Trip Report- KxRider's first Backcountry trip

[jjue]

I had the distinct pleasure of having kx125rider1313 from the forum join me today for his very first outing into the backcountry . KxRider previously was on BWP's for two seasons and got Condors for Christmas ... although he has ridden his Condor at the resort he has never been out in the backcountry. Let me tell you Kxrider rides the Condor in untracked backcountry pow like he has been doing it forever. I have never ever seen another skiboarder in the backcountry Having another skiboarder join me and both of us rocking on new 2010 Condors was an over the top experience , for sure . Kxrider was was cool to try snowshoes for the first time .. carrying his Condors , while I was on my Receptor touring bindings on my Condors . We were joined by Bill and Rich both on Hagan 130's .

Here is the road in to Echo Lake near South Lake Tahoe . .This is a popular cross country ski destination .



Here is Kxrider's cool pack , carries everything nice and snug in a small pack . Even has a shovel inside. ..



Here is Billy and Rich heading out over the frozen lake ...



Rich and Kxrider heading up the trail ( actually there was no trail , no one had been this way and we were all breaking trail up the mountain , )



Rich and Billy nearing our high spot for lunch .



Kxrider locked and loaded on his Condors and ready to Shred ... snowshoes on the pack ..



Unfortunately , we did not catch much video of our descent , all of us just having too much fun in the untracked pow .... but here are a few clips we did get..




Heading back home across the lake



Pausing by the snowbound Echo Chalet .. great day for all of us !
Thanks for joining us Kxrider !

[rgzip]

I don't know what to say but WOW!

and let's here it for the mentors of the world.

[slow]

It looks like a perfect day to have been introduced to the backcountry. Clear sky, warm and perfect conditions. Thanks for sharing.

[kx125rider1313]

This was a great day to learn the backcountry. But man ill tell you that climbing is hard and i give it to those guys (jack, bill and rich) They just fly up those hills like it was nothing. I was wearing snowshoes so that did slow me down. I was using the MSR Denali with flotation tails the jack lent me. He reviewed them in conditions that were hard and icey in spots but we were in some deep soft snow and even with the flotation tails i slipped and sunk at times. So for deep snow i say tour bindings(Jack's receptor set up) and climbing skins with crampons.

Anyways besides the fact that im 21 and had the older guys showing me up (sorry jack had to say it, but you guys are animals lol) I had a lot of fun. I was in awe and taken back by the scenery. It was so beautiful and peaceful i cant describe it. Not only was it so amazing it got better cuz we got to shoot through the trees and steeps in untracked deep pow.

Jack and Bill are great guides and really show you the ropes. Jack was so nice to lend me a beacon and the snowshoes for the day and even lent Rich ride his hagans.

All in all great trip wish we got some more footage for everyone but, i encourage that everyone that comes to Shredfest has to go with jack on the backcountry day that thursday. You may only get a few runs in but the scenery and just being out there all alone is well worth it.

Thanks again jack for all your help and letting me in on your secret spots lol. Like you guys said you guys are breading a new generation of back country skiboarders. cant wait to do it again

[jjue]

Gear Talk

One of the cool things about backcountry skiboarding is that we are really exploring a new frontier and each trip is a laboratory experiment in what gear works and what does not . Kxrider and I both agreed that snowshoes leave something to be desired vs . touring bindings and skins in deep snow .
Take a look at this pic of the MSR Denali snowshoe with 8" flotaton tails vs the Condor with a touring rig . What Kxrider found out was that on snowshoes the design of snowshoes with add on flotation tails puts the rider really too far forward to make efficient use of his float . Kxrider was dropping his toes deep into the soft snow while climbing up hill and the flotation tails would float the rear of his snowshoe up .. Old style snowshoes with the rider more centered might be better in deep snow . Take a look at the Condor , the Condor with tour binding and skins puts the rider in the center of the flotation and floats the rider higher in the snow on climbing up hill in deep snow and is more efficient .




One of the cool things about a touring rig is that it is totally compatible transferring the components from binding to binding without changing the whole binding .. Next trip out I am going to ask Kxrider to make one tiny temporary modification to his Bomber binding to use tour components I have designed for the Bomber . These components will work with the Bomber Elite 1 which Kxrider has or my Bomber Elite 2 .

The only thing Kxrider will need to do will be to go to Home Depot and buy two flat head machine screws ( 1/4"-20 x1-1 1/4"), two 1/4" -20 Wing nuts and two 1/4" washers .


Prior to going on a backcountry tour with me he will only need to remove his Bomber binding and put one Machine screw upside down through the RIGHT HAND side unused insert hole on his binding between his two insert screws and rescrew his binding onto his board . Like this .




With that simple modification to his binding , his Bomber binding will now be able to be magically turned into a tour binding with simple components that I will lend him on the next trip .
Here are the components ready to be used .. .very light weight , fits in a small bag and can be easily carried in the pack when not in use




These components are easily attached to Kxrider's binding , he uses his own wingnut and washer to screw on a pair of my ski crampons to the new screw on his Bomber binding , the telemark wire cables which have been specially designed to work with Bomber bindings with their shoulders on the front bail are clipped on to the Front bail , and a pair of extra climbing skins I have are used on the bottom .. the Climbing skins were cut for the 110 ALP so do not have quite the wall to wall coverage of my new Condor specific skins but they should have plenty of traction especially if Kxrider uses crampons also on steep climbs.



Amazingly , Kxrider uses the same size mondo 29.5 ski boot that I use and so I probably will not even need to adjust the length of the telemark cables .

His boot should be able to snap in , on his own Bomber binding , on his on Condor .. .like this ..




For our next trip I will probably have Kxrider also carry snowshoes .. as the touring components are really light weight to carry and he can try both modes and see which he prefers .. The touring mode does take some learning in how to skin efficiently uphill and does have a slight learning curve as opposed to snowshoes which have none. I am very happy that I have a whole extra touring binding set up that I have designed for Bomber bindings that we can try out ..

[kx125rider1313]

Thanks jack.

I will try this out because the snowshoes in that deep powder were making it a hell of a lot harder than you guys just flying up the hill. I think the altitude was playing its part too but it kinda sucked to having to keep kicking in one spot just to get a foot hold. I should be able to get the touring and skins thing pretty quick. Rich did really well so i think i should get it fast as well. Ill get it cuz i wanna be flying up the hill as fast as you guys

[pinkkid]

What a cool fun experience for ya Kxrider! I really like your backpack set up too. Looks like a wonderful trip for all! Very pretty scenery and awesome snow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ElkCloner]

Amazing.

I am definitely in for Shredfest 2011