Not to get into much debate about skis vs snowshoes, but at times skis can be great, at other times they are a liability.
When I skied out there it had recently snowed and the trail was not broken, but it had been earlier in the season. It was ideal conditions - a few inches of fluff over a supportive base. We also met a snowshoer with a pack coming from HF - I assume he did a loop from Janacks Landing and didn't do the whole CL50, but I didn't ask him.
As soon as I read this question I thought about one early spring ski I did not quite around Cascade Lake. It was easy going on the south side but trail breaking stopped short of the falls. I decided to push on to see if I could do the loop but was bogged down by the deepest glop I've ever experienced. Later on, before I turned around, I got caught up trying to get around a downed tree, took off a ski and quickly post holed 3' straight down to where I could see leaves. Ski back on immediately.
I went about 1/4 mile or so in 2 hours before I turned back and skied back to my car in less time than I messed around.
I had traditional, long skinny XC skis. Great for the broken trail, terrible for the unbroken.
Anyway, I wasn't in any real danger but this was a sobering experience of how quickly things can go wrong on skis, especially the wrong skis. Doing that for days with a heavy, multiday pack would certainly be a recipe for disaster.
When I skied out there it had recently snowed and the trail was not broken, but it had been earlier in the season. It was ideal conditions - a few inches of fluff over a supportive base. We also met a snowshoer with a pack coming from HF - I assume he did a loop from Janacks Landing and didn't do the whole CL50, but I didn't ask him.
As soon as I read this question I thought about one early spring ski I did not quite around Cascade Lake. It was easy going on the south side but trail breaking stopped short of the falls. I decided to push on to see if I could do the loop but was bogged down by the deepest glop I've ever experienced. Later on, before I turned around, I got caught up trying to get around a downed tree, took off a ski and quickly post holed 3' straight down to where I could see leaves. Ski back on immediately.
I went about 1/4 mile or so in 2 hours before I turned back and skied back to my car in less time than I messed around.
I had traditional, long skinny XC skis. Great for the broken trail, terrible for the unbroken.
Anyway, I wasn't in any real danger but this was a sobering experience of how quickly things can go wrong on skis, especially the wrong skis. Doing that for days with a heavy, multiday pack would certainly be a recipe for disaster.
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