La Sportiva Stratos Evo and RSR Preview

Santa was good to me this year and dropped off the new La Sportiva Stratos Evo.  I've been in the market for one of the new ultra light boots for a while, but finally chose the Stratos over the Scarpa Alien and the Dynafit Evo.  Weight wise, in a size 27, it turns out the Stratos is probably the heaviest of the three, but negligibly so (40-50 grams). I think it may ski the best (without actually skiing the others) and   ultimately, it was the stiffness of full carbon, the reputation of La Sportiva, and the sheer beauty finally swayed me.  

Right away, the quality craftsmanship is noted on handling the boot.  Handmade in Italy, the boot looks and feels like it could be worn with a suit (real suit that stiffs wear to work, not a skin suit).  I thought I could just pull it out of the box and try it on but just as this video implies, some instruction is necessary.  However, this is the new version of the Stratos, and actually isn't too cumbersome to figure out.

Starting with just the liner, I loosened the unique lacing system, slipped my foot in, and was happy straight away with the performance fit.  Snugging up the laces and then wrapping them around the ankle a time or two and then keeping it all in place with a velcro tab also allows one to really dial in the fit.  Once the liner is placed in the boot, a second velcro tab secures the forefoot in place and seems to internalize the 2nd "buckle" and make it perform consistently well as it doesn't pop open as with other boots.  Finally, a well designed gaiter keeps snow out and streamlines the appearance.

Liner firmly in place with velcro strap over forefoot

Close up of internal velcro "buckle"

To take the liner out, or place it in the shell, a portion of the cuff must be rotated 180 degrees, opening up the anterior aspect.  However, the dyneema cord must first be unhooked from the buckle (see below)

Cuff rotated back into place

Dyneema cord that hooks to buckle.  This must be undone to get in and out of the boot. 

Dyneema cord hooked in place on buckle

For a race boot, or any boot designed with speed in mind, the closure system needs to be swift and efficient.  Scarpa and Pierre Gignoux use a vertical lever system that latches on the lower posterior aspect of the lower shell.  When the lever is closed, it tightens the cord around the cuff and locks the whole mechanism into place.  Genius.  Dynafit has come up with an overlapping cuff that is locked into place with a side throw buckle.  This horizontal lever has a pin that is inserted into a hole through the overlapping segments.  Also genius.  Both require a single action to transition between ski and walk mode.  Sportiva has stepped into the game and created their own mechanism that appears to blend the other two.  The Stratos have a horizontal throw that tightens the cord around the cuff and pulls a vertical lever into a notch in the back of the cuff.  This locks the cuff in place as the lever spans from the lower shell to the above mentioned and pictured notch.  It sounds complicated but in reality is smooth and really fast.  My only concerns are the durability of the plastic appearing lever and the fact that the receiving notch is built into the carbon cuff without apparent reinforcement.  

Locked in ski mode

As pictured above, the dyneema cord holds the whole shebang together.  It can be adjusted to fit both skinny legs and cankles.  I think mine are some where in between and will require a bit of fiddling since I still had a bit of room in the cuff to wiggle around.

One of the coolest aspects of the whole closure mechanism is how easy it is to release.  When the buckle is opened, a tension bar pushes the vertical lever out of the notch and back into walk mode.  This is something I fought with at times with my Dynafit boots and I was psyched to be able to transition with the flick of a finger.

Unique tension bar that pushes the locking lever into walk mode once the buckle is released

Since 90 something percent of our time is spent walking, the tourability better be fantastic for a race specific boot (I keep saying "race specific", but I think these boots might become a mountaineering boot for long traverses and speed ascents).  When the Dynafit DyNA came out with its 62 degrees of cuff articulation, I felt like I was in running shoes compared to other boots.  I didn't measure, but I'm willing to bet that the articulation of the Stratos exceeds that by a fair margin.

Rearward articulation near maxed out

Forward articulation near max

Durability in a full carbon boot is another big question mark.  A friend who skis full carbon Pierre Gignoux 444s has broken them multiple times, often at inopportune times such as while racing (although another friend skied Mount Robson in them!).  Carbon can crack and boots can break in a million different ways, but one area of wear that consistently appears is around the main rivets of the cuff.  I'm sure all you owners of the TLT Performance know what I'm talking about if you've put in any serious mileage.  All the new boots by Dynafit, Scarpa, and Sportiva appear to have at lease mitigated the problem by adding metal bushings to prevent the carbon on metal wear.  

Metal on metal

And what kind of sole did Italian boot makers come up with?  I'd have to say a surprisingly beefy Vibram sole that looks more at home on a traditional climbing boot.   If any weight were to be shaved it seems it could have been done here but again, it looks like all attempts were made to produce a quality product that will last.  The burly full sole also makes the thought of taking these "race boots" out for some real adventures.  

Full Vibram sole?

So with the heavy sole, the overall weight (with some sweat from this mornings workout) checks in at 740-751 grams per boot in size 27.0.  Advertised at 694 grams (534 for the shell and 165 for the liner) in size 26.0, I feel the weight is probably pretty accurate with with any marketing claims.  The sneaky  way the carbon boot manufacturers report weight can be misleading as Pierre Gignoux makes two boots, one the XP444 and the other the XP500 with the numbers being the weight of the shell.  Needing to brush up on my Italian, I missed that the liner weighs as much as it does and thought the boot would check in a bit lighter.  Chi se ne frega?

Oh, and did I mention the skis?

So I know the main question will be how do they ski?  After one day with the cuff not properly adjusted to the girth of my leg, I'm really optimistic.  It was slightly hard to discern the difference between the new boots and the new skis but at least the combination felt great.  The boots are stiff and the skis feel like razors (read new and not abused) compared to my others.  I might have to touch on the subject again once I have more days on the boots and have skied more than a couple groomers and soft chop.  

But for now, I'm just psyched that Santa and his Italian little elves can make more than just rocking horses and other assorted crap.  They really stepped up their game this year.  

Christmas Eve Rando Rally Results

This morning we had our best race and turnout yet.  I'm not sure of the official count, but around 25-30 people showed up to chase each other around like fools in the crisp winter light.  Temps were perfect for racing (i.e. skin suits were comfortable once moving).  

We had some opening remarks by Brandon Dodge, Brighton patroller and defender of all skiers, and then I gave a pre race briefing to outline the course and to counsel caution on the DH given the meager coverage. Tanner was the official starter and his brother Tyler the official photographer.  

Christmas Eve Spandex 

We were off with some hooting and hollering and then I stepped out of my right ski.  Jason and Jared took notice and put the hammer down.  Facing the wrong direction as the field swallowed me, I got back into my binding and tried to give chase when I stepped out again.  Letting out a primal yell, I was getting frustrated.  No gentleman's agreement here as in cycling.  The guys up front were attacking while I tried to get my junk show punter self together.  

I probably burned the engine too hot, but caught back up and transitioned with the J's.  Except I blew the transition at the top of the Millicent lift, as for some reason my boot buckle wouldn't lock in ski mode.  Eventually (20-30 seconds later), I was mad pursuit, hoping to clean up my act.  

The usual sprint start

Our next climb was from the Brighton base to the summit of Patsy Marley, skinning around the lake en route.  Again the gap closed, particularly when Jason experienced a skin failure, but again I stepped out of my binding (not sure why, but probably has to do with the small plastic piece that underlies the toe lever keeping it securely locked).  On top of Patsy, the others were just finishing their transition as I pulled in.  I fumbled about again and then gave chase only to really ruin my race by crashing into a "rock well" and falling even further behind.  

But, in spite of my errors the day was fun with our whole group scattered all over.  Hopefully everyone else thought so too since there was some confusion about the correct route.  The remainder of the course went up Patsy a second time from Michigan City, down to the pass, up Honeycomb, and then back around the lake and down to Brighton.  Jason edged out Jared for the win and I limped in for third.  Emily nipped Emily for the women's victory and given the confusion over the course, there was no clear "rec" winner but everyone earned a second helping at their holiday feasts.  And, as has become the tradition, victory pies were handed out to both the first place man and woman and an extra was given to the racer with the heaviest gear.  

Thanks to Dodge and the rest of the folks at Brighton for allowing our shenanigans and for all those that came out to play.  Stay tuned for the next one in a month or so...

Happy holidays everyone,

AD

Pic of the Day, Patience and a History Lesson

Today was the winter solstice so we decided to try to actually go skiing for a change instead of resort walking.  What we found was a foot or two of facets, a few stout crust layers separated by more facets, and some powder, all topped off with a 6 inch soft/wind slab.  We stuttered up the chute debating the worthiness of the objective (it was not worth even the moderate risk), and turned tail to get some exercise doing some more resort walking.  

Blustery morning in Suicide Chute (Photo by Jason Dorais)

So while we wait for winter to actually set in, dreaming of actual steep skiing, here is a link from outerlocal.com to a short history lesson with videos about those on whose shoulders this sport was built.  

Extreme Skiing in the Alps

12-19-2011 South Summit, Mt Timpanogos - FRESH AIR!!!

Aaron and Isaac Inouye heading up Primrose Cirque 

 While the valley floors were covered in pollution, Aaron, Isaac and I hiked to the South Summit of Timp in search of a little fresh air.  Starting at Aspen Grove under clear starry skys we quickly made it up Primrose.  Once it was light enough to turn headlamps off we noticed a hugely obvious inversion.  It felt pretty good knowing we weren't down there breathing it all in.  From there on it was one of the prettiest trips I've made up Timp.  I'm not sure why, maybe it's because this year most my skiing has been "training (uphill laps at a resort)" and not "touring," maybe it was the inversion, maybe it was the fantastic morning light, maybe it was knowing how bad the air was down low. Whatever it was, this morning was spectacular. A few pictures to prove it...

Clear morning skys and the moon above Timp 

Aaron and Isaac towards the top of the snowfield

The boys at the saddle

 Once we hit the saddle it was obvious there wasn't going to be any skiing going on to the West.  Since the South Summit is so close and Aaron already said  "today feels like a summit day" we felt the need to go stand on it. Tiring loose rock led to more scenic views...

Just leaving the saddle

Inouyes summiting

 From the summit we walked back down the loose rock and started skiing from the saddle.  Conditions ranged from breakable to supportable to week old powder.  Over all not too bad.  There were, of course, a few lurking shark fins.

Aaron on top of the snowfield

Someone got caught by a shark

As everyone already knows, new snow will lead to dangerous conditions.  I'm glad I got up the Utah County classic before things get worse.  Maybe you should too.

Wasatch Conditions - Wolverine Cirque

With a limited number of skis that I feel like trashing this "preseason", I haven't really done anything exciting except for race and chase friends up and down Brighton, training for the future.  Also, with a newborn in the home, the longer adventures will have to wait a little while.

But, Saturday, the affable Christopher Cawley offered his company for a relatively short tour through the narrow swath of backcountry terrain sandwiched between Alta and Brighton.  We made short descents from Rocky Point, down three chutes in Wolverine (Granny, Huge, and unknown), and out Patsy Marley (Chris) and Grizzly (me) to the car.

The best snow was in the sheltered Cirque and we were quite pleased as two of the chutes that we deemed skiable had no tracks until ours.  Rocky up high, the lower chutes were a nice blend of dry powder and deep facets that improved throughout the apron.

Chute #2 Photo by CC

Conservative skiing with sharks lurking, photo by CC

CC looking for rocks

Chute #3, photo by CC

So the bottom line is that there is some fun snow out there but caution is still the name of the game given the shallow rotten snowpack.  And, the bummer of the whole deal is that once we finally get snow, all the fun stuff will be off limits until things heal.

From the UAC:

"Our snow pack is so weak, its looking for any excuse to slide – slabs of only a few inches thick can overweight these weak layers of surface hoar, near surface facets and depth hoar. If you are heading into steep terrain, above about 9,500’, realize a “slab” can be the old, fist hardness snow, a small wind drift, or an old buried wind crust. Anything you trigger could be large enough to catch and carry – you will almost certainly hit rocks if you go for a ride, and could go into trees or off cliff in the wrong spot."

To donate to the UAC in appreciation of their fabulous work, click here.

Christmas Eve Rando Rally

We will be meeting up the morning of Christmas Eve for another informal "race".   And by that I mean more like a backyard pick up game where there will happen to be a bunch spandex and skinny skis running around.  A few of you have already expressed interest and are on the "list".  For anyone else, send me a message.  Short, tall, skinny, fat, spandex or jeans may and should apply.  Location and time TBA.

Here's a quick flick of the last time we got together...

Light and Fast Ski Mountaineering: Part Two

Last time, I touched on the gear I use in my attempts to go both faster and farther.  This episode is devoted to general principles of training for those interested in becoming a better endurance athlete and by default a faster ski mountaineer.

Great photo by Matthew Turley of the start at last year's Powder Keg

I'm not going to get into the nit picky details of macro cycles and tapering.  Guys with more patience for those details have already discussed that stuff.  I hope Professor Harder won't skewer me too badly here but this is mostly intended for those that get out and ski a lot but don't really "train".  I will give a quick and dirty on endurance training and then finish with a rant about heart rate monitors.

One's athletic potential is predetermined by genetics.  Getting the most out of that is why we train.  Gains can be made through multiple adaptations to different physiologic stressors.  By training, we target improvements in our oxygen delivery (Cardiac output, capillary density), oxygen uptake (mitochondrial density) as well as our ability to clear lactate.  The maximum capacity to transport and use oxygen during incremental activity is called the VO2 Max and is expressed in ml/kg/min. Improvement in this number reflects gains in fitness.  

More spandex

As mentioned, there are various methods of training that target different parts of our overall aerobic fitness.  Suffice it to say that by training as outlined below, all aspects will be addressed.  However, during certain workouts, it will be obvious which parts of the system are being stressed.  

One last point of anecdotal evidence before moving on...

During the 1970s and 80s, running was hugely popular and high mileage was the name of the game.  A 2:30 marathon was commonplace and US distance runners were somewhat competitive on the world stage.  Then, along come the 90s and the idea that one could get less for more (i.e. Interval training without the mileage - an idea that continues to resurface).  Throughout that decade, US distance running fell off (with a few exceptions, Bob Kennedy most notably).  For the common man, a sub 2:30 became a rare feat and for the elite, even making the finals at the Olympics or world championships was cause for fanfare.  Recently, US distance running has seen a resurgence with multiple sub 13 minute 5Ks and two sub 27 min 10Ks as well as much improved marathoning and showings at the world level.  I believe a major reason for this is an improvement in training with the elite athletes now combining high mileage and very scientific interval type training.  That was a long way of saying there are no shortcuts and to be smart about your training.  That said, here's the dumbed down version...

Sherpa's Simple System: (adapted from years on the track, experiments on skis, and from stealing bits and pieces from those faster than me)

Training is slow adaptation to physiologic stress.  How you stress the system is important.  First and foremost, sport specificity matters.  If you are a skier.  Much of your training time will have to be spent skinning up hill to gain maximum benefit for that discipline.  The same applies to runners, cyclists, etc.  That much should be obvious. Of course there is some crossover but the core of one's "body of work" should be specific to train efficiency so one can make the most out of their fitness.

That out of the way, a general week of training (assuming one has a decent aerobic base) should approximate the following (give or take a hard day for an easy day):

Easy day

Hard day

Easy day

Hard day

Easy day

Long day

Rest day

Then repeat...

With an easy day potentially substituted as a rest day.  That seems simple enough, but the details get confusing.  They should be determined by the end goal, be it a running speed attempt at the Grand Teton, a ski mountaineering race (typically 2-3 hours over 5-7K vert), or something on either end of the spectrum such as a 5K road race versus a 100 mile run.

Here are my top 10 hints...

1. The easy days should be conversational.  They should feel easy... like you could go all day.

2. The hard days should be hard but I feel most hard days should conclude feeling like there just a little left.

3. Long should be overdistance for your event.  This applies to shorter races/goals and obviously not to some of the longer running races.  Examples would be a steady 10,000 vert if the goal is a 5000-7000 ft skimo race or a 20 mile run in the mountains if the goal is to run the Grand.

4. The hard days should be a balance between intensity and threshold work (to work different aspects of the aerobic system), again with the end goal in mind.  For short skimo races, 4-6 minute intervals x 4-8  above lactate threshold would be a good intense day and then 4x20 minutes at threshold would be a good longer hard day.  Others include 30 sec on and 30 sec off x sets of 20 minutes, 4-6 x 1000 vert, a fartlek (10, 7, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 min hard with equal rest), or race simulation on a course of your choosing.

For those who aren't familiar, lactate threshold occurs once one is unable to clear lactate as fast as it is produced and is defined typically as a blood concentration of 4mM (~1 is normal at rest).  Basically, at this point things are starting to go anaerobic and any intensity above threshold cannot be sustained for long.

5. The overall goal is to place as much physiologic stress on the system as one can handle while still deriving benefit and not breaking down.  I think that for most of us (amateur athletes), we are undertrained.  Work, families, life gets in the way.  Try to come up with a way to meet an overall mileage/vertical/hours goal for the week.  It will help keep you honest.

6. Train with partners.  Find people of similar ability (or just a bit faster) and hold each other accountable.  This also makes the days more fun. 

7.  Keep a training log.  Again, it keeps you honest. And, it provides a way to see improvement.  

8.  Constantly find ways to stimulate your training.  By that I mean change up the workouts periodically to avoid stagnation.  Again, the point is to cause a physiologic adaptation to stress. At some point, by doing the same thing over and over, I feel the law of diminishing returns comes into play.   

9.  Find ways to have fun.  For backcountry skiers this should be obvious.  Easy days or long days can be tours to spectacular terrain and can include anything from powder laps to seriously committing skiing.   For me, an example would be skiing the Y Couloir,  Provo Peak, Superior, or any of the thousands of awesome lines in our back yard.  Just keep it conversational.

10.  Train with a goal in mind.  That could be a particular Skimo race like the Powderkeg or a backcountry project like a large traverse or speed ascent.  A good goal should inspire and fuel desire and make the monotonous hours of training easier to swallow.  For most, a few months of the above mentioned training schedule followed by a taper (decrease volume and intensity for ~ one wk) should be sufficient.  To get further gains, see a real coach/exercise physiologist. 

Again, I mean only to provide a basic framework from which one could start to make improvements over the typical, "I ski a lot and am fast" type of training.  Feel free to offer criticism, comments, etc.

And now for a quick rant on HR monitors.  Don't be a slave to them!  There is no such thing as a "bad zone".  All zones have their purpose.  If company X defines four zones from recovery to aerobic to threshold to red line or suprathreshold, those numbers don't apply to every individual.  Max HR varies by age.  HR increases with altitude, dehydration, heat/humidity, and even varies day by day.  So, to say that training between 145-155 bpm is bad is ridiculous.  If that's all one did then they would likely feel overtrained with little benefit.  If one only trained in a lower zone, say from 110-135, they would also lack the benefit derived from those more intense sessions.  Train solely in the threshold and higher zones and you become a sprinter or completely overtrained.

Friends argue that having one more metric to gauge performance and guide training is helpful.  They feel that combining perceived exertion with HR training zones with total volume and daily volume gives the best overall measure of physiologic response to the stress being placed on the system.  I'll agree with that but still maintain that I don't need a HR monitor to tell me I'm going all out.  Nor do I need one to tell me that my "joking around laughing pace" is easy.  If my conversations start to get strained, I'm approaching threshold.

Jason and I were talking (arguing), and after much playing devil's advocate for both sides of the argument we can't see the need.  If anything, we feel that strict adherence to HR monitors and proprietary "training zones" leads to under training.  To quote Brain Mackenzie, a coach with UK athletics, "Heart rate training is particularly inappropriate during interval training."

Boom!  Let's hear the rebuttals to that...

Happy training everyone!

The Wasatch Vert 120

Looking to simulate a race type experience without having to travel to Colorado, I sent out a mass text that we would be having another informal underground skimo race.  This time, the format would be modeled after the Canadian race, the Vert 180.  The idea is to find a short hill and do as many laps as possible over a given time period (i.e. 180 minutes or in our case 120 minutes).  

I  spread the word (sorry to those I forgot - DM) and hoped for a good turnout in spite of daddy samurai Jared skipping town to race some Coloradans.  Pulling into the Brighton lot a bit late because of an accident in the canyon, there was already a crew assembled consisting of Layne, Tim, Adam, Nate, Nick, and some newcomers.  Out jumped Jason and Angus from one vehicle and Nate and Kristeen from another.  Adam and I joined the group and then up walked Chad and Matt and Matt.  Our "underground" skimo race was turning out to be a party.  

Pre race briefing

All 18 or 19 of us skinned partway up to the Milly lift before finding a nice open spot to start the race.  I gave a quick welcome, went over the guidelines (stay skinner's right and skier's right to avoid mishap on the tight course), and drew a crooked starting line in the snow. Someone suggested a Le Mans start so we left our skis and backed up 50 meters or so where I drew another crooked starting line.  Matt was the official starter and used an unorthodox, "START!" as the command.  Off running, Jason was first in his skis thanks to the autolock on his Plum Race 145s.  Followed closely by me and Nate, we remained a bunch for the first lap.  

I found the format to be entertaining as everyone always seemed to be in contact with someone, either chasing on the way up or cheering someone on the way down.  I hope it made the race more enjoyable for everyone given the varying collection of gear and backgrounds.  

Jason trying to kill the camera man (Adam)

Eventually, Jason began to pull away and was the clear winner with 9+ laps to his credit before the 2 hours elapsed.  I completed my 9th lap, arriving at the start line as my watch read 1:59:31.  Nate rounded out the top 3 working on his 9th when we called time.  

Overall, I was really impressed with the effort given regardless of the gear.  We had an assortment of race specific set ups to HUGE reverse camber skis to tele gear to even a splitboard.  Afterward, we regrouped at the base and miniature pumpkin pies were given out to the fastest female/splitboarder (one in the same), fastest heavy metal participant, and "race division" winner (not Jason because I didn't want to give him a pie, or me because I didn't want to buy myself a pie).  

We will be having another race, hopefully in the backcountry in a week or two.  Stay tuned...

Pie trophy to top female/splitboarder

And BTW, I'm now a papa.  I guess I could be the Sherpapa.  Lars Andrew Dorais was born last week, is the cutest kid on the planet, and hasn't learned how to sleep yet. 

12-5-2011 Roberts Horn Climb/Ski

Sam's beta photo

Sam and Aaron have been scouting Roberts Horn recently and kept talking about some ice flow that appeared to be coming in.  After hunting ice earlier this year I thought a big flow was unlikely, It wasn't until Sam's photo was passed around that I started to believe.

Jared on the approach

I picked Jared up at 6:15 and we reluctantly headed down to the County knowing that ridge tops would be hovering around 0 degrees.  The idea was to climb the ice on the East Face Roberts Horn with skis on our packs and then ski off the shoulder down into Primrose.  Parking at 7:30 we thought the cold would be the only hard part of the day. We geared up (Purposely leaving 2 headlamps in my car, no need right? We thought we'd be fast.) and skinned off to find the ice.  A few wrong turns and a short bushwhack had us reaching the base of the climb just as the sun started hitting it.  I won the draw of the first lead and was surprised with how much steeper the climbing felt than it looked.  Placing screws proved to be challenging all day. I'm not sure if it was due to my lack of skill, my cold hands, or Jared's unfamiliar screws, probably just my punterness. 

East Face of Roberts Horn, Photo by Jared Inouye 

Pitch 1, Photo by Jared Inouye

Pitch 2 is described by Mountainproject as a very thin ice smear rated WI? or a rock face rated 5.8.  We found nothing to match that, instead there was a slightly hollow flow that was vertical with a short band of thin ice on 75 degree rock.  Lucky for me it was Jared's lead.  I only heard a few curses as he unexpectedly came across the thinly covered rock section. It sounds like there was a bit of sketchiness/tools popping off as he pulled through the rock, good lead.

Jared sending pitch 2

Pitch 3 is described by MP as a low angle ice ramp.  Once again we encountered something completely different.  Pretty steep ice lead to a long snow ramp which led to another roped pitch (4) of vertical ice.  Pitch 4 proved to be hard for our skimo trained arms.  Both Jared and I were pumped out of our minds as we tried to protect it.  I ended up shamefully hanging to placed a screw after trying to start it for 5 minutes.  Oh the shame.

Pitch 3

After that, we figured the roped climbing was over and we'd just slog our way to the top.  Once again we were wrong.  Route finding was a little tricky as we had to snake around impassable (for us) features.  We pitched out or simul-climbed multiple sections.  Turns out this took a LONG time.  Every rock band we pulled over was followed by more rock/thin ice/punchy slabby snow.  Not knowing what was around every corner left us with doubt as to wether or not we'd be able to top out.  Luckily we did, hours later, just as the sun was setting.

Thin ice over limestone slab, fun?

Sunset on Robert's Horn

Our fun ski out turned into a moonlit survival ski session.  For some reason we found ourselves on top of several rather large cliffs when we tried to enter the top of Primrose.  Two phone calls later we were in the right spot (thanks Sam).  A few thousand feet of clickity clack and multiple core shots later we were at the car taking our first drinks of the day.  Not exactly how I saw the day going but all in all it was a good time.

P.S. We're having a friendly little Skimo Race tomorrow (12/10) at Brighton, 9AM.  It's going to be in the format of the Canadian Vert 180 race.  I think we'll make it a Vert 120 though.  See goldenskimo.wordpress.com for details.  Be there. 

Roberts Horn -- Alpine Style

Photo from SummitPost.com

A couple days ago, Jason and I climbed the east face of Roberts Horn with skis on our back, and then hiked/skied off south face and out Primrose Cirque.  Roberts Horn is located in the Southern Wasatch and accessed via Provo Canyon and Aspen Grove. This year's thin snow conditions have resulted in fairly decent ice conditions.  We pitched out the waterfall staircase.  After that, route finding on limestone slab and thin snow and ice tested our level of commitment.  It took us 1.5 hrs to approach, 7.5 hrs to climb the face, and another 2.5 hrs to descend on skis.  (Apologies to Brothers Sam and Aaron who put us on to this, but because they are responsible citizens, couldn't go.)

Jason Dorais approaching the base of the climb.  That's about 4 pitches of fairly challenging (for us) ice climbing.

Old snow left from last year at the base of the climb.  As winter progresses, the ice fall will mostly fill in.  In fact, Ben Ditto and Matt Turley have skied the East Face of Roberts Horn in fat snow conditions.

Jason leading Pitch 1.

Me leading Pitch 2.  The ice was super cold and hard, making screw placements really really frustrating.  At the top of the bulge above, the ice gets thin.  I pulled over the top scratching madly on bare rock.  (Photo: Jason Dorais)

Jason on Pitch 3.  This was a short but fun pitch.  There isn't a picture of Pitch 4.  I started leading it, but tapped out and handed the rack to Jason who sent it.  After that, we had some debate about whether it is bad style to clip and hang on your tool to set a screw.  I say, who cares? 

Thin snow conditions were a concern.  We were wary of triggering a hard slab.  Or falling of rock slab.  That wouldn't have been fun.  After the fourth pitch, we simul-climbed, putting in half a screw where we could, and occasionally a pin.  For the most part, the placements were anti-textbook, but we figured they would be better than nothing.  And they gave us some level of comfort.

This is a picture of Jason topping out, finally.  We didn't take the most direct route up the face, always looking for the path of least resistance.  But that also created uncertainty as to whether we would eventually get dead ended.  It wasn't until we topped out that we were sure that we would see the top.  And when we did, it was 5:00 p.m. and getting dark fast.

Adding to the fun-ness of the day was our ski descent in the dark.  We called Brother Sam twice for directions on how to get down. On top of that was the fact that my water froze solid around 9:00 a.m. and I went pretty much until 7:30 pm without taking a sip.  If one criteria of alpine climbing is that at some point you wish you weren't there, then I can check that box off.  But that is also the very reason alpine climbing is fun.  Without the discomfort and challenge, that sense of accomplishment and the pleasure derived from climbing a mountain wouldn't be there.  And that would be worse than not drinking anything all day.