Vail is all burned off
http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/.../nov6vail2.jpg
http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/...l/nov6vail.jpg
skinned up from Highline to 11, it was good. The wind and warmer temps gave the snow some density, super surfy
the road to 10 should close this week
Mill creek road was closed today at 8am. Best pre-season in awhile!
Bump for official word om Mill Creek Rd. to 10 - done for the season. Also there was a note in the paper discouraging people form going on the hill. I glassed the hill from Spraddle Creek Rd & it looks like they've track-packed the whole west mtn.
I hit Vail Pass instead & found it to be pretty thin in most spots. This spot was good for those who recognize, but its got 8 tracks now & room for maybe 2 more:
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net...85329908_n.jpg
Observed a lot of fracturing in the newest 4" layer, sliding on the older 4" base. That's right - 8" base in a lot of places, Vail Mtn had way better coverage.
I do get my pass tomorrow.... :D
^^ West side is cat packed now...a few spots still not packed but mostly they've run it over trying to start that base. VP has missed most of the storms so far this year for some reason and is thin for sure. Thanks for the pic and update. Lifts spin Friday....woot woot.
Can't wait!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by montanaskier
EV got loaded in the storm. Trees were pretty white. Everywhere else, no white. Kind of cool to see the orographics so clearly.
Went up to the top of Vail from the Mill Creek closure today and headed to some zones that get loaded by wind. Definitely did its magic and it also happened to be decently stable in our isolated area - be careful out there though! Super fun boottop pow to shin-deep pow, even got a faceshot. There's a pretty good base up there, so it was really nice to finally get aggressive. Got 4 laps of really fun pow turns in. I think PoopGhost got a picture of our first tracks.
Also skied 3 laps down Highline on Saturday before the benefit, and skied with KillingCokes and a few others on Trelease on Sunday. Lots of fun wind features, but the exit to the highway was interesting to say the least. I think KillingCokes got some good shots.
After 3 days of a lot of skinning and skiing, my legs are shot. Feels damn good.
Aw, now I'm really regretting not coming out to Trelease on Sunday. I'm such a lightweight - between the hangover from drinking at the benefit and the high winds and what I figured would be no base down in the trees I just wasn't excited for Trelease at all. Hopefully next time...Quote:
Originally Posted by Lindahl
We had to get pretty high to find a base - right around treeline. The exit was 30min of sideslipping and sidestepping down rocks and logs. There was probably a better descent route, but we got down. Gonna be workin the base repair iron on the skis tomorrow for sure. HahQuote:
Originally Posted by SheRa
Skinned up Vail on Sunday. It was good.
http://i.imgur.com/CnlCrh.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/2PtWrh.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/VBQoE.jpg
Lindahl, Poopghost, and the others...way to get after it.
My Leadership conference was SOOOO much more core, though.
http://stk.tetongravity.com/forums/a...3&d=1321385932
Nothing EXTREME on the camera - but a beautiful day for a long skin.
Yeah, too bad the best of it wasn't photographable. Once we laid those first tracks over to the second zone, I could get enough speed to get some decent air on the entrance rollover to that second section. Super fun. Just after you left, 2 more groups showed up, though they only did 1-2 laps in the lower zone. By the end of the day, there wasn't a lot of room for too many more tracks, maybe 2-3. Still great for ripping, though probably not worth it based on how long it takes to get up there.
Anybody coming to Sandbar tonite? One for the Road purportedly starts at 8:30 for $5. I'm sure Broncos will be on in the background. See you there - I'll be tebowing on the bar for the win... and the film. FKNA!
Been skunked these last few weeks, which has been forcing us to get out further than usual. That said, the snow is still good, and is still skiing boot-top deep. It's definitely thicker than when it fell, but still really surfy if you have the right skis.
On Saturday, GoldenBear, Joe4186, myself and a non-mag got a good couple laps in. We engaged in a bit of extreme skinning to get in and out, noting that there were probably much better ways. On our first lap, we looked at some steeper terrain, but none of us were feeling that confident in its stability. On our second lap, we decided to take a closer look and do some digging just to see what it looked like. Sure-enough, as soon as we began digging, the snowpack dropped a couple inches, sending energy out across the suspect slope. Not being able to safely see over the rollover to analyze consequences, we stuck to the trees on a less dramatic pitch.
GoldenBear getting after it:
http://img718.imageshack.us/img718/6236/dsc02048m.jpg
Joe4186 enjoying a turn or two:
http://img851.imageshack.us/img851/2228/dsc02042h.jpg
Non-mag Anthony's final slash of the day (photo by GoldenBear):
http://img64.imageshack.us/img64/648/anthonyy.jpg
On Sunday, SheRa, KillingCokes, myself, and a couple non-mags got out to poke around a new area for most of us. A long but relatively straight-forward approach delivered us to the top. I'm not sure why everyone else chose to bootpack. Skinning was way easier.
A couple of dogs followed us up from our parking spot, so it looked like we had some new friends for our adventure:
http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/6685/dsc02058uh.jpg
As we traversed around the side, our gully came into view. A ski cut showed real propogation across a semi-hard slab, but no full release and slow movement. We talked about the consequences of a potential slide, understanding that there was a high probability if we chose to ski. We all felt comfortable with the overall risk assessment and came up with a plan to minimize the relatively low consequences: skiing fast and using a series of benches and safe zones to break up the pitch.
Looking at our first line near the trees before dropping the second line:
http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/7748/gullys.jpg
The turns on the second lap were just as good as the first. The dogs loved it so much, they also went back up for seconds.
http://img580.imageshack.us/img580/2492/dsc02064rn.jpg
We eventually found the end of the turning, and the beginning of the scraping, so we took off our skis and booted down the skinny drainage to the road.
http://img52.imageshack.us/img52/2959/slogout.jpg
On the up I switched to booting above treeline simply for some different kind of exercise...mix it up.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lindahl
I love skiing around that area and that was def my idea of a good time early season. Nice weather, good company - not just the dogs!, a mountain to climb, untracked snow stretched before my eye. My wailers skied real nice even in snow that was a tad slow/heavy/catchy and I was glad for the shorter length when we got down in the shrubbery.
Now off to Florida for some beach inspection and to see how much turkey will fit into my belly while wearing a bikini. Fritz, I'm gonna make me a food baby just like yours. :D
Let it snow. Please Ullr.
Hit the pass before work on Sunday. Hangovers stopped us from getting too high but we still had fun. Snow was dense but still surfy and entertaining.
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Here's some loveland pass stoke from today. It skied really well. It was also tons of fun.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net...083_n.jpg?dl=1
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net...048_n.jpg?dl=1
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net...430_n.jpg?dl=1
Got out to the Bald Spot yesterday. Did some recon on the east side and played around with the snow and cornices. Didn't dig a pit (probably the usual suspects: windslabs on top of depth hoar), but couldn't get anything to go deep on short rollovers, steep windrifts or by cutting cornices. No woompfing either. I did notice that there was a slick crust right underneath the new snow (3-4") that was very slide-prone. It'll be interesting to see what happens with the next couple of big storms - might see lots of fast-moving slides on this slick bed surface.
The north side was thin of course, but still got some good turns in. It's definitely thinner than it looks in the photo, as the spot is essentially one big boulder field on the north side.
http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/9930/img0345yg.jpg
The creek exit was pretty interesting. Was able to ride the whole thing, but it was definitely sketchy. Had to cross a ton of logs and hop back and forth across the creek quite a bit. Haven't been down there with such low coverage before.
One of the best parts is that it dumps you out onto resort runs that haven't opened yet (which are also a bit thin).
http://img412.imageshack.us/img412/9431/img0348zo.jpg
looks good. went to keystone with my gaper roommates yesterday, it was crowded (as expected) but skiing alright.
Looking to hook up with some mags this winter for some good lines since all my friends here are hacks. I like fine wine, blower pow, and long skins on the beach. Still pre-season out of shape. Will bring the lulz.
It does look thin but nice -- Is that the west side (LL) or the east side (A-basin)? I'm wondering what the trees are like as you exit the bowl toward the LL switchback, I know they are short but I like them (and the comfortable rest areas within) Are the trees just a stump jumping nightmare, I've never been early seasonQuote:
Originally Posted by zartagen
LL side. The more direct tree runs are packed and not bad at all. The far side trees that can shoot you out a little downhill of the switchback were alright, only a few thin spots and was not at all a stump jumping nightmare. Only a few logs and other stuff to avoid. I also didn't hit any rocks above treeline. It's all hardslab/skier-packed.Quote:
Originally Posted by daviski
I just heard from a friend that the EV sheriff statue is missing. He skied it last week and didn't see him. Does he get put away for the summer or did someone take him?
I do remember he was completely buried by March last season. That was cool.
The EV Sheriff is not a statue, rather he's a prominent photographer...
The bootpack statue was there this summer... if it was anybody, it was somebody in a VR vehicle. Maybe he moved to Mushie for the season to mix it up
Since this is bumped, anybody who's interested in checking out the Birds of Prey venue should sign-up for a volunteer day Tues/Wed/Thurs for the bonus races... they're having a hard time getting volly numbers so far. Come see some butch chicks in speedsuits!
Hoping for some more U.S. domination tomorrow (if Bode can make it thru Russi's) - USA!