Skiing C/D

Alpline (Downhill) = DUD. If you really want to break your legs, just throw yourself in front of a bus and be done with it.

I don't think it's an option at this new centre either.

Mr R is quite an accomplished skiier and I'm afraid of making an ass of myself in front of him.

Snowboarding I'm afraid of.

Nordic skiing isn't hard work if you're used to walking/hiking. In fact, it's easier than hiking once you get going, because you build up a momentum and you just... glide along.

Not with an XScape in RENFREW, no way, it'll be full of neds in Burberry ski wear.

I like long walks and hikes but Nordic skiing is the kid of thing I'd picture myself doing against a background of majestic firs and lurking wolves.

Snowboarding: The gear and sitting on your arse the whole time - uberclassic. The falling on your face and my lack of natural balance - dud!

I'd rather fall in nice fluffy snow...

-- not-goodwin (godwin...), January 24th, 2006 11:22 AM. (not-goodwin) (later)

Four posts it took for ILX's class war massive to respond. Well done.

Not with an XScape in RENFREW, no way

There's already an XScape in Castleford, one of the crappest towns in Yorkshire.

Thanks Nick!

: O

-- not-goodwin (godwin...), January 24th, 2006.

Skiers and snowboarders are pretty much all equally loaded, boarders are just younger. The snowsport industry is pretty corny, EVERYONE's a little bit racist, and poor people are going to be prohibited for eternity (65 bucks for a premier N. American resort daypass these days, like 40 for a shitty local), unless you're somewheres like Sweden where tradition+necessity makes it accessible to all. I've been skiing all my life and will slay pretty much anything, but yeah, the sport is dripping with dorksauce. All my longtime ski/snwoboard buddies cheat on their girlfriends, listen to the worst music, and talk about smoking weed like it was just invented.

Dryslope is punishing, props to the brits for trying it. unfortunately, brits will never be good at skiing. remember that story abt those spaghetti legged brit kids I had to coach? have you people ever heard of CALCIUM?

Four posts it took for ILX's class war massive to respond. Well done.

it kind of is in america, depending on where you live at least. you've probably got to travel a fair distance, hiring or buying the equipment is really expensive, lift passes are really expensive, and if you're actually staying at a resort then you're going to be laying out a ton of cash.

The thing at Renfrew sounds good, but I'd get to the bottom in three seconds and probably queue for half an hour to get back up.

Snowboarding can be a bastard in some resorts because the slopes were built for skiers, who can get up some speed, then glide for long stretches that level out or start going uphill for a bit. Snowboarders can't work up as much speed and end up unstrapping a foot and pushing for ages. In a lot of European resorts, you have to follow roads to get between pistes and/or lifts and I do feel sorry for the boarders chugging away as I whizz past.

Skiing is classic. I've been doing it for 21 years and want to go again very soon. Increasing fear as you get older, as mentioned above, is very common and the reason why a lot of people reach a plateau rather than keep improving. I did, but a few years ago I just concentrated on pushing myself and it worked.

The worst thing in the world is swooshing down a difficult run with style and confidence, telling yourself how fabulous you must look, then being cut up by a dozen fearless eight-year-olds from the local ski team, all bombing straight down the mountain and not turning at all. Grr, pesky kids.

Anyway, how difficult is it compared to ice skating for example?

I am scared of falling.

-- not-goodwin (godwin...), January 24th, 2006 11:22 AM. (not-goodwin)

I didn’t mean literally.

I've been skiing for 19 yrs, and the only place I've seen the "Jonny Tsunami" stereotype about skiing break down was at my local hill, in rural Minnesota, where most of the locals were farm kids.

That being said: I fucking love it, and consider the years I spent bumming in CO among the best in my life. It's one of the reasons I'm psyched about moving back West -- even if it means that I have to hang out with dudes that listen to Widespread and Slipknot, and have pot leaf stickers on the back of their Subaru.

Also: alpine racing is the shit, fuck the haters.

shocker

my advice would be to wait for snow on a mountain. the best way to learn to ski is to take a half day lesson then go to the top of a mountain and say to yourself 'well ive got to get to the bottom now'. you'll improve 1000% on that first run. i cant see much happening at an indoor slope for a beginner. plus, on a mountain mr rumpie can go off and play black diamonds while you learn on the friendly green slopes.

also, avoid snowplowing. it will fuck up your style for years.

went to sheffield "ski village" (hint: its a couple of slopes) the other day and it was impossbile to turn on the toothbrush stuff. but the view from the topwas so stunning that i would have paid 13 pound to do just that.

skiing is still expensive but i think its becoming more egalitarian. the kit and the lift passes, accommodation etc make it pricey from what i know, despite flight costs coming down - the only place non charter planes fly to from dopncaster airport is geneva! seems like everyone is goign skiing this year.

its classic to go just to drink gluhwein (sp?) in a shack up the mountain when yr cold and wet. or mozzarella panini in italy. doing anything halfway up a mountina, drinking beer etc, in that combination of baking/sweating, and being freezing, is classic

The green slopes do seem very very tame, hardly any incline at all. And snowplowing does look awfully ungainly.

I used to ice-skate (badly), I could stay on my feet and build up great speed but I could only stop with the aid of the barrier or by coming to a long, slow halt. That flash sideways stopping thing totally eluded me....

I haven't been skiing in too long.

My jerk friends did this while I was job interviewing in Chicago, missing the fun: http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=31153

I'm sure that's not true - for one thing, I have friends who have flown Doncaster-Paris on non-charter flights.

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e66/LimitedLiabilityGirl/Snowstruck.gif

Very true. At least 3-4 ppl died in and around Aspen last winter alone, if I recall correctly.

Avalanches are terrifying. Especially freaky when you look at something you skied the other day and there's a 5 foot crown on it.

(jargon watch! five foot crown = the avalanche sloughed a slab that was five feet deep.)

Plus: Europe. Which is nice.

x-post

x-post

Full pass = $1800. Or work for the Company.

xpost

yikes $900 for a ski pass. ok skiing in europe is dead cheap then., i revise that.

Why can't we all just agree to live in peace and harmony and to despise bladers for the scum that they are.

http://www.doglotion.com/images/gaper03/blades.JPG

we bought 3 day passes as part of a package through the hotel we were staying at. it included ski hire and a full day lesson. Thing is we had paid the full price which was adjusted by our hotel booker when we arrived in Aspen. When we went to Buttermilk to pick up our passes, they credited our debit card again, I guess not realising we'd already been discounted. so they ended up paying us $5 to ski!

i snickered all the way down the mountain.

...this time last year...decent conditions, I think?

-- gbx (in....) (webmail), Today 10:05 AM. (skowly) (later)

have you considered working at a resort for a season?

Yeah, I'm still thinking about it. I'm an Irish citizen, so getting work in France or something should be cake.

Laurel: I had to go SO BAD. Going to the bathroom back at the Lodge would have been a 35 min roundtrip, no joke.

Simon Dumont was coming up soon. SIMON DUMONT, LAUREL.

:(

I want to go skiing again, but I don't know that I can be arsed with the place Rumpie is talking about even though it is about ten minutes away from my house. For the reasons Madchen mentioned (about queuing for ages and then going down it in about three seconds).

I love skiing. I wish we could just get a decent snow season in Scotland (even a decent weekend when neither me nor the mister is working) - my skis must be totally rusted through not having used them in forever. Every year we talk about going abroad for a skiing holiday, but we never do it.

I forgot to respond to this earlier. Okay, so you know how people get those little squinty crows's feet from looking into the sun? And then when they smile, the corners of their eyes kind of crinkle up? Sucker for those. Yikes.

Look, I was BEHIND the little spectator barrier. The only people that could have even figured it out were the guys next to me, who knew me.

I like those, too.

My favorites are the old, tanned, unbelievably fit, ex-hippies that lucked into real estate in the 70s are just chilllllllllllllin'.

Yeah, some skiers and snowboarders are assholes. Assholes also play golf, swim, and drive cars. Some of them sometimes drink beer and get drunk. They vote, too.

"Marc-Andre is still himself, joking with his visitors and nurses, and singing songs," said his sister, Rachel. "But there is a very long road ahead of him with a new reality we need to prepare for."

a guy i used to ski with in Aspen is in a coma because of an accident at a freeskiing comp

My interest in downhill and backcountry skiing kinda died a tragic death by boredom, time issues, traffic and cost. I still do nordie stuff tho because you can leave home at 9, ski hard for 2+ hours and be totally spent, and then be home by 3:30. Still, its classic enough.

beer never tastes better than after skiing
-- mookieproof (mookieproof), Tuesday, January 24, 2006 10:20 AM (1 year ago)

still true

d

"CHOICE OF ROUTE - You must choose your route in such a way that, when coming from behind, you do not endanger others ahead." - http://youtube.com/watch?v=XMuCMrHClpE (skip to 2:50 for the carnage)

beer never tastes better than after skiing
-- mookieproof (mookieproof), Tuesday, January 24, 2006 10:20 AM (1 year ago)

still true

Everything tastes better after skiing. The feeling of getting into a warm lodge/house after a long day out skiing and getting warm eating/drinking etc. is one of the best feelings ever. I just wish it wasn't such a an expensive hobby. I haven't been in ages.

rip shane mcconkey

i am going to skiing school

not atm, but next week

natasha richardson

encouraging

sorry, i'm sure it's a blast

classes cancelled

snowing so hard right now in town, an inch an hour maybe.

this winter ill be putting my 5 y/o kiddo on skis for real. last year we went a few days. i did a total of 5 runs in 4 days on my own, so it was sorta :( .

who's got ski plans?

DIdn't go last year. Hoping the El Nino winter rumors translate into some decent Sierra snow.

I went last year for the first time in aaaaaages and it was awesome. I plan to have more mountain fun this year, definitely. Just need to sort out a niggly knee injury (or get some serious strapping).

Courcheval, early March. Scotland, mid March. Snowboarding of course \m/

Maybe we could meet up on the slopes, Madchen!

Yay! Don't much fancy our chances in Scotland in mid-March, though.

got new bindings for my x country skiis gonna go out on friday 1st time this winter

excited!!!

also if anyone has recommendations for good places in and around toronto that wld be p great

skiing!

forgot about this thread. also: ullr saves!!

and xpost with the mountaineering thread that no one but Ed, Hunter and I read, but i got this for xmas

http://www.tetonat.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/50classicscover.jpg

fucking boss, and my new to-do list for ~lyfe~

hey gbx did u do any of the of uscsa events when u were in undergrad?

i miss alpine but there are so few decent runs close to here that the effort needed to go far outweighs the pleasure i get in skiiing. decided to just dedicate my time to xc instead

have I posted CLASSIC to this thread idk

but, CLASSIC, downhill or xc

had a nice week in the pyrenees. Very gentle really but good for my sister, step-sister and gf who have never skiied before and dad and step-mum, who by their own admission like to pootle around. GF now has the bug which is good.

I'm considering taking a telemark course at the local hill (it really is a hill) to come down a few levels to be closer to gf's speed and standard. Not sure if it will work but telemarking is very pretty to watch.

hey gbx did u do any of the of uscsa events when u were in undergrad?

i miss alpine but there are so few decent runs close to here that the effort needed to go far outweighs the pleasure i get in skiiing. decided to just dedicate my time to xc instead

― ⊚ ⓪ ㉧ ☉ ๏ ʘ ◉ ◎ ⓞ Ⓞ (Lamp), Monday, January 10, 2011 12:32 PM (16 minutes ago) Bookmark

oh no, i wasn't ever a collegiate racer, not THAT good. wouldn't' have even merited a walk-on, as a sizable chunk of the dartmouth alpine team had legitimate olympic potential.

i miss alpine in a major major way, and yeah, it's just not worth it around here. esp since after going to mt baker last year and skiing amazing terrain for the price of a lift ticket at the 300ft gulley i grew up on. so, like you, i've taken up xc skiing. i'm still pretty terrible at it (my skate technique is...not great), but it's fun and easy to do in mpls. like, once the city of lakes loppet is run, i'll have a 33km skate track a 20 second walk from my front door.

@ed: do it. when my sis visited me in aspen lo those many years ago, i telemarked the whole time as a handicap, and ended up loving it. it's so, so, so fun. its got the surfy feeling of snowboarding (surfier, imo, since the stance is actually closer to what you'd do on a surfboard) w/the control and speed of alpine. if i were out west and a bro of unlimited means, i'd probably telemark in-bounds and on powderriffic backcountry trips, and save the alpine stuff for more "serious" work.

as it is, i scraped together a sweet allaround set up this year (which will languish prettily until spring), after years and years of janky broken gear. onyx g3s (dynafit style) bindings + beefy touring boots + lib-tech freeride skis = do everything. inbounds, backcountry, tours, w/e. the only skiing i plan on doing here in MN this year will be as a shakedown for this stuff, tbh. heading to baker again this spring for another bro-down, can't wait.

~bloggin~

Oh man. The day I took the kids I worked with skiing last year was quite literally one of the best days of the last couple years. I can't even describe how much fun I had or how awesome it was to be back on skis. Sadly none of my friends ski and it's a fucking shame too because my fathers bff has a ski house in VT that I could use any time I want to but I'd rather have skiing buddies. ;_;

uh where in VT

(plz mad river)

Also someone was talking the other day about how dangerous and scary skiing seems and it made me think that it's sort of weird how it's something I've never been scared of. I'm a fairly cautious person in general and shy away from a lot of other thrill seeking type activities but I've never once been afraid of skiing. OK that's a lie. One time in Germany I took off my skiis and walked down a run but I was like 9. I think starting as a little kids is maybe the reason it's not scary for me, I'm just used to it.

Fuck. Now I really want to go skiing.

Mount Snow

yeah obv comfort has a huge part to play. i've boot packed up stuff that had me feeling like daaaamn this is maybe too steep and then when i put my skis on it was lol wheeeeeeee

hmmm...never made it there. but thinkin about mad river and jay peak just warms my little heart

I really can't wait to go back to Mammoth this year.

oh no, i wasn't ever a collegiate racer, not THAT good. wouldn't' have even merited a walk-on, as a sizable chunk of the dartmouth alpine team had legitimate olympic potential.

haha yah was talking at length w a dude who was on his ski team in college & is at level & works as a snowboard instructor & was wondering if u might have known each other idk why tho other than the timelines matched up

i havent really skiied seriously since high school & was never all that good but skiing xc has been really gratifying because it feels easier to 'improve' or at least get the illusion of progress. ive been scouting craigslist and after xmas sales tryna find gear for my bf so we can go together but i end up just buying stuff for myself

i've been taking my 4 and 6 y/o up, we've done 4 days so far at nearby mtn. the 4 y/o still has edgie wedgies on, but she's able to go down pretty steep blues.

both kids tend to go insane as soon as they hit greens and it can be truly scary, way too fast. saturday 6 y/o headed straight for a rope strung between two merging runs, intending to duck it at about 25 mph. i was SURE decapitation was imminent. he didnt duck nearly enough, yet it miraculously bounced over his head, no idea how. missus has now banned 6 y/o from skiing w/ her.

need new gear badly, legit need. stuff is 10 y/o, trashed, antique, packed out, soft as noodles, and i'm afraid my bindings are going to break any minute.

almost considering buying AT stuff instead of new tele shit because deals look way better, i'd still be able to use them for hut trips.

wow mt snow. i used to go there often as it was sorta the closest ok mtn to sw connecticut.

oh god yeah, the sight of a toddler bombing down the hill is pretty alarming. esp because if you see their little faces you can tell that they're firmly planted at one extreme or the other of a certain emotional spectrum. they're either scared witless, dumbstruck, and don't realize that they can just fall over or else they're intoxicated with velocity and just cackling their stupid heads off as they barrel towards doom.

the funniest was sitting on the lift watching all the tykes centipede down the hill and seeing one of them suddenly just peel out and beeline along some arbitrary vector---it seemed to happen almost randomly, like a falling star, or a lone wildebeest hived off the herd because its panicked brain skipped a beat for just a second, and it missed the last unspoken gyration of the pack or something. i'd just kinda watch and go 'ohp, there goes another one'

Yeah, it's in Southern Vt so not too far from NY where I grew up but it being that far S also means the conditions aren't always as good as places further north. We used to go to Hunter Mt. in NY and spent a couple of winters at Okemo which is also in VT.

Man, kids on skis are the best though. I'm really glad my dad taught me when I was really young because I know that if he hadn't there's no way I'd try it as an adult.

hunt3r: for real, there are pretty decent deals to be had on AT stuff nowadays. dynafit compatible boots have come down in price A LOT, even new, and the power/weight ratio is unheard of, compared to even five years ago. i haven't had a chance to take mine out yet, but the 'flex index' (a kinda silly metric, btu w/e) is stiffer than my old almost-race boots and they're featherweight in comparison.

the general trend as of late, at least among ppl that might venture into the backcountry now and then, is to skip trad alpine gear altogether and get beefier rando setups. 30yo me doesnt need stuff that i can run gates with or huck 30footers with, not anymore, so a little forgiveness is a-ok, esp if it means i can tour AND not carry around a ton of weight. i haven't broken out the scales but it ~seems~ like my new gear (boots bindings skis) weighs about as much as my old skis/bindings ALONE.

Man, kids on skis are the best though. I'm really glad my dad taught me when I was really young because I know that if he hadn't there's no way I'd try it as an adult.

What you said. My mom got me skiing when I was 9 years old.

Yeah, I think I was 4. We were in CO and they basically just put me in ski school for a week. I loved it so much they bought me my own skis at the end of the week.

I didn't start till high school, and it was pretty intimidating at times. Miss it like crazy, tho.

Also I don't feel like a physical sensation of fear when I should? I think NOT feeling afraid has prob made me more cautious, ie in moments of potential extreme danger my head says to my stomach "If you don't feel like you're going to puke right now, something is wrong with you; I therefore countermand your order to go down that hill."

totally. i started when i was five or six, and i think it really helps to not have a fully developed sense of causality when you're trying to learn something that seems totally irrational. kids just go apeshit for skiing because for them its pretty much all fun and excitement, unburdened by the knowledge of compound fractures and concussions. plus kids in general dont really care about being 'bad' at things. that's why they were so fun to teach. i taught some preteens a few times and it sucked, mostly because they'd already absorbed (and magnified, with hormones) that adult aversion to looking stupid while you learn something new. by the time you're a decrepit 30something (joeks), it seems pretty easy/sane to weigh the pros and cons of adopting an entirely new and expensive and inconvenient sport and walk out of the sporting goods store with a road bike instead

I have AT boots of about ten years vintage, I had aspirations of doing AT when I bought them, but never had. So warm and so comfortable, plus you're able to walk like a normal human being. Went into the fancy store in france and boggled at the weight (and cost) of some of the dynafit Scarpa boots.

x-post -

totally. i started when i was five or six, and i think it really helps to not have a fully developed sense of causality when you're trying to learn something that seems totally irrational. kids just go apeshit for skiing because for them its pretty much all fun and excitement, unburdened by the knowledge of compound fractures and concussions.

Agreed. 4 year old me definitely wasn't thinking OMG I COULD CRASH INTO THAT TREE AND DIE. I was thinking more along the lines of WHHHHHEEEEEEEEEEEEE I'M FLYING! Which, tbh, is still what I thought that one day last spring.

Also I don't feel like a physical sensation of fear when I should? I think NOT feeling afraid has prob made me more cautious, ie in moments of potential extreme danger my head says to my stomach "If you don't feel like you're going to puke right now, something is wrong with you; I therefore countermand your order to go down that hill."

haha, yes! when my bros and i were stupid 22yos, this was definitely a thing. like, 'haskell just straightlined that, and cleared that 20footer w/ease, and it looks so fun! let's do it! wait, stop, haskell is a dummy, on skis that are 15cm longer and much stiffer, and the landing zone he made has effectively removed the soft landing for anyone else. sit this one out.'

this is also a major major thing with avalanche safety, too. it's a sunny day! there's 12" of fresh snow! i have literally never seen or been involved in an avalanche in my entire life! what could go wrong!

I took a snowboarding lesson once, so clearly I didn't mind looking like an idiot. I fell backwards more than 90 degrees (because I was facing uphill) and hit my head on ice and had to go to the nurse.

thanks for advice gbx. i think rando stuff would be fine for me. ima check it out i think. xpost.

wish i had lols videos of both my kids skiing the flatter runout sections while basically dancing and singing, they are clearly in a ~different world~.

So warm and so comfortable, plus you're able to walk like a normal human being. Went into the fancy store in france and boggled at the weight (and cost) of some of the dynafit Scarpa boots.

― American Fear of Pranksterism (Ed), Monday, January 10, 2011 1:44 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark

yeah i've got some black diamond quadrants that are several orders of magnitude more comfortable and warm than my old race-y boots (at least if the three hours of shoveling i did in them counts). some of the nicest Dynafit (brand) boots are crazy dollars, but they're all carbon and featherweight and stuff. you can get perfectly serviceable and still pretty light boots for ~$500 new, though. that's a lotta cash, but it's about the same as advanced level alpine boots. this woulda been unheard of a few years ago, when high end dynafit boots were like $200 more than an equivalent alpine boot (and still softer)

I took a snowboarding lesson once, so clearly I didn't mind looking like an idiot. I fell backwards more than 90 degrees (because I was facing uphill) and hit my head on ice and had to go to the nurse.

― Jesus Christ, the apple tree! (Laurel), Monday, January 10, 2011 1:50 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark

yeah see i rented a snowboard one day in HS, bungled on the bunny hill for a while, and then did exactly what you did and gave myself a concussion (this was in the pre-helmet days), and barfed. i did not snowboard again until college, and found it much, much easier for some reason. still get uneasy at high speed, though, so i never bothered to get better.

my prob w my snowboard experience was the knowledge that at any moment i was about to get the mother of all wile. e. coyote catapult slams.

my other problem was the actual catapult slams.

truth

i always had trouble failing gracefully on a snowboard. it was either sweet cruisin i'm a slayer or terrible slapstick comedy

i don't wear a helmet when skiing, how long b4 i sonny bono myself off this mortal coil

i've worn one since high school, when my mom mandated i get one in exchange for letting me go to utah with my friends for a week. it's prevented legitimate injury about half a dozen times, and discomfort several times more than that. but for most ppl i think they're just sorta psychological---you feel safer wearing one. and warmer.

i'd say they're more mandatory for snowboarding, where catapults and mousetraps are more likely, even for MOR rec riders. yr average recreational skier rarely goes fast enough or aggressive enough to court serious brain damage, imo. all that being said: may as well just wear one? they're like seatbelts or bike helmets---they're hardly inconvenient, they keep you warmer, and IF you end up wrecking badly, at least you're wearing one. but, otoh, if you don't want to wear one, it's not like you're REALLY increasing your chances of brain damage much.

I'm so glad I learned to ski when I was a kid. An afternoon trying to snowboard a couple of years ago showed me how thoroughly knackering it is to be falling over and picking yourself up again all the time.

6 y/o headed straight for a rope strung between two merging runs, intending to duck it at about 25 mph. i was SURE decapitation was imminent.

Did this when I was nine and my mother *still* goes on about the mental trauma she suffered. It really is no wonder parents put their children in helmets these days.

I'm off to La Plagne in a fortnight for what I hope will be the first of two full weeks this year (plus the occasional day in Scotland - the snow is incredible there again this year). Might get myself a one-to-one lesson because I learned long before carvers and my technique is still old skool, breaking with my heels and that. Need to sort it out.

(Helmets keeping you warm is only a good thing when the temperature is not warm. At Easter it's insufferable.)

how would I ski with my golden mane flowing behind me if I wore a helmet?

liiiiike if/when i go into the backcountry this spring, which will require as much movement up as down, i'll probably skip the helmet. for me, personally, wearing one while boot packing is oppressively hot, and i don't like things dangling off my pack, and there isn't enough room inside. and if i'm in the backcountry, skiing powder, the chance of knocking my head on something hard is a lot lower than if i were inbounds. so that seems like a reasonable trade to me.

if i'm inbounds, it's actually pretty likely that i'll jack my head on something (i ski like a rag doll), so a helmet is a good idea. plus the chairlift is cold, and helmets are warm like no one's business

xp madchen otm re helmets in the spring. another time i might go without---the snow is soft at that point anyway. but helmets on kids is non negotiable imo. they fall down a LOT, and poorly. plus, they look hilarious w/helmets on, so there's that too

madchen: totally get a lesson! i learned to race with skid turns and the like, and i think it was only because i taught the kiddos that i was able to get up to speed on the "new" stuff. my teaching skis were lolzy 140cm carving skis which are almost impossible to ski properly the old way, so i learned pretty quick. still blown away by guys that were just a few years younger than me that grew up on carving skis---they'd just slice down stuff that was all choppy and bumpy like it was groomed, and i'd be skittering and scraping behind, unwilling to believe that i could do the same if i just ~let it ride~

where do u usually go? i've still never skiied out west

I've never worn a helmet.

Which I realize is sorta stupid but it honestly never even occurred to me to do so. I've never snowboarded but I have mono-skied which is both ridiculous and brutal but kind of fun at the same time.

i lived in colorado for two winters, montana for one. colorado's got the highest density of ski areas, and great snow. montana is empty even over holidays, but it's really cold and impossible to get to cheaply.

SLC is hella convenient (you can be at the mountain 40min after getting off the plane), and i think Alta might still have a sane ticket price. also unbelievable snow, and lots of it.

last year i went to mt baker with a bunch of old college buddies, and i maintain that it's one of the best little 'secrets' going. the tickets are seriously half the price of places like Vail and Aspen. there are no crowds or liftlines (or there weren't when we were there, over spring break). it gets all of the snow (500"+ on the reg, with a record 1000" in...99?). lodging that would be luxe in colorado can be had for a song. and the scenery is mind-blowing, w/shuksan looming over the parking lot. plus the base lodge is no frills, and there aren't any condos or anything within a 20min drive of the mountain, ~by law~. aaaand they've got an open backcountry policy, which is radical.

i mean i am getting a cabin there with the same guys and a full weeks lodging/skiing (almost) is going to run us about $500/apiece. that's lift tickets + our own lodge with a hot tub and a full kitchen and so on. airfare will be free with frequent flier miles, and since i have friends in seattle we won't have to rent a car.

if you've never been out west before i'd say get a cheap ticket to SLC and head to Alta/Snowbird.

lol monoskiing, what an insane activity

Man, I would love to Utah or MT. My parents lived in Vail for 10 years before I was born so we'd go out there every couple years and stay with his buddies. That's were I learned to ski but Vail/Beavercreek are the only places out west.

and yeah double lol on the monoskiing. My dad bought one in France and brought it back but I'm sorta convinced it's one of the reasons that at 65 his knees are too shot for him to skii anymore at all. It just seems like it would be really harsh on a person.

I feel, for no particular reason, that monoskiing is a particularly French activity. I was heartened to see a monoski in appropriately 90s neon colours in the bootroom where I was staying in france.

omg his is so 90s and so neon

I wish I had a picture

yeah they make no sense at all from a functional point of view. iirc they were a product of wayne wong noodlin mogul technique? like if the prevailing style is to keep your skis parallel and pointed directly down the fall-line at all time, why bother with two skis in the first place?? hilarious anachronism. ....and yet, true to form, i'm pretty sure some french dudes did some really scary extreme descents on monoskis why becuse its intresting.

xp lol!

you've not laughed until you've watched your bro monoski "turbo" at a-basin at mach 1 and blow both toe pieces out of the topsheet at the same time. xpost

i started skiiing when i was 5 & yeah theres now way i couldve learned @ 12 - too scary/hard/difficult

now i want to go to mt. baker over break :///

omg
xp

hey lamp sup

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2709/4474446377_ea1e822333.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4021/4466194882_ae17106076.jpg

WOW!

omg ;_; I wanna go so bad now!

haha i was jealously looking at pictures of the place im going on friday tryna console myself

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2785/4251137501_306832d9bf.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4036/4251134875_4b25b66e6a.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3367/3289243834_6c3db6db4c.jpg

those are from a short (well, 45min) bootpack off the top of mt baker (ski area), out on the shuksan arm. mt baker itself is in the background of the first pic.

we saw one other party out there, and had fresh snow all to ourselves on each run (which, granted, was not many with all the walking). it was insane.

hate you both

(not really)

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4013/4476720600_c1ec55316d.jpg
we had a loft

this doesn't convey our lodging v well, but fill out the rest of it w/yr mind. cathedral ceilings, hot tub, game room, and so on. ~$35/person with 7 people.

per night.

also that is fresh caught crab on the table cuz my friend molly is doing research on the rez down the road and asked her buddies nicely and they gave her stuff right out of their pots that morning. also that beeramind got several tiers higher :-/

i'm going to ski utah for the first time evah in mid feb. haven't even had time to be excited about it yet.

niiiiiiiiiiiiice

ha i doubt it will be that niiiiice, as i'll still be skiing w/ a 4 and 6 y/o. i expect it will still be great fun.

i was marveling on saturday about the unbeeelievable qty of kids in eldora ski school to wife. she said, "well part of it is that parents probly want to go skiing themselves." i was startled-- that had never occurred to me. why would i let someone else teach my kids to ski? isn't that my job? i replied "that seems incredibly selfish to me. also, its eldora, its not that fun anyway."

now i'm going to utah. sooo, i'm def parking my kids in ski school for a morning.

do it. i loved meeting the parents who had had a great day ripping and were able to pick up a happy kid who, when they weren't learning, were able to chill w/their homies and eat snacks and color and talk gibberish to the only other savages that truly understand them. it's like, you're on vacation. even though y'all love each other, even a 5yo wants to talk 5yo shop-talk with other 5yos and you probably don't want to ski backwards all the time. at least i got paid to sing songs and haul the little dudes around---you should enjoy yourself at least one or two days

Oh god, can't wait to get a couple weekends of skiing in the upcoming months, maybe more. In december, I had 5 different friends sending me pics of themselves on the slopes and I felt so miserable not being able to join them. Being a student ruled, I loved bein able to go ski basically whenever I wanted. Those seasons where I managed to ski about 30 or say days are not coming back anytime soon sadly.

re: helmets, being a snowboarder who used to just go down pistes and not much else, I never felt the need. Even when I caught an edge once and slammed my head into some hard packed snow, got up with a headache but carried on down, met my friends at the bottom and said "I know who y'all are, and I know I'm somewhere in France... but I don't know where exactly or how I got here or..." and they said "let's take you to the doctor!"; the doc said the concussion was mainly from brain hitting inside of skull and a helmet wouldn't have helped much. btw I got my memory back in the waiting room - "I live in london in a horrible flat, my job is boring, i'm single... damn, I remember everything!"

However after ten years on the slopes I've finally discovered the joy of snow parks, they definitely have a higher degree of risk and I'll be getting a helmet before my next trip.

haha i knew gbx would be all over this thread

going snowboarding for the second time in my life with a posse of very experienced skiiers in feb - i'm told they are all gonna try to snowboard too, so we're all on the same page

threads v much in character :)

Just watched the Wengen downhill - looked bloody gorgeous.

Not sure if this is of interest to anyone but gilt has Garmont Megalite AT boots with dynafit mountings for $399. Hit me up for an invite if you need one.

btw in the pyrenees, where i am going, absolutely no one wears a helmet ever

starting to get a bit nervous for this actually - the last time i went it was super foggy and could scarcely see 10 feet in front of me

definitely considering one of those plastic armor things for my ass

the thing is, i really would love to be, like, GOOD enough to relax and enjoy going down an easy piste

i had three days last year... five days comin up

Get glasses or goggles with a clear orange lens for fog, it really helps. Bright sunshine in the pyrenees over christmas so I hope you get the same.

Tape a tea-tray to yr bottom, added bonus of doubling up as a sledge! Have fun!

i fear if i do i will be the victim of some serious "sledging" from my companions...

Ed i was told that over christmas there was indeed sun but not actually very much snow either..

true, all snow cannon stuff, but it was 80% open where i was.

Just back from a week in La Plagne, where there has been no big dump of snow for weeks, but it's holding up reasonably well because it's so high. Pretty scrapy on most runs, but very few earthy/rocky patches, not much actual proper ice and plenty of machine snow around.

Tried using Powderful, which is a nice little app that just goes on your GPS and doesn't need data roaming switched on - big bonus when you're in furren.

My top speed for the week was 65kph without trying particularly hard (ie. no tuck position). It freaked me out a bit to know how fast I actually can go (in terms of a calculated number rather than judging by a rushy wind feeling on your cheeks). Then I came home and watched the Kitzbühel downhill and saw the top finishers were going 130+. Yikes. That's my second Hahnenkamm woooooaaaah feeling; the first was on a school trip to Kitzbühel when I was 15, when our instructer took us over the Mausefalle and pointed out their take-off and landing points -- a massive distance apart.

Going to La Plagne in just over a month, hope it snows a bit more before then.

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you. Have you been before? I rather liked it, but found it on the small side for a full week. I like to get about. Shame it's such a trek to and (particularly) from Les Arcs, but I'm really glad we got a pass that included a day there.

Oh, there's an ace mountain restaurant halfway down the Arpette chairlift which does enormo portions that are plenty for two to share (though of course we did not). Mmmm, tartiflette.

I've been before for half a week. Prob trek over to Les Arcs at some point too, but if I get a bit bored of the runs I'll just spend more time in the snow park \m/

i skied snowbird yest after 30" in 30 hours. ive skied in colorado for 20 years and never seen snow or terrain that got close to that really. face shot after face shot. wow.

jealous

last week i "snowboarded" for the second time in my life and hyperextended my shoulder

part of it looked like this

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5051/5462130789_fd54e6ac3b_b.jpg

That's a pretty big shoulder indeed

http://www.youtube.com/user/powderwh#p/u/6/w09Jv539CLo

http://www.youtube.com/user/powderwh#p/u/9/iUTgN3pRV54

there is something deeply wrong with all of the ppl doing crazy shit like this, but the movie has quite a bit of little cottonwood in it, so. also, show up at snowbird on a huge dump day with teles, get clowned on tram.

i skied snowbird yest after 30" in 30 hours. ive skied in colorado for 20 years and never seen snow or terrain that got close to that really. face shot after face shot. wow.

― end aggro business now (Hunt3r), Monday, 21 February 2011 14:01 (Yesterday)

same storm but solitude, yesterday and today. great fun.

also, i needed new retention cables as the setup i was running didn't have enough length for my loops, shop at bird did not have any. the bro at the counter told me "go back to colorado, man." lol. i used spare laces from my bag-- to somehow throw a ski on either day would have been a _hopeless_ search.

amazing shit eh?! i heard there was sun today, wish i'd had that.

A week in La Plagne. Ok snow that was rapidly deteriorating towards the end of the week; amazing weather, not a cloud for seven full days. Temp was allegedly freezing but felt hella warm in the sun. Am not a huge fan of la plagne, apparently it was still french and/or belgian school holidays and lift queues were enorme. It doesn't help that the resort isn't that spread out, most of the runs funnel people right back into one of the two main villages, which only have three or four main lift stations.

Did not spend much time in snow park. Coasted over a few jumps but as the rest of my party were pretty much beginners it weren't that fun going there on my own. Didn't get across to Les Arcs either.

Working in a law firm and never having skiied, played tennis, or played golf makes me feel sort of left out. I don't know if it's that these activities are for posher people than my family, or just that we were too bookish and artsy to bother with them.

Skiing roolz

I'm sure it does. I'm kind of envious of people who do it, especially since it's supposed to be hard to learn as an adult. In my fantasy, skiing > tennis > golf. But tennis seems like the most accessible of the three where I live -- you just need the basic equipment and then there are tons of public courts. So maybe I'll take up tennis.

it's cool, but most people can't do it enough to really make it a hobby like golf or tennis. i mean, you can go hit balls a few times a week if you want, but skiing, even with a pass is a pretty involved thing. if you don't live near the mountain, or have a weekend place up there, it's not fun. from denver, it's pretty hellish really, unless you like leaving at 5:30 am or sitting in traffic for 3 hours (drive is usually 1.25 to 1.5 hours to most places).

i like xc a lot, but it's not really practical from denver, at least an hour drive. in boulder you have some ok track about 40 mins away. you can roller ski for some dryland workouts though.

i grew up i ct and remember driving like 4.5 hours each way to mt. snow or stratton and that sucked.

my family didn't ski, but allowed me to go with my friends from middle school on.

all this being said, there was 1/4" of snow on my lawn this morning, there's a season pass in my desk, and my hand should be healed/ski ready by opening day (on which i won't ski, barring some kind of snow event miracle).

feel like maybe i should take up skiing now that i live in vermont*

*i have lived in vermont before and never took up skiing

snowboard

since im not a teen i feel like i should ski instead

since you live in vermont and are a hippy, you should telemark

also because telemarking is super fun, and if you snowboard you cant go to MAD RIVER GLEN

skiing is the best

im a teen

hunt3r aged a million is correct, but only sorta---in the midwest and new england you can xc or downhill pretty easily, it just might not be great. but yeah, alpine skiing especially is one of those things that really benefits from starting at a young age, or having the wherewithal to take up at your leisure in adulthood.

otoh i live in a city where there's like 30+ miles of municipally maintained xc trails, including one that is about 40 yards from my front door. and now that Winter Is Actually Here (34F low tonight, scattered flurries, bout to head out on my bike ;_;), i guess it's time to gear up or something

yeah i almost made special mention of how great minneapolis is for xc, but i knew you'd wanna handle it.

well tbf i am terrible---TERRIBLE---at cross country skiing. give me FRESHY FRESHY GNAR GNAR any day of the week over nordic misery, but it's all we have.

nb - last winter i was hell of excited about xc skiing but then climate change benefited the entire world with warmth and there wasn't snow and i got fat instead

Been skiing since I was 8 years old. Love it!

I miss living in Claremont/Pomona when I could be at the bottom of the main Mt. Baldy chairlift in 20 minutes and get a couple of runs in.

Any North American resort recommendations for a two-week trip sometime next season? Not found of the extremely cold so I think that rules out Canada. Skiing and snowboarding friendly. Powder a must. Relatively large area preferred as we're used to being spoilt with the vast playgrounds of the Alps. Vibrant nightlife not necessary as we're too old for that sort of thing nowadays.

I know little about skiing, but some guy at my work said that Park City, UT has "some of the best skiing in North America"

I do love the state of Colorado in general, so I think resorts there are a good bet for having good skiing plus other interesting things to do.

I LOVE SKIING, the only reason I'm working is so that one day I can execute a "ski every day for the rest of my life" plan

Any North American resort recommendations for a two-week trip sometime next season? Not found of the extremely cold so I think that rules out Canada. Skiing and snowboarding friendly. Powder a must. Relatively large area preferred as we're used to being spoilt with the vast playgrounds of the Alps. Vibrant nightlife not necessary as we're too old for that sort of thing nowadays.

― ledge, Monday, October 8, 2012 9:29 AM (11 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

will you be in the same place for all two weeks? and do you plan on skiing every day of those two weeks? also, what time of year? (srs question---eg big sky/moonlight basin is lol hueg by NA standards, but moonlight is almost entirely north facing and would be grim indeed midwinter)

salt lake has everything you need, triply so if you're willing to stay in a basic motel in the city and rent a car. though this does mean (a) driving and (b) staying in a basic motel in salt lake city, not america's most exciting city. otoh, alta (skis only breh), snowbird, solitude, brighton, and snowbasin are all pretty close. park city is further. alta/snowbird are now connected, for a fee, so you'd get plenty of roaming.

do not go to vail.

canadian areas are generally less-crowded, bigger, and get better snow. cheaper +/-. but yeah, colder for sure, and way harder to get to.

Silverton is our La Grave, if you're into that sort of thing. cheap ($49/day, unguided). very, very few people. gargantuan, and steep, terrain. lots and lots of very good snow. but it's ungroomed, and there's only one lift, and you should actively enjoy hiking and be competent with avalanche gear. though, if not comfortable with backcountry travel, but ok with backcountry terrain, you could also go with a guided group (not private) and the per-person price would, while pricey ($139/day), be only slightly more ($34) than a day at stupid old vail.

the town is tiny, and still pretty coarse (old mining town transitioning into bro-itude), but probably ok if you like drinking beer and laying low. no clue about lodging (the ski area didn't really exist when i visited).

i will always rep for the sheer quality of aspen/snowmass, but it's a silly place

driving to taos is like seeing god

if you want to be weird you could go to vermont and ski at mad river glen and jay peak (btw these places are HOURS away, but set up camp in burlington, it's a p sweet town); the former is the grouchiest ski area in america (NO SNOWBOARDS, PLASTIC TELE BOOTS ARE...I MEAN, I GET IT, BUT THEY JUST DON'T HAVE THE FEEL OF LEATHER, MY MAN), the latter is up in the northeast kingdom, right next to quebec, and by the graces of a perverse canadian breeze (or something) gets as much fresh snow, and as consistently, as jackson hole. also: GLADES

mt baker is for gnomes, and you are a gnome or you're not a gnome

i imagine there is skiing in california, but who the hell cares

ultimate rustic experience would be going up to the U.P. and going to that backwoods place that gets several hundreds of inches of snow on a pimple in lake superior and sells the lift tickets from a card table in the unpaved parking lot, the guy running the lift has never been skiing in his entire life

jay is northish facing and cold as balls, i know this even tho i dont ski, also it is near my house, also they have a sick indoor water park - taos is a v mystical place they have a mountain an canyon and a dusty plain

nevada has the most secret ranges, and i know this because glen plake lives there, in a trailer in the desert

i never knew of this water park

its new, its incredible

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hm7YmL3RUzc

oh my fucking god

the hanging gardens

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQ3oA7S1OLI

lmao the double tube kid at 1:23

Thx gbx! Yeah we'd be staying in the same place for both weeks, skiing most of the time but prob taking a break midway. Thinking around Feb time ideally, over the hump of midwinter but still decent chance of snow?

sadface for california, mammoth sounded pretty decent in a book i read.

fuck hiking imo. well ok not for all time but i'm trying to plan a holiday here not a bootcamp.

i don't think i'm a gnome...

http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRr_Mim6T7ZauiSsve0jkccBFWj-wkPwPMD5KWYFNcG0w0Ng_DoFBWVEfV73Q

actually i'm sure mammoth is great, i love the sierras, and that area in particular (or at least near bishop). i've just never been skiing in cali---too far away.

why do they call it sierra cement again

so i think lotsa options, great pow, dubious nightlife is all utah all the time

wow wtf glen plake.

yeah I just heard about that yesterday, dang

ledge it's like 6 hr drive from slc to vegas, so for that break in the middle, u know. take 3 days out of skiing and enjoy buffets and sun.

really utah powder plus vegas might be the best of usa. (lol i have never been to vegas)

u could do a side trip drive-by of zion, place is amazing (though it will be winter no idea what it's like then)

you are selling me on utah, fuck vegas tho (i have been to vegas).

I passed through Zion in late march and it was gorgeous. More of a gawk from the car type situation. But we hit Bryce Canyon the same day, so there's that.

Utah is awesome.

utah is my favourite state in US, no joke
zion + powder + slc has surprisingly good food and mormons are fun to hang out with and play basketball esp. if you're inclined toward sobriety

i don't know much about west coast north american skiing other than utah. i've been curious about montana, alaska, revelstoke

I am very interested in interior BC

yup

My BC-living brother recommends Fernie. I think I'm going this winter? I hope.

ot but here's the side country near zion. finals were a couple of days ago:
http://www.redbullusa.com/cs/Satellite/en_US/Video/Top-5-Moments-at-Red-Bull-Rampage-021243255328150

that's not the one i wanted to post, this is it:

http://www.redbullusa.com/cs/Satellite/en_US/Video/rampage-2012-qualifier-highlights-021243266700871

I've largely given up on looking for amazing lift-serviced powder skiing. I don't know why, something about planning to have two days at Tremblant as "my one ski trip the winter before last" and having it be frozen and skied out made me feel that if I'm going to successfully ski fresh snow from a lift, I'm gonna have to move to a mountain.

That said, I did ski a lot of fresh snow in the Alps this past winter when it got below -10 C and was too cold for the Swiss.

My favourite reliable fresh snow skiing is to hike up a non-resort mountain in the Cottonwoods and ski down it, that is the best skiing

my god this thread is going to do TERRIBLE things to my bank account this winter, esp now that my wife has had a couple of ski lessons and wants more

I love Tremblant. When I was a kid we had a cottage nearby.

ledge it's like 6 hr drive from slc to vegas, so for that break in the middle, u know. take 3 days out of skiing and enjoy buffets and sun.

Or just stop at Brian Head along the way. It's three hours from there to Vegas and generally forgotten about compared with the big Utah resorts.

Dream of the Blue Turtles and Ten Summoner's Tales are pretty good. But in general, grab a comp and don't bother

oops

v important, the skiing soundtrack

stiing

Or just stop at Brian Head along the way. It's three hours from there to Vegas and generally forgotten about compared with the big Utah resorts.

― Elvis Telecom, Tuesday, October 9, 2012 10:19 AM (7 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

oh man, brian head is such an awesome little mountain, good snow, more than you'd think, scenery is amazing, and in 2.5 hours you could be mountain biking in 60 degree sunny st. george or hiking snow canyon in shorts or w/e.

for the REAL forgotten utah mountain you want elk meadows (now eagle point, wtf!?, utah has such an eagle fetish), an hour up this beautiful isolated canyon in the tushars east of beaver, i.e. nowheresville.

as far as other less-traveled areas go there's ogden and powder mountain up north (which = cottonwoods as far as reliably good snow conditions go + ogden is a surprisingly badass town with better bars than slc) or logan and beaver mountain (s'ok, poor mo locals mostly).

salt lake and adjacent resorts can turn into a zoo in my experience and we get valley inversions here in the wintertime that would kill your grandmother.

Snowbasin was very kid friendly

I've largely given up on looking for amazing lift-serviced powder skiing.

SILVERTON SILVERTON SILVERTON

nb i have never been but for real just go to the galleries on their website. plus they cap daily ticket sales at 475 ppl, which is over 4 acres per person of ungroomed snow (1800 'inbounds' ie avy controlled) and with access to 22,000+ of backcountry. 400" snow annually. the place is nuts.

"Although we cap the amount of unguided skiers to less than 475 a day, most days have less than 80 skiers on the mountain."

i mean ffs

http://www.silvertonmountain.com/uploads/images/photo_4f2b09009853d.jpg

of course this is otm

My favourite reliable fresh snow skiing is to hike up a non-resort mountain in the Cottonwoods and ski down it, that is the best skiing

― flamboyant goon tie included, Tuesday, October 9, 2012 10:29 AM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

*stares forlornly at backcountry skis*

i really, really need to go skiing this winter. i dropped foolish money on killer new stuff a couple years ago and it has seen one trip to mt baker. one!

BD Quadrants
LibTech NAS Freerides (188cm lol i go huge doggy)
Onyx AT bindings

lol at two weeks in silverton u better be pretty core imo

don't get me wrong if my family disowned me i would love it and i'm not core, but it's...basic.

also i think the real answer to ledge's question is probably the inevitable: whistler/blackcomb. lol hueg, plenty to do with rest days (go to vancouver, smoke weed, wear a toque, i dunno), more "alpine" than most NA ski zones.

tho baker is hella cheap, uncrowded, gets all of the snow (1140" in 1999), and the "base area" such as it is feels like a local spot in wisconsin or something. it is small, though, and wouldn't hold up for two weeks of skiing unless you made liberal use of the ample sidecountry, and/or spent a couple days in seattle, and one or two in and around bellingham.

it takes maybe 20min of bootpacking to get here:
http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4058/4475218848_5c16e5cd91_z.jpg

(that is my bro sh3nand0ah s4mps0n, inventor of the g-d rodeo flip)

totes re: the coreness of silverton---it's not a place for a 'holiday' per se, that shit is a job

you know how cops want to open bars when they retire? i have long dreamt of preemptively retiring and opening a hostel/whatever in silverton. i actually scoped real estate like...ten years ago? and the shit was just disgustingly cheap; 5br actual victorians for 200k

xp that is an awesome pic. looking at that link, i was, wow, that article is 11 years old.

mmhmm joint venture xp

just wait until I'm a mega rich doctor and have bilateral full knee replacements

i still need to get proper skis. i'm skiing on the bd velvets that were too much for mrs hunt3r- i'm well in the weight range and not that strong and i'm always with my kiddos anyway. yes GIRL SKIS. (they are pretty).

maybe i'll go shopping.

Specifically engineered for females, Black Diamond women's skis pack just as much punch as male-specific skis while taking into account women's different body structure

lol whut ok :(

also holy shit @ that mountain biking video, i think my back just seized

xp nothing wrong with girl skis, imo, they're basically just rated for weight anyway
xxp haha whut is right

get some dps skis, plz

most women are appreciative of skis that take their vestigial tail into account

re mtb vid, i can't believe how much flow guys have on that- if you look back at earlier rampages, guys really have to pick pick pick, DROP, pick pick, DROP. no side-slipping on this years course, theyre flying.

you know how cops want to open bars when they retire? i have long dreamt of preemptively retiring and opening a hostel/whatever in silverton. i actually scoped real estate like...ten years ago? and the shit was just disgustingly cheap; 5br actual victorians for 200k

― well if it isn't old 11 cameras simon (gbx), Tuesday, October 9, 2012 3:13 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

jus gonna play guidance councilor here for a sec

so you're saying "go for it" right

the boilerplate guidance councilor question is to ask what youd do if you had a million dollars and then tell you to just do that anyway

so, yes

u can be the local doctor too

once you make a big forture in medicine, i can tell you how to make small fortune with great opportunities in silverton, co. DONT WAIT ORDER NOW

oh man, brian head is such an awesome little mountain, good snow, more than you'd think, scenery is amazing, and in 2.5 hours you could be mountain biking in 60 degree sunny st. george or hiking snow canyon in shorts or w/e.

for the REAL forgotten utah mountain you want elk meadows (now eagle point, wtf!?, utah has such an eagle fetish), an hour up this beautiful isolated canyon in the tushars east of beaver, i.e. nowheresville.

OK I've had Eagle Point on my "to check out" list forever... I'm going to go this year.

i think i'm going to switch back to skiing because in the time between old skis and these cool new skis, i was snowboarding, and snowboarding is fun and everything but skiing has always felt more chill to me. i am lower end of mediocre at both. but i would like to get better at skiing, one day. powder only. ;)

my parents live in draper ut and it makes for a pretty great place to visit for thxgiving/xmastime (even culturally slc seems to be improving, tho this is somewhat irrelevant considering these trips mainly consist of family bickering + winter sports). thus far i have been sticking to the resorts in little/big cottonwood canyon and park city but y'all are convincing me to head further south

seems like eagle point and brian head are too far for a day trip, where do you recommend staying around those parts?

Gbx any thoughts on pmgear bro, have a connect.

hmmm hadn't heard of them (i'm out of the loop these days) but they look p nice---the bro (smdh) 179 looks like the exact other pair of skis I would like to have---they don't post the weight but i'm guessing it's k-light, perfect for touring. and way more practical for midwestern boilerplate and western frontcountry. probably racier than my fat boards, which is nice too.

(not that I have any need but i can still look at my copy of 50 classic ski descents and dream a lil bit)

http://www.tetonat.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/50classicscover.jpg

aaaaaand i just realized that i hotlinked that from st3ve r0meos old site. obv didn't know the guy but dang

now i may not know much abt skiing but that looks more like an ascent if you ask me

well you can't go down if you're already at the bottom

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/6/67397/1588087-01_super.jpg

Thx. Yeah they look pretty good, but on my bd pushes, I just don't know. Guy that I know who's on these is a bit of a monster and with bigger boots, too. He loves em.

Keep hope alive

Dps wailers look Cool

While looking for more info on bro (smdh) I hit this ot article which is about right.

http://semi-rad.com/2012/09/dont-sandbag-me-bro/

haha that's great.

my entire collegiate climbing career was all sandbagging, all the time. i was p dece but my friends were way better, and cavalier, and i knew that climbing with certain people would start with casual invitations, calm reassurance, some ego boosting---and end in sometimes literal tears of pain or shame or fear (pick 2).

of course i have done my fair share of sandbagging, it's just how u do

cf cat sixin'

Nmdh

(sooooo stoked, i think the bros 179 soft may actually come through)

Best part about Ski Party...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_xBT_xavzM

omfg i don't even. was that mitt romney at 2:10

hey no-skills narcissistic fucktards, fuck your gopros-on-stick

Always like it when skiers and snowboarders can unite in common hatred. See also snowblades, these godawful things.

A timely thread bump: I'm at Geneva airport after a week in Villars. Warning! If you like skiing do not go to this resort! It's not big, the lifts are mostly buttons and t-bars, the runs are mostly short and it is very pricey! The lift pass costs the same as the full three valleys and the restaurants are extortionate, if they'll give you a table in the first place, because they like to claim they're full even when they look 50% empty. It was a fun week, with plenty powder, good company and a free apartment courtesy of a loaded relative but we spent the same amount as if we'd chosen our own (bigger, better) resort and paid for accommodation ourselves.

Also, I pulled a muscle in my calf, my first skiing injury in 28 years :(

One of my resolutions this year is to go skiing multiple times

When did skiing become something that apparently everyone except me does regularly, instead of something I could hate people for being rich enough to do? I think I missed a memo.

(Not provoked by ILX thread but by being the only person in 3 different contexts lately with nothing to say in a "here are my skiing trip plans for the next year" conversation)

it had been 15 years since the last time I skied when I went last year and it was so awesome that I want to do it all the time now

it is totally awesome and i'm gutted that it looks like this is the first season in like ten years i won't be getting a week in europe. spacecadet it's never too late to start.

of course i'm actually talking about snowboarding.

@ madchen, that is sad to hear! ALSO, you were a fifteen minute bus ride away from Glacier 3000 which rules, and a half-hour away from Gstaad and all it has to offer, Zweisimmen is one of my favourite hills.

Skiing in Switzerland, in my experience, you need to rely upon a rich friend for accommodations, and you need to eat in.

The positive side of skiing in Switzerland is that the spoiled Swiss don't ski when it drops below -10 C, so on a crisp day you'll have the hills to yourself

My Montreal friends are addicted to xc skiing around the city and up the mountain, so I'm buying my first adult pair tomorrow.

And snowblades might be irritating to look at but they are very useful if you're an instructor, easier traction to pick up children and load them onto lifts

We were going to go to the glacier on our last day but woke up to terrible visibility so stayed where we knew we'd be able to see. It's not a bus ride away - you can almost ski right across (with a walk across a car park). Gstaad doesn't look terribly big either - you could ski it all in a couple of days, pretty much, looking at the piste map. Does it have modern,fast lifts or do you spend more time going up than down like in Villars? I've got rather used to long runs, swift lifts and skiing off the doorstep, and time spent not skiing feels like an awful waste of a lift pass and my annual leave.

Think we're going to try the Dolomites next time - I hadn't met anyone who had been there before, but one of our party was evangelical about the area. The Sellaronda looks fab and absolutely huge.

(Not provoked by ILX thread but by being the only person in 3 different contexts lately with nothing to say in a "here are my skiing trip plans for the next year" conversation)

― a panda, Malmö (a passing spacecadet), Thursday, 3 January 2013 09:07 (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Welcome to the middle class, let me show you around. Have you met Mr Pooter?

@ Madchen, every hill in that area is different! Many places kind of pride themselves on having older lifts and a more laid-back atmosphere, to contrast the high-volume vibes of other places.

Glacier 3000, for example, is basically only two runs but they are both very long and super-stunning visually. The gondolas cross some crazy crevasses. There seems like there'd be a cool hors piste scene there but not without a guide.

Of the Gstaad area, the best hills were Zweisimmen (which is pretty far from Villars), it's got several fast lifts and felt more like a North American style hill.

Rellerli was the other one I liked, it has a south-facing hill so it was warmer, and had lazy glades on both sides, plus a nice restaurant on top.

Villars, iirc, was more designed to be the family getaway for people living in Lausanne, no?

I've never skiied in Italy :(

I've done the Dolomites, although didn't manage the sellaronda. Thought it was easily on a par with any of the usual French resorts. Was on the north side so interesting Germanic influence to the food, noodles and DUMPLINGS!.

I have two ski trips planned this winter, a weekend to Le Massif in February and (if things go as planned) an early April hike around Zion followed by a couple days either at Brian Head or backcountry in the Cottonwoods (depending on how much snow is left)

it had been 15 years since the last time I skied when I went last year and it was so awesome that I want to do it all the time now

― GIMME SOME REGGAE (DJP), Thursday, January 3, 2013 9:37 AM (10 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

YOU ME WACHUSETT LET'S DO THIS!

ps - I am not kidding. Not even a little bit.

just came back from three days of skiing. it was great. i really wish i could go back to the year i skied 30 days a year.

i have snowboarded twice in my life. i've never skiied. i'm haunted by the thought that skiing is actually cooler. should i ditch my nascent boarding career and start over with skiis?

like, i've already invested two winters in keeping my balance on a snowboard..

The difference I see is that even the great snowboarders are forever falling on their asses. Whereas good skiers will go for days without a tumble. I hate falling down, so I'm sticking with skiing. Also it's faster.

Boarders look cooler, though. xp

hey no-skills narcissistic fucktards, fuck your gopros-on-stick

― Hunt3r, Wednesday, 2 January 2013 19:13 (6 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

So much of this wankery on the hill this Sunday

(xp) Snowboarders also have to push themselves along those long, almost-flat roads which skiers can pretty much cruise down.

skiing is more practical. snowboarding is more rad \m/

but two seasons is not too long to make the switch, if you want. i'm ten years in now and damned if i'm gonna start all over again.

Inside an avalanche, from a helmet-cam: http://vimeo.com/6581009#

(Also on avalanches, if you haven't seen it, Snow Fall at the NYT http://www.nytimes.com/projects/2012/snow-fall/#/?part=tunnel-creek - (best seen on a desktop/laptop)

great links

ya that times article is great

feel like maybe i should take up skiing now that i live in vermont*

*i have lived in vermont before and never took up skiing

― lag∞n, Friday, October 5, 2012 7:40 PM (3 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

so i went skiing for a few days and it was p fun, i feel a bunch the first day then after that i could kind of ski

lag∞n invite me skiing

would you like to go skiing sometime mook

I looked at buying skis today but they are expensive as all hell

just tape two skateboards to yr feet #lifehack

yes that wld be sweet

hi5

kickass

there are no beers better than those after skiing

Ski-sore legs are the best kind of sore legs

otoh i have historically been unable to sleep after skiing because i keep seeing downhill film that my legs twitch to deal with so maybe nm

Oof, I don't get claustrophobic but watching that avalanche video made me feel very strange indeed.

http://rendezvous.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/18/skiing-vs-snowboarding-whats-the-coolest-mountain-sport-now/?partner=bloomberg

the coolest mountain sport has and always will be sledding on things that are not sleds

Skiing + paragliding somewhere on the Polish/Slovakian border: http://vimeo.com/80595382

Beware... like most outdoorsy things filmed via GoPro, there's a terrible song in the background.

p cool

I am supposed to try skiing for the first time next month. I'm quite apprehensive and not sure why I'm doing it. And my god! does this thread make it sound awful.
I'm also quite old to be trying this for the first time (though I've always been a coward, so I don't think youth would've helped with the fear aspect as it apparently has for others.)

skiing rules, it's the best sport

let yrself shred

I got a Burke/Jay pass lets get rad

yeah dawg

can i hold it

if u really want to get nuts tho u have to goto the lyndon outing club http://www.skilyndon.com

WE HAVE Wi-Fi

literally!

I'm hoping to get up to Mammoth at least once this year just so I can brag about eating at the food truck snowmobile

http://cdn1.matadornetwork.com/blogs/1/2013/08/04-600x406.jpeg

hah that just dont look right

Yeah, it looks awesome

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35sfp9k5avI&feature=youtu.be

he makes many good points u kno.

(sent to me by my friend who lives at the bottom of little cottonwood, obv.)

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/12/sports/olympics/chasing-gold-and-jeans-that-fit.html

Apparently this iis in the Tordrillo Mountains of South-Central Alaska. Watch full-screen:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlXk49Mh7go

pfft i ski thru there

yeah i saw that the other day -- p fukkin rad, that is a dream line

whhaaaaaaaaat that was crazy

lol no way no how

i ski thru there

as much as I love skiing i'm also very much not a dare-devil in any way. One time my dad and I were skiing in Austria and he took me on a steep mogully trail and I was so scared I cried and refused to go down so I took of my skis and carried them and walked down. :(

This was last year.

Jk I was prob about 12 but I'm p sure I wouldn't be too happy about it today either.

i snowboard w/ my brothers every year in VT and they are all pretty risk-friendly but i just can't handle it at all. i think it's fun on some long green/blue trails but beyond that i have a very strong sense of what i can reasonably handle

The last two times I've gone skiing I managed to sprain an ankle. Loved steep blue diamonds, hated moguls.

Now I stick to getting stung by fire coral and jellyfish as my expensive hobby.

How do you sprain an ankle in ski boots? Didn't think it was possible.

Last night I dreamt that Arsenal played Barcelona on a very narrow pitch that was located on a vertiginously steep ski run (like the steepest section at Kitzbuhel, but sustained for the entire run) bounded by barriers of the kind used in the downhill event. Both teams started at the top of the run, and the object was to put the ball into the net at the very bottom.

Messi kept falling and hurting himself. Sanchez had a bit of trouble at the start figuring out the right technique for descending in control, but Mertesacker gave him a few tips, and next thing you know Alexis can be seen flying down the hill doing somersaults. There was a clear sense that Arsenal were prevailing, but I guess that was too exciting a prospect for me, because I woke up just before they reached the bottom to score.

Haha, awesome.

Anyone got any tips for taking a one-year-old on a skiing holiday? We are considering doing it if finances permit..

one of you skis while the other takes care of the baby, no other way afaic

Xp I did this once, when my daughter was about 15 mths old. We used the same baby backpack we used for hiking. Pack adequately for the little one, including sunglasses and sunscreen (hat with visor is ideal). You'll also need to carry diaper stuff (or keep it at the base chalet in a locker). Having a spouse or other person to carry extras in a daypack helps. Make sure you can get in and out of your skis without bending over.

Check weather and conditions. You probably want to avoid extreme cold and low visibility most of all, as well as icy trails. Scout out in advance what kind of lifts the hill has. The gondola is easiest, followed by T-bars and tow ropes. Chairlifts need a bit of forethought, and I would discuss with the lift operator what they advise for gettjng on as well as off (they will prob need to slow the lift at both points). I just sat on the chair wearing the pack, but some hold it in front of them.

You should obv pick trails on which you can ski under control. You'll do lots of snow plowing.

Our daughter loved it. Ymmv, but it's well worth a try imo.

Oh wow I hadn't considered at all the idea of skiing with him on my back, but now you describe it I'm really excited about the thought. He's a little pudding though, so I'd better get in some practice.

He's a bloody great big pudding, I couldn't carry him all day! But if you think you can... T-bars and buttons though, ugh.

Wait.

WHAT IF YOU FALL?

This sounds like the worst idea.

Keep in mind that I am the person who gets nervous holding babies because I'm irrationally afraid of dropping and breaking them!

i am not nervous holding babies and i have a 2 year old but there is no fucking way i would ski with a baby on my back. skiing is a dangerous sport, even if you are good there are a million things that can go wrong. ice, rocks, trees, exposed grass, OTHER SKIERS.

no judgement on collardio, just saying i could never do it

Yeah! No way no how.

Just wait a little bit and then teach them how to ski! I learned with I was 4. :)

Chairlifts need a bit of forethought, and I would discuss with the lift operator what they advise for gettjng on as well as off (they will prob need to slow the lift at both points).

lol i am imagining what the flirting, hung-over, cigarette-smoking lift operators in france would make of this query

honestly i think i would like skiing more were it not for the fear that i will fatally fuck up the lift situation

Have to say, when I asked the question I was anticipating responses more along the lines of: 'Go to Italy, they bloody love kids and the bambino giardinos are usually awesome. Plus, you know, pasta.'

(Xp) My dad fell off a chairlift into the orange hammock and it still causes great mirth whenever the tale is told. Personally I think it's a paternal duty to do stuff like that.

Fwiw my wife agrees with many of you (that I was nuts to do this). I probably should have mentioned that I stuck to the very mellowest of slopes the kind that people learn their first turns on, and that you can bogged down in if the snow is too sticky. I was more in control than on the typical tobogganing outing.

I support yr decision

tho a front pack would be way safer imo

Cosign. If you are an avg to advanced skier a green or blue groomer is like actually walking down the street, the biggest risk is other skiers, and the lifts. Honestly shit gets really scary around age 4 during lift loading when the chairs are moving fast and the kids have some heft. Strongly recommend the chest harnessess for ages 3 to 6, it gives you an actual handle. Once or twice ive actually just manualled a kid from dangling into the chair next to me during botched loads. The worst experience was just decking my 7 y/o son away from the chair when it became clear he was never gonna make it to load position, and down and out he went as I got on. The liftie stopped everything and he was reassembled and loaded, but man I was afraid he'd never trust me again, I put him down!

Hes 10 now and still skis with me so we're good afaict. :)

aw

w/ all those lifts, heli skiing really is safest ;-)

its hella safe

We ski at a local day ski/non-resort place in colo with no detachables and the lifts are diabolical. Tricky loads and glacial uphill rates. Good traffic conditions tho.

Xposts

Thanks gbx, and I'd agree that front pack would be safer

Lol lagoon

New ski jumping world record set by Peter Prevc. Quarter of a kilometer!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36H99lqqDzg

far

wow

i just went backcountry skiing! it was p great

where

prbly the backcountry

bet u he skied out of bounds at a official ski mountain

that's usually called sidecountry, gbx is superlegit on his bc im betting.

[bated breath]

skiing out of bounds is a great way to make friends

(with your creator)

don't do it, kids!

i tihnk i saw some pix of the event on fb tho dont recall any identifying markings re whether it was side back or ass, also i was just asking because i have some familiarity w the area in which gbx resides

Vikersundbakken is nuts. iirc 250m was the distance at which you could legitimately claim to have successfully flown a powered aircraft in the 1900s.

i skied mount cardigan

xp I believe it is also the distance at which you could legitimately claim to be a flying wizard in the 1100s.

it was hella windy

thats actually a garment

are you getting lots of snow out of those coastal storms, or no, gbx?

i'd like to go bc one of these days, but it's just not in the cards. after 23 years, i just bought alpine boots. if i'm lift served, it's alpine for me from now on. still need skis/bindings.

we got a heck of a lot of snow, yeah

Oh and the world record was beat the next day

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIhuW_LH58M

If only the first guy had done it with an inspirational music soundtrack.

were gonna need to build a bigger mountain

ive been doing a lot of x country skiing this winter, at least until it got too cold

well i dunno about you guys but i'm a beginner (this is my second time) and these red trails scare the living shit out of me, like serious nightmare material. some of the blue ones too, if i'm being honest

...red trails?

yeah, I've never encountered red trails

Like red pistes? Or something else?

European rating innit. (& just call 'em reds.) After ten years of snowboarding (ok only a week or two a year so not that many hours on the snow really) I can still get the heebie-jeebies from the odd red, especially if it's icy.

Yeah, it's the condition which makes the difference with reds. Freshly groomed they're lovely, but they can turn really mean if they're patchy, icy or have mounds of that horrible wet April porridge. Or if boarders have scraped them bare ;-)

yeah i dunno, "les rouges" is what i'm talking about, pistes

You're doing just fine if you're able to get down a red run in any way that's not on your arse after two weeks, tbh.

Just cancelled my two-year's-planned ski trip with my brother :( :( :( (he's got more work than anticipated, me too, snow on the west coast not happening)

Sad irony is that there is so much snow in Montreal rn it is ridiculous that I haven't taken more than one ski-up-the-mountain days

I wanna go to the chic chocs

got my mojo back today, felt absolutely beautiful; zero desire to "attack the slope" i just want to sliiiiide man, drifting wordlessly through pine forest, observing the huge blue sky, ça plane pour moi

nice

yeah

that said i've learned that you do have to "attack" a little bit in order for the steeper shit to actually work out i.e. lean forward and into it but that is the extent of my hardman ambitions

finally bit the bullet and bought skis/boots after many years of renting. the expense hurt but it feels great to use legit equipment. and it sure helps make the mighty mountains of MD/PA a bit more interesting.

no good snow in CA rn ;_;

the entire west is a slushbowl afaict. human population destroying drought getting a jump start on the season :(

one of the signs on the 101 normally used for crash and amber alerts just said "SERIOUS DROUGHT" this morning

it's gonna be a cruel summer

the entire west is a slushbowl

nah, colorado/wyo snowpack is like 90%, eldo got 15" two days ago, copper's lookin at 8"-15" more on tap for the weekend, and here in denver it's 65 degrees today. party on this is great.

/sarcasm (the skiing is not bad atm tho).

i just got killed in thurs night race league and i am not happy about it at all

racing is so much about expectations

unless you are actually good, when it is about fucking winning.

(and gbx, that may be you, not meant to be a slight)

i guess it could be about sandbagging or cheating and winning, but that would be sorta or very unethical

if you skied today, you won

RIP Bill Johnson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkdB42lN1AE

norwegian telemark ski maker, ca 1975 making a pair of skis from start to finish:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbPVqUbcjDY

Ok im 7 mins in and already pretty astounded. Axe. Plane. Insight. Labor.

I've got skiing on the brand

Wolf Creek is already open!!

brand awareness is pretty now

https://www.instagram.com/p/Btui73sl2U5/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

when you straightline the final 5 bumps and go checkless to the jump laaaaaay ouuuuut

lol/not lol: #whenintroubletuckfordouble

i pinged my utah buddy to ask wtf this guy was thinking and he responded totally flipping out- he was "20 feet away" and "it was F*ing scary I could not believe he didn't blow a knee he was damn lucky we had about 8ft of fresh snow and the base is super soft/ i'll say one thing the crowd went fullll send for him/ This was a +10,000 GNAR points -- it was the entire crowd was WTF...they saw him straightening that/ you should come out and watch this some year."

I wish my knees were better at handling the bumps. Strength work needed before July.

my alpines were in the shop, so i skied my 2001 Tuas (198/70/188 and soft) with rainey superloops last week, first time on tele in 4 years.

my quads, they were fucking crying. i was so so terrible. i fell at 1p and hit my head really hard (stars) in the bumps and quit for the day, because i was afraid i'd end up in another coma.

otoh, i feel like i never got actually good in bumps until age 49, the year i switched back to alpine from tele after over 20 yrs. suddenly, i felt so multi dimensionally capable of handling whatever they brought. it was ... weirdly epiphinal.

NB i am not good good at them, i am not a ripper at all. but i'm at least ok.

So what you’re telling me is I should fin a reason to spend all of next February in Furano, learn to Tele and then I will be good at bumps on alpine.

this is very much a brag probably but my buds and I just booked our first ever non-dirtbag ski trip now that we actually have jobs that can support such an extravagance (and are unmarried and childless). heading to portillo in August B) and boy am I going to need all that time to get back in shape for it

yeah, i was gonna ask how japanese skiing is, it looks pretty awesome and deep- how wet?

i don't think tele helped my bumps, but it did emphasize weight transfer A LOT and even more skiing through the soles of your feet. those things are pretty helpful. my utah bro just got scarpa maestrales and atomic shifts at stuff, i don't think tele is even done anymore

gbx that's like, fancy, nice! Congrats.

(shh we're actually staying in a shared bunkroom in a building apart from the main hotel but like we can still hang out at the pool and stuff)

youll make that bunkroom look good then

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bty3SqAFe0k/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=jb7bhslzg6cp

I wont try to make this reasonable or approvable but corbets vines are gettin out of hand

that owns

Two separate pals just went to Hokkaido and by all accounts it's fuckin amazing. The snow is actually blower, which doesn't make sense to me

Hokkaido is pretty amazing and this a apparently a bad snow year, there was a lot of coverage on the news. Still 3m piles of snow by the roadside and trucks coming every night to take it out of the city.

The snow at Furano was the best very light powder and it fell the whole weekend I was there. Even Teine which is less than an hour from downtown Sapporo on transit was pretty good, at least the top of the resort where the word up courses are. The bottom was trash. Rusutsu, pretty good but it didn’t snow much whilst we were there.

I had a good long chat with a guy who ran a yakutori place in Furano. There’s lots of small local hills, he’d been to one with a 500yen ($5) lift ticket that day but his real passion is later in the season, taking his splitboard into the Taisetsuzan national park.

Next year we want to try Aomori and Akita. We hired a car this year, to stay off mountain at Rusutsu and it seems like a good thing to do is link a bunch of small resorts together in a trip.

all those possibilities make me a little envious, but tbh the food shots i've seen are just as amazing. and i'm not a foodie. glad you seem to be thriving man

king/queens of corbets is NOW LIVE: https://www.jacksonhole.com/kings-queens-corbets.html .

the celebration vid from last year's makes it look like really a dangerous event that i just sorta approve, it looked like it was done in the right spirit, in the right way. at least it did on youtube. unlike maybe the redbull rampage which comes across as really exploitative? dunno, i'd should probly know more before opining on this.

i will never forget the layout front sommy guy on last year's corbets, and i just didn't think you could get more ridiculous without a wingsuit- until that bump freestyler at Deer Valley.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BvwIz_QFZ4b/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=ft8gfntrahp0

closing time, eh?

Did the Grand Traverse skimo race last weekend. 36+ miles from Crested Butte to Aspen. What a slog. I swore I’d never do it again immediately afterward but am already feeling the itch for next year. A couple of old-timers told me that your first year is really just a fact-finding mission, laying the groundwork for future efforts, and that makes sense to me now.

sick

This avalanche near Tahoe is really sad and scary... it looks like they've found bodies but they're difficult to transport out of there

Yeah and it was a guided group right? I’ve done that a couple of times with absolute confidence in the guide. Very disturbing on several levels obviously.

yeah, there were four guides.. I guess some kind of cross-country camping trip? They had stayed in a hut the night before the avalanche

I heard it described as the worst U.S. avalanche incident in a half century

i think the snowpack and snowfall in much of colorado is like 1/3- 1/2 normal, and much new snow is quite “wet” or warm. so the past news day has been full of “the backcountry is not safe, slide city.”