Steep Couloirs and Flatspin 360s - Skiing and Boarding 22-23
- Thread starter GoJeff!
- Start date
Just checking into the thread for the year, and I suspect this could be very old news for you, but if you're in MASH (mid-atlantic ski hell) and have a touring rig, Whitegrass in the Canaan Valley is your place.
@GoJeff - where do you stay when you're up there? Looking for recos on any cheap accommodations in that area. We burn a big portion of our points to stay at the Westin for 5-6 days right before XMas each year, but I'm looking for a more sustainable model for weekend jaunts.
I vary between staying/renting friends' condos/houses, renting a small/meh airbnb if my wife isn't coming, or shelling out for a nice large airbnb when my wife does come.
For our purposes, I've traded location for size/quality/price. If I'm solo or with my boys, we get out early enough that driving to the mountain is no big deal, and I know where to park for good access (hint: lifts 10 and 4). If my wife is up, she's willing to drop off and pick up, so parking or walkability also doesn't matter. I used to always try to get something walkable at Canyon, but it was more important when the kids were little and I needed to be at the condo multiple times a day.
I think the newer snowcreek developments (V or VI, I think) are pretty nice and don't have the crappy heaters and 70s paneling of so many places up there.
I have stayed at the Westin, and it is nice. I found it a little cramped (at that price) for my liking.
Low end hotels have really gotten expensive. Motel 6 was 400 a night this weekend.
Not sure any of that is useful. Kicking myself for not buying a place in 2000.
I have that beat - we went last week to shred the 361 vertical feet (note: all of it outside the main green was still closed due to lack of made snow) at Mt. Crescent in Iowa
However, it was the first time we've been able to take our 5 year olds skiing, so it was perfect - we spent a solid 4 hours (including breaks) practicing and walking up the ski school area, and then by the end of the day they took the chairlift 3 times to the 'top'... our son was a bit better than our daughter (who still seems to take the 'fall down so I can turn' strategy), but they both left wanting to go back the next day, so I'm quite pleased
Man, some nice trips already in the bag for you all!
I did 4 days in Banff in mid December. Not a ton of fresh snow but a few inches a couple of the days, and a ton of fun. Didn’t get a ton of pictures
I spent the last year gutting out skiing types of terrain I had always avoided (trees, bumps, chop) because I was bad at them/east coast bumps and trees are always shaved and icy IME. Those are the only things I want to do now
I bought a full pass to Mt Bachelor in Bend here in Oregon instead of the Ikon this year. I didn’t get much surplus value out of the Ikon last year. Hoping to get 40 days in by end of spring!
Also bought 2 pairs of more “west coast” skis this year (skis purchases look like they might be my mid life crisis item), hybrid boots, and put Shifts on the new 105s so I can start to dabble in the backcountry. If I enjoy doing that there’s year round skiing out here, but it’s a hedge investment for now.
I’m already headed to Whistler in March, will do Snoqualmie and/or Crystal Mountain at some point visiting my gf’s dad in Seattle. I want to hit at least two of Sun Valley, Tahoe, Big Sky as well. I’m turning 45 next month and realizing the door is going to start to close on some kinds of skiing soon.
I did 4 days in Banff in mid December. Not a ton of fresh snow but a few inches a couple of the days, and a ton of fun. Didn’t get a ton of pictures
I spent the last year gutting out skiing types of terrain I had always avoided (trees, bumps, chop) because I was bad at them/east coast bumps and trees are always shaved and icy IME. Those are the only things I want to do now
I bought a full pass to Mt Bachelor in Bend here in Oregon instead of the Ikon this year. I didn’t get much surplus value out of the Ikon last year. Hoping to get 40 days in by end of spring!
Also bought 2 pairs of more “west coast” skis this year (skis purchases look like they might be my mid life crisis item), hybrid boots, and put Shifts on the new 105s so I can start to dabble in the backcountry. If I enjoy doing that there’s year round skiing out here, but it’s a hedge investment for now.
I’m already headed to Whistler in March, will do Snoqualmie and/or Crystal Mountain at some point visiting my gf’s dad in Seattle. I want to hit at least two of Sun Valley, Tahoe, Big Sky as well. I’m turning 45 next month and realizing the door is going to start to close on some kinds of skiing soon.
Can’t say for sure when they removed the conditions part. But the new sign is literally brand new within the last couple of days
Just a note, but Pat’s Peak is part of the Indy Pass alliance. For a relatively low cost you can get 2 days there and everywhere else in it (Cannon and Waterville are two). I believe it used to be 3 days but there are mountains with reciprocal benefits that even exceed the Indy Pass (Cooper in Colorado is the best known). Not too useful to me since Blue Knob is the closest resort and they are old school with limited snowmaking.
I'm jealous. I've spent much of the past several season skiing at Nashoba Valley (240 vertical) with my kids.
This winter I'm bummed because my daughter has volleyball practice on Tuesday nights which is the same evening her middle school ski club goes to Wachusett. I've chaperoned those trips for the past couple of winters and it has been a blast to see the kids having so much fun.
It looks like Pat's has 770 vertical feet of terrain according to their website. This winter marks their 60th season of operation and they are going to celebrate with a 60 ft long cake. Hope you get a piece.
@Devizier thanks for the heads up on the Indy Pass. I''m going to check that out.
Yeah I was incorrect about the vertical.
Last night was a zoo, it was pretty crowded. I only stayed a couple of hours as it took about 30 seconds for my thighs to get sore. 6 runs, about 7 miles total, with a top speed of 25.5 mph. Lame stats, but it’s a start. I hope to go at least 1 afternoon/night a week, but will probably avoid fridays.
Got off a to a bit of a slow start this seasons since my home mountain (Arapahoe Basin) was installing a new chairlift to get to the upper mountain which was delayed so they only had a few runs open on their lower mountain for quite a while, and the my household had to deal with COVID from roughly Thanksgiving to Christmas so it wasn't really until the end of December that we got cranking. But I've now logged a dozen days in this season so far, which I feel pretty good about. Snow's been quite good too. Slightly above average snowpack so far this year but the way it's been falling has kept conditions really nice on any given day.
I snuck out on Thursday to hit what I think is Colorado's newest ski area, Bluebird Backcountry, which is a skinning-only ski area. A really exceptional experience. They only had about half their terrain open but it was more than enough for a first timer. Given the spate of recent avalanche deaths in Colorado, my interest in backcountry skiing is close to 0% right now but this area provides a great hybrid: ski patroller managed terrain with some basic amenities. I was one of maybe a dozen or so people out that day, less crowded than most of the popular backcountry spots I'm used to. If anyone is up for a day of cardio, I can't recommend this place enough. They have rentals and lessons as well, for those new to the uphill experience. I get two free day tickets since I'm an A-Basin passholder so I'm planning on using my second one a little later in the season once they have more open and I can hit a weekend where they'll have a little more active apres scene. I'm not much of a picture taker, but I snapped a few photos and made sure to rep my sports teams appropriately:
View: https://www.instagram.com/p/CnE6xH3LdMk/
I snuck out on Thursday to hit what I think is Colorado's newest ski area, Bluebird Backcountry, which is a skinning-only ski area. A really exceptional experience. They only had about half their terrain open but it was more than enough for a first timer. Given the spate of recent avalanche deaths in Colorado, my interest in backcountry skiing is close to 0% right now but this area provides a great hybrid: ski patroller managed terrain with some basic amenities. I was one of maybe a dozen or so people out that day, less crowded than most of the popular backcountry spots I'm used to. If anyone is up for a day of cardio, I can't recommend this place enough. They have rentals and lessons as well, for those new to the uphill experience. I get two free day tickets since I'm an A-Basin passholder so I'm planning on using my second one a little later in the season once they have more open and I can hit a weekend where they'll have a little more active apres scene. I'm not much of a picture taker, but I snapped a few photos and made sure to rep my sports teams appropriately:
View: https://www.instagram.com/p/CnE6xH3LdMk/
BC in April is fun no matter what, total blast as a spring skiing spot; I ditched the Epic Pass a couple years ago but I'm a longtime BC skier. If you've never been and want any recommendations (terrain, restaurants, other stuff in the area) shoot me a PM and I'm happy to provide any color commentary that I can.
I looked at the Indy Pass but it's not very strong in Colorado so I passed, although I love the concept. But your comment about Cooper reminds me that they recently expanded their terrain with the long-promised Tennesee Creek Basin expansion. I haven't had a chance to check it out yet, but they rate it all as double-diamond so I'm intrigued. Hoping to convice the wife to do a low-key day (the only kind she really likes) there this season and I can check out the new(-ish) terrain. They've been getting blasted with snow so far this season so it feels like the right year to take a Leadville Holiday.
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I am really hoping to hit it up someday, right now it’s a fantasy because the kids are too young for touring and I don’t have a friend out here who can partner on a tour.
I’ve actually become quite fond of Timberline. It’s still a small (one lift) mountain but it’s a very fast lift now and they’ve got a pretty good vertical, some steeps. The snowmaking is probably the best I’ve ever seen. They are usually 100% open by MLK day.
Yup. That Canaan Valley is where it’s at in that region. Of the people I know who have frequented Whitegrass, it seems like the type of place you’d find a touring partner pretty easily. It’s a substantial self-selection filter to even go there.
My buddy says that the new lift at A Bay was well worth the wait, as it's a high speed 6 chair that accesses the exact terrain you'd want. I also read about Bluebird recently and definitely want to get over there some point soon as an entry point into true backcountry and splitboarding. I'll hit you up for BC recs shortly!
Had an amazing three days at Mammoth this weekend with my boys. The top opened Friday after a massive Thursday storm (although the lines were brutal), we got fresh tracks in the woods all day Sat, and another 9-11" hit Sat night into Sunday for some great storm skiing.
Kids got sendy:
Another 5-7 feet is falling today and tomorrow, with at least two more storms behind that one. Shaping up to be an absolutely epic year.
Kids got sendy:
Another 5-7 feet is falling today and tomorrow, with at least two more storms behind that one. Shaping up to be an absolutely epic year.
Just wanted to chime in on the French skiing talk a bit upthread. I highly highly highly recommend going to the Alps, at least once. I've skied in Avoriaz (Portes du Soleil) and Meribel (Trois Valees) between 5 and 10 times and hoping to get back as soon as possible.
Going to the Alps might seem obvious, but here are two lesser known reasons:
(1) Especially in the bigger areas, you can ski between different towns and everything feels more organic/natural. The skiing is as good or better as anywhere in the US, but the ambience is completely different--stop off for lunch down in the woods in Les Lindarets, then take the lift up to ski the backside of the Swiss Wall. You can stay on the mountain (see #2) and no bussing or parking in a massive lot necessary. It feels more like visiting a place than going to a ski mountain.
(2) It is cheap as hell. A lift pass for a week costs $330, a ski-on/ski-off apartment that sleeps a family of 4 goes for $1200, and flights to Geneva (~1-2 hours drive from the big mountains) can be had for cheap--like $600-700. Ski lessons are also relatively cheap and there are numerous options for kids. These are essentially the same prices as when I started going in the 2000s and were cheap compared to the US back then--now even more, since everything's gotten so expensive here.
Going to the Alps might seem obvious, but here are two lesser known reasons:
(1) Especially in the bigger areas, you can ski between different towns and everything feels more organic/natural. The skiing is as good or better as anywhere in the US, but the ambience is completely different--stop off for lunch down in the woods in Les Lindarets, then take the lift up to ski the backside of the Swiss Wall. You can stay on the mountain (see #2) and no bussing or parking in a massive lot necessary. It feels more like visiting a place than going to a ski mountain.
(2) It is cheap as hell. A lift pass for a week costs $330, a ski-on/ski-off apartment that sleeps a family of 4 goes for $1200, and flights to Geneva (~1-2 hours drive from the big mountains) can be had for cheap--like $600-700. Ski lessons are also relatively cheap and there are numerous options for kids. These are essentially the same prices as when I started going in the 2000s and were cheap compared to the US back then--now even more, since everything's gotten so expensive here.
I don't have the time to do a recap justice but....
I have shoveled/plowed over 9' of snow out of my driveway this year. I am at 5500' elevation. Absolutely monster winter so far for the Sierras.
Toured last week, 2k vert. feet. What would normally take 1.5 hours to hike took over 3. Breaking trail was an absolute nightmare. 18" from snow to bottom of skin track. Wrist is holding up ok, gets pretty sore by the end of the day from climbing.
Beginning to regret my skinny ski revolution just a little. While I love the lack of weight, I am working my legs off skiing down. Still better than sitting behind the desk.
Have another 8" in the driveway that require my attention...
I have shoveled/plowed over 9' of snow out of my driveway this year. I am at 5500' elevation. Absolutely monster winter so far for the Sierras.
Toured last week, 2k vert. feet. What would normally take 1.5 hours to hike took over 3. Breaking trail was an absolute nightmare. 18" from snow to bottom of skin track. Wrist is holding up ok, gets pretty sore by the end of the day from climbing.
Beginning to regret my skinny ski revolution just a little. While I love the lack of weight, I am working my legs off skiing down. Still better than sitting behind the desk.
Have another 8" in the driveway that require my attention...
Glad to hear about bluebird. My brother was just asking me the other day. We stay up in Granby a lot. I haven't been there yet - haven't skied in a few years, and it looks like I won't this year. But next year I'll get back out there.
Was thinking about you and the skinnies. Been pretty happy on my 118s.
Lot of shoveling, but we are getting the season we’ve been waiting for
Thanks. This all tracks. I’ve struggled to find anything in town for less than $300/night once fees are added in, which gets a bit prohibitive to do frequently.
Very jealous. We are getting a brief bit of snow this weekend but it’s been rain most of the winter and there will be more next week. Congrats on your pending 4th of July plans!
Cool perspective, thanks for sharing! Couple of quick questions. First, for those kid lessons, are they offered in English? Second and relatedly, how do Euros feel about American ski tourists? One of the reasons I really wanna go check out Chile soon is to compare it to Argentina. Argentinians are my people--I speak with an Argentine accent--but they are waaaaay standoffish.
Lessons will definitely be available in English at any significant ski area--loads of Brits go to the Alps. ESF runs English-language ski schols on lots of mountains (ESF Avoriaz, for example). I never got a bad vibe as an American skiing in France/Switzerland. At least, not specifically because of my nationality.
SnowHeads is a great resource for this kind of thing--the SoSH of skiing, mostly focused on Brits skiing in Europe.
I don't know about the first question but I did have some Italian say something shitty to his buddy about there being too many Americans. They were speaking Italian and I only caught a couple words. This was at Folgaria, Italy not too far from some US military bases so that place does attract Americans and they offer a military discount on tix to US military. Other than that, no one seemed to mind. Lift lines are where you can run into problems, particularly in Italy. They do not respect the queuing process there and everyone kind of mashes to get to through the turnstiles. They don't tend to group up to make sure each chair is full, and the first operator of the lift you see is at the chair (so no one taking charge of the line itself). It's a free-for-all. And kids will walk across your skis to cut you in line to join the rest of their group. Don't lose your cool in this situation or you will certainly stand out. Just do your best to cut everyone else so you blend in.
haha yep, same experience re lift lines in Argentina. I wonder about Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and France. I imagine the first 3 enjoy a good queue and order as much as the Brits and us. I'd guess the French are more Italian in this regard. We need scouts to Andorra post-haste!
Austria, Switzerland and France, despite their orderly reputation,, have free-for-all, ski stomping lift lines.
I skied in Chile last August. It was very friendly, just don’t expect anyone to speak any English and you’ll be fine.
Have you skied in Italy? My first season there I had so much anxiety as 8-9 people across kind of jammed together to see who would make it to the front for a 4 person chair (it would generally end up being like 2 people and everyone left behind would reorganize for the next push). I found Austria, Germany, Slovakia, and Switzerland to be a bit more queue respectful but not nearly the level of the US and still a bit frustrating. Europe was my wife's first ski experience and I thought she was going to deck some little kids who walked all over her brand new skis.
Yeah, Italy is crazy that way, but I think Switzerland seemed even weirder to me given the normal stereotypes about Switzerland.
Easily one of the best episodes of all time. I was rewatching it at work some time ago (with headphones of course) and I STILL had to stop watching it because of how raunchy it is.
Back to lift line etiquette, I've been skiing in the US forever and while I love our respect for a good queue, people here are a bit too fussy about anyone or anything touching their gear. Like, we're all hucking ourselves down mountains with these planks, I think your gear will be just fine if I bump the back of your skis by accident.
Agreed. And in my experience, even if you've got some line cutters, it's still fairly orderly. We're not talking world war z here. And overall, the time you'll wait in a line is just nothing as compared to a crowded mountain in the US.
I use slopes as well but I really only look at the number of runs completed and maybe average speed and overall distance. My garmin has a "skiing" activity that tracks a lot more information than Slopes so I use that as well (and it counts me for doing a workout).
I like that they got the main character from the Ski School movies to play the skier burnout (character first name (Dave) in both Ski School and Always Sunny).
Absolute epic day. Storms finally stopped blowing Wednesday Night/Thursday morning. 24" or so of fresh, cold snow. Winds were hellacious during the storms with gusts over 100mph on the ridges so there was a lot of movement of snow. Winds out of the north east, typically out of the sw for this area, so North aspects were loaded and tempting...
Started at 8am, 8 degrees out. Skinned up to a hill called fireplug then skied down to Galena Creek drainage. Had to change first objective as snow was pretty sliddy. (I sent an 8" winds slab on just a little ski cut test, couloir out of play!) No bother, lower angle in the trees skied like a dream. 12-18" of champagne powder in the shade.
Crossed the creek, or crick if are an old rancher, and started our primary objective for the day, Mt. Rose proper. 2nd Highest peak in the Carson Range, peak at 10,776'. Drainage is at 8,200 or so, basically level with the local ski resort. Cutting up the flank, we kept skis on for the first 2,000' or so. At that point, snow became ice (standard) and we switched to boot crampons. (Ski crampons were already one). No fall scenario, lots of rocks, steepish approach. Ice axe one hand, pole in the other, skis on back. Wind scoured from those north east winds. Reaching the summit, we transitioned, took some photos, and began the decent. First we skied the big bowl visible from Reno proper. Note, this isn't really skiing, but really more like ice skating. From there we ended up side sliding down the bootpack. Had to step over some rocks but nothing too terrible. Reaching the transition point, had a snack to get ready for the 2,000' decent. On the skin track up, we noticed that the south western couloirs had a lot of snow from those NE winds as well.
Dug a quick hand pit to see what was what; about 8" of fresh on solid base. No real concerns. (We did notice some cornice action but our objective was the gut). Good snow, good width, party skiing! Best snow of my life in their. My little 88mm skis were just absolute magic. Had to lean back a bit but was just linking tight tight turns. Glorious.
Back to the creek. Another snack, another transition. About 800' climb out. Whoever put this track in sucked at life. Almost straight up the mountain. I counted 3 kick turns. 3. Not a bro. But probably set by a bro. Oh well.
Last ski back to the rigs was on SE aspects. Snow was variable. I like the crud, my partner does not. But then again, my skis are designed for it. So it was tough skiing for the final run of the day.
Overall, figure about 9 miles of touring, 4,064' of elevation. Second day in the back country. Have a full day of skiing w/the kids tomorrow...I might not survive the weekend.
Photos from the summit looking south to Lake Tahoe; Transition Area looking across the highway to the ski resort; Big Line. Note the PERFECT skin track on the right. Pretty solid work
Wind was blowing good, we didn't hang out too long. Tahoe over our shoulders. Gorgeous Day.
Snack Time. Sandwich was mostly unsmashed. Nice rock outcropping behind us to keep the wind off and provide a little thermal mass. Mt. Rose Ski Resort is over my left shoulder here. Great local hill, skis big when the chutes are open.
Bottom half from the summit. Skinned up on the right, all the way to the saddle, cut over, climbed some more, and more, and more.
Started at 8am, 8 degrees out. Skinned up to a hill called fireplug then skied down to Galena Creek drainage. Had to change first objective as snow was pretty sliddy. (I sent an 8" winds slab on just a little ski cut test, couloir out of play!) No bother, lower angle in the trees skied like a dream. 12-18" of champagne powder in the shade.
Crossed the creek, or crick if are an old rancher, and started our primary objective for the day, Mt. Rose proper. 2nd Highest peak in the Carson Range, peak at 10,776'. Drainage is at 8,200 or so, basically level with the local ski resort. Cutting up the flank, we kept skis on for the first 2,000' or so. At that point, snow became ice (standard) and we switched to boot crampons. (Ski crampons were already one). No fall scenario, lots of rocks, steepish approach. Ice axe one hand, pole in the other, skis on back. Wind scoured from those north east winds. Reaching the summit, we transitioned, took some photos, and began the decent. First we skied the big bowl visible from Reno proper. Note, this isn't really skiing, but really more like ice skating. From there we ended up side sliding down the bootpack. Had to step over some rocks but nothing too terrible. Reaching the transition point, had a snack to get ready for the 2,000' decent. On the skin track up, we noticed that the south western couloirs had a lot of snow from those NE winds as well.
Dug a quick hand pit to see what was what; about 8" of fresh on solid base. No real concerns. (We did notice some cornice action but our objective was the gut). Good snow, good width, party skiing! Best snow of my life in their. My little 88mm skis were just absolute magic. Had to lean back a bit but was just linking tight tight turns. Glorious.
Back to the creek. Another snack, another transition. About 800' climb out. Whoever put this track in sucked at life. Almost straight up the mountain. I counted 3 kick turns. 3. Not a bro. But probably set by a bro. Oh well.
Last ski back to the rigs was on SE aspects. Snow was variable. I like the crud, my partner does not. But then again, my skis are designed for it. So it was tough skiing for the final run of the day.
Overall, figure about 9 miles of touring, 4,064' of elevation. Second day in the back country. Have a full day of skiing w/the kids tomorrow...I might not survive the weekend.
Photos from the summit looking south to Lake Tahoe; Transition Area looking across the highway to the ski resort; Big Line. Note the PERFECT skin track on the right. Pretty solid work
Wind was blowing good, we didn't hang out too long. Tahoe over our shoulders. Gorgeous Day.
Snack Time. Sandwich was mostly unsmashed. Nice rock outcropping behind us to keep the wind off and provide a little thermal mass. Mt. Rose Ski Resort is over my left shoulder here. Great local hill, skis big when the chutes are open.
Bottom half from the summit. Skinned up on the right, all the way to the saddle, cut over, climbed some more, and more, and more.
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My wife and I are trying to plan a spring break ski trip. She’s at Stowe this weekend. We’re going to Stowe for Presidents’ Day weekend. I wouldn’t mind doing something in NE since my wife is there but I also have an aunt who lives in Sun Valley and has been pestering us to come visit. I’ve never even been to Idaho but I’m guessing the skiing in March is likely to be better than east coast. This is also our last opportunity to ski in the US for the next 2 years. Anyone have any Sun Valley experience? I could do a week there with free lodging and we’re only out lift tickets and airfare.
I went to Sun Valley once for a long weekend a few years ago. I don't have intensive knowledge but it was a lot of fun and, yeah, it'll almost certainly be better than NE skiing. A classic resort, they have plenty of varied terrain for all ability levels and the town of Ketchum is really fun. A very small, fairly isolated resort town thats a mix of old west and contemporary ski town. I wouldn't even think twice about going if I had free lodging lined up. It's location ensures without having a major metro area in easy driving distance means it doesn't really get too crowded most of the time. A real pleasure if you usually have to ski on proverbial ant hills.
Only note I can think off the top of my head is the small local airport shuts down a LOT so just be mentally prepared to have to get diverted to a bus for the final leg (or first leg out, I guess).
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Yeah, jump on Sun Valley. Fun resort, great town, way way better than anything in the east.
It has a very luxurious feel in terms of places to stay, the on mountain lodges, even the celebrity guests, but it is equally great if you hate all of that.
Suns out, Guns out?
At least the snow will be nice and dry? I don't see any wind there so that's pretty awesome!
Saturday was almost as amazing as Friday from a skiing perspective. Snow was chalk, sun was shining, no wind. Almost no crowds. (Like, people, end of storm cycle, warm, where are you?!) Kids get dropped at 9:00 am, collected at 11:30; then dropped again at 12:30 and retrieved at 3:00 from their lessons. I started the day thinking I would just take it easy on some groomers, maybe let me get my legs back, crush a parking lot tea. Nope. First run was pure magic. Did a side country, still 6-8" of powder available. Hit the trees. Magic.
Then the chutes opened. As mentioned before, when the chutes open, the mountain doubles in size. Hopped in there for lap after lap after lap... 1200-1500' vert, slopes from 40-55 degrees. Not open often, they do like to slide...
End of the day I crossed the 30k' vert. 23 runs. Raccoon Eyes. Just glorious.
30k is a lot for pow day. Chutes must have been a blast.
They don't stock any real cold weather stuff in LA, so I'm hoping I can buy some green/polar wax and down mittens in Revelstoke tomorrow. Have never toured at negative 15
I love all these updates. Sounds like a pretty epic day @graffam198!
We had a good dump of snow in the northeast last Thursday and a snow day on Friday so I was out with my youngest on Friday. Saturday was a traffic nightmare getting to Sunday River. Our place is a ten minute drive but Saturday morning it turned into an hour as the resort literally ran out of parking. They were parking cars at the golf course. Sunday was no where near as crowded. The dump Thursday night was enough to open the glades but they were still not fully covered and I'm not a fan of skiing over rocks and hitting small stumps. But we gambled on another snow day on Monday and were rewarded. The storm that was expected to only give us 4-6 in the mountains gave more than a foot overnight and the skiing Monday was the best we've had all year. There's now plenty to get me in the woods and the conditions are only getting better with another foot expected tonight.
@GoJeff! - I know you know that when touring you won't even feel the cold, it's when you stop you have to be careful and when those mittens come in handy. The first time I braved cold like that was skiing in to roaring brook in Baxter State Park. It was -23 when we left the truck and I was sweating inside of 30 minutes. Hope you have a blast and I look forward to seeing some pictures!
We had a good dump of snow in the northeast last Thursday and a snow day on Friday so I was out with my youngest on Friday. Saturday was a traffic nightmare getting to Sunday River. Our place is a ten minute drive but Saturday morning it turned into an hour as the resort literally ran out of parking. They were parking cars at the golf course. Sunday was no where near as crowded. The dump Thursday night was enough to open the glades but they were still not fully covered and I'm not a fan of skiing over rocks and hitting small stumps. But we gambled on another snow day on Monday and were rewarded. The storm that was expected to only give us 4-6 in the mountains gave more than a foot overnight and the skiing Monday was the best we've had all year. There's now plenty to get me in the woods and the conditions are only getting better with another foot expected tonight.
@GoJeff! - I know you know that when touring you won't even feel the cold, it's when you stop you have to be careful and when those mittens come in handy. The first time I braved cold like that was skiing in to roaring brook in Baxter State Park. It was -23 when we left the truck and I was sweating inside of 30 minutes. Hope you have a blast and I look forward to seeing some pictures!
East coast update--skiing Saturday in Virginia, saw a bear, did a double take and wiped out (in my defense, this is east coast, so it was icy). First time I've seen a bear in the wild, sitting like 40 feet away, right off the slope. Came by on a second run, better prepared and he had moved further away, maybe 150-200 feet.
Glad to hear the east is finally getting some snow.
Your -23 experience calms me down a bit. Last year it was about -5 up in the Selkirks and it took my hands an hour to warm up after a transition. I think I just need to use heavier gloves and skinning should warm everything else up.
@DJnVa have you seen that Romanian bear chasing skiers video? That's what I'm picturing with you