Fun in the trees

[Pank Ache]

I was kind of inspired by those krazy Michigan "Thicketeering" videos to make another quick clip of eastern Canada style backcountry:

It's been a long season out here, but fairly cold and frequent crusting over of the snowpack.

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[airinwrite]

Beautiful skiing. Looks like pretty light gear?

[Pank Ache]

Beautiful skiing. Looks like pretty light gear?

Thanks. The gear is: Karhu Guide / Madshus Annum skis, Scarpa T4 boots, Voile Switchback bindings. This set-up is pretty close to perfect for the kind of rolling terrain around here. Decent for covering a few kilometers of ground, great turning and seamless skiing back up with those fishscales. Just after a snowfall, a pair of Voile Vector BC skis would be nice too.

[Telemarcus]

Hey, I remember you posting an XCD video a few years ago. Fun stuff.

I agree with the gear choice. I've been on T3's for 8 years. Skiing them with Vectors mounted with Bulldog 3 pins.

[Todd Eastman]

Now dat's some good skiing!!!

[bergbryce]

I like it. Very cool.

[whitehonky]

Nice clean light skiing. Nice to watch.

[manitou]

Good footage here! Very similar to our tree skiing here where I live and with 20+' of snow this year it was off the hook good! I skied stuff this year that I hadn't skied in 15+ years and some of it never because the coverage wasn't' good enough.

I ski a similar set up with Karhu Guides/ G3 Targas and Excursions but mostly I ski my Voile Vector BC, my TTS on my NTN adapter http://www.backcountrytalk.earnyourt...-Adapter-Plate and Scarpa F1's. On mellower terrain we just kick and glide on the no wax pattern but on steeper climbs I use my Ascension skins that I cut for my Karhu Jak (totem poles) which also fit my Vectors perfectly!

[aqua toque]

Very steady camera work!

[Telemarcus]

Manitou, I'm assuming you are in Leelenau County. We need to get together and ski sometime. We ski anywhere from the bridge down to the Grayling area depending on where the lake effect dropped. We are out earnin' turns every weekend.

Also, if you've never been, you have to get up to Bellevue Valley Lodge in Canada.

[manitou]

Telemarcus, We've skied together I think. I believe I turned you onto the Karhu Guides way back. I worked for those guys then and had a hand in their design brief. Robin and Enn are good friends of mine and I love BVL! I've been skiing my azz off literally this winter, weekend, week day no matter! A powder day knows no calendar day of the week! A few weeks ago I had one week with 30 hours of ski time. The pow was exceptionally great that week and it was ski till you drop like it's your job!

[Telemarcus]

Sorry to hijack the thread of this great little video...

Manitou, I think I figured out who you are.....PM sent.

[manitou]

Pank Ache, very fine skiing here! Definitely a fun little video! Sorry for the thread jack!

Telemarcus, PM replied, you got it!

[Pank Ache]

... I believe I turned you onto the Karhu Guides way back. I worked for those guys then and had a hand in their design brief...

What was your input on the Guide ski?

A bunch of years before the Karhu Guide, I had a widish ski for the time, maybe 85/65/75 or something like that, with fishscales. It was made by Atomic. I used them with my old Scarpa Rootbeer T3s, but they just didn't work the way the Guides did when they came around. Maybe the skis had too much of a nordic camber, but they just didn't turn or handle well.

Its funny that it took a while for the ski manufacturers to figure out a ski that would optimize a ski for XCD style skiing and the lighter T4s or Excursion boots.

Did you think at the time that the Guides would be so revelatory?

[manitou]

What was your input on the Guide ski?

A bunch of years before the Karhu Guide, I had a widish ski for the time, maybe 85/65/75 or something like that, with fishscales. It was made by Atomic. I used them with my old Scarpa Rootbeer T3s, but they just didn't work the way the Guides did when they came around. Maybe the skis had too much of a nordic camber, but they just didn't turn or handle well.

Its funny that it took a while for the ski manufacturers to figure out a ski that would optimize a ski for XCD style skiing and the lighter T4s or Excursion boots.

Did you think at the time that the Guides would be so revelatory?

Well we had the Catamounts for quite a while at 85/70/80 and they were PU foam core , unbreakable but kind of whimpy. We made them work for most east woods type touring. We came out with the Jak/ Jil series, which came from Line skis, same owner (Sports Holding Co.) and a number of us were pushing for a no wax Jak. Nils and Francois were not into going that big but Hansi and a few of us pushed them to prototype some. They made the 120/90/110 in 170cm Jak with an Omnitrak base but only 2 pairs. The consensus at the time was they were too big for the touring market and not really marketable. So Karhu did'nt make them but instead developed the most current version 10th Mountain Guide and Tour in the XCD series. It was an instant hit for sure and there was a group of us that were pushing for a Jak version at the time but we were told that was too wide for XCD.

Rossi came out with the BC125 and I thought that's good but then when Voile did the Vector BC, I jumped on them! It's like the Jak but with tip and tail rocker. I love them, I ski them in the 180 and will get the Charger BC next year in a 170! Very fun skis!!