Trees, quiet and skiing. Pretty much a perfect day. Photo by Keith Stebbings
Having moved to Salt Lake at the tail end of snow season, I’ve pushed to fit in all I can before the snow gives way to grass.
Several weeks ago, I headed out snowshoeing with a friend (a post I have yet to write), who wore Telemark (tele) skis. I found myself immediately envious of the flexibility they provided and wanted try them myself.
Yesterday I got my chance. I’ll write a full post soon, but here is a first picture from the day. With my love of hiking, this was an ideal snow sport for me. It combined skiing with the beauty and quiet of the backcountry. I still have a long learning curve ahead of me with skiing in general, but my first exposure to tele skies made me want to continue on working at this sport in addition to alpine skiing.
In this shot, I’m skinning up the mountain. Skins are adhesive strips of material applied to the bottom of the skis that prevent them from sliding backward (to a point) allowing you to climb up slopes. We climbed to a spot with a good view and hang out, then after a while, peeled off the skins and skied down.