EAST COAST ROLL CALL #8 14/15 A NEW HOPE

[weasel1]

Fun little jaunt up a low-elev. line near town I have been eyeing for several years. Snowpack is good enough down low this year for it to go, so we did. It's a drainage of about 1200' vert (starting at 400', going up to 1600') facing northwest on the west side of South Mountain, on the Bristol-Midd. line. The area is GMNF land, but there is no public access point. I went and talked with the landowner at the base a week or so ago, and got permission to park and access it from his land. We found some pretty good skiing for much of the line, but over 1200' elev. the shrubbery defeated us, so we stopped there. What we did ski, though, was plenty fun and, as far we know, the first descent? CLAIM!

[rightcoast]

Surprised to find a few fresh inches on Watatic today. Thanks for the intel RightCoast, was very helpful. Will be back for more!

Otis approved pow less than an hour from home:

Nice! I'm psyched you got some good snow up there. Get in touch if you head back out this season... I had commitments today that resulted in wawa lift laps and some damn good backyard turns when I got home

[powbmps]

This isn't technically East Coast stoke, but.........

Went to Big Sky for a few days. First time there and the most heard phrase was "least amount of snow in ten plus years". Oh well, the 1" they got Tuesday night seemed to constantly swirl around and get deposited on different aspects of the mountain. Luckily we were with a group of people who knew where to look for it. Mountain guides/patrolers/instructors, whatever you want to call them, they are top notch.

Wanted to fit in around here, so I choked down one of these on the way to the airport.

T. Swizzle was in the house.

East Coast Jongs unite!

One of our fearless guides. The guy rips.

Oooooooooh.

Aaaaaaaaaah.

Giggity giggity.

Nom nom nom.


I was bummed there weren't any zipper lines. All I got was footage of this. Sorry, it's long and laborious even with the multiple rest stops to gasp for air edited out.




Humbling terrain for sure.

[FussyDutchman]

Oh hell YES C!

[D-Roc]

Come al solito un altro grande giorno trascorso sci alpinismo con D - Roc , questa volta nelle wildernes Breadloaf . Dopo otto ore di sci sono pieno alla cima .

Un'immagine rapida del citato D - Roc , un lieve sorriso si osserva .



Abbiamo sciato molti widw radure aperte per lo più sotto il sole mentre cerca l'alce sfuggente whe lasciato tracce .



Con il set di pista pelle abbiamo apprezzato molti giri , semplicemente spostando un po ' per evitare tracce precedenti .



Molto divertimento era avuto su molte caratteristiche naturali che la Breadloaf privés .



Primavera si avvicina , ottiene dopo mentre l'ultima .

Awesome time VTFH!! Thanks again and awesome shots!

Got to say you set them up well!

[D-Roc]

Yes, it can, and you are fortunate to have the time and resources to find those places. For us tourists, it is a blessing that the low-hanging fruit looks like this (from yesterday):

Does it matter the true definition ? As long as its fun ... Who cares ... Try taking enjoyment in the moment and location as opposed to things being tracked or not...

[Generalstark]

Fun little jaunt up a low-elev. line near town I have been eyeing for several years. Snowpack is good enough down low this year for it to go, so we did. It's a drainage of about 1200' vert (starting at 400', going up to 1600') facing northwest on the west side of South Mountain, on the Bristol-Midd. line. The area is USNF land, but there is no public access point. I went and talked with the landowner at the base a week or so ago, and got permission to park and access it from his land. We found some pretty good skiing for much of the line, but over 1200' elev. the shrubbery defeated us, so we stopped there. What we did ski, though, was plenty fun and, as far we know, the first descent? CLAIM!

Campground gully?

[Jonathan S.]

There was quite the gaggle of fit-looking dudes and dudettes in the lodge this morning.

Indeed -- and the start was a sea of French-speaking lycra and almost exclusively Dynafit-equipped race gear:






The course went ... pretty much everywhere, for 5,200' vertical, with many challenging descents (especially if you're trying to ski them fast w/o stopping, and after skinning up, and trying to preserve your leg strength for more skinning to follow):






The first of those descents was Kitz Woods, and with its combination of steep pitch, tight trees, monster moguls, and lurking rocks, I'm not sure whether to be proud or ashamed of this picture of me:






With my buddies Jerimy and Josh away at the Powder Keg, Equipe Quebec was assured to sweep the podium, but I soon found myself in an exciting five-way race for fourth place, with the lead constantly changing, especially on the second bootpack, on Upper River Quai:






Results, abbreviated to the top ten, with jingoistic additions:






After Anton and I had violated multiple ISMF rules at the final transition, we then tucked to the finish with me ahead by something like a few ski lengths.

Looking at the results today, I realized that I had indeed been so overwhelmed in a sea of French-speaking lycra and almost exclusively Dynafit-equipped race gear, that I had not been in a five-way race for fourth place but instead a SIX-way race for fourth place, as I was getting Anton, Daniel, and Jeff all mixed up with each other!

(And yes, five of barely finished ahead of *Ms* Lyne Bessette. EDIT: Finally got around to Googling her: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyne_Bessette Her husband was also in the race, but apparently still has to work on both his skiing and also just his skinning technique: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Johnson_(cyclist))

[JerseyDave]

Campground gully?

Yea, the obvious cleft down there. Cool you skied it.

[weasel1]

Campground gully?

Yup, anyone you know of ski that before? It was fun, but in sum not likely bucketlist-worthy (except for me, 'cause I'm weird that way...ask Bottle. Better yet, ask him about Akok's Folly :-) ).

[JerseyDave]

Does it matter the true definition ? As long as its fun ... Who cares ... Try taking enjoyment in the moment and location as opposed to things being tracked or not...

Thanks Yoda. Fortunately I can enjoy the moment AND ski untracked areas at the same time! What wrong with wanting to only see your own tracks? If I'm gonna drive to Canada to ski, I'm gonna skin until I'm in the most choice conditions. If I have some spots that don't get hit, why the fuck would I not go there? In the back yard I'll settle for less. You should care less about what I care about. The original comment about having to go real real far from the resort was sarcasm anyway. The Jay locals are real lazy about hitting their own side country. I'm happy for Multi to have found some of that great snow up there. It was, as he said, so carvy, fast on the flats and deep on the steeps. Everything was working up there!

[D-Roc]

Thanks Yoda. Fortunately I can enjoy the moment AND ski untracked areas at the same time! What wrong with wanting to only see your own tracks? If I'm gonna drive to Canada to ski, I'm gonna skin until I'm in the most choice conditions. If I have some spots that don't get hit, why the fuck would I not go there? In the back yard I'll settle for less. You should care less about what I care about. The original comment about having to go real real far from the resort was sarcasm anyway. The Jay locals are real lazy about hitting their own side country. I'm happy for Multi to have found some of that great snow up there. It was, as he said, so carvy, fast on the flats and deep on the steeps. Everything was working up there!

Trust me I dont care what you care about at all...probably no one else on this forum does either... HAVE A GREAT DAY!

[JerseyDave]

Trust me I dont care what you care about at all...probably no one else on this forum does either... HAVE A GREAT DAY!

Awe....D roc.....go ride a lift, it'll be Ok. Ciao.

[HankScorpio]

I think VTsesson and/or Anospa might have a line on Watatic. I think its one of Anospa's pre-work splitboard destinations.

Mt. Watatic is the best you're going to get for "backcountry" skiing near Boston. I usually go there on snow days when school is canceled; I think I've hit it all 9 snow days this year. It's a much steeper and harder way up if you park off rt 119. Best parking is near Mt. Watatic road on the other side. Park near the gate and bring a shovel because they parking area isn't plowed right after storms. The skin in is mellow then you start up the hill. Its about 600 ft of vert and a lap up is only about 25 min. There are quite a few lines to ski, just pick you line and have fun.

[therudeness]

I went to the tele-fest at Mont Edouard, stayed in the yurt up top. fkna'

demoed some new Xalibu Hog's Backs and was really impressed (but could have something to do with skiing tele the rest of the weekend and finally getting to hit the lift-line with some confidence)

[strawjack]

This isn't technically East Coast stoke, but.........

Yeah PB! Tasty coolie!

[Boreas]

Yup, anyone you know of ski that before?

Does it matter?

[weasel1]

Does it matter?

Not at all, but would be curious if they went up higher than we did. Looked locked in above, so we stopped. But if there was more...... :-D

[neufox47]

Anyone have any beta on tours in the Twin Mtn area they wouldn't mind sharing? Been to H@! € (by the dwarves) before, but not in years. PM me if you do. I'll be there Sunday to Tues with the gfs family.

[hooked]

Dumping snow at Jay Peak. Good day not to work.

[drewvw]

Man, what a f@&king awesome morning of storm touring on the rockpile with rog.



Steep, deep, and stable.

[Harvey44]

ECRC: Well placed source is talking about potential Silver opening of the WF Slides. Beacons, shovels, probes and small guided groups.

[BigDaddy]

ECRC: Well placed source is talking about potential Silver opening of the WF Slides. Beacons, shovels, probes and small guided groups.

Oh really.... Open this Friday?

[neufox47]

Man, what a f@&king awesome morning of storm touring on the rockpile with rog.



Steep, deep, and stable.

Sick, with the amount of work I got done I should have went skiing

[FussyDutchman]

Nice timing drew!

Quite the stealth pow morning, although 1 person beat me to one of my go to spots which was somewhat disappointing! Only had a few hours today but very glad I made the best of them.