How hard is it to skin up a mountain?

[f.a.s.t.]

I'm planning an all day outing this winter on mountaineer skis with skins. It would be a combination of the Franconia cross country ski trails from the Horse and Hound Inn, to the bottom of the Tuckerbrook trail, skin up Tuckerbrook to the top of Mittersill, ski down the saddle and skin to the top of Cannon Mountain. Then do some alpine runs at Cannon/Mittersill and at the end of the day, reverse direction back to the Horse and Hound Inn.

I've never used skins before, does it require a lot of practice, or is it something an accomplished alpine skier can do without any difficulty. Would a long day like the one I hope to do be too much for a first timer on mountaineer skis?

Should I take the mountaineer skis and skins out first to get a feel for them?

[shortski]

Should I take the mountaineer skis and skins out first to get a feel for them?

A big yes to that. Then you can answer the other questions you asked yourself.

[madhatter]

you can take a pretty fun trip off the back of wildcat ( you s/b able to purchase a 1 time lift ticket)

http://www.trails.com/tcatalog_trail.as ... SGN017-008

http://www.jacksonxc.org/?page=wildcat

your planned day seems rather ambitious for a person of avg age, condition and ability, but only you can be the judge of where you fit on that scale. Wife and I did the wildcat trail quite a few years back. Took a break at a nice overlook of tucks and took what we thought was a quick connecter back to the main trail ( it was blazed and had ski tracks on it) turned out to be the halls ledges hiking trail. Steep, narrow sierra cement hop turns ( and subsequent falls) all the way down. Added a significant amount of time and took a lot of energy only to come out on the hwy well short of our destination. Fortunately its very easy for adventurers to hitch a ride in that area.

[Big Bob]

Sounds like you will be paralleling 2 mile hill, aka as Rt 18. A friend of mine lives on Powder Hill drive about halfway up. I would guess you will climb at least 3000' + of vertical. The cross country ski trails are accessible from the end of his road. I think they belong to the Franconia Inn.

[biged]

A lot depends if you are breaking trail or on current skin tracks. It is best to get practice. It is difficult to break trail for an extended period of time by yourself. On a groomed ski run is night and day compared to the back country. Good Luck and please post how you make out.

[brownman]

Suggesting as others have, that you get out on fresh snow prior to this planned excursion to develop your uphill technique.
Especially in fresh snow, pitched ascents can be tricky. Plan on shedding clothing. Layer properly.
A good alpinist should be able to carry this off as long as the cardio system is tuned
Your excursion sounds like a blast !

Thankfully, this isn't the only way to ski Mittersill

[Stormchaser]

Practice. It's a bit of a strange motion to make sure your front ski is completely in contact with the snow while walking. It's natural to want to lift your rear foot before completely flattening and loading your front foot, but if you do, you will slide backwards (depending on snow grip). It' similar to the motion of snowshoeing. You need to lift your rear ski (shoe) up and out of the snow, slide it forward, weight it, then lift the weight off your new rear ski (shoe) and repeat.

Hard snow is easier to skin on, as you are not constantly lifting the weight of your ski with snow on it, and its more of a unweighted gliding motion across the firm surface. Ski crampons can be handy in really hard snow and ice, as they will prevent you from sliding backwards. They also prevent you from sliding forward much, so glide is reduced.

Soft snow is harder (unless someone already set a track for you). The deeper it gets, the more like snowshoeing it becomes.

Skins don't always cooperate due to weather. Keep them very clean (both sides). Dry them when your done. Bring emergency attachment devices (duct tape).

[St. Jerry]

Better be in really good shape. There's a reason why uphill skiing is the #2 burner of calories per hour. No matter how cold it is out, be prepared to sweat. And then be prepared to freeze the minute you stop.
http://www.nutristrategy.com/activitylist4.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[laseranimal]

I'm puzzled and I'd just like to hear more about what type of skis/boots/bindings you plan on using, this sounds like a long(ish) flat approach then a pretty steep climb then a few yo-yo laps, then reverse. Not exactly what I'd chose to do for my first time out on skins.

Just a couple thoughts here:

If you're using an XCD type ski with fishscales and then adding skins to increase the angle you can ascend be prepared for a rude awakening when you get to Cannon. Its not going to ski like a normal alpine setup. It'll be sticky and really easy for it to lose an edge as most XCD skis are light-weight. I've skied Alpina Cross Terrain's and Dynafits/G3 Targas and while it was a GREAT setup for messing around in the woods it wouldn't be my setup of choice to use on Groomed Piste at a ski area

If you're using an AT/Tele setup with skins its going to be slower then molasses trying to cross groomed X-C terrain ESPECIALLY if you've never used skins.

Now if you managed to get your hands on one of the new Voile Charger BC skis then you're all set and I'll be insanely jealous as that'd be the PERFECT ski for this type of adventure


edit

Stormy the whole point of skins is to get the glue as contaminated as possible so you can actually pull them apart at the bottom of the hill!! I just got a new pair of 110 BD Ascensions and the glue is damn near impossible to pull apart. Unless you're one of those European weirdo types that don't use tail clips

[Humpty Dumpty]

It may take awhile, but you can use one of these. Can I get a tenderloin and shoulder cut when you are done?