EISPIRATEN

Devils Backbone ridge route to Baldy summit.
Started at Baldy ski area at 0730.
First part of ridge:




View of our descent from the ridge:


Final summit push:


Nice view from the top:


Snow in the middle section of the chute was really soft, rest of the bowl was perfect corn.




Snow was so good we skinned up for a second run:


Now I know I'm a bit of a Patagonia snob, but skinning up in jeans and a cotton t-shirt seems a bit crazy.


Skiing below the ski hut was interesting:


Made a couple runs on Thunder Mt., back at the ski lifts in the afternoon and it was corned up nicely.

Mountain biking on Sunday...gotta love SoCal winter.

You just can't beat Southern California winters. During my years in high school I used to surf in the morning and go night skiing in the evening. It just doesn't get better than that.

Nice TR. Question for you. The boots you use for those skiis, are they easy to walk/hike/climb in? Are they stiffer than full shank leather mountaineering boots? Can full shank leather mountaineering boots with front and rear welts be use don those types of bindings?

Thanks for any info you can share and thanks for the cool pics.

nice pictures

EnFuego wrote: Nice TR.

thanks

EnFuego wrote: Question for you. The boots you use for those skiis, are they easy to walk/hike/climb in?

easier than normal boots but heavier duty than leather hiking boots so harder to walk in.
my boot is a black or blue ( older or old ) version of this:

So you can see that the big toe part could cause some problems when climbing rock.

Lots of variety in the boots:
http://www.telemarkski.com/html/how_tel ... _boot.html
http://www.telemarkski.com/html/how_AT_select_boot.html

EnFuego wrote: Are they stiffer than full shank leather mountaineering boots?

yes

EnFuego wrote: Can full shank leather mountaineering boots with front and rear welts be use don those types of bindings?

no, but they make leather telemark boots ( they suck ).

Very cool stuff 406 - can never get enough Back Bone pics...



Before I move onto the 'next life' - I know for sure I'd like to a) live by a river (in the mountains) & b) ski the Baldy bowl...

My other earthly desires might best be kept as secrets ------- mainly to avoid possible imprisonment

outwhere wrote:My other earthly desires might best be kept as secrets ------- mainly to avoid possible imprisonment

Ditto that!!!!!