# "Midd-Night" Snow Bowl Patrol: March 9, 2011



## thetrailboss (Mar 11, 2011)

*Date(s) Skied: *March 9, 2011

*Resort or Ski Area: *Middlebury College Snow Bowl

*Conditions: *P/MG

*Weather:* Windy and temps in the 20's. 

*2011 Trip #:* 30

*Trip Report: *Santa brought me a set of skins and BCA Trekker Binding Adapters so that I could begin doing some alpine touring. In particular for ski areas that are closed in the spring or when the lifts aren't turning. This was my first spin on them and though at my house, at about 550 feet above sea level, it was calm, the winds were tearing at the base of the Snow Bowl, about 1,800 feet above sea level. 

As you can imagine, at 6:30 there was a large crowd: 







I got the gear ready to go in the wind: 











And voila. The Head Monster 76's are converted into an AT set-up: 






I stepped in and began to head up Allen. About ten steps into the trip my right boot pre-released. Turns out that when I had adjusted the Trekkers in January I must have not tested them in the bindings well enough. One was just too small for the bindings. Well, no need to fear at a ski area that is run by and for nerds like me (hey, we have a library and study room in the lodge!) there was a work bench outside with tools ready. I made some adjustments and set off again.






By and large I had no problem ascending Allen, but it was very weird going up hill with traction on a pair of downhill skis! Some pitches were just a bit too step for me right now, so I made it about 2/3 the way up and honestly the wind was so bad that I was not missing much at the summit. 

My headlamp provided some light on this cloudy night:






Well, maybe not...that is the Worth Mountain Triple. 

The snowfencing helped give me a point of reference on the trail's edge: 






Attack of the nerds 






I began my descent: 






The snow on Allen was pretty windswept, but it was soft and I made some nice turns. I will admit that skiing with a headlamp did not work so great...my body was so disoriented. 

At the bottom I headed over to the Sheehan Double side and skinned up underneath it hoping to find some more sheltered snow and a slightly easier climb. It was about 8pm at this point and I was tired. 

Can you see the chair? 






I skinned up all but the final pitch when the snow and pitch made the climbing tough. Yep, snow was plentiful here: 











The descent was nice and soft, but I did notice that there was a firmer base underneath that prevented me from getting pure "powder" turns per se. It seemed clear that they got some icing in the last storm. 

Skiing after work solo on a Wednesday night? Lots of fun. 






And nice to ski my alma mater. I majored in skiing during my years, with a specialty in Sugarbush 






Not a bad first AT outing, even if it is kind of gaper style, but heck, it works for me!  I plan to do some outings, like at Pico, after work in the evening hours as the days get longer.  The bugs are worked out and this dry run was lots of fun.


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## riverc0il (Mar 11, 2011)

Nice, dude. Your a masochist skinning up Allen!!  Take Proctor next time. I can almost feel you sliding backwards just reading your TR, LOL.


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## thetrailboss (Mar 11, 2011)

riverc0il said:


> Nice, dude. Your a masochist skinning up Allen!!  Take Proctor next time. I can almost feel you sliding backwards just reading your TR, LOL.


 
:lol:  yeah, either Proctor or the runs in between Sheehan Double and Allen.  

I was actually able to climb up most of it without any problem at all.


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## Bumpsis (Mar 12, 2011)

what's your opinion of the alpine terkker ( we are taking about the same thing, right?) ?

I've been considering this for a long time now but I've heard so many, mostly negative opinions of that device, so I essentially stopped thinking about it.

I just can't justfy spending the money on a whole additional alpine touring set up (skis, skins, AT bindings, boots), so the adaptor seems like such a good idea.
Is it?


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## riverc0il (Mar 12, 2011)

Bumpsis said:


> I just can't justfy spending the money on a whole additional alpine touring set up (skis, skins, AT bindings, boots), so the adaptor seems like such a good idea.


I have no experience on the Trekker. However, don't forget that even with the trekker you need skins as well. So if you are comparing, skins are the same either way. And you can buy AT bindings that work with Alpine boots (if you want to go that route), so boots are not strictly part of the equation (especially when coming from the perspective of considering a Trekker already, you're in the Alpine Book market regardless). 

Used ski/binding combos (often with precut skins) can be found on eBay for under $500 easily. Don't rule it out based on price! A trekker is definitely far cheaper than brand new ski, touring binding, and touring boot. But you don't need to make it that expensive if you can't afford to. And with the Duke, many folks have a satisfactory one ski quiver so something to consider if you ever think of upgrading your alpine ski.


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## bigbog (Mar 12, 2011)

Allen or Go Home! TB, LOL...that's the energy!  Great stuff...

*Bumpsis*....going along with riverc0il info...and IME Marker's Baron(Duke's lighter cousin) is a proven winner, although not as light as their to-be-improved Tour and Dynafits...but it's been a really good on/off resort binding for me....fwiw.


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## thetrailboss (Mar 12, 2011)

Bumpsis said:


> what's your opinion of the alpine terkker ( we are taking about the same thing, right?) ?
> 
> I've been considering this for a long time now but I've heard so many, mostly negative opinions of that device, so I essentially stopped thinking about it.
> 
> ...


 
I think you need to go in with the right expectations. I heard that the earlier version had a lot of problems. This is also intended for what I will be doing: maybe 10 outings a year and up ski areas. Nothing too hard core. Some sidecountry. On this outing they worked great. It was a pain in the a$$ to get them set up though...and set to the right size...I did that in January over a beer. I also agree that it is not stable if you are slabbing across the fall line, but you generally don't want to be doing that anyway. So far so good. Plus I can put them into any of my skis.

If you are going to do many days in the BC and give up lift served, and you are going way out there, this would not be a good idea.  But if you're like me and want to see what it is like and dabble in hit here and there, it is a good deal.  

Oh yeah and the skins came from Outdoor Gear Exchange in BTV.  I know that Santa got a good deal on them.


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## Bumpsis (Mar 12, 2011)

bigbog said:


> Allen or Go Home! TB, LOL...that's the energy!  Great stuff...
> 
> *Bumpsis*....going along with riverc0il info...and IME Marker's Baron(Duke's lighter cousin) is a proven winner, although not as light as their to-be-improved Tour and Dynafits...but it's been a really good on/off resort binding for me....fwiw.



Good food for thought. One of these days I just may get too tired of lugging my alpine crap on my back and slowshoes on my feet.
trailboss : thanks for your thoughts as well and the report. Fine adventure in the dark.


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## thetrailboss (Mar 13, 2011)

Bumpsis said:


> Good food for thought. One of these days I just may get too tired of lugging my alpine crap on my back and slowshoes on my feet.
> trailboss : thanks for your thoughts as well and the report. Fine adventure in the dark.


 
No worries.  Can't beat the price on the BCA Trekkers though.  A good way to find out if you like Alpine Touring.


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## snowmonster (Mar 14, 2011)

Lucky you that you have a ski area in your backyard to practice skinning on. Some of us have to content ourselves with unplowed parking lots or neighborhood golf courses. Nice!


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## thetrailboss (Mar 14, 2011)

snowmonster said:


> Lucky you that you have a ski area in your backyard to practice skinning on. Some of us have to content ourselves with unplowed parking lots or neighborhood golf courses. Nice!


 
You need to move my friend!


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## Terry (Mar 14, 2011)

I'll be breaking out the trekkers and skins this week as the last night of night skiing is tonight.


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