12.20.09 near mt. rose (dog playing and ski testing)
12/15/09
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Squeak invited her friend, Ziggy, out to play today. The two wrestled non-stop from the car to the top, and then back down:
North slopes were still in good shape with nice boot-high powder. We dug a quick pit or two to have a look at the layers; nothing of concern but there was a good sliding surface about 12-15" from the top. On sun-exposed aspects we found a thin crust layer that required some balance to ski, but it was still fun. I was happy to find good powder to test a new ski design -- the Kontours:
The skis sport a pine core (wood I bought from the local Home Depot), white UHMW sidewalls, a special vibration damping sandwich embedded into the core and nicely printed topsheet. The artwork was inspired by a topo map I had of the Cascades Pass area. I made three pairs, gave away two, and have one for myself to test. They skied beautifully. Yesterday I ran them all day at the lifts on firm snow and they carved surprisingly well for their width. The front end felt very quiet and comfortable at speed. With a few more days of skiing on them and a minor tweak or two in the design, I will commit this pair to the books and make about 10 more pairs.
From the top of Hourglass bowl, Allyson, Corinne, and I skied a nice chute which was more protected than the main bowl. Squeak and Zig rolled their way down. Tomorrow night another storm is heading this way, so we'll get out again for more.
More photos:
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5.
North slopes were still in good shape with nice boot-high powder. We dug a quick pit or two to have a look at the layers; nothing of concern but there was a good sliding surface about 12-15" from the top. On sun-exposed aspects we found a thin crust layer that required some balance to ski, but it was still fun. I was happy to find good powder to test a new ski design -- the Kontours:
The skis sport a pine core (wood I bought from the local Home Depot), white UHMW sidewalls, a special vibration damping sandwich embedded into the core and nicely printed topsheet. The artwork was inspired by a topo map I had of the Cascades Pass area. I made three pairs, gave away two, and have one for myself to test. They skied beautifully. Yesterday I ran them all day at the lifts on firm snow and they carved surprisingly well for their width. The front end felt very quiet and comfortable at speed. With a few more days of skiing on them and a minor tweak or two in the design, I will commit this pair to the books and make about 10 more pairs.
From the top of Hourglass bowl, Allyson, Corinne, and I skied a nice chute which was more protected than the main bowl. Squeak and Zig rolled their way down. Tomorrow night another storm is heading this way, so we'll get out again for more.
More photos:
1.
3.
5.
That's a sweet looking ski and a ridiculously cute dog, Kam.
"Skis beautifully, carves well for such a wide ski, front end felt quiet and comfortable." Kontour = Manaslu on steroids!!
Wow, it's great to see you upholding the UNR mechanical engineering tradition of ski innovation, following in the footsteps of Hub Zemke: http://www.theskijournal.com/issue/2.3/feature/Hexcel
Did Drew sign a release for the photo? If not, maybe he can sue and supplement his fat paycheck as a "professeur du ski" at the Summit.
It was fun to have Peter and Holly visiting, tho it appears if good ski conditions were their top goal, staying at home would have been just fine.
Hope to see you and Allyson up here soon for Kontour's Pacific NW marketing tour.
Wow, it's great to see you upholding the UNR mechanical engineering tradition of ski innovation, following in the footsteps of Hub Zemke: http://www.theskijournal.com/issue/2.3/feature/Hexcel
Did Drew sign a release for the photo? If not, maybe he can sue and supplement his fat paycheck as a "professeur du ski" at the Summit.
It was fun to have Peter and Holly visiting, tho it appears if good ski conditions were their top goal, staying at home would have been just fine.
Hope to see you and Allyson up here soon for Kontour's Pacific NW marketing tour.
what a great day it was up there. that pic makes squeak look ferocious! silas, we look forward to skiing with you again too, perhaps sometime this spring... ;)
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