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Booting or Shoeing in the Skin Track

6K views 23 replies 17 participants last post by  jmrolak 
#1 ·
In Vail there is still lots of ignorance in back country educate. If you are booting or snow shoeing for your turns, then great, but stay out of the set skin tracks please. Skin tracks look like really set in ski tracks. It's easy to tell the difference between a snow shoe trail and a skin track, plus it really doesn't help that much to walk in it. Really, if you find yourself in a skin track without skins remember your about to ruin someone's day.
 
#5 ·
This is new to me

I guess I'm spoiled in that in the last few years there have only been a few other sets of tracks where I access. I've never had boot tracks, and the snowshoe tracks don't bug me that much. on so many ridges, there is only one safe line. Are they tracking out your switchbacks on the trip up? That just seems crazy?
 
#6 ·
Deal with it

Stop skinning up my boot pack to east vail and out of mushroom up to the ridge. Break a new trail it will only make you stronger. More than 250 people a week are hiking up it's a super corporate ski resort not Denali. With all the idiots hiking up caused by, printing maps and labeling pictures in ski mags and newspapers (thanks self proclaimed locals) you should sell you epic pass and find a new spot. Death to the Poma
 
#7 ·
Ha! Gotta love watching boarders flail on the poma! I have never laughed so hard as when one boarder tryed clinging on, as his face was smeared in the snow for 100'.

A few years back, there were some boarders booting up a ski track for the ski chutes. Being ungrateful skiers, we passed the boarders on the side, and when they gave us flac for asking that they stay out of the ski track, we returned the favor by switchbacking the entire chute above them. Karma is a bitch! Man were they pissed!:p They gave up halfway and went down. We ascended the top and traversed to an adjacent chute for some fresh turns!
 
#8 ·
get over yourself

i sometimes ski with a couple of boarders who still snowshoe. if we're lapping a certain area, and i come through the area after they've been through the skin track, it's not really that big of a deal to go over their tracks. the first pass through seems to consolidate the snow pretty good, and my skis float right over their tracks. i say get over it and learn to deal. it's called a multi-use forest, after all.
 
#9 ·
In this case it was a area that I have had to myself for some time now. secret it out, which bums me, but what can you do... we do leave tracks. It's just respect to leave a switch back skin track to skinners. It's better for them to boot right up and not that much harder the 1st time, way, way easier every time after that. just get a clue if you don't already have one.
 
#19 ·
ust get a clue if you don't already have one.
Hilarious - I was skinning up a top secret super 007 sneaky stretch in the valley today with my dogs. Some dude was snowshoeing in jeans in front of me. I came up on him but a) he was in the skin track, and b) he would NOT get out of the way.

I asked him nicely to let me pass, and the piece of shit made some snide comment about my dogs being off leash and then about how the wilderness is open to everyone.

I left the track into the deep, but really had to huff it to get ahead of him. I didn't see him again, but didn't want to make an issue. You never know - he could have been packing heat or hurt my dogs.

Made me want to stab the wanker in the eye with my ski pole.
 
#10 ·
bootin da skin track.

Bootin the skin track is BS.

A few years ago I was at Targhee and they opened up Molly's Nipple for the first time in a while. There were like 40 snowboarders in front of me booting. Being the ever prepared skier I put on my half skins and chilled near the back until the first guy was several hundred yards from the top. I then made my pass, every boarder was yelling obscenities at me. When I passed the lead guy he yelled at my for skinning in his boot pack. He threatened to kick my ass. I told him to meet me up top and he could try, as he caught up to me, he literally threw off his gloves an came at me. I just clicked in and put in about 4 giant turns off the peak, over the cliff and laughed the whole way.

In the san juans bootin in the skin track isn't usually a problem unless you ski where all the other jack asses ski. A competant skinner/skier can be miles away from where even the most determined bootpacker can get in a matter of minutes.

If your favorite area you frequent reagularly is getting booted, throw in some 'dummy' and stupid skin tracks, for bait. I have tried that and it is funny to see some booting a dead end skin track i just skied out of.

I have found that if you have problems with bootpackers you arent far enough off the beated trail. Usually putting a skin track through some heinous treed switchbacks will discourage most booters. Exceptions are Teton Pass and other places where boot packers are a plague.

Here to a kick ass winter shaping up, even for you boarders... :)


Scott
 
#12 ·
I think that booters and snowshoe-ers who chronically screw up skin tracks should first be given the opportunity to repent. If that doesn't work, they should be sent to Gitmo immediately where they will be subjected to humiliation beyond their wildest nightmares.

Just a thought...
 
#15 ·
So does my new, Golden --



but, then he gets his ass kicked and his poop moved...

Anyway, there is defintitely differences of when and not to boot pack a trail. I have climbed and skied from the summit of 6 of our 14'ers and every time I strapped my skis to my pack and snowshoed or crampon climbed to the summit. To do so I have snowshoe packed skin tracks before, but only in early season conditions, in places that are not regularly visited. Most of the time it is common courtesey to stay out of the skin track, but not always necessary. Just keep others in mind and try to have fun!
 
#18 ·
Skiing in the backcountry sucks anyway. Resort skiing is way better. Hesperus has been off the hook,seriously. But if you really have to ski backcountry, try skinning straight up everything, that'll eliminate 95% of dem dam gapers. You got to admit that it's kinda funny watching the rookies wallow in chest deep sugar snow, having been a rookie once. Yo Stinky, you finally done hanging out in Kansas and Texas? Give us a call, I need somebody to attach a bungee cord to. I hope you still got that big ole shovel. That thing is way more fun to ride than my fattie boards.
 
#20 ·
Snowshoeing in the skin track isn't such a big deal. The track just gets a little wider. I have to object to booting up the track though. Booting makes an irregular surface so less of one's skins are in contact with the snow. Plus booters are slow as hell if the snow is soft.
 
#22 ·
de,

I am in East OR, no skiing here :( I went to hesperus the day after xmas, was awesome! I am outta here in a few weeks for the rest of the winter. Time to go ski, I however will never drag you again unless you bone is sticking out this time. I may be a skinning machine, but am not a clydesdale....

arent we lucky to live and ski away from booters and snowshoers?

scott
 
#23 ·
this post is a bunch of bushido. Snowshoes don't affect the track enough to 'ruin' it. I mean I'd love to ski powder everyday and not have to deal with cloudy days and bad weather when it snows, but it's not practical. The fact of the matter is we share they mountains and snowboarding is just as much of a valid sport as is skiing. It's not practical to expect snowboarders to kick a new track in all but the most trafficked places.

I don't like post holers though. It pisses me off when someone follows my track without shoes on. As a skier I think I represent the majority of non agro, non fascist skiers, that don't have to be a dick to other people to build ourselves up. Tolerance is a beautiful thing and it makes our quality of life better.

Have fun, and Sport climbing is fun too!
 
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