Steep Couloirs and Flatspin 360s - Skiing and Boarding 22-23

Zososoxfan · Oct 24, 2022

So much YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSS for starting this thread.

I'm looking to get a few days in March at Park City, and then a few more days at Beaver Creek in April (!). Yes, April. It's when my nieces and nephews have spring break, and I'm willing to roll the dice on conditions considering the cost of accommodations (and hopefully flights) reflect the late season. Best case, it's an April bonanza. Worst case, I enjoy some silly slushy spring conditions and maybe tool around with gear (splitboarding, demo stuff, and maybe just maybe jumping on 2 planks instead of one for the first time in 25 years!).

I'll also be looking to head to Chile in early August, but I'll worry about that once the calendar flips. I'm also still trying to find the time to make my edit from Argentina, but I'm guessing that's still a few weeks away. Adulting is hard.

3Olympics · Oct 24, 2022

I'm in PC right now. We got 5" in Pinebrook and close to 20" up higher. Looks/feels like winter, albeit with a springtime sun. I, too, am looking forward to a snowier winter in Burke & the northeast generally. However, after a perfect biking year, and the best foliage season I can recall, I may be estopped from any whining...

Preacher · Oct 24, 2022

We're planning Sunday River in and around Christmas/New Year. I'll probably take those entire two weeks off but I'm not sure how much time we'll actually be there. Maybe we'll go somewhere else in NE. We have epic passes (I know SR isn't on epic but it's where I went a lot as a kid). I'm so stupid that I didn't have my wife move with my ski gear so I've been bringing stuff up when I go up there on the weekends so hopefully, when December rolls around, I'll just have to take my skis and some clothing. I think it'll be all NE skiing this winter which is good because my wife has never skied in NE. Her only east coast experience has been Snow Shoe.

fairlee76 · Oct 24, 2022

Yes to starting this thread! Got a long hike in Saturday AM and the starting temp of 33 degrees at 7 AM definitely had me thinking of ski season.

Only trip on the books as of now is Jackson from March 7th to 13th. Will be doing a Taos weekend or two and the usual day trips to Copper/Steamboat/A-Basin.

Devizier · Oct 24, 2022

YES YES YES

Still going to be stuck in the mid-atlantic this year but hopefully I'll make a trip out to Hunter or something. Going to hit Snowshoe at the very least.

One day I'm going to skin/ski Mt. Porte Crayon but probably not this year

Preacher · Oct 24, 2022

Devizier said:
YES YES YES

Still going to be stuck in the mid-atlantic this year but hopefully I'll make a trip out to Hunter or something. Going to hit Snowshoe at the very least.

One day I'm going to skin/ski Mt. Porte Crayon but probably not this year

I'm not sure if you have Ikon but when I lived in VA, it made sense to by a season pass to Snowshoe if we were going to go more than something like 3 weekends. That was a few years ago and I'm not sure what the cost breakdowns are now but it might be something worth exploring.

Devizier · Oct 24, 2022

Preacher said:
I'm not sure if you have Ikon but when I lived in VA, it made sense to by a season pass to Snowshoe if we were going to go more than something like 3 weekends. That was a few years ago and I'm not sure what the cost breakdowns are now but it might be something worth exploring.

I went with Epic because they went and bought our local hills (7 Springs, Laurel, Hidden Valley) which are all 60-90 minutes away. Since I've got two kids <10 they aren't going to schlep the 3-4+ hours to Snowshoe every weekend. But ... eventually.

Laurel is actually a pretty great hill for its size, one very good steep (Wildcat) and some sidecountry worth exploring every three years when we get a good winter

Maybe I'll get a real job and we can fly places.

chilidawg · Oct 24, 2022

Trying to put together a winter JaPow trip and a spring Revelstoke trip, need to get to work on the details.

A little stoke from last year, Lucky Dog having a day.

Zososoxfan · Oct 25, 2022

chilidawg said:
Trying to put together a winter JaPow trip and a spring Revelstoke trip, need to get to work on the details.

A little stoke from last year, Lucky Dog having a day.

View attachment 56875

I'm pretty set on gifting myself a JaPOW trip for my 40th birthday in a few years. Can't think of a cooler trip. I went to Japan on my honeymoon, hitting up Kyoto, Tokyo, and lots of stuff around there and in between. But Sapporo--that would be downright spiritual for me.

petefungtorres · Oct 25, 2022

For us it will be weekends and snow days at Sunday River. We're very much looking forward to seeing the changes at the Jordan - new eight person lift with heated seats and a bubble. Seven years ago it was open already but this year the temps are not cooperating. But the snowmaking upgrades this year are impressive so once temps start to cooperate it won't take long for them to produce the snow.

We also have a week at Courchevel planned over Christmas. I've never skied mountains that big and am really looking forward to it.

graffam198 · Oct 25, 2022

Kids are in the pre-race development program. Looking forward to guilt free Saturdays carving inbounds. Wife blew her MCL over the spring, so might not be any skiing for her this season.

Some trips down to June just for something different with the kids.

Backcountry will be heavy focus starting January or so. Looking to hit some of the classics in the Eastern Sierra's after my sideline last year. Incredible Hulk, Bloody Couloir, maybe even head east and hit Terminal Cancer Couloir in the Rubys.

graffam198 · Oct 27, 2022

GoJeff! said:
Have you been to the Rubys? Always been curious, but the distance (from SoCal) is a bit daunting...

I've only been in the summer, good fly fishing! I am actually very much NV interior Curious for back country skiing. Kind of a cool blog on it. Like you, the distance is daunting. I can be skiing the Eastern Sierra's 2 hours from the house with incredible access or drive 4+ hours for unknown lines...

My Ultimate goal for the season will be the linkage of two sports. Skiing/Climbing. Plan will be to head up and over Kearsarge Pass and then climb Charlotte Dome. Fully expect this to be a type 2 fun adventure. ~11 miles of approach, most of which will hopefully be on skis. Weather will play a huge factor here. We need a big winter coupled with a nice weather window in Mid April or so, and quality plowing.

Training "runs" will include a trip back to Virginia Lakes area for a repeat of Green Creek Couloir. 3k feet of vert. About 11 miles of touring up and over Dunderberg Peak

Approach:

Winter Payoff:

Summer Shot:

graffam198 · Oct 27, 2022

GoJeff! said:
The plowing is definitely the issue. I was up there mid April in 2019 (the last decent snow year) and Onion Valley was open around the big switchback but not past the next one. Guessing that's about as close as you'll get with the snow you need. Sounds fun though--I love that area of Kings.

Dundy-Green Creek is great. Did a writeup here a couple years ago.

Schwecking through those aspens is the worst part!!! My buddy somehow lead us STRAIGHT to the bridge. My mind was blown. I am so excited.
I’ve decided I’m leading the skinny ski revolution. My kit is only 85mm underfoot. With skins on I’m less than 8lbs. Ski crampons put me a few grams over…
Ski resorts are making snow right now, taking advantage of early cold nights. Shooting for thanksgiving opening.
My resort setup will be Volkl Mantra, 95mm for all days. I have an old old old pair of gotamas that I’ll break out for big pow. Looking forward to really relearning how to powder ski on thinner sticks.

FlexFlexerson · Nov 4, 2022

Colorado-based here and (bittersweetly) moved out of the mountains and into the Denver metro area last year (tho for the greatest reason: household adding a child and needing more space than a middle class family can afford in Colorado's mountain communities). I finally gave up on the Epic Pass last season after getting sick of the lines, crowds, poor quality of service and general McDonaldization of their ski resorts (all of which have only gotten signifcantly worse since I parted ways with Epic). Went with just an Arapahoe Basin pass last year and I don't think I'm ever going back to a major-network ski pass again. A-Basin's already got some of the best skiing in Colorado and they're pretty aggressive about controlling crowd sizes. Add in free and close-to-base parking and great staffing and they provided a ski experience I'd almost forgotten existed when I was sticking to Vail Resorts' areas. Especially now that I have to juggle being a weekend warrior and dealing with a baby in the mix, any mega-resort B.S. that sucks up precious minutes when I could be skiing (or apres-ing) I'm highly motivated to avoid.

This year I'm going to try to utilize the free tickets to other resorts that come with a Basin pass (Monarch, Taos, Bridger Bowl, Bluebird Backcountry, Silverton) with some nice weekend trips (some with family, and have agreed upon with the missus that I can take a few guys weekend ski trips this year).

It's been puking snow in the mountains here the last 24 hours (Wolf Creek is reporting almost 2 feet of fresh snow for their opening day and have expanded their opening day plans to now upon up 30% of their mountain). La Nina years, as mentioned above, can skunk Colorado but each year is still pretty variable and it's a good start so I'm excited to get up and log a few pre-Thanksgiving Days and get the ski legs back under me.

graffam198 · Nov 8, 2022

Good storm for the Sierras right now. Mt. Rose is opening on Friday, not fully, but good enough for me! Currently making snow during the snow storm, so they should have a decent base for a few runs at the minimum. Take the kids up there to get the wiggles out and get their new gear tested out.

Bowhemian · Dec 14, 2022

Bowhemian said:
There was no snorkeling, and no gnar pow. But last Friday I strapped on a pair of skis for the first time since 1994. That's right, 28 years go was the last time I skied. Only lasted about 5 hours, and at a small mountain (Pats Peak in NH), so got a ton of laps in. I did fall once, on my second to last run when I was getting tired.
And I had a blast. I had forgotten how much fun it is. I had so much fun, I am considering buying a cheapo mid-week pass to Pats for next season, which would necessitate the need to purchase equipment.

Well, because of this one day of skiing last season, I did what I said I was going to do. I bought the mid-week pass to Pats Peak ($350). Pats is small, but perfect for me because it is like 30 minutes from my work or my house, so I can ski after work under the lights. I also bought equipment. Picked up a pair of 1 year old skis and brand new poles ($300) at a ski swap. I went to a ski shop for boots ($350) because I wanted professional help with the fitting. All in for the season for $1k.

I'll possibly do a couple day trips to other mountains, we will see how that goes.

Devizier · Dec 15, 2022

GoJeff! said:
In for 1k is pretty impressive.

I was skiing earlier this year and my son forgot his pass. I was getting a replacement at a ticket window and realized it would be $1K A DAY for the family if we didn’t have passes. In November. Holy shit.

Yeah, that’s what our weekend at Snowshoe is going to cost. That’s Snowshoe… in West Virginia.

On a related note, we are getting an inch of rain here, despite the fact that its 28 degrees out.

Bowhemian · Dec 15, 2022

GoJeff! said:
In for 1k is pretty impressive.

I was skiing earlier this year and my son forgot his pass. I was getting a replacement at a ticket window and realized it would be $1K A DAY for the family if we didn’t have passes. In November. Holy shit.

Holy cow, that is crazy.
I said I was all in for $1k, but I still need to get some goggles, and a lighter pair of ski pants. My snowmobiling bibs are good, but quite bulky and can be very warm.

Preacher · Dec 22, 2022

We spent the last 3 days skiing at Sunday River. It’s been pretty decent. They got 2 feet here last Saturday. Still surprised at some stuff that isn’t open but I think they’re gearing up for the real start of the season next week. Plus, this big storm is going to bring rain here tomorrow. High is 51. I don’t think we’ll ski tomorrow unless we can get out early before it’s heavy rain. Skiing through Sunday and back to MA on Monday.

Devizier · Dec 28, 2022

Reporting from the foothills of western PA and the early returns on the Vail era are not good. They’ve rolled back operations for my preferred hill (Laurel Mountain) such that weekdays are only open for afternoon/night skiing. It’s a bizarre choice because the mountain is in the middle of a state park with the nearest town (Ligonier) a good 20 minutes away.

That funneled everything into Seven Springs which was insanely busy. As the largest mid-Atlantic resort on the Epic network, there is now a ton of traffic coming in from Maryland and DC (four hour drive so certainly doable). This is still a smallish hill and the best half of the mountain isn’t even open yet. They opened a new lift last year that has failed a lot and they shut it down early yesterday which stranded us on that side of the mountain. It’s an hours drive for us so it’s hard to quit the Epic pass but with a run of shitty/warm weather coming up we are looking at the prospect of a lost season. Everything goes to shit in March anyways. Next year might go Indy instead.

petefungtorres · Dec 31, 2022

We got back from a trip to Courchevel last night. We've basically only skied east coast mountains and were not prepared for the difference in scale. The Three Valleys is approximately 37 times the size of Sunday River where we normally ski and according to my kids is bigger than the largest five US resorts combined. The altitude was a big adjustment at first, as was skiing really long runs where the conditions could go from soft powder up top to corn at the bottom.

My kids ski a lot of park but the parks were not good and there weren't any other park skiers to speak of. But my lord the skiing was just amazing when the weather was right. When it wasn't the conditions were basically no different than what we're used to here.

My 19 and 16 year old boys really enjoyed our stop at the Folie Douce - which is essentially a club on a deck at altitude in the middle of the mountain in Meribel where dancing on tables in ski boots is encouraged. Too many pictures to choose from but wanted to at least post one - my 13 yo heading down toward Val Thorens. He's worn a lobster helmet cover for years - it helped us keep track of him when he was younger and now it's just tradition.

Zososoxfan · Jan 3, 2023

petefungtorres said:
We got back from a trip to Courchevel last night. We've basically only skied east coast mountains and were not prepared for the difference in scale. The Three Valleys is approximately 37 times the size of Sunday River where we normally ski and according to my kids is bigger than the largest five US resorts combined. The altitude was a big adjustment at first, as was skiing really long runs where the conditions could go from soft powder up top to corn at the bottom.

My kids ski a lot of park but the parks were not good and there weren't any other park skiers to speak of. But my lord the skiing was just amazing when the weather was right. When it wasn't the conditions were basically no different than what we're used to here.

My 19 and 16 year old boys really enjoyed our stop at the Folie Douce - which is essentially a club on a deck at altitude in the middle of the mountain in Meribel where dancing on tables in ski boots is encouraged. Too many pictures to choose from but wanted to at least post one - my 13 yo heading down toward Val Thorens. He's worn a lobster helmet cover for years - it helped us keep track of him when he was younger and now it's just tradition.

View attachment 59535

This is awesome, thanks for sharing! I definitely thought you were gonna post a picture of the fam dancing on tables--truly disappointed on that front!! What were your logistics like? Where did you fly into? How did you get to the resort? How old are the kiddos?

After thinking it was going to be a minimalist season for me, things came together pretty quickly for a February boys trip to Jackson Hole and an early April family trip to Beaver Creek. 4 days at each. I can't express how excited I am for Jax--it's the mountain I've been chasing the longest over the past few years. After this, I'll still have plenty on my bucket list (Telluride, Big Sky, Squallywood, Crested Butte, Revelstoke, Park City, and Taos) but Jax is #1. Beave with the fam in April is mostly a roulette spin. We may get lucky with conditions and get some good days in, but I'm treating it appropriately and hoping to test some gear, have some nice warm days for Mrs. Zoso and the kiddos, and generally just have some more low key days than I'm used to. It's nice not paying stupidly exorbitant prices for accommodations and flights too. Maybe April skiing is the new market inefficiency haha! I'll also try and swing down to Argentina again or Chile this summer. Getting my first taste last year just whetted my appetite!

Does any boarder have any experience with a Onewheel or electric skateboard? I'm always looking for ways to get ready for the season here in sunny FL and those seem like good options. The Onewheel looks like a ton of fun, but that price point is just not happening. That said, I wouldn't mind renting one for a week or something if it's substantially better.

Zososoxfan · Jan 4, 2023

GoJeff! said:
Toured Mt. Baden-Powell in the San Gabriels yesterday. We've had a lot of precipitation in LA, so I was pretty hopeful about the snow. Got to the summit pretty quickly, ahead of an incoming storm.

View attachment 59639

Unfortunately, the Saturday storm rained to the summit and then froze. There was a really slick ice crust on top, and it got worse as we got lower and the hill got steeper. I felt like I could make it down with some really careful turns, but two guys in my party lost grip and had to self-arrest with whippets, so we decided to do the safe thing and downclimb. This is two of us transitioning after we shoveled out some platforms.

View attachment 59640

Anyway, not a great day, but I did get to test out some more equipment for my trip to Canada later this month.

I don't know if doing whippets in the backcountry is advisable, but I'm no expert. How do you dig a platform with your planks on? Or do you take them off to dig?

Kliq · Jan 4, 2023

I'm going to Sugarloaf for the weekend of Jan. 21 and Jan. 22. Never been before. Any hints or tips? We are staying at an Airbnb and I'm renting skiis from Sugarloaf.

petefungtorres · Jan 5, 2023

Zososoxfan said:
This is awesome, thanks for sharing! I definitely thought you were gonna post a picture of the fam dancing on tables--truly disappointed on that front!! What were your logistics like? Where did you fly into? How did you get to the resort? How old are the kiddos?

Sorry to disappoint! I only have video of the dancing - but here's a pic instead. Views are pretty good...

We went with some friends from London who have done this trip before through a company that handles all the logistics... from London to Courchevel. So we had to get ourselves to London first but once there it was easy. The tour company had a charter plane and bus to take us to our chalet. We had a chalet host who cooked breakfast, tea snacks and dinner and cleaned which was kind of amazing. For lunch we'd typically have granola bars, a sandwich or something more formal at any one of the many restaurants all over the mountains. The kids are 19, 16, and 13 - all boys. When we do it again I think we'll fly into Milan or Geneva and arrange logistics ourselves. It doesn't seem that hard to do and it's shockingly inexpensive, even for the all-inclusive trip we did. I'll probably hit up @Preacher who has a fair amount of first hand knowledge of ski spots in the Alps.

Sounds like you have a lot of great skiing in your future, I've been particularly interested in hearing about your trips to South America.

@GoJeff! - I love hearing about your backcountry exploits. I once lost grip descending from Katahdin and had to self-arrest. That was terrifying. You must have a good crew of experienced skiers for these trips.

@Kliq - I haven't skied Sugarloaf much in the past couple of years and fortunately you're not going on a holiday weekend. If your Airbnb is not ski in/out you'll want to get there early since parking is very limited. I'm not sure if the west mountain is open but it can be a decent option for parking, it's just kind of far away from the base and forces you to ski a trail which probably won't be all that good on the way back to your car. Hopefully some others can chime in on the bar and restaurant scene - my knowledge is pretty dated at this point.

Zososoxfan · Jan 5, 2023

Awesome back to back posts @GoJeff! and @petefungtorres ! Cool to hear that the Alps aren't wallet-busting! A former bandmate and ski crew regular of mine opened a lab in Vilnius, Lithuania recently and he's doing his darndest to get me out there. Twist my arm Steve! And I'll certainly try to remember that @Preacher is the go-to for Alps advice!

@Kliq , are you on skis or a board? I only went to the Loaf once, decades ago, but I remember lots of traverses.

Kliq · Jan 5, 2023

Zososoxfan said:
Awesome back to back posts @GoJeff! and @petefungtorres ! Cool to hear that the Alps aren't wallet-busting! A former bandmate and ski crew regular of mine opened a lab in Vilnius, Lithuania recently and he's doing his darndest to get me out there. Twist my arm Steve! And I'll certainly try to remember that @Preacher is the go-to for Alps advice!

@Kliq , are you on skis or a board? I only went to the Loaf once, decades ago, but I remember lots of traverses.

I'm skiing. I'm not a particularly good skiier and just got comfortable on New England Black Diamonds last year.

Zososoxfan · Jan 5, 2023

Kliq said:
I'm skiing. I'm not a particularly good skiier and just got comfortable on New England Black Diamonds last year.

Considered yourself spared then, from eternal calf burn!

I actually started working more on my switch riding last season due to some very long traverses. Out of curiosity, who are the other riders here, if any!?!

Kliq · Jan 5, 2023

Zososoxfan said:
Considered yourself spared then, from eternal calf burn!

I actually started working more on my switch riding last season due to some very long traverses. Out of curiosity, who are the other riders here, if any!?!

Well, I'm part of a group of 15 other people. I'm going with one friend who is marginally better than me. My issue with skiing is more confidence than skill, I have the ability to ski difficult terrain, but chicken out of more dangerous runs because I'm afraid of skiing off a cliff or crashing into a tree.

Preacher · Jan 5, 2023

Zososoxfan said:
Awesome back to back posts @GoJeff! and @petefungtorres ! Cool to hear that the Alps aren't wallet-busting! A former bandmate and ski crew regular of mine opened a lab in Vilnius, Lithuania recently and he's doing his darndest to get me out there. Twist my arm Steve! And I'll certainly try to remember that @Preacher is the go-to for Alps advice!

@Kliq , are you on skis or a board? I only went to the Loaf once, decades ago, but I remember lots of traverses.

I haven't skied in the Alps since 2019 so my information is a bit stale. I can confirm that skiing there is much less expensive than I originally anticipated, and we stayed at some pretty nice places. Lift tickets and food on the mountain is significantly cheaper than in the states. There are even some pretty cheap lodging options (think 2 star hotel) that offer room and partial board (breakfast and dinner).

Bowhemian · Jan 5, 2023

You guys go get after those giant mountains. I'll be skiing at Pat's Peak (and all of it's 600 vertical feet) tomorrow.

Icculus · Jan 5, 2023

Zososoxfan said:
Considered yourself spared then, from eternal calf burn!

I actually started working more on my switch riding last season due to some very long traverses. Out of curiosity, who are the other riders here, if any!?!

I snowboard although if we haven't gotten snow for a while I'll put on a pair of skis to mix it up some. I learned on skis so I'm pretty comfortable on them up to some of the black diamonds. I get a little jealous of how easy it can be to transition when you're skinning on skis but never enough to want to give up how much more fun it is (for me) to be going downhill on a board.

Zososoxfan · Jan 5, 2023

Icculus said:
I snowboard although if we haven't gotten snow for a while I'll put on a pair of skis to mix it up some. I learned on skis so I'm pretty comfortable on them up to some of the black diamonds. I get a little jealous of how easy it can be to transition when you're skinning on skis but never enough to want to give up how much more fun it is (for me) to be going downhill on a board.

At some point in the future, I imagine my body will tell me it's time to switch back to skis. It's been 25 years though!

Bowhemian · Jan 5, 2023

GoJeff! said:
Do they still have the billboard on 93? Pat's Peak, Conditions: Excellent.

I'm taking my boys up to powmageddon at Mammoth early tomorrow. Another 2 feet expected today, on top of the 6-15 feet that's fallen since Christmas. Oh yeah.

I don't know about 93, but there is one on the Everett Tpk right before I293 in Bedford pretty much right outside my office. It doesn't not have conditions though. I am sure that the conditions there are great right now (zero natural) but on their web cams, it looks like the manmade stuff has held up OK. It is what it is, I am just looking forward to getting out there.

petefungtorres · Jan 5, 2023

GoJeff! said:
It might have been that one. We always laughed because the "conditions excellent" was painted like a changeable sign, except it wasn't.

I used to race quite often at Pat's Peak. Hope you guys all get some much-needed snowfall soon.

The modern equivalent is the social media posts of mountains claiming "a foot of fresh!" when it's maybe four inches. Of course, four inches is a pow day at most east cost mountains these days.

My oldest* is now at Bachelor and reports that it is DEEP out west, hope you have a great time at Mammoth.

*yes, he came home from France and headed out west two days later with the snow club from VATech, he leads a charmed life.

Bowhemian · Jan 5, 2023

GoJeff! said:
It might have been that one. We always laughed because the "conditions excellent" was painted like a changeable sign, except it wasn't.

I used to race quite often at Pat's Peak. Hope you guys all get some much-needed snowfall soon.

So I drove by that sign every day, and had not noticed the “conditions excellent” part. Drove by it tonight, and of course it’s a brand new sign with no reference to the conditions.

Steep Couloirs and Flatspin 360s - Skiing and Boarding 22-23

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