Shuttin' 'er Down

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New Dog, Old Tricks

I've been up to my old tricks. I'll be switching back to WesternSlopeExile mode for this post as I've had some great adventures in the Colorado end of the Rockies. I linked Denver to Crested Butte via bus and bummed rides (connecting with my inner dirt bag), ate road kill (I am not kidding), met my new friends Pekoe the dog and Mama the Hen, skied some new CB Nordic trails, and felt my muscle memory take over when I would walk into the back of the bike shop or reach for a light switch. So familiar. It's hard to shake a near lifetime of Colorado. I sure do miss the sand and sage, the 14,000 foot peaks, knowing and being known. But, there is Cold Smoke to be schralped, the Greater Yellowstone to be explored, Grizzlies to be avoided, and vast wilderness to be experienced here in Montana. On tap: an Alpine Ski skills clinic series at Bridger, skating at Bohart, the NCAA Nordic regionals, a broadened footwear testing network, Moonlight Basin, and the new Sushi place. More to follow.

The Basics

Basic Avalanche Awareness classes are an early season tradition around these parts. About 300 people turned out for a basics/refresher course offered by the Gallatin Avalanche Center. A couple of things that struck me: for being a basic class, most people had a lot of knowledge; the class had everyone from 11 year old kids to some seniors; Bozemanites take their avalanche education very seriously.

I learned a lot, remembered a lot, and had a few wake-up calls. 1. The most educated people are the ones who are likely to be out in the snow; the more you're in the snow, the more you're exposed to avalanche hazards. 2. If the numbers on your beacon start getting bigger, turn around (I know, this sounds simple, but I thought for sure I was on the signal and was just following its flux line). 3. Digging a pit yields valuable information but this step is often overlooked. 4. Snow is really fascinating and I want to be around for a long time to play in it.

Practice, dig, think, speak up.

The Cobbler's Son...

The old adage is that the cobbler's son has no shoes. What about the footwear developer? I take more shoes to the thrift store than many people will ever own in their lives. I used to have giant bins of every shoe I've ever worked on. Before the big move I cut it down to only the significant stuff - like successes (Tech Amphib), learning experiences (PI Octane), and weird stuff (a Salomon Creek Boating boot) and only in half pairs.

Footwear procurement for me breaks down into three categories: the crap that doesn't fit me but I wear because it's free or because I need to fly the brand flag; the stuff that fits but was miraculously still free and has the right logo on it to allow me from getting hassled at trade shows (Chaco Flips and PI Seeks); and the hard hard earned stuff that I've banged my head against the wall for - tele and AT boots with liners that have been baked two times to take the shape of my foot, Sidi Dominators that have stretched and molded to my feet through hundreds of creek crossings, Classic Nordic boots that can only be found on obscure websites. You see, I have a weird foot. The majority of footwear developers come into the profession through involvement in wear testing networks - you have a nice, sample size foot, you test for a company, get to know them, and work your way up. That was the route for me as well, except that I don't have the perfect sample size foot. The width of my foot is ridiculously disproportionate to the length, leaving me with few options. Ski boots work because of the moldable liners. Sidi offers an extra wide version of the Dominator (the Mega), and PI used to have a couple of sloppy-wide cycling shoes (of which I snapped up multiple pairs that are sitting in my storage unit waiting for the inevitable delamination or crash-induced failure of my current pairs). My latest interest is skate skiing and it's proving to be a massive challenge. Not only is it technique intensive and favorable to fast-twitch skinny guys with big watches (I'm the only "husky" guy I know who skate skis), it has some serious footwear challenges. The paradigm is that a tight fit equals performance. There are also very limited options for outsoles. Salomon has a couple of sole units that they use or license and Rotefella offers a few New Nordic Norm outsoles. The shape and the width of the outsole limit what you can do with fit, flex and performance. Most companies use a stock Salomon or NNN sole because it costs too much to open their own molds. There is just not enough money in Nordic skiing to work in the cost of a unique outsole - and the outsole has to be compatible with one of two bindings. The Nordic ski market is driven by European brands and end users; Euros wear their shoes tight (if you're interested I can share stats and anecdotal feedback from measuring US feet and Euro feet and comparing the measured size to the size that people actually buy) - so that tight fit doesn't translate well to the typical US end user or someone who values comfort and performance. Salomon is offering heat moldable foam in their boots, taking a cue from moldable alpine and tele liners, giving a slight nod to the US market and the broader trend toward comfort. I'll let you know how it works out as soon as I take a hair dryer to mine.

Morning Commute

This morning I took the "long" way to work, adding about 5 minutes to my 20 minute commute. For the time being I'm staying with an old friend in Gallatin Gateway until my apartment downtown is available. The drive to work passes a couple of huge ranches, wheat farms, and ranchettes. A lot of these larger parcels are in jeopardy right now. Property values have skyrocketed, even in the recession, and land owners are getting taxed off of their properties. The choices are tough - sell out to the developers and watch generations-old ranches get sliced into ranchettes and Louisville/Erie/Superior-like subdivisions, or sign the land over to the state in a conservation easement. On the surface the easement looks like a great choice. The state owns the land to be forever preserved as ranch land, habitat, or open space and your family gets to live there and continue to ranch. I like the permanent protection (the ranch-land equivalent to wilderness designation), but to me it sounds a bit too much like serfdom. Tough choices.

Leverich Canyon

I checked out Leverich Canyon on Sunday. It's a great trail with quick access from town. I've been fortunate for the past few years to have very good access to mountain bikeable single track. Paonia was an 8 minute ride to fast, flowing desert single track. Crested Butte was a 5 minute ride to sick trails, and 20 minutes to world class/IMBA Epic listed/mind blowing rides. I'm fairly spoiled and have realized how Colorado-centric my mindset has become. I have this assertion that every mountain town "should" have instantaneous access to world class goods. Now I don't want to complain - Bozeman has it all and the goods are very good; but it is an adjustment on the mountain bike side of things as many of the trails are drive-to, the trails involve some hike-a-bike and are more of a technical nature than "flowy". Leverich Canyon takes out a bit of the sting by being a quick trip from town (probably a 30 minute ride to the trail head if I committed) with some serious challenge. Montanans build their trails steep! Good luck on those 34/20 single-speeds, my friends. You'll want a little ring. Leverich is steep, fun, and fast. There's also some top notch trail management happening too, sending foot, horse, and uphill bike traffic in one direction and downhill bike traffic in the other. Gravity fed users are cordoned off, minimizing user conflict and giving some room to really open things up. I saw runners, hikers, equestrians, hard tails, downhill rigs, and department store bikes. Diversity is fun! Everyone seemed to be getting along. Mountain biking in these parts seems to be part of a fun hog's repertoire rather than "the thing". It will be an adjustment, but a welcome one, as I'm looking forward to spending more time on foot, accessing places that are not open to bikes, wilderness areas, and The Park.

Hyalite

Hyalite is to Bozeman what Mt. Tam is to San Francisco or Brainard Lake to Boulder; but instead of a population base in the millions or hundreds of thousands, Hyalite serves a valley of about 50,000. What would be a reasonable 17 mile drive to front country and some backcountry access in more populated areas provides big payoffs here. Hyalite offers a wilderness interface, some of the best ice climbing in the US, alpine peaks and ridges, waterfalls, wildlife migration corridor, and some seriously great hiking. I made a quick afternoon trip up toward the lake and peak but got turned around by the setting sun. The light wasn't great and I hesitate putting pics up because the area deserves a better photo representation and a lot more exploration.