Eastside Ski Notes -- 1/25/11

[Mohonk and the skinny ski set]

Let’s face it: if you ski enough, you’ll eventually reach the point where the resort just won’t satisfy your powder jones anymore. Even on the deepest days, runs get tracked out too fast, and you find yourself venturing into the slackcountry. You duck the rope, traverse for 15 minutes, drop in on the 400 feet of untracked snow that you find, and then traverse back at the bottom. So, what do you do when those few hundred feet of fresh are no longer enough? You leave the lifts and crowds behind and get into the backcountry.
So begins an excellent article in Backcountry.com describing the process of going from the in-bounds to the out-of-bounds ski lifestyle.
Read more at:
http://www.backcountry.com/store/newsletter/a1141/Slackcountry-to-Backcountry.html?cmp_id=EM_SAL1290a4&mv_pc=r105&rmid=BC_01_11_Newsletter&rrid=74960826
Or just go to Backcountry.com and click on the article "Slackcountry to Backcountry."  And be sure to take note of the other great articles, gear reports, and links.
Relocated for the short term to New York and Vermont, my "backcountry skiing" has been limited to track skiing in Vermont and the Mohonk Preserve.  I've been a long time away from the skinny ski culture, but once you get your stride back, "skating" is a great conditioner and a skill-set all its own.