Rob Stevens Posted October 19, 2006 Report Share Posted October 19, 2006 2 more reasons not to use snowshoes: -The skiers that put in the track will be pissed at your "modifications" to it. -Traversing sidehill with something wider than your foot is lame. I cross carry my approach skis so I don't get hit in the back of the head by them. The Dakine Helipro or Helipro II have this feature and it's excellent. I don't do high alpine, but it seems that eliminating plastic from your back or frontcountry experience could save alot of aggro. By the way, the guy who dissappeared on Everest was Bruno Gouvy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Gendzwill Posted October 19, 2006 Report Share Posted October 19, 2006 By the way, the guy who dissappeared on Everest was Bruno Gouvy.I remember him from magazine pics a few years back. He was a <del>nutbar</del>real risk-taker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Stevens Posted October 19, 2006 Report Share Posted October 19, 2006 This may jog some memories: Bruno gouvy in his Marlboro red and white, strapping into a bullet-shaped nacelle and jumping out of a plane over the Alps, looking for that special rush only breaking a freefall speed record can provide. I will sidetrack this thread no more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Zach Davis Posted October 19, 2006 Report Share Posted October 19, 2006 How are the approach ski people dealing with late spring/summer approaches? You know, the kind were you hike in for a mile or so then hit snow sporadically till the snow gets useable. Is schlepping the skis/board combo a pain? How do you lash it all down? You've almost got me converted, almost.... I just lash them on top of the board... Actually, in the late spring. I tend to be off on a big trip, after which, I put away my board for the summer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Dahl Posted October 19, 2006 Report Share Posted October 19, 2006 I just lash them on top of the board... Actually, in the late spring. I tend to be off on a big trip, after which, I put away my board for the summer. Yeah, well, I usually don't have the big trip option. I will look into the lashing techniques I can use with my packs and see what I can come up with. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crucible Posted October 20, 2006 Report Share Posted October 20, 2006 When it comes to late Spring and early Summer trips, I just keep the approach skis on my feet when I have to plough through the occasional rocky patch. If I have to do a long logging road approach to the beginning of the snowline, then I strap the board on the back, and one approach ski on each side of the pack. If you keep the binding as light as you can with Dynafits, then the total set up is usually just 10 ounces heavier than snowshoes. George Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terekhov Posted October 20, 2006 Report Share Posted October 20, 2006 Zach, thank you! again, our snoshoe advocates asks me for your further insight on such claims: 1) on snowshoes it is easier (than on skis) to do steep frontal ascents 2) if no of touring skiers in company - and there are snowshoers with his own ascent policy - is approach skis advantageous in this situation? 3) do you use crampons around skis on hard firn and ice patches? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Zach Davis Posted October 21, 2006 Report Share Posted October 21, 2006 Zach, thank you!again, our snoshoe advocates asks me for your further insight on such claims: 1) on snowshoes it is easier (than on skis) to do steep frontal ascents 2) if no of touring skiers in company - and there are snowshoers with his own ascent policy - is approach skis advantageous in this situation? 3) do you use crampons around skis on hard firn and ice patches? A lot depends on the terrain in which you will be touring...If you are going from the road, directly to an approach over 40 degrees or so, then you maybe better served by snowshoes... especially, if you can get a hold of Verts. I tend to look for lower-angle approaches, as contouring around a steep hill is almost always more efficient. For icy patches, Firn, etc... it just really depends on the angle and severity. I don't have ski cramponds, but I have at times taken off my skis and booted across icy patches... or I can just go around them. It's really situation-dependent. Where I tour, the terrain really allows for a lot of winding approaches. Zach Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddie Posted October 21, 2006 Report Share Posted October 21, 2006 For snowshoes, like my MSR lightning Acents but I have been thinking about approach skis because they do float better for longer tours. MSR was trying to design their shoes for better traversing traction (I believe they traverse better than any other snowshoe) but at the same time you will sacrifice some float since they are narrower. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skategoat Posted October 21, 2006 Report Share Posted October 21, 2006 Dakine Helipro backpack on sale now at Steep and Cheap for $29. Act fast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
felix Posted October 22, 2006 Report Share Posted October 22, 2006 I also know of the story of the French guy (can't remember his name) who had a sherpa carry his soft-boots to the summit of Everest, up the South Col route. He put them on, on the summit and dropped into the North Face... never to be heard of again. Are you certain not talking bout Marco Siffredi from Chamonix? I'm not that sure if he was using soft boots or if he was in hardboots up at Mt.Everest. One thing for sure was that he knew what he was doing and according to a eye witness who was in the Team of Stefan Gatts to climb up Mt Everest (Stefan Gatts was on a custom built 1.4kg snowboard with Duotone topsheet - which was practically falling apart once he reached the base camp, with hardboots) Marco had better equip than did Stefan. While Stefans bindings failed as some metal broke Marco had supposedly no big problems. Marco did not carry up much stuff himself (I think someone carried his oxygen so he could carry up his snowboard, whereas Gatts took up oxygen for himself and his snowboard). Marco reached the summit just a few hours after Gatts. However everyone described Marco as an responsible person. He died two or three years ago in an avalanche on Mt Everest. I know Marco Siffredi used Softboots on loads of scary first-descents in the Mont-Blanc region. He was famous for going down a 200m near vertical face on a snowboard at Mt.Blanc without ropes just smashing in his ice-axe after every jump-turn. Noone had ever descended that face, not even as iceclimber. Never ever seen anyone afterwards who went down such things without beeing attached to a rope. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Zach Davis Posted October 22, 2006 Report Share Posted October 22, 2006 You know, it might have been Marco... I need to look into it, again. I know that Marco died on the North Face of Everest, and it wasn't froman avalanche. The theory was that he just fell asleep and died in the cold. It's hard to speal ill of the dead, but form what I remember, Marco had the "elitist" attitude... having Sherpas carry his stuff, etc... Zach Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.