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hey all, so a little background on myself. i am purely an intermediate, east coast rider. can handle most of what the east coast throws at me - at least on the trail. tight trees can be a different story.
anyhow, last week i took my second ever trip out West. we hit Park City, The Canyons and Brighton on this trip.
on most of the "typical" trails, i handle myself just fine. the nerves really start to kick in when i head to the highest peaks, the wind starts whipping, i can barely see and the catwalks are somewhat tight.
at Park City this was the Jupiter Peak where we crossed over either into the Main Bowl or the Portuguese Gap. there was an OK amount of snow but it was pretty bumped out. i made it down without falling but it was slow going and sketchy. i didn't even attempt Ninety-Nine 90 at The Canyons.
at Brighton i got this feeling when i headed up Milly Express. i took Backbone down while my buddy basically hiked and traversed over to Lone Pine.
i guess the comfort will come with more experience but damn do i feel like a little b*tch. i just can't really fight the knee shaking and sketchy as feeling. it's funny too, i think it's almost 95% mental. i think my skills would easily get me down these trails, i just psych myself out, my form goes to shit and i bail on even trying.
any thoughts or advice?
my initial thoughts are:
1. more practice
2. more trips out West
3. better snow - not sure if this is valid as they did have some recent snow but i can't help but think i'd feel a lot less nervous with some deep, champagne powder on the trails
anyway, here's to always progressing.
anyhow, last week i took my second ever trip out West. we hit Park City, The Canyons and Brighton on this trip.
on most of the "typical" trails, i handle myself just fine. the nerves really start to kick in when i head to the highest peaks, the wind starts whipping, i can barely see and the catwalks are somewhat tight.
at Park City this was the Jupiter Peak where we crossed over either into the Main Bowl or the Portuguese Gap. there was an OK amount of snow but it was pretty bumped out. i made it down without falling but it was slow going and sketchy. i didn't even attempt Ninety-Nine 90 at The Canyons.
at Brighton i got this feeling when i headed up Milly Express. i took Backbone down while my buddy basically hiked and traversed over to Lone Pine.
i guess the comfort will come with more experience but damn do i feel like a little b*tch. i just can't really fight the knee shaking and sketchy as feeling. it's funny too, i think it's almost 95% mental. i think my skills would easily get me down these trails, i just psych myself out, my form goes to shit and i bail on even trying.
any thoughts or advice?
my initial thoughts are:
1. more practice
2. more trips out West
3. better snow - not sure if this is valid as they did have some recent snow but i can't help but think i'd feel a lot less nervous with some deep, champagne powder on the trails
anyway, here's to always progressing.