# Back Country in CT



## Jisch (Jan 24, 2011)

Crazy times this weekend in the CT Backcountry. 

Saturday and Sunday I hit up Bigelow Hollow in Union, CT. Great conditions with a bit of crust under 4-5" of powder. The trails that were packed in before the most recent storm were largely packed powder surface. There were minor issues with pole plants - the crust would sometimes resist penetration or worse your pole would dive under the crust and it would hold onto your basket. All in all excellent skiing with a real backwoods feel - really once you leave the parking lot you feel like you crossed the border in to backwoods Vermont or something. An excellent lake crossing in the middle - nice. I did a couple of runs off trail through the trees and the snow was ok, but if you leaned hard into a corner your ski broke through the crust, which never ended well.

Saturday night we donned lights (and a mountain bike helmet for me) and did some crazy downhill runs at Salmon River in Colchester. If you haven't experienced it, I don't think my descriptions can do it justice. These trails are as steep as anything I've ridden my mountain bike on. They are narrow and slither through dense forest with mountain laurel everywhere. The conditions were much like Bigelow, though the crust was a bit thinner, so we had fewer poling issues. The descents were fast, I mean FAST! The thing is there is usually no room for turning outside of the track. So you get in the track and start cruising down, accelerating with every second that goes by, then a sharp turn comes up - if you miss the turn you're off into the scrub off the side of the trail or into a tree. As you go down the trees are whizzing past you like some kind of weird picket fence. Talk about adrenaline rush. Its two days later and I still can't wipe the smile off my face. I got new BC skis this week and they are so much faster than my old skis, it made the descents even better/scarier. Turns were largely alpine style, with a few telemarks thrown in on some of the slower hills.  

Amazing once a decade kind of conditions. 
John


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## Andrew Caffrey (Jan 24, 2011)

nice descriptions. any pics?.
what new gear did you get?  reviews?
thanks
a.c.


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## Jisch (Jan 24, 2011)

I have a few pics, but nothing too exciting, I'll get them posted up eventually. 

I have been using Karhu Catamounts, I got them probably 10 years ago. I just got Rossignol BC90s. I don't have a lot of experience with this stuff, but the Rossi's are lighter and a bit easier to control on the descents. They are a bit harder to climb with, I suspect they will lose some slip over time. They are definitely smoother than the Karhus.

So far so good...


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## Jisch (Jan 25, 2011)

*Pics and a vid*

These are the lamest pictures, or pictures of the lamest sections of trail, its hard to take the camera out during the exciting parts - all of these are from Bigelow Hollow, none of Salmon River, I gotta get some video out there... 

Lake crossing (from multiple outings)
















In the woods:





A short, but sweet line down some rocks - this is all rock in the summer:





A very short vid coming down a smallish hill


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## marcski (Jan 25, 2011)

Very nice. I was looking at the Rossi, BC90's.  But, I opted for something a bit wider. In fact, my backcountry setup is supposed to arrive today (provided the UPS tracking system is correct!!!).  I am so psyched to be able to hop in the local woods in the a.m.'s before work now on a pair of skis!!!


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## Jisch (Jan 25, 2011)

I'm happy with the BC90s so far. On average there are 4-5 good days in the woods here most years - I've got a dozen or so this year so far! Great year to get new skis!


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## kingslug (Jan 25, 2011)

This might be better than some of the Utah bc I'll be tromping around in a few days..have to see but it would be funny...


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## 〽❄❅ (Jan 25, 2011)

*I saw the BC 90 and BC 125 at REI,*

the few pairs of 90's already sold out. 
Second year doing XC around my home town, rented last and hated the lack of a metal edge. A knowledgeable salesmen steered me toward the BC 65, faster on flats and lack of big snow storms for more float.
I like the BC65's but this years 4"-6" snow falls have me craving the BC 90 for float and turns, can't keep from gravitating to the hills, lol.
Probably limited by the NNN boot of which i now have two pairs! None of those things fit without quickly causing pressure points.The Alpina BC1550's press down at the base of my big toe nail, more on my right foot but are good for long strides on flats in hard pack and thin cover. While the Fischer BCX-6's have great support and a nifty zip-up lace cover for deeper snow but developed a line of pressure further up just before the laces starting across my little toe and now progressing over the whole top of my left foot! I now alternate between the two, still cant believe i have both!:roll:
So, how are your BC-90's on the straightaway's and are you using a 75mm boot/binding or NNN?


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## dmc (Jan 25, 2011)

wow


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## Jisch (Jan 25, 2011)

BC 90s are decent on the flats, but no way are they like xc skis, especially considering these heavy boots. I'm running Merrell half plastic/half leather buckle boots (75mm 3pin). I just got back from a night ski at Case, conditions continue to amaze. The BC90s are too wide for some of the tracks we have encountered (my wife has the same skis), which is a bit annoying, but ultimately no big deal.

According to my weight I should be on 179s, which I bought, but I almost wish I got the next size down for better climbing.


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## 〽❄❅ (Jan 25, 2011)

I'm definitely the storm chaser type, love skiing on fresh natural snow, even if it's only on xc skis around the rolling hills where i live. I haven't found much xc gear reviews and talk on the web, was good reading about yours.


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## gorgonzola (Jan 25, 2011)

great thread! i got some 68-65-68 skis last year and have about 2 dozen days on 'em - having a blast getting my glide on and trying to link some tele turns! NNN and no metal edges though, already looking to move up to a metal edge and bc binding & boot. what's the advantantage of the 75mm or 3 pin over the BC NNN? as much as i'd like it to be the other way around, the reality is about 75% in track or climbing to 25% "skiing", if that... a few pics from last week in pa


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## Jisch (Jan 26, 2011)

I have friends who lap hills to get turns in, and I get it, but I really like touring, where I do some miles, fight up hills and do some descents along the way. Don't get me wrong, I love descending on these skis, but I find lapping kinda boring.


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## 〽❄❅ (Jan 26, 2011)

*Get a Full Metal Edge!*

That was what everyone i met last year who knew what they were doing told me and i don't regret it. The touring ski i rented last year didn't have a metal edge, it totally $µ©ked, no control. 
The 75mm boot will give you more power to drive a ski because of the hard "duckbill" having more surface area to the ski itself and binding. BC NNN will kick and glide better if you want to do a little faster touring. There are light duty and heavy duty versions of both.
Btw, i learned all of this from watching the ORS cross country skis direct videos on YouTube dot com -

www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJgl9QkyX6Y

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6WBQnBH3vk&feature=related

www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPLJZSBs-p8&feature=related


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## skidmarks (Jan 27, 2011)

*The Rossi BC 125 rocks!!*

I love this ski and we've sold several pairs so far 
125/90/115 
I've used it with both a beefy telemark boot like the BD Push for resort skiing at Powder Ridge and with a light plastic tour boot (Garmont Excursion) for lower angle stuff like Talcott MT.
I love skiing in the CT BC


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## marcski (Jan 27, 2011)

I am about to go into the local woods on my new BC xC setup.  Alpina lite terrain skis, full metal edge nice sidecut i think about 110 in the tips, alpina 1575 light duty 75 mm 3 pins, Voile cable binsings.  Woooohoooo. I am LOVING all this new snow and the setup. Will try and post some pics later from todays tours.


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## gorgonzola (Jan 27, 2011)

〽❄❅;594369 said:
			
		

> That was what everyone i met last year who knew what they were doing told me and i don't regret it. The touring ski i rented last year didn't have a metal edge, it totally $µ©ked, no control.
> The 75mm boot will give you more power to drive a ski because of the hard "duckbill" having more surface area to the ski itself and binding. BC NNN will kick and glide better if you want to do a little faster touring. There are light duty and heavy duty versions of both.
> Btw, i learned all of this from watching the ORS cross country skis direct videos on YouTube dot com -
> 
> ...



definately going with a metal edge, thanks for the info and the links! i don't see doing any gnarly steep stuff with this setup so magnum nnn may be the ticket. that alpina set up looks sweet marcski but i still plan on doing a lot of touring /in track stuff so i think something a little skinnier and longer might work for me, have fun!


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## gorgonzola (Jan 27, 2011)

Jisch said:


> I have friends who lap hills to get turns in, and I get it, but I really like touring, where I do some miles, fight up hills and do some descents along the way. Don't get me wrong, I love descending on these skis, but I find lapping kinda boring.



yea this is what i'm talking about as well


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## Jisch (Jan 31, 2011)

Another great weekend of BC skiing in CT. Saturday AM I went solo to a local park. I was braking trail, it was brutal. I lasted about an hour, drenched in sweat and totally beat. 

Saturday afternoon I led a group of five at Case. We broke trail for about half  of the three hours, its so much better having people to share the load with. Some spots were a bit sticky, but really not that bad. We found a nice hill to lap a few times.

Saturday night was more trail breaking at salmon River, one of the guys pulled his binding out of the ski about an hour in, so we had to take an early out. Conditions were great, deep powder, descents were slowish, but smoooooth.

Sunday we hit up Bigelow, we lucked out and only had to do a little trail breaking. Its unbelievable the terrain that's in play now, hit some awesome hills. Floating on powder, wow, just wow.

It looks like our good fortune is going is coming to an end with niar on Wednesday, we'll see what happens. I think we could actually have a spring season, weird. 

I have some pics which I'll post later, as usual nothing to exciting (I gotta work on that).


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