John and Sara Stanford visited mid-May to work on the UpSki, travel to Leadville with Kristie and I for dinner at the Grill and just have fun. We then worked on some new concepts for a lightweight Mountaineering UpSki. The best of John’s hours of work back at his shop might have been the new anti-inversion grid created from lines instead of tape. More testing needs to be done and this year we have so much snow that Indy pass did not open on Memorial Day weekend (which was early in that cycle). The smaller control center is very close to being a workable design with some work to do on the vent line retraction method.
We continue to hear from a special group of individuals who want to use the UpSki design to aide in their back country fun. Canopy Serial Number 109 was recently acquired by Kevin Passmore in Glenwood Springs. He has 5 years of snow kiting and 4 years of backcountry skiing experience. He said “I love that when I launched this the other day (for my first time), I wasn’t even slightly concerned by the 100yrd wide space & 360deg variability in wind direction- I would have never even considered launching a kite in such conditions.”
The Stanford visit featured on snow testing on Loveland Pass and John’s photo’s from that outing will be posted soon. Over the years John and I have continued to consider new designs that would improve the sport or lower manufacturing costs. My garage and John’s attic contain a variety of canopy prototypes and venting systems. All tests to date have resulted in the same conclusion that the original UpSki design designated the “Explorer Model” is still the best design for Alpine Ascent. Now we are trying to make a lightweight version but with the same design, after all it has worked well for over 22 years.
John Stanford, upski co-inventor, designer and sewing geek extraodinaire, has been cooking up some new equipment to meet the needs of the Colorado Back Country crowd. He will be in town next week for on snow testing. As you can see from these photo’s the sport of UpSki and it’s equipment continue to evolve. And Yes Greg, that is your cargo canopy that is getting refitted. The focus will be on a smaller canopy with a new anti-inversion grid and lightweight control center. Skiing down should be more fun as well. John Stanford is a well known designer and builder of custom Photography equipment, check out his website.
Speaking of fun, John and Phil hooked up (via websites and email) with an old friend from Virginia Sky Diving days, Rocky Walker who now goes by the stage name of Maximillion Cletus Booteah, exceutive pilot and song writer. His website is www.thatsongsux.com
Also fun was the discovery that the musical video clip created by John’s buddy Pete was posted to YouTube by www.upski-jp.com (upski Japan). Much of The footage was shot by Brian (Stinky) Stephenson on Independence Pass, Loveland Pass and Lake Dillon. It features Jon Harrington (in lime green pants), Tim Moran, Betsy Cuthbertson and Phil Huff. If you know your skis and boots you might guess the era.
Jon Harrington, who has been UpSkiing almost from the beginning of the sport, suggested to his neighbors Dan and Clarice that learning to ride the wind might make for a fun afternoon. A major winter storm was arriving as they UpSkied Loveland Pass on the last day of April. Great Fun, Dan made so many laps so quickly that he was just a blur in the background of these pictures. Speaking of Jon, here he is on YouTube.com riding with Dan and Clarice in the video footage and some stills from Tunnel Bowl.
Greg Dietl was on another part of the mountain with buddie Tod, so all in all there were 6 canopies active. Dan and Clarice borrowed Mike and Betsy Cuthbertson’s canopies. The snow softened to the point of being mush but did not have much if any freewater. May has started with another storm cycle so UpSkiing looks good to go until Late June this year.
John and Sara Stanford visited mid-May to work on the UpSki, travel to Leadville with Kristie and I for dinner at the Grill and just have fun. We then worked on some new concepts for a lightweight Mountaineering UpSki. The best of John’s hours of work back at his shop might have been the new anti-inversion grid created from lines instead of tape. More testing needs to be done and this year we have so much snow that Indy pass did not open on Memorial Day weekend (which was early in that cycle). The smaller control center is very close to being a workable design with some work to do on the vent line retraction method. 
