| viharnik2. 06. 2011 08:12:51 |
Dear mountaineer Velkavrh!
My story about getting into ski touring is in your case even more comical and worrying.
True, as a young lad I skied a lot on Vogel alpine until just before Slovenia's independence. We used the Yugotekstil cabin then (left of Burja house), the company where my mother worked. Later "green winters" came and there wasn't enough snow even on nearby Krvavec. So I put my outgrown old gear in bulky waste, didn't buy new ones. Later Grivel snowshoes tempted me at Bor in K2, which carried me through snowy mountains for a good decade. One winter day a tourer asks me at the top of Mala Mojstrovka, saying it's a shame because otherwise I'm a good mountaineer, but I don't have good transport-skis-down to the valley? So I promised myself to use mountain skis for moving and returning from mountains in this life.
At first skis aren't the same as snowshoes, only the similar uphill motion and feel of snow under you remains. Everything else, like walking on different slopes, changing direction of ski track ascent, determining optimal ascent direction, walking above cliffs, using kickturns and ways of skiing on different snow cover, I learned gradually and first mainly on the hills of Polhograjci, Pokljuka, Komna and Karavanke. The thing with a bit of deepening and feel for skiing started quickly. But I was aware that conditions in higher mountains and slopes and all traps that always lurk there (crevasses, avalanches, natural obstacles, covered ice) are quite different. So at first I skied slower, learned good turns, body lean position-different snow, quick stopping on steep slopes, jumps over obstacles, rodeo on mule tracks etc. A good book Secrets of Untouched Slopes (Borut Črnivec, Andrej Terčelj) also helped me, which is invaluable and presented with experience for beginners or those who have been skiing for a long time. Finally, practice makes master and there's no other alternative or shortcut. After the second season of ski touring I just realized that the skis could be a shade longer (better float on surface, less sinking when walking). In conclusion, I can say that skis in mountains in winter are universal gear, irreplaceable and enable easy, fast ascents, fast return to valley and lots of skiing pleasures in snowy landscape. Best!
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