"IT'S ALL ABOUT THE UP!" exclaims the tag line for the annual Wasatch Powder Keg ski mountaineering race. With 5000 feet of skinning and booting up and over elevations exceeding 10,000 feet, they have a valid point. Serious racers invest heavily in "unleaded, premium grade" equipment to lighten the load for the way up. Some racers take it a step further by drilling holes in boot cuffs, shaving plastic off the soles and replacing buckles with bungee straps.
I knew I would have a serious disadvantage on the ascents against the guys with the Anorexic kits. After all, my bulky 24 pound telemark set-up was no match for their wispy four pound kits. For those that measure weight in terms of 16oz water bottles, that's a difference of 20 water bottles. For those with basic Physics background, that's 100,000 foot-pounds more work, or a thousand extra 100-pound squats,Ｉwould have to produce to get through the climbs.
If the race ended at the top of the climb, it would be perfect for the lightweight freaks. Fact is, however, that half the race descends the same 5000 feet previously climbed. And much of the downhill sections comprised a mix of steep rocky chutes, wind slabs, frozen chicken heads and moguls resembling VWs in size, shape and texture.
It was astronomer Galileo that discovered on the Leaning Tower of Pisa that, balls accelerate in free fall at the same rate, regardless of their size and weight. Maybe so, but it was Mohawked Extreme Skier Glen Plake that discovered that there is no substitute for beefy equipment set-up for staying upright in steeps, bumps and crud!
Galileo can keep playing with his....objects! I'm going with Plake on this one! Because, for me, its all about the up...and the DOWN!!
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