fun til death on snow

  Today, January 11th..it is 50 degrees out. All of the snow that we had, is gone.  The small storm that we had over Christmas/ New Years was enough in the Ann Arbor area to get some skiing in and it has finally stayed cold enough to get some curling in.

 These Home Made Curling stones are two stainless steel salad bowls, with a pop rivet to bind the two bowls together and then filled with concrete with a handle as you can see here.

Fun til Death on Ski lift  chair # 69!

Salomon XADV 8 ski boots- Reviewed

Salomon ADV 8 boot

2015 most recent report on the XADV 8
Earlier post about the ADV 8

I have finally had an opportunity to put the Salomon ADV 8 boot through the paces and here is what i have to say:
 1. these boots are great on the kick and glide
 2. these boots are comfortable
 3. the integrated gator is great
 4. there is increased ( from the Greenland)  rigidity in                  the  sole
 5. The zipper is the weak area. Mine has already blown 
     out ( used 4 times). It has blown out from the bottom
     up..which basically makes it a snow scoop.
     (note: Salomon was great about this, replacing the boots at
     no cost. The replacement boots have held up fine)
6. The quick lace thingy is great..really tightens down 
     well and releases well. 
  7. the laces  don't go up all the way..this is comfortable, 
      but does not let you press the cuff to assist with 
      Turning.
  8. The plastic cuff is not appreciably more supportive 
       than the old Greenland

Salomon Raid Bindings

2014 update:  

I have not had an opportunity to ski these this year because I blew out my knee.  I have really put these guys through the paces in the past though.  I think these are great boots to use as an out your back door XCD boot.  

see here for the type of skiing I am doing in these boots : Fun Til Death on Skis!

                                                                

                                                                                      More Fun Til Death on skis: with Video

                                                                                      Michigan backcountry XCD stick whips and all

Salomon ADV 8 Backcountry ski boot

I have waited, like a puma..silently craving the beefiest boot Salomon offers in a cross country boot.  Then on deep discount i pounced- throwing caution to the wind and bought the Solomon ADV 8 backcountry Ski boot. These boots came to me in July, which is the worst possible month to test ski boots in Michigan.
So these are so far untested- I did take some pics though for comparison.  Those of you who might be considering this boot may appreciate it.

Not every person who skis,but every Skiier i have met is kinda always on the search for the best possible set up..until they find it. Maybe it is the never ending search for the perfect ski,  I figure that for some this is a never ending saga, while others figure it out stick to it and accept the limitations while reveling in things that the rig has to offer.  Many will read this posting and have lots of ideas on how to make these ski rigs better...and i welcome that but please consider the following:

          1. I am committed to a ski that i can tour for turns with.  Not really doing lift skiing means i need to climb and snake between the trees on the ups and down.
          2. I really like making turns, I like the idea of skill over gear.

These are the skis that i want to drive through the powder.

The higher cuff on the ADV 8 is all fluff....errr...integrated Gator- which think will be pretty sweet...but what am i gonna do with my 20 year old OR gators?

Some will say...just go with the Excursions...but those are not mine, borrowed from a friend.

 and used at the telemark festival that is described in this post : aftermath-of-blizzardzilla-body-is-shot

Two looks at the ankle support of the ADV 8s. From playing around with them, i doubt that they will be much more supportive in the ankle than the Greenlands.

Here is the Greenland.  This boot was revelation to me, from what i could tell at the time, it was the perfect boot.

The undersides of both boots. The ADV 8s do feel like they have a heavier sole than the Greenlands.  I am unsure if this will add much control to the boot.

Why Such heavily lugged soles on the new ones? I never had a traction problem walking around in the greenlands.

flow systems

Tools for finding Flow.

Bicycles.  Especially with the whole family.

Skateboards. Especially if they are long and like to carve

Froggy boots may assist with finding flow.

Getting low and into the flow.

Scoping out ski spots while on a Skateboard is especially flow.
I am looking forward to this slope already. I remember hitting it about 3 years ago in a wild snow storm.  It is maybe 60 feet long ending in a parking lot.  It is a two or maybe three turn hill with urban assault written all over it.

This parking lot is just one big smooth gently sloping open space.  Evening Cruises, practicing my slides and some dancing.  One block away- very close and modest fun.

A couple of pictures of Burnside in Portland.

frustration at checker mountain or off piste and pissed off

I was experimenting with wedging the camera between my face and the helmet strap. Here are two views of the same run. One with a crash....and one with out.  This is the first Glade on the South East nose of Checker. Looking at the topo, it is obvious that Mount Checker is not a stand alone formation but part of the long landform that forms a nice ring of hills along the outer edge of plains in the  Kalamazoo Valley.  Parchments hills are also part of this, and if I was skiing better i would want to go over there and explore. An urban assault would probably be excellent, going down those hills- the linked front yards, the linking of turns and dodging of chain link. Trespassing, beauty and danger, what more could you ask for really.

This was just one of many crashes. The run before the crash is pretty nice and certainly gives a different view of essentially the same run as the depicted in the first video. Further up this hill is the eastern summit of Checker.This has some great runs down the North side- steep and open. I crashed on every attempt.  the slope became crisscrossed with climbing tracks rather than being branded with  S and 8.

After this, I attempted to charge back up to give it another go.  I had been having difficulty climbing all afternoon ( improperly waxed ) and ended up sliding backwards, riding a tree, falling down, having my right leg get caught up and as i fall....the tree progressively wedges its self between boot and ski ( so much for the advantage of free heal) and hoisted into the air.  Hoisted on the yard arm of a lower slope of Checker Mountain. The result was bad enough that peter dropped off a beer for me later that night.

Thanks dude.

Vintage Rector Knee pads keep the downed trees from fucking up my knees when I crash.

To trespass or not to trespass that is one question that is a recurring theme in the pursuit of fun.  Should you jump the fence to skate the pool, should you jump the fence to ski the slope, should you hike up into the area that the lifts are not servicing yet... I think that if your impact is going to minimal ( just a few ski paths ) and you are not intending to sue anyone when you get hurt- you certainly should trespass. Especially if everyone else is at work.  This posting only has one picture taken on public property- all the rest are obviously of climbing over fences and shredding some backcountry back yards.

also included is a product placement for this kick ass Arnica Liniment. Feels good on your knees, bruised ribs, and other sore areas from high impact fun. 

Two great things to have at the end of a session at checker mountain.

A rare look at the eastern summit of "Checker Mountain"

these trees selflessly sacrificed themselves to provide easy access to some nice runs.

Not my Backyard technically...but certainly in my "backyard"