Thread: TR - Vail Pass Sit-Ski Cat Trip

I've been living in my van and skiing at a few resorts around Colorado for the last month, but decided it was about time to get into the backcountry.

I cant hike up anymore so jumped onto a CatSkiing trip at Vail Pass with the Vail Powder Guides and had a blast. It's the first time I've been off piste and in deep stuff and it was awesome.



I've been skiing at Winter park for the last week or so but drove down to Vail Pass the night before and parked up to get some sleep before the big day.

This was my view as I shut the van door to go to sleep.



And this is what greeted me at 0730 this morning when I opened the door to get rid of the stench of my own farts.



I leave the wheelchair outside at night to save on room in the back of the van. I lock it up just incase anyone wants to be a funny fucker and move it away or something.

A big day called for a big breakfast:



I decided to go with eggs and beans, I figured that in the case of an avi I could form a protective barrier of methane and then light it to free myself in some kind of explosive recovery technique.

I'll never take being in places like this for granted:



On to the skiing:



Massive thanks to the guys for being willing to take me on the hill when they had no previous experience with sitskiers. Most operations would of been put off and made up an excuse about not being accessible or something, but Ben and Jenna were up for it and everything worked out great.

The main obstacle of getting in and out of the Cat was solved by a trusty plank of wood acting as a ramp.



I strapped on a K2 Seth for the day, my first time on a fat ski.

Everyone gets ready for the first run of the day after being dropped of by the Cat.



It took a few turns to get used to sitting back on the ski and trying to ski without the outriggers. My first couple of turns were crap as I would instinctively put the outrigger down only for them to get caught in the powder and cause me to wipe out. In the end I had to basically ski with them pretty much in the air and balance on just the ski.



I started off trying to make turns at too slow a speed and would just sink into the powder. This is my version of a snow angel.



Luckily the guides were at hand to dig me out whenever I got stuck. Thanks.



After the first run I got it dialed in and started having a blast though:



















Gratuious powder skiing face shot:



Stoke level 10.

This is Ben. Ben let me ski for free, and then let me keep the K2 Seth at the end of the day.



I like Ben.

Vail Powder Guides FTW.

Damn. That's it man. Props to you and the Vail Powder Guides.

THIS IS WHAT STOKE LOOKS LIKE PEOPLE!!!!!





FUCK YEAH!

sounds like a quality day and left with a quality ski.

Good for you! Congrats on your powder day

Sick stuff, way to get after it. I just got Lost and Found yesterday and I noticed that marc andre's out riggers seem to have sawn off tips from gotamas on them. Could be something to consider for pow days.

Originally Posted by SitSki13

This is Ben. Ben let me ski for free, and then let me keep the K2 Seth at the end of the day.

I like Ben.

Vail Powder Guides FTW.

Wow, that is really fucking cool of him. I guess not EVERYTHING about Vail sucks.


EDIT: I was just thinking about what you said about the outriggers causing you problems, and I think that if you were able to custom make some tiny reverse camber/sidecut skis that might solve the problem. Might be impossible or not worth it, but I figured I'd put it out there just the same.

Good on ya man!


p.s. I was just thinking that Lib Tech actually sells their N.A.S. as singles. Maybe could save u some dollers next time you make a purchase.

You rock mang! Great TR.

Right on!!

Now that is some cool shit!

Originally Posted by KungFu Eddie

Sick stuff, way to get after it. I just got Lost and Found yesterday and I noticed that marc andre's out riggers seem to have sawn off tips from gotamas on them. Could be something to consider for pow days.

Yeah the outriggers caused problems at first, they would just sink, catch the powder and cause me to wipe out.

I ended up skiing without them (not actually without them, but without using them as I normally would) and just fine tuning my balance on just the ski itself.

I've been thinking about putting some sawn off ski tips on the outriggers for a while, if it's good enough for Marc Andre then it's good enough for me.

Awesome! So stoked that there are such cool people in the world.

Way to get after it man! Props to you and the snow cat op!!! Nice stoke and here's hoping you get more days like it!!

Looks like you need some Prophet 130 style outriggers or maybe Spats style??

Sweet.

Way to throw down.

*****PAGING PM GEAR******

****Custom outrigger skis, size large with sidecut*****

Bling, Bling!!!

Hells yeah!

That last picture of you in the powder is one of the coolest pics I've seen on here in a while. FKNA man.

Nice!
Way to get after it, and great of Vail Powder Guides to hook you up.

That's rad. Way to get after it. Vail Powder Guides sound like some cool doods.

That is fucking sick dude, way to get after it. That cat ski op is a class act for sure.

If you don't mind, I'm curious about your skiing experience before the sit ski, if any?

Oh, and your eggs look NASTY. Eggs should not come in a milk carton.

That is fucking cool. so stoked.

rad. keep gettin it.

I had almost no skiing experience before my accident. I was in the army though and did Arctic training in norway which was all nordic stuff with 3 days of Alpine as R&R.

When I had the accident I just looked for ways to get back in the hills again and sit-skiing is almost perfect. The freedom of ripping up a slope compared to the annoyance of manouvering a wheelchair through a world obsessed with stairs and high curbs is just too immense for words. This is my third season in the sit-ski and it rocks!

This sums up the entire day for me, I love this picture so much.