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.
