Pick a mountains, go for the summit, then peel off the skins, lock down the bindings and ski down.

Just a note - these aren't telemark skis! You ski down in a normal downhill fashion.

I'm not a great skier. I was enthralled with the idea of this sport for a few years, because it would allow me to go out in the backcountry during winter, and I also thought that skiing all that ungroomed powder would be really cool. Then I fell and tore a ligament in my knee two years ago, and I haven't been all that crazy about skiing since.

One of these years I will ignore my husband's disdain and try snowshoeing instead.

Go check out what other people are showing!

~
Briefly, in other news - it's 12 dpo, 2 days to go. I woke up early this morning (my cat and I are going to have to have a serious talk soon) and I seriously thought about testing. I didn't do it, though. I can wait it out until Saturday morning, when I wake up at 5 am unable to sleep. Less than 24 hours to go!

10 comments:

  1. I have seen people on the slopes with those, but didn't realize you can ski/hike up the mountain. How cool is that? Wishing you all the best for a good ++++++++++++ result on Saturday!

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  2. I'm glad you stayed strong and didn't test. I'm not a believer in early testing. I am looking forward to reading about your BFP on Saturday.

    Thanks for your comment on my post today. I posted a response-comment below it.

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  3. I have a confession--I am deathly afraid of skiing. Something to do with knowing a lot of people with skiing injuries (such as yourself) and the heights. You have my admiration for attempting such a feat. :)

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  4. Wow... that's way beyond me! But then, I have never been skiing (I have difficulties keeping my bones intact without strapping waxed planks to my feet and pointing them downhill).

    Sending prayers and good thoughts for a very happy result this weekend!

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  5. That is very impressive. My skiing experience was horrible. I went skiing for the first time and I tore a ligament in the process of putting the skis on. Some hard talk by the instructor and the extreme cold outside forced me to get through the lesson. I fell for good trying to get down that first hill.

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  6. Looks like a lot of fun, minus the injured kneee. Crossing fingers and holding hope in a head lock for ya ;o)
    *HUGS*

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  7. So I've never heard of this but that's not a big surprise since I don't ski. Scares the crap out of me and I'm seriously not that coordinated. I too wouldn't mind trying snowshoeing sometime though.

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  8. I feel your "waiting pain"! You're so close, yay! :) Keepin' my fingers crossed for you!

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  9. Beautiful pic! I've only been skiing once in my life, but it was a blast :).
    I'm posting this late Friday night, so you congrats on only having a couple more hours to go before you POAS!

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Thanks for sharing your thoughts!