We didn't hook the rope up on the trees the day before the snow (we were mostly just tired/lazy and didn't want to have to hike back up). We figured that it would be fine given the snow was going to be all powdery.
When we first engaged the drive wheel the next day the rope was slipping and not moving at all. After manually pulling on the rope to loosen it up as well as giving the throttle some gas the rope started spinning. Phew. Since Jay didn't bring his skis I took the honors of first ride up the tow. I quickly found out that breaking trail while holding onto a tow isn't exactly a walk in the park. It was slow going at first until Jay gave it more gas and it got easier. I even managed to get some air off the bumps! I held on up to the half way point and skied back down next to the tow line. I was completely out of breath when I got back to the bottom. It got easier each time as it packed in. I eventually held on all the way up to the top. Kricky came over with Galen and took a couple runs too. Jay raked some snow into the dips which made it a lot smoother and easier to ride the tow.
Now that we know the tow actually works we plan to mount a hand throttle somewhere on the exterior of "Roxy" (the official name Kricky gave our rope tow truck). Most importantly we'll install safety shutoffs as well as an emergency stop gate at the top.
It was definitely an exciting day and Jay plans to bring his short and fat skis to try out the tow next time.
No comments:
Post a Comment