TT Ski/Snowboard/Sledding Club!

SuperFly

SuperFly

Semi-Pro
If you live in an area where you can sled, ski or snowboard, talk about how awesome you are here.

Right now there's a strong storm in my area right now and tomorrow looks to have similar conditions to Antarctica, so no sled races until around Friday, possibly saturday. That sucks because then the snow has time to harden up. I can't dig into the snow and it'll be hard to maneuver, which is terrible when you're in a full-contact heat (my friends and I play hardcore sledding-you can ram, cause spinouts, etc. as long as you don't use your arms to push off the target.)

Discuss.
 
pabletion

pabletion

Hall of Fame
I loved it, have gone skiing 3 times.... only at Snowshoe Mt. at West Virginia, prolly one of the lamest places to ski for all you snobby skiers but I absolutely loved it, cant wait to go skiing again, but would love to upgrade to Lake Tahoe or Denver, somethin like that...
 
SuperFly

SuperFly

Semi-Pro
Took a sled to my local sledding hill. Icy snow+bursts of sun melting snow= SUPER SPEED! :):):)

But if you have to bail out, it hurts like crazy. My hip feels like it's 55. :(
 
Breaker

Breaker

Legend
Gonna go Monday, only know how to snowboard but am going to try to learn how to ski since it'll be an all day thing. I'll probably embarrass myself but it's a risk I'm willing to take :)
 
D

dropshot winner

Hall of Fame
Good thread.

Snowboarding is definately one of my favorite sports, and it's been that way since about 14 years ago.

If I'm lucky I can start my season on saturday.
 
F

FloridaAG

Hall of Fame
I do not qualify based on where I live, but I am an avid skier and receiver daily ski report and powder alerts - massive storms in Cali and Utah over the last few days
 
F

FloridaAG

Hall of Fame
Snowing in Utah today as well - haven't got any snow reports e-mailed to me yet. Probably a daily condition and powder alert tomorrow though - 6 weeks or so until my ski trip
 
N

NickC

Professional
I was at Whistler Blackcomb a few weeks ago during Christmas break. That was kickass, the back bowl on Blackcomb got around 5 inches one night and I was the first one on it the next morning. It was SICK.
 
Mikey Fresh

Mikey Fresh

Banned
Mammoth is really nice to bad ive only got the privlage to experiance it once... My mom bought a house in jackson hole but havent gotten up there to ride yet, only been up during the summer which was heavenly.This season I have rode vail, breck and 1 night at keystone. The 2 weekends i went there was no snow and was horrible but it was also empty so no complaining about that
 
N23

N23

Semi-Pro
Tahoe is 90 minutes away from us here in Sacramento. Great skiing all around as has been stated. Heavenly yes, Squaw NICE, Sierra Ski Ranch great coupons along with Northstar. But seeing as how I've been skiing for 20+ years and only go 2-3 times a year, I'm an average skier. That being said, I love it. It's great.
 
GRANITECHIEF

GRANITECHIEF

Hall of Fame
L

LeeD

Bionic Poster
That's some awesome news...
A grander scale than Boreal/Donner, where you can hop a fence and ride the other resort legally with a extra $$$ lift ticket.
Couple decades ago, OK, maybe 4, a group of us skiing at Squaw, led by some famous old timers ...NelsonChen, TimRichardson, and a couple of the guys who pioneered jumping off the cornice above Siberia, rode down to Alpine from the backside of OlympicLady, because the ski patrol was waiting at KT. Took quite a while, maybe an hour and a half, and we came out at the access road into Alpine, but NOT near any chair lifts. Like right at the very end of the parking lot for a long walk up to the ticket office to call for a ride..this was obviously before cell phones, but Nelson had one...maybe 1974 or so, but his didn't come close to working outside of the City.
I mostly remember being tail gunner and cramping my right leg on the long right hand traverse.
We'd done the trail down N of the Tram that year, a very huge snow year. I haven't skied or boarded Desolation since the mid '70's.
 
gregor.b

gregor.b

Professional
So jealous of you guys that live near the snow.I live in Brisbane Australia when on a winters day we get about 20 degrees c in the middle of the day and that is cold.
 
GRANITECHIEF

GRANITECHIEF

Hall of Fame
LeeD said:
That's some awesome news...
Couple decades ago, OK, maybe 4, a group of us skiing at Squaw, led by some famous old timers ...NelsonChen, TimRichardson, and a couple of the guys who pioneered jumping off the cornice above Siberia, rode down to Alpine from the backside of OlympicLady, because the ski patrol was waiting at KT. Took quite a while, maybe an hour and a half,.
Click to expand...

Awesome story, sounds like a blast. I've looked down toward Alpine Meadows road from the top of KT and it looks like it would take about 5 minutes to get down there. Unfortunately I won't be able to find out legally, as there will not be on snow access between the mountains, only be shuttle. I wish they could secure the permits to finish the lift. For heck sake, they already have the lift towers up!
 
GRANITECHIEF

GRANITECHIEF

Hall of Fame
gregor.b said:
So jealous of you guys that live near the snow.I live in Brisbane Australia when on a winters day we get about 20 degrees c in the middle of the day and that is cold.
Click to expand...

Haha, near the snow is a relative term, because i have to drive 525 miles (8 hrs) to get there.
 
L

LeeD

Bionic Poster
If you drop straight down from the Lady to AlpineMeadowsRoad, you end up very near the first part of the access road, right before the condos, for an easy 1.5 mile hike either direction...back to 89 to hitch, forwards to Alpine's phone booth. There's one cornice drop off that appears about 30', maybe good for the other guys, but I was only a relative novice to the game of cornice jumping or entry into Chute75 from the top.
That year, I did jump off the wooden ramp between Cornice and Headwall...straight East, the longest drop direction. And NO sitting down!
 
Kevin T

Kevin T

Hall of Fame
GRANITECHIEF said:
Haha, near the snow is a relative term, because i have to drive 525 miles (8 hrs) to get there.
Click to expand...

I hope you drive a comfy car. :)

Great news about Squaw/Alpine. Heard it on the local news today. Great to see they are honoring previously purchased season passes for both resorts. Now that my daughter is 3 1/2, it's time to start ski school (which means more time on the mountain for me). :)
 
GRANITECHIEF

GRANITECHIEF

Hall of Fame
Kevin T said:
I hope you drive a comfy car. :)

Now that my daughter is 3 1/2, it's time to start ski school (which means more time on the mountain for me). :)
Click to expand...

I do, Saturn Outlook, room for 8, heated leather seats, total land yacht.

My boy is 4 and he snowboards intermediates (Squaw intermediates) with me.

BTW, its starting:

FOR WED-THU...UPPER LOW DROPS OFF THE CENTRAL COAST BEFORE MOVING SLOWLY EASTWARD AND CLOSING OFF OVER CA-NV LATE NEXT WEEK. THE PREFERRED ECMWF BRINGS FRONT TO THE FAR NORTHERN SIERRA TUE NIGHT AND THEN SLIDES IT SLOWLY SOUTHEASTWARD WED/WED EVENING. SURFACE GRADIENT WILL INCREASE ONCE AGAIN WITH GUSTY WINDS DEVELOPING TUE NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY AHEAD OF FRONT. FAVORABLE JET AND FRONTAL DYNAMICS WILL COMBINE WITH PACIFIC MOISTURE FETCH TO PRODUCE
WIDESPREAD RAIN AND HIGH ELEVATION SNOW WITH MODEL QPF INDICATING OVER 2 INCHES OF QPF ALONG THE SIERRA CREST. DEEP MOIST AND UNSTABLE SOUNDINGS ALONG WITH STRONG FRONTAL FORCING LEND SUPPORT FOR SPILLOVER ALONG AND BEHIND SLOW MOVING COLD FRONT. MODEL QPF IS
GENERALLY INDICATING 0.50-1.00 INCHES IN WESTERN NV VALLEYS. SNOW LEVELS WILL INITIALLY BE QUITE HIGH ALTHOUGH FORCING AND LIFT MAY BE ENOUGH TO LOWER THEM CLOSE TO LAKE LEVEL AT TIMES. THERE MAY BE TRAVEL DELAYS OVER THE HIGHER PASSES AT SOME POINT WED-WED NIGHT.

Jeez, why they gotta shout!
 
r2473

r2473

G.O.A.T.
You have "the fever" as much as people around here.

Everyone is going to ski fitness classes now. Which doesn't seem to matter because all these people are still sore as hell the morning after their first day anyway.

I don't think anything can beat last year. Best year on record. Almost 800". The Bird was still open on July 4th and there was still snow when I was hiking up at Alta earlier this month. I think this is the first year the snow didn't fully melt.

BYU has this great 2 for 1 pass to Snowbird every year. It's the real deal. It can be used any day of the year (except over Christmas / New Year) and can be used on non-consecutive days. Best deal I know of.

Oh ya, the catch is, you have to buy them in person at BYU's ticket window. But, you can find them on Fbay or KSL classified (our local on-line classifieds) for ~$90 usually. Which is still pretty damn good. The BYU thing is weird even for locals. It isn't really advertised. You just have to know about it. I've called the ticket office in the past and the students answering the phone seem (or at least act) clueless. But, the day they go on sale, there are people that buy thousands of dollars worth to these things and sell them. There is no limit to how many you can buy (as far as I know) so they go really fast.

http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/archive/index.php?t-201835.html
 
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Kevin T

Kevin T

Hall of Fame
GRANITECHIEF said:
I do, Saturn Outlook, room for 8, heated leather seats, total land yacht.

My boy is 4 and he snowboards intermediates (Squaw intermediates) with me.

BTW, its starting:

FOR WED-THU...UPPER LOW DROPS OFF THE CENTRAL COAST BEFORE MOVING SLOWLY EASTWARD AND CLOSING OFF OVER CA-NV LATE NEXT WEEK. THE PREFERRED ECMWF BRINGS FRONT TO THE FAR NORTHERN SIERRA TUE NIGHT AND THEN SLIDES IT SLOWLY SOUTHEASTWARD WED/WED EVENING. SURFACE GRADIENT WILL INCREASE ONCE AGAIN WITH GUSTY WINDS DEVELOPING TUE NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY AHEAD OF FRONT. FAVORABLE JET AND FRONTAL DYNAMICS WILL COMBINE WITH PACIFIC MOISTURE FETCH TO PRODUCE
WIDESPREAD RAIN AND HIGH ELEVATION SNOW WITH MODEL QPF INDICATING OVER 2 INCHES OF QPF ALONG THE SIERRA CREST. DEEP MOIST AND UNSTABLE SOUNDINGS ALONG WITH STRONG FRONTAL FORCING LEND SUPPORT FOR SPILLOVER ALONG AND BEHIND SLOW MOVING COLD FRONT. MODEL QPF IS
GENERALLY INDICATING 0.50-1.00 INCHES IN WESTERN NV VALLEYS. SNOW LEVELS WILL INITIALLY BE QUITE HIGH ALTHOUGH FORCING AND LIFT MAY BE ENOUGH TO LOWER THEM CLOSE TO LAKE LEVEL AT TIMES. THERE MAY BE TRAVEL DELAYS OVER THE HIGHER PASSES AT SOME POINT WED-WED NIGHT.

Jeez, why they gotta shout!
Click to expand...

Nice, Granite. My bro-in-law has a GMC Acadia that we usually take up to Tahoe. I think I have an easier trip though, ~ 1 hr 10 minute flight from SD to Sac, then hop in the car with bro-in-law and father-in-law, then < 2 hrs to Sugar Bowl/Squaw/etc. Have fun this season!
 
L

LeeD

Bionic Poster
Personally, I think last year was basically too much snow.
All my friends with houses up around SodaSprings spent more days digging out than actually riding.
Once you get a nice 10' base, there is only need for 2' of powder during the nights, more is not better. Oh, skiers might need 4', if they ride old narrow skis, but my Ride169 is 62cm wide at the waist, and I get that pow feeling in 1' of freshies.
More of anything is NOT necessarily better.
 
r2473

r2473

G.O.A.T.
LeeD said:
Personally, I think last year was basically too much snow.
All my friends with houses up around SodaSprings spent more days digging out than actually riding.
Once you get a nice 10' base, there is only need for 2' of powder during the nights, more is not better. Oh, skiers might need 4', if they ride old narrow skis, but my Ride169 is 62cm wide at the waist, and I get that pow feeling in 1' of freshies.
More of anything is NOT necessarily better.
Click to expand...

Depends on the type of snow Lee.

And where are you finding these 10-foot (120") bases and 2-4 foot overnight powder dumps? I think we "only" average a 60"-80" base at Snowbird. Last year was ridiculous and it was over 100" most of the time. And 1-foot (basically up to your calf) is a pretty decent powder dump in my book. 2-feet (around your knees) is about all you ever really want. We can ski in snow up to our waist around here, which really is too much, even with the light "cotton powder" we get.

Alta/Snowbird area is the greatest natural ski snow making machine in the world. It really is amazing. The first time I witnessed it (10 years ago) I was blown away. I've never seen anything like it. The snow is "dry". If you've never seen snow like this before, you will be amazed. Heck, even on the other side of the mountain (so Deer Valley, Canyons, etc; Park City's resorts) it is not at all comparable to what happens in Little Cottonwood Canyon. Big Cottonwood is close (Solitude, Brighton, etc), but not the same. The type of snow is the same (or basically the same) but the 500" volume in Little Cottonwood is more than we get anywhere else in the area.

And as a guy that loves to ski and not party anymore, I'm really happy that most people still go to Colorado instead of Utah. Keeps my lines short.

Snowbird receive more than 500 inches (1270 cm) of snowfall per year, with a single storm capable of producing over 100 inches (254 cm) due to lake effect enhancement from the Great Salt Lake, making it the second greatest area of snowfall in the mainland United States (next to the Cascades). Unlike the humid and wet snow of the Cascades near the Pacific Ocean, arid Great Basin conditions produces very dry and powdery snow.
 
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spaceman_spiff

spaceman_spiff

Hall of Fame
Could you guys send a little snow across the pond this winter? Last winter was a bit crap in January and parts of February in the Alps. 10 C (50 F) in St. Anton in the middle of January just isnt' right.
 
L

LeeD

Bionic Poster
Lake Tahoe area had record snowfall, more than any year in the last 20. But I think '96 came close to matching, as all I seemed to do was shovel snow off our porch at SodaSprings.
Snowdrifts well over 25' were always present after Feb., and oftentimes piled well higher than second story A frames.
Utah and very little snow.
 
GRANITECHIEF

GRANITECHIEF

Hall of Fame
Sorry, they are still shouting.

***THIS SYSTEM WILL BE ESPECIALLY HAZARDOUS FOR HIKERS AND OUTDOOR ENTHUSIASTS IN THE SIERRA NEVADA WHERE HEAVY SNOW, MUCH COLDER TEMPERATURES AND STRONG WINDS WILL COMBINE FOR POTENTIALLY LIFE
THREATENING CONDITIONS FOR ANYONE UNPREPARED FOR WINTER WEATHER...PLEASE BE PREPARED OR POSTPONE TRAVEL INTO THE MOUNTAINS UNTIL THE STORM PASSES***

LATEST QPF STRONGLY SUGGESTS UP TO 2 FEET OF SNOW OVER THE HIGH COUNTRY AND SEVERAL INCHES TO OVER ONE FOOT OF SNOW DOWN TO THE 7000 FOOT LEVEL BEFORE THE STORM MOVES EAST ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT.

THE EAST ASIAN JET HAS TAPPED INTO AN ATMOSPHERIC
RIVER ORIGINATING FROM THE PHILIPPINES. THE JET ENHANCED CONVECTION E OF JAPAN WHILE THE TWO PHILIPPINE TYPHOONS WERE PRESENT. NOW THIS
TPW PLUME HAS CROSSED THE DATELINE AND WILL BECOME ENTRAINED INTO THE DEVELOPING GOA LOW.
 
L

LeeD

Bionic Poster
Light warm rain right now in SanPablo Ca., and the first system has stalled and starting to split about 100 miles off the coast, but the 3rd system due on Wed might be a doozer.
Will be windsurfing if it gets windy enough (+17 mph).
 
r2473

r2473

G.O.A.T.
LeeD said:
Lake Tahoe area had record snowfall, more than any year in the last 20. But I think '96 came close to matching, as all I seemed to do was shovel snow off our porch at SodaSprings.
Snowdrifts well over 25' were always present after Feb., and oftentimes piled well higher than second story A frames.
Utah and very little snow.
Click to expand...

I'll be damned. Tahoe got 800" too and also averages around 500". Didn't know that area got that much snow.

How is the snow there? I've never skied there. Drove through there in February one year and the snow seemed pretty wet, but I wasn't at the resorts.

http://unofficialnetworks.com/lake-tahoe-ski-resort-snow-totals-20102011-100-avg-25402/
 
L

LeeD

Bionic Poster
YOU guys have the best snow, light and powdery, dry and cold. Colorado is a close third with Idaho.
Tahoe except 3 days a season, get's wet, heavy, clumpy new snow. Average temps at Tahoe is only 28 or so, with very few days into the lower 20's while it's snowing. I does happen, and those days, I'm digging myself out of 8' piles because I can't resist tree boarding.
I have hit some 10 degree dry powder days with over 6' freshies, but first track runs can spend some serious digging time to get thru the "flats".
I've had 187 RossiHauteRoutes for my old powder skis, switched to some wider Head's of various experimental models around the mid '70's, got on Hexcel Sundance 195's for a decade, and now board freshies with a RideRocketReeve or an old 174 BurtonSupermodel.
Our dream boarding trip would be an Alaskan Heli Tour, or maybe Heli backcountry Colorado/Utah/Idaho.
 
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