I just want snow damnit! LUNA Meeting tonight to finalize everything for our big weekend (LUNAFEST -- any locals should totally come because our Silent Auction rocks). Exams start here tomorrow so it should be a fairly quiet week too!
So Im standing there on the edge of the ski slope, on my cell phone, with my local ski shop, having one of the employees walk me through how to put them back together again. It was quite easy, once he explained to me how to do it. Anyway, then I met up with my friends to go xc skiing, so spent a couple more hours doing that. 
Earl has been talking about back country skis. He sees himself snowshoeing up the hill and skiing back down and around. I personally know nothing about skiing so he probably isn't going to get a pair for his birthday (coming up soon!!!) but he keeps throwing out ideas so that's okay.Yesterday, I tried out a pair of really fat back country xc skis on my local trail system, and absolutely loved those!! The difference between those and my “touring” xc skis is akin to the difference between a road bike and mtb, and naturally, I prefer the mtb!
There's no reason for hauling skis up a hill on snowshoes. They make skins and crampons for skis, which will give him just as much grip as snowshoes. And, they are making some really nice AT back country set ups now, so if he's used to skiing alpine style, he can stick with that. Otherwise, he could try telemark skis. Tell him to get in touch with me if he gets really serious about wanting to do stuff like this! I have a ton of information about it!
ftfy.
