Swift. Silent. Deep. DVD Trip Report Contest - The Jackson Hole Air Force - Page 2

Thanks for adding another goodie, 4ster--at this rate we may be giving away a DVD per entry rather than per person (and still have some left for another contest). 

Anyone who's ever submitted a Trip Report could easily win this great prize! Just (re)post it here. You have until midnight May 19. 

I'll submit an older one from one of my favorite trips - Whistler, April 2007.  Sorry for the lack of action shots...

http://www.epicski.com/forum/thread/55525/whistler-blackcomb-4-15-4-20

Arrived Saturday evening 4/14 - took a quick walk around the village where it was raining relatively hard. Starting to get worried how it would effect the snow on the mountain.

Sunday, 4/15 - Blackcomb - Cloudy and spitting rain at the base, but the top of the Excelerator chair was just above the cloud line leading to bright sunny skies. Leftover good snow from Friday's event was not difficult to find. Did a run by myself in the Jersey Cream bowl and then skied with the wife for the rest of the day on various groomers. Down low was pretty hard early, so we tried to stay high as much as possible. Woops, forgot the sunblock so I had a nice burn started. The light got a bit flat late in the day especially where we were over in the 7th Heaven area. Good first day though!

Jersey Cream Bowl



Monday, 4/16 - Whistler - Day 1 in Ski Esprit. The top 10 or so of us couldn't decide whether we wanted to be in the highest level or next highest level group so we did a few groomers together and naturally split up. Again pretty hard down low, but much cloudier today. And then the wind kicked in pretty strong. Turned out to be the only day with any noticeable wind. But I think this lead to the closure of several of the higher chairs (Harmony, Peak) But the snow also followed rather heavily which consistently filled in tracks for freshies everywhere. So we spent most of the days exploring some nice tree runs all over the mid mountain from skiers right of the Emerald chair across the mountain to skiers left of Franz's. The ski out to the village is slushy, but still skiable. Even better second day!

(sorry, no pics)

Tuesday, 4/17 - Blackcomb - Another day in Ski Esprit. More powder overnight and throughout the day and we were finding fresh and lightly tracked everywhere. We started in the area between the Jersey Crean and Glacier chairs. Then we went up higher and did the Blow Hole on Blackcomb Glacier and traversed over to Sapphire Bowl where I took my worst spill of the week - on probably the flattest section of the bowl!?! Later in the day we did more bumps and trees lower on the mountain. This is mid-April? Again, the ski out is skiable but quite slushy.

Sapphire Bowl


Looking up Blackcomb Glacier


Wednesday, 4/18 - Whistler - More soft snow to be found! Started out by myself with a few high speed warmups on the freshly groomed Dave Murray Downhill where the Olympic downhill will be run in a few years. Looks like they were setting up for a race and/or training - maybe I wasn't supposed to be there? Then met up with the Ski Esprit group, did some warmups and various tree/bump runs and headed up the Peak chair to Whistler Bowl where the visibility at the top was quite limited. Lower down was much nicer into the Doom & Gloom area. Back up the Peak we went in the other direction over to the Sun Bowl and headed towards the new Symphony Express chair. At first we traversed towards Flute peak into the Rhapsody bowl which was really nice. Then back up Symphony we went down the face right under the chair. There's some nice easy trees down at the bottom of the Symphony chair. Eventually we went up Harmony and did some of Little Whistler and the Glacier Bowl.

Whistler Peak


7th Heaven from Symphony area


View from Little Whistler


Thursday, 4/19 - Blackcomb - Started out with 3 high speed runs by myself off of Jersey Cream and the Glacier chair before meeting my group. After a high speed cruise down Ridge Runner - wow there's some interesting turns before the bottom and then a sharp left when you meet the Glacier Road, especially at high speed. Then we went back up the Glacier and hiked up Spanky's ladder and skied down to Ruby bowl. Still very nice snow in there. Then headed over to 7th Heaven where we almost lost (permanently!) a member of our group as we traversed over to Lakeside Bowl. He kind of took a bounce over a moderately sized rock...backwards...minus skis. The lucky bounce over prevented any permanent damage. After lunch I left my group and skied with my wife again for the first time since Sunday. We do a few groomers before calling it quits. I decide the ski out isn't worth it and download on the gondola.

Hortsman Glacier from top of Spanky's Ladder


Ruby Bowl


Finally a skiing shot of me, on Ridge Runner


Friday, 4/20 - Whistler - The legs (actually the whole body) was pretty hurting by this point. Did a couple of slow-moderate speed warm ups before meeting up with what was left of my group. This would be the sunniest day since Sunday. Although, some flurries did pop in once or twice. We skied some of upper peak to Creek to Bagel Bowl and then several runs in the Symphony area. After lunch, skied with the wife again showing here some of the easier parts of the Symphony area. Nice way to end 6 great days of skiing.

Whistler Peak


Behind Symphony area


Black Tusk (finally we saw it!)



While I was excited about the trip, I had somewhat low expectations after following (village) weather leading up to our departure. I don't know that I've ever had better snow/weather on a weeklong trip. All the locals I talked to said it was just amazing for that time of year. Everything was filled in and it was soft everywhere. You had to get very low before it became annoyingly slushy. It was definitely better than when we were at Whistler in February, 2000. Definitely ignore the weather in the village...it WILL be different up on the mountain. I also worried about the long trip with 2 kids (4 1/2 and 19 months). They were as good as could be expected. My daughter stuck with ski school all 6 days and was skiing some of the blue runs on Whistler. She loved the kids Tree Fort and seemed to enjoy her teacher and group of kids she was with. So much so, she's picked up an Australian/British accent. We stayed at the Westin after finding a good deal earlier in the season. Definitely a place I couldn't afford during peak season, but it was very nice and the convenience for dropping off the younger one in daycare (it's right in the hotel) and the older one in ski school at the base of the gondola (right outside the hotel) couldn't be beat. My wife took 3 days of Supergroup lessons where she had the same instructor each day and the same 1 other classmate with her most of those 3 days. She seemed to like it a lot and her confidence improved tremendously. I think she'll be more willing to take some additional lessons after this good experience. I really enjoyed the Ski Esprit. I had planned to only do it for 3 days, but I did the last 2 half days since it was such a great way to see the mountain and pick up some useful tips at the same time. I either would not have found many of the places we went to or I would not felt comfortable going there by myself. We had a fun group for skiing and a few drinks at the bar to end the day. The Discover Whistler Days discount (40% off) for lessons/child care for all of us also made it affordable. And to top it all off, even with the festival going on, there seemed to be no one on the mountain all week. I think a 5 chair "wait" at Harmony on Friday was as bad as it got.

Oh...and since Trek asked elsewhere, the Recons I won from ESA Stowe were tremendous! It would not have been as fun a week without them.

It was just a matter of finding the time to post this TR. Back in the last century near the middle of the last decade, I went on a trip to Cervinia with my brother and a bunch of other skiers. The trip was organized by a ski and bike shop (is there any other kind of ski shop out there!?) in Portland, ME. This was my first trip to Europe since 1977 and I was pretty excited about it. There is another story from this trip in The Edge Of Never contest thread.

We arrived after dark so this was our first view of the Matterhorn.

While it hadn't snowed in a week, we were skiing fresh all week long. Here are some of our tracks at the resort.

That's me telemarking at the resort.

Some guys had been in communication with a fellow named Lino. He was the owner of Lino's, a great bar right at the base of the area. He was a telemarker, as were many in our group, so he was excited to ski with some like minded skiers. He showed us the goods just outside of the ski area. I'm following Lino in this shot.

More fresh. 

Four of us pitched in to hire a guide for a fantastic tour. We rode the lifts up the resort early in the morning to the top of the area. From there, we hiked a few minutes to a spot on the Monta Rosa glacier where we started our descent. Along the way we ran into a guide hut. Our guide, a direct descendant of the guide that lead the first successful ascent of the Matterhorn, is entering our visit to the hut in the log.

Onward and downward. A piece of ice that had fallen from above. 

The conditions were firm at the top and became crusty then spring-like near the valley. This is a barn that we passed on our way.

The village of St. Jacques. 

My brother next to a sign that shows the valley we had just descended into.

From St. Jacques, we hopped into a taxi to another ski area. Single ride tickets would take us most of the way up, but we needed to tour to summit the ridge at Col le Pilonet.

The col from the other side after we skied down to another ski area. The skiing was getting much better.

From here we took another single ride ticket to the top of a resort and skied the backside down to a bus stop that took us back to Cervinia. The guy in the orange jacket in the earlier photos was exhausted so we missed out on actually skiing back into Cervinia. All in all, a great trip.

Another story followed this week of skiing in Cervinia as my brother and I stayed a week longer travelling to the Dolomites for a night (the skiing was not good at the time) and back west to Gresonnay and some fabulous spring skiing conditions at Monta Rosa and Alagna. Work is calling, so that story will have to wait for another time.

Enjoyed your reports & pictures MR & SKI3PO!

JF

Bears at Blue Knob, PA, Feb 2010

We had a far above average snow year in the mid-Atlantic this past winter of 2009-2010. The 30+ ski areas located from North Carolina to Pennsylvania received roughly twice as much natural snow as the year before (per NSSA reporting). The higher elevation resorts in West Virginia took the prize with seasonal totals around 250 inches, approximately 100 inches above average, but the entire region did very well including huge storms on December 19 and Feb 6. I made several visits to Blue Knob ski area in southwestern Pennsylvania throughout February. It was one of the best months I've seen over the last 43 consecutive seasons skiing in this part of the USA. I'd like to take this opportunity to document the fine conditions with photos of the numerous Bears (Epicski members) that made the trek to Blue Knob during February 2010. You might call this a depiction of the mid-Atlantic version of swift, silent and deep :-) This compilation of photos were all taken in February of 2010, mostly by me, but I've also incorporated contributions from Telerod15, Lady Salina, Songfta, Laurel Hill Crazie, and Philpug. The intent is to capture the remarkable conditions, show the variety of terrain, and do pictorial justice to the always photogenic Bears. The entire mountain (1000' vertical/~three dozen maintained trails) was in great shape for pretty much the whole month, including several all natural ski trails and numerous rarely open glades. Vince's video from Feb 20 and 21, 2010, with special guest appearance by Old Boot in final segment :-) http://vimeo.com/9747490 If you live in the Southeast/mid-Atlantic US and have never visited Blue Knob I hope these images will inspire you to check it out sometime. I have no affiliation with Blue Knob, but I've had a special affinity for the mountain since the first day I skied it in December 1967. The varied terrain is especially fun when Mother Nature cooperates as she did this past February. Enjoy!

Laurel Hill Crazie killin' it in one of the glades off Jack Rabbit trail, Feb 8

Vince enjoying leftovers from Snowpocalypse 2010, Feb 8

Extrovert trail, ~700 continuous vertical feet of the steepest bumps south of New England, Feb 8

Another shot of the kinder, gentler Extrovert of 2010, less its customary icy bumps, Feb 8

Stembogan Bowl, for a minute this view will make you think you're in Colorado, Feb 8

Jamesj in Ditch Glades, Feb 8

Marcus on bumpy High Hopes trail just five months after total knee replacement, Feb 8

Laurel Hill Crazy on Stembogan trail, Feb 8

Philpug's Philly gang near same spot on Stembogan trail one week later, Feb 14

Philpug breaking trail in Mine Shaft Glades, Feb 14

Jamesj among the mountain laurel in lower Mine Shaft Glades, Feb 14

Telerod15 in Mine Shaft Glades, Feb 14

Philpug tackles East Wall Glades, Feb 14

SKI-3PO and family cruising Mambo Alley, Feb 14

Noofus on Edgeset, Feb 14

Noofus on Lower Shortway, narrow powerline cut, no snowmaking, many winters it's unskiable, Feb 14

Mel and Lovebug on Valentine's Day, Feb 14

Fathers, sons and telemarkers, Feb 14

The COL with scenic view from lower Jack Rabbit trail, Feb 19

Late afternoon pow hunt, mid-mountain, Feb 19

Jimmy finding fresh on Blue Trail, Feb 19

Lady Salina and Old Boot, next day on Blue Trail, Feb 20

Crgildart dropping into the snowy goodness of Laurel Run Glades, Feb 20

Telerod15 scoping out East Wall Glades, Feb 20

Songfta on Lower Shortway, Feb 20

Bearpack at summit, Feb 20

Jimmy in East Wall Glades, Feb 21

JohnL on Extrovert, Feb 21

MikeC exiting an upper mountain glade, Feb 21

Crgildart seeking Sunday morning bumps on Deer Run, Feb 21

Massive Bearpack, Feb 21

MikeC at the intersection of Extrovert and Rt 66, Feb 21

Hot Chocolate on Extrovert, Feb 21

Hot Chocolate on something steep and deep again, Feb 21

Cbire880 on Extrovert, Feb 21

JohnL on Edgeset, Feb 21

Lady Salina stylin' at Blue Knob, Feb 21

Noofus looking very hip, Feb 21

Another Bearpack, with Mdskier in blue helmet w/Epicski sticker, Feb 21

Cbire880 cutting through Triple Glades, Feb 21

Bears harvesting sticks in Upper East Wall Glades for marshmallow roast, Feb 21

All of the entries here are awe inspiring, but we need to add a few more that have been posted in TR's recently...

Start off with Martin Bell May in Montana

And Splitter....(tough to pick just one of his amazing TR's)

TR: went and skied some corn in Virginia City

Bit of an annual tradition to go ski some corn in vc, nv...

pictures from this year's go 'round...

then the usual apres beer at the bucket of blood...









 

Swift silent deep is such a awesome movie!!  It made me really p/o'd at jackson hole ski patrollers tho, like "Dr no".  I dont think the movie was anti ski patrol, but it definitely did give the impression there were/are some very seriously bad apples

Here's a short but sweet trip report from yesterday I posted in TC's Mother's Day Get Together thread for added post season stoke:

The contest is closed. Please stay tuned for the results later today!

Thanks! One more skiing DVD in the collection. Now I only need about 342 more to catch up with MidWestPete!

MR, I have this DVD and have watched it a few times.  It is truly a Skiing DVD that stands apart from any other I've seen and deserves a special place in your collection!

Perhaps our next trip to Colorado, you'll host a movie night!

Very cool!!!  I've really been looking forward to seeing this movie.  Its good to have something to help me survive summer.

Thanks Epicski!  I am sure I will enjoy the DVD.

JF

neat!

I didn't even really know until I got a pm from nolo...

Thanks, and thanks tc...

stoked for the movie

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trekchick 

MR, I have this DVD and have watched it a few times.  It is truly a Skiing DVD that stands apart from any other I've seen and deserves a special place in your collection!

Perhaps our next trip to Colorado, you'll host a movie night!

I'm excited to see it. Movie night could be arranged. Maybe MWP could bring some, too. He has an expansive collection of classics.

 

Sweet, much thanks to the judges and to the powers that provided this outstanding prize.

Quote:

Originally Posted by volantaddict 

Sweet, much thanks to the judges and to the powers that provided this outstanding prize.

+1, looking at the soundtrack has me even more stoked.
 

I watched this for the third time last night with a friend who's seven years older than myself, and who was living a ski bum life style back in the '70s-'80s at Aspen Highlands. He was spellbound.

One can't help but draw parallels between the JHAF and crews of hard chargers who echo their passion at areas all over the world.