Printable View
Queued up the vids for later, but I hope he comes back just cuz of how crazy it is for him to ski the way he does at his age after all his injuries. Despite the goofy shit he says and does sometimes, the dude is resilient if nothing else.Quote:
Originally Posted by nordekette
I'm really curious to see Baqueria-Beret. We see lots of about the Swiss, Italian and French Alps, but much less about the Pyrenees. I've seen great Andorra footage, both in TGR videos and in contests, but I've seen very little of Baqueria-Beret and I've always been curious.
I've always figured that if I wanted to live in Europe and do the live at the beach and surf but still ski about 40 days a year lifestyle I've got here than it would be the Atlantic coast of France, spending weekends in Andorra or Baqueria-Beret. I've always figured Baqueria-Beret must be quite a bit better than Mammoth, but I've never really seen the footage of it the way I have with Verbier or Cham or any of the famous places. The Pyrenees seem more mysterious and interesting to me.
How so? I mean... Mammoth and the adjacent backcountry is pretty world class. Quite a bit better?Quote:
Originally Posted by Long duc dong
The locals of Baqueira Beret speak very highly of it and there’s no doubt the lift-accessed terrain (with a little hiking added) is significantly more impressive than Mammoth (let’s exclude the true backcountry skiing in the Eastern Sierra—Mammoth lifts don’t help to access that). The downside is that snowfall and surface conditions are inconsistent.
I’ve never been, but it strikes me as the type of place that would be awesome to live near when you can pick and choose your days.
Check out Aymar’s videos and Adria Millan for more from Baqueira Beret.
Resilient as fuck. He is a good follow on Instagram. Dude has been grinding since his most recent surgery.Quote:
Originally Posted by gramboh
Speaking of old guys (relative) doing insane shit, are any more impressive than Tabke and Barkered? I really hope to see both of those guys in the field this season.
Sarcasm Meter broken on my side? I mean I've only seen pictures of mammoth, but honestly......Quote:
Originally Posted by TahoeJ
And even if you include some remote california wilderness, do you have any idea how Vast and wild AND accessible the pyrenees are?
Baqueira is one of the few places I've actually considered going to in the pyrenees. Really nice Terrain.
Edit: this is lift accessed.(mostly ..I played around with some maps and found nearly everything in the ski area)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BYZ7NSj_6m0
They still have the snow issue of the pyrenees. And it must be one of the rare Winters when the Alps get much less snow.
And longduc: The (good) waves are abdurdly crowded there...But coming from California that would be a none issue for you [emoji6] and summer can be REALLY slow wave wise. that'swhy I tend to hang out on the emerald Isle.
Nice video!!Quote:
Originally Posted by subtle plague
That makes it look really fun.
The faces around 2 minutes in are nuts. I wonder how accessible that zone is from the resort.
I have heard the snow in Europe can be very hit or miss. I have never skied there, which is sad, and I don't really have an idea of how it compares to the Sierra. My ski bum years were done in Squaw, so the vast majority of the ski days I have had in my life have been at either Mammoth or Squaw. I guess it is hard for me to know about consistency in Europe and how it compares. I always assume the pistes were icy, but the off-piste had coverage that was similar to the Sierra. My Squaw years were late 90s/early 2000s, and that period was very consistent. There were a couple of very good seasons, and then some average to slightly above average years. Squaw is really fun in an average season.
Let’s hope they get some decent snow in the Pyrenees this season. 2 rounds over that way and nothing in Chamonix, Japan or the US is a shame but I guess it’s hard for them to get resorts to sign up
Pyrenees are really fickle. Even more so than the fickle southern alps. If they get snow it can get warm quickly.
And precip is lower in general than in the alps. It's actually similar to the Sierra latitude wise and snow wise. If it dumps, it dumps. They rarely have those 20/30cm refreshs like the Northern alps.
Will the vulcano ashes from las palmas have an impact on the european winter? Or is all the dust blown over to south america?Quote:
Originally Posted by subtle plague
Yes. Honestly.Quote:
Originally Posted by subtle plague
I'd give Mammoth the nod in every category except adjacent sidecountry. Also, you do the know the Sierra is roughly 4 times the size of the vast and wild Pyrenees. And it is also extremely accessible. Also, Mammoth's base is above Baqueira's summit.
I'd love to ski the Pyrenees. Spent 3 days day hiking around Formigal in Oct 2019. Twas hot but nobody around and beautiful.
Sent from my SM-G991U1 using Tapatalk
Uh huh. You have seen the video? 80+% is basically inbounds.(as in European reachable by lifts)Quote:
Originally Posted by powdork
And the back country in the val daran alone is well huge. If you start in including all of california I counter with the alps because you know..equal distance. You'll lose [emoji6]
Unless you've been to baqueira and I misjudge the maps I highly doubt mammoth can even remotely compete.
https://www.bergfex.at/baqueira-beret/
Click on the blue "karte "(or map if bergfex changes to an English version?)and play around with the osm bergfex map. You see really cool stuff right from the lifts.
And concerning the base area altitude: you know that baqueira is basically at the same latitude as Oregon?
so I don't really see the point of comparing them [emoji6]
ignoring me hurts even more than a fucking snobbish yes or no
Southern Oregon. Yes I watched the movie. I'm willing to bet from how long the powder lasted on the large faces (2:00) that the best scenes in there were the OB scenes. Do you think there aren't powder day movies from mammoth?Quote:
Originally Posted by subtle plague
Baquiera gets the edge in size 4700 vs 3500+ acres.
Baquiera gets the slight edge in vertical (extra 300')
Mammoth gets a huge advantage in altitude.
Mammoth gets more than double the average snowfall.
Mammoth's season regularly runs from the beginning of November thru memorial Day and often beyond
Mammoth gets a huge advantage for their parks.
Can't be sure but the idea I get from the maps is that Mammoth has much more in the way of tree skiing.
Mammoth has a vastly superior lift system
So while I'm not gonna say one is better than the other, to say Mammoth isn't in the same league just isn't true.
Mammoth Powder Day (all lower mountain)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NJ_oN7P_QE
Recap of the 9 month 16/17 season
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veWify0mJg0
And since this is the FWT thread, this is the precursor to the FWT at Mammoth. Due to huge storms they had to hold the contest on this limited vertical ridge. This one's mine. Sorry about the quality but it was 2008. Alkasquawlik (in purple) won the abbreviated event
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmlYBA8-tyI
i wouldn't think so unless it's still ashing when the storms come. if ash falls on powder it will melt much faster i would assume and could have a similar effect as sandstorms. and snow generally forms more readily when there are tiny particulates in the air. So if the volcano is still erupting it could have an effect but who knowsQuote:
Originally Posted by nordekette
^^^
Despite being part of Spain the Canary Islands are very far away from Spain. Especially the Pyrenees and winter storm systems generally come from the northern Atlantic into the Pyrenees. Not from the west coast of Africa. Volcano certainly has the potential to give some hurricanes as almost all Atlantic hurricanes originate near the Canary Islands due to Saharan and blowing off the continent colliding with Atlantic moisture around the islands. I’d love to see more comps in NA but the fact is the resorts are hesitant to host.
That was different! Ha.Quote:
Originally Posted by nordekette
When I was covering the Nissan Quest events it seemed like Hale Woods wanted more than the resorts wanted to give, and had a hard time dealing with the FS to have events outside resorts. And they had a horrible string of luck with storms and some poor decision making that ended up with all events at least moved to lesser venues and abbreviated. I think their experience with US events just left a bad taste in their mouths.Quote:
Originally Posted by altacoup
Old school (poor quality) from some of their other freeskiing comp venues There are 4 different venues on the mountain, the one I posted earlier is on the mountain in a permanently closed area, 'Oh Shit Ridge'.
Kiwi Flats. First run is Guerlain Chicherit, second two are Shane. The Gravity Games
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNKgyo_o-_s
'Top of the World' from I don't know
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gt2ROlEswQ&t=1s
But the best freeskiing face inbounds in California is at Kirkwood, and that's Vail.
Chicherit that dude was a beast. Had the pleasure of skiing some laps with him @ Alta years ago before one of the old Bird comps. Dude opened my eyes as to what was possible in less than ideal conditions.
Sent from my iPad using TGR Forums
I can't find the other vids, but the big cliff faces are lift served cap de vaqueira north face. (Pretty scary because some lines end in big cliffs) I did my research some years ago because I considered going. Pyrenees 7 years ago means pow for ages....hell I still know a spot or two in the alps that do last a while.Quote:
Originally Posted by powdork
Cap and tuc du vaciver also have pretty Intimidating terrain right of the lift.
Snowfall is an issue. That's why I've never gone.
I don't know how you measure this acres thing ( no Euro resort gives you that number?), but did you include all terrain or just groomers? I mean the distance from one furthest lift in the North to the one in the south is about 10km and east to west is about 3 to 4km. So that corridor is a conservative 30-40km2 so roughly 6000-8000acres.
I still wonder whether the fwt will change the crowds there. I know it hasn't for arcalis because arcalis' terrain sux. [emoji3] (even the contest face is meh)
I didn’t really want to start a pissing match but the idea of just dismissing Mammoth and, uh, the entire Eastern Sierra like that didn’t really sit right with me. Anyone who dismisses those mountains has no idea what they’re talking about. I guarantee no one on the tour would do that.
; ) thanks it is more about subtle never gives me longterm forcasts. But guys i dont want to interupt you with what skiarea has a bigger.... face.... or what....Quote:
Originally Posted by powdork
I will never find out. But isnt rod93xx our local down there?
He likes it.... and he could compare as he knows both i guess....
Paging rod!
I thought he was in chamonix when he was there.
I have absolutely no clue about the eastern Sierra so I didn't want to wade into that battle, but I'm fairly set on the resort battle front [emoji6]Quote:
Originally Posted by TahoeJ
My wild Pyrenees comment was more in the direction that the back country options are also pretty big there.
Long term snow forecasts?Am I from the Netherlands? [emoji6]Quote:
Originally Posted by nordekette
Volcano eruptions don't have any effect on the weather, except when they're so huge that they cool the climate.
But since the canaries are hot spot volcanos you don't have huge explosive eruptions.
ummmm, yellowstone is a hot spot.Quote:
Originally Posted by subtle plague
I think the point is Canary Islands are like Hawaii, constant small eruptions, versus Mt. St. Helens, blowing the top 3,000 ft off the mountain and changing world wide weather patterns for months.
I don't know what makes a better venue, Mammoth vs. Pyranees, but avoiding CA personally injury attorneys and US liability laws is enough to give Euro venues the edge.
yeah i got that, but hotspot eruptions can be huge. FWIW I don't think Mammoth is all that good as a venue, and I'm not recommending it as that. There are plenty of other spots in the Sierra much better suited.Quote:
Originally Posted by altasnob
The whole Mammoth vs Pyrenees argument sounds like "tell me you haven't skied in Europe, without telling me you haven't skied in Europe". I'd argue there isn't a ski area in the U.S. that could compare to most European resorts in terms of size and access.
Here’s a venue lineup:
January:
1) Hakuba
2) Jackson Hole
February
3) Kicking Horse/Revelstoke
4) St Anton
March
5) Monterosa (Alagna)
6) La Grave
April
7) Chamonix
8) Verbier
I like it! Only change would potentially be Jackson. Where would the venue be? Everything is pretty short compared to the Euro stops. Maybe trade it for Snowbird, Tram Face at Squaw (if it's in), or maybe Big Sky? Off the top of my head, very few venues in The States worthy of a FWT stop. Kirkwood meets the bill for sure, but I'm struggling to think of any venues with more than 1000 feet of vert.Quote:
Originally Posted by bobinch
Oh! and what about Fieberbrunn? I really like that venue.
I didn't mean to dismiss that area at all. I spent about half my weekends in college at Mammoth, and I spend about half there now. I spent half a decade skiing Squaw. I absolutely love the Sierra. I always find it funny when I hear people in socal talk about 'skiing out of state' as if it is much better than what is found in California. California compares favorably to any state in the US when it comes to skiing. I don't want to get people to start comparing things, but I think lots of socal people don't realize that they have one of the truly great mountain in North America within weekend shooting distance. Judging by the crowds, obviously many DO realize it. But I sometimes hear them talk about going to Colorado ski much better mountains, and I don't think they really get what they have here.Quote:
Originally Posted by TahoeJ
I have never skied in Europe, so it is really hard for me to know how it compares. I have seen tons of footage/photos of Cham/Verbier and those spots, I just don't know all that much about the Pyrenees. I think most would say that Verbier is in a different league than Mammoth, but I am not the person to ask as I ski Mammoth, not Verbier.
I grew up skiing back east. Sorry to piss anyone off, but the mountains in the Sierra DESTROY the places in New York and Vermont that I skied as a kid. I would think we can all agree on that. :D
I feel incredibly lucky that my winter weekends are a decision between Mammoth, or Baldy and maybe some surfing. I also think that among big resorts in the US Mammoth is one of the most underrated.
Powdork,
I would agree that Mammoth is not necessarily the best place to hold an inbounds comp. Don't get me wrong, I love the mountain, but while it does have some technical steeps and cliffs it's more about long, open lines. I have never competed, even when Iived in Tahoe I sucked, but I would guess that for a comp you want long lines with multiple cruxes. There is not really a whole lot of that in Mammoth. In the Paranoids area you could start in the P4/Kiwi area, but once you are done with that there is not another area below it. Unless you are doing something NUTS like Guerlain it does not offer a whole lot of options with multiple cruxes.
Back when I lived in Tahoe (I left in 2004) some of my buddies competed in a comp at Mammoth. I guess the guy who won on the first day straightlined the Paraniods. The last day was held in the Top of the World, which is a sick place to start, but you would want at least one more zone below that. Don't get me wrong, I love seeing guys ski the TOTW and rip lines I ski VERY slowly and cautiously, and that is only in big years, but you want a bit more for a comp. I'm trying to remember who put that contest on, but it was a ways back.
I think years ago they were going to do the final day of the Mammoth comp at Mt. Mcgee. I'm not sure if that ever happened.
The line Guerlain Chicherit put down is still one of my favorites to watch. What is crazy is how different what he did was compared to everyone else. I actually saw this on TV back after it happened. I saw guys like McConkey, Kreitler, I think Davenport, maybe Gordy Pfeiffer, all guys I had been watching in movies for a while. Then this French guy I had never heard of comes in and just goes nuts. I wish there was more footage of Chicherit available.
Acres is the total inbounds area, not just groomers.Quote:
Originally Posted by subtle plague
This europe vs mammoth debate is baffling my mind. European skiing accesses terrain at a scale and scope so far beyond anything in the USA that they may as well be different sports. They are completly different. Its really not even worth the energy to try and compare the two.
Regarding the FWT, has there been an athlete list published yet?
Who said Europe vs Mammoth. this was Baqueira vs Mammoth. And it was said they can't even be compared to each other. It's true. Mammoth is sooo much fucking better than that 15 rope tow, 3rd world country 'resort'.Quote:
Originally Posted by The Artist Formerly Known as Leavenworth Skier
Also, your entire quote is completely full of shit. 100%. To say they are not comparable just shows how ignorant you are.
Okay, you mad bro?
When skiers leave Cham to go to Alaska
Quote:
It can be hard to leave the Chamonix ski scene especially in spring when the more ephemeral lines come into condition. But I was hungry for a big adventure, the type of adventure that the Alps can’t quite provide. We invited Ben Briggs and Enrico Mossetti to round off an experienced team. Ben, Enrico and I had skied the first descent of the Caroline Face of Mt. Cook on our last trip together in 2017, one of the world’s biggest unskied lines. I knew a trip with these three good friends would mean our sights would likely be set on some fairly ambitious ski mountaineering objectives.