Jan 15, 2017: This was a long day, the last couple of hours for which we needed headlamps, as we finished about 7:30pm. I used my wide-underfoot, backcountry skis with skins. But there is too much poling necessary, both on the way out and on the way back. On the way back, after removing my skins, every time we came to a small rise, I fell behind in trying to pole up the hill on my very slick-bottomed skis. Several of my friends on this event used skis with fish scales, and I believe these sorts of skis are better suited for this relatively flat trail. There were no "turns" to be made - this was a relatively narrow track the whole way.