crazy climbs......and the ride back down

[spring snow hero]

OK, so I admitt that I get myself up chit that makes my heart pump good, but nothing like coming back down. I have never had to come back down chit like the monster. what the heck is the story? my pard last year bent the bars into the hood on one decent, hit a little step on the way down and nearly endoed. I have been sucked into ugly fall lines and had to ride out some scary chit, old avys filled with trees and huge snow balls the size of cars......hated it.

so to the super chute slayers what do you tell yourself when bailing back off.

I just love to come down totally sideways on one ski still going way faster then I can control just to end up in the trees still going too fast. so far I've been lucky, but there have been some real close calls.

anyone got footage of some crazy decents? afterall most late model sleds will climb nearly anything on the right day. but none seem to stop on the way down.

 

[high time]

Funny you should ask. I'll never forget White MT.

About ten in the morn. I peaked over Skyline ridge to see piped climbers highmarking each other on what later I would see is White Mt. in Tee-Pee basin north of West Yelly. I was stoked .I got our group to cross over to Tee-Pee, but by the time we got there they were gone. The other riders in my bunch wouldn't mess with the marks left there. I sat on my new mod King Cat and tried to build up some guts. Finally after ten or fifteen mins. I rode up the far side of the gully to get a big run. I figured I'd test the hill and should be able to get as high as most of the prev. riders, but one mark went way up, maybe a hundred feet above his buddies. As I pinned the throttle the bumps in the gully almost thew me off , but I had such speed that before I had time to think, I was past the lower marks and approaching the highest one. Too fast to turn out, I held 'er straight. She kept pulling right to the top. I found it a bit flatter under the curl and spun arround, only to be looking at the steepest , longest slope I'd ever seen. My turn had put me above some rocks and if I had locked the brakes I wouldn't me able to miss them. I edged to my right just enough. The left ski clicked them but I kept my line. As I came into the gully My buddies were gathering only to see that my legs were so wobbly I couldn't stand. One thrill like that is about all I can stand in one season.

Owen

 

[spring snow hero]

like this. i hate coming back down.

 

[spring snow hero]

this is the one my buddy went over the bars coming down.

 

[PCDOC]

The downhill runs are the worst.

I was in the lead one day with 7 guys. We stopped at the top of a hill and everybody gave the thumbs up ready to keep on. I was following some tracks down this tree'd hill so everything looked ok. By the time I rounded the last big tree I was past the point of no return. I could see the hill and it was baaaadd. Very steep with trees and rocks. Luckily it only dropped a few hundred feet. I hit a drop off and got bucked near the bottom. When I stopped sliding I looked ahead to see my sled jumping off a ledge into a tree at about 25mph. Me next thought was OH CHIT somebody is behind me. Turned around just in time to see a sled on my arse. Jumped to the side in time and he made it ok. The next two made it ok as well. The 5th guy not so lucky. He hit the same dip I did, but his sled stopped on the hill and with no where to go the 6th guy T bones his sled. Now comes the last guy. He sees what is in store - rear end two sleds and possibly hit the riders or sacrifice his sled. He drove off the only path down and center cuts a large dead tree so hard the tree snapped off half way up. This tree had to have been 15" at the base.

Nobody got injured so that was good, but it was a long fix it day after that.
We were on a 6 day trip and I think that was day 2.

I pucker going down unknown hills now.

 

[spring snow hero]

I wish I had a helmet cam showing my face on the way down sometimes.....LOL.

 

[ragincajun]

comign down is the worst part. its kinda funny...you want to go as fast as you can on the way up but then on the way down you want to go 2 mph and you are all puckered up. i think the worst place i have came down was an s turn chute with trees on both sides and to top it all off it was all off camber so your sled wanted to go to the trees. well i inched forward on top and before i knew it i was cruisin for the trees! got her stoped just in front of an 18" dia tree. ski just touched it.

 

[m8magicandmystery]

scary stuff...if a person is lucky enough..and only if...to be able to make the hill and not turn out..you can take a second at the top and throw a small diameter cable loop over each ski..cable just big enough hoop that when it rests on spindle the bottom is a few inches back of spindle on bottom of ski...anyway....then you usually have to give your sled gas to go down even the steeeep ones...

 

[ak-dmk]

carry 2 old worn out belts. Loop them over your ski's on the way down and you will be able to keep it under control. Also, go down in reverse and burp the throttle on the stupid steep stuff. Try not to chit yourself.

 

[dice]

I use the belt trick, though most of the time it is my spare.

 

[aktreekiller]

just bail

I just bail off and let the sled go down without my fat butt on it. I'v been working on a mountain brake kind of like the one they use on dog sleds, but it never works out.

 

[stalefish_132]

i've done a few climbs where comin down in spring conditions aint as fun as climbin it was,i used the reverse downhill once, works pretty good.

late sprign me and my bud climbed this decent sized hill, fairly steep and kinda like a "S" with trees in the middle, thought there was a way out at the top, nope. there was a little pocked where both of us could stop and think before we dropped back down. put both sleds in R and crept down, just make sure you feather the brake before you hit the gass in R. we both made it down except later that chaincase on my doo let loose thankfully after we were out of that bowl or my sled might still be there.

yeah i'm scared of downhill more than up

 

[m8magicandmystery]

I just bail off and let the sled go down without my fat butt on it. I'v been working on a mountain brake kind of like the one they use on dog sleds, but it never works out.

lol...tie yourself to your sled with a long rope and hang that dog brake on yer arse....

 

[RKANYZ]

scary stuff...if a person is lucky enough..and only if...to be able to make the hill and not turn out..you can take a second at the top and throw a small diameter cable loop over each ski..cable just big enough hoop that when it rests on spindle the bottom is a few inches back of spindle on bottom of ski...anyway....then you usually have to give your sled gas to go down even the steeeep ones...

mind explaining this for a newb? I can't seem to visualize how it would work.

 

[spring snow hero]

take the spare belt and double it over, or a loop of cable and toss it over the ski tip, the spindle will stop it from sliding off the ski and it adds stoppong power to the front of the sled...................but, if you are near vertical you can go over the front, if you grab any burried debris......it sux, if you are unfamiliar with the handling characteristics it is odd to say the least. it is effective, but be careful on how steep of hill you apply the technique to.

the stuff that freaks me out is the stuff that is too steep for the ski loop trick.....and I lack reverse powder I am more worried about getting out then in. that hero snow though.......so fun to climb in........so scary to decend

 

[Big Kahuna]

I have done the belt over the ski trick in the past. When you say to use a loop of cable, are you referring to aircraft cable made into a loop? If so, I would think that it would have to be pretty substantial cable to give the braking affect? What diameter cable would i use? I like the idea of making a couple of smaller loops. Easier to carry than bulky belt loops.

BK

 

[ace59]

kinda like this

vertical descent controller

 

[Coldfinger]

I tried the belts over the skis once. Not sure I did it right but by the time I popped the hood, got the belts out and threw them over the skis my feet had slipped off the bars and I was sliding off the front of my sled headfirst going downhill at 50mph.

After that, I learned to pick my ascent and descent lines carefully, leaning back while coming down, modulating the brake lever and ready to blip the throttle if needed to "jump" anything that may kick the back end up. Going sideways can help too but watch for bumps/obstacles.

 

[RKANYZ]

awesome; thanks guys.

 

[High Voltage]

This best describes my inner feelings !!!!!!!!!!!!!!










Scream!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!