Is it our doom, the past repeating? - NYT on skinning

[robrox]

Do skinners have to be limited to the intelligencia and wealthy too? Oh wait....

Anyway, it's an innocuous read.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/14/tr...ifts.html?_r=0

Warm and fuzzy article, but if it makes the NYT it must be about to burst on the scene.....

[IceCoast070]

Recently heard at the bar by a mid 60's lawyer type who looked like hes never left the city. "I got this pair of AT - 'all terrain' - bindings from Cindy, they let you move your heel up and down and then you put this sticky thing on the bottom of the ski that allows you to go up hill. So now I never have to ride the lift!"

The end is near.

[old goat]

I think I'll change my user name to Captain Handsome. I suppose I'll have to find a new avatar.

[LHutz Esq]

That's it I am going back to tele.....



Nah I am not doing that

[JerseyDave]

oh, nevermind.

[I've seen black diamonds!]

This belongs in the TR forum:


Mr. Lewis skis down to start his skin hike in Verbier. Credit Niels Ackermann for The New York Times

I think they stole the picture from one of Hugh Conway's ill received TR's that drove him to his now beloved years of raging assholery. Also the caption is amazing.

[robrox]

BC skiing makes it to the mainstream...is that a problem?

[JerseyDave]

BC skiing makes it to the mainstream...is that a problem?

Eh....let it blow up. Be a lot of lightly used gear on the market 5 years from now. Some things aren't meant for mainstreamafication. Fly Fishing for wild trout. Single Speed Mountain Biking. Jiu Jitsu. Back country skiing. All things I've attempted to draw friends into.... truth is you have to really enjoy the process and the work, not the result or pay off as much. As long as we don't turn the BC into the "earn your turn resort", 99 out of 100 folks will just ride the lifts with their dynafits, AT boots and full packs inbounds. Not poser friendly enough for 'merican "Cuture" as we know it.

[paj]

I don't think many people will like the idea of paying $$$ for a ski setup that involves much more effort for a lot less skiing. The people that like touring already know about it this article aint shit!

[TahoeJ]

Lift line jongs clicked into their AT bindings trying to look core. I'm not worried. They never fucking use them.

[robrox]

Just a fad?

Cool...I like the idea of lightly used gear coming onto the market

So the place I have in mind and RASTA are totally no-prob, not a gateway drug?

[Boreas]

The BC is already mainstream, it's just the EC and the NYT are late to the party.

[robrox]

The BC is already mainstream, it's just the EC and the NYT are late to the party.

So? More than half of the skiing and riding population takes a BC trip every season?

I doubt even that extent is true.

Mainstream might look like: No less than half of all glissers use half or more of their ski days skinning/climbing for turns, w/o using lifts, etc.

One busy day at Stratton or Aspen or Sugarbush or Squaw sees a lot of skier/rider visits. Combined they might atch all the number of BC enthusiasts out BCing for the day in the US...that leaves the rest of the mechanized resorts to stack the averages against the Already Mainstreamed argument...at least in the US.

Do a car count at BC trailheads in a region and compare it to one large resort's parked car count...

Sorry, don't bother with the car count, it would cut into ski time way too much.

[Skiwurrel]

Is the Squamish gondy gonna do that for vancouverites? I don't think there is more of a yuppy city in North America. It was just in backcountry mag too

[GeezerSteve]

A NYT item about skinning up a resort area hardly poses a threat, consistent with the reality that 90% of skinning happens within an hour of a car or lift-served area.

[robrox]

A NYT item about skinning up a resort area hardly poses a threat, consistent with the reality that 90% of skinning happens within an hour of a car or lift-served area.

Agreed, the article ain't much but is it an indicator of market successes that might pose a threat to the untracked being readily available?

[JerseyDave]

Just a fad?

Cool...I like the idea of lightly used gear coming onto the market

So the place I have in mind and RASTA are totally no-prob, not a gateway drug?

That group seems to have an identity crisis. They still struggle to define themselves. The Vermont edition piece had them contradicting themselves multiple times. Not sure they got the positive feedback they were looking for from their survey as they still have yet to publish the results. Seems like it'll just go away.

[looseofforangejuice]

That group seems to have an identity crisis. They still struggle to define themselves. The Vermont edition piece had them contradicting themselves multiple times. Not sure they got the positive feedback they were looking for from their survey as they still have yet to publish the results. Seems like it'll just go away.

Thanks for the VT RASTA beta

[LongShortLong]

No need to worry about the BC. Most folks are still afraid of their own shadows.

[JerseyDave]

Thanks for the VT RASTA beta

Rasta seems to have traction with the national forest, but blowing that model up the state level seems to maybe not have as much.....but I have no real info just observation.

[Boreas]

Really? So having the commissioner of Forest, Parks, and Recreation on board with RASTA and VTBCA does not show a high level of state interest?

I'm not sure why you are so hell bent on seeing them fail, is one of your secret stashes in their proposed management areas?

[JerseyDave]

Really? So having the commissioner of Forest, Parks, and Recreation on board with RASTA and VTBCA does not show a high level of state interest?

I'm not sure why you are so hell bent on seeing them fail, is one of your secret stashes in their proposed management areas?

I'm not. There are a group of people who want this to happen. They have yet to provide a valid reason to form this group. If the land managers want to improve access to public land then let them do that. Lot's of folks want resume bullets, winter work, blog hits.

I don't know how many avid BC skiiers see the need for this group. I maintain where I ski with folks I ski with just like it's been for 100 years and don't care about the VTBCA much. I am very open with showing people around everywhere I ski. It's experience and knowledge I share openly with people I know. Certainly not gonna map it and put it on a map for sale, or my blog. As far as the Vermont Back Country Ski Authority goes, just watching it evolve. During the VT edition piece they said that there is tons of skiing on tons of land for all abilities, then a few moments later they talked about wanting to provide easy bc skiing for everyone. Which is it? Is there tons of skiing? Do we need to provide skiing? It is only my opinion being put forward here.

I think BC skiing in Vt is alive and well. Quite enough of our terrain has been developed for skiing. Allowing a group of self appointed experts to represent themselves to the state and federal land managers as the voice of the BC community is a mistake in my OPINION. Particularly when every single one of them has a profession interest in the ski industry. They had an idea to provide for themselves some personal benefit, and are attempting to create consent for their agenda. This has not been about solving or resolving some sort of public lands access issue. It's about a group of people trying to convince the public that their vision is what we all want. For the CTA, it's about trying to stay relevant. It's about job security, resume bullets, revenue, blog hits. It's about turning an activity that is clearly a rejection of "skiing as a product".....into a product and revenue source. Ain't broke, why fix it. Just my opinion bro. I have enjoyed the process of becoming an experienced VT BC skier, as many have.

There has been no good reason to alter how it is managed other then money. RASTA is about money, and that's fine if they want to do that to their back yard. Please leave the rest of the public land as wild as possible.
$.02

[Ottime]

Paragraph breaks are your friend.

$.02

So which Hunter lift does the NYCAT Club skin up under?

[robrox]

To be honest, I want a caretaker's job for my active retirement years, so I have to acknowlege Dave's point. On the other hand complete dis-interest (classical usage of the word) would tend to prevent any changes whatever.

I look at snipping and even mapping as temporally challenged art. Look at NELSAP for proofs. What could be more ephemeral than leaving tracks in snow? A bunch of BC lines and glades, nicely cut, will eventually regow but in the interim many fine memories will be made. Some geezer will stand by the fire or on the hut porch to watch all the younger people slide by and smile, remembering when ...

Sorry, I like it and want folks like RASTA to have some success, only partly because it bodes well for my own concept

[JerseyDave]

To be honest, I want a caretaker's job for my active retirement years, so I have to acknowlege Dave's point. On the other hand complete dis-interest (classical usage of the word) would tend to prevent any changes whatever.

I look at snipping and even mapping as temporally challenged art. Look at NELSAP for proofs. What could be more ephemeral than leaving tracks in snow? A bunch of BC lines and glades, nicely cut, will eventually regow but in the interim many fine memories will be made. Some geezer will stand by the fire or on the hut porch to watch all the younger people slide by and smile, remembering when ...

Sorry, I like it and want folks like RASTA to have some success, only partly because it bodes well for my own concept

Vermont's hills and Mtn are already covered with well trimmed and maintained lines and glades. Once you figure out where to look you will find them on virtually every outing. Difference going forward is newbies want to be told where to go instead of heading of to explore like everyone else has for decades. If you map and sign you are removing what is, IMO, the crucial dynamic in BC skiing....the unknown. Our landscape is so developed for skiing. There are so many options for so many gear options. What has been disappearing since the first recorded self powered ski run in Vt 100 years ago is good, natural terrain.

The original developers slammed the brakes on in the 50s for a reason. Leave the rest. We should start talking about removing lifts and letting certain areas return to a more natural state if we want to provide known and beginner friendly touring on state and fed land....not further development on the scraps of our terrain that are left undeveloped.