Thirty Kilometers On Skis!

He had puzzled over the thought of seeing how long of a ski he could do. Most of the time he would be skiing with friends who had other things to do, or would tire before he did, and the skiing would be truncated. There had been times in the past, most recently on 23 December 2013, where, as a solo skier, he had gone twenty kilometers. And it always seemed he was skiing alone when he would do the longer distances.

So he had been contemplating for several months going the distance. Could he do thirty kilometers? Then one morning his spouse suggested that he go skiing that day. Could he do it? The ski area wasn't open and the last grooming of the trails had been a couple days before.

He left home at about 8 a.m. and headed for the hill. Fog and slippery road surfaces caused doubts to enter his mind. He arrived at Anthony Lakes nordic area and started skiing just after 9, with cloudy, snowy conditions prevailing. He was skeptical, as is his wont. The groomed surface was broken by previous skiers, and had formed small, hard edges that could take a skier down if they weren't paying attention.

Nobody was around. He had the entire ski area to himself. Within twenty minutes of leaving the car the weather cleared, snow fall had stopped, and the sun was shinning brightly. The mountains were exalted and every little pile of misplaced snow was kept low. The conditions were fast, and the wax was blue.

Maybe he could do it.

The sun was almost above the shoulder of Gunsight Mountain as he skied the first few kilometers.

He skied all the main trails once, clocking the first ten kilometers at one hour and thirty minutes. Certainly not a racers time, but respectable for him, he of recreational skiing. After a short break where he downed some water and a banana, he committed to the second round doing all the trails in the opposite direction of his first loop, and it took him about one hour and forty minutes. He was wearing out. And this was the distance he had always stopped at, usually feeling tired and worn out.

He took a lunch break of a few minutes, just enough to down a bagel and a banana,and drink some water. And the third ten kilometers took almost two hours. But the thirty kilometers were under his belt and he felt a small sense of victory, or accomplishment in the knowledge that he could do it. He did do it. Thirty kilometers, and he did not feel too bad. In fact, on the drive home he started contemplating a forty kilometer day.

Map and elevation profile of the thirty kilometer ski at Anthony Lakes Nordic Center, 22 January 2014.

Wax or No-wax Cross Country Skis

He has been nordic skiing for thirty-five years, almost exclusively on wax skis. He seems to prefer them to no-wax skis, also known as waxless skis, and he mentioned it to others that he skis with. Their reply was, well, you need to try no-wax skis before you can really judge.

He claimed he had, in the distant past, rented, and used loaner no-wax skis, and he wasn't impressed. He would just stick with his wax skis, thank you very much.

Then he took his wax skis into the shop for a tune-up, and the technician pointed out that both skis were showing wear under the binding. In fact, said the technician, I would not chance skiing around Crater Lake with these skis. So our protagonist bought a pair of skis at the shop, the only ones available, which, to his dismay, were no-wax. Had there been more time, he would have shopped around, and purchased wax skis, but time was not there.

He skied on no-wax skis in March, April, and again in December. A three day trip around Crater Lake gave him quite a bit of experience on no-wax skis. He climbed to Tam McArthur Rim in the Three Sisters Wilderness Area, and shredded the back-country of the Elkhorn Mountains of northeast Oregon with no-wax skis.

"It could have been wax skis!" In the bowels of Broken Top, Three Sisters Wilderness Area.

And after all that, he insist that wax skis are better.

You may be wondering why? For those how are not nordic skiers, this may be an esoteric exercise in minute details of unimportance. But for this skier, it feels that the entire world should be made aware of the differences.

There is the story of a local skier packing, getting on the plane, and zooming to the Scandinavian countries with the intention of skiing long distances in many of the races they have there. He had packed his no-wax skis, and once he arrived in Finland, was ridiculed, mocked, and came in last place everywhere he skied. Apparently, the source of nordic skiing doesn't take kindly to no-wax skis.

So, let's compare wax skis, verses no-wax skis.

1)  The skier has more control with wax skis.

What kind of wax you use depends on the type of snow, the terrain and the temperature. The skier has total control on what type of wax to choose, and use. A person using a no-wax ski has no options. Whatever the base of the ski is, is what the skier has to use. There is no option for a no-wax skier. They are stuck with the base that they have, and have no recourse on changing anything with respect to their bases.

2)  The wax ski is faster.

Many times, skiing with somebody who uses no-wax skis, they will step aside so the wax ski user can zip down the hill before them. They know that a wax ski will, as a general rule, be faster than a no-wax ski on the downhill. You want to be faster? Use a wax ski. There is something wrong with having a rough surface on the base of your ski when you are trying to make progress. Imagine a surface made of sandpaper on the base of a ski. This is akin to the no-wax surfaces of some skis.

3)  The wax ski is quieter.

Under certain conditions, such as hard pack, groomed trails, and icy conditions, no-wax skis will be louder than wax skis. You can hear them. Wax skis are quieter, and allow the skier to concentrate on the sounds of the wilderness instead of the sounds of their skis.

4)  The wax ski is gentler.

Under many of the same conditions as above, the no-wax ski will make a vibrating feeling on the skiers foot. This may be nice for some people, but for the skier who is looking for a smooth ride, wax skis are the way to go. No-wax skis give the skier a vibrating feeling on their feet. Not a good thing when you're trying to feel the wilds that you are skiing through.

5)  No-wax skis are a misnomer.

No-wax, or waxless skis actually require a base treatment at times. A recent ski trip with a no-wax ski user had him "waxing" several times because the snow was sticking to his ski bases. The treatments are usually in a bottle or can whereby the skier spreads the compound over the base of the ski and usually waits for the treatment to dry before putting the skis back on the snow.

The view from Tam McArthur Rim, the edge of Broken Top on the left, South, Middle and North Sister.

Wax skis are the way to go. Applying wax to the base of the ski is not difficult, and the result is a much better ski trip. Try it.

And he will persist in using his wax skis, while his no-wax skis gather dust in the garage.

Nordic Skiing at Anthony Lakes

A video taken by a local skier from a recent trip to the nearby mountains. Currently, this is one of only four ski areas in all of Oregon to be open. It is rumoured that they also have better snow than several of the ski areas that are open.

The start is at the top of College Extension, After the flash, the rest of the trip is on the trail known as College and past the Gunsight Trail, where some other skiers are relaxing in the powder.

The Four Summits

Occasionally, I have been known to hike to the summit of nearby peaks. Not sure when I got the notion to summit more than one peak in a day, but I started thinking that a self-imposed challenge would be to summit four peaks in one day.

The logical place was in the Anthony Lakes area of the Elkhorn Mountains of northeast Oregon. I had been on a couple of the peaks separately, but never more than one on any one day. I think the very first year I did what was to become The Four Summits was in 2007. I figured I could climb Gunsight Mountain, hike the ridge to Angell Peak, along the ridge to Lees Peak, then drop down to Hoffer Basin, climb up the ski run known as Avalanche to the ridge, pick-up the trail and follow it to the summit of Lakes Lookout.

In October, 2007 I attempted the four summits, hiking with Maia the dog. She was perfectly okay up Gunsight, but then climbing up the ramp to Angell, she would walk in front of me, then lie down, right in my way. She did this numerous times, so after we topped the second peak, we called it a day and headed back to the vehicle.

Angell Peak, Gunsight Mountain, Lees Peak and Lakes Lookout from Bear Butte

A month later I soloed the four summits, as planned. There was a trace of snow, but no other hinderances. Gunsight. Angell Peak. Lees Peak. Lakes Lookout. Like clockwork, I completed the four summits in six and a half hours. There was 1,002 meters of elevation gain over the 10.7 kilometers. Not bad. I did the four summits once a year, usually in the autumn, every year since. Only once, in 2012, has anybody gone with me. Not sure if it was inexperience, or the unknown, but in 2012 my daughter decided to go with me. She seemed to enjoy it.

This year the notion entered my mind that there were other summits that could be done in groups of four. 17.9 kilometers and 1501 meters of elevation and eight and a half hours later I had completed the four summits in the southwest Wallowa Mountains.

I left the trailhead at Buck Creek and was on the summit of Burger Butte within two hours. The weather was nice, a typical early fall day, crisp but sunny. I wandered down and over to Sand Pass, then up the trail to Mule Peak, where Riley was staffing the lookout. About a half hour later I was on the summit of Granite Butte. Then down to Burger Meadow, up to Burger Pass and over and up to China Cap. From China Cap it was all downhill back to the vehicle.

Now I'm contemplating other Four Summits. What could it be? Where will it be? If past Four Summit trips are any indication, they will invariably be solo trips. Time to get hiking.

Carpe Hikem. Seize the hike!