AT Newbie: Prospective Day 1

I seriously wish money grew on trees. Like on the Sims, where you could earn rewards for life skills and get that money tree. That was freaking awesome. Unfortunately, it doesn't; also unfortunately, ski gear is really effing expensive when you want a performance set-up. That's why my beautiful new Volkl Shiros still rest naked against my wall, dreaming of the day they'll meet they're soul-mates (Dynafit Radical FT bindings) and head out into the wide world. But since I live on a grad. school budget, they can only dream for now.

Thankfully, the University of Utah has a super awesome Outdoor Rec Program that rents Alpine Touring set-ups. No idea what type of set-up it'll be, and I'm positive it won't come with tech bindings, but it means that I can get out for my first day of ski touring ever. Pretty stoked about that, especially since it seems like it'll be awesome spring conditions so I'm at no risk for getting too cold, and the views should be pretty spectacular in Little Cottonwood canyon. We've got a great map from Wasatch Touring here in SLC (check them out; they're a small store but they know they're stuff and have great selection for every activity you can imagine), and I think we'll be heading to the Grizzly zone just. . . west? (I'm bad with directions in the canyon) of Alta ski area.

Even though there's not really avy danger, I'm still nervous about my first foray into AT. Do I have the endurance to make it all the way up or will I be 'that girl' who pusses out and makes the group turn around? Not likely, I'm far too stubborn for that. But does that mean I'm going to push myself too hard on the way up and ruin the run back down? Possible. While I've watched many people's shares of ski edits and films, and have done tons of research into touring, I am smart enough to know that I can't KNOW what it's like until I've done it. I fully expect to be beaten up, tired as hell, and stoked for more by the time I'm done. No, this isn't going to be epic powder, and it's likely we'll encounter slush and ice on the way, but it's something new. A new facet to my skiing that I can strive for perfection in. A new activity to try, fail at, and then try again. Because anyone who thinks failure isn't going to happen, or that it means they should simply throw in the towel, is an imbecile. If you're not falling, you're not learning (though not sound advice for free-climbing), and  falling only means you get more room to climb again. In my search for the steeper side of life, this is A-okay by me.

So wish me luck. Hopefully I'll have a good story and some sweet pics by the end of the weekend I can share. If you don't hear from me again it's likely I fell in some sort of ravine (because I'm just that accident prone) or I decided I was too tired to continue and asked to be buried where I fell.