CO sled skiers?

[woodswoman]

Sled Skiing

I live in Bailey, and frequently snowshoe Guenella pass at Genieva Basis. Road from Grant is plowed to there. I have never riden their but have seen may people snowboard with a sled. Often getting towed to the top and back side. There is a warming hut at the top.

 

[mannix]

From the looks of the satellite pictures, Geneva Basin is just south of Duck Lake - is that accurate?

How much snow is up there now?

Thanks!



Iain

 

[mannix]

OK, all of you were RIGHT!

Rode @ Jones today. Dug a bunch, too.

Met up with Backcountryislife & wife & friend, followed them around.

I'm exhausted. I'll post a trip report tomorrow. "Rode" 13 miles. Got stuck twice. Learned a LOT. I get it now - this is SOOOO much different than I'd thought.

Watching talented riders was _enormously_ helpful. Getting one to show me how to unstick a sled was also very, very helpful.

I knew I'd feel awkward and rather tool-ish on the sled first time out, but wow, what a rude awakening. I knew there was more to it than "sit and steer," but, ummmm, yeah. BCIL showed me the most illuminating thing today, and I don't think he meant to - I was goofing around with "sidehilling," trying to get the track roughly horizontal on wind-filled jeep roads, mentioned to him that I was having trouble getting it up (shutup, y'all) onto one ski. He jumped on, leaned, torqued it over, "that's about right."

OH. Like THAT?!?! OK.....goofing around on a side"hill," I tried it - gave it a good tug, added some throttle, the track spun and broke through the crust, sled settled into the hill....ahhh, I get it.

Even if only for ~3 seconds, I felt it. Made sense.

BCIL&company - thank you VERY much. I'm not sure you realize how helpful it was; yeah, my questions seem inane (and there's a lot of them), but it was pretty awesome to luck out & tag along with you three - lots to be learned, just watching.

Greatly appreciated. Still not sure I like it better than skiing, but wow, it was fun.

C'ept that time where I decided to go up over there, but did not really GET there, ummm, oops. I now know what "trenching" is. Doh.



Iain

 

[Ex-Member]

hahha

Sounds about right.

 

[bushy]

That older summit chassis isn't near as easy to throw around as the newer sleds. After you get the basics down, jump on a new chassis and take it for a spin. That'll set the hook a little deeper

 

[BackCountryBob]

At least you didn't break any sled parts

I bet you had an Aleeve moment the next day

Bcb

 

[mannix]

Yup, no broken sled parts. I've skied a lot; I'm good at reading snow as far as figuring out whether hard things are lurking underneath. I'm sure I WILL hit something at some point, but thankfully, I've got solid skills in that area.

Aleve. Yup. Lots. Wow. I've got a LOT to learn - but now that I've got a handle on a couple of the things needed (concepts, not skills), it'll go a lot faster. Probably going back to Jones next Sunday - I like the place; the area that Kaleb showed me is safe from an avalanche perspective, easy to get to, and offers PLENTY of learning for me. That said, I'm not comfortable going, oh, anywhere else up there - I followed the road to within 1/4 mile of the pass itself, and it is drifted in big - probably a 30-32d sidehill, windblown CO snow. On one hand, I'd gotten a LOT of practice on sidehills like that (relatively flat) up to that point, but all of those "training wheel" sidehilly-things had zero consequence if I screwed up.

I turned around; yeah, I probably could have gotten across it, but if not, if I'd found myself turning downhill....???? I'd not have died, it is not really steep, but would I have gotten out?

Who knows. This all happened before I met up with BCIL et al; I know that the hill in question would be a nonissue for People Who Ride, but better safe than sorry.

Before I met up with them, I was staying above the car & on the road - worst case, 3 mile downhill walk to the van. I'm in the process of buying another sled; riding alone midwinter is potential suicide (I know that everyone here knows that, but I'm just figuring it out...).

Fun day. Will post a trip report of sorts soon.


Iain

 

[mannix]

....jump on a new chassis and take it for a spin. That'll set the hook a little deeper

NO! Heh. I already know I want a Rev/more modern chassis. I don't NEED it, though. I don't like the seating position of the ZX; just sitting on newer sleds feels TONS better - I kept trying to sit with my feet back, more like on a motorcycle, but I felt like I was riding my kid's KDX110. I don't like the "Harley" seating position of the ZX.

That said, it is way, way, WAY better than me - IT is not the problem. I know if I ride a newer-style sled, I'll HAVE to have one; just sitting on them in shops feels way more right, and after riding mine, yeah, I like the new stuff - it feels familiar, more like my motorcycles.

I'm only 5'8"-5'9", but I feel like I need a riser on mine - I never felt comfortable on it.

Shrug. It is a ski lift for me (for now), and it will do the job just fine. That said, I am planning on buying a second sled so my impoverished dirtbag friends can come out with me, and I found myself looking at Rev chassis Summits on Craigslist.....hmmmm, *I* get a Rev, turn the ZX into the "backup" sled.

Great. It is already starting. Hrmph.



Iain (my primary snowmobile info-source told me "not to test ride a Rev unless you're planning on buying one." He was right, and I've not even test-ridden anything newer....)

 

[wks]

Mostly a sled skier here. Rode 'biles since I could walk, but now use mine mostly for ski access. I use mine primarily for easier skin to terrain access, but also for lapping, etc. Some of my favorite spots for sled ski access:

Buff pass
Marble
VP
Snowies
Corona
Cottonwood
Flattops
Just about any trail in the Aspen zone
Indy pass (just don't ride off road or the wilderness nazis will freak out!)
Piney

Would be great to connect with some other sled skiers.

 

[GnarShred]

wks - I'm heading to piney/ red and white to stay at the hut for a night later this year. I've only been in there on my sled once and it was late in the day and didn't get too far. Is there anything you can tell me about the sled-access terrain in that area?? We're going to shoe up past the hut for turns up there but I'm wondering if there are areas to the west in the logged areas that might have something.. I ride a snowboard but a bunch of my friends twin stick good to know there's others on this site.

 

[wks]

wks - I'm heading to piney/ red and white to stay at the hut for a night later this year. I've only been in there on my sled once and it was late in the day and didn't get too far. Is there anything you can tell me about the sled-access terrain in that area?? We're going to shoe up past the hut for turns up there but I'm wondering if there are areas to the west in the logged areas that might have something.. I ride a snowboard but a bunch of my friends twin stick good to know there's others on this site.

There's a whole lotta terrain up around Piney. You can sled up the Lost Lake road all the way to the base of Piney Bristles Mountain, which offers some great skiing in the W-SW facing bowl. Be careful of slide danger though. There are safe alternatives up around the bowl, especially in the thicker wooded areas.

Here's a fall pic of the Piney Bristles bowl:

You can also just about sled all the way up to the hut, and then ski to easy to reach terrain from the hut. Most of it is pretty obvious as you get up there.

There is some great terrain near Red, White, good tree skiing, but requires a bit more navigating and skinning. Can't exactly roll right up to the terrain and start banging out laps. There's also some decent aspen gladed terrain that is E-SE facing just past the Piney Ranch. Sled up to the wilderness boundary and then skin up the Piney valley .5 mile or so to the obvious terrain. It's mellow, but still fun. You gotta hit that stuff right after a storm as it gets a sun crust at times. There's some drop-in terrain right off Sandstone Road right around the major switchbacks. Shorter terrain, but fun nonetheless.

Still lots to explore up around Piney that I haven't touched yet, so if you find anything worth checking out let me know.