Some Steep Lines for Your Low-Snow Woes

In the animal kingdom, red can be a warning, as in “move or you’ll be bitten,” or, in some cases, a sign to attract a mate. It has come to our attention that red is a predominant color on the Snow Water Equivalent map from the NRCS. In the case of the SWE map, it is neither. It is something far worse. It means heading into a holiday week (it is only Thursday), that running, biking, or walking will be the plan, not touring.

Damn, look at this map. There are some bright spots out there—we’re looking at you, SoCal. It’s a solid 5%-7% of the median where I live. Not all is lost. And we mean this, because we tend to be somewhat West-Centric at THR: We are stoked for the folks back East. According to some remote sensor data, near the summit of Mount Washington in the White Mountains, they are looking at roughly 24” of snow. A preview of some East Coast touring blogs reveals what the data supports: good touring and fine turns have been had :).       

For those without the snow-depth goods, of which there are many (and, yes, Alaska readers, we have seen you having fun on skis and boards, too), we have your back. We are here to direct you to some steep skiing videos courtesy of the Mountains on Stage Line of the Year selections. These lines are the steep, somewhat firm kind that often require tidy, concise turns. And wouldn’t you know it, there is Gee and Lusti and Vivian Bruchez and Aurel Lardy, among a few others, whose lines have been nominated. There is some high pucker factor, but also some steely and elegant steep turns, proving that some folks just have excellent technique. 

Here is a key tip if you choose to watch the videos. It seems most of the videos are set to auto-play with English-dubbed audio. For humor, you might prefer this, but the translations are imprecise. To default to the original audio language, click the settings wheel on the embedded YouTube video, then select the audio track, and choose the original language, which is likely French. In French audio mode, you should see the corresponding English subtitles.        

If you are keen to vote for the best line, there is a form at the bottom of the Line of the Year page.