La Sportiva Spitfire 2.0 Boot Review

I tested these boots while ago, but never got around to publishing my review. Here it is in case anyone finds any use from it.

Stiffness: I found them to be every bit as stiff as my TLT5P without tongues(carpet test, locked in skis), in fact a bit more stiff, but not much(I think this is mostly due to the fact that I can make them tighter on my chicken legs.

Sizing: I can go down a size to 25.5 shell(277BSL). I did a shell fit and found the 25.5 fit comfortably. I didn't feel toe pressure in a 25.5, but the forefoot volume is a little low. Whereas in the TLT5 26.0 I have to tighten the instep buckle more than half its range, in the Spitfire 2.0 25.5 I am on the loosest edge of the instep buckle range. In the TLT5P I use the felt pad under my Sole thin footbeds to take up volume. In the Spitfire I was using my footbeds, but nothing else to take up volume.

Climb Mode: The range of motion is significantly better than the TLT5P with CL liner. It is both greater range and with less friction. Rearward range of motion can be obstructed by the ski mode exoskeleton catching on the rear of the cuff, but after a few times going through the motion that seems to clear itself up. More on the mode change and exoskeleton later. I didn't notice any heel slop when in ski or climb modes even with the instep buckle loosened(this is likely due to inattention and non real world testing conditions).

Never Summer Range Traverse

I set out the first weekend of April to ski from Cameron Pass to RMNP with Mark Koob. We had attempted this traverse a few years ago with another friend, Travis, but decided to bail at Lake of the Clouds after unfavorable weather.

Using the knowledge gained from the last time I set a more ambitious goal of also summitting all the peaks from Richthofen to Baker and getting as many ski descents in as possible.

We didn't have any car shuttle help, so had quite a bit of driving to do with 4 hours on Friday night and 5 hours on the return on Sunday night.

We started at the Crags trailhead at 4am on Saturday moving quickly to warm up. It was quite cold. I was wearing my micropuff under my helmet and had on windshells plus a hand warmer over my gloves. We had warmed up by the time we got past Agnes Cabin and we could start to see the moon losing some of its disk to the eclipse. Unfortunately we followed an existing skintrack in the dark and ended up on the flank of the wrong mountain(Braddock Peak). After breakfast burritos we realized our mistake and decided to ski traverse around staying as high as we could. Mark left his skins on and his splitboard in ski mode while I ripped and locked my heels. We skied through a number of large slide paths that had gone big within the past few years. One in particular felt almost like walking though burned out forests north of Steamboat Springs. It was eerie.

The snow was in great shape with 4-6 inches of fresh on top of a nice stable base and we had high expectations for our descent down Richthofen's SE face later in the morning.

We skinned up past Lake Agnes and made good time to Richthofen's shoulder. Amazingly the fresh snow made for easy skinning with no ski crampons required.

When we gained the ridge we were cold again with significant wind and while the sun was hitting Mahler Peak to the west of us, it would be awhile until we were blessed with its warmth. The hiking up the ridge was treacherous with the talus being loose and only covered with the most recent storm. It made slow and frustrating progress. When we got the view of our planned descent we were disappointed to find dry talus where there was plenty of snow on our last attempt. We started to climb down the talus to a ribbon of snow but that felt unsafe due to the steep pitch. I kicked off a large block and it kept bouncing past my view. So as soon as possible I put on my skis to sideslip the 'ribbon of death.' It is even more fitting here than early season at the resorts, and fall would have been very dangerous and the snow was narrow and very firm. I did manage a few turns in a small powder deposit before traversing hard right where we had made it down in 2013. I had to cross another talus field with fresh snow on top of dry rocks. This was possible by stepping with my skis, but I worried about how Mark, on a snowboard, would manage it. I managed to avoid any coreshots, but did definitely cause a little pain to my edges and bases with this maneuver. I kept traversing until I could see a line that I was reasonably sure would go. Due to the steepness and the fact that the slope rolls over I couldn't be certain that skiing down the snow I had just traversed would have gone, but in the future I would like to do a bottom up ski of this pitch because there are some very interesting lines to be had with the right beta. I skied down a narrow ramp with variable snow until I could see for sure that I would make it down and then turned my attention to Mark.

Home made rando race skins

I bought some light skis last fall to use spring skiing and rando racing and decided I'd like to use race style skins. This meant I needed to cut a tip notch since my Movement Random skis don't come with one.

Skiing the Ford-Stettner Route on the Grand Teton

SUMMIT DAY

We awoke after a good 9 hrs of sleep at 4:15am. The moon was high and casting perfect light onto the Grand Teton massive that began practically out our tent door. Although the peak is close at the crow flies, getting to the route and up requires stamina, patience, skill, and a little luck. For us, this day, everything came together and the mountain allowed us passage and the privilege to stand atop.

Starting up the boulder field we hiked by the guide camp, trying to move quietly. It did not matter, we soon found out from another group of two camped close by- the guided group of 4 had left 2 hrs earlier.  Together the twosome from Bozeman and us hiked up the Teepee glacier. The sun was rising off in the distance, creating enough light to see and change into crampons and harnesses.

After the little saddle of Teepee we went down a slope and around an arete into the Stettner couloir.  Here the two guys zipped by as they were soloing the first pitch, whereas we roped up. Tim lead first.  We ended up simul-climbing as well because the distance was too great between the anchors.  A fact I learned later, which I was glad to find out after the fact.

At the first belay station. Not too steep, but worth starting out roped for the  confidence and the mind-set shift.  Now begins the climb- slow and steady in the Chevy

Skiing in Grand Teton National Park - Glacier Route

Last year we had wanted to visit Grand Teton National Park over Memorial Day weekend.  Our rough plans had been to hike, climb and ski the Grand, however did not really know what that meant.... Were there technical sections?  How steep were the climbs, skis?  What was the best access?  Did climbing parties camp in an alpine basin, or make a one-day push from the car?  In many ways, we were fortunate that the weather forecast was not favorable that weekend. Rain, snow, fog would make for difficult conditions in an already foreign environment.
We trekked off to Rocky Mountain and instead had smoke haze from a New Mexico fire and crazy winds.  However, we managed to hike Long Peak, then ski the Tyndall Glacier.  This trip proved extremely beneficial as we got some more expedition-style planning, skiing and route finding experience. We had also come to Rocky earlier that spring to ski couloirs and such.... What a great training playground within a few hours from home.

This year, however, after more research, training, confidence building, and route planning, we decided to give it a go.

We both got Friday off work, so left Summit County Thursday night heading north.  Driving through North Park (Walden) and into the Wyoming prairies and hills was pretty.  Snow capped mountains innocently loomed in the distance.  The Zirkels and Raggeds are beautiful ranges, but very remote and hard to access.   Living in Summit County affords more opportunities to get out and practice being exposed, committed and even a little scared.

That night we stopped in Saratoga and went to the free mineral hot springs, 'The Hobo Pool.'  Never had we been to an area where to water was SO hot(especially for being free!). Makes you sweat just sitting on the pool side. Afterward we drove up the road and set up camp at a lake for a few hours of sleep between diesel engines and motorhome generators.

Friday we awoke early to drive the six hours to Jackson.  We elected to go through Rock Springs so we could hit the valley from the south and pick up some things before heading to the Park.  Once we passed though Bondurant and headed down a gorge alongside the fast flowing Hoback River, I felt like we were in true Wyoming mountain country.

I will never forget my first gasp upon seeing the Tetons!  'WOW,' was all could say when we came to the highway junction with South Jackson.  So dramatic, dominating and defining. We walked around town for a bit, our anticipation growing.

Nokhu Crags Powder Day

We went to Cameron Pass this past weekend to get some couloir skiing before the big day. We're busy for the next few weekends and so figured this would be the last chance to ski Nokhu Crags. I've got my eyes on these two parallel couloirs on the west slope of the crags and so I hoped to ski at least the lookers right one on Sunday. On Saturday we figured to ski the classics, Nokhuloir and Grand Central Couloir.
I also had my eyes on possibly skiing Rock for Brains but figured that would not likely have enough snow.
We stayed in the truck Friday night and got up early Saturday. It was quick getting to the campground and we found a great spot on a dry patch. We set up the tent and went off to the east face of the crags. It was an easy approach and there was flurries and clouds keeping the day chilly. Good for us, since we had not gotten the earliest start. We were also surprised to find a good bit of fresh snow on the approach. We were socked in and did not see the crags well until we hit the moraine. It was amazing to me how aesthetic it is in there!