12/15/08

misery

NNN-bc
66/54/60
RT scraped hardpack and crud

like a flashback to 5, 6, 10 years ago.
tele whackin' clueless, hitting the deck 
hard, slow speed falls suck.

flailing like a total noob, constantly losing
the edge on any, any, surface that makes 
noise.  Maybe linked 6 turns at once,
such terrifying work to skid down the slope
in floppy hightops.  

fresh raspberries on the hip, hard
bone jarring slams to the ice.  
What ever made this seem like fun?

Force out a laugh with every spill,
no matter the impact, sometimes it
was actually silly, falling over from
pure exhaustion.  But also gotta keep 
the cool to those on the lift.

Really wanting to slam that pole 
into the snow a few times, and scream 
whythefuckcan'tImakeamotherfucking
teleturnonthesestupidmotherfucking
XCskistosavemylife!MOTHERFUCKER!!!!!

frustrating.

Basics, begin with wedge to tele, Michaux
seasoned steel edges find no purchase,
hit the deck. OK, try some meadow 
skipping foot to foot pop in the fall line,
tips cross, hit the deck.  Remember to ski 
more from the ankle, no plastic to transfer 
power from the shin. Reallllly find the ball 
of the foot, dig the freedom of the xc rig, 
so much feel for the snow.

Focused, gotta be.  Try again try to ski in 
that loose nord style, but the skis tangle 
immediately and down again.  Avoid the 
slowboarder scrapeage and finally able 
to dynamically link left to right skids
off the tops of the little crud piles. OK, 
that works, now let 'em roll off the apron 
and find a sketchy all but edgeless surfiness if 
in just the right spot. 

Find some speed and try to let the rock 
chewed waxless bases run, searching for that 
seam of softer snow to turn thru.  Get low, 
really low, so low that hands sometime drag 
as outriggers, plus it's not as far to fall.  Find 
the double camber sweet spot on occasion, 
actually rolling from turn to turn, be like a 
porpoise, really on that back ski and working 
it to shape the turn.  Actually turning where 
and when I want to. Then reality, and another 
slam into the ice.  

That's lap one, told myself I just needed to 
warm up.  You know, put yourself in a situation 
where you have to turn, and you'll figure it out.
So, over to the triple, and then a bunch of crashes 
trying to ski Ramrod from the top.  Who do I 
think I am, some mutant nord from WV?
  
Probably slid down 1/3+ of it on my ass,
lower section held some enjoyable turns
and slides.  Retreated back over to 
Minuteman and made a few more laps 
trying to dial things in.  Finally, after 
the umpteenth slam into ice preserved 
groomer tread, I gave up.  Already had 
4ish hours in me prior to this experiment
and my legs were fried. 

So, instead of heading home, I changed back 
to the big boots and skis for shit's n giggles.  
And those were the worst turns that I've made 
in a long, long, long, long time.  I couldn't feel 
the back ski, I actually caught myself wedging 
into a turn, edges felt all hooky and sharp, not 
committing to the inside ski.

It was freakin' weird.

Otherwise, the snow was pretty damn good
all wknd, lots of fun little lines and rippin' 
fast carves to be had.  Good to see everybody 
out gettin' it at the local hill.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

wow, is that what i missed after i left?? should have got some video to post some RT youtube gnar. hopefully that Titan IPA helped soothe the pain....

Bender said...

I hope to be out there next week trying out my ski legs. Hopefully I remember where I put them.

camps said...

I felt that way after skiing with boots unbuckled for a few days, and then buckling even the lower 2 buckles. Felt all Frankensteiny buckled back up.

Haven't tried the waxless in a while since I no longer have to hike up the hill to help Oliver. I might try my skinnies now though since you had so much fun.

Tomi said...

yeah, so much fun!

Tim said...

I always have those "ahhh grasshopper moments" in fresh snow on the touring gear. Seeking out better skiers to chase around always helps.