Topic Author's Original Post - Aug 29, 2012 - 01:10pm PT
I know a lot of you only "get OTC" in winter.
I used to "hate" the season, but it's mild here in the Central Valley. Good old tule fog and endless overcast.
I have accepted it, but there is one thing I miss about winter, and that is XC skiing. My skiing is best described as something else, compared to many, and I totally lost interest in the sport when the "skaters" showed up with their flashing speed.
I did enjoy several trips into the Sierra Nevada on skinny skis, never had the oppo to get out and do back country skiing. I would have enjoyed it. Here are some of Jim Shirley's pix from back in the 70s.
It isn't just about ski touring, though. It's about winter. And snow isn't around all winter, so just to keep it honest, let's just say snow. There are enough pix around of JT and Tahquitz free of snow.
And snow isn't just confined to the winter months, remember. So, use these as guides when posting, if you get my "drift."
Credit: JS
Credit: JS
Credit: JS
Credit: JS
Credit: JS
Credit: JS
Credit: JS
Credit: JS
Chuck Kroeger, Jim's neighbor. aka "Hungry Chuck Biscuits".
Taft Pt. or Dewey Pt., one.
Credit: JS
Yosemite Valley footbridge.
Credit: JS
Sorry, you'll have to supply the names of these peaks on your own...
MFM
Snow, water in a frozen form....now what was it that W.C. Fields said about water?
Nice pics! Yeah, skaters kinda queered it for everyone, didn't they?
JohnTp...Rock creek..? One New years eve , with headlamps and some friends we skied up the fisherman trail to the winter lodge....At each foot bridge we would stop and eulogize a lost love one which we then followed with a shot of Polish vodka...Skiing thru the forest with close friends and memories of lost loved ones was a great way to spend new years eve.....
Any one ever read the book about Orlando Bartholomew? First Guy to do JMT in winter. I believe in 1929? Could have the year wrong but I'm sure somebody will let me know if I do. Anyways its an awesome book totally recommended it.
One New years eve , with headlamps and some friends we skied up...
Man, does that bring back memories. New Year's eve, skis, winding up with some people we'd never met, but who became friends, in a storm in a hut high in the Canadian Rockies...
One Christmas Eve we had a ski yumping contest off the mill roof at Hatcher Pass, AK.
I am happy to report that all parties were sufficiently lubricated that no
injuries were incurred, amazingly. There was one Olympian and a couple of
Alaskan champions participating. Pretty crazy.
I've read a longish article about this Bartholomew and can't seem to locate it, but for the record, HS: Peaks, Passes, and Trails lists Mount Bartholomew, named for him, at 11,110 feet, SSE of Shellenbarger Lake.
Kearsarge Pinnacles on the Muir Trail.
Credit: Tom Killion
Thread is now open to "art" capable of moving the viewer with snow.
I loved the skyline shot of the GWD and the skyline framed by the tent door. Nice stuff, ladies and gents!
I was in JT over Xmas with Millis and Mathis and it snowed so much...
We thought about skedaddling. We got plastered instead. Ah, Xmas by the open campfire with a jug of red. "Baby, it's cold outside."
Thanks, Neebee. Kind of you to say. Wish you could enjoy more!
[Skaters are welcome here, too, but don't try to convert the innocent.]
Skating is evolutionary perfection. Ultralight, space-age materials, a melding of man and device, and zero-percent body fat. My fatties are seeing less and less use as I get older, greyer, and faster. My entire setup weight is like, 1.4 pounds.
Yeah, its been below freezing here in Jackson the last few mornings. A really good new winter sport not discussed much is cross country snowboarding. Reel Films has a few clips on Youtube. I had to quit cause I got a bad case of skooch leg.
"This is an outsider sport and it's and outsider sport of an outsider sport, Snowboarding. Plus: we do it outside, so we're rocking a triple entendre there you know!" ;) LOL
Big Mike thanks for posting the video. Whenever I'm in the chalet I'm always walking in circles. My skooch leg is gradually clearing up but it takes a while. SS
No pics, but reporting in that I woke up to white ground cover at Georgetown Lake Wednesday morning--the first true sign of Autumn in Montucky, snow :-)
I'm headin' down to the FatHead today for a CostyCoCo run (everything up here is twice the price!) and I'd LOVE to skate at Glacier. . . too bad it all melted, eh?
Returning from Facelift, I was greeted by some lovely Fall foliage...
Looking SSW from my deck, day before yesterday (Thursday). Temperature in the mid 60's.
Credit: Brokedownclimber
And then this morning; what to my wondering eyes should appear...
About 3" of fresh white stuff this morning! Send more, please!! The drought conditions from the summer were near-catastrophic! Thinking about getting some skinny skis for this Winter!! Woo Hoo!
Credit: Brokedownclimber
If this is what happens after I wash my car, I'd better wash it more often!
Climbing season was all-too-short for me this year due to many complications with my house remodeling project, but I'm happy to see snow--or any form of precipitation! I'm still planning a Joshua Tree expedition for a week or so, around Thanksgiving. Either that or a very late October trip...
I'm beginning to wonder if you post too much, senor.
Senor, senor, let's overturn these cables
Disconnect these tables
This place don't make sense to me no more
Can you tell me what we're waiting for, senor ?
Nice thread. But I find ice climbing absolutely horrible. Had all my gear stolen in the spring of '82 and was happy about it. Weird, I do love to snowboard and surf all winter (NJ)...
Let us know!