Climbing skins attach to the bottom of your skis and allow you to climb... they sort of glide forward, but stick and provide traction instead of gliding backward. These days they are made from a synthetic material, but they used to be made of sealskin or mohair.
Since I've only used skins once before, a long long time ago, I thought I'd get out and see how they worked. Best to try some gentle terrain. With the skins on, you are more or less "walking" along... kind of like snowshoeing. The skis give enough flotation that you stay on top of the snow rather than sinking to your waist, but when you are ready to go downhill, you peel the skins off the skis an glide on down. MUCH better than snowshoes!
Since It was pretty gentle terrain, and the snow was thin with lots of obstacles sticking through, it wasn't so much skiing as "plonking around on skis". That's alright, though. I learned a bit about using climbing skins, and also about how out of shape I am.
It wasn't exactly warm...
...but I was burning up! It sure felt great to get the heart rate up!
I followed a road for awhile, then went cross country down to another road, enjoying the quiet, soaking up the solitude. What a wonderful place.
Eventually I dropped down to the creek to take a break and eat a snack. As I sat there enjoying the gentle sound of the creek emerging from the ice, and the wind blowing snow through the trees, I couldn't help but think, "why haven't I been doing this all along?"
Winter on Green Creek from Hayduke on Vimeo.
After my little break, I threw my pack back on and headed toward the truck.
When I got back to the road, I pulled the skins off and skied down... MUCH faster, and so much fun. Another great day in the heart of the Rocky Mountains.
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