Paedde’s US Snow Safari 2006 – Trip Report and Pics

[paedde]

9:15 pm report from Bridger

8“of new snow and the only had 1“at 4pm

Next powder day tomorrow

[baseWeldr]

11:3am bridger phone said 29in so far
:::::::::::::::::::::<--dumping
nice timing paedde!

[Endlessseason]

The guy is Mr. Timing. Can you freaking believe that? He decides on Sunday night to leave a Mon-Tue forecast of several inches here in SLC for Bozeman where only a few inches are forecast. Not only does it end up not snowing in SL, but he gets a freakish 29" at BB! The most snow in the entire country.
It would not be a bad idea to follow him around. He's got the nose.

[Endlessseason]

...oh yeah, almost forgot, it might be noticed from the above pics that he chose Snowbasin last week and we skied 17" during the same period of time the Cottonwoods got 6 or 7.

[fez]

those surprise big days at bridger rule. the ones that catch everyone in town not paying attention and you get a sweet day of pow with no one around.

[Bodhi]

...I want an 8 week vacation.

Become a teacher.

peace,
D.

[Ak_pride]

holy shiit! http://www.bridgerbowl.com/mediagall...eo/2006/02/21/

[paedde]

holy shiit! http://www.bridgerbowl.com/mediagall...eo/2006/02/21/

It was like that all day long and it's still snowing hard up there.

Report and pics to follow.

[paedde]

Day 25 Epic Powder Skiing Bridger Bowl

What can I say….. Eeeeeeeppppppiiiiiiiccccc, awesome, f%#ing unbelievable, not from this planet, skiing like in heaven and there isn’t any better then this.

9pm yesterday 8”
6am this morning 17”
7am 18”
9am 22”
11am 29”
5pm I don’t know but I’m sure it was more then 35” and sure more then 40” in places. Sometimes my poles which are 123cm where not long enough to hit the old crust.

I met a local guy Rodger from the “Barking Bear Forum” and he skied 2h with me to show me the mountain. Unfortunately he had to go to work after this.

The first runs where like heliskiing for U$ 39. I had to stop after every few turns just to get air and make sure not to fall of a cliff or hit a tree. Don’t ask me how many faceshots I got today. I was more like a permanent shot all the way down for the first half of the day and after this not a single run without a dozent shot. This is probably as light as snow can be. It snowed so hard that you could ski the same lines again after a few hours. Yelling all over the mountain all day long. There wasn’t anyone who had anything to complain today. Not even the fact that ski patrol had to close the upper South as well as North Bowl due to avalanche risk. The Ridge was not open all day long. If they open the Ridge tomorrow it’s going to be chest deep.

The lift lines where not bad at all. About 5-10 min in the morning, around 5 at lunch time and less then 2min after 2pm. I just couldn’t stop skiing all day long which means 7h of non-stop fun.

What else can I say to a day like this? Eeeeeeeppppppiiiiiiiccccc, awesome, f%#ing unbelievable, not from this planet, skiing like in heaven and there isn’t any better then this.

Pics are not that great today. It was difficult due to the heavy snow the camera didn’t know on what to focus and on many other pics there was just snow and the guys covered in snow. In addition I just had no time to stop.

[paedde]

The guy is Mr. Timing. Can you freaking believe that? He decides on Sunday night to leave a Mon-Tue forecast of several inches here in SLC for Bozeman where only a few inches are forecast. Not only does it end up not snowing in SL, but he gets a freakish 29" at BB! The most snow in the entire country.
It would not be a bad idea to follow him around. He's got the nose.

Would have been great to spend that day with you up here. Hope we can do that in SLC in a few weeks.

Now Mr. Timing has to work on the schedule for the next 7 days.

[meatdrink9]

Kick ass. That looks amazing.

[Endlessseason]

Ummmmmm. Whaddya got for us today, Paedde?

[paedde]

Day 26 Powder Skiing Bridger Bowl Day 2

Yet another great powder day but with some “earn your turns”

Only 2” over night but 34” in 24h isn’t too bad at all.

All areas which have been open yesterday provided mainly tracked powder with occasional untracked areas in the trees. Still very good powder skiing but by far not as good as yesterday.

Due to this there wasn’t another way then start hiking around lunch time. This is probably the most frustrating hiking I’ve ever done. The hiking is going right along an existing Poma which used to be open years ago. Locals complained about having too many skiers on the ridge and the decided to use it for ski patrol only. It’s a steep way up and once in a while a ski patrol will pass you carrying a couple of skis so if you are very lucky you don’t need to carry your skis. Unfortunately today all the local took a snow day and started to hike like crazy. There where hundreds of guys going up to the ridge but even after lunch there were some untracked lines to be found. It was waist deep all the way down into North Bowl.

The lines today did almost match the once at the Jackson Hole Gondola. Up to 19min to get on the Bridger Chair. Even after lunch it was still about 10min.

A great resort to enjoy powder day and for sure a great resort for beginner, intermediate and advance skier. Without new snow I would probably not like it too much or only for a day.

[sculhane]

Good for you that you're getting the 39$ heliskiing BB is a cool little mountain, glad you enjoyed it.

When are you leaving? I should know by the end of next week whether I'll be able to make it mid March, this damn project is killing me...

Steve

[paedde]

Departure 23rd of March from Las Vegas.

Todays report will follow. Pooooowwwwwddddddeeeeeerrrrrrr

[paedde]

Day 27 Travel and Powder Skiing Montana Snowbowl

Hard to believe but yes I got another great powder day.

At 6am I checked all snow reports of any resort within 4h driving and only Montana Snowbowl reported 6”. This resort is on my way west and therefore I decided to drive there and start skiing a bit later then usually. After 210 miles and just under 3h I arrived at the resort. Easy driving along I-90 and terrible driving up to the mountain. Very icy road for the last 4 miles.

First big surprise was the parking lot. At 10:45 only a few hundred cars and I could already see that there was almost nobody on the chair.
Tickets are U$ 34

During the first ride on the chair I got the impression that there was not a good base but this changed half way up. I also had to change my mind regarding the size of the resort. The trail map makes it much smaller then it really is. In fact this resort will keep you busy for days especially with new snow and if you like tree skiing a lot.

Now the best part: Boot and knee deep untracked and light tracked powder for the rest of the day. Hard to believe but without any hiking I got amazing tree skiing and even some faceshots. After the first 3 runs I met Scott a local guy. He invited me to a private tour and showed me the nice untracked stuff. Thanks for that!

Now a word to the lines. Always right to the chair not even one chair all day. How good is this compared with yesterday’s 19min line….

Unfortunately no actions pics today but a few to show the nice powder in the trees.

[paedde]

Day 28 Powder day at Montana Snowbowl

With 4” over night the Snowbowl got the most snow in the area. Together with the snow from the last 48h and the wind over night it should be a great powder day.

Today I got first chair thanks to “Volantaddict” from the “Barking Bear Forum”. He is one if this guys waiting in line for an hour before opening. When I arrived at the chair it was about 9:10 and only a dozen or two other guys where already waiting. By 9:30 a few more but still not bad at all.

The mountain was covered in light and untouched powder. The wind really did a great job. Boot and knee keep powder almost everywhere. Today the mountain got tracked a bit faster then yesterday. By late afternoon it was still possible to find untouched powder but not all the way down.

Another great day and for sure a mountain to ski again asap.

I should mention the apr&#232;s ski. There’s a bar at the base where all the locals meet right after skiing. Lot’s of beer and great conversation. A place where you can easily meet the always friendly locals.

No new snow in the forecast and my legs are killing me if I ski another day without a break.

[paedde]

Day 29 Travel from Missoula to Seattle

6h 30min net driving. Easy drive with nice weather all the way. During adverse weather this trip could take much more time and with the mountain passes in between may even be impossible in one day.

I stopped for a coffee on the Lockout Pass which is 100miles and 1h 20’ from Missoula. The resort is right on the Idaho / Montana boarder. Looks like a nice family resort and not busy even on a weekend. I might be wrong because I could only see the base are. Day pass is U$23 weekdays and U$26 on weekends. If you travel from the west don’t forget that they are running the resort on Pacific Time.

Another ski resort on the way is “The Summit at Snoqualmie”

About 5 to 6 powder days in the forecast.

One pic which showed the base of “Lockout Pass Ski Resort”

[paedde]

Day 30 No skiing – Sightseeing Seattle

My legs defiantly need a day off. Only Mt. Baker reported 12”. I’m spoiled by the look of it. How can I possible take a day off with 12” of powder? Almost for sure it’s not the very light powder as temperatures hovering around freezing with a light inversion as well.

Day 31 No skiing – Rain and mixed precipitation for all resort

I checked the snow reports this morning but as forecasted nothing to be excited about. All resorts have light rain at least at the base some even all the way to the top. Temperatures will change over night and lots of snow in the forecast for the rest of the week.

There’s no way that I’m going to ski while it’s raining. I’ve done that once in Whistler.

I should actually drive all the way to Lake Tahoe. They expect 5 to 8 feed of snow over the next few days. But 13 or more hours of driving plus rain and snow all the way will make it more like two days of terrible and possible dangerous driving. I’ll stay in Seattle and check the forecast again tomorrow morning. It should be good up here as well. If not tomorrow latest on Wednesday.

[sculhane]

Really cool that you got 2 good days at Snowbowl, it brings back a lot of great memories. Definitely one of the hidden gems in America with awesome terrain, reminds me of Mad River Glen from back here in the East.

Just like JH, it would be so much better if they could turn it 180 degrees around so it doesn't face South If you drive back that way, make sure to try Discovery, I think you'll like it too...

My buddy in Whistler is reporting excellent conditions up top (a little warm at the base).

Looks like your TR are all I will get this year, so keep'em coming.

Steve

[Endlessseason]

So cool to be able to check in and see how things are going on the Safari. I'm trying like crazy to make the trip work, Paedde.
Scully, when are you tentatively coming back this way?

[sculhane]

Looks very unlikely for me Ron (Damn work )

If it happens, it would be week of March 13th or March 20th. South America looks like the most likely thing right now...

Steve

[Endlessseason]

The planned dates are travel on Sun Aug 27th, ski M-S, return on September 3rd.
I just skied with ColdSmoke and Crash55 yesterday and they want to go for sure. GT40 is thinking about it. This really looks like it could happen.
I'm starting to brush up on my long dormant Spanish.


[This is not really a thread hijack, Paedde, as it is within the realm of possibility that you could join us.]




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[lifelinksplit]

The hiking is going right along an existing Poma which used to be open years ago. Locals complained about having too many skiers on the ridge and the decided to use it for ski patrol only.

not quite. That day hiking was grrrrrrreat esp B gully. You gotta love snow caressing your balls

[paedde]

Day 32 Travel from Seattle to Sacramento
I checked the snow report at 6am and once again no new snow and still mild temperatures.

Forecast was still very promising for Lake Tahoe and this made it a bit easier to put all my stuff in the car and start driving.

770 miles (1230km) and 13h (12h driving) later I arrived in Sacramento. Due to icy roads I didn’t go for US-89 especially not after driving for more then 10h. It was raining for the first 3h and after this just occasionally a few minutes.

Day 33 Travel from Sacramento to Mt. Rose and Skiing

Another 2h driving.

Mt. Rose got about 30” within the last 3 days. I expected great skiing especially in the chutes which have been closed since the beginning of the storm.

Now I need to split the report into Morning and Afternoon

Morning: Ordinary skiing on excellent groomed runs and variable off piste skiing. Mainly tracked powder of a “Sierra” kind of quality. Just nothing to be excided about. The chutes remained closed and at first I couldn’t understand why. After testing the off piste conditions all over the mountain I know why. They got a lot a mixed precipitation and for sure rain for quite some time. Together with the heavy wind this created big wind drifts with are anything between soft or rock hard. Unpredictable and dangerous. In addition they shoot some avalanches and the debris has to be terrible as well. Even the tree skiing was a challenge because even the thin branches of a tree are frozen to rock hard sticks.

Afternoon: Being very bored and with all the great runs being closed I had to find a way of keeping me busy. At home a “Closed” run means “not recommended” or “at your own risk” or “go there if you like to kill yourself”. How ever I decided to cross the rope towards the radio towers and give it a try. That was definitely the right thing to do. No idea why it was closed but I found untracked boot deep powder on the upper part. Good enough to do it again and again. Just once a ski patrol tried to get me but I could hide behind some trees. I wasn’t the only one but for sure not more then two dozen’s all afternoon.