too much snow

Hi All,
A few years back in California we had "the Winter of the 40 foot snow". I went up to go skiing. Got to the snow park, climbed the huge pile of snow piled by the side of the road. I strapped on my skis and slid down the hill and onto the flat snowy plain, where I sank nearly to my armpits before coming to a stop with my skis in the snow down there someplace. I managed to wade/crawl back to the hill and get back to my truck.

I was writing to someone in Scandanavia and they said that they use 3-4 meter long skis in deep powder. Anybody know where to buy them or have any alternate suggestions? I once made 4 pairs of snowshoes from welded 1/2" thinwall electrical conduit. I could make some snowshoes about 9 feet long...
Jim

I think our biggest snowfall yet this winter has been about three inches. And it's rained way too much to keep much on the ground. Bleh...

Jim -
got back yesterday and got your message. I'm headed out again next week for a couple weeks, but this time for my own BC trek, not another business trip. Headed for the Wasatch (yeah, I see the avy search near Canyons. I know to be very careful in such areas, mostly avoid them).

Anyway, you can get longer skis at Sunrise. But my longest ones (210 cm) generally work pretty well, even in deep pow. Take a look at "Alaskan" style snowshoes. These are hard to find in shops, but you can get them on the web. They are typically about 2-3 m long and same width as Atlas or Tubbs "standard" ones. They are made with a turned up toe and a trailing tail ("tennis racquet handle"). The tail helps them track well and not flop around as much.

Winter course is coming up in a couple weeks. I plan on this being my last year as director.

And so, into the hills!