It was a tough day for me on the accent as I slipped three times on a steep icy slope and slid down part of the slope. We later found out that there has been a Pyrenees-wide alert on the icy conditions.
The decent was much better. Tricky due to the continuous variable terrain, but I was never in discomfort. Although I did miss the agility of the Crossbows or Slingshots.
A couple of things I noticed on the Ospreys and the backcountry touring kit.
- Climbing with crampons does not always work well due to the position of the crampon on the Ambition binding. This means that the crampon disengages too early when trying to step-turn.
- When traversing a steep icy slope there is not always enough edge,.so the movement became slow and precautionary. Thinner bavkcountry skis did better here as they needed less of a ledge to glide. Maybe more experience might resolve this.
- The Ospreys handled mixed terrain on the decent very well. We had everything today - icy patches, soft patches, slush, steeps, trees, rocky terrain. But the Ospreys are beasts and perform better when they have some speed. Turning tight on mixed terrain between the trees was tricky. I noticed that sometimes the edges caught ans pizza/snow plough turns were the best. It was the first time I had to do this. Didn't feel to bad as I noticed a number of people on backcountry skis did the same.
- The skins that Jeff recommended have very good grip and soon as the snow softened, traversing steep slopes without crampons was easier. Tiring, but easier. The group leader commented on how well it gripped.
Hey ho, some photos...
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