After some minor river crossings, we arrived at a rock garden where we were quickly reminded that it’s still very much early ski season in the Rockies. Man it looks steep. Since Mikey’s skins looked like he used them as toilet paper, both he and Vince kept their skis on to traverse the field of moraine debris. I took mine off, obviously, to test the Vibram grip on my new AT boots and, let’s be honest, because my skins are way too pretty for that! As we started up the steep switchbacks with skis back on, the three of us kept sliding out. I had a bit more purchase than the boys, so I kept going while Mikey put his skis on his back and started the boot-pack early. Behind me, for every two steps forward, Vince took a step back and as I struggled I thought to myself: “Why didn’t I bring my ski crampons?” After some of the most graceful kick turns of my ski touring career, I gave up and took my skis off in preparation for the climb. The boys joined me shortly thereafter, and we had a snack break and discussed our approach.