Oh, please KEEP SNOWING!!!

HEHEHEHEHEHE! Yeah, babeeeeee!!! Be in tomorrow at midnight!!!!

www.snowbird.com/snowcam.html

Timing is everything!

From the Cottonwood Canyons Forceast:

Wednesday-Thursday system appears capable of producing another 1-2 feet of snow

Well we got a foot today. See what tonight brings. Kinda worn out got in at 2 am last night (this morning) ran around today and didn't get to the mountain (Solitude) until 1. Was blowing snow sideways but still good. All the bottom runs were cut up into bump runs because of soft snow. Couldn't come down   without doing a bump run right at the end. Good practice but tuff on old knees.

Okay more details tomorrow need rack time. Oh, one quickie. Up Eagle Ex. Vince F. dropped off into Gary's with me in hot pursuit. Vince F. is at bottom of Gary's (he can ski dammit!) but somewhere in between Conz went from knee deep to waist deep pow in a matter of a few feet. Following are the events in the order that they happened.

Me feeling myself hitting the waist deep stuff.

Me feeling my upper body moving at a rate 10 time faster than my lower body.

Me thinking "uh oh"

Me hearing "click, click" as my heels released.

Me watching the snow underneath me as I got shot up and forward 10 yards.

Me coming up out of the snow spitting dry powder.

Me thinking "that was just too much damn fun!" (well, after a few choice words not to be repeated here)

What wasn't fun was spending the next 20 minutes finding skis, poles, getting them on and getting on top again. Can you say bring the oxygen tank, please?

The snow has been pretty awesome in Steamboat the past two days.   I almost forgot what it was like the ride powder.  It was nice doing high speed trees with the guys with Steamboat's Ski School. 

Have fun out there Conz -- you dropped into a jackpot this week. 

Its raining hard down herein Midvale but should be snow up inthe canyons. If it is then it is dumping big time. But snowbird cam doesn't show anything maybeit hasn't reached there yet.

Problem has been getting up there. BCC was open but LCC was closed 10 am til 2 pm for avy control. They closed it again at 7 pm for more.

That's one reason I like staying up at Alta -- in fact I pray for road closures when I am up there, to keep the pirates from plundering all the powder!  Normally you can plan around the road closure, it's just cases like this where they don't post a re-opening time because of all the snow coming down.  It just means they don't have a way to predict when they can complete the avy control work.

what are the chances the weather is still sweet next weekend?? maybe i'll take a quick wkd trip..

what's the normal trend like?? will there be another huge dump in 2 weeks normally? god i need this stuff again. but booking this wkd is $810 for flights.. damn it

 Today is dawning cold and clear. Not a cloud in the sky. Looks like, at Alta, Catherine's area, Ballroom and Baldy Shoulder have been closed. They'll open today... maybe the Castle too.Hopefully, the snow isn't too deep to ski on the lower angle slopes. Have fun kids!

Crabs Ballroom today first thing heading out now. Look for big guy Head helmet skiing Goats today. Will be with a thinner guy same height about 6'1".I have on a gray and black Conduit shell. I look like Larry Csonka on skis best way to say it.

Here's some pics of Solitude yesterday before first tracks. I was #4 up the lift.

You guys need to let Shanter flex his negotiating muscles its a LOT cheaper than $800. I did $240 this past Sunday left Tuesday. $225 gets you a room for a week. Skier219 you are your way yet?

Quote:

Originally Posted by theconz 

 

 Skier219 you are your way yet?

 

Let me tell you I am sorely tempted.  Even priced up tix yesterday to fly out on Sunday for the week.  Alas, it's still less than two weeks since my last trip, and I need to make the appearance that I care about my job and actually work!  Will re-evaluate in another week.  Sadly, it looks like a warmup starts the end of next week, right about when I could swing it.....

Man come out for 3 days! Its supposed to snow Sunday and then I heard Tuesday, which is the day I am leaving...or should I say SUPPOSED to leave, LOL!

I was NOT impressed by the Alta crowd today. We were at Collins lift before it opened and it was full of people trying to sound "Alta cool" talking about stuff they probably never have skied or fell and almost killed themselves if they did. Just so obvious.

Folks wanted to get through the singles line to the other gates and when they came up to people on the singles line they got dirty looks and people didn't move. One guy was so bad I purposely went through right in front of him and when he started to give me a look I gave him a "you got a problem" and he backed right up mouth shut. I thought so. I have heard the "no friends on powder days" thing and thats funny and all but it doesn't fly in the real world. At least mine.

My friend Vince got elbowed by some guy and knocked aside on the traverse across Ballroom. WTF?

I have to say the least fun place I have been and full of a**holes. Albion base was normal people. These were for the most part posers. The guys who really have skiied Baldy Chutes don't talk extra lound about it in a lift line I am sure.

By the way I bit it 3 times on my way down ballroom. I am no pro but I am not a phoney either. Anyway I am going to Pow Mow tomorrow, DV Sunday and then eitehr back to Alta or Solitude Monday. Right now I have a bad taste in my mouth from Alta.

Geez, I have seen the "land rush" crowd, but never that bad.  I agree, it's BS.  I can ski there for days after the land rush and still find untracked snow, so it makes me scratch my head when I see people in a frenzy during the first 5 minutes.  It's like rush-hour traffic on the east coast -- everybody is in a hurry to get one car ahead.

Best thing to do out there is be your own man, ski at your own pace, and savor the experience.  Let the zealots duke it out for first tracks.  Oh, and consider Wildcat when Collins gets bad.  During one big dump last year, the crowd at Collins helped me discover how awesome the terrain off Wildcat is on a powder day.  I was sailing down in thigh deep powder run after run with no competition and no lift lines.  

Vail Ridge and the runout from Patsy Marley (through avy gates) are two great places off the Sunnyside lift, with blue/black terrain as good as anywhere else.  And when Supreme opens after a storm, it's got a million powder stashes within easy reach.  Same goes for areas you can drop into from Sugarloaf.  I tend to go hunting in these more adventurous places rather than participate in the land rush on the wide open terrain.  Might be the New Englander in me.

It was a land rush today at Alta. The "goods" have been closed since it started snowing and didn't open up until today. They opened Ballroom, Devil's Castle and Supreme Lift. I was about 15th in line when they dropped the rope to Ballroom/Baldy Shoulder. Traversed over to the shoulder and dropped in for first tracks. SWEEEEET.  I know, thread is worthless without pics. I just seem to be camera challenged.  Also got some first tracks in the Castle as well.  Truly a great day.  Got the Conz into the Ballroom and worked on some linked turns.  He is starting to get the feel of what the powder is like. The man is hooked. I think he is going to start looking for an apartment here before long.

A weak storm is on track for Sunday. We plan to head over to Deer Valley to catch up with another group and see how the other half lives.

Hey, and I even taught Vince something! How to use crossed poles to get up after falling in deep powder. Of course I am an expert in that technique!!!!

I am getting there. I do fine if its not too steep but if I am nervous about steep I get tentative and that's when I get shaky. Plus I feel like I am in the back seat a lot of the in the pow. When I ski groomed steeps I just drive upper body over the skis and down hill no problem. Not sure why I can't take that to pow.

It was a pretty day no doubt. Just things have been so mellow here this is the first time I saw people not laid back. I just picked up a pass for Alta off of Craigslist so I will be back there probably Monday. I am determined to ski Ballroom like a pro. Hope we get snow Sunday.

If I can get camera challenged Vince to work my camera I should have video of DV. I will have video of him for sure and maybe...just maybe...some of me skiing as well.

One thing to remember in powder -- and this is something I have to remind myself of quite often -- is to keep your skis in the fall line and let speed build up.  Then control speed with subtle pressuring of the flats against the snow itself (it's 3D snow with a vertical component of resistance) rather than the typical 2D speed control strategy of edges on the hardpack.  You are still working with and against gravity in both cases, but the approach is different.  

In the 2D world, you use edges traversed across the fall line.  Your skis are scribing carves that are constrained to the hardpack surface, hence the notion of two components of motion -- down the hill and sideways to the hill.

In the 3D world of powder, much more emphasis is placed on working the flats of the skis against the vertical "volume" of the powder itself.  Your skis can run an arbitrary motion in three dimensions, but the traditional two dimensions (of downhill and traversing of edges on the hardpack) aren't there anymore!  Thus, you're left with that third component -- vertical distance off the snow -- to work with.  Work the flats of the skis against this aspect of the snow, banking them rather than edging them.  The banking automatically introduces the other two components of motion back into the picture, and you end up with the powder-specific version of turns and speed control.

Bottom line in powder is to resist traversing and edging your skis like you do on hardpack.

It takes a while to work this all out.  And just when you think you have it figured out, you'll run into heavier or lighter powder that calls for re-calibration.  Best thing to do is ski as much as possible!  In the end, you'll have a general purpose technique that can adapt on the fly.  It might not always be pretty, but you'll find that you have more confidence and endurance.

 219, nice desription of powder skiing... I missed Alta yesterday. The Salt Lake boys and girls can get a bit rowdy at times, especially the 30 mph gonzo high traverse. Conz, glad that you got into Ballroom untracked! Tumbling down Ballroom is a real initiaon rite. Pow Mow will rock, and it's got lots of lower angle freshies to learn good powder rythm. It's still nice and cold today. Another storm is on the way.

will there noramlly still be this good come mid april?? fligts will be at 220 and that's very tempting

Hard to say. Alta and Bird will be good. Two of my most memorable powder days ever were Alta, April 19th and Bird on May 14-15th.  There have been plenty others. The snow stays pretty fresh up there.  April can be great at high altitude with spring storms. You either get powder and cold, or sunny spring skiing in a sweatshirt.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Crab 

 

 219, nice desription of powder skiing... I missed Alta yesterday. The Salt Lake boys and girls can get a bit rowdy at times, especially the 30 mph gonzo high traverse. Conz, glad that you got into Ballroom untracked! Tumbling down Ballroom is a real initiaon rite. Pow Mow will rock, and it's got lots of lower angle freshies to learn good powder rythm. It's still nice and cold today. Another storm is on the way.

Yeah, The Conz got a real good shot of the attitude that you can run into by the hardcore Altaholics. This is exactly why I usually ski at Solitude instead of Alta. Much less attitude, Solitude is pretty laid back.
 

I broke down today and dropped $250 for a half day lesson at Pow Mow. Yeah, I am like Mr. Crab's namesake sometimes pinching pennies.

Anyway 3 hours goes fast but she really helped me a lot. Anita was here name from New York no nonsense instructor hard core but thats good. My legs were CRYING by 4:30 when we finally made it down.

The big thing a found out today was weighting and unweighting and getting to NEUTRAL where both skis are flat and then initiating the turn with the little toe side of the downhill ski as opposed to edging the uphill ski into the new turn. Working from flat skis was new.

We did it on the groomed first and it was really cool how easy the turn was to initate with the little toe. Now the reason she showed me that is that it keeps weight more even on both skis whichis what you need in powder. SO she had a plan.

So we went in the powder and it was pretty good. Unweighted "getting tall", skis came flat, then just subtle roll of little toe side to start turn the other ski came right around. But not major edging just a little suble edge and they came around in the powder. Then tall again. And if I got out of sorts she told me to get tall (neutral). Having those skis flat and weighting and unweighting was helping.

She said it was all right too use some upper body to get tall right now she was more concerned with unweighting. But she said once you get more experience most of the unweighting will be done just by pivoting the ankles back from pressing the fron of the boot to the ball of your foot. If its really deep she said you will sometimes need to exaggerate the getting tall or unweighting piece.

I still fell a few times, more from being tired at the end of the day really. And I did run into an Aspen. Luckily for me it was only about 3 inches around and I got my hands out and cushioned the impact. Just jammed one finger. LOL, I got happy feet! I was following her through the trees and thinking this is great I'm doing it la-dee-dah, and lost concentration. It makes me laugh now serves me right.

Would have liked to go another 3 hours we only linked 3 turns at a time but still was cool. WOn't get back there before I leave.

Going to DV tomorrow with Vince where, and I quote him, " they groom the f*&% out of everything" so not sure I will get to practice any powder there. Maybe Vince will find us a spot where they haven't groomed the heck out of everything! I did get a pass for Alta for Monday I am determined to make it down ballroom without falling.

Cool, good investment to take a lesson.  Sounds like she was definitely pointing you in the right direction.

We had a couple nice days and I thought it was over for now and it was back to life/work. Then about an hour ago it started blowing and dumping and looking like a real blizzard again. So , here's the forecast.

 Oh boy, here we go...have fun out there...

Here's more.

I saw the forecast too. We canceled DV, I grabbed a dorm at the Snowpine for $59, and came up this morning and skiied Alta all day.

LOL it was a powder day on all the trails, groomed or not! And the stuff I learned I put into practice and it worked! Tall, flat skis, initiate turn, tall, flat skis, initiate turns. I was actually saying it to myself as I did but I doing well in the pow as long as it wasn't too steep.

I even went off a pretty steep tree run. I went down on the firstr turn, but got up, and made it the rest of the way down and through the trees. Oh, and arms out wide and in front. I can't wait til tomorrow it will be great. Gonna see if I can do Ballroom without falling, and maybe even do it gracefully. I believe I can.

Man I don't want to leave after today and will probably be even worse tomorrow night! This is great!

Fantastic!  Just remember, if it were easy they would call it snowboarding!! 

Enjoy the experience up at the Snowpine -- it can be a lot of fun staying on the mountain, and they feed you well.  $59/night is a steal. 

Glad to see other people doing powder skiing in spring. At a resort within driving distance of my town, it just dumped 2 feet of snow yesterday and I'll be heading over there tommorow. Cheers to great spring skiing.

We've been skiing powder here in the Cascades for the last month.  It just keeps coming.  When I hear people moan because Spring isn't here, I silently gloat.