Sharp ski edges and guylines

[Jeremy and Angela]

I have a question about guylines and ski edges.  It seems it’s a fairly common practice to use skis as anchors to guy out a shelter, but my ski edges aren’t exactly dull.  I’m concerned that with guylines thrumming in high winds they could easily be cut.  Are there any tricks people use to mitigate this, such as using a wide ski strap to pad the edges?

-J

[Paul McLaughlin]

So I don’t generally do this, mostly because I take enough stakes. But when I have done it – with no problems – I have always made sure the base of the ski is facing the tent. That way the cord is going over the edge but not over the edge as corner (if you follow me). If expected to do it as a general practice I think I would make something either to act as protection for the cord, or something that slips over the ski and the guyline attaches to that. But I like to be able to leave my shelter and use my skis, so I take enough stakes.

[Jeremy and Angela]

Yep, I follow!  It is nice to have the skis available.  I think I may start experimenting with non-stake options too, like parachute-style deadman anchors.

[Paul McLaughlin]

The parachute deadman can hold really well, but I haven’t tried them because the weight savings over a stake is not much and the hassle factor of digging them out deters me. If you camp in forests and find plenty of sticks laying around (does not apply to where I like to snow camp) then the buried stick works great. Just keep the know above the snow; then when you break camp you just untie the knot, pull the end of the rope out and leave the stick.

[David Thomas]

1. what Paul said.
2. you can do a “dead man” with a buried ski (but, as Paul said, with the edges towards the tent) and it will be even more well-anchored than when the ski is angled like a tent peg.
3. How sharp can ski edges be?  I’ve had a mountaineering companion SHAVE (a section of) his legs through his pants with a ski edge.  He and I were ski techs so our edges were pretty sharp.  I usually relate this anecdote to convey how tough Patagonia Baggie pants (long version in this case) are – the pants were unharmed.
4. You could get some Kevlar kern-mantle  cord (the stuff can cut through aluminum nuts), cut it, separate it, and use the Kevlar sheath as a protective layer for your tent guy lines.
5. If buried as a dead man or as a stake, you could secure your guy line to the ski binding and not worry about the edges at all.
6. If you’re anywhere in a forest (which tends to, by definition, have trees in it), 80 to 120-pound-test dacron fishing line weighs very little.  But wrapped around a tree, it is a totally bomber “tent stake”.
7. Anything you don’t need till morning (skies, snowshoes, poles, pack frame, crampons) makes a killer dead man anchor.  At no extra weight.

[Jeremy and Angela]

Dave:  Thanks for the ideas!  Yes, our edges are pretty sharp as well; Angela contacted one pulling off a skin and ended up with 3 stitches on her finger.  BTW, will you be at the GGG?

Paul: I think that means the aluminum snowstakes I have may be too heavy!  In the snow where I’ve been, any fallen branches would require digging down about a meter or two to find.

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