The 2018-19 Ski Thread - No friends on a powder day

The Game Room
81

Just got back from 3 days in Stowe. It was supposed to be only two days, but my wife was worried about driving home into the snowstorm that was hitting southern New England on Sunday evening, so we extended another day.

Stowe is an interesting ski resort. The lodge I’d been using as a home base (Mansfield Lodge) is this old, rustic building built in the early 1940s by the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps). On my second day, I finally took the Over Easy Gondola to Spruce Peak. There they’ve built this modern base lodge with a whole ski village just like you’d find in a place like Park City. It was like night and day. I insisted my wife come over with me for lunch, and she was so impressed we ended up spending the night in the fancy hotel there (which was nearly twice as much as the budget hotel we’d been staying at, but it was worth it).

Anyway, the skiing was great, especially on Monday when the crowds thinned out. The weather and snow conditions were perfect the whole trip. I skied nearly 62K vertical feet, which was pretty good since I stopped at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday and Monday (Sunday because I thought we were driving home, and Monday because we actually did drive home).

82

It only took two years of pondering. I finally figured out how to remove a Dobermann World Cup built-in riser plate. Two years of wondering how to unscrew the horizontal 2001 Space Odyssey obelisk. Two years before it occurred to me that if it is not bolted on and there are no tabs or buttons or whistles to play with, then it must slide off. T-w-o y-e-a-r-s!

83

A very nice combination of things led to a terrific day of skiing. A season with lots of snow, rain two days ago followed by a deep freeze, followed by repeated grooming to compact the run into boilerplate on which FIS Alpine will be holding a race this coming week (International Slalom Race Series), all nicely tied up in a bow (netting installed by mid-morning). Instead of the lift opening at 10, it opened at 7, so I was able to get in about six hours of hard charging razor carving GS until the slope lost direct light after 4. The slope faced the sun and by noon there was a slight dampening of the surface, so speeds picked up from the mid 80s to over 105 kph. There is a God, his name is Ullr, and he skis tele.

84

And at the other end of the spectrum, a never-on-skis-before person came out on Friday night for tele instruction. We worked on motion on skis (sliding and edging) and basic stance for a couple hours. Lots of yelps and shrieks and laughter despite the rather firm snow!

The last hour was spent working with her friend on a modest GS slope. Last week we worked on tilting and counter rotation, so this week we got into that more deeply with stacking and coiling.

After the lights went out it was back to the chalet for a chat about how to pick a helmet, a debrief on how it had gone on the hill, and a dryland exercise to practice during the week: thinking about centre of mass while performing alternating leg lateral hops from ball of one foot to the ball of other foot in basic ski stance, then repeating while lowering into a tuck, then repeating while rising into basic stance; second, same as first only landing on flat foot rather than just ball of foot.

Want to feel good? Go skiing. Want to feel very good? Help someone learn to ski – their delight is infectious.

85

Two full days of tree runs at Jay Peak, only hit one of them. Surprisingly good snow on top of a firm smooth base, and me on my first real pair of all mountain alpine skis in 30 years. Lots of fun, and I’ll have a hematoma to remember it by.

86

Spring has sprung around Tahoe! Picture-perfect conditions: blue skies, light/no wind, temps climb from teens to low 40s, light crowds, wearing light/cool ski gear, nearly everything open and groomed within an inch of it’s life. A weekday at Northstar with some buddies netted around 20 runs and about 30K vertical. A couple days later at Heavenly with a friend with another 20 or-so runs and another 20K+ vertical. Lots of edge-riding with plenty of grip - just let the skis do the work. Life is good - seems like endorphins still in the blood!

Man, the snow is fine and there is a lot of it, but this week is expected to be warm, so all that goodness will likely be paved-over cement by next weekend, unless a late week storm adds some refreshment.

87

Heading to Deer Valley next Monday. Can’t wait (tho it is going to be warm there this week!)

88

The bad – a little kid fell of the lift from about fifteen feet. The good – the little kid missed landing on a fellow celebrating his 84th birthday. The bad – the little kid injured one of his ankles. The good – the octogenarian was a retired doctor.

89

Powder day at my favorite ski area, Mad River Glen, VT. Storm forecast to come in Friday night, at the last minute we got a reservation nearby for Saturday night and planned to drive up in the morning. There were some sketchy moments on the drive up, one stretch of road had a dozen cars off and into the guard rail but the snow tires on the Suby did their job. When we got to MRG we were the 2nd to last car to make it in the lot for an easy spot, but they did manage to fit more in elsewhere. Either way we were happy to be parked in the lot.

The storm delivered. They reported 24"-30" and it seemed that way in the trees. The Single chair was on wind hold until noon so the line on the Double was quite long, but every run was amazing. Deep untracked snow in the trees, coverage was deep everywhere, and smiles were all around. We ate a quick lunch and headed down to the newly open Single, had one of my best runs at MRG ever. A second run on the Single, then a few more on the Double, and got down after the lifts closed.

Today a back country touring day at Bolton Valley, deep snow but getting sticky in the warm sun. I had some wax sticking problems, but in the end it was a glorious way to end the weekend.

90

Sound like you had a magical day at the Mecca of telemark skiing. :slight_smile:

91

On Saturday I showed up at the Barskibarski with a new pair of ski boots (Scott
Voodo 75mm).

There were a lot of comments along the lines of “Where are the holes?” and “Where are the wires?”

Let’s just say that a new pair of boots was long overdue – very long overdue, but I’m not one to discard something that still functions brilliantly.

Then one of my friends asked, “How much did those things cost?”

“120 bucks.” That’s $90 in American for boots that typically retail for about $600 USD, which led to the sixty-four-thousand-dollar question: “Do they work?”

So after struggling to put them on, off I went for an hour of so, and came back with a definitive: *“Totally unskiable! Every time I lift my heel it moves up inside the boot.” *The thing is, with a telemark turn you lift one of your heels during the turn, so if your heel lifts inside the boot but the heel of the boot does not lift much, well, nothing good comes of that. And I have a narrow heel. Sort of like driving a Toronado without the spring that holds the tilt and telescope functions of the steering wheel in place (don’t ask).

I spent the rest of the day trying various combinations of insoles and heel lifts, and eventually got the boots dialled in (pre-baking) for a delightful day of spring skiing in snow softened by the 13c / 55f air. So far, so good.

The true test was on Sunday, for it went down to -11c / 12f overnight, turning what had been friendly snow into distinctly unfriendly very hard pack and ice. Would the boots be sensitive enough and stiff enough to get the job done? I was very pleasantly surprised, for they did well with open step turns on 50 degree very hard pack, and carved turns at speed on 40 degree ice – both of which require a lot of lateral stiffness in conjunction with sensitivity. I had expected them to wobble, but they didn’t. Quelle surprise that there were no surprises!

Assuming that the don’t simply blow apart, I just might have got a good deal with these boots.

92

Nowhere in the same league as the rest of you, but just got back from several wonderful days of spring skiing at Deer Valley.

No fresh show until 10" or so the last day, but my wife and I are about cruising the groomers, so it was fine. Took a lesson the morning of day one, and by the end of the trip I was rocking the blues (until my legs screamed at me to get back on the greens!)

MAN, I LOVE spring skiing. Took the inner layer out of my jacket, wore my lightest gloves, no beanie under the helmet… We stayed halfway up the slopes, so in the a.m. I was the first skier down the slopes a couple of days. Pretty neat! And we were able to stop off in our room for breaks during the day, allowing me to ski until the shut down the lifts. I think maybe 5 times I had to wait as long as 30 seconds for a lift…

Already thinking about next spring… Maybe we’ll head back to Denver, where one of my kids lives…

93

The corn harvest is getting underway, but we’re leaving for a hiking trip in two weeks so our time is mostly spend on dirt right now. So glad we got those last two weekends of winter in.

94

Found a new-in-wrappers pair of Dynamic VR27 Slaloms, 207’s, from around 1990 in a thrift store yesterday.

Can’t wait to mount them up and hit the snow!

95

I still have my K2 712, 195s from the same era. Need working bindings, tho, then I’ll race ya down the bumps on Gunbarrel!

96

I’ve got a pair of Tyrolia 590’s you are welcome to. Let me know when you’re up and we can try to hand them off. Good shape and all the hardware is there.

Got in 2 days this week. Tuesday was perfect, yesterday was slightly less so. Pretty darn slushy.

97

Got in a final day of the season, on the southeast snowfields of Mt Washington. The auto road typically opens for Memorial Day weekend so we drive up to 6000’ and hit the longest snowfield with easy access - Slackfest. This year was fantastic on Monday, sunny and warm in the morning, around 500’ of vertical, and a festive crew. There were at least 200 people up there at various times, although some just came for a single run, others stopped by after skiing down the bigger chutes into the Great Gulf. Excellent way to end the ski season.

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From an excellent end to a ski season onto a new season beginning: The Ski thread 2019-20 - Come, and trip it as ye go, On the light fantastick toe.