In Cali we are blessed with the winter that will not die ! 6 inch of fresh over a firm base fell over night and we are hot on the trail of some pow turns ....
May 23rd , fresh pow , temp 25 degrees when we arrive at the trail head !
Here were are on the Summit
Me
Michael shooting some pics of the nice views
Billy at the summit
View of Lake tahoe from the summit , sure doesn't look like May 23d eh ???
As many of you know . .Slow has created a brilliant touring adapter for the Zero skiboard binding ( aided by Bill ) , it performed brilliantly in difficult climbing conditions today ... as many of you also know I have been using the zero front lever bale as a climbing bale .. that puts a lot of stress on the one screw that holds the front lever on the front bale .. and somehow the screw and plate that holds the front lever came loose , and the front lever fell off ...
So now I am on the top of the mountain (2nd round ) with no way to clip into my skiboard binding ... . man I am toast .. I will have to climb down this thing on foot while my buddies enjoy the pow ... then I realized that Slow had studied how telemark bindings worked and how the front toe piece of a telemark binding keeps the toe of the telemark boot from moving side to side .. ridiing telemark skis is quite styling , guys and gals control their skis only with the front piece of the telemark binding the heel is free . you can either make bent knee telemark turns or ride your skis like regular alpine skis but without a locked heel , one false move and you are over the handle bars , you need to have perfect balance ... Will Slow's touring binding allow me to ride my Condor telemark style down a 1700 very steep mountain ? Ist I have to spin the binding around so I amd set back 4 cm not set forward 4cm !!! Will it work , , Well we will see !
This is the ultimate torque test for Slows touring binding... if i had my regular method of just laying the telemark cables over the front bale of the skiboard heel bale there is absolutely no way I would be able to ski down ... yes I decided to use poles ... anything to help me out .. my buddies followed me down to make sure nothing blew up ... nothing did .. Slow's touring adapter for the zero heel piece performed flawlessly and I was able to ride 1700 vertical feet tele style in perfect controll . Sweeti !! Thank you Slow ( and Bill for the bushings .) this redundant skiboard binding is absolutely fabulous .. something breaks and you still have a way to get down with telemark cables and touring adapter .. !!!!! right on ..
ps . perhaps Slow and Bill can help me figure out a bomber way to keep the front lever of the Zero binding from falling off when stressed to the max as a heel elevator !!! maybe retrofit a bigger ,longer screw with a lock nut on the end ????
ps we figured out that a backcountry day has a ratio of about 6-8 to 1 of uphill vs downhill ,so I hope you forgive me if this 10 minute long opus from me has much more uphill then downhilll
May 23rd , fresh pow , temp 25 degrees when we arrive at the trail head !
Here were are on the Summit
Me
Michael shooting some pics of the nice views
Billy at the summit
View of Lake tahoe from the summit , sure doesn't look like May 23d eh ???
As many of you know . .Slow has created a brilliant touring adapter for the Zero skiboard binding ( aided by Bill ) , it performed brilliantly in difficult climbing conditions today ... as many of you also know I have been using the zero front lever bale as a climbing bale .. that puts a lot of stress on the one screw that holds the front lever on the front bale .. and somehow the screw and plate that holds the front lever came loose , and the front lever fell off ...
So now I am on the top of the mountain (2nd round ) with no way to clip into my skiboard binding ... . man I am toast .. I will have to climb down this thing on foot while my buddies enjoy the pow ... then I realized that Slow had studied how telemark bindings worked and how the front toe piece of a telemark binding keeps the toe of the telemark boot from moving side to side .. ridiing telemark skis is quite styling , guys and gals control their skis only with the front piece of the telemark binding the heel is free . you can either make bent knee telemark turns or ride your skis like regular alpine skis but without a locked heel , one false move and you are over the handle bars , you need to have perfect balance ... Will Slow's touring binding allow me to ride my Condor telemark style down a 1700 very steep mountain ? Ist I have to spin the binding around so I amd set back 4 cm not set forward 4cm !!! Will it work , , Well we will see !
This is the ultimate torque test for Slows touring binding... if i had my regular method of just laying the telemark cables over the front bale of the skiboard heel bale there is absolutely no way I would be able to ski down ... yes I decided to use poles ... anything to help me out .. my buddies followed me down to make sure nothing blew up ... nothing did .. Slow's touring adapter for the zero heel piece performed flawlessly and I was able to ride 1700 vertical feet tele style in perfect controll . Sweeti !! Thank you Slow ( and Bill for the bushings .) this redundant skiboard binding is absolutely fabulous .. something breaks and you still have a way to get down with telemark cables and touring adapter .. !!!!! right on ..
ps . perhaps Slow and Bill can help me figure out a bomber way to keep the front lever of the Zero binding from falling off when stressed to the max as a heel elevator !!! maybe retrofit a bigger ,longer screw with a lock nut on the end ????
ps we figured out that a backcountry day has a ratio of about 6-8 to 1 of uphill vs downhill ,so I hope you forgive me if this 10 minute long opus from me has much more uphill then downhilll
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