On carrying skis...

When I have to hike for more than 20 minutes or when the terrain is steep and difficult (not to say dangerous) I always carry my skis on a backpack. Last Friday, as I was parking my car in Snowbird, I ran into a Park City neighbor of mine who suggested we climbed East Twin Peak to ski down “Pipeline.”

Even though I didn't bring my backpack with me, I foolishly agreed and while Pipeline was closed that day, we settled for descending the face just below East Peak and began to climb up the 700 foot vertical.

The snow was rotten in places and moving up was particularly hard, with our feet sinking into post-holes, especially near warm, rocky shoulders. We finally made it after a solid hour of crawling up the steep hill. The next morning, my right shoulder was sore and almost bleeding after carrying my ski for so long, on one side...