Alex Ski Adventures

Goin, Goin Back Back to Vail

2010-03-08T21:24:00.000-08:00

Date: March 8th
Mountain: Vail

Comments: For a Monday Vail seemed actually busier than skiing at Winter Park on Sunday. There was just sooo many people around. Without Lauren skiing at Vail just did not bring as much joy as there should have been. On top of that the snow was almost as wet as Pacific Northwest snow since it was almost forty degrees at the bottom. It was snowing lightly throughout the day and I spent the day riding the front side of the mountain since it was sooo foggy at the top that you couldn’t even see 10 feet in front of you. Every person seemed to have the same idea and stuck around the main runs. The funny thing though was as soon as you just got of the main runs there was still fresh snow to be found. The one thing I noticed about Vail is the amount of grooming it does is SOOOO minimal. There were moguls everywhere you went throwing individuals off especially with the fog. The majority of your time was spent trying to navigate these gigantic moguls that were on the trails. The funnest run though was Riva Ridge followed by Tourist since it seemed the majority of people stayed towards the top even though you could actually see below the cloud line which around 9,500 feet. All in all it was a fun day but almost to warm to ski. Winter Park definitely was the BEST day of skiing in Colorado for this trip. Like any good ski trip we all end up hungry. Luckily, my buddy Jim was nice enough to show us this joint called Los Tortugas in Denver. Honestly it is one of the most unique sandwiches I have EVER had. If you are in town definitely try it out.

Keystone - Colorado

2010-03-04T22:19:00.000-08:00

Date: March 4th
Mountain: Keystone

Comments: The beginning of our trip started literally on the wrong foot. Lauren somehow injured her foot to the point that she was in pain. It was so painful that she took a single run and was in excruciating pain. It was to the point that I actually had to get a cart to pull Lauren all the way to the car. After I did that I ended up going riding by myself.

The snow was VERY odd since it was a solid sheet of ice until about noon. I headed up the River Run Gondola and then slowly started heading to the back side of the mountain. I took the Diamond Back trail, which on a normal day would have been amazing but instead was a solid sheet of ice. I then headed over to the back end and took a run called Spillway which was absolutely amazing. The snow finally softened up and you could actually carve some decent runs. I took a few more runs and finally headed back to the base to meet up with Lauren to have lunch at this place called Parrot Eyes. It was phenomenally good especially that we had a $15 coupon. After that, I ended up doing laps in the park. Honestly Keystone has the nicest park in Summit County. The large hits were getting destroyed by some ridiculously good kids. As you take the chair back up your eyes begin darting between all the perfectly sculpted obstacles as these dudes just rock long backside boardslides and doing HUGE backside rodeo flips or 360’s over a 50 foot gap.

Park City - John's Trip

2010-02-26T16:35:00.000-08:00

So my buddy John was nice enough to actually right a little blog of his trip and provide some pics. I hope everyone enjoys it.

Mountain: Park City
State: Utah

Weather: Hazy at the base, clear above mid mountain. 20 degrees in the morning warming up to 30.

First day in Utah and we decided to venture over to Park City Mountain Resort to meet up with a guy who lived in the area and already was on the mountain. We did some morning runs of off King Con which were mostly blues with a variety of groomed and moguls. I was on my 182cm carving skis which aren’t well suited for moguls - it’s hard to pick up the back of your skis when they are an area code away. But it was a nice variety to get back into the swing of things as it was my first day of the season. The base of the chair was in some clouds, but once we got mid way up it was all clear. By noon the sun had burned off the clouds and it was quite sunny and almost 30 degrees which was a treat for January in Utah. I snapped one pic from my phone in the afternoon as I didn’t have the camera. All in all, it was a nice day to kick off the season.

Mountain: Deer Valley
State: Utah

Weather: Base in the clouds, sunny on top. Right around 30.
We started day two at Deer Valley with similar weather to the previous day. We began by taking the Jordanelle gondola to the summit of Little Baldy and then heading down to Snow Park base. A quick ride on the Silver Lake Express and we were at the base of the main mountain. One of our favorite runs of the resort is taking Stein’s Way off of the Bald Mountain. It gives a great view of the entire Heber Valley and the reservoir. This entire side of the mountain was in the sun and none of the runs were icy. Sadly Utah is not having a good snow year and overall the cover was a little spotty at times. Some of the runs had the tips of tons of trees sticking out all the way down, but there was enough cover to ensure there were not many rocks. For lunch, we popped in for some of the legendary Deer Valley Turkey Chili. For the afternoon portion, we decided to spend a lot of time in the Lady Morgan bowl off the empire lift. There were a ton of moguls, but fortunately for me, I borrowed some dual tip 155cm ‘shorty’ skis that made it a true joy to go down the bumps.

Mountain: Deer Valley
State: Utah

Weather: Sunnier and even warmer – 40 degrees at the base by the afternoon!

It was the final day of the weekend trip and I had never been so warm while skiing in Utah in January. It honestly felt more like Whistler in March. I had to take off a couple of layers and unzip the coat to stay comfortable. The snow was a little heavy and slushy from the sun, but at least the patchy spots of ice were pretty much gone. I spent a little bit more time and grabbed some more pictures the last day as it was beautiful out. Towards the end of the day we made our way back to Snow Park Lodge and hung out on the Big Stick run while watching the men’s world cup aerials qualifying runs and women’s moguls. For some countries, world cup standings decide who represents their country in the Olympics so it was a pretty intense competition. We took the lift up to the top of the Jordanelle and took one last curving run down amongst all of the ski-in/ski-out properties that dot the slope. Taking off boots and switching back into comfortable shoes is a great feeling which was the same way I felt about the trip. It wasn’t a marathon seven day trip, but it was a great trip for the 2009-2010 season.

Back to the Pass

2010-02-14T22:07:00.000-08:00

Date: February 14th
Mountain: Stevens Pass

Comments: Our original plans were to ski some of the Hood resorts but the snow levels were going to be even higher that weekend to the point that almost the entire mountain would be having rain. Instead we opted to head back to Washington and ski Stevens. It kind of sucked that we weren’t able to enjoy the 7 inches of fresh Stevens Pass got on Saturday, BUT the snow conditions were still pretty nice.

As we got up to the mountain we immediately headed to the back side away from the crowds. The Double Diamond/Southern Comfort lift was closed so we were only able to enjoy about ½ the back side. Lauren and I took lap after lap on the backside with no one coming to that side of the mountain until around 10:00 am. Sundays usually at any Pacific Northwest resort are usually worse than Saturdays which is kind of odd compared to the rest of the United States. The reasoning for it maybe due to the fact that ski school for the children is held on Sundays and as such bring more people up to the mountain. The weather was cooperating a little bit more at Stevens since there wasn’t at least a horrendous wind that was pounding us. It still snowed while we skied but didn’t bother us to the point that it was painful. The snow was really nice on the groomed runs and off the runs it took a little bit more work. All in all it was a good day.

EL NINO at its best... and worst.

2010-02-12T21:53:00.000-08:00

Date: February 12th
Mountain: Mt Hood Meadows

Comments: What a difference a year makes! These 2 words honestly are officially the worst thing to happen to the Pacific Northwest ski season: EL NINO. The journey up to Mount Hood Meadows from Portland that Friday morning really blew our minds on how truly high the snowlevels are this year. Instead of some patches of snow on the side of the road on the journey up were replaced with blooming ferns and green trees. It looked as though spring had already sprung in the lower elevations which is VERY odd at 1500 feet in February. Even at Government Camp which is at around 3,500 feet of elevation there was almost no snow on the ground to the point that it was alarming. On top of that the temperature hovered around 37 degrees and it was raining lightly. Last year around the same time of year there were walls of snow 10-15 feet high in Government Camp on the sides of the road. As we made our way up to Mount Hood Meadows it continued to rain. As we finally made the final turns up to the base of the ski resort the walls of snow increased exponentially within a half a mile until they were approximately 15 feet high. Instead of being white they were more brown in color and just did not give the impression of a good ski day in front of us. Just within a few hundred feet of the ski resort the snow finally looked white and the rain transformed into small snow flakes. It snowed lightly in the parking lot of the resort as we got ready for a day of skiing. The mood was not that of actual skiing due to the fact that it was only raining 500 feet below us. The snow level was literally just below the ski resort’s base. As I finally talked Lauren into getting ready we drudged our way up to the resort’s entrance. Once we had purchased our lift tickets we headed up the main lift and noticed the mountain was shrouded in fog. It snowed lightly as we ascended up to the top. Our first run of the day was definitely the worst one. We took a skier’s right and headed down the mountain to find out that the snow was wet, firm, and almost kind of icy. The snow felt more like riding a slushy that had been compacted to the point that you couldn’t push it down anymore. After that first run Lauren was officially done with the day. She was just not in the mood to ski so she took a break while I headed up the mountain to see if there was any other parts of it that were nice.

Surprisingly, there were. As the lift from the bottom ascended up to the top I took a skiers left and followed the runs that meandered around the Hood River Express. The fog wasn’t affecting this side of the mountain and it wasn’t even snowing so the skiing was actually enjoyable. The snow was much drier and you could actually get a solid carve into it. It was extremely enjoyable and brought a smile to my face. After a few runs I headed back to the main side to meet up with Lauren and try to talk her into getting back out. Since the temperature hovered around freezing and it was so moisture laden that it made it feel even colder than it was actually outside. You could feel the cold right down to your bones. In addition, to the moisture the wind was gusting up to 30 – 40 mph causing you to get slammed with an icy wind on top of everything else. I finally talked Lauren into going up and she actually thoroughly enjoyed the snow. The only part she didn’t enjoy was the weather and I happened to agree with her. Mt Hood’s weather sometimes can be extremely fical especially that parts of the resort are above treeline it will really cause you to get slammed with lots of wind. In addition to the wind it began to snow heavily. This was not the light, fluffy snow that you are thinking of that Colorado or even Chicago sometimes gets in the dead of winter. This is the infamously coined “Cascade Concrete”. The snow slammed into your face like ice needles as you skied down and stuck to everything including your goggles, your pants, and your coat. Within 45 – 60 minutes you entire outfit is soaked to the bone causing it to feel even colder outside even with a layer of Gore-Tex on. As Lauren and I finished about an hour’s worth of skiing we thought it would be wise to take a lunch. Be forewarned that if you do head up to Mt Hood Meadows the ski resort is all about organic causing already outrageous ski resort prices to double or even triple on some of the lunch items. Luckily, this time we brought our own lunch.

Once we finished our quick lunch we headed back up to the other side of the mountain. Lauren was finally getting her legs back underneath her to the point that she was able to make some big swooping turns. She also was able to take down a tough black diamond run that had soft and icy snow mixed throughout the trail. Honestly it was the best skiing she has ever done on a technical run like that where she actually had to pick her line through such treacherous conditions. The weather continued to deteriorate through the day until we finally gave up. The snow was simply phenomenal but the weather was just horrendous and made the skiing almost unenjoyable.

Final Day - A good way to end an EPIC trip

2010-01-25T18:37:00.000-08:00

Date: January 25th
Mountain: Moonlight Basin

Comments: When I originally came to Big Sky in 2001 the Moonlight Basin resort didn’t even exist. It is now a decent sized resort with some of the best tree skiing I have EVER seen. The entrance to the resort makes you feel more like you are entering a private resort instead of a place open to the public. As we drove up to the front of the Madison Base Area we were actually able to park in the FIRST row of the ski resort. For all the years I have skiing I have NEVER seen these few cars at a major resort. The base of the resort is VERY quaint and small, but Moonlight is not a destination resort but rather a great place to ski for a day. Overall, Moonlight Basin beats Big Sky hand over first in tree skiing. The majority of the resort caters to tree skiing. In addition, the place is empty. What I mean by empty is that you will not even see another skier almost the ENTIRE time you are there unless you are at the base AND the majority of the lifts are empty. The entire gang took a groomed run to warm up before Lauren had to head back over to the Madison base area for her ski lesson. Once Lauren headed back over to base area the rest of us took a run down through the Stillwater Bowl into Merriweather and through some of the tree sections around it. We zoomed past the Lone Tree Lift thinking it went up into the Headwaters chutes but instead takes into the real gems of the resort. We took Six Shooter back up and then headed up the Lone Tree Lift. Looking at the snow underneath the lift I talked Cavin into riding down it so all four of us dropped into it. At the top the run was kind of icy and rock for the first 15 – 20 feet but then seriously dropped down into some VERY deep and steep terrain. Lone tree, which was a double black was just epic. I took huge turns yipping and yelling the entire way down in some fantastic snow. I enjoyed it so much to the point that I wanted to do the tree run next to it. We in fact did this and plowed through it. The trail was named Obsidian and like everything in the Big Sky region lived up to its name. The run was just ridiculously steep and even more narrow than Lone Tree (S) which was just outside of the tree run. After that run we finally headed over to some tree runs down the other side of the mountain. We headed down Lookout Ridge until the end until we dropped into Double-Jack. he tree run was just sick. We were still finding little pockets of fresh snow and really enjoyed the romp through the woods and I actually did do a little 4 foot cliff again since I didn’t have a choice except to go over it. It was definitely fun. Once we had finished that run we headed over to Marshal and hit that trail which started as an open meadow and dived back into the trees. The run was SUPER enjoyable and we blasted right through it. After that run we then headed back to the front of the resort to meet up with Lauren for lunch.

Cavin and I shared a pizza which was surprisingly good and would definitely suggest anyone to have a slice or two or EVEN a whole pizza. It seemed that everything on the pizza was fresh including the dough which was just absolutely amazing. Once lunch was finished we headed over to the Marshal tree area as all of us took another romp down it. As Lauren hit it you could see her lessons really paid off as she blasted turn after turn through the deep snow and trees. We headed down through the trees while Dave and Mike lead the way. Like usual every time on this trip you saw Cavin he stood standing up straight looking good waiting for us like a majestic Big Horn sheep on top of his domain. It always seemed that you didn’t see him ski, but rather he would just pop up somewhere ahead of you or behind you. We plowed through it and went down to the bottom. Once we finally made it back to the top Dave, Mike, and Cavin were going to head over to a different while Carl, Lauren, and I were going to hit Marshal again. Carl and Lauren ended up going a different way and since they did I ended up going with Cavin, Mike and Dave down Ulery’s Trace. We rode down it and ended up dropping into Moonshine instead since the snow seemed better and was actually untracked. Dave took a pretty cool line down the untracked face and jumped off a decent sized cliff. It was definitely a pretty nice line. Once we made it to the bottom I rushed down to make sure that I would beat Lauren down. In fact I did and waited for them to show up. While Dave, Mike, and Cavin rode up the Lone Tree Lift I waited for Lauren and Carl to show up. What happened to them was hilarious. Instead of taking Lone Tree Cutoff they headed further skier’s left down Horseshoe into Old Faithful and then down into Grizzly Meadows. Lauren said it was the steepest, narrowest trees she had ever navigated through and was actually enjoyable.

After that run I met up with them and Lauren showed us a hidden run called “Big Tree Cutoff” that you couldn’t find unless someone showed you. The majority of the run was untracked and pretty enjoyable. We bounced through tree after tree until we finally made it to the bottom breathing heavily and just enjoying the challenge. We met the crew again at the bottom and they suggested we hit up Whiskey since it was our last run and since all of us would enjoy it. We did in fact enjoy it and it was definitely one of the better runs of the day even though EVERY run through the trees was amazing. All in all, Moonlight is definitely worth at least a day trip to since the tree runs are like nowhere else.

Instead of clear cutting huge expanses like Colorado Moonlight instead clears out the brush and garbage to the point that only the larger trees are left. It is truly enjoyable to be able to bounce through trees and feel like more like you are exploring instead of just riding down “another trail.”

POWDER ALERT!!!!

2010-01-24T18:25:00.000-08:00

Date: January 24th
Mountain: Big Sky

Comments: Just when we thought that Saturday was good Sunday was just EPIC. The storm did not let up at all on Saturday and ALL DAY Sunday. This time instead of heading over to Southern Comfort Lauren and I rushed over to Big Horn. Once Lauren and I stood at the top of the beginning of Big Horn we surveyed a purely UNTRACKED trail of almost NO tracks. This was definitely going to an EPIC beginning to a day. As Lauren and I rode down we carved HUGE turns down Big Horn. I really took massive turns down the run screaming in pure ecstacy and joy. THIS was why I snowboard for a run like this. We finally rode up to the chair in pure smiles and joy. We did one more run on Big Horn which we still did find some deep snow on the sides of the trail that were STILL untracked. This day was perfection. Once we finished up Big Horn we headed over to Elk Park Meadows. Just when I thought Saturday on Elk Park Meadows was good this was even better. The snow was SOOO dry that the snow had blown over all the bumps and set a slate of even perfection. You still jumped around a bit but the snow was sooo deep that you could blast right through all of it. In the Elk Park Meadows the snow was about 2+ feet in some areas. Like everything else that day the snow was AMAZING!!! Just epic. Mike, David, Carl, and Cavin headed over to War Dance to try a new trail. Since it seemed that we continued to keep hitting the same areas ourselves Lauren and I decided to head over and hit Bear Lair, which was a tree run. The run started out nice and then continued to get steeper and steeper. Lauren took this as a challenge and pounded right through it like a champ. The bottom of the trail was absolutely amazing since it spread out and some whole areas were purely untracked. I took a ravine section and plowed right through 2 feet of fresh and ended up off a 4 foot cliff that I didn’t even know was there. It was definitely a fun and challenging run. As we finished up the run we met Cavin and Dave at the bottom. Somehow they lost Mike up in the War Dance. Cavin and Dave took another run down War Dance to see if they could find Mike while Lauren and I headed back up and took another run down Elk Park Meadows which was still riding nicely. Once we finished that up we still hadn’t found Mike so we went up to the top and talked to Ski Patrol and sent out an APB for him. As we finished our morning session we headed down to Ambush Meadows which was still untracked on the sides a bit and headed down to the main area. Just when we were getting extremely nervous on what happened to Mike he suddenly showed up at the bottom. Boy, were we excited that he hadn’t got lost or hurt himself to the point that he couldn’t get out of the trees.

Once we finally finished lunch we headed over to the Dakota Lift area which is EXTREMELY difficult to get to from the front side without taking the Lone Tram up. Lauren needed to go to the bathroom so while the rest of the Stodola dysfunctional family continued heading over to the Dakota lift Lauren and I took Yellow Mule down to the Yurt. The snow was just ridiculous on this part of the mountain since everywhere you looked it was untracked in the trees AND on the trails. About halfway down we stopped at the Yurt. Next time we are at Big Sky we are definitely having lunch there since they have Venison, Bison Burgers, AND Bison Brats. The menu was ridiculously sick! After our short little break Lauren and I enjoyed the rest of the run until we hit Larkspur. The bottom of the trail was a tiny little chute that was scraped off of snow and was either ice or exposed rock or tree roots. Definitely a bad way to end a run while the rest of it was just ridiculously nice. After that run we finally started to head over to the Dakota lift. From the trail map it seems that the Dakota lift is not THAT far from the Shedhorn. Boy, were we wrong. It is seriously an adventure to get over to the Dakota lift since it you have to jaunt over a BUNCH to get to it. Lauren and I did get to enjoy some nice snow on top of the Rockville Bowl (of course the bowl is aptly named) into a tiny cat track through the Aspen Meadows until it goes into Mule Skinner. The trail was small, tight, and annoying icy. Once we had reached the Dakota lift it was already 3:40 and we couldn’t even enjoy the Bavarian Forest. On the ride up the Bavarian looked amazing sick and looked to be the best glades on the ENTIRE mountain. Dave and Mike said it was an amazing area even though they were able to only enjoy the area for 2 runs. It was still pretty sick they said overall. Once Lauren and I reached the top we had to begin our trek back to the front side. We took the trail “Screaming Left” into the Rockville Bowl which was just amazingly deep and soft. Honestly, if it was a little bit earlier in the day I think it would have been one of the best runs I had been on. The bowl was still deep and soft and once we exited out of it headed into Sunlight and then back down Hippie Highway which funnels into Shedhorn. Our bodies were exhausted and our minds were content as we finally made it down to the bottom of the mountain. We were ALL ready to have an evening of good food and restful hot tubbing. After a full day of just romping through some VERY tough stuff Dave’s board was absolutely destroyed to the point that you could pronounce it dead. Massive chunks of the base were missing from hitting rocks and tree roots to the point that either he would need a miracle or put his board to death.

On our way back we noticed another ski resort that was not part of Big Sky or Moonlight Basin. This resort is called Pioneer Mountain and is totally private. On a given day the MOST people on the mountain will be TEN!!!! Here is a pic of it just to give you an idea of what kind of resort Bill Gates skis at.

Big Sky - Day 2 - POWDER

2010-01-23T18:17:00.000-08:00

Date: January 23rd
Mountain: Big Sky

The word of the day was … POWDER!!! Fresh snow everywhere!!!

Even when we drove up that day and saw all these people around the bottom of the mountain the day was still just amazing. As we walked up to the lift we were 15 minutes early and Lauren and I actually were number 3 in line. Our plan was to head over to Big Horn, but ended up going down Ponderosa instead. It was STILL amazing since the snow was untracked as we made HUGE arcs down the run. Instead of getting down to Thunder Wolf we ended up over at Southern Comfort Express. After we got out of the Southern Comfort area we instead finally headed over to Big Horn and the majority of the run was already tracked out but still very enjoyable on the sides. After that run Mike, Cavin and Dave divided up and ended up back in the trees. Some of the runs they went down that they said were amazing were Bear Lair and Snake Pit. While they were doing the trees Lauren, Carl, and I ended up taking Elk Park Ridge. While Carl and Lauren rode down Elk Park Ridge I dropped into Elk Park Meadows which was surprisingly soft and fun. I hit a few tree branches and junk underneath but overall it was a fun little run. Once we got done with that run Lauren wanted to head back over to Southern Comfort. So we headed back to Southern Comfort and skied down El Dorado. The crazy thing about that trail was that at noon there were STILL untracked parts of the trail. Lauren and I enjoyed the one side of the trail until after 2nd run down. On the 3rd run Lauren and I finally started cutting through the little baby trees on the left side. This really began to give Lauren some more confidence in the trees again as she exploded from turn to turn. After a few more runs down that section we headed back over to Big Horn to see if we could find Dave, Cavin, and Mike. We heard over the radio from them that the Lone Moose Triple trails were riding VERY well. So after another run down Big Horn (it is named this due to the fact that the trail is the shape of a sheep’s horn.) we took the cat track down to the Lone Moose Triple. We joined up with them and headed down the trail called “Bobcat”. Like ALL the trails that we skied at Big Sky there usually is REAL meaning to the name. The pitch of Bobcat at the beginning of it is pretty steep and has a decent size of moguls on it. As Cavin, Dave, and Mike headed down Lauren finally got a little bit more comfortable as she skied down that VERY steep beginning of the run. It was definitely the steepest run Lauren has EVER been on that was not untracked. She did it slowly, but made it down without any problems. The cool thing about Bobcat is that the 80% of the run after the steep section was still VERY deep with fresh snow where you could actually float through it and make some comfortable turns. Lauren looked like she was finally back in her element as bounced from turn to turn through the deep snow. After Bobcat we drifted over to the green circle while Mike and Cavin headed over to the front side for a coffee and some trees skiing on the front side. Dave joined on the aptly named trail called “Little Calf.” Even though it was a pretty flat pitch the snow was almost totally untracked. All of us smiled as snow blasted into our faces while making turns into since it was deep and dry. After that run, we did another romp on Bobcat to seal the deal for Lauren. Lauren did even better this time as she went faster down the steep pitch. The run was amazing as we cut deep swaths through the dry, fluffy snow.

Since we ALL were hungry we headed back to the front side and both Dave and I noticed that there was a trail called the “South Glades” that were TOTALLY untracked since it isn’t even on any of the trail maps. The trail looked amazing, but we weren’t able to make it back over there on this trip. Just by seeing this trail what all of us noticed about Big Sky is that it took us about 3 days just to start knowing the mountain well enough where you could really start exploring all the hidden stashes throughout the mountain. This mountain skis big and feels HUGE!!! This mountain feels MUCH bigger than the 3600 acres that they state it is. By the time we got back to the front side it was around 2:30 so we tried to take a quick lunch and head back out. By the time we finished lunch my legs were noodles and mind was putty. The snow falling outside still called to us so that all of us headed out again. While Cavin, Dave, and Mike took a few more runs Lauren and I took one more run and called it quits on a VERY good day of skiing.

Big Sky - Day 1

2010-01-22T18:03:00.000-08:00

Date: January 22nd
Mountain: Big Sky Ski Area

Comments: As soon as our trip began we knew that it was going to be a good one. As I walked out of my flight the day before the crew rolled up in a Cadillac Escalade. This was just the beginning of a great trip. The crew consisted of Dave, Mike, Lauren, Carl, and Cavin. A group of individuals with different styles and levels, but here for one thing…snow sports.

As we woke up in the morning we were greeted to snow falling onto the ground and about an inch of fresh snow over everything. We made sure that we woke up early that morning to make sure we got first tracks. Our team effort created a wonderful breakfast with bacon, eggs, and toast. A meal fit for a king. Once we made sure we had enough energy from our meal we began our way up to Big Sky resort which was about 8 miles away from our wonderful place we were staying at. As we bought our tickets and headed up the Swift Current Express our first run was absolutely magnificent. A few inches of fresh on top of a groomed trail named Lobo. We all were able to get “first tracks” down the run and ended up really enjoying it. After our first run we headed up over to the Iron Horse chairlift which made us think that we went too far and ended up in Moonlight Basin. Luckily, we found out that the resorts just overlapped each other there.

Since our spirits and attitude were in a good mood we headed over to the trail named “Bad Dog” and it was definitely a bad dog with moguls and just a rough time overall. We made it through the run mostly unscathed except for Mike breaking his camera and losing the key to the condo we were staying at. Once we caught our breath we headed over to the Challenger lift. Even the warning at the bottom of the chair we thought we would be able to man handle the chair. Boy, were we wrong. As we rode up the chair it was silent and no wind was around. A snow slightly fell down making it feel like a beautiful winter wonderland. Just when we thought it was going to be easy the trees gave way to open terrain. This caused the wind to howl and the snow to slam into our faces. It was an amazing sight. Just when we thought we had the worst it could be we finally got off the chair into what felt and looked like Mt. Everest. A HARD wind battered us on top and with only 30-40 feet of space to get ready the whiteout conditions slammed us emotionally and physically. The “Cat Track” that guided us towards the “easier” which was difficult was only 4-6 feet and dropped down a 1,000 feet on one side and on the other was strewn with rocks. Once we negotiated the minefield and about a 100 feet down it finally calmed down to the point that you could see. After the 100 feet the top of the run wasn’t too bad with soft snow and carvable terrain. The only problem was that it lead to a mogul field that had gigantic 4 foot deep moguls. This lead to sore legs and a longing to be back onto some groomed runs.

After that tough set of runs we decided to take a lunch. The most amazing thing about Lunch at Big Sky is this little place called “Yeti Dogs”. Even if the dog was broiled it was still pretty amazing since they tried to add creative topping’s to their hot dogs and had names like “Liftie” or “Yeti Dog”. We were all definitely impressed since they were all tasty and pretty cheap for being at a ski resort. After lunch, we headed up the Ramcharger Express and enjoyed some of the front side runs which were nice and smooth. During the entire day it still continued snowing keeping the snow soft and enjoyable. The rest of the day was still nice with soft snow everywhere as Dave, Mike, and Cavin bounced through the trees while Lauren, Carl, and I stayed on some of the easier runs. All in all, it was an enjoyable day.

We are on a Mission from God

2010-01-09T17:41:00.000-08:00

Date: January 9th
Mountain: Mission Ridge

Comments: After a restful night in the hotel in Wenatchee we headed up to Mission Ridge. Mission Ridge itself is just a little too far to go to from Seattle directly so we had to stay in Wenatchee the night before, but it was worth it. The initial thing you notice on the eastern slopes of the Cascades is that the region is VERY dry and is actually considered dessert. Instead of pines surrounding you the foothills were replaced with bushes and sparsely spaced trees. The views from Wenatchee were absolutely magnificent and it looked more like New Mexico in comparison to the Pacific Northwest. As we drove up to the mountain the shrubs and bushes were again replaced with pines though it seemed they were of a different breed. A few inches of fresh snow covered everything and caused the ground to glisten. Once we had arrived the mountain didn’t look too big, but at least looked inviting. Boy, were we wrong. After we purchased our lift tickets we took chair 1 and headed up to the Liberator Express chairlift. The thing that blew all of ours minds was actually how BIG the mountain was. Just when we thought we were getting to the top of the mountain it would just be a small peak in our further ascent to the top of the mountain. As we finally reached the top it was actually warmer at the top of the mountain in comparison to the bottom since there was such a massive temperature inversion, so the top of the mountain was shrouded in a thick London like fog. The fog was sooo thick that moisture clothed us with a thick amount of dew. As soon as we started to ride down the first thing all of us noticed was how NICE it was. It was perfectly carveable and REALLY enjoyable. The first run was a prelude of the best day of the season… HANDS DOWN!!! Since this was the last day for Eric he was determined to head up into the trees and luckily the snow was just soft enough to allow him into the trees. Eric looked like a squirrel looking for a nut hopping to and fro in between trees and just enjoying the ability to actually ride everywhere. After a few runs down Sunspot followed by Tumwater Eric took the lead and we ended up going down into the trees which suddenly dropped into a steep descent. First of all, Lauren is amazing at skiing but just doesn’t have the comfort yet to tackle a pitch of more than 35+ degrees with trees on it so got nervous and froze. I became so excited to see a soft tree lined run that I carved right through the trees until I reached the bottom of the 100 yard descent into a runout which was a run. It was so steep to the point that Lauren had to shimmy her way down to the run. So, we named that little drop off “Lauren’s revenge”. After that excitement Lauren and I stuck to the main runs just enjoying making some MASSIVE turns. The big difference between Mission Ridge and the rest of the Pacific Northwest resorts is that there are NO lift lines even on a Saturday. All of just continued to make laps down the mountain to our hearts content. The only issue for the weather that day was that the top 1/3 of the mountain was covered in a fog so thick that it actually frosted everything including your goggles and clothing. Towards the end of the morning Lauren and I took a break and used the facilities while Jessie and Eric continued riding and exploring the trees. After our respite we waited at the bottom of the lift for almost 30 minutes to the point where we were concerned. Finally Jessie and Eric had made it down to the bottom breathing heavily and laughing. What we found out was that what Eric thought was a tree run ended up dropping into an area so thick was trees that you couldn’t even ride through it. This in turn meant that Jessie and Eric had to un strap and walk back up to where a trail was. Luckily, no one was hurt and we were able to continue riding.

The afternoon not only brought us a decent meal but also the sun shining. We continued to ride the mountain and explored the other chairlifts which also were pretty nice runs. By around 3:30 though the snow began to freeze up in the trees even though the main runs were still carveable the conditions were not nearly as nice as the morning’s runs. All in all, it was a great day to ride. It was the type of day of riding where you understand why you snowboard…. Good friends, good snow, and good times. Hopefully Montana will be just as good.

Stevens Pass - Never a disappointment

2010-01-08T13:40:00.000-08:00

Date: January 8th
Mountain: Stevens Pass

Comments: Being our first day of the new year we were hoping to finally have a day of decent snow. Stevens Pass like usual did not disappoint. When we drove up to Stevens the first thing we noticed how high the snow level was this year due to the worst two words ever… EL NINO! A season that started out on epic proportions has fizzled BIG time in the Pacific Northwest. While the ski resorts in the Lake Tahoe region are getting hammered with great snows the Pac. Northwest has been getting a potpourri of garbage storms. Storms have been started out snowy like the Monday before us coming up to Stevens, but finish out with just enough freezing drizzle to lock up the bountiful fresh snow underneath with a layer of hard, thick ice as pictured below.

Luckily, Stevens Pass knows how to groom snow. Standing at the bottom of the mountain the first thing we noticed was how empty Stevens was. Since this was the first time Lauren and I have EVER ridden Stevens Pass without fresh snow the crowds were not there allowing us to make laps all day. Our first run of the day was the trail named “Blue” and the snow was the BEST snow we have had this year. It was groomed and carveable and not a bit of ice was found. Me, Lauren, and Eric were really surprised at the quality of the snow.

After a few runs down the main runs off the Hogsback Express Eric decided to go into the trees it looked soft and just perfectly carvable. Boy, were we wrong. The snow “looked” soft, but rather was frozen solid and was just a ridiculous tease. After that experience we all thought that if the runs that were groomed off the main part were nice then our favorite runs off of the Skyline lift should be good also. As the lift ascended about ¾ of the way up to its apex we ended up going into a deep layer of fog, which could be considered a cloud. As we exited the lift we were disappointed to find out that the snow was just TERRIBLE. The groomed snow was frozen solid and was barely navigable. The only thing that would have helped ski that snow would have been getting a pair of ice skates. Luckily, about 75+ yards down the Skyline run the snow softened up like the rest of the groomed terrain to the point that we could get a few great turns.

After that disappointment all of us thought that we should head to the back of the mountain. Once we reached the top of the back side we were again shrouded in fog and slowly found our way down Gemini to the back side. About ½ down the mountain the clouds opened up and we were able to actually get a few decent turns in. After our 2nd run we pleasantly found out that a black diamond named “Shooting Star” was groomed and NO ONE was actually aware of it leading to the best snow on the mountain. We took a few laps down this run until after the 3rd time the fog became so thick on our way to this trail that we couldn’t even see 6 feet in front of us.

It was truly unenjoyable but definitely an adventure. Just when it seemed that it couldn’t get any worse it began to snow ice pellets causing your face to burn as you skied down. We all thought that it was about time to go to lunch. The afternoon was still pleasant as we found another run off of Tye Mill that was still pretty soft and allowed us to make some pretty decent runs off of Skid Road and Crest trails. A side note about the day was that weather was cold and when I say cold it was SOOOOO much colder than being in Chicago. The air just had an extra bite to it that caused us to feel a chill to the bone. Luckily, the snow was decent enough to keep our spirits up. After making laps off of Tye Mill Lauren called “finite”and Eric and I finished our day up on Hogsback Express. It was definitely the best day of the year for us even though it was a smorgasboard of weather.

Worst conditions in 6 years

2009-12-13T15:22:00.000-08:00

Date: December 13th
Mountain: Blackcomb/Whistler

Comments: The first few runs in the Jersey Cream pointed that this would be a pretty decent day. The snow was carveable and there was no ice to be found. After 3 runs the conditions deteriorated to the point that it was icy followed by moments of nice snow. These were some of the worst snow conditions I have seen in over 6 years. Even if the snow that falls on the west coast is wet the reason why the conditions were sooooo bad was because Whistler like all the Canadian ski resorts I have skiied do not understand the subtle finesses of grooming. The faster the groomer goes the less deep the actual groomer goes into the snow. In addition, the actual teeth on the groomer I have a feeling are a 1/4 inch shorter which causes havoc on leaving boiler plate conditions underneath. I understand that Whistler has a lot of runs to groom but if they would slow down and do it better. Basically quality over quantity then the conditions would last longer than an hour. Oh well, hopefully the next outing will at least have soft snow and no ice. Even though the snow looks soft it was anything but.

Day 2 at Whistler

2009-12-12T19:14:00.000-08:00

Date: December 12th
Mountain: Blackcomb/Whistler

Comments: Today, was a tale of two stories. As we rode up to the Gondola and then up further on Excellerator the mountain was still being blanketed with a light, fluffy snow. Our first 4 runs on Blackcomb were phenomenal with over 4+ inches and sometimes more of fresh snow leading us to have a few wonderful “ego powder” turns. As the day became later we headed over to 7th Heaven. Truly, as you can see from the pictures this part of Whistler is named correctly due to the fact that as a skier you hope that heaven looks like this.

We got only a run in that day before the cold forced us in to warm up since it was only 5 + degrees fanhrenheit outside. It was again RIDICULOUSLY cold. As we got out again after the break we noticed the runs became exponentially worse to the point where it was difficult to know if it was good or not. A few turns would be in this butter snow followed by a section of boiler plate ice causing us to lose balance. It was extremely difficult to know if it was a nice turn or you were going to end up on your butt. So, Lauren and I decided to take the Peak 2 Peak Gondola which was an amazing sight since you are dangling on a wire 1,000+ feet from the bottom of the valley and have a gorgeous view of the Whistler town and the surrounding mountains. So, we tried skiing on Whistler that day, which we were both shocked at how icy it was. Honestly, I don’t think it would have been better at Blackcomb besides 7th Heaven. Like was originally said the conditions were phenomenal and EXTREMELY tough and icy in the same day. Hopefully tomorrow will be just as fun in the morning.

Back on Da Board - Whistler

2009-12-11T18:11:00.000-08:00

Date: December 11th
Mountain: Blackcomb

Comments: As we headed out this morning over to the Whistler / Blackcomb center we began to see a few flakes falling from the sky.

It was a beautiful sight. We ended up heading over to Blackcomb since the resort help stated that Blackcomb had a higher percentage of groomed blue runs open and since the mountain was going to be icy everywhere else we ended up taking the Blackcomb Gondola. As we exited the top of the gondola we glided over to the Excelerator chair and began our way up to the main part of the mountain. Even though no snow was expected it began to snow HARD about 1/3 of the way up.

By the time we reached the top of the chairlift the clouds opened slightly and the snowflakes glistened in the sunshine that was around. We took our first run down Honey Comb carving beautiful turns in the soft snow that was given to us.

Just as we thought it was going to be a beautiful run we ended up going onto Sorcerer which was literally a sheet of ice. As the locals like to call the conditions “dust with crust”. Once we finally ended up at the bottom of Solar Coaster express we thought that we might as well try something and took it up and glided over to 7th Heaven via the cat track known as “Expressway”. As we descended down to the bottom of 7th Heaven we froze ourselves to the bone. It was like skiing in the UP with temperatures around -11 degrees Celsius. Just as we thought all hope was lost we were transported into a “Winter Wonderland” as Lauren liked to call it. The clouds parted and the sun was blazed over 7th Heaven exposing the beauty of the day in front of us. As I strapped into my snowboard Lauren and I took a skiers left and ended up onto a run called Panorama that ended up being a PERFECT run even with the conditions. It was hard, but still VERY carvable. The run snaked through the back side of Blackcomb winding up and down like a race course allowing the skis run. It was SOOOO enjoyable that Lauren and I did multiple runs in pure exhalation. As we finally completed that area Lauren and I took a break and basked in the Whistler beauty above the clouds. What was odd about the day was that it was only snowing from about 1/3 of the way up to about 2/3 of the way up and the bottom was left in clouds while the top was in pure sunshine. It really was an amazing sight to see.

After lunch we headed over to the Jersey Cream area to really enjoy the snow. The snow was ok but it was still enjoyable since the runs were VERY uncrowded. After a few runs we ended up the day at the lodge and enjoyed the sunshine above the snowlevel.

Solitude - Quiet and Peaceful - A Nice end to a trip.

2009-11-29T20:14:00.000-08:00

Date: November 29th
Mountain: Solitude

Comments: Since we finally figured out by the end of the trip that Utah is the opposite of most places where the warmth usually softens up the snow it instead just gets scraped off leaving an ice covered run so we got to Solitude early and boy did we end up with a treat. Solitude was by far the best mountain for early season riding and had the steepest runs open this early in the season. The blue runs that were open were actually more like black diamonds at this time due to the fact snow depth did not reduce the pitch. It was a little firm in the morning, but definitely carveable. The amount of people on the mountain were almost negligible which made the entire outing awesome. By about 1:30 we were done though since the snow got scraped off and left some icy conditions throughout the mountain. Lauren and I both are warmed up and ready for Whistler in 2 weeks and you can see from the picture that Whistler is calling me right now!

Snowbird

2009-11-28T20:08:00.000-08:00

Date: November 28th
Mountain: Snowbird

Comments: As we woke up leisurely to clear skies… our hopes diminished to see some fresh snow in Utah. It has been an EXTREMELY dry November for Utah where they have received only 10 inches of snow for the ENTIRE month of November. Oh well, at least we are riding in November. Just like Brighton they really only had 2 runs open. One to the left and one to the right of the Gad zoom lift. The runs were EXTREMELY long though and enjoyable even though it was PACKED with skiers and snowboarders. The difficulty of the runs were more with watching out for the other skiers and snowboarders on the mountain. It looked like a lot of beginners did not take hede that the runs were only for experts currently since from the top the bottom there were some pretty icy spots and a lot of slow skiers causing backups throughout the runs. Snowbird is a very unique mountain since most of it never receives sun light and it is in the shade which makes it extremely difficult to make out the snow texture. The terrain possibilities though at Snowbird are INSANE and both Lauren and I want to come back some time to see this mountain in its full plumage. The views throughout little cottonwood are spectacular as you can see from the pictures and it seriously blows your mind that you are only 14 miles from 2+ million people but yet in complete wilderness. VERY COOL!

FIRST TRIP OF THE SEASON!!!!

2009-11-27T19:54:00.000-08:00

Me trying to get the hang of riding again after 6 months of chillin

Date: November 27th
Mountain: Brighton

Comments: As our first day on the snow finally came to fruition it was truly a blessed day even if there was only 10+ runs open on snowmaking. It was still amazing to be on the snowboard and/or skis this early in the season. The road up to Brighton is really an amazing road and it truly is awe inspiring sight how it cuts through these giant rock formations that are left from when these mountains were on the coast of a majestic interior sea that is now the Great Salt Lake. Anyways, the sunshine and the turns on some snow truly brought our spirits up.

As soon as the afternoon began it seemed that the clouds rolling in meant that we were destined to see some fresh snow tomorrow. Hopefully this is the case, but ALL the weather centers are predicting almost no snow for the northern Wasatch except for possibly a few scattered snow showers. Oh well, at least we will be on the snow again tomorrow and the views are just absolutely amazing as you can see from the pictures.

BLOG: Whistler - Day 2 - LAST DAY

2009-05-23T17:42:00.000-07:00

Mountain: Whistler

Province: British Columbia

Country: Canada

As always happens the last day of the season it is a bittersweet feeling. On our way up the mountain Lauren and I saw something that neither of us have seen in the wild .... a GRIZZLY BEAR. It was a magnificent site to behold as this omnivorous animal stood there enjoying the same slopes skiers were on just a month earlier. We continued to ascend back to the winter wonderland that is known as Whistler summer skiing. Once we finally got up to the top we exited the Whistler Gondola and put on our skis and snowboard to bomb down the Family Zone which was expertly groomed and "soft and fluffy" as Lauren always says when she enjoys her runs. As we took laps on the snow Lauren and I were both in full grins just smiling at the perfect weather and the perfect runs we were having. After about 4 runs the snow finally became a little over-tracked and mashed patotoey by the Emerald Express lift.

Lauren and I headed over to the Big Red lift hoping that it was still nice and soft. Both of us thought that our day was going to be over and boy were we totally shocked that the snow was perfect on that side of the mountain. It was still a little firm, but SOOOOOO fun to make runs through. The ONLY part of it that stunk was the lower third of Franz, which was just a thin ribbon of snow to connect you to the bottom of the lift. It was WELL worth it though for the top 2/3 of the mountain. Instead of going to lunch we skiied through it instead and headed up to the peak and rode "The Saddle run" down and the snow was absolutely phenomenal. The run is kind of interesting since the entrance to it is about 15 feet wide and then opens up to a massive steep bowl. It is no joke and Lauren took it like a pro. This was the beginning of the best run of the day. Lauren took some massive turns across the bowl letting the skis run through the snow and at the bottom she let her skis literally run and straighted the last 1/3 of the run. She shot out of the bowl like a bullet exploding onto the the second half of the run that headed over to "Fish Eye" like an Olympic skier. It was an amazing sight as usual.

Fish Eye was where I actually stepped up to the level of riding that I wish I could always ride at. I was able to take huge carving turns the entire way down until the final steep section. At the final steep section I just pointed the board straight and let it pick up speed to the point that I was yelling in pure joy at the velocity I was going. It was an AWESOME way to end the season!!!!! Even the bottom third was enjoyable with us pounding through the wet snow like grizzly bears. Both Lauren and I had such a GREAT run that we both thought that one more run was in order. As both of us took the last run our legs became totally spent since both of us had lost our "ski legs".

As Lauren and I sat at a Starbucks coffee shop at the valley enjoying the 70+ degree summer weather we reminisced that only 30 minutes up a gondola there was still winter in its full grip. As I was about to say that it was kind of sad that the season was ending Lauren said, "It would be kind of cool to ski in July one more time." Well, maybe this is not the end of the season.... stay tuned.

For all of you wanting to try spring/summer skiing or cant figure out why we enjoy it so much.... check out this link: http://skiing.about.com/od/downhillskiing/a/springskiing.htm :-)

Whistler - Summer Skiing

2009-05-22T17:47:00.000-07:00

Mountain: Whistler

Province: British Columbia

Country: Canada

As we woke up to a BLARING sun at 8:00 am Lauren and I both got excited on the outlook of another beautiful day in the province of British Columbia and actually skiing in MAY!!!!! From the bottom you could barely see the snow and it did not look as covered in snow as last year from our last sojourn up to Whistler in May. Last year we skied the Blackcomb part of the mountain, but this year we are actually skiing the Whistler side of the mountain. It is ALWAYS an amazing treat to be up here at this time of year because there are multiple things going on through out the mountain. As we lined up around 10:00 am to load to get up to the skiing we were joined by an equal amount of eager down hill mountain bikers.

How Whistler is setup in May is kind of interesting since the mountain bikers use the same lift as the skiers except they unload at the bottom part of the mountain and ride their mountain bikes through the lush forests of Whistler. As we departed from the 1/3 point we slowly ascended up to the snow for the day. It was a BEE - YOU - TEE - FULL sunny day at top with temps in the upper 40's on the top of the Whistler Gondola. From the view it seemed that the top 1/3 of the mountain had still a decent amount of coverage of snow and this is where the skiing was held.

As this time of year Whistler only runs three lifts: Emerald, Big Red, and Peak. It is enough to keep skiers entertained for about 2 days and basically like skiing a small mountain out west somewhere. As we took our first run down Ego Bowl which followed the Emerald Express chairlift it was AWESOME!!! The snow is a little firm, but perfectly carveable. It took both Lauren and I about two runs before we got our "ski legs" back since it was over 2 months since either of us were on snow. It felt good to be back.

After a few runs we headed over to Big Red Express. The snow in the morning was HORRIBLE on this side of the mountain. It was still icy and you could barely get an edge in and the bottom 1/3 of the lift was to low so the runs were more like runouts and you were forced to follow a ribbon of snow. This run was called "Franzs". As we headed back over to Emeral the snow was ABSOLUTELY phenomenal over on this side. We took Jolly Green Giant down and Lauren was able to practice her small turns since it was only groomed one groomer wide. It was fun and exhilirating at the same time.

Once we had lunch we ended up doing a run called Fish-Eye to FRANZS (see picture above) run again and boy was it SIIICCKK!!!! Boy, when it comes to spring/summer skiing it is all about timing. If it is bad...it is BAD...but when it is good....it is like POWDER!!!! This was hands down the best run of the day. We finally headed up to the top for some views and one final run. All in all a great day of winter sports and summer weather.

1st Day @ Whistler

2009-05-21T19:17:00.000-07:00

Mountain: Whistler

Province: British Columbia

Country: Canada

We have just arrived @ Whistler and the weather is absolutely gorgeous with a light breeze and a high of approximately 70 degrees with no humidity. To be able to see snow just a half mile above the village is just a tease for tomorrow's skiing. Lauren and I are both anticipating the skiing.

2009-03-24T17:00:00.000-07:00

Mountain: Vail

State: Colorado

WHAT A MORNING!!!!! So as Lauren and I got up @ 6am this morning we didn’t expect to much from the storm especially that it only dropped a dusting on Georgetown. As we drove up I-70 with VERY little traffic and hit Loveland Pass it was dumping pretty good. We came through the tunnel with a view of fresh snow everywhere. What a difference does a day make in Colorado. It was around 60 degrees and sunny without a single cloud in the sky just 12 hours ago and the next day it was dumping!!!! The closer we got to Vail the more it was dumping. Little did we know that Vail is SOOOO massive that there is no normal parking lot. We finally ended up paying the $25 to park in the parking lot across the village. It was well worth it since we didn’t have to actually get ready in the snow. As we walked throught the village it was kind of earie how empty it was ESPECIALLY on a powder day. It was dumping BIG time and after we bought our tickets we walked right up to the chairlift with NO ONE around us. We were only 6 minutes late, but from the view we did not have to worry. It was AWESOME to see and as we took the Vista Bahn Express lift up it took seriously 20+ minutes to get up the mountain. The lift just continued going up until we finally made it to mid base. We took Wildwood Express lift up until we made it to the top.

We dropped into our first run with UNTRACKED POW!!!!!! It was kind of weird to ride soft 8+ inches of fresh on top of ice. It still felt awesome and nice. As we took Hunky Dory we ended back at the top of Vista Bahn lift and took Trans Montane to Riva Ridge. This is where the best run of the day….possibly the top 3 runs of the season came. Lauren took huge turns smiling from ear to ear as plooms of snow flew around her. Tourist Trap was not a Tourist Trap today. THESE ARE THE DAYS YOU SKI!!!!!! It was just insane. I took massive turns letting the board float down the steeps. We rode the untracked all the way down to the bottom!!!! AWESOME powder run!!!! We ended up at Riva Catwalk and took up Riva Bahn Express lift to Highline Express lift. We ended up taking Blue Ox since it had been groomed and thought a nice STEEP run would be what we would want. It was not a good idea to hit this run especially that they hadnt had snow since in over a week before the storm. The wind blew the snow in drifts leading to soft snow patches followed by ice. It was an ok run, but WAYYYY to much work. Lauren had now officially done her first double black diamond and she stomped it even though the snow wasn’t that good.

Once we had finished up that run we took Highline Express over to Northwoods Express lift and headed over to the back bowls. The famous Vail back bowls are AWESOME….

Except for today. The snow was absolutely horrible since the snow had frozen in solid moguls leading to bumpy snow that you didn’t know if it was going to drop you or not. Cow’s face was seriously horrible. We finally ended in Blue Sky Basin around 12:00 am which was just shocking since we honestly got in maybe 3 + runs in 3.5 hours. Vail is seriously just massive!!!! It is like 3 mountains with totally different characters. We ended up in Big Rock Park with some more first tracks. It is crazy that during MID DAY there was still some fresh tracks to be found. SOOOO Awesome!!! The next run was where Lauren stepped up and we took Encore down which was just skiers right of the lift. It was like a park with trees spread wide and soft snow everywhere. It was like every run that day…. You needed to go through hell to get to heaven. The wind was blowing VERY hard and snowing horizontally hitting your face making it burn until we got into the trees. The tree run was just siiiccck since the snow was crappy on the run and was mogulled up. It was an awesome run. The rest of the day we spent riding groomers on the front and the last run down Avanti to Bear Tree was like riding fresh snow and it made it REALLY sad that the day ended. It was truly a GREAT day to ride. I wont be surprised if we end up at Vail again in our lives. $97 for a lift ticket truly is worth it, but still a VERY steep price.

Copper Mountain - Spring Skiing

2009-03-22T18:00:00.000-07:00

Mountain: Copper Mountain
State: Colorado

After a wonderful soak at the Princeton Hot Springs on Saturday ended up skiing Copper on Sunday. It was a blue bird day with a high around 50 degrees. We started skiing around 9:30 am thinking that the snow would have already started melting since it was already 40 at the base. BOY, was I wrong. It was solid ice from top to bottom. After two runs Lauren and I ended up taking an early lunch and just enjoying the nice weather. We also looked at the equipment they had on sale since it was 50% off and got matching spider gloves. Lauren was very happy with this purchase and so was I. It is kind of funny to mention the food, but man honestly the BEST food we have EVER had at a resort. Lauren got the Pho and it was phenomenal. Anyways, once we got back on the mountain around noon the snow had finally softened up on the front end. It was pretty decent skiing except for a few patchy ice spots. There weren’t to many people and the lines were not that bad. Tried to ski some runs off of American Flyer thinking that maybe it had softened up and actually it was the worst snow on the mountain. We kept away from that side thinking that all the snow would be the same. Finally took Lauren down a black run called “Triple Treat”. Honestly it had the best corn snow on the mountain. It was tough, but VERY enjoyable. A little to mogully at the bottom, but Lauren did them like a pro. We ended up on trail #20 and Lauren was all grins since she found out Colorado blacks were plain boring compared to the Pacific Northwest. She stomped that run and didn’t even slow down! We kept making laps until about 3:30 pm since the snow started to turn crappy again. Hopefully the storm will be as big as they say for Vail!!!

Loveland - Reunion

2009-03-20T19:55:00.000-07:00

Mountain: Loveland Ski Area
State: Colorado

Our first day in Colorado was interesting. The mountains are a lot flatter than I remembered when I came years ago. Also, the amount of snow in the mountains was the least I have seen in Colorado at this time of year ever. The base at the mountain was still pretty decent, but the surrounding mountains were almost bare with snow. VERY sad. The conditions were so-so dependent on if the sun came out for that run or decided to take a nap. We tried riding the terrain around chair 4, but it was VERY icy on the top 2/3 and the bottom was not groomed leading to just bad skiing. We spent most of our time off of chair 1, chair 2, and chair 6. The conditions were not super great, but not bad either. I was totally surprised that their parks consisted of ALL rails and no jumps. It is a sad day when they don’t have any actual jumps. It is the second place I have seen without jumps this year. Hopefully this is not a trend that will stay. It was just an overall nice day of carving and practicing on getting the board to turn just the right way. Lauren looked pretty good on the skis and the knee brace looked like it helped. Anyways, it is kind of crazy to say it was the worst day of the season at the moment. Hopefully the rest of the CO trip will not disappoint…. Vail on Monday with a possibility of snow. J

Stevens Pass - HARDCORE

2009-03-08T19:57:00.000-07:00

Mountain: Stevens Pass
State: Washington

Weather: Clear – approx 20+ inches of snow fell overnight

The temperature was cold enough where the snow levels were almost down to sea level. SUPER DRY SNOW!!! We took Hogsback Express up and tried to get to the back side first run ended up screwing up and taking Hoot N Holler instead. TONS of snow everywhere UNTRACKED on the side of the run. Ended up endoing and truly enjoying the dry snow to the fullest. Went to the bottom and took Hogsback Express with only 10-15 people ahead of us. Then finally took up Tye Mill up to the top and saw some SICK cliff drops from some of the locals underneath the chair. The line was about 3-4 minutes and finally got up to the top. We took Gemini and it was not groomed at all!!!! Huge turns through untracked and ended up in some trees with looks like 2 – 3 feet deep of snow. Lauren and I both had BIG grins on our faces from shooting through the snow. Fell once or twice and just giggling from how deep it was. It felt like riding pillows and was truly bottomless. We took Southern Cross Chair up and the line for the lift was INSANELY long and not organized at all.

This is where we really stepped up to the steep and deep. Dropped into the second opening and cut through some beautiful snow. It was tracked up a little but MAN it was still pretty good. Shooting through in between trees and even did a chute at the end of the run where I had to straight shot it with trees on both sides and only about a foot or two in space…. JUST AWESOME!!! Had me grinning all the way to the chair. We kept doing laps on the back side until finally it warmed up to much and so went to the front side for lunch since it was starting to get a little soupy on the back side. Lunch was about 12:30 – 1:00. Right before it we met a guy that told us that there was secret run we should take… OUT OF BOUNDS. It has TONS of powder still. We followed him and honestly Lauren freaked out since it was a gully with no room to turn. She ended up getting buried up to her neck in fresh snow and so I had to dig her out. Nothing like an adventure to keep you on your toes.

The lunch was great as usual since you can have GREAT food for $6.95 such as Mongolian Pork. GREAT FOOD!!! Came back to skiing with it lightly snowing. It wasn’t enough to help freshen up the base, but was nice to see. It was snowing while the sun was shining so at least it was an interesting weather phenomenon. We ended riding the front end enjoying the groomers which were already bumpy, but still kinda fun. After that took one more run on the back side and since Lauren’s knee was hurting thought we would end the day on a good note by just doing one final groomer to the car. Good run for a great sunny day.

Crystal Mountain - POW - POW

2009-03-06T19:59:00.000-08:00

Mountain: Crystal Mountain
State: Washington

It was ANOTHER perfectly beautiful sunny day in the Pacific Northwest…. VERY WEIRD!!!!! High was approximately in the low 20’s, BUT the huge difference was the 2+ feet of fresh they got from the storm on Thursday. First chair up was Chinook Express and then up to Forest Queen. Dropped into the unnamed run in front of the chair next to the run named “Downhill”, which would be considered an expert run. It was AWESOME!!!! I dropped into it made a quick left and dropped a few other turns and then shot in between two trees at the bottom of the run out. The snow was INSANELY deep and shot 6-7 foot plooms of snow into my face. As soon as I shot the trees I totally lost my focus thinking about how great that run was and ended up bailing nose first into the snow. I had to dig myself out and finally pushed my way through it. My buddy Eric also fell who dropped in with me and had the same issue.

After we finished a second run on Forest Queen we took Rainer Express and took a cat track towards Northway Chair, which threw us into Snorting Elk Bowl. Lauren had a SICK run through this bowl since the snow was still pretty soft and she got some powerful powder turns sending up plooms of snow. We shot into the trees a little bit, but had trouble finding an exit. Still pretty sick though. Somehow we ended up in this secret bowl and Lauren got a few good turns in the VERY deep snow and like me at the bottom of the STEEP terrain where it got flat she lost control and fell HARD on her back. She just couldn’t stop laughing due to the fact it didn’t hurt. All in all it was a good run. We did a few more runs off of Green Valley Chair and then headed down to lunch. We SHOULD have eaten at the top of Forest Queen since it had the best choice for lunch.

The afternoon was filled with crud type of snow and knowing that almost all the terrain was tracked out by 10:30 am. This mountain is just not good at grooming and is WAYYYY to crowded for how little grooming they do. Ended up spending most of the rest of the afternoon riding Forest Queen and riding the run “Queens” since it was still had nice snow and was groomed very well. The rest of the mountain was not as lucky.

Lessons Learnt: Eat Lunch @ the top of Forest Queen since they have a BIGGER choice for food and the bathrooms are actually on the same floor. NICE BUILDING!!!!

Mt Hood Meadows - Spring Skiing in February?!?!

2009-02-20T20:00:00.000-08:00

Mountain: Mt Hood Meadows
State: Oregon

It was a perfect beautiful sunny day in Oregon. High around 49 degrees F. It was a little hard in the morning when taking runs off of Shooting Star Express. Went to Cascade Express (no wind) and made a few laps around 10 am perfectly groomed and the snow was a little firm, but yet VERY carveable. Around 11 am headed down to the bottom rode 2 bowl, which was groomed and SUPER soft. IT WAS AWESOME!!!!!

Rode 3 bowl and that was really bad since it was ungroomed.

Rode Vista Express around 2:00 pm it was a little firm and the run wasn’t too good since Cascade Express shut down.

Since Lauren forgot the camera we have a picture of my boy Nelly showin us the scene in Portland...