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Thanks for this Forum! [I posted this already in the "rugged touring" thread but several replies suggested I should repost here, so I am. --JP)
Here's my huge intro to our mid-Michigan scene: We do the "rugged touring" but with fewer linked turns. Let's see if you think it can fit in here...
We're mostly skiing singletrack. Skiing what we ride in the summer. Our method is: fast, light, far.
We're into the Epic side, but even short is great when you're on singletrack. It's about ski-handling for us. But mostly in terms of kick'n'glide. The new midlength skis in 55mm widths plus the lighter NNN-BC boots are AMAZING for how well they kick'n'glide AND ALSO turn in technical terrain. We can link fairly well with them but even more so we can line the twisty singletrack descents. Our outings range from 10-40 miles and they aim for the hilliest, most challenging terrain in our region (including all of Michigan).
We are also considering the overnight angle (no proven solution there yet for us).
We have about 30 of us who are into this style locally here. I'm sure there are many others elsewhere. The "real" nordic skiers seem uninterested and are apparently addicted to their grooming. Yet with the shaky winters their options can suddenly become limited, especially for the weekend racing they're into. Their races are frequently cancelling in recent years. But we Singletrack Skiers can always find some fairly nearby part of the state that DOES have nicely shaded trail. And our scene has zero overhead. We drive over then ski all day, for free.
We have about 50 miles of singletrack right in our county. And zero grooming. So all our local skiing is "backcountry trail" skiing. The grooming is more of an upnorth thing. So the downstate grooming addicts don't ski locally much, and they drive a lot. (There are basically 2 downstate groomed places.) Recent seasons have been light on snow. Even so I get out about 50 times locally and could care less about grooming.
As for skis... Rossi EVOs are big with us. And Fischer Spyders. I still love a nice waxable Fischer Touring BC full length ski. I can handle them and they perform TWICE as good as the midlengths except when the ups'n'downs get on the tighter side. I like regular NNN just fine -- very light and good control. But the Rossi BC X5 is a popular NNN-BC boot: light yet even better control.
PART TWO... We also are bigtime into our secret powder stashes. Then we like to bring out the Karhu Guides (and such) and beefy plastic boots and tele-bindings. After a 12" dump (huge for us!) we'll call in sick and "earn turns" all morning in a 10-acre shady bowl, following the sun-shadow and enjoying a perfect uptrack. Each run is 12" over from the previous one. All snow used. "Mind your margins." The key to joy in this regard is the AUTUMN FOREST PREP. We find our pitches then clear away dead brush. OK, we sometimes remove sapling and whippers. If someone didn't know what they were looking for, they wouldn't notice these prime ski slopes we create. Oooh, we have some good terrain. All top secret. When we're skiing if we see other people on nearby trails we'll put a tree between us and them and gradually scootch our way around the tree as they pass. And we try to keep the signs of skiing a bit removed from view of any regular trail. ...It's a great fun scene.
PART THREE: "Backcountry" magazine has never seen fit to reply to our letters or respond to our requests that they start covering (or giving respect to) the hardwoods, non-mountainous, wonderful BC ski scenes such as the Midwest offers and so many other places. Mountains are such a small part of the snow world. But, who knows, maybe they do cover it from time to time.
I'm hoping, and have fingers crossed, that our Singletrack BC style can find a home or be included here. If this isn't a good place and you know of another, please share. Thanks.
Here's my huge intro to our mid-Michigan scene: We do the "rugged touring" but with fewer linked turns. Let's see if you think it can fit in here...
We're mostly skiing singletrack. Skiing what we ride in the summer. Our method is: fast, light, far.
We're into the Epic side, but even short is great when you're on singletrack. It's about ski-handling for us. But mostly in terms of kick'n'glide. The new midlength skis in 55mm widths plus the lighter NNN-BC boots are AMAZING for how well they kick'n'glide AND ALSO turn in technical terrain. We can link fairly well with them but even more so we can line the twisty singletrack descents. Our outings range from 10-40 miles and they aim for the hilliest, most challenging terrain in our region (including all of Michigan).
We are also considering the overnight angle (no proven solution there yet for us).
We have about 30 of us who are into this style locally here. I'm sure there are many others elsewhere. The "real" nordic skiers seem uninterested and are apparently addicted to their grooming. Yet with the shaky winters their options can suddenly become limited, especially for the weekend racing they're into. Their races are frequently cancelling in recent years. But we Singletrack Skiers can always find some fairly nearby part of the state that DOES have nicely shaded trail. And our scene has zero overhead. We drive over then ski all day, for free.
We have about 50 miles of singletrack right in our county. And zero grooming. So all our local skiing is "backcountry trail" skiing. The grooming is more of an upnorth thing. So the downstate grooming addicts don't ski locally much, and they drive a lot. (There are basically 2 downstate groomed places.) Recent seasons have been light on snow. Even so I get out about 50 times locally and could care less about grooming.
As for skis... Rossi EVOs are big with us. And Fischer Spyders. I still love a nice waxable Fischer Touring BC full length ski. I can handle them and they perform TWICE as good as the midlengths except when the ups'n'downs get on the tighter side. I like regular NNN just fine -- very light and good control. But the Rossi BC X5 is a popular NNN-BC boot: light yet even better control.
PART TWO... We also are bigtime into our secret powder stashes. Then we like to bring out the Karhu Guides (and such) and beefy plastic boots and tele-bindings. After a 12" dump (huge for us!) we'll call in sick and "earn turns" all morning in a 10-acre shady bowl, following the sun-shadow and enjoying a perfect uptrack. Each run is 12" over from the previous one. All snow used. "Mind your margins." The key to joy in this regard is the AUTUMN FOREST PREP. We find our pitches then clear away dead brush. OK, we sometimes remove sapling and whippers. If someone didn't know what they were looking for, they wouldn't notice these prime ski slopes we create. Oooh, we have some good terrain. All top secret. When we're skiing if we see other people on nearby trails we'll put a tree between us and them and gradually scootch our way around the tree as they pass. And we try to keep the signs of skiing a bit removed from view of any regular trail. ...It's a great fun scene.
PART THREE: "Backcountry" magazine has never seen fit to reply to our letters or respond to our requests that they start covering (or giving respect to) the hardwoods, non-mountainous, wonderful BC ski scenes such as the Midwest offers and so many other places. Mountains are such a small part of the snow world. But, who knows, maybe they do cover it from time to time.
I'm hoping, and have fingers crossed, that our Singletrack BC style can find a home or be included here. If this isn't a good place and you know of another, please share. Thanks.
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