Making a road up a steep hill - ?

[rhalloran]

Hey all - this past weekend, we got a LOT more aggressive with putting roads in; instead of doing a longer, flatter approach; up the drainage, switch back and across, we wound up just going straight up the hill.

It worked out well - sent the strongest sled up first, solo, followed by the second sled. Tried to keep from spinning the track, then rode both back down the road we'd just made. It worked out well, until a couple of sledders (not skiers) poached our track and roosted it into a chowder-road. No harm, no foul, but until they got there, the path packed down and was surprisingly easy to tandem up - lots of grip, just lovely, and made for quick laps - we cut the tow-time in half by just going straight up.

So, question - for those of you (BC? PacNW?) that don't always _have_ the roundabout option, when making an up-road on high alpine stuff, do you:

1. Run the sleds up AND down the path a few times before shuttling skiers/boarders?

2. Run the sleds UP the up-road, but down another path, possibly right next to the up-road?

A longtime sledder friend once told me "don't run the sleds back down the same path." I'd never really needed to think about it, just believed him - but this past weekend, we ran the sleds up and down the same road right off the bat, and it worked out well.

Thoughts?

Thanks!

 

[sledsurfer]

I think riding down sets the best track. And while we don't always have a choice, some would say to always ride down the path a few times before going up to keep it from getting rutted out.

 

[dre]

Pack it down

Yup, we use the same procedure you explained...we run the sleds down the same path and rarely put a second 'lane' in the road. The logic being: the more packed the snow the easier it is to get up the hill.

The only reason I'd put in another road is if the first one gets too bumpy or so deeply trenched that it's hard to navigate two up.

 

[smokenjay]

I am also a believer in riding down the same path. We will always try to groom on the way down by trying to lock up the track and knock down the bumps that form on the trail.

 

[rhalloran]

I got clarification from the guy who told me not to run the sleds on the same path. What he meant, in essence, is if there's room, get to the top of the hill however you can, then make the first pass on the road DOWNHILL. Repeat 1-2 more times, THEN use it in both directions.

His rationale (and it makes sense, if there's room to do it) is that the first pass going UP will often result in a big trench, so if you make 2-3 passes going DOWN to break the trail, you potentially avoid the trench altogether.

Going to try it this weekend; I'm not sure how the skiing is going to be, so I'll go make a road "his" way and see what I get. It makes sense in my head; this past weekend, we were able to put the "up" road in without significant trackspin (one area got blown out on the second pass and never recovered), but if I do two or three "down" passes early on, it should help pack the snow down. Once a couple of passes have been made down, he seems to think using it in both directions is fine - he was talking specifically about initially breaking the trail.

Edit: what sledsurfer said....

 

[kidwoo]

If there's space and the hill is kind of steep, I ALWAYS try to start the path with a few downhill passes for exactly the reason you listed. If it's a mellow slope and you can get some good climbs in without trenching it up then it doesn't really matter. But your downhill passes will almost always be cleaner.

Plus depending on trees and other crap in the way, you might not want to actually try to follow your first pass uphill

Not sure I'm sold on the brake lock bump smoothing.....all that does is make new bumps where you let go of the brake.

 

[Barrettc]

Ghosting

now just wait until you get into ghosting your sled....the first time is always a bit nerve racking to ditch your $8,000 sled. But the 2 up laps can be plentiful