Skiing @ Crane Flat and Badger Pass

Saul at the Tuolumne Grove on Saturday.

Badger Pass looked fun.

That's me on the Glacier Point Road.

Me again!

Glacier Point Trail Map
Crane Flat Trail Map

I went up to Yosemite over the weekend. I stayed in a cabin in the valley, and it was sweet (you're jealous, no?). The weather was good, albeit a bit warm, and the food was good (thanks to Saul!).

We skied at Crane Flat on Saturday, but one, didn't have a map, and two, I forgot the wax for my skis. We went down to the Tuolumne Grove of the giant sequoias, and it was a bit steep so we walked a lot of it. We skied all of two miles.

On Sunday, we skied near Badger Pass on the Glacier Point Road and the old Glacier Point Road. Badger has well defined trails and and the road is groomed. So it went better. I found Nordic waxes and alot of advice at the Nordic Ski Center, but skied using some borrowed fishscales. We skied about 3 miles, some of it quite a bit more difficult than the road, mostly because it was loose, heavily post-holed, and heavily snowshoed old snow.

My Mid-Life Crisis

Chuckle. I am starting to work on my bucket list. That's definitely a symptom. Anyway, I just bought some touring skis at craigslist prices. Why? You might ask. Because I always wanted to.

They are a metal edged touring ski circa old school waxable three-pin 75mm binding telemark like with Chamonix™ bindings, and they've been places I've never been, and they're in very good shape for being less than 37 years old. Specifically a Karhu Kodiak Edge,215cm. The book I have here (written in 1972) doesn't mention metal edge skis, or skate skis or randonee, or skins, but it does mention fiberglass and "waxless" skis, regarding them with absolute distain. Skins are described briefly, and choosing which animal they are from seems important.

The real mystery is the waxing ..." Or somethng like that. I bought boots and I have figured out that my racing poles need to be 142 cm -- which is exactly the maximum of my extensible poles, go figure. I watched videos on waxing. I investigated and I need either one wax or 32 total - to ski in California. It's a bit intimidating.

So -- when I bought the skis Rich said something like "Yeta, yeta, yeta, klister this something ... after that it's all blue or green wax in California. I spent the night in a snow cave ... there was an avalanche and I lost my skis, yeta, yeta, yeta" ... I gave him the money, and took the skis. See you later, Rich. I sort of want to call him back and find out how he got back without skis.

I went looking and calling around for klister or other kick waxes, and they aren't available around here, in fact, it's quite difficult to help the clerk understand what I want enough to find it. They all know about quick waxes though. The latest story is that I might be able to find them at REI in Saratoga ...

When I was younger I went on an overnight ski trip. I borrowed wooden skis and bamboo poles (umm and sweet low cut leather nordic three-pin shoes) from the elder brother and went off to Badger Pass with a hopeful girlfriend ... and well it was a lot more than fun. I should have froze to death. I fell about 500 times. But it was quite memorable. We had a minor accident, wrecking her car, and managed to survive skiing and the accident.

Now, I have these skis ... the boots are on the way from Norway or some other frozen planet ... maybe Canada -- where they still use these. I want to ski. To glide. If they arrive tomorrow it will also be a great mystery, and I'll be skiing Saturday. If I can find some wax ...