2012 Montana Conditions, Stoke and Whatev Thread

[Bunion 2020]

So many funny stories from the early wild west days at Big Sky. When I got here in 91 those days were just coming to an end.

Were control charges manually dropped in the high aspect parts of before the original tram? I know that artillery was used at one point.

Prior to the land swap Big Sky was partially USFS so Artillery (75 mm RR and then I "think" a 105 RR were used). After the 1982 Bowl post control accident, a very near miss in the what is now Challenger pod and D. Stutzman's death in Snakepit some guy named Bruce Tremper was hired to modernize the Snow Safety program. With the land swap there was a loss of the artillery so the rope tow was built along with the purchase of an avalauncher. Riding that rope tow was easily the most dangerous thing I ever did as a patroller. Sketchy snow coverage, a 40 degree turn 1/2 way up and having to call a stop on the radio when you reached to top kept things spicy. Not open to the public.

Patrol would ride the rope tow to the top and then if the pockets and 3rd shoulder were fat there was a bomb tram on the rope tow tower. The method was to attach a shot to the bomb tram, crank like hell to get the shot located and then climb up the tower. When the shot went off the slide would usually split around the tower. You did need to make certain your skis/poles were tied off. When I was working at PCMR we exchanged with Big Sky and the stories told by the folks we sent were incredible. Sounded like an interesting place to work.

The avalauncher was used to shoot at all the upper pockets and occasionally when things were fat, a hand route would hike to the summit and hand charge all the rest of the spots the avalauncher missed or didn't affect. Then they would do a hand route in Marx and if all went well, open that for hiking and "if" the weather held a day or so later, a Lenin hand route would happen. Lenin proper, no skiing to the south of Dictator 2B. And finally if the weather held, a route would happen in Stutzmans Bowl (Liberty). Getting back to the base area was a slog on alpine gear and usually the skiing was kind of wind fucked.

OTOH I did have a couple of epic runs off the top.

[byates1]

Wow. Cool af. Thx.

[swimmy]

Super fun out there today. Stellar weather, nice snow, and good crew.





Skiing is the best!

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

Super fun out there today. Stellar weather, nice snow, and good crew.





Skiing is the best!

:::high five:::

We even took a walk to the dark side and found some real nice snow over there too. Hell, is it winter or something?!



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[Whiteroom_Guardian]

Ask for change and get a sticker.

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[upallnight]

Super fun out there today. Stellar weather, nice snow, and good crew.





Skiing is the best!

It's the wisps of snow that does it for me. Wow!! Bravo!

[Gnar_Shralp406]

:::high five:::

We even took a walk to the dark side and found some real nice snow over there too. Hell, is it winter or something?!



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Great shots! What'd you guys ski?

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[Whiteroom_Guardian]

Great shots! What'd you guys ski?

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Just one Hellroaring. Wind really moved some snow in there. I heard patrol in the tram saying Jack and Rock today or tomorrow? Forgot to look and see if anyone had skied them after we got down.

[Gnar_Shralp406]

Just one Hellroaring. Wind really moved some snow in there. I heard patrol in the tram saying Jack and Rock today or tomorrow? Forgot to look and see if anyone had skied them after we got down.

Nice! Jack/Rock weren't open when I hiked around 11. Fingers crossed for tomorrow! Jack to rock is one of my favorites.

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[usdatele]

Heck yea! Thanks for the shred guys! Beautiful day up there.....

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[swimmy]

USDA won't admit this publicly but the one ride in a heated, bubble seat was enough that he's now saving up for his gold pass

[swimmy]

It's the wisps of snow that does it for me. Wow!! Bravo!

Thanks!! Conditions off the summit were near perfect. Perfect, wind groomed slope with a few inches of fresh. My buddy said it was like skiing on a pool table.

Nice! Jack/Rock weren't open when I hiked around 11. Fingers crossed for tomorrow! Jack to rock is one of my favorites

Patrol also said North Summit was a maybe today. Then again, I think they say that every day.

[Talisman]

Isn't this one of the confirmed signs of the coming apocalypse?

USDA won't admit this publicly but the one ride in a heated, bubble seat was enough that he's now saving up for his gold pass

[slcdawg]

If she climbs, mtn bikes, kayaks and skis she could be an 8 year student of Uni @ BB.

Haha. Nice!

[slcdawg]

Super fun out there today. Stellar weather, nice snow, and good crew.





Skiing is the best!

Da-amn!

[upallnight]

Thanks!! Conditions off the summit were near perfect. Perfect, wind groomed slope with a few inches of fresh. My buddy said it was like skiing on a pool table.

"Near perfect"? What could have made it better?

Sounds "perfect" to me!

When the wind grooms the alpine flat it is DAMN nice!

[swimmy]

"Near perfect"? What could have made it better?

Sounds "perfect" to me!

When the wind grooms the alpine flat it is DAMN nice!

The top 400' or so was variable snow due to wind effect. That rest of the run though was fantastic!

[Gaffney10]

Headed down to the Big. What’s the play today? Shed/Dakota sun baked or still skiing well?

[swimmy]

Headed down to the Big. What’s the play today? Shed/Dakota sun baked or still skiing well?

Day before yesterday wind had gotten to some of the exposed terrain on Dakota/Shedhorn. I'm sure yesterday the sun also had an effect.

My friend skied North Summit yesterday and it looked fantastic. I'd start there and then hit headwaters.

Wish I was gettin' out today. Weather looks to be fantastic.

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

It's a north side or lower elevation sun warmed groomer day for sure. I'll be there with the GF and an older buddy of mine just noodling around.

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[Bunion 2020]

Bill & Ann and some former patrollers from Utah are heading down now with sunny noodling in mind. I am a bit behind but leaving soon. Look for us. Gang ski on blues and greens.

[Trackhead]

This is one of my favorite pics in this thread.....maybe because it reminds me of being young and brave, and conjuring up big plans to ski stupid shit. Would be a good marketing photo.

[Eastern Sierra Skier]

Goddam, man - warmup on The Big?? That's aggressive.

Reminds me of a trip we took to Taos a few weeks ago - my eldest (22) convinced me we should do St. Bernard chute as our warmup run.

The things we do to try to keep up with our kids.

[Eastern Sierra Skier]

This is a timely post. I'm headed to Bozeman at the end of the month to check out MSU with my daughter (HS senior). Looks like a fun place to go to school!

If she climbs, mtn bikes, kayaks and skis she could be an 8 year student of Uni @ BB.

My kid some how has worked it with his classes that he has gotten in 62 days so far this season.

[anotherVTskibum]

My kid some how has worked it with his classes that he has gotten in 62 days so far this season.

MSU Bozeman was one of two schools on my short list after going through a sorting program with things like size, location (city size), programs, etc. I ended up going to the other school (in Vermont) without visiting Montana.

Had I visited Bozeman, I'm pretty sure I would've gone and stayed. I'm still not sure if that would have been good or bad from a big picture standpoint (my parents wouldn't have been particularly fond of an eight-year program at the University of Bridger Bowl, and I'm not sure I had the maturity at the time to make enough smart decisions to finish in four in that environment), but I'll probably wonder for a long time.