Let's start from the beginning. I took a break from Killington this weekend to spend some time with family in Sunday River. Apparently, my cousin is known as Tony Hawk at the Grizzly, currently known as Matterhorn Ski Bar. He has a stool with his name engraved in it, and I have a mug with my name on it. Party started...
Saturday, I take Zion for a snowshoe expedition. We went out for a couple of hours in the frigid cold. I hadn't even brought my skiis up with me because I'm so sick of skiing out here on packed ice. Zion and I wrap it up by noon and with nothing to do but putz, we found our way to a specialty tele store. This is where the story begins...
I find myself in a little Mainard store with a true Mainard owner. We shoot the shit for a long time... he's been tele'ing for 18 years yata yata and eventually I give way and buy a tele setup. Atomic Khailas skiis 163, Scarpa T2 W's Eco boots, W's Hammerhead Bombshell bindings - hot pink. I walk out of there f'ing pumped!
Intermission from skiing, hot tub, the Grizzly...
Jamie and I arrive at the Grizzly promptly after the kids were in bed. I'm at the bar with a shit eating grin on my face enjoying my new mug, #413, and one of Jamie's buddies comes up and snaps a photo of him. Stardom. JK. I'm 100% sober, still recovering from my Killington week. I run into one of my best buddies from high school - shoot the hizzy, hang out with the crew, roll to the Phoenix and dance the night away.
Sunday morning, alarm goes off... I hear screaming kids. I don't care because I have a new tele setup!
We head to the mountain to hit up kids ski school by 9am. We forget Connor's helmet, back to house, back to mountain... get Abby's ticket... finally on the mountain. Jamie, Kim and I head to Dreammaker. This is when the fun hits...
Holy crap I had SO much fun tele-ing! I do not remember when the last time was that I had fun skiing on a green. And, I can remember the exact run that I had in the back bowls of Vail when I last enjoyed a groomer, and that was about 5 or 6 years ago. It's like a new joy for skiing flushed through my body.
This is particularly joyful for me because in the last couple of years I was starting to lose some of my enjoyment for Alpine, which has baffled me. I couldn't pinpoint why that was. My theory is that I'm so used to skiing alpine that I need a powder day to feel the joy of it. When I got back here to the East Coast and started skiing on sheets of ice and groomers (if I was lucky), I realized that I really needed to do something else. On the contrary, I spent some weekends doing nothing and I also realized that doing nothing wasn't an option either. I had been batting around the idea of tele for a while and was only held back knowing that a new setup would cost some bucks. So, hats off to the Mainard who convinced me to go for it :-)
About the gear -
The skiis were great and I really liked how they held an edge. They were last year's model so the skiis cost $325, which I thought was a good deal. The bindings are the hot pink bombshell hammerheads. I found that they were very stiff when bending down and I can't even squatt on the ground to put the bindings on like I've seen other people do because they don't allow me to get that low. I'm wondering how hard it's going to be to climb in them but the guy pitched me on their versatility. He also showed me how there are different settings on them and he said if I move it up a notch then it will make it easier to climb. I'll find out on Saturuday... but as far as I can tell, moving the notch just puts pressure on the cable differently. It doesn't seem to give you more cable movement. I LOVE the boots! OMG... it was cold out this weekend, between 10-18 degrees, and my feet didn't get too cold! This could also be a result of me working harder on the runs which may have kept me warmer, but in general they are very comfortable. I am REALLY hoping that my skins fit on these skiis. My Kharhu Jills are 165s and these skiis are 163s.
On Sunday, Jamie, Kim and I skiied for about an hour on the greens, which was awesome. We took a break and when I went out again I headed to the blues. I was skiing American Express which they had blown a ton of snow on overnight, so it was soft and awesome. I was having SO much fun! I can't remember the last time when my body felt that happy from skiing! It was funny because I was riding the lifts by myself and I was chatting with everyone going up the lifts and telling them how it was my second day out ever on Teles. The banter, and love, and joy was spilling out of me.
In total I rode for about two hours, and that was enough. The guy at the shop told me to tuck my back knee into the front knee, so I don't think I was really bending that low. Mostly my right calf was feeling strained by the end of the day. I also found that I have a better transition when turning right to left rather than the other side. After a couple of hours I had to be like - ok, ready... set... turn! Haha, because I was getting tired. I can't believe how fun greens can be to ski!
I guess I just needed to change things up! I'm actually excited about going again this weekend.
Saturday Expedition: Back to Killington. Make sure existing skins fit new skiis. Arrive at Bear Mtn at 5am (hardest part). Climb as much vert as possible by 7am, or 2000 ft to the peak. Enjoy sunrise, if there is one... or grey, cold, windy mountain. Remove skins and ski down! Zion will of course be there.
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