All things considered, if there was ever going to be a trip to have issues with my bindings, I would have chosen today.
It really wasn't a day off. True, it is my day off - however I found myself at work -- and amazingly conscious -- at 8 am for a 3-hour tease-writing workshop. Yes it stinks going in on your day off, but I'm not complaining loudly. It was informative, helped me think outside of the box and it's nice working some place where they give you such training and workshops.
By noon, I was threading my way up Boulder Canyon - jonesing big time to get outside and go climbing - on my way to the Indian Peaks. The Devil's Thumb loop off the Hessie Trailhead looked like it had promise after consulting a topo map.
The wind was hurricane force when I parked on the icy road. To avoid superlatives, to demonstrate the strength of the wind, I'll just say it actually pushed me backwards -- UPHILL -- when I was stopped for a quick breather.
But less than a couple hours in, the breeze began subsiding. And the over 2 miles of skinning got me past the trailhead and near the goods.
And that is when I started noticing my right binding was popping on the steep uphill skin. And then, I was no longer in my ski.
I snapped back into my binding, shuffled upwards a couple more steps and out popped the left foot.
Somehow when I got my skis tuned a couple of weeks ago, they stretched out the bindings. So I decided to save myself the aggravation, as well as not get further than the 2+ miles I was already in, and turned back.
My companions. When I was putting the skins on my skis near where I parked, I was bent over and began feeling a thumping on my leg. It was the wagging tail of one of these Huskies.
They were very friendly and just out for a wander in their "backyard" I ran across them again near where I turned around. They followed me for a bit and then when I turned downhill, couldn't keep up anymore.
I took my skis back to the tune shop. I explained what happened. They apologized and will fix the bindings as well as smooth out a couple of nicks I engraved into my base today - gratis.
Some potpourri of the past couple of weeks:
2 comments:
That sucks about your bindings dood.
The boulder in the picture looks super cool. Where is it?
(If its a secret stash, I totally understand.)
Also, Huskies in snow = totally wicked shots of happy dogs.
Good Post!
It's at Alderfer/3 Sisters Open Space in Evergreen. It's located uphill of the second junction of the Silver Fox & Homestead trails on the west end of the park.
There is one less loose rock on it now, as I'll post when I feel less woozy.
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