November 19, Green Mountain, Suiattle River Valley
11/15/05
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
5413
11
kelvin, cass, ethan, jason, and i left seattle in thick fog and headed for the suiattle river valley. we broke out of the muck into bluebird skies somewhere outside of arlington. the dirt road up to the green mountain trailhead (~3400ft) was mostly clear until the last couple miles, where about 6 inches of snow was enough to stop one of our vehicles (but not kelvin's). the trail, however, was not quite so snow-covered--we had to hike on dirt for the first 2 miles until we came to the open slopes and were able to begin skinning.
it was pretty warm out due to the funky inversion that's going on, and made many of us wish we had shorts. the skin up was pretty non-eventful, except that we took note of the debris from slides that looked like they had gone earlier in the week. the snowpack was thin in many places, with brush and shrubs sticking through. it was also quite mooshy (as others have stated before) and made us weary of where we skinned. i was trying out my new rando gear, and my dynafit bindings were misbehaving--popping out on almost every kick turn, and often when i tried to go up steeps. at one point, ethan and kelvin and i stopped on a flat to fiddle with them a bit--but to no avail. after trying to head up a little more, i finally gave in, and stopped. kelvin's dog kona was getting tired, and the others were hungry, so we all took a break on a safe spot above some trees (~5000ft) while tom and cass continued on up the ridge.
soon after we finished lunch, kelvin, ethan, jason and i witnessed 2 large wet slides that were a little too close for comfort. the first one happened about 1 pm, in a chute about 200 yards across from us. it picked up considerable speed on the way down, wiped out a portion of our uptracks, and stopped just short of where we had been fiddling with my bindings shortly before. amazing to watch, but quite sobering. the whole thing ran about 600-700 vertical feet, left about a 3 ft. debris pile, and nothing but brown slope behind.
after this, we decided to descend and wait for cass and tom in the safety of the woods below. the four of us got our gear on, and were about to begin skiing down when kelvin, who had skiied down a little bit, yelled that another slide was releasing--this one only about 50-60 feet across from where we were. this one ran about the same distance as the previous one, ripping the slope down to its base, and completely covering the rest of our uptracks. later, we found out that this second slide was triggered by a fall from tom, who was skiing with cass up above. neither of them could have known that we were directly below them due to the terrain features, yet we were very lucky that no one was caught or injured.
the ski down was unmemorable--dodging scrub, dirt, and old avalanche debris. apparently, up where tom and cass stopped at 5700 ft, the snow was a little better...but still not worthy. strange to have such spring-like conditions when winter was just last week, but that's the early season for you. moral of the story: be careful out there.
ps--any of you dynafit folks have suggestions on how to tighten the toe pins on the old tri-step bindings? seems they are known to have this "pop-out" problem, but wondering if there's anything i can do about it...
it was pretty warm out due to the funky inversion that's going on, and made many of us wish we had shorts. the skin up was pretty non-eventful, except that we took note of the debris from slides that looked like they had gone earlier in the week. the snowpack was thin in many places, with brush and shrubs sticking through. it was also quite mooshy (as others have stated before) and made us weary of where we skinned. i was trying out my new rando gear, and my dynafit bindings were misbehaving--popping out on almost every kick turn, and often when i tried to go up steeps. at one point, ethan and kelvin and i stopped on a flat to fiddle with them a bit--but to no avail. after trying to head up a little more, i finally gave in, and stopped. kelvin's dog kona was getting tired, and the others were hungry, so we all took a break on a safe spot above some trees (~5000ft) while tom and cass continued on up the ridge.
soon after we finished lunch, kelvin, ethan, jason and i witnessed 2 large wet slides that were a little too close for comfort. the first one happened about 1 pm, in a chute about 200 yards across from us. it picked up considerable speed on the way down, wiped out a portion of our uptracks, and stopped just short of where we had been fiddling with my bindings shortly before. amazing to watch, but quite sobering. the whole thing ran about 600-700 vertical feet, left about a 3 ft. debris pile, and nothing but brown slope behind.
after this, we decided to descend and wait for cass and tom in the safety of the woods below. the four of us got our gear on, and were about to begin skiing down when kelvin, who had skiied down a little bit, yelled that another slide was releasing--this one only about 50-60 feet across from where we were. this one ran about the same distance as the previous one, ripping the slope down to its base, and completely covering the rest of our uptracks. later, we found out that this second slide was triggered by a fall from tom, who was skiing with cass up above. neither of them could have known that we were directly below them due to the terrain features, yet we were very lucky that no one was caught or injured.
the ski down was unmemorable--dodging scrub, dirt, and old avalanche debris. apparently, up where tom and cass stopped at 5700 ft, the snow was a little better...but still not worthy. strange to have such spring-like conditions when winter was just last week, but that's the early season for you. moral of the story: be careful out there.
ps--any of you dynafit folks have suggestions on how to tighten the toe pins on the old tri-step bindings? seems they are known to have this "pop-out" problem, but wondering if there's anything i can do about it...
ps--any of you dynafit folks have suggestions on how to tighten the toe pins on the old tri-step bindings? seems they are known to have this "pop-out" problem, but wondering if there's anything i can do about it...
The first generation Tri-step had a problem in which the toe of the boot could cause the locking lever to unlock (so I've been told). The second generation Tri-step corrected this problem, but the locking lever was still harder to lock than a standard Tourlite toe. To really lock the toe, you have to use a tool to pull up hard on the lever. Dynafit recommended using your ski pole, held sideways like a handlebar, to pull up on the lever.
I owned a pair of second generation Tri-steps and eventually decided they weren't worth the trouble. I replaced the Tri-step toe piece with a standard Tourlite toe. This is what Dynafit now calls the Comfort binding--Tourlite toe with Tristep heel.
Bottom line: The Tri-step toe piece is inferior. You can make it work by using the technique described above, but you may eventually want to replace it.
Just last month, I bought "new" toe pieces- the Comfort type, and added them to my (unused for 3 years) Tri-Step heels. It reduced the price by around two hundred dollars when compared to new Comfort bindings.
I bought the first and second year Tri Step binding. The second year was usable for three seasons, and still works with caution (I lock the toes on hard snow or steeps). The original was so bad in regard to popping out, I used them for a short season only. The first year binding released one pin while I was skiing fast on smoooth refrozen snow in good control and carving. With one pin holding, I went into a high speed sideways skip before falling hard. I was happy that I was wearing a helmet, and I did use my Whippets to regain control from a fast slide. I drove straight to the shop and bought new (2nd year) bindings.
I have only skied one day on the new (Comfort) toes, they seem better. From what my buddies have told me, the new toes are ok.
I bought the first and second year Tri Step binding. The second year was usable for three seasons, and still works with caution (I lock the toes on hard snow or steeps). The original was so bad in regard to popping out, I used them for a short season only. The first year binding released one pin while I was skiing fast on smoooth refrozen snow in good control and carving. With one pin holding, I went into a high speed sideways skip before falling hard. I was happy that I was wearing a helmet, and I did use my Whippets to regain control from a fast slide. I drove straight to the shop and bought new (2nd year) bindings.
I have only skied one day on the new (Comfort) toes, they seem better. From what my buddies have told me, the new toes are ok.
Allyson and Co. i'm glad you didn't get "wiped" out... ;).
..ahh yes, now i remember why i gave you those bindings, still new in the box.. ;)
ps--any of you dynafit folks have suggestions on how to tighten the toe pins on the old tri-step bindings? seems they are known to have this "pop-out" problem, but wondering if there's anything i can do about it...
..ahh yes, now i remember why i gave you those bindings, still new in the box.. ;)
Like folks have noted, the Tri Step toe piece works poorly. My thoughts are that the red plastic volcano heel lift is weak as well on the newer Comfort binding. I've seen two break. The original TLT still seems to be flawless.
A few pics from the trip (no actual ski photos, since too busy "survival skiing" down the ridge to take out the camera); some nasty snow conditions for sure yesterday...
http://www.cascadesfreak.com/gallery/green-mtn-11-19-2005
With regard to the tri-step bindings; I've noticeably been having much more trouble lately with the toe piece of the binding (pops out twice as much as usual...yes, it's been annoying for quite some time, but only pops-out while skinning and not while skiing)...I have the 1st year model and have been looking to replace either the whole bindings or the toe pieces...
Randonnee: where did you purchase your replacement (comfort) toe pieces? [Marmot staff advised me that I may have to write to Dynafit directly to purchase just the toe-pieces alone, as they (Marmot) wouldn't sell just half a binding...).
http://www.cascadesfreak.com/gallery/green-mtn-11-19-2005
With regard to the tri-step bindings; I've noticeably been having much more trouble lately with the toe piece of the binding (pops out twice as much as usual...yes, it's been annoying for quite some time, but only pops-out while skinning and not while skiing)...I have the 1st year model and have been looking to replace either the whole bindings or the toe pieces...
Randonnee: where did you purchase your replacement (comfort) toe pieces? [Marmot staff advised me that I may have to write to Dynafit directly to purchase just the toe-pieces alone, as they (Marmot) wouldn't sell just half a binding...).
Martin at Pro Ski (425 888-6397) ordered toepieces and volcanoes for me.
I decided to just replace the stock volcano (and not use the modified type shown at Wildsnow) because I do not want to add stress with a higher post. Twisting the heel while using brakes stresses the volcano. I plan to no longer tour with brakes- I just slip them on if needed or use a leash.
The Pro Ski folks have been very good to me.
FYI- For the 1st and 2nd year Tristeps: if I put my boot in the binding on the ski, the ski on the floor or hard surface, I can smoothly pressure the ball of my foot, without jumping, and cause the front pins to open; this release is with the front lever unlocked- I lock it to ski hard snow. I tried this with the new Comfort toepieces, no release.
I decided to just replace the stock volcano (and not use the modified type shown at Wildsnow) because I do not want to add stress with a higher post. Twisting the heel while using brakes stresses the volcano. I plan to no longer tour with brakes- I just slip them on if needed or use a leash.
The Pro Ski folks have been very good to me.
FYI- For the 1st and 2nd year Tristeps: if I put my boot in the binding on the ski, the ski on the floor or hard surface, I can smoothly pressure the ball of my foot, without jumping, and cause the front pins to open; this release is with the front lever unlocked- I lock it to ski hard snow. I tried this with the new Comfort toepieces, no release.
To really lock the toe, you have to use a tool to pull up hard on the lever. Dynafit recommended using your ski pole, held sideways like a handlebar, to pull up on the lever.
thanks for the tip, lowell. it seems when i tried to yard on the lever, it only lifted one click--but i'll give it a try with the pole technique, and see if that helps.
randonee, thanks for the info on pro ski. after everyone's positive remarks on the tri-steps, ;) i may end up replacing that toe piece afterall.
and thanks to all who helped me get set up with this rando gear--gregL, monika, and kam (though he's the one i should blame for these dyna-don't-fit bindings...) :)
If they're the original tri-steps, yanking up on the lever won't help, since it only goes to one "notch".
thanks for the tip, lowell. it seems when i tried to yard on the lever, it only lifted one click--but i'll give it a try with the pole technique, and see if that helps.
The first time I used my "Second Ascent"ed old dyna-fit bindings, I had the same problem. I use my ski pole strap, but try to make sure that the strap doesn't pull out of the pole when I do it.
If it is like mine, when skinning it should point upwards until you can't yard on it upwards anymore. I think it is 3 clicks total.
it seems when i tried to yard on the lever, it only lifted one click--but i'll give it a try with the pole technique, and see if that helps.
Hmm. I bet you have the first generation Tri-steps. My second generation toe pieces did not have a click mechanism. Pulling up on the lever just tightened it in a continuous range. Sort of like driving a wedge underneath a door to stop it from swinging.
I don't know if the technique I suggested applies to the older toe piece. Use caution...
Allyson: glad to see you make use of these Dynafit bindings (I think these are the ones I brought back from Europe for Kam almost 4 years ago?? - about time they get used ;-) ) this makes one less snowboarder to convince ;-) !
The trick Lowell mentioned is what I have to use all the time for my bindings, so try it out and hopefully it will work for you.
Good to see you all made it back home safe.
The trick Lowell mentioned is what I have to use all the time for my bindings, so try it out and hopefully it will work for you.
Good to see you all made it back home safe.
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