I'm in Montana. I'm not going anywhere. But I'm back to WesternSlopeExile.blogspot.com. It felt unnatural to move away from this blog. It's like my brand name or identity or something. The other blog isn't working. So I'm going to try to merge my CO past with my MT future, and this is the place to do it. There is some good history here and I can't archive it away to some dusty corner of the internet.
It's been above 40F Degrees for three days; not even freezing at night. Total Junuary. Like Mud Season without the mud. There was a line at the car wash today and if it keeps up I'm going to pull out my road bike. The Nordic trails in town have turned to mush. But, oh how nice it is to walk around in a fleece vest and no down jacket.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Tele Boot History
You're looking at a Garmont Triple G circa 1999. I bought these used in 2000 from Tele Movie Star Luke Miller. They served me well over the years with countless vertical feet of climbing around Camp Hale, Waist Deep Days at Steamboat, and wind-scoured days at Eldorko. I always kept these as a "backup" and because they fit like a glove. I've been through a couple of pair of various boots since then so I figured it was time to send these out into the world. I took them to the ski swap and no-one there could appreciate them; so off to Craigslist they went as I mouthed a prayer that they would go to some deserving soul who would appreciate them and would use them to launch into a lifetime of Tele turns. A week went by and my phone rang with a second season Tele skier from Big Sky. He swings chairs for a living in the winter and manages Appalachian huts in New Hampshire in the summer. The boots fit him like a glove and got him out of his mis-fit garage sale tanks. Many happy turns to him and my old Triple G's.
The Cobbler's Son...
The old adage is that the cobbler's son has no shoes. What about the footwear developer? I take more shoes to the thrift store than many people will ever own in their lives. I used to have giant bins of every shoe I've ever worked on. Before the big move I cut it down to only the significant stuff - like successes (Tech Amphib), learning experiences (PI Octane), and weird stuff (a Salomon Creek Boating boot) and only in half pairs.
Footwear procurement for me breaks down into three categories: the crap that doesn't fit me but I wear because it's free or because I need to fly the brand flag; the stuff that fits but was miraculously still free and has the right logo on it to allow me from getting hassled at trade shows (Chaco Flips and PI Seeks); and the hard hard earned stuff that I've banged my head against the wall for - tele and AT boots with liners that have been baked two times to take the shape of my foot, Sidi Dominators that have stretched and molded to my feet through hundreds of creek crossings, Classic Nordic boots that can only be found on obscure websites. You see, I have a weird foot. The majority of footwear developers come into the profession through involvement in wear testing networks - you have a nice, sample size foot, you test for a company, get to know them, and work your way up. That was the route for me as well, except that I don't have the perfect sample size foot. The width of my foot is ridiculously disproportionate to the length, leaving me with few options. Ski boots work because of the moldable liners. Sidi offers an extra wide version of the Dominator (the Mega), and PI used to have a couple of sloppy-wide cycling shoes (of which I snapped up multiple pairs that are sitting in my storage unit waiting for the inevitable delamination or crash-induced failure of my current pairs). My latest interest is skate skiing and it's proving to be a massive challenge. Not only is it technique intensive and favorable to fast-twitch skinny guys with big watches (I'm the only "husky" guy I know who skate skis), it has some serious footwear challenges. The paradigm is that a tight fit equals performance. There are also very limited options for outsoles. Salomon has a couple of sole units that they use or license and Rotefella offers a few New Nordic Norm outsoles. The shape and the width of the outsole limit what you can do with fit, flex and performance. Most companies use a stock Salomon or NNN sole because it costs too much to open their own molds. There is just not enough money in Nordic skiing to work in the cost of a unique outsole - and the outsole has to be compatible with one of two bindings. The Nordic ski market is driven by European brands and end users; Euros wear their shoes tight (if you're interested I can share stats and anecdotal feedback from measuring US feet and Euro feet and comparing the measured size to the size that people actually buy) - so that tight fit doesn't translate well to the typical US end user or someone who values comfort and performance. Salomon is offering heat moldable foam in their boots, taking a cue from moldable alpine and tele liners, giving a slight nod to the US market and the broader trend toward comfort. I'll let you know how it works out as soon as I take a hair dryer to mine.
Footwear procurement for me breaks down into three categories: the crap that doesn't fit me but I wear because it's free or because I need to fly the brand flag; the stuff that fits but was miraculously still free and has the right logo on it to allow me from getting hassled at trade shows (Chaco Flips and PI Seeks); and the hard hard earned stuff that I've banged my head against the wall for - tele and AT boots with liners that have been baked two times to take the shape of my foot, Sidi Dominators that have stretched and molded to my feet through hundreds of creek crossings, Classic Nordic boots that can only be found on obscure websites. You see, I have a weird foot. The majority of footwear developers come into the profession through involvement in wear testing networks - you have a nice, sample size foot, you test for a company, get to know them, and work your way up. That was the route for me as well, except that I don't have the perfect sample size foot. The width of my foot is ridiculously disproportionate to the length, leaving me with few options. Ski boots work because of the moldable liners. Sidi offers an extra wide version of the Dominator (the Mega), and PI used to have a couple of sloppy-wide cycling shoes (of which I snapped up multiple pairs that are sitting in my storage unit waiting for the inevitable delamination or crash-induced failure of my current pairs). My latest interest is skate skiing and it's proving to be a massive challenge. Not only is it technique intensive and favorable to fast-twitch skinny guys with big watches (I'm the only "husky" guy I know who skate skis), it has some serious footwear challenges. The paradigm is that a tight fit equals performance. There are also very limited options for outsoles. Salomon has a couple of sole units that they use or license and Rotefella offers a few New Nordic Norm outsoles. The shape and the width of the outsole limit what you can do with fit, flex and performance. Most companies use a stock Salomon or NNN sole because it costs too much to open their own molds. There is just not enough money in Nordic skiing to work in the cost of a unique outsole - and the outsole has to be compatible with one of two bindings. The Nordic ski market is driven by European brands and end users; Euros wear their shoes tight (if you're interested I can share stats and anecdotal feedback from measuring US feet and Euro feet and comparing the measured size to the size that people actually buy) - so that tight fit doesn't translate well to the typical US end user or someone who values comfort and performance. Salomon is offering heat moldable foam in their boots, taking a cue from moldable alpine and tele liners, giving a slight nod to the US market and the broader trend toward comfort. I'll let you know how it works out as soon as I take a hair dryer to mine.
CO Visit
I've been up to my old tricks. I'll be switching back to WesternSlopeExile mode for this post as I've had some great adventures in the Colorado end of the Rockies. I linked Denver to Crested Butte via bus and bummed rides (connecting with my inner dirt bag), ate road kill (I am not kidding), met my new friends Pekoe the dog and Mama the Hen, skied some new CB Nordic trails, and felt my muscle memory take over when I would walk into the back of the bike shop or reach for a light switch. So familiar. It's hard to shake a near lifetime of Colorado. I sure do miss the sand and sage, the 14,000 foot peaks, knowing and being known. But, there is Cold Smoke to be schralped, the Greater Yellowstone to be explored, Grizzlies to be avoided, and vast wilderness to be experienced here in Montana. On tap: an Alpine Ski skills clinic series at Bridger, skating at Bohart, the NCAA Nordic regionals, a broadened footwear testing network, Moonlight Basin, and the new Sushi place. More to follow.
Morning Commute
I posted this back in October. Had to repost with Jake's painting based on one of the photographs from Cottonwood Road. Thanks for the best Christmas Gift!
This morning I took the "long" way to work, adding about 5 minutes to my 20 minute commute. For the time being I'm staying with an old friend in Gallatin Gateway until my apartment downtown is available. The drive to work passes a couple of huge ranches, wheat farms, and ranchettes. A lot of these larger parcels are in jeopardy right now. Property values have skyrocketed, even in the recession, and land owners are getting taxed off of their properties. The choices are tough - sell out to the developers and watch generations-old ranches get sliced into ranchettes and Louisville/Erie/Superior-like subdivisions, or sign the land over to the state in a conservation easement. On the surface the easement looks like a great choice. The state owns the land to be forever preserved as ranch land, habitat, or open space and your family gets to live there and continue to ranch. I like the permanent protection (the ranch-land equivalent to wilderness designation), but to me it sounds a bit too much like serfdom. Tough choices.
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