Skiing/riding 2015-2016

FlexFlexerson

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Did the weekend at Vail, which reported 9 inches of new snow on Saturday and 14 inches (!!!) on Sunday. Terrific skiing- the Colorado resorts are all skiing well right now. I guess the lift lines at Vail, particularly Sunday, were crazy at some of main base lifts and central arteries, but anyone who knows their way around could avoid that and not have to deal with more than a 5-6 minute wait at any given lift. The bowls and Blue Sky were unreal. Deep, deep snow all weekend. Pretty consistently up to my knees and waist deep on some aspects.

One area that's not too far from me, Powderhorn, has been getting a fair bit of snow lately and I've never been there. Might try to hit it up soon.
 

GoJeff!

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May 30, 2007
2,011
Los Angeles
Had a miserable day up at Big Bear on Sunday with pouring rain and crazy winds. I knew it would change over to snow eventually, but the family was too wet and miserable to make it that long. Meanwhile, Mammoth got 3-5 feet of snow in the storm, so maybe I'll try to blow off work a couple days this week...
 
Dec 21, 2015
1,410
Meanwhile, on the East Coast... I spent a long weekend at Mount Snow last weekend (house was booked a long time ago). I expected to barely leave the house, but as this was my first trip to Mt Snow I was very surprised to learn that they have an enormous amount of snowmaking capacity there. More than Stratton, Okemo, or (they claim) Killington. Pretty much all of their main-face trails were open and groomed, several of their back-bowl blues and blacks were likewise open, about the only stuff you couldn't do was glades. I also expected it to be icy, but with very rare exceptions you could get traction just about everywhere. The only issues were line build-up on the main bubble lift (very avoidable), and crowding on some of the routes you were funneled to (likewise). I was very pleasantly surprised at the quality that was available despite no help whatsoever from mother nature.

If anyone's headed there this winter, I've got two vouchers for a one-day pass that I'd take any reasonable offer on.
 

FlexFlexerson

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SoSH Member
Had a great weekend in Colorado, snow wise. Whole state did or is getting hit. Southern mountains (as usual) the big winners. If anyone is planning a trip to ski Colorado, areas like Wolf Creek, Purgatory, Silverton and Telluride have just gotten big, big snow and I think there's more on the way. The central mountains (think Breckenridge and Vail) did pretty well too, skied on a nice 9 inches fresh on Sunday at Copper Mountain. I think the next week or two is supposed to stay cold and snowy too, so it should stay nice (the last week or so got warm so the snow was starting to get manky until this refresher came through).

I'm infinitely grateful that I rarely have to deal with rain on the slopes until usually at least late May. I think a trip to Steamboat years ago is the only time I remember rain at a base area during the winter months.
 

epraz

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Oct 15, 2002
6,175
I'm heading to Jackson Hole for the first time next month, any tips? Most of my skiing's been in New England, besides a couple trips to Tahoe and France.
 

FlexFlexerson

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I'm heading to Jackson Hole for the first time next month, any tips? Most of my skiing's been in New England, besides a couple trips to Tahoe and France.
Jackson Hole is a great resort, and Jackson is a fun ski town. Take advantage of that tram with a few top to bottom runs (instead of just using it as a first-stop-of-the-morning lift), those big tram mountains are something special.

If you're there for at least a few days, and the conditions are good, I'd recommend a day trip to Targhee. Very different mountain: smaller, more low-key, but their (deserved) reputation is that they usually get more and softer snow. I used to know the heads of Patrol there and the area is a blast. There's a serious rivalry between the two resorts that's kinda fun and funny.

In terms for restaurants, I remember liking Jaco's Tacos last time I did a trip there. The whole downtown is a blast, you can't go wrong.

In terms of business model, Jackson has it totally dialed in. Airport, downtown, resort all seamlessly integrated. They're gonna own the next decade of skiing, imho.
 
Dec 21, 2015
1,410
Epraz: I know a local radio host in Jackson. If you're looking for local advice on anything in particular, PM me and I'll ping her.
 
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petefungtorres

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Jul 31, 2006
730
Portland, ME
Appropos of the Jackson Hole discussion and Flex's top to bottom run suggestion, my wife and I went to the Banff Film Fest World Tour last night and this video ended the show:
 

DukeSox

absence hasn't made the heart grow fonder
SoSH Member
Dec 22, 2005
11,742
Yes! Going to Banff Film Fest in NYC later this month.

Heading to Vail/Breck this weekend, can't wait.
 

petefungtorres

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Jul 31, 2006
730
Portland, ME
I love going to the Banff Film Fest, but the day after always sucks. I sit in my office pushing paper wishing I was outside doing something fun and exciting while breathing fresh air. Work to live I guess.
 

fairlee76

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Oct 9, 2005
3,631
jp
I'm heading to Jackson Hole for the first time next month, any tips? Most of my skiing's been in New England, besides a couple trips to Tahoe and France.
I'll second what Flex said and add that on the bar front, the Silver Dollar and the Million Dollar Cowboy are good spots to grab a beer and soak in the Jackson ambiance. Pearl Street Bagels is a good spot for a delicious bagel and a coffee in the AM.

Definitely get to Targhee if at all possible. I love skiing Jackson (the Gondola and the Tram make for some amazing vertical days) but the Targhee experience is great. Feels to me how skiing should feel. Drive up, find parking easily, ski all day on relatively uncrowded slopes, and end the day with a few apres beers and simple bar food in their lodge. A really seamless experience to what you get at some of the bigger resorts.

Speaking of which, anyone have any intel on conditions at Aspen and Taos right now? I bought the Mountain Collective pass and my two week ski road trip starts tomorrow. Cannot wait and it sounds like there might be some really nice spring conditions while I am out there.
 

Mr Mulliner

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Jan 16, 2001
793
I'm heading to Jackson Hole for the first time next month, any tips? Most of my skiing's been in New England, besides a couple trips to Tahoe and France.
Assuming you are good skier, I definitely recommend hiking the bootpack behind the lodge at the top of the gondola (up to the top of the headwall). That immediate area of the Casper Bowl gets skied up pretty quickly after a storm, but I've had some epic runs all the way to skier's left. Hike to the top of the headwall (prob 20 minutes) and then go through the gates to your right when you get to the top. Traverse the top of the ridge as far as you can, and there's another small hike of a couple hundred yards at the end to get to the Crags. Usually, even several days after a dump, you can find some really good powder in the trees and meadows above the Casper Quad.

Nothing crazy steep over there, but there are some little cliffs, a few pitches, and some open areas where big, fast turns in knee deep powder can be fun.

If it snows - Hobacks are great but the lift access sucks. Tram will be a really long wait, so after 1 early run I usually headed to Saratoga Bowl to get a bunch of quick runs with easy lift access before everything gets tracked up.
 

Foxy42

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Mar 1, 2002
3,654
nyc
Up in NH for the week (MA school vaca week). What a rough season. Sunday was historic cold and today (Tuesday) was a mess of freezing rain / rain. So everyone got the slopes Monday. It has been pouring out this evening and tommorow's conditions will likely be shit. Hopefully the rain and warm tempts don't hurt the (very) little bit of base depth that exists right now.
 

Zososoxfan

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Jul 30, 2009
9,208
South of North
Anyone have good ski/riding movie suggestions? I got a surface pro recently and the Microsoft Store doesn't have anything by TGR or Warren Miller, so I'm kind of out of ideas.

Edit: the MS Store has these:

Paradise Waits (TGR!)
Born to Ski (Warren Miller)
Snowriders 2 (Warren Miller)
Off The Grid (WM)
Blank. The Movie
The Lost
Car Danchi 8: Forever Ride
Junkies on a Budget: Satori
In Deep
 
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Tokyo Sox

Baka Gaijin
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Feb 16, 2006
6,132
There
A couple movies that I watched last month while up in Hokkaido:

All I Can, by Sherpa Cinemas is a pretty kickass ski movie with a social awareness message (but without being preachy) and incredible production values. I watch it a couple times a year. Sadly a couple of these guys are dead now:

Snowsurf is a local Hokkaido snowboarding movie. I did some tow-up snowmobile boarding with one of the guys in the movie, Par Dahlin (and then bought a copy from him). And I ride a Gentemstick so it was cool for me to see the Gentem guys in the movie:
 
Dec 21, 2015
1,410
Anyone been to Squaw Valley in Tahoe this year? Looking for some advice for a good friend who's heading out there next week. Both on trails and apres-ski.
 

Zososoxfan

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Jul 30, 2009
9,208
South of North
Just got back from 2 days in Winter Park and 2 days in Steamboat. Both mountains were awesome and we got about 3-4 inches between Monday and Tuesday at WP, which made for an awesome 4th and final day. WP is a sneaky cool less heard of mountain. The Parsenn Bowl was a ton of fun and with the pow on Tuesday I really got to enjoy it. The bowl filters into some nice tree runs as well. My crew lapped the Panoramic Express on Monday and it was nice for our group because people could pick how tight they wanted their tree runs. My only complaint was that the majority of this area filtered into bumps unless you really knew your way around. The Mary Jane area is apparently well known and had some great tree runs too. Getting over to the Eagle Wind lift was a real pain, but once we got there, we absolutely loved it. However, that area filters down into Vazquez Ridge and we got caught on just an awful flat run that required boarders to unstrap multiple times. This happened below the Pioneer Express and a couple of other lifts towards the center of the mountains too. Nevertheless, the real highlight of WP is Vasquez Cirque. It's a 1.25 mi. walk from the top of the Pano Express, and it leaves you to choose from 4 drops that are over 45 degrees!! I dropped in from the second cornice and promptly tomahawked, but the rest of my group had a blast going thru it and riding out thru waist high powder is a memory that will last.

Honestly, I rode Steamboat the first 2 days of my trip and WP the second set of 2 days, so I don't remember as much (an adult beverage or 2 may have been had) and I was still working on getting my ski legs. However, I can say that the mountain is pretty big and a ton of fun. I had 2 of the best Bloody Marys of my life at the Four Points Lodge and we did a ton of runs off of the Pony Express, Bar Ue, and Storm Express lifts. Head to the T Bar for the best apres ski on the mountain. It's not on the lift maps and is a bit of a speakeasy.

Talks have already begun about where to go next year. Crested Butte, Silverton, Telluride, Park City, Deer Valley, Jackson Hole, Big Sky, Mammoth, and Squaw are all under consideration. Can't wait to have the discussion again next year.

Also, with regard to ski porn, I watched a ton of it on this trip and TGR is by far the best production co. I would recommend anything by them before anything else.
 

FlexFlexerson

Member
SoSH Member
Just got back from 2 days in Winter Park and 2 days in Steamboat. Both mountains were awesome and we got about 3-4 inches between Monday and Tuesday at WP, which made for an awesome 4th and final day. WP is a sneaky cool less heard of mountain. The Parsenn Bowl was a ton of fun and with the pow on Tuesday I really got to enjoy it. The bowl filters into some nice tree runs as well. My crew lapped the Panoramic Express on Monday and it was nice for our group because people could pick how tight they wanted their tree runs. My only complaint was that the majority of this area filtered into bumps unless you really knew your way around. The Mary Jane area is apparently well known and had some great tree runs too. Getting over to the Eagle Wind lift was a real pain, but once we got there, we absolutely loved it. However, that area filters down into Vazquez Ridge and we got caught on just an awful flat run that required boarders to unstrap multiple times. This happened below the Pioneer Express and a couple of other lifts towards the center of the mountains too. Nevertheless, the real highlight of WP is Vasquez Cirque. It's a 1.25 mi. walk from the top of the Pano Express, and it leaves you to choose from 4 drops that are over 45 degrees!! I dropped in from the second cornice and promptly tomahawked, but the rest of my group had a blast going thru it and riding out thru waist high powder is a memory that will last.

Honestly, I rode Steamboat the first 2 days of my trip and WP the second set of 2 days, so I don't remember as much (an adult beverage or 2 may have been had) and I was still working on getting my ski legs. However, I can say that the mountain is pretty big and a ton of fun. I had 2 of the best Bloody Marys of my life at the Four Points Lodge and we did a ton of runs off of the Pony Express, Bar Ue, and Storm Express lifts. Head to the T Bar for the best apres ski on the mountain. It's not on the lift maps and is a bit of a speakeasy.

Talks have already begun about where to go next year. Crested Butte, Silverton, Telluride, Park City, Deer Valley, Jackson Hole, Big Sky, Mammoth, and Squaw are all under consideration. Can't wait to have the discussion again next year.

Also, with regard to ski porn, I watched a ton of it on this trip and TGR is by far the best production co. I would recommend anything by them before anything else.
Awesome report. I was at the Boat a few weeks ago and it's fab. Been a while since I was at WP/MJ, but it's a great mountain.

Going to Silverton in a couple weeks to do a Purgatory/Silverton Mountain circuit. I've done the latter area before - it's big boy skiing, for sure. Insane pow, usually, but definitely experts-only. It's a snowsports mecca, but I'd recommend warming up the ski legs before going - and get comfortable hiking in and out every run. I really want to go to Big Sky in the next year or two, I've heard nothing but universal praise for it.
 

GoJeff!

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May 30, 2007
2,011
Los Angeles
Had a phenomenal day today at the local LA areas. February has been crazy warm here, which made everyone in socal forget about skiing. The areas were finally empty, and the warm weather made for some very forgiving snow conditions.
But the thing that made the day really great was that my 5 year old finally put it all together. We've been up every weekend since mid November, but slow/steady progress became huge leaps the last 2 weeks. Today I started pushing him onto harder stuff and we ended the day with him confidently skiing double black diamonds lap after lap (okay, they are not double black diamonds anywhere legit, but they're damn steep for a 5 year old). I'm going to reward him with a pair of poles for next weekend. Made me feel very good about turning my first 2 kids (1 to go) into very solid skiers.

Flex, have fun at Silverton/Purgatory.