Altai Skis at Powder Creek, BC

(Nils and his touring quiver at Powder Creek, BC. Photos courtesy of Nils Larsen)

Inspired by his trips to the Altai Mountains of China, Nils Larsen began building his own Altai skis over the winter, chronicling his progress here on the blog.

Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV

With the skis completed, Nils brought them up to Powder Creek Lodge, BC to test out on his recent hut trip. Continued from Monday…



I finally got out on the big boards late in the day Thursday and on Friday for some test runs near the cabin. The light was trending to milk bottle but the snow was cold and fairly deep. I had a bit of trouble adjusting the bindings (stiff rawhide is hard to tie) but soon got the hang of them. The skis worked great in my test runs and I quickly got up enough speed to generate several spectacular wipeouts.







Saturday, our last full day there, the weather finally warmed up. All tired from a week of touring, we headed out early for a short tour to the north before the snow warmed up. I strapped on the Altai skis and tagged along, wondering what I was getting myself into. The snow on the north side of the Back Door pass was still cold dense powder. My first run was low angle and I found the snow fast and eminently skiable. My next run was quite steep and I quickly exceeded my comfort level on these skis. I was able to make some modest turns and as the day progressed I got more comfortable with speed and balance.





The snow thickened and warmed though and after lunch we headed back to the lodge. We stopped at the top of the pass and some of the group tried the Altai skis off the north side. Slides were starting to rumble in the warming sun as we skied back to the lodge and the cold beers we had waiting.



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