Kevin Passmore, John Stanford and Phil Huff will meet to finalize the canopy, control center and harness innovations built and tested for the past two seasons. The meeting will be at Walter’s Hut on Shrine Pass in early September 2010.
Would not call it brown sugar exactly, the wind deposited layers of sand that came to the surface on our May 29th, 2010 UpSki on Independence Pass. It did look a lot like Carmel swirls especially the last few pictures in the slide show. There is a video of this slide show with some actual video footage which shows Kristie packing up in some pretty strong gusts. A couple of kite guys were headed back in when we arrived and they caught this video of us with some fun comments.
Jon is just one of those naturals with a video camera and You Tube. I was there with the B1 test canopy and it was a good day with lots of very solid gusts, some in the 40 to 50 mph range according to the wind gauge at Loveland Ski area (which was almost a thousand feet lower at 11,970 ft and on the lee side of the ridge). His video diary of the event is fun and tells the story. The snow was ripe corn with some pretty good skiing but, according to Jon, much better riding. Still it was an UpSkiing kind of day and as Jon’s video shows, topped all other fun.
Notes on the B1: I had a packing inversion on start up that cleared when the wind got into the correct channel, Jon’s video shows me starting to inflate but he cut out the part where I spent a couple of minutes getting the inversion out. This was caused by starting the “safety chaining” of the lines too far from the lower canopy band. The new grid system has worked well and the tendency to start the daisy chain down the lines a bit can be easily adjusted. The canopy collapsed quickly, as can be seen in the video, even in the very brisks winds on top. John Standford, Kevin Passmore and I have discussed some minor changes we will incorporate this summer but the B1 and B2 designs are pretty much good to go. Kevin’s new carbon-fiber control centers are great.
Kevin Passmore and his friends spent a couple of afternoons testing the new prototype recently above Janet’s cabin near Seral Pass South of Copper Mountain, Colorado. The friends took time away from BC hut adventures to photograph and video Kevin as he tried out the latest UpSki design from John Stanford. John and I were in Dallas together at the time and got some fresh insights by cell phone from Kevin on the sunny porch at the Hut. Those comments sent us back to John’s construction notes to reflect on how to adjust future versions.
Kevin took the new canopy back to his home and weighed components carefully at the lab where he built the carbon fiber control systems. The big weight reduction was in a control center which weighted over 4 pounds and now weights 2.6 pounds. The canopy weight, because of the “Zero-P” coating, is heavier per square yard but reductions in other component weights have kept that even. Kevin, John and I have all weighted the new canopy at around 10 pounds (ranging from 9.6 pounds to 10.3 pounds) with full rigging and control center.
Kevin Passmore testing above Janet
Kevin reports that the new anti-inversion line attachment system is working well with some length modifications needed in the final version. That was my observation as well.
Weighted components of Test canopy 2009-II
Kevin says the canopy still had some water on it from melted snow.
Goat Mountain is the local name for the NorthWest facing flank of 13,200 foot Mt. Sniktau and it is just a couple of miles NE of Loveland Pass, Colorado. When the spring winds stay West and North of West this face is a great place for UpSki after Loveland Basin closes. Why wait until after Loveland Basin closes? Something about the Avalanche Path that forms Goat Mountain. Bud Robinson and Kevin Passmore joined Phil Huff to test out the latest equipment from John Stanford. Kevin is completing work on the lightweight backcountry version of the control center. John’s modified venting system weights less then half of the old version and even the larger prototype weighted less then a conventional canopy.
This spring the new prototype grid on the special “stealth” orange and blue prototype canopy got a workout in ridgetop winds that hit 40 mph one day and close to 50 mph the second. It preformed really well.
http://picasaweb.google.com/upskiing/GoatMtnKevinUpSki#
Bud and Tania got married on Saturday August 30th, and UpSki was well represented. Not only was the toast given by an UpSkier Trey but the Pig was roasted by Brian and the cake was baked by lady friend of Pete. The Groom was none other than Bud Robinson and the Marrying guy was me, Phil Huff! Tania was the incredible together Bride who seemed to handle pretty well Bud’s abduction for 30 hours, at 4 am, being whisked off to LV by Chris, Trey, Brian and a dozen others. pretty well. After all, he was back several minutes before the rehearsal dinner.
John and Sara are in Alaska where they have kept us posted and amazed by John’s excellent photography skills and Sara’s equally hot computer communications. I talked with John from Talkeenta air strip where I briefed him on the history behind K2 aviation and Kitty Banner.
Kevin Passmore bought an UpSki, sight unseen, from an online listing this spring. He had seen one used near Loveland Pass 4 years ago and wanted to add this unique equipment to his quiver of Kites and backcountry tools. He got a great deal when an almost brand new, shiney, red-yellow-blue canopy arrived which he calls his Carousel Canopy. Kevin and Phil returned to Independence Pass and the slopes of Twining Peak Sunday, June 15, 2008 to consider how the UpSki works in light winds.
The forecast was for almost no wind, 5 to 13 mph, and a poor wind direction (West) for Twining Peak. Kevin and I thought that by skinning up part way we could get into the stronger gusts of the mid-day thermals. We got some rides and made it up to 13,500 by canopy. Kevin tried out Greg Dietl’s “Big Green” oversized canopy and enjoyed the “extra” power of a bigger canopy in light winds.
Kevin is a mechanical engineer who works with carbon fiber fabrication techniques and has an extensive history with Kite’s and Kite Skiing. He is tossing ideas around with John and I about making the UpSki lighter and has reviewed the “mountaineering prototype build by John”. He immediately replaced most of the parts making up the control center with carbon fiber parts and gained a noticeable weight saving. Along with recent innovations from “Cobbler John’s” shop the new mountaineering canopy is beginning to take shape. Slideshow follows.
Twining Peak reaches 13,777 feet and at least one UpSkier made it to 13,770 feet on Saturday June 7th, 2008. UpSkiing to the Summit is not usually the objective and when Kevin Passmore guided his UpSki up the final Summit pitch on Twining Peak it was just a fun photo op. The last UpSkier to ski up the final pitch was probably Bob Linneman in the late 1980′s. Most of the day was spent racing up and down the south flank of Twining. Betsy Cuthbertson was skiing her “pink and blue” canopy and a picture of it made the Aspen Times on Tuesday. The Large Green Greg Dietl model which John Stanford had rebuilt last month worked well in the strong winds of the summit.
Kristie Huff got some of the best rides of the day including a 30 second ascent that just ripped. Jon Harrington amazed the crowded trailhead parking lot by UpSkiing the more visible peak just above the top of the Pass before joining us on Twining Peak. Kevin Passmore pulled out his 6 meter kite and ripped up the flats down by the highway.
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.
