12/22/08 Olympic Hot Springs slog
12/22/08
WA Olympics
2445
1
Michael of AMS-1 fame and i attempted to splitboard up the olympic hot springs trail yesterday. the boulder creek road was gated at lake mills, so we initiated our ascent there. light dry snow and flurries changed to wet, fist sized snowflakes as we ascended. with every thrust of the leg forward, another 5 pounds of olympic concrete crud would accumulate on the topsheet. a painful and slow shake of the leg would release half of the crud, only to accumulate more with the next stride. the conditions were warming up to well over freezing, our outerwear was absolutely soaked, so we decided to turn around at observation point, roughly 3.5 miles in. here's were we finally had a little fun. due to the lack of pitch on the return, we elected to SKI down without skins.
who out there has enjoyed the silliness of skiing splitboard skis?!!!
after much laughter and some bruised egos, we returned to the dam.
lessons learned:
if air temps rise like they did, forget it
use xcountry ski gear instead of splitboard - you can't ride down anyway
we will return!
who out there has enjoyed the silliness of skiing splitboard skis?!!!
after much laughter and some bruised egos, we returned to the dam.
lessons learned:
if air temps rise like they did, forget it
use xcountry ski gear instead of splitboard - you can't ride down anyway
we will return!
Kyle used his splitboard like skis on our way back from Mowich...for at least 10 miles. I think by mile 9 he started getting it...;)
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