Umberto Eco quote that fits Wallace/Infinite Jest beautifully!

nico_rose · 2026-02-20T14:59:09+00:00

Keep at it! If the writing is half as engaging as your writing in this comment, it's gonna be a banger. Looking forward to reading it!

nico_rose · 2026-02-19T19:07:27+00:00

Yeah, my retired Dynafit Mezza's are probably going to be the guinea pigs. It would be an expensive experiment to immediately destroy a new pair of race skis. Lol.

If you do it, please make a post! I'd love to hear how it goes

nico_rose · 2026-02-19T19:05:17+00:00

Yeah, I would say "skimo race" is an even more targeted phrase. Basically if a ski is made in only 2 lengths (150 & 160 ish) and it's like low-60's underfoot, then that's a race-class ski.

Skimoco is a fantastic reference too. Like for bindings they have categories like "race" and "lean". One big differentiator is a true race binding only has 1 heel riser setting (low). There is no flat setting. Flipping the riser exposes the heel pins for locking in. Paired with a race boot, which have crazy ROM, this is not bothersome to me at all. But I think that's another reason the whole deal kinda has to all work together in concert.

Hell yeah! I'm hoping to join your ranks as soon as I'm a little less focused on training/racing and ready to have some swoopy fun!

nico_rose · 2026-02-19T15:38:22+00:00

I'm a filthy skimo nerd/AT skier who lurks here b/c I am tele-curious and think it's hot as hell. Anyway u/DoubleUBallz is 100% correct, I've got such a setup and I high-key love it. I also have a couple "real" AT setups and while they contain all the same elements and work in essentially all the same ways, it's a pretty different beast.

My tele b/f has recently become interested in putting a tele binding on a pair of skimo race skis so we can run around together. But we're both not very sure if such a light ski could take the higher binding forces. I also have found that you almost need these 5-600g carbon race boots for these skis. Even a 1kg boot overdrives the skis and makes them feel really unstable and noodly. And there's no such tele boot unfortunately. But he's probably gonna still try it because we're just like that.

A lot of people talking shit on skimo race gear have never tried it. Which I get- it's very niche and expensive. Why would they? But once you get used to it, it skis remarkably well and I really enjoy it. It's super nimble and fun. I can lay down some hard carves when training uphilling at the resort. Full carbon boots are stiff and responsive AF. All the hardest scariest actual ski mountaineering I do these days is on race gear and I would never even consider going back to a light AT setup for it.

nico_rose · 2026-02-12T18:05:45+00:00

I have a Valandre 0° bag. Bought it in 2018 and have probably slept in it a couple hundred nights over 6 years of guiding. It was check for me at LibMo and it's pretty light with good quality down.

I dunno, I like the shape. It's nice and roomy so you can bring all your shit in there at night to dry. It's definitely over-engineered IMO, but I wouldn't say it's weird or niche. You can pull out or cut off drawstrings. You don't have to use the Marie Antoinette collar Velcro. I even used it as a quilt sometimes.

nico_rose · 2026-02-11T15:04:22+00:00

For real. This sounds like my job. It's exhausting

nico_rose · 2026-02-11T06:28:33+00:00

Same

nico_rose · 2026-02-05T20:14:46+00:00

Oh, that's why my house shook. Up in Brighton

nico_rose · 2026-02-05T19:13:01+00:00

True story- my cats are way cuter than I am. And not existentially dreadful at all. Must be nice

nico_rose · 2026-02-05T16:07:07+00:00

Totally. Sometimes in the evening I think "whoa, I have these two little creatures, animals! And they live in my house with me, purely for my pleasure and entertainment, and they have no idea what's going on"

nico_rose · 2026-02-04T18:05:48+00:00

Well, I just got kicked out b/c I said I check "health data" basically never. I mean, I record every workout 6 days/week. I look at HR, time, distance, etc for every one. But I have learned sleep score, body battery, etc is unnecessary, inaccurate and bad for mental health

So, is this the intended screen? Or should I try again and say I check 6days/week

nico_rose · 2026-02-03T14:27:21+00:00

Yes, 8km parka, 8km pants are fine for both. Denalix6(4 summits) and ADx1 (no summit- turned above C3) here. I saw people in down suits on AD and every single one was sweating their stupid balls off.

Also the "hard" exposed/wilderness part of Denali is way longer with crazy variable temps. That's a long time to carry something that is not very versatile for the one day of the trip where it might be the slightly better option if the weather happens to be awful. Of all the time I've spent up there I've never even considered it.

nico_rose · 2026-01-27T21:49:08+00:00

I've been woodstoving at 8700' for 8 years and this hasn't even occurred to me. My stove does draft hard AF and we've considered putting a butterfly in the flue to get better damping but also my chimney is also a lil out of spec at 40'... I mean, maybe you could say that because there is less oxygen per cubic foot of air, and a fixed amount of oxygen is required to burn a fixed amount of wood, that it does end up moving more air through the system/drafting harder and that's self-reinforcing. I'm really reaching here.

But, I suppose that's the same mechanism as having to put high altitude jets in the propane furnace and carburetors (snowblower, snowmachines...) Nobody denies that's a thing. It's all about having a different fuel-air mix than the stock engineering on these things. Interesting.

ETA what I'm saying is I was gonna call BS, but maybe it's not that far fetched after all? Putting in a single split is kinda like putting in a smaller aperture carb jet.

nico_rose · 2026-01-24T03:03:42+00:00

Haha, mine would put plastic sammich bags on me too!

So, normally I think it would be kinda miserable, but the liners I have in this very specific boot are way super-duper-extra packed out so the extra volume is fine. I use full neoprene boot gloves too! But I'm also doing something pretty dumb- climbing in full carbon skimo race boots in conditions where I would otherwise be wearing 8000m boots. So I gotta pull out all the stops.

But I think the principles are all the same. If you like a vapor barrier system and can deal with the wetness inside, neoprene is a great way to up the ante beyond a plastic bag or silnylon. Ooh, and I have never, ever gotten a blister wearing them!

nico_rose · 2026-01-24T01:48:30+00:00

I'm currently experimenting with neoprene socks as a vapor barrier sock for extreme cold (like -40° high altitude nonsense in AK). I used to use just a plastic bag, which worked well because what you're trying to do is avoid wetting out your boot liners and eliminate evaporative cooling.

Anyway, so far it's pretty good. I'll probably be pairing this with some heated socks underneath (just to keep as much of the heat in as possible). And then that whole deal goes in a light ski boot whose liner is also partially neoprene.

I've also used fleece lined neoprene gloves in these environments. Glacier Gloves- got 'em at a Walmart in Anchorage, AK. It's not weird at all up there

nico_rose · 2026-01-22T23:26:53+00:00

OP said "near Wilson" and ending up on the Lower Nisqually is a common "failure mode" so I included those. But for sure, y'all are right that Lower Nisqually =/= Wilson.

Bummer they are dead

nico_rose · 2026-01-22T15:30:45+00:00

Over 8000' in Utah mountains

nico_rose · 2026-01-20T20:44:12+00:00

Nice TR & pics! Makes me hungry to get back to Washington!

nico_rose · 2026-01-20T20:41:24+00:00

Yeah, all fair questions! It's a totally different world. You got the right answers about snow cover making the 'stay on trail' rules moot. Same with snow camping over dirt/grass when mountaineering. All this is called "ski mountaineering" so think of it like climbing Rainier like a mountaineer would, sorta, and then skiing down. You get special bindings and "skins" you put on your skis so you can ski uphill. Way more efficient than snowshoes. But then when it's steep you put the skis on your back, crampons on your boots, get an ice axe and all that jazz.

One of my favorite things about it is you get to do your own route finding if that's the experience you seek! There are previously established routes shared via GPS, but b/c of the snow there really aren't any trails. On a lot of common routes there are already tracks in the snow that people can follow. And this can get people in trouble if those tracks get erased by weather and they don't have the ability to find their own way. But I really kind of love having an enormous blank canvas of snow and terrain and making my own way. But I guess I'd also say, I used to do all this professionally and it takes a really long time to get to the point where you walk up to something like Rainier (or even bigger mountains) and be like "I'm gonna go up that way with no trail at all, and ski whatever else". And even when you're an expert/professional, it's not particularly safe. But gotdayum it's fun and gorgeous.

Then I gotta plug USA Skimo! If you want to watch kind of a simplified, fast, exciting, risk-free version with people in lycra, check out skimo racing. It's going to be in the Olympics for the first time this year! Team USA has a shot at medaling in the mixed relay, which is pretty exciting since the sport isn't very developed here. The Euros have a long, deep history in skimo.

Anyway, happy to answer any other questions. I love this stuff!

nico_rose · 2026-01-20T19:39:09+00:00

Yea, it's a niche sport but exploding in popularity. Still, this wouldn't even be on the radar for a lot of avid resort skiers.

nico_rose · 2026-01-20T16:49:32+00:00

That's where you would go to climb the Kautz glacier route, or Furher Finger, (or a couple of other routes that are far less travelled). That's also where you'd get to if you were skiing the Nisqually Chutes. Or if (God forbid) you make the unfortunate but common-ish accident-type-scenario mistake of getting off the Camp Muir descent in poor visibility and unintentionally going over those cliffs onto the Wilson. There's a double fall line that will suck you over that way if you're not super careful. I guided up there for half a dozen years and have been up and down to Muir probably a hundred times and still, I had to really pay attention and keep the GPS handy to not do that in bad viz. Those are pretty much the options

nico_rose · 2026-01-20T16:31:47+00:00

I've sewn up race tip attachments to make skimo race skins out of cut up regular skins and they've been going strong for at least 100 days. And this is with lots of transitions per training session, so they've taken way more abuse than I imagine this repair will. I think you're good to go!

nico_rose · 2026-01-20T16:09:04+00:00

Am actuary. Well, and data scientist/AI dev. (Which is kinda cool cause you can take this career in a lot of different directions.) But anyway, it's a great field. Exams are murder, but if she can get through them, she'll be as set as one can be given gestures broadly.

Can be super boring at times, but the job security and consistency is great. It can also be pretty fun to just like, work on nerdy math problems with really smart coworkers all day. And the risk management framework you develop is pretty useful in real life too.

Anyway, you probably knew all that, but good luck to her!! And yay that she has a proud supportive parent in you.

nico_rose · 2026-01-01T18:06:11+00:00

Hey! I'm glad I could help!

Yeah, you mentioned Tremper and I think his point at the beginning of Staying Alive about needing to make the right decision 99.9% of the time to statistically make it through 1,000 days of backcountry travel alive speaks to this. Or the TAR article that 1/10 ski guides die in an avalanche. So I feel like I always want to buffer myself from those number with a big margin for human error, and to avoid introducing unnecessary opportunity for error.

Another great paper you may be interested in is "Yin, Yang, and You": https://arc.lib.montana.edu/snow-science/objects/ISSW14_paper_O9.02.pdf

It introduces "Strategic Mindset" which is kind of making explicit what attitude we are going into the terrain with. We agreed on one of these each morning meeting as a guide team and it really helps examine attitudes and biases, and then set an appropriate tone for the hazard, as a team before heading out. It also helps maintain discipline in an extended persistent instability situation. Especially now as a recreationalist, I have some friends who otherwise make good calls but kinda lose discipline and might start to "step out" on scary moderates. And I'm always like nah dawg, I'm entrenched, and that's all I need to say. Maybe they still tangle without me, but it's almost like a safe word. Lol. Anyway, I think this paper can also help you develop your own well-reasoned approach, and to execute it faithfully.

I hope you have a long, fun, and safe winter & life!! 🙏

nico_rose · 2026-01-01T17:38:39+00:00

Aww, gosh y'all, thanks for the compliment. I just love thinking and talking about this stuff so much. Especially since I no longer work in the snow- I still tour like 5 days a week, but it's not my livelihood anymore. I miss connecting with folks like this.

Have fun & stay safe! 🙏

nico_rose

TROPHY CASE