Skin

I know that I'm ready for my break to be over when I stop sleeping. I try going to bed, even after a moderate day of a little exercise and I just can't fall asleep. Monday night was just that, I read until 1 a.m. and then finally fell asleep. I woke at 5 with B and loaded up the car to skin up Peak 8 with some friends. My first time doing a ski town staple, pretty cool to see the thirty or so others out there, going up at dawn to "earn your turns" was a cool feeling. If you don't know what skins are here is a brief description:

climbing skins are artificial animal hide that allow sliding one way very efficiently and prevent backsliding when you engage the skin to kick. The skins attach with a glue that doesn't remain on the ski after you remove them and a buckle that clamps onto the ski to hold it in place near the front.

It was about an hour of uphill work, I stopped a few times to shoot some pics. The ski down wasn't great, without Scott to instruct, I got lazy a few times and stopped to think about technique. Little tricks he taught me the other day really help if I remember them. I think next time I'll keep more of the tricks in mind and not get lazy.