Great day today, one of the first groups on the mountain and the snow on the slopes was perfect. Powdery and just cold enough to keep it from clumping. Even after lunch with a lot of people hammering it, it still remained smooth and soft enough to ignore any small clumps and the sunshine meant that we could pick out any larger bumps for a bit of safe airtime. The conditions today were good enough to flatter anyone’s skiing and mine needs all the help it can get.
The coffee break at 10:30 was taken outside, sitting in the sun with slice of sachertorte, a view of the Grossglockner and, as luck would have it, my favourite Christmas song on the mountain hut speakers (Frankie goes to Hollywood, The Power of Love, since you ask).
The weather tomorrow is looking decidely ropey though, heavy snow, sub-zero and windy. I think we’ll have a late start, let the kids open their presents and play with them for a bit. Then a few low-level runs and perhaps take the gondola up the top in the middle of the wild weather. Not to ski, just for lunch in a blizzard. Then we might go to the Tauern Spa for a hot soak and a cocktail in the pool, a little christmas treat.
Went to Heavenly Saturday and was limited to Cali side with Sky chair closed all day due to wind. However, Canyon was still running so got some laps on Ridge Run, which is a favorite - I never get tired of the views of the lake. Off-trail was too much work. Was on a snowboard with a buddy and couple skiers - good time had by all, even with no getting over to Nevada side.
Today a cold, clear, crystalline morning at Kirkwood. One of those perfect days with the cotton clouds and bright blue sky. Skipped yesterday due to storm and road conditions - was way better today according to some that were there yesterday. Rode the snowboard again since I was solo and just wanted to cruise. Most of my friends are skiers and will end up with more ski days than boarding anyway.
Only managed 19k vert today. Too crowded. Was nice in the morning, then got progressively colder thru the day. By 3pm, it was down to about 17 degrees!
Youngest starts her Saturday skiing on Jan 4 for 7 weeks. Whilst our ski spot is only 45-60 minutes away from Seattle. It suffers from only being an hour away from Seattle. As in, the base elevation is 3000 feet, and it is often slushy and wet. Right now there is only a 2’ base, so while I have season tickets, I may not be going up until the 4th.
Looks like I’m getting my first day on snow this Sunday. Then instructor training on Tuesday and teaching telemark on Saturday. That should be enough to teach, right?
Very flat light today, so I toured about in the sidecountry on old light non-edged cross-country kit. Might have to retire the gear. One boot lace eye is broken one ski strap’s buckle is broken, and one ski base tail delaminated. Had a weenie roast with friends who snowshoed in from a different direction. They took the direct approach by snowshoeing up an escarpment. I took a chairlift from a lift area and then skied in a few klicks of up down around. A piliated woodpecker scolded me because I was having such an enjoyable time. On the return descending the escarpment at the ski hill was a blast!
Went 2x in the last week - a rarity for me: Kirkwood NYD and Heavenly yesterday. New Years Day is usually a good day to ski and this was no exception at Kirkwood - light crowd, cold and overcast. Tops of the peaks in the clouds, and eventually on-and-off drizzle/sleet. Not the best weather, but still a lot of fun. Heavenly was busy AF, and with the upper mountain on wind hold the mid-mountain lift lines were apocalyptic. We were just about to call it a day around 11:30, then the winds started calming; saw Sky chair (Cali side lift that goes to the top of the mountain) opened and we got in the queue with the teaming mass. As we reached the top they were just telling everyone the Nevada lifts were preparing to open, so we jetted over there and had a few mid-week style runs: no lift lines, wide-open corduroy, blue sky and views of Lake Tahoe. We were on the 2nd chair as Dipper opened - the timing was perfect. A couple times we were the only ones in sight on the run - pure heaven! The day started out sucky but ended up epic as we were able to keep ahead of the crowds.
I was eye-balling the web-cam at the base of Comet. I’ll bet I saw you there. I watched them turning people away when the chair was running, but then they started uploading. Was perfect there for a while, wasn’t it?
Got crowded fast, then Dipper opened and the line disappeared again. Wish I was there…
Didn’t make it out today, my wife came down with shingles and I was on nurse duty. I still have two days on track next week. Conditions should be firm.
Tried some old kit that I picked up last season – Garmont Libero 3-pin telemark touring boots and Atomic 2000 edgeless double-cambered cross-country touring skis. I had a blast for a couple of hours making parallel christie (alpine) laps on a hard-pack GS pitch, but without edges I didn’t try turning on the scrape.
I’ll start using these skis as replacement for the old light x-c gear that started falling apart yesterday (I don’t want to use my good light x-c gear on ungroomed trails). I have an old pair of light Apina 3-pin boots that might be an OK match for these skis for trail skiing, although I’ll have to fix the flex of the uppers above the foot ball, for they cut into my metatarsals.
The next three hours was earn-your-turns time: telemarking in the bumps – they were sweet today! I used slalom race skis and serious tele boots, rather than the trail skiing set-up. A couple of my friends tele-bumped for about an hour, so it was fun watching and cheering on each other from the lift.
I bailed on skiing hours six and seven when my quads started twitching. Three hours and one hot bath later, they’re still at it. It was my own fault, for I forgot to duck in for electrolytes and fluids. Memory is not by strong suit, but at least I remembered to have fun: lots of fun!
Here’s to you getting on the slopes before 2021. Must be frustrating to have your season delayed.
I’m glad to hear your opinion of the Liberos. I came across the new Liberos and a pair of new Scott Voodoos for $25 and $75 respectively at a store that sells off what is left when a retailer closes down (in this case someone carrying Garamont/Scott). I figured that if I didn’t like them, I would give them to our tele school.
After my first run on the Voodoos, my comment at the clubhouse was “totally unskiable” but after spending an afternoon trying different combos of lifts and insoles they dialed in to the best fit I have ever had in a ski boot. For lateral stiffness, they are in the same league as my old ‘n’ holed '95 Scarpa T1s that they are replacing, but are lighter, so I’m enjoying their agility.
I got lucky with the Liberos in that I did not have to fiddle with the fit at all. Just put them on and started skiing. Wheee! They communicated everything that I did – very responsive – which came in handy given that I was on non-edged skis on a GS pitch. I can see why you like them.
Success here! We went up Saturday, and today he put his skis on and walked around the house and backyard “so I’ll be better next week.” We’re planning to replace that carpet anyway.
He’s in a program that relies on volunteer instructors… so Saturday was my first time on skis in fifteen years, and I went back today for instructor training. The physical part came back faster than I expected, but the mental part - especially modeling fundamentals for new skiers - is going to take some time. But it’s been a lot of fun so far, and it’s really nice to be back on snow.
Yeah, we got to Comet musta been a few min after they started loading people - it was deserted (for a little while). We got a couple-three blissful laps in. As that lift started to get busy, we approached the bottom and saw people in the maze at Dipper so rolled in there - got on the 2nd chair after opening - perfect timing!
I hope you got up there - it’s starting to get a little thin in some areas - need a refreshing. I think some snow approaching later this week.
That’s terrific! Here’s to his having a blast next week!
Yesterday, a couple of little nippers made it into the ground level locker room with their skis on, and trudged proudly down the corridor. Now if only someone would teach them to chant “Quack-quack, waddle-waddle! Quack-quack, waddle-waddle!”
