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Still hoping to get up to the pass for some skiing and camping this weekend. Hope for everyone's sake the fire cooperates. Guess we will keep an eye out for updates. We spent a day sled lapping a shallower slope east of the top of the pass last year. Wondering if there is enough snow for the sled this year. Gardner and the basin look decent. Is there much less snow compared to this time last year?
Not sure on snowpack--in photos it looks pretty low--but be aware that the USFS has decided to close access to camping on Main Fork and Lake Fork, leaving West Fork to absorb the entire demand near Red Lodge, whatever that may be.
I'd note that the closure of the Glacier Lake road (Main Fork) wasn't in the original order, but it makes a lot of sense to me--no cell service, and if the fire were to get into that drainage and across 212, it would get to the mouth of the road first, thus cutting off the only easy way out (and the only way with a vehicle).
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Vertigo inducing drop in with refrozen chunder.
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Same picture with a looser crop just to show I'm not tilting the camera to make it look steeper than it is.
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I was there on Saturday.
why so many racers backpacks?? is there a course set up below and no facilities to leave them anywhere else? or is it that some 'summer put your boots in your bag' hiking thing they all have going on?
The race training courses get set on the lower poma, so it's much more efficient to bring everything down and not need to come all the way back up for snack and hydration breaks...especially when the top is refrozen.Quote:
Originally Posted by powdork
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Quote:
Originally Posted by powdork
Yeah. When the upper Poma was broken they had to hike out (Tues, Wed) so they did bring hiking boots. Water, granola, race protection, sunscreen, layers etc. They take breaks on the rocks. It is rad for them or anyone to chill at the bottom with a full view of the cirque.Quote:
Originally Posted by anotherVTskibum
My daughter is not a super fantastic racer, she is 11 and was just focusing on bashing slalom gates and was on brand new skis and being from the midwest she really hates soft snow when on race courses. The races she finishes on the podium have usually been super hard to ice where her peers struggle and she excels. We were just thrilled to know a coach that knows our coach and to get her into a camp. That being said here is a video of the course set on Thursday and her actually crashing some gates instead of skiing around them. Lots of salt and the grom showing some good progress.
Here is the hike out to the lower lot. Really not that bad at all.
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This is her dropping into a brush course Wednesday when it was super warm and hauling salt wasn't really an option because the poma was broken. But...private ski area!
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Unknown skier who was part of the freeride group out of Red Lodge (and beyond?) that was also allowed in on Wednesday. Caught this shot while we were watching our girl lap the shit out of those brushes.
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Still a little left this past weekend. Man, what a place.
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Six weeks out from today the lift starts spinning. Hopefully.
Anyone making plans for a trip up to the pass?
I'm in tentatively.
Last year's opener had some sketchy condish...
I'll be up there.
Nice bump. Chalk me up as a firm maybe.
I think heading up there was in my top three highlights from last year. Just a spectacular place.
Nice, look forward to meeting up witcha and throwing down some laps.Quote:
Originally Posted by byates1
It is special fosho.Quote:
Originally Posted by east or bust
Memba how much of a last minute cluster it was? Yet we ended up in the camping zone within 30 minutes of each other.
What a good time, decent food and comfy digs. Turns didn't completely suck either.
And I do love Red Lodge; still funkytown, USA.
Trying to get Upallnight to join us. Yo!
Myself and the daughter have a paid campsite reserved June 5th thru the 11th at Limber Pines which is arrive Sunday night and leave to go home on Saturday morning. Last year on Friday we packed up the campsite in the evening scored a room in town.
We are about 50/50 on if we go. One of my dirtbag friends was on a two week Indy Pass tour to the west coast in early Apr and he said the snow was super duper thin at Red Lodge and his plans to join us fizzled with that...funny we passed him going home on the interstate on our way to Aspen. Her race camp coach from last year moved to Winter Park so he isn't going to be there this year, which stinks but it also gives us more freedom to explore the area and chill, and free all mountain skiing is what we are all about anyway.
These last storms have helped stoke the fire though for sure. Was watching the Red Lodge cams this morning while suffering through my taxes.
I guess we'll see. A strong maybe. My lack of weekend attendance makes it hard to hook up with anybody anyway...though did meet Stealurface last year the last day.
Yeah, thinking this last storm put down a good layer and hopefully more between now and then.
Best skiing and camping is on weekdays up there. Less people and quiet at night.
All that wind had to have helped fill things in.Quote:
Originally Posted by Djongo Unchained
BB has been quiet on social media. Not unusual for this time of year though. Would expect them to start posting soon.
What is a good snow stake to look at in the area?
Yeah I sent them a FB message asking about this season and never heard back. They're likely still doing other stuff.Quote:
Originally Posted by uglymoney
No good snow stake available. The Cole Creek snotel might be the closest geographically but doesn't necessarily correspond with the situation up high. The snow and wind patterns are different up there, and while long-time locals might be able to make more educated guesses, four years living nearby wasn't enough for me to figure anything out without getting a visual on things up high.Quote:
Originally Posted by uglymoney
With that said, once MDOT starts working on the road, the videos they'll post to YouTube provide pretty good intel.
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Would love to do some headwall laps this year with ya. I'm try to pull off 2 separate trips this year.Quote:
Originally Posted by Djongo Unchained
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Hell. Yes.Quote:
Originally Posted by SirVicSmasher
We need to some ski time, it's been a while.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Those dudes running the lift area are surely somewhere else pulling tubes and invoking ullr.
One of the enduring mysteries has always been what's it gonna look like on Friday.
Before the snow clearing drone videos, it was always an educated guess at best.
Hell, I've driven up there, decided it was shite, then drove home an hour later. After a pleasant sit by the raging creek, burning a nug, mind you.
I have a bunch of shots from 2021 that were never posted on here. Here is a few.
I took a bunch of them working on that cursed upper poma, changing the motor. Had a lot of time to burn since they let my daughter ski, but not me, so it was unusual for us. We originally only really only got her into racing so we could keep skiing, something new and fun.
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People were hiking up that first day. We arrived right after the shaft snapped and too late for my girl to jump into the camp so we went hiking. We'd been distracted by a young moose in our campsite, trying to get out safely took a bit of time. I think this was Monday. They had it back running on Thursday.
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I think it was Powdork asking about the packs going down the hill in the morning. This is a good shot of the base area where everyone lounges, has beers, snacks, whatevs.
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Glamping base camp. The better camping is free, as BB natives here know well, but the family demands some luxury since we aren't backpacking anyway.
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That shit skis steeper than it looks.
On opening day, those guys were telling us the far face wasn't gonna open for fear of the cornice breaking off.
I wanted to tell them they could drive that Groomer off the lip and it wasn't gonna crack.
They let me and Eastorbust go open it after about 20 minutes and a few locs poaching it.
Fucking rocketing down in about 1/4" of corn on the first lap. Turns? just barely.
Then the sketchballz ride back up the poma. If you dropped it on that thing, you'd be deep in the Kim Chi fosho.
For real. That place is epic but the pucker factor in some spots is no joke.Quote:
Originally Posted by Djongo Unchained
I also fell off the poma my first time and had to do the slide/ski of shame to get back on. Thankfully the lifties and crowds were incredibly kind and gave me some pointers. Wouldve been a good laugh so I wouldn't have blamed them if they had. Good times. Seriously. Place is magical.
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Thankfully, I've only come off the Poma when the disc broke off the carrier, and I managed to not slide into the person behind me or stop in their way. Those last two towers to the top are legitimately steep and do an excellent job of keeping one attentive all the way to the top.Quote:
Originally Posted by MontuckyFried
RLM just wrapped their lift served season today, so I'd hazard the guess that most of the basin crew have yet to switch over to that mode. Usually they wait until the MDOT crew is up to the plateau before really getting after it; I gather it's a much easier sled commute at that point.
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First time I rode that poma it was slide for life firm and I was like holy fuck.
I don't think we saw a slider offa the big poma but I recall Eastorbust saw someone have a platter pull off of the lower one. Guy might've gotten a group laugh or applause.
And we discussed all the potential carnage beforehand. It was 110% a slide for lifer for the first 6 towers skiing down, and hitting riders behind you if falling at the last two on the way up, would be catastrophic.
Most skiers were pretty strong considering but there were some full tilt gapers too.
The first guy in made 2 marginal turns, got his tails below his tips and started sliding backwards.
We both thought fer sure he was going, but no, he saved it and continued to slip/slide/turn his way down; before eventually eating shit about 2 towers from the bottom. Think his legs twerked.
It was a fun day if not a bit weathery on top. Down in the basin was perfectly comfy.
There were about 6 super strong rippers too, all 45-55 yrs old.
I've driven the distance enough times to not really care about the conditions. It's a ritual, a time to center myself.
Like most of my skiing anymore, the overall experience is more valuable than the highlights.
For the first time last year, I drove around via Cody back to Jackson and did it in the same 5 hours the Park usually takes. That was easy and way less driving in the shitshow of YNP/GT during a spring holiday weekend.
BB website is now updated and listing opening day as May 27th, 2022.
Based on the continued promising spring weather and that Djongo mang stoking the fires here uglymoney and daughter odds of going have increased from 50% to 75%. It would be 100% save for the 15 hour drive.
https://beartoothbasin.com/
Plan on being there early this year. Season will be 2 weeks tops. Sorry don't shoot the messenger
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No shit. Thx for the heads up
Why is that? Lack of snow? Or...?Quote:
Originally Posted by SirVicSmasher
Yikes, looking mighty thin this season
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aA1qld3HlX0
Here's a pretty good view of the Rock Creek chutes.
Edit so video is visible in app.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Djongo Unchained
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Idk looks pretty average to me. Usual stuff should be plenty filled in
Whoa. Might not open? That’s rough.
With over 3 weeks until the holiday, it could be slim pickins. I'd ski the hell outta that thing right now though, looks tasty.
Beartooth pass really doesn't revolve around that Poma lift though. It's been there for decades, yet only recently have they made it viable enough to become a popular destination for spring.
I'll still be up there, if just for the camping, Red Lodge, and the vibe of southern Montana.
Gardiner headwall will still be in play even if the basin doesn't open. Rock Creek headwall will probably require a little hiking to get back to the road, and the farther flung lines will still be an option. The beartooth front has been getting hammered by these late storms with another one brewing tomorrow. My money is on classic low-tide conditions.Quote:
Originally Posted by Djongo Unchained
Don't forget about the pig races...Quote:
Originally Posted by Djongo Unchained
It's nice to know I'm not the only one who has fallen off the poma...
:D
Only been there once, but I tell people about it every chance I get.
Realist Old School "resort" skiing experience I've had in decades.
I mean how can you not love a hill where you have to ski down what is essentially a black diamond run just to get to the "beginners" area/poma?
Or whose only amenities include two porta potties mounted on a flatbed?
Or when you ask patrol about the stuff outside the poma area and their reply is "Sure, you can ski it, but if you get hurt we ain't coming to get you."
Or whose "lodge" is an airstream trailer?
And has insane side/backcountry access all around it?
Looking forward to another visit.
In the meantime, do they make "I Survived Beartooth Basin's Poma" shirts?
Exactly, on all counts.Quote:
Originally Posted by total_immortal
As much as I don't enjoy the grunt outta Gardiner, it is the essence of the skiing there.
The fact that you can make turn number 1 about 100 paces from the car seat is good though.
I'd rather hoof it across the tundra over to RC but I've gotten off course plenty o times and had to skirt back to the entries.
And bony? fuck yeah, sometimes it's a long damn way through those janky rocks and debris back to the turnout.
I had forgotten about the pig races, thanks for the reminder. I'm gunna git sum.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dookeyXXX
I suspect shitloads have of people have either fallen off or had a platter pop off or maybe even a rope break.
That first pitch is legit expert skiing even in good conditions. Throw in some super sketch ice and it's a slide for life at the drop of a hat.
Thank goodness for those shitters, it'd be a long haul to the next one, at the campgrounds; raced to those before.
They do have some sweet shirts but I'll ask them about that line, it'd sell out I bet.
Anybody wants a shirt or stickers, holla and we'll see what's up.