Captain Fun & Clear Creek Browns 02Apr16

Captain Fun (me) took advantage of the end of ski season and snagged some cool new tools for on piste or in backcountry. Since my tele turns are no longer practiced and therefore sketchy, I longed for some heel down stuff so I could be cool like Daryle & Greg. I found a guy selling a size 30 (perfect) pair of Scarpa Freedoms and bought them - they fit great, are basically new and are tighter, stiffer and lighter than my current boots. Plus, these can be fitted with AT-compatible soles or DIN soles! I also scored some sweet 2014 SkiLogik Bomb Squads in 188 (148-122-143) with Dynafit TLT bindings. With everything used I am only out ~$550 (but I still need skins - couldn't find any used stuff that was wide enough). I am having the skis remounted to my boots right now. I still need to get some skins for these fatties and expect I'll choose BD GlideLite Mix STS skins. Of course I did a comprehensive analysis (spreadsheet) of alternative weights, features and costs comparing about 6 alternatives. This setup will be ~20# but I don't need to pay the ~$1,200 to get 18# and I don't need to endure the 24# leveraging boots on frame bindings. Seems like the right trade-offs. Oh yeah, I met Fritz Sperry (http://makingturns.com/), the author and artist, from whom I bought the skis; his house was a treasure trove of gear and artifacts in Edgewater. He switched sponsors to rmu skis and was getting rid of multiple SkiLogik sticks. We need to check out his guidebooks.

I was also able to stop and fish Clear Ck on the way back from Silverthorne. I looked up where public access was decent and fished two spots... near the zipline company and right near CO6 + I70. Both spots were still very cold with snow and ice on banks and little bug activity. Nonetheless I caught a couple of ~9" browns on the Cheeseman Emerger and ate green chili and drank a brew at the Tributary right near the intersection at the bottom of Floyd Hill. Decent day.