Just got home last night - 6 consecutive ski days - great trip
Day 1. Saturday 1/27 Picked up good friend Ted at Spokane Airport and returned to my house for evening meal, visit etc.
Day 2. Sunday l/28 Drove to Silver Mt. Kellogg Idaho, skied all day with friends. Found some good snow in the trees on North Face Glades had a nice day. Eve had dinner with several members of Ski School at Terrible Ediths decent meal. Friends Ernie and Di let us crash at their Condo that eve.
Day 3. Monday 1/29 Skied Silver Mt. all morning, hadn't snow in a week so no freshies but had good time. Quit at 1 pm and started drive to Big Mt. Montana. 3 1/2 hour drive, snow very lightly 2/3 of the way. Got a Motel in downtown Whitefish. Had dinner at the Red Caboose on main st. Good food.
Day 4. Tuesday 1/30. Skied Big Mt., met Bear SibHusky at bottom of Glacier Chair and whe took us around the Mt., all day. Off piste skiing was frozen ruts so stuck to the groomers most of the day. We had NO fog all day, beautiful sunshine and views of Glacier Park. My comments of Big Mt (first time for Ted and I). Absolutely great skiing for intermediates that like groomers, if there's powder really open mountain that would be great under the right snow conditions. We had a great time zooming the groomers trying to keep up with SibHusky.
COMMENT. Thankyou SibHusky for being so helpful to Ted and I.
Day 5. Got up early and drove to Fernie, 1 hour and 45min drive. Talked to Newfydog on phone night before and he told us where to park and we had a 2 step walk to the snow and then downhill to the lift, Yea. Met Newfydog at lift and he gave us a mountain tour. Showed us some North side slopes with good snow. We did a high traverse across the mountain and Newfy pointed out the runs etc. Also showed us where he was caaught in the inbounds avalanche last year and got spit out at the bottom with an 8 yr old in his clutches. Good skiing all day, overcast and cold.
That evening we visited Newfy, his wife, and the Newfoundland puppy at his house. Yes the puppy weights 150lbs, looks more like 250 lbs and is a real friendly playful pup. We played with Josh for awhile with his toys. He really looked more like a teenage black bear than a dog. Went out to nice dinner in Fernie and had a nice visit.
Day 6. Thursday. Ted and I skied Fernie again. It snowed 2-3 inches Wed night and we had a little better snow everywhire. Did platter on top under the cliffs and had about 4 " of new snow. The trees in Lizard bowl were pretty good too. Thurs was sunshine, excellent visibility and had a great day skiing almost everywhere. Fernie has some real expert terrain, some stuff I wouldn't ski due to a mistake means you are down and over the rocks. I would say in my experience Fernie's diamond designations are right on. Double Diamond means expert and real expert not the pretend guys. Ted and I agreed that Fernie is a great ski with all types of terrain. Most of Fernie's intermediate runs would be rated higher at most resorts. A real skiers mountain. Ted is a true expert skier as is Newfydog, I am more in the advanced mode but had a great time off piste just avoided a few or the doubles. The mountain scenery at Fernie was really awesome, the mountains were truly magnificent.
Comment. Thanks to Newfydog, his wife and Josh for their hospitality and showing us this mountain. Had a great time.
Quit at about 2:45 and hit the road for Schweitzer Mountain in Sandpoint, Idaho. Crossed border with no problems and had dry roads to Sandpoint. 3 1/2 hour drive.
Day 7. Friday. Skied Schweitzer. Got to top of Quad in front and it was a typical day - Cloud/fogged in with almost zero visibility. I led Ted down to the Stella Chair and got out of the fog and had ok visibility. Skied the groomers and between runs. Found some good snow in the trees alongside and in Gladiator Run. Had a good day but legs were starting to tire out having skied 6 days in a row.
Day 8. Saturday. Drove Ted to Spokane Airport so he could get home to Tahoe. Tahoe not being too good so far this year, Ted had his best skiing of the year.
General Comments. Snows good in Idaho, good at Big Mt. and good at Fernie. Plenty of coverage, no crowds all week. Although we didn't get real powder all week we still had good weather, good snow and a great time.
EPIC. Thankyou to Sibhusky for her hospitality at Big Mt. and to Newfydog at Fernie for Ditto. You both made our trip a lot better. thankyou very much. 6 consecutive days - think I'll take a couple days off and rest these quads. Thanks Bears and thanks to Epic for the opportunity to meet new people and to make a road trip even better. Pete
Day 1. Saturday 1/27 Picked up good friend Ted at Spokane Airport and returned to my house for evening meal, visit etc.
Day 2. Sunday l/28 Drove to Silver Mt. Kellogg Idaho, skied all day with friends. Found some good snow in the trees on North Face Glades had a nice day. Eve had dinner with several members of Ski School at Terrible Ediths decent meal. Friends Ernie and Di let us crash at their Condo that eve.
Day 3. Monday 1/29 Skied Silver Mt. all morning, hadn't snow in a week so no freshies but had good time. Quit at 1 pm and started drive to Big Mt. Montana. 3 1/2 hour drive, snow very lightly 2/3 of the way. Got a Motel in downtown Whitefish. Had dinner at the Red Caboose on main st. Good food.
Day 4. Tuesday 1/30. Skied Big Mt., met Bear SibHusky at bottom of Glacier Chair and whe took us around the Mt., all day. Off piste skiing was frozen ruts so stuck to the groomers most of the day. We had NO fog all day, beautiful sunshine and views of Glacier Park. My comments of Big Mt (first time for Ted and I). Absolutely great skiing for intermediates that like groomers, if there's powder really open mountain that would be great under the right snow conditions. We had a great time zooming the groomers trying to keep up with SibHusky.
COMMENT. Thankyou SibHusky for being so helpful to Ted and I.
Day 5. Got up early and drove to Fernie, 1 hour and 45min drive. Talked to Newfydog on phone night before and he told us where to park and we had a 2 step walk to the snow and then downhill to the lift, Yea. Met Newfydog at lift and he gave us a mountain tour. Showed us some North side slopes with good snow. We did a high traverse across the mountain and Newfy pointed out the runs etc. Also showed us where he was caaught in the inbounds avalanche last year and got spit out at the bottom with an 8 yr old in his clutches. Good skiing all day, overcast and cold.
That evening we visited Newfy, his wife, and the Newfoundland puppy at his house. Yes the puppy weights 150lbs, looks more like 250 lbs and is a real friendly playful pup. We played with Josh for awhile with his toys. He really looked more like a teenage black bear than a dog. Went out to nice dinner in Fernie and had a nice visit.
Day 6. Thursday. Ted and I skied Fernie again. It snowed 2-3 inches Wed night and we had a little better snow everywhire. Did platter on top under the cliffs and had about 4 " of new snow. The trees in Lizard bowl were pretty good too. Thurs was sunshine, excellent visibility and had a great day skiing almost everywhere. Fernie has some real expert terrain, some stuff I wouldn't ski due to a mistake means you are down and over the rocks. I would say in my experience Fernie's diamond designations are right on. Double Diamond means expert and real expert not the pretend guys. Ted and I agreed that Fernie is a great ski with all types of terrain. Most of Fernie's intermediate runs would be rated higher at most resorts. A real skiers mountain. Ted is a true expert skier as is Newfydog, I am more in the advanced mode but had a great time off piste just avoided a few or the doubles. The mountain scenery at Fernie was really awesome, the mountains were truly magnificent.
Comment. Thanks to Newfydog, his wife and Josh for their hospitality and showing us this mountain. Had a great time.
Quit at about 2:45 and hit the road for Schweitzer Mountain in Sandpoint, Idaho. Crossed border with no problems and had dry roads to Sandpoint. 3 1/2 hour drive.
Day 7. Friday. Skied Schweitzer. Got to top of Quad in front and it was a typical day - Cloud/fogged in with almost zero visibility. I led Ted down to the Stella Chair and got out of the fog and had ok visibility. Skied the groomers and between runs. Found some good snow in the trees alongside and in Gladiator Run. Had a good day but legs were starting to tire out having skied 6 days in a row.
Day 8. Saturday. Drove Ted to Spokane Airport so he could get home to Tahoe. Tahoe not being too good so far this year, Ted had his best skiing of the year.
General Comments. Snows good in Idaho, good at Big Mt. and good at Fernie. Plenty of coverage, no crowds all week. Although we didn't get real powder all week we still had good weather, good snow and a great time.
EPIC. Thankyou to Sibhusky for her hospitality at Big Mt. and to Newfydog at Fernie for Ditto. You both made our trip a lot better. thankyou very much. 6 consecutive days - think I'll take a couple days off and rest these quads. Thanks Bears and thanks to Epic for the opportunity to meet new people and to make a road trip even better. Pete
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