From: bannan@convex.com (Bill Bannan)
Subject: Re: Crosscountry/Backcountry skiing in New England (INFO WANTED)
Keywords: Long...
Organization: CONVEX Computer Corporation, Albany NY
Distribution: usa
Date: Fri, 09 Oct 1992 16:02:25 GMT
X-Disclaimer: This message was written by a user at CONVEX Computer
              Corp. The opinions expressed are those of the user and
              not necessarily those of CONVEX.

I tried to send this E-mail but it bounced so we have to do it the hard way!
My Apologies to the rest of the net.

     Welcome to Cross Country, I'll try and answer some of your questions...

>Where can I go around here?  
>Where will I find tracks? 
>Where can I just break my own trail?  
  The Berkshires. Generally speaking the more elevation you can get the better.
  There are loads of places in the Berkshires. Head West on Rt 9.  One nice 
  place is Notchview, which is on Rt 9 near Windsor,  They have good elevation
  and about 16 miles of trails. This would be a good place to start. 
  As far as breaking your own trail is concerned, that depends on how much snow
  there is. There's a State park called Windsor Jambs on rt 9 near Windsor that
  would be a nice place to break tracks.  Any park at high elevation is fertile
  ground for breaking tracks. After you get comfortable on xc skis treat 
  yourself to a trip up to the High peaks of the Adirondacks (look for the
  Adirondack Loj). Last winter I went up there when there was no snow here in
  Albany, very little snow from Lake George to North Hudson, yet when I got up
  into the backcountry there was 2 &1/2 feet of snow!
>How much snow do we have to have?  
  To Ski on trails, at least 6 inches. To bushwack you need at least a foot  
 or more to get over the rocks, and logs etc. 
>How much snow do you think we'll have this year?  
  Who knows.. we're certainly due for a good dump!
>Can you do telemark turns with any skis?
>Are backcountry skis much different than regular crosscountry skis?
>What kinds of bindings are there?
>What difference do bindings make?
  I have seen people telemark on lightweight skis but let me tell
  you you don't want to go down a mountain on lightweight skis & boots. 
  Lightweight XC skis are meant mainly for diagonal ( track ) touring and
  have the advantage of being light and therefore less "work" to use in that
  setting. For most people however this type of package is useless on hills
  and breaking trails in the woods. From your questions it sounds like your
  looking for a light Telemark (Backcountry) package.
  Telemark skis usually have metal edges, and are wider and stiffer than the  
  lighter touring skis. They usually have three pin or cable (or strap) bindings
  & boots with a more ridged sole and uppers than regular touring boots. Warning
  there are a number of boots in the 70 $ price range that look kind of like
  Telemark boots but are not ridged enough. In both boots & skis there are
  varying degrees of ridgidity. On one end of the spectrum there are packages
  which resemble alpine downhill equipment. This stuff is meant for lift served
  Telemarking and not for touring. On the other end is the lightweight Stuff
  meant for touring. I would suggest that you look at the lighter Merrill boots
  and maybe a good backcountry ski that has metal edges. I have a pair of
  Chounard Valmonte's which you would probably like. As for Bindings go right
  to cables. Although they're really meant for downhill Telemark skiing
  I've used mine for touring and found them to be very good, They give better
  control than pins and frankly I don't notice any disadvantage to touring 
  with them. Some people may say you don't need metal edges and cables in
  the backcountry but when your going down a hill and there's a sharp, icy turn
  followed by a narrow bridge over a stream you'll be damn glad you've got'em!
  Also with such a package you can start To telemark at the lift served 
  mountains, thereby having a more "portable", go anywhere package. The 
  Mountain Goat in Manchester VT,same outfit as the one in Northampton,lets you 
  rent skis to try them out and if you buy them they credit the rental towards
  your purchase, this might be your best bet.
  A word to the wise, It's the cheap person who ends up spending the most.
  If you buy cheap, you'll just outgrow your equipment, get disgusted with it,
  and end up buying the stuff you should have bought in the first place.

   If you are interested in taking up Telemarking there are two places I 
   recomend you check out. One is Prospect Mt on VT Rt 9 in Woodford VT,
   ( about halfway between Brattleboro & Bennington) it is a small downhill
   Mt that has XC trails interwoven with their Downhill Trails making it
   a great place to start Tele'. Ask for Stan, he's their Tele instructor.
   Also there is an EXCELLENT tele instructor at Bromely Mt near Manchester VT
   named Kare ( pronounced like Cory ) Anderson. He's a 70 + year old Norwegian.
   He's sort of the Yoda of Telemark in Southern VT. He's also a very nice guy.
   I paid 20 bucks for an hour lesson at noon and he skied with me until 3:30.

   You have a very good ski shop there in Amherst. I forget the name but 
   it's set back from the main drag a little North of the Center of Town near
   the intersection where you go into UMASS. There is also the Mountain Goat in
   Northampton. They should be able to help you out.

   Good Luck! If I can be of any further help to you let me know!!!


-- 
__________________________________________________________________________
Bill Bannan * bannan@convex.com * Albany NY office of Convex Computer Corp
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: shaw@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM (Shaw Moldauer)
Date: Tue, 6 Oct 1992 18:03:29 GMT
Subject: Re: Colorado Skier - Trivia 2 - Who gets the most!
Organization: Hewlett-Packard, Fort Collins, CO, USA