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The first is the top of Hidden, and the second is looking into NW Passage. We need more snow before NW Passage will go down.
Today was awesome. There are some uhhh....intimidating straightlines to be done on Slushman's, and I'm already claiming one of them. There were also a ton of people up that probably shouldn't have been there (older women hiking to no name with 150 carvers and no gear). But yeah, new lift=tits.
Quote:
Originally Posted by baseWeldr
FACJ. I suck. Feeling like shitr lately. Must be the cold.
So there is no required avalanche gear/partner? Is it just recommended?
You're required to be beeping. Shovel, probe, and partner are optional. Those rules are the same for all the "ridge terrain" whether it is Slushman's, the fingers, or hiking the ridge proper. The partner rule was dropped this year because people were skiing "with a partner" in ways that were worthless in a rescue sitation anyways. Shovel isn't required any more because most people hiking the ridge were poorly equipped to perform a rescue, at best. The beacon requirement has been retained to make search and retrieval possible for patrol.
Slushman's is gonna be managed just like the ridge and the fingers. No difference. Beep on, no signage, nothing marked, no grooming. And, for better or worse, that includes limited hours for patrol to do avy control and sweep.
Also, useful to note: the Slushman's lift only handles 500 people per hour, as specified in the EIS for the terrain expansion. PK does 1200 people per hour. That is 2-3x more skiers than Slushman's. If everyone immediately goes PK => Slushman's tomorrow (weekend powder day), we could have half the skiers on the hill "stuck" over there and waiting in line while Deer Park, Bridger, and Alpine go untouched. The upshot to this is that Slushman's will not get tracked out as quickly.
I hope that makes things clear on what the new policies are and what the logistics of the new lift are.
Does that include the people traversing across and butchering McRib to get to the low angle trees on the other side of Mundy's?Quote:
There were also a ton of people up that probably shouldn't have been there
http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m...g?t=1229733430
Seems pretty lame to kill half the vert of the new lift by traversing across some of the best terrain when all you have to do is hike 80 verticle feet to drop in from the top.
I know that probably no one here is doing that, but man that was dissapointing to see.
Schlasman's lift not running this weekend?
ah I see it now, hidden lookt too twisty turny at firstQuote:
The first is the top of Hidden, and the second is looking into NW Passage.
never stood on top of NW direct, usually too busy scampering at speed to the top of the ramp, but its a new era for BB /daily vid ref (looks like rich "pants on fire" S. got the 1st couchride btw, fitting for a 30yr vet...)
too bad about the traversing, better lead by example I guess, sure looks like fun explorin around the newly penned in acres...
I will seriously beat bloody anyone I see traversing over McRib from the top of the lift.Quote:
too bad about the traversing, better lead by example I guess
That is seriously the weakest display of gaperdom I have ever witnessed. Fuck that shit, stay on Pierre's if that's your game.
After the shit I saw going down up there yesterday, it's no wonder they are closing it for the weekend.
Yesterday truly is the start to a new era at BB. Everyone I talked to including myself(I talk to myself alot) can't believe how MUCH terrain is over there. Even if you have skinned up it a million times you have never seen it like you see it from the chair. Your mindset is sooo different when you are skinin up you are at ground level and usally have a certain line in mind. Now you are lappin it on the chair from a "high" vantage point and everything opens up.
Bridger Bowl just went from the Best AAA triple A team out there, to the "Bigs"
Me and friends have always joked about BB being a great training ground for places like Jackson(who can afford to live in Jackson), but now with this single chair we have made it to the "SHOW"
I'm freaking out, hope some idiots don't get this thing shut down for us...
I'm also pumped to have some nice airs with steep landings, not too many of those on the other side.
Pray for snow
must be an easier sidestep up vs the split at the apron traverse or goin to hidden huh? cuz the apron traverse is pretty accepted...
is it now "officially" called mcRib, not bad, seems apt, just curious & wanna stay up on the local termage ....?
traversing past that does seem to get silly low, plus those shots comin in from the top of noname at the new boundary are money...
do we need a mcRopeline to dissuade lemmings?
lil bird told me the new lift doesn't like the bitter cold...
edit: good words marc, goosebumps/hudge envy, cheers mang...
Quote:
Originally Posted by baseWeldr
I called talked to some chick she said the new lift does not like the cold.
I was gonna do it today but that lift ain't spinin' so I ain't either. lame, and I am a pussy.
Sounds like they might not run it on pow days. Might be the day after.
If they opened up 40% more area wouldn't you hire proportional ski patrol to account for this?
Leave D-route till the next day, focus on the lift served clearing to actually warrant a new lift, in order to remove traffic from the bridger lift and other areas on pow days-duh.
Its almost as if they have no idea how much the town is growing and how much this lift will increase excitement and volume at the resort.
Have an alpine pic
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...n/IMGP3798.jpg
Yeah, because it's a logical place for a traverse.Quote:
cuz the apron traverse is pretty accepted...
Right on. There's your "pieps and pass combo" crowd. Traversing across and ruining the best lines in the new terrain to get four turns in low angle trees.Quote:
traversing past that does seem to get silly low, plus those shots comin in from the top of noname at the new boundary are money...
OK, so that's it, sounds like the new era will be all about the super double two day cluster fuck! Should work out well with half the normal amount of chairs on the new lift.Quote:
Sounds like they might not run it on pow days.
Fucking weak if this is true.
Yeah, this seems logical and would have made the most sense.Quote:
Leave D-route till the next day, focus on the lift served clearing to actually warrant a new lift, in order to remove traffic from the bridger lift and other areas on pow days-duh.
Now that I think of it, with D route being so close to the new chair, I bet they never open it unless D is good to go. I wish I hadn't gotten my hopes up.
Down here, we call that the Kirkwood Dilemma.Quote:
Originally Posted by tone capone
Progress can suck.
It may take a while (maybe a season or two) but they'll figure out how to get this new chair runnin right and open often.
I still have faith in BB management and patrol, even the new patrollers;)
You guys have an awesome experienced well-respected manager that got this lift going, which now accesses expert terrain unlike almost any other ski area in the states, and is also patrolled by some of the best Ski Patrollers in North America.
And now you are talking shit about them, about people traversing, and think you know better about running the show, after the lift has been only open one or two days.
Most people I know are buzzing hard and completely amazed (similar to Telemarc) about the potential of this lift, but you guys are pathetic.
(I might give you the traversing issue but just wait and see what the main traverses become)
See y'all in January, I'm counting the days. Whooooooooo hoooooo!
it just came to me
the "no game" traverse...
great job on gettin 'er goin BB
thing with forums is they're realtime, this wknd peeps are frustrated
shit'll work itself out over time...
I was excited too, and have heard now from many sources that:Quote:
but you guys are pathetic.
THE LIFT WON'T BE OPENING ON POW DAYS/THEY ARE SCARED OF THE NEW TERRAIN/ACCESS ISSUE.
They have already decided not to run it for the whole weekend, and Sundays highs are supposed to be into the +single digits. I thought skiing was a sport you do in the cold? I keep hearing rumors about mechanical/electrical issues and now it doesn't like the cold? What the fuck, what is the deal? Are these excuses? rumors? I'm sure the weekend crowd would like to check out the new lift, or maybe skin up Slushmans to access Saddle, but you can't do that anymore.
Last time I checked, the whole reason they put it in was to mitigate the mob that occurs on pow days.
So if your so sure that it's going to be so great to have all that pow sitting there while the 800 new passholders are waiting in half hour liflines at bridger why don't you personally kiss patrols ass?
As for the No Game traverse, refer to my previous comment about beatings.
tone... you need this
http://cheetahfactoryracing.com/2%20...ski%20rack.jpg
Thanks single, all I am trying to say is that Bridger needs two things,
1: Less traversing across and underneath sweet lines,
2: Pow day crowds to be spread out considering the dedication of the locals here.
I have been looking forward to less intense pow days at Bridger, but now I am anxious that it might not be the case this year.
Maybe Mildwille has the scoop on what the deal is.
the lift doesnt like any kind of cold. the patrollers everyday have to hike over to it and start it from the top. so that means they still have to do the full traverse.
and as far as being pathetic, one kid already has a broken back up there. also three ambulances by the end of the day! I also heard dozens of skiers cliffed out and hiking back out. people need to learn responsibility for themselves. and with avies inbounds all over the place....
That is the way real hills should work. Thin the hills of all the bro brahs with a bad sense of direction:FIREdevil
1. Are you kidding me? The only way to get to basically any sweet line from a chair (aside from direct from the ridge) is a traverse, which cuts across or under another sweet line. Sometimes you have to traverse to the line, ski it, then traverse again. The mountain is full of them already, get used to it.Quote:
Originally Posted by tone capone
2. Dedicated locals are willing to give em more than a week or two to figure shit out. Its taken 30 years to get the place running as smooth as it does now, did you really think such a big expansion, especially considering the terrain, was gonna work the same after a week?
Too bad about the kid w/ broken back.
You can get your panties in a wad based on speculation and rumors and then whine on the internet or take the wait-and-see approach. Again, the lift has been open for one day, I don't think management has decided how it's going to be run for the entire season yet.
As for the cold thing, they bought it used. If it's due to a few parts not working in the cold (for example) they'll look into replacing it, depending on cost and ease of replacement. So it's hard to say if it will be shut down for the entire season because of cold. It may, it may not. Who knows? Can it be fixed easily? Next summer? Right away? Are parts easily available? I don't know.
Of course it will be shut down deep powder days, just like the Ridge is and sometimes the High-T. Duh. But every day powder day? Are you sure? When it snows 6 inches? 3 inches? 16 inches? There's too many variables depending on recent slide activity and everything else.
But if you got this all figured out on day one, congrats. The sky is falling, maybe you need to go to Big Sky.
In other news, I heard from a friend who skied on friday that the new terrain is absolutely epic. His words were "better terrain than jackson hole." I am sure once everything gets sorted out there will be stoke to be had for all. Anyone else headed up on monday?
Dudes,
I've been checkin out this thread for quite a while (as a non-member daily Bridger skier) for its excellent BB info and stoke factor... so I joined up to chime in.
I agree with workinforturns in that personal responsibility is in demand on the new terrain, and I'd like to think that's what Randy and the board intended when opening the new stuff. It's too bad that dudes are already hurting themselves up there, but I think it might be necessary for that terrain to gain a gnarly reputation in order to demand respect from those who haven't put in their time. The bro brah attitude has gotta go.
Any info w/ the busted back?
I think that this helps strengthen the need for partner / gear recommendations to become rules.Quote:
Originally Posted by workinforturns
Look, I don't care where you stand on the rules for having gear and partners but using this as "evidence" is weak sauce. Unless you the whole story of how this person broke their back, how can you possibly say that? How can you jump to the conclusion that partners would have helped in all cases?Quote:
Originally Posted by XtrPickels
Easy there killer.Quote:
Originally Posted by butterscotch
What I was looking at was the amount of people cliffed out and the need for multiple ambulances. This is all directly related to the new terrain and the people that are skiing it. No matter what you say, I feel as though there is a correlation between having a partner and appropriate avy gear and your preparedness / safety for skiing "ridge" terrain.
If you're a Ridge jong and you get cliffed out solo you're kinda screwed. If you have a partner and they don't know the area well enough to navigate to skiable lines, at the very least you have someone to give you a hand when things go south.
+1 for Xtr.
No reason to have avy gear w/o a partner, and having another person to help once you are cliffed out can't be a bad thing. Hopefully two people would make better decisions than just one.
To top it all off, I would rather NOT be alone with a broken back. Just sayin. More extreme terrain requires more extreme caution.
QFT.....Quote:
More extreme terrain requires more extreme caution.
People need to take resonsibilty for themselves. So, 2 dumbasses are better than one? You don't need partner to ski the Agui du Midi (sp?) in Chamonix and their little program works just fine. Getting rid of that policy at Bridger was a step in the right direction. Don't be such Freedom haters.
Why not just have no avi gear required? I guess I would be hatin on freedom to say otherwise.
I would be willing to bet that there are more skiing related deaths per capita at chamonix than at bridger. Our current system (the one we have on the ridge) works fine, and I dont see why they would change it for slushman's, especially since they are treating that terrain the same way.
I'm easy. I know that you are/were a longtime Bridger mag, I respect your opinion and and I understand all the arguements for having partners and requiring gear. I'm personally opposed to it because I feel comfortable up there alone and am often at Bridger by myself anyway.Quote:
Originally Posted by XtrPickels
My only point was that its seems a little hasty to call for stricter rules based only on "one broken back and three ambulances" without knowing all the details.
No, the current system does NOT work fine. Deleting the partner rule was definitely a step in the right direction, and I feel pretty strongly about that. I've had some weak-ass 'partners' that I had to hook up with just to make it up the ridge, only to ski off, completely on their own planet, oblivious to what else was up or to the partner concept. So that's not a save-all, at all.
Look, if you want to ski with a partner, go for it. I'm sure you'll be hucking much larger than me anyways. But don't cost me that freedom by equating peoples' sustained injuries with the death of the partner rule, that's BS.
Jumper, I see your point. You obviously have some experience there and have the skills to be able to ride up there solo. It just seems like there are a lot of people that would hike solo that do not have the knowledge or experience that you do to ride safely on the ridge.
I would agree that it is not a save all, but I think it is something. My main point is that I dont see why you would have to wear a beacon and carry a shovel if you dont need a partner.
I think it was back in 2004 that the owner of bar 3 barbq died while riding solo on that huge snow day? If he had a partner, he would probably still be alive as he died from suffocation. I know that wasn't on the ridge, but it was in similar-to-ridge terrain on high traverse.Quote:
But don't cost me that freedom by equating peoples' sustained injuries with the death of the partner rule, that's BS.
There are so many potential situations like this that it makes sense to ski with a partner for safety reasons. There wouldn't be the partner rule if it didnt have some effect.
Man, I took my first solo ridge hike ever after years w/ the partner rule on thurs, and I did not like it. I felt kinda jittery and exposed, definitely not doing that again. I like the opportunity, but I think most of the established bridger crew is gonna be doubling up most days.
http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m...g?t=1217060305Quote:
The only way to get to basically any sweet line from a chair (aside from direct from the ridge) is a traverse, which cuts across or under another sweet line.
I don't know that looks like a pretty sick line to me that you don't have to traverse to.
I don't understand what the big deal is with me pointing out that dozens of jongs too lazy to hike 80 verticle feet have to traverse over lines like this when there is simply no need for a traverse here like on High T or Bridger Gully/Apron.
I figured I'd nip this one in the bud.
http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m...g?t=1229733430
Surfers set the rules for riding big waves, maybe more of you long time locals should set the unspoken rules here so we don't have "Dozens of dipshits cliffed out in the new terrain".
Well, understanding the point about not opening within reason (big dumps/wind) I'm giving em until the first day when cars are parked all the way out to the road after a 6 inch midweek dump. I don't care if they take till 11 or 12, just open it.Quote:
Dedicated locals are willing to give em more than a week or two to figure shit out.
somebody just bring a big message board and plant it in the snow at the top/bottom of the lift with any suggestions you can think of... it'd probably stay if patrol agrees
Exactly. Maybe we should be involved to help patrol make it work smoothly.
what about like the JH back country sign where it says "your going to die," "certain death," and "no dumb fucks allowed." oh and maybe some skull and cross bones in the middle of the sentences.