The Official Skiing / Snowboarding / Playing in the Snow Thread

[UnFacconable]

Developed COVID on the tail end of the switzerland trip, but didn't know it (didn't seem like covid to me, and I couldn't get a test in the small town) so the skiing kind of deteriorated as I got sicker. Still it was pretty awesome despite non-ideal conditions. Fun mix of people in the group.

- 2 days of glorious spring conditions with excellent corn off piste.
- 1 day kinda hard nasty stuff, but we Train+Trammed over to Grindelwald-Wengen for a day of exploration which was awesome. Skied the most glorious neverending groomer from the top down to Grindelwald--something like 4600' of vert over 6.5mi without just being a cat track. Ended the day skiing the Lauberhorn DH course with stops to point out the highlights/nuances of the racing line. Hit 109kmh on a little radar-gun speed trap they have set up midway.
- 1 day with enough fresh snow for a bit of off piste fun.
- 1 more firm day that might have started to soften up nicely in the sun but I had to call it quits early as I was too fatigued to feel safe skiing in harder conditions.

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So much melted cheese everywhere. On mountain dining was insane compared to the dreck that US resorts serve.
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Because it is all out of bounds/uncontrolled, the off-piste stuff simply doesn't get skied that much...doesn't turn into mogul fields and seems to stay good for a long time, even the lower-angle stuff with little avvy danger. There were acres of this fun rolling "playground" terrain with lots of stuff to pop off--great in afternoon corn, but apparently last year the same area was holding soft pow days after the last storm because the locals on their 72mm Stöckli carving skis don't touch it. View attachment 2134873
Plus tons of really good food, learned curling, went rodeling down the mountain in the dark after a fondue dinner, caught some Carnival festivities in Lucerne on the final night..

@UnFacconable, if you can ever find the time, I bet you'd fit right in on one of these Party Beach euro trips.

Sounds like an amazing trip aside from the vid.

I had a blast skiing pow with the kids today. It was heavy stuff and we didn't get a ton of runs in because of the weather, but still a great day off-trail.

I’ve already caught glimpses of this. When I sent him down his first blue last season (at five!), he straight-lined it.

I felt the same way a few years ago, but I still think I'll have their number for a few more years before they blow right by me. I'm looking forward to the day in the not too distant future where the kids complain about having to wait for me - will be divine justice.

Hard to explain in a way that doesn't make me sound like a bad parent, but this is the first season (ages 7 and 9) where my primary enjoyment of skiing with them isn't because I'm happy to see them improving. They are actually at a point where they can mostly keep up and they experience joy on a mountain the way in their uniquely child-like fashion.

It probably took my kids ~75 days on skis to get there, but almost entirely half days with lots of 3-6 run days. A lot of the improvement just comes with age of course so I'm not sure they would be that much different with half or twice as many days. Some of the kids are absolute monsters in their groups. There are a lot of different factors that go into it, like with any athletic pursuit. What I think makes skiing somewhat unique is that someone with average or below-average talent cane become an extremely competent skier just through instruction and time on mountain. That's what I'm seeing with my kids.

 

[R.O. Thornhill]

Yeah it takes a while for the kids to pick it up. Mine started at 3/4 and the first couple of years were tough and it felt like we were back to day one every year.

But over time it seems to stick, and of course they get stronger as well. Mine also play a lot of ice hockey and that helps. Now they absolutely rip

 

[UnFacconable]

Took my older kid snowboarding for the first time this week. Definitely a different kind of awesome as we returned to the beginner slopes but it was fun to see the progress.

Also had a day skiing with both kids on a no-team day. Amazing to see how far they have come. We hit a lot of the most challenging runs on the hill (not craziest stuff but legit double blacks) and they skiied safely, under control and were able to keep up while still maintaining their form.

They might start blowing by me sooner than expected.

 

[Fueco]

The six-year old did his first diamond run today at Eldora. He did well other than a fall and slide down the steepest part of Wolf Tongue. But he bounced right back up and finished the run.

 

[Numbernine]

Tahoe. I've always found March to be the best powder days of the year. The pattern shifts to cold storms out of the Gulf of Alaska. Enjoy the face shots and white rooms. Getting old sucks.

* Extremely heavy snow with BLIZZARD CONDITIONS expected in the
Sierra late this week, heaviest Friday and Friday night. Storm
total snowfall from Thursday into early Sunday is currently
projected at 5 to 10+ feet for elevations above 5,000 feet, with
significant disruptions to daily life likely.

 

[Fueco]

no new snow at Eldora, and it’s around 45 out, but the slopes aren’t crowded at all. This kid went over one of the jumps in the terrain park and got pretty good air. If nothing else, he’s fearless.

 

[otc]

Had lots of pretty good skiing lately. My dad was in town for a bit so I had excuses to get out on some more weekdays and we’ve had a lot of consistent smaller snowfalls which keeps everything filled in and colder temps which keeps it good.

 

[Newcomer]

Very excited about trip no. 3 of the season, which is coming up in 2 weeks.

Have a week without wife or kids or friends - completely solo - up in Jackson, WY. Booked a guide for 4 of those days, and the remaining 3 days will be spent at JHMR. This is a belated 35th birthday present to myself.

The trip will hopefully culminate with a ski descent of Mount Moran. I've had a number of 4,000 and 5,000 foot days, but this will be the largest ski objective I have tackled. Closest behind, although not a ski objective, was a one-day hiking ascent of the Cross Couloir. Been training about as hard as I can for it. Since November, dropped about 15-20 pounds and added some muscle. Using a 40 lb weighted vest on the stair climber 7 days a week, for at least an hour, and feeling as good as I have in more than a decade. Will be splitting it into two days, which should make it more palatable. The best news, perhaps, is that with 2 small kids, I can operate at a pretty high level with no sleep.

Fortunately, it looks like conditions are shaping up well. Had a bunch of snow the last two weeks, and things are slowing down. Still have a few things that need to cut my way, but starting to get excited!

 

[otc]

Putting in some effort!

I think maybe I need to get my dad on a training plan...he's pretty active, although the poor winter conditions in the midwest kept him from doing a lot of his normal activities (XC skiing was basically a no-go...miracle the world cup event happened), but I think he's getting pretty bummed at his deteriorating performance.

Has a torn meniscus right now (from who knows where) which is sort of just something that happens and you deal with...even the surgical solution is just to clean it up a bit. Forces him to avoid some types of terrain and conditions. And last year he tweaked something when he visited which also limited his skiing....

Obviously aging is aging, but if you want to keep at it as long as possible you might have to suck it up and start doing boring PT-style exercises and conditioning...especially for something like skiing which isn't an activity most people have daily access to.

 

[Fueco]

 

[imatlas]

Obviously aging is aging, but if you want to keep at it as long as possible you might have to suck it up and start doing boring PT-style exercises and conditioning...especially for something like skiing which isn't an activity most people have daily access to.

100%. It only gets harder to recover lost fitness. I'm in my mid 50s and I find it takes me two months or more of training to recover from 1 month of missed workouts.

I made a day trip to Sugar Bowl in Tahoe on Wednesday. It seemed like that was the day to hit - the massive storm shut everything down over the weekend and Tuesday had big winds and low viz. I had beautiful weather and bottomless chalky snow. It was the kind of day that you can literally ski anything that you have the balls to tackle. It was just a blast. An "Achievement Unlocked" kind of day: I skied some chutes and steeps that I've wanted to tackle for ages.

They even opened The Palisades for the first time this season, but I won't ski anything with mandatory air:

 

[imatlas]

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"Didja see my air, Dad?!?"

 

[otc]

Cat skiing in Fernie tomorrow.

Operator had some last minute seats so I decided to go for it.

I’m trying to temper my expectations. They had good snow but it has been a little while. They should have enough elevation and north facing terrain to be holding good snow, but probably not gonna be endless blower powder. But I am too busy at work now and I just can’t jump on their midweek cancellations so Sunday it is.

I’m hoping they feel better run than the last place I went and that I don’t get stuffed with some dudes who can’t ski.

 

[otc]

The daylight savings switch made it so I didn’t really want to day-trip it…too early for me.

So I drove today and am staying at this pod hotel in Fernie

It comes out to like 50 usd which is nothing in a ski town. Perfectly adequate for crashing for a night.

My dinner cost more than that…but Fernie does have much better restaurants than Whitefish for some reason.

 

[otc]

Good stuff. Was a little nervous about the group composition and terrain choices at the beginning of the day, but we found a good groove by the end and had some fantastic runs.

This operation (Fernie Wilderness Adventures) just seemed way better run than the local place I went to last season.