Gear Review: Karhu XCD GT/ Silvretta 500 (a.k.a. "The GT's")

Every ski quiver needs a long distance horse:  a go-to ski for a long tour on rolling terrain.

The Maine Huts, the Pemi-Traverse, the Long Trail and a trip to the Arlington Heights water tower need the right tool.  When I've got miles of rolling terrain to cover, I break out the GT's.

-Trip Report- Mt. Cardigan: A Backcountry Mountain with Training Wheels (March 2008)

I dare you to paint a picture with those shades of blue.  You'll be laughed at.

At some point in my life I'm going to be diagnosed with skin cancer.  I've resigned myself to this fate due to my Casper-esque complexion combined with an uncanny ability to forget sunscreen on the worst possible occasions. Someday they'll be burning a lesion off of my face, and I'll be dreaming of one such occasion: my first backcountry ski trip to Mt. Cardigan in New Hampshire.

AMC's Favorite Ski Tours

AMC (the mountain club, not the theater chain) just sent out their November/ December issue of Outdoors and included a feature article on their four favorite spots for backcountry skiing in New England.  There's even a video for you kids who don't read too good.

The video, narrated by David Goodman, explains some of his favorite spots.

I'm not sure if I agree with AMC's list, but it provides a nice variety of steeps as well as rolling tours.

This begs the question: Which locales would I list as my favorites? 

After many minutes of contemplation and a vision quest involving NyQuil and a stationary bike, I've summoned the following list:

4. Mt. Cardigan, NH
3. Mt. Hunger, VT
2. South Baldface, NH
1. Gulf of Slides, Mt. Washington, NH

Which would you list?

Storm Alert! (UPDATED 11/3/10)

Don't let the clear skies fool you over the next couple of days.  Those of you who have been following the "Precipitation threats" link to the left have probably noticed that NOAA says we're in for a storm at the end of the week.

From what I can tell, it looks like it will be a mixed bag of mostly rain at the lower elevations, but with snow currently forecast for the higher elevations from Thursday through Saturday night from the 'Dacks all the way to the Whites. 

Keep your ears open and get your yardwork done this week!



Update:  Earlier in the week NOAA had north central New England in the bullseye for a significant precipitation event, but they've since changed their minds.  They're now showing the storm passing closer to the coast, with most of the precipitation falling as rain in eastern portions of MA, NH and ME. 

There's a good detailed description of the forecast (as usual) from the Famous Internet Skiers, who are holding out hope (like most of us) that the storm may still get pulled further West.

The Bike Trainer Companion

Where are my biking shorts?

 

So you're spinning away on the bike trainer for the entire month of November trying to maintain some of your mountain biking muscle for the upcoming ski season and you need something to keep you from completely losing your shit like Jack Torrance.

Enter the Ski Channel.

Tsacmoc! Tsacmoc!

The boy that lives in my mouth (who also issues profanity laden posts on the Time for Tuckerman Ski Forums) brought to my attention the fact that Comcast offers this channel through its on-demand menu.  There are plenty of ski movies and ski related content to get you through the month of November and pumped for the winter ahead.

While you're there, check out "Intrepid Descent" featuring Tuckerman's Bowl, or the aptly named "Flakes" for some backcountry telemark knee bending.

-Trip Report- Camel's Hump: The Hard Way (February 2008)

Does somebody smell burning gloves?

The stop sign sailed by us as the staccato thumping of the anti-lock brakes broke the silence.  The words "hang on guys" came out of my mouth so matter-of-factly that Gered and Brett wondered if I knew we were sliding out of control.