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Making a fresh trail on Boulder

Altai Skis Backcountry Festival – Boulder Pass in Northern Ferry County – Saturday, February 15th.

Event Schedule and Activities Saturday February 15th -10AM to 3PM Altai Skis will offer demos of our Hok skishoes and Kom Skis. Bindings include universal bindings (any flexible soled boot) and 3 pin (75mm) bindings. We will have some boots at the pass for the 3 pins as well.There will be some tips and mini clinics on using the various skis and bindings. Clinics on uphill😅 and downhill skiing😱 as well as general backcountry touring.🧐The many uses (and secrets) of the Tiak (single pole).🤫Some short tours of the area for different abilities, beginner and up.Bring your own food – potluck if you like. Bring your own skis or snowshoes as well. We cannot guarantee all day use of demos for every person if we have a good turnout. All Ages and Abilities are Welcome! Boulder Pass is a Washington State Snowpark so requires a snowpark permit. For those who do not have one we will have some single use permits available to purchase at the pass. We will be offering one day permits at a reduced rate for this event. Map of the Region Poster for the event Where is Boulder Pass you say? If you come to Curlew you will be about 15 minutes drive from the pass. The pass is the 2nd highest all season pass in the state (Sherman just to the south is the highest)at 4600 ft. Temperatures stay cool as does the snow. This years warm weather and higher snow levels have not had too much effect on the pass do to its elevation, except to make an unusually good base. Currently there is 24-36″ of snow, close to average for this time of year. There is a SNOTEL at the pass as well – Sentinel Butte A Skier’s map of The Highlands Region Looking North to Boulder Pass. Boulder Pass had a very intense fire come through in 2015, burning especially hot around the pass area. Most all of the trees were killed in the areas we ski. As sad as this was it has made for incredible skiing, with most of the small wood and slash consumed in the fire. This has created a landscape where one can ski pretty much anywhere, particularly after a snow base has formed. The terrain at the pass offers everything from flat roads and groomed trails to fairly steep and adventurous backcountry lines. The verticals around the pass are not too big – 300-500 vertical feet mostly – ideal for the no transition up and down ability of the Hoks. There is no avalanche hazard to speak of in the Boulder Pass area as well. It would be hard to design a more ideal area for all levels of Hok skiing. The terrain is made for exploring with lots of ups and downs but nothing to big or difficult. The views are excellent and skiing is mostly through open skiable forest (mostly burned). Lots of animal tracks in the winter too, moose, deer, rabbits, ermine, marten, coyotes, and the occasional lynx or bobcat. Best of all, if you like solitude its easy to pick a direction and not see another track all day.Activities Boulder Pass is a rustic site with no indoor amenities. There are two outhouses and we will have some pop up tents for boots and equipment. There will be a large campfire as well. Camping on site is permitted, expect winter camping conditions. Places to stay in the region. Lodging in Curlew/Republic AirBNB Ferry County Colville and Kettle Falls Grand Forks, BC (closest good sized town!) There are place available on AirBNB and VRBO as well. Curlew is pretty much a one horse town. There is a coffee shop open now (next to Altai Skis World Headquarters), and a drive in restaurant – Tugboats. There is a recently upgraded bar downtown – The Curlew Saloon – that serves burgers (bison burgers!)and a good simple menu. Other amenities include a library, card lock (takes credit cards) gas station, post office, and some nice old buildings ( the Ansorge Hotel is especially nice). The store is currently closed. Republic is the county seat (Ferry County) and has several restaurants (good pizza)and an excellent Brew Pub . There is also a good food store (Andersons), and a Coop. Grand Forks, BC is the closest town with full amenities to Curlew and Boulder Pass. It’s a larger town (4000+) and has quite a few good restaurants as well as a number of motels. Remember if you are crossing the border that you need a passport or and enhanced drivers license. The border crossing between Curlew and Grand Forks is open from 8am to 8pm. It is about a 15 minute drive between Curlew and GF. Kettle Falls and Colville are both reasonably close to the pass (less then an hour)and have a variety of restaurants and hotels. Great coffee in Kettle Falls at Crandalls Travel Routes to get here. Main routes from the west (Seattle, etc) are up Hwy 97 to Tonasket then Hwy 20 east. From the east (Spokane, etc) travel northwest on Hwy 395 all the way to Boulder Creek Rd. From Canada travel to crossings: from the west- Osoyoos (24 hours), Midway (9am-5pm), Grand Forks (8am-8pm). From the east Laurie (8am-12am). Curlew to Boulder Pass – 15 minutes Colville to Boulder Pass – 45-55 Minutes Kettle Falls to Boulder Pass – 40-45 Minutes Republic to Boulder Pass -35-40 minutes Wenatchee to Boulder Pass – 3.5 hours Orville to Boulder Pass – 1 hour 35 minutes Spokane to Boulder Pass – 2 hours and 20-30 minutes Grand Forks BC to Boulder Pass – 35 minutes – Border is open 8 AM to 8PM, you need a passport or an enhanced drivers license. Other places to check out for skiing (Sherman Pass 😉). The 15th is the Saturday of Presidents Day weekend so anyone coming from out of the area should check out the area for other skiing opportunities. Sherman Pass is the highest all season

Testing and development of the Kōm.

When Francois and I created Altai Skis, our main goal was to make accessible and affordable skis that worked well in the winter backcountry areas that lie close to where many of us live. We call this backyard backcountry. Maybe its not as glamorous as the terrain and skiing found in the ski movies of the day, but its way easier for many of us to get to and with the right skis, lots of fun.   The Hoks were clearly our first and main project. We did look beyond that though, and had the Kōm ski in our initial vision as well. The ski is wide and short like a Hok, but in the continuum between a snow shoe and a ski, the  Kōm is much more on the ski side of the mix. Our initial concept was simple. A short wide ski  with a length between 155 cm and 165 cm, and between 95-100 mm under foot. We would also use some of the design ideas we incorporated into the Hok. The tip has some rocker, allowing us to reduce the sidecut a bit while keeping the ski easy turning. The binding and geometry  are a bit forward then a traditional skis design as well. This keeps the balance and swing weight even, and the ski sinking more evenly when breaking trail in deeper snow – a condition we all seek out whenever possible!   The Kōm is also faster gliding then the Hok, as it uses a no wax (fish scale) base. The base we are using along with the ski design is quite aggressive  for climbing, more so then the normal nowax base, but not as grippy as the Hoks with their integrated skin base. As a solution we are also developing a dedicated removable skin – more on that later.   The name – Kōm – comes from one of the main towns in the Chinese region of the Altai Mountains, and is one of the hotbeds of traditional skiing. The graphic we are working on is also inspired by the Altai region, we will get that up as soon as it is finalized.   Right now we are planning to build the Kōm without inserts so users can mount the binding of their choice on it easily. We have gone back and forth on this but that is our current plan. We are testing with the Voile 3 pin cable  – a light and sturdy free heel binding we have used a lot in the past. My testing rig so far has been the Voile with a Scarpa T4 and occasionally a leather lace up (works well unless the snow is hard or funky).   We will be producing the Kōm in a small factory in Quebec, and should have finished skis coming out by late summer – good timing for next season!   Below is a video I put together on some recent testing of the Kōm – to be continued…..    

Open-house-flyer

Open House and Demo

We will be having a open house at the new Curlew digs this Saturday starting around 4 PM – we have a little ski museum and will have some beer from Republic Brewing CO and snacks as well. Come see us! Earlier in the day – starting around 10AM – we will have some demos locally. These will run through the day. you can call for more info, we are waiting to see what the weather brings us….. attached is our flyer. The art work is by Hannah Viano, and is also featured on our long sleeve t shirt this year.  

Keith Wakefield

Single Poles for 2012-13 season

I have become so enamored of skishoeing with the Hoks and a single pole that we will sell them this year on the website. A few of us have been out scouting and cutting this summer already (see pics) and are getting quite the stockpile. Lodgepole  pine is the wood of choice, very strong and supple. There are lodgepole thickets high the mountains around here where altitude, rocky soil, and tight stands conspire to keep growth rates incredibly low. I just measure a lodgepole less then 1.5 inches in diameter and it is just about 50 years old (hard to count the rings they are so tight)!   I have experimented with size and length this year and have decided that 12-16 inches taller then your height is a good length. Once seasoned they will be peeled and prepped for use. The poles will be finished with a penetrating oil and have a cord through the handle end. The base end will have a wedge cut in, handy for scraping snow off the top of skis. We are also having a small ‘AS’ brand made that will go on the handle as well. Like the Hoks the Tiaks (tīăk – the Altai word for their single poles) will be simple, durable, and easy to use. They will look great too!     Why a single pole? Traditionally the ski poles we use for both nordic and downhill have several uses, on nordic skis the main one would be propulsion. With a smooth based ski you can get a lot of glide with a well executed pole push, and when climbing your poles can reduce your back sliding. On nordic skis the effective push is reduced when breaking trail in deep snow and in these conditions many skiers revert to using their poles for balance, problematic because with two poles you are constantly throwing your weight from side to side.  Using two poles effectively is not intuitive, and I have spent days trying to teach both nordic and downhill skiers effective poling.   Downhill skiing uses poles a bit differently. The poles are shorter and are used primarily as a timing device for turns and as a way to position and move our bodies (our center of balance) down the hill into the next turn. As a lesser use, since we are on skis with zero grip we also use them to gamely try and push ourselves around as best we can.     At the point you put a climbing skin on the ski you reduce free gliding enough to make the pole push more of an energy  draw then gain, and with the climbing skin back slipping is much less of an issue. But the biggest advantage of the single pole is its ability to form a tripod with the pole and your two skis. Tripods are inherently stable in a simple intuitive way, and when one of the legs is moved (the pole), very adaptable to uneven ground. The use of a pole puts the skishoer’s center of balance a bit back on the downhill, creating a really stable position in a wide variety of snow conditions. The Hoks are short (particularly the 125), a great plus for maneuverability and turning but the disadvantage of a short ski is less stability fore and aft. The single pole quickly eliminates this problem.       Of special note is the use of the single pole on downhills. Despite seeing modern telemark skiers switch the pole from side to side as they make turns down the hill, the single pole is not moved from side to side while turning and is kept on the favored side on a downhill run, with the end of the pole drifting from side to side behind you, providing the balance where its needed at any given moment. The only time I found it useful to switch sides is on a steep sidehill, where the pole support up hill is excellent for a stabilizing a steep traverse. There are many other uses I have come up with for the single pole. It’s great for clearing branches of snow when moving through the forest. It’s great for breaking low branches too – perhaps on your favorite ski run. It’s a great probe….   I will write more on this later. Suffice to say, I am looking forward to a great winter of skishoeing (Hoking!) and the pleasures of a single pole.    

February 27th Availability Update

February 27th update !   We are sold out of skis and bindings in Canada for this season. We have a fair supply of both sizes of Hoks and the custom 3 pin bindings in the US, and have sold out in the US on Universal Bindings and the adapter plate.   I can ship in the US and internationally, but international shipments (including Canada) will come with all taxes and duties collect. I will have to price shipping outside the US on a individual order basis, so email for a quote if you are interested.