Captured some of the avalanche damage in Little Cottonwood Canyon today with my latest drone, a slow flyer which is designed for more “cinematic” filming. Only flown it a couple of times so far but I’m digging it. The damage is stunning, including of parts of Tanners Flat Campground. Below are two versions of the video, a long and a short one. The short one is going viral on Twitter, at over 40K views in 24 hours!
Long Version
Short Version
My Tecnica Zero G backcountry boots were extremely expensive. I was very surprised and unhappy to find that my boot boards, also known as Zeppas, had completely fallen apart. I had taken my liners out to let them air dry since they were wet with sweat from a tour and found the carnage:
I called the Tecnica dealer that I got the boots from and they did not have my size (25.5). I called other local dealers and none of them had replacement Zeppas either. I looked all over online and nothing. I called Tecnica and I was happy to hear that they would replace them under warranty. One problem. The replacements will not come until some time after November 1st. It is may, and we have a 165 inch base. There is a LOT of backcountry skiing left this spring, plus fall of next season. Waiting until November means missing out on potentially dozens of backcountry ski tours with my Tecnica Zero-G boots.
Solution!
I’ve been into 3D design and 3D printing as a hobby for quite some time, and this was a perfect opportunity to put some of those skills to good use. I designed up a new version of the Zeppa and did some test prints, revising and printing numerous times. Eventually I came up with a satisfactory design so I printed the Zeppas in a softer rubber material that has some cushion to it, like the original boot boards.
The work awesome! Better than the originals!
Need Some?
I’ve had many people reach out to me who apparently have the same problem and want me to print them. Sounds like a business opportunity! Let me know if you need some. Reach out to me via any of the social network links in the header.
Started the day intending to do something I’ve never done, ski Mount Olympus Couloir (a.k.a. Memorial Couloir #2). I tried but unfortunately (and fortunately) I did not ski it because it was too sketchy to even get to it.
But I did do something I haven’t done before after I got home! Ate a peanut butter sandwich in the shower. I wanted my peanut butter sandwich so much, and wanted a shower just as much…
2nd backcountry skiing session of the season was a little bigger than the first. 1800-ish vertical from the lower lot to the top of the Collins lift at Alta, via Ballroom.
It wasn’t much because I ran out of daylight, but I skinned up Grizzly Gulch and made some turns coming back, on snow. I skied! The season has begun. The base has some hazards but it is solid.
This was a tough video to make. So many awesome clips from the 2021-2022 ski season to choose from! Some of the clips feature pow on Mount Baldy, East Castle, backcountry skiing, Main Chute (Mount Baldy), Perlas, High Boy (Alf’s High Rustler), Jitter Bug, Stone Crusher, Gunsight, Deseret Peak’s Twin Couloirs and more.
What a thrilling day it was for me to record my third time “down” the Main Chute in the Baldy Chutes at Alta Ski Area a couple of weeks ago. I say “down” because I’ve only technically skied it twice as the first time I attempted it I fell 1,100 feet from the top to the bottom.
This time around was a nice spring day with mostly soft snow conditions, though some parts of the chute were icy. This was certainly my best run at it. I was in the most control, most relaxed (if that’s possible) and best turns. The first time I hit it after my fall I was terrified and was simply trying to get down it without getting hurt.
I was happy to take my buddy Mike there for his first time. As can be expected, he was psyched out at first. It is visually intimidating at the first. But after watching a couple of other skiers do it, he got up the will and did it without incident. Nice job Mike!
Hard to put into words how rewarding and challenging climbing up a mountain and skiing down it is, not to mention the scenery. In today’s case it was very heavy slush; 52 degrees. It’s hard to turn in slush. No quick or tight turns. Have to make wide or better yet, no turns. Difficult to score style points in these conditions! I must be getting mushy because I can sense each day I get out and ski may be the real-deal last for the season. The snow is melting fast.
I’ve been suffering bad blisters on my old Technica Cochise 130 touring boots. I tried everything to resolve the blisters from tweaking/molding the liners, Squirrel’s Nut Butter, athletic tape, moleskin… None of those things addressed the problem, which was that the boots were too big. I finally did it right, and got some new boots completely fitted, molded, orthotic-ed (just made that word up), and every possible customization and adaptation to my feet possible. I have faith in Technical and that’s one reason why I chose them again with the Zero G Tour Pro. That at the fitter said these boots are the best of the best.
Above: note the alternate buckle. Interesting.
This walk/ski mechanism above is very hot right now.
I’ve done one tour with them so far, then the snow melted. The tour was a success. No blisters on the achilles. I had a little bit of rubbing on the right ankle bone, but I think I need to change socks to a less abrasive pair.
I felt great in ski mode. My feet and my skis were connected. My foot wasn’t floating around in the boot. My toes didn’t go numb either, which was another issue I had.
This is way too early to come to a conclusion and I may need another tweak or two to the boots, but they’re already a huge improvement.
The Lesson
Do it right the first time. Get the right boot. Get the right size. Get fitted by a pro.
My buddy Michael and I did our first substantial skinning session of the 2020-2021 season today. We started up the Summer Road at Alta and went up near Catherine Pass to Point Supreme. We went nearly to the very top but it was very thin and dangerous up there so we didn’t go the last couple hundred yards. Here’s a little body cam video from Point Supreme.
I’m thrilled to say that all the mountain biking this summer has really made a huge difference in my fitness and ability to take on vertical like this at over 10,000 feet. Unfortunately I had the wrong socks, and my touring boots are not fitted well and I ended up with nasty blisters on both feet. That needs to be resolved.
