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Day 2 had snow over night and pretty cloudy early. Headed to Bruson and first piste run was super pleasant with 4-5 inches of fresh snow. Turned sticky icky before the lift but first 3/4 were money. Went off the backside and did 2 laps next to the t bar. Decided to go for a tour and check out the trees. Easy skin to untouched trees. Awesome morning before heading across to Verbier. 4 gondolas later I had my skis back on. Did some laps off the super tram with great snow. Kept it easy while trying to save some legs for the guide tomorrow. Met him in town at 4 to go over the plan and now about to go ski it. Cheese Cave for dinner

I live for nights like this. Blue mountain at its finest right now

Rode today, super warm like a t-shirt and shell was too much kinda warm. C1er was around I think but that was is for Pasrs. First thing the quad side was super firm rattle your feet until they were numb. Not even pdis escaped the refreeze. Around 930 I ran into someone I know on the quad who said the main st side had softened as was quite good so I skedaddled over there. Main was a swing and miss but Raceway/mid/lower all gets early sun and had baked up to a nice perfect apple pie. Full speed with big airs it was hyper nice but I could only go to 1045 or so and I bet razors got perfect right around then.

Wasn’t really sure where to put this. Our rescue team was called out on this avalanche on Saturday. I was first on scene at the firehouse. Once one of my team members arrived we were trying to assess what was the best way to access the victims. We discussed skinning up to them but that would take time. The terrain was sketchy and they were not in a great place. Then it was decided careflight would be called in. They would shuttle us one at a time to a landing zone above where they were. I was pretty nervous, both about the helicopter ride and the terrain. I said I would snowshoe instead of ski (brought both) as I didn’t feel comfortable on a 40+ degree slope. At what felt like the last minute, two other strong team members arrived who were good skiers. I was off the hook. I was happy to just help from the command base. Communications are bad here, with cell and radio signals. I helped coordinate info from the county sheriff to our team members on site and on their way. Mountain Rescue Aspen also sent 3 of their guys to help if needed. 6 of us (West Elk Mountain Rescue), 3 Marble fire personnel, 3 MRA guys in all plus the careflight team. Once a paramedic and 2 team members were shuttled to the landing zone and worked their way down to the victim, it was apparent he was not doing well. Head injury, kept losing consciousness, badly broken arm (arm was wrapped backwards around a tree) and leg injury. Chopper was low on fuel so last minute desist on was made for pilot to land in a sketchy gully and take patient. His friend was uninjured and did a great job holding it together, digging him out and getting him out of the debris field to a safer location. By this time it was dark and friend and my 2 team members had to ski out. They said it was survival skiing, breakable crust through a thick aspen grove and shrubs. Glad I stayed on the ground. We got a debrief from the friend back at the firehouse. He was very emotional at first, understandably so. He gave us a detailed account of how it went down. Luckily the friend was only buried to his chest. He was able to dig him out and somehow guide him down without any of his gear. It was very intense and it reminds you how unforgiving the mountains can be. This volunteer gig so far is very satisfying and I am learning so much valuable outdoor info. https://avalanche.state.co.us/report/98249357-2906-4534-b287-61e125e28a58

Was in my spring gear green softshell today. Started on the main street and never made it over to the quad. When JLaw came over, we were overlapping about lower Main Street. The far left side of lower main was groomed down solid, quite the raceway. Bottom of Switch IMG_1015.mov Midway IMG_1007.mov Pole got in the way on this one. Everybody has to hit the brakes sometimes. IMG_1009.mov

Had a pocket chicken curry sandwich yesterday and it was so good I grabbed another one for today. The bread is phenomal. Pulled up at the Yeti Bar in Siviez and the waiter yelled at me in French that I couldn’t eat it at the restaurant. French def is a sexy language even if they’re yelling at you.

Croissants, Pain au Choclate and ham sandwiches are 90% of my diet in France, Euro bread in general is le titz..... There are trips where you look around and in the beauty and enormity of it all and wonder how the hell did a kid from PA end up here ? Pat yourself of the back while your ripping some insane face over a mtn village that has better wine and cheese than all of Philly at 6k feet up a mtn.

appreciate you saying "aboot"

From Kicking Horse's trail map. Definitely marked for bears, but surprisingly surrounded by trails

Vail's rad, I just renewed my Epic pass which provides access to more than 80 mountains across the world for under $800. That's cheaper than the stupid pass to ski just 2 mountains in the Poke n O's for $900

I do. I had a pass there this year and going with indy next year. the park has terrible flow, is too spread out, and the horizon trail ruins vernon by cutting across every trail on that peak. That map is from the 90's. It was Intrawest's plan for the place. The current owners (who also operate big snow) dont plan on really doing much other than lift/snowmaking upgrades. The triple on vernon is where they are going to put the six pack and keep the cab for mountain top weddings and mountain biking. There are two abandoned trails on vernon that they are going to re-open when the lift is added. One cuts through the condos from granite, the other cuts from the garden state trail to skiers left of the waterpark under the triple. The abandoned trail on granite was called pipeline. It was truly steep, but when the condos went in it was cut in half, and you would have a sharp 90 degree turn at the bottom onto another abandoned trail called granite view, which wrapped around granite, kind of like a mellower belt parkway at hunter. I marked the known abandoned trails in red.

im picturin when napolean dynamite had tots in his pants. pocket sandwhich.

Good article here. Base plus is officially gone. https://www.skimag.com/news/ikon-pass-2025-26-details/

I think it's the dark winters with nothing else to do but how does one goofy state with like 10 people have soooo much good beer and food. How'd coverage look ? I want to head up next weekend/after blue....

We out. Hella fun spring ski day. Beautiful weather and fun trying someplace new. MC is worth the trip if you've never been. Never got to South unfortunately (mostly terrain park pic below) but perhaps next time. The cabriolet makes no sense to me. Why stand and take off your skis when you can sit and keep your skis on? Its not like a gondola that carries more people and protects you from the elements. Probably my only gripe. Cool place and fun ski day for sure.

Friday at Mt. Ellen was great in the morning if you stayed on the groomers, they stayed nice and grippy all day as the clouds and wind moved in. Enough to close the lifts a little early around 3 but we had had it by then anyway. Finished the day with a stop at Lawson's and American Flatbread, Saturday put the sugar in Sugarbush, checked out Lincoln Peak. Ungroomed trails looked enticing but had you quickly looking to exit back on to the groomers. Mrs SnoBunSki thought the conditions were better than Friday but the flat light and another day of groomers left me somewhat uninspired so we headed back to Lawson's again, then dinner at Mad Taco. Love the eats and drink in the Mad River Valley! Sunday we we stopped and ski'd Pico on the way home for more of the same, capping off a nice weekend of getting your carve on some firm cord, some great food, company and beers!

flying out to Spokane Tuesday night 3/25 and back Tuesday afternoon 4/1. not exactly sure where I'm going yet - 49 degrees north for sure, Silver...maybe Brundage/Tamarack and/or western Montana? Being there for a week should give me plenty of time to drive around, even if places are further away

makes me want to hold a cigarette and snob my nose at people.

This winter has definitely been a weird one as far as storms and temps. Had some good snow Thursday but when I went skiing yesterday by the afternoon all the ungroomed runs turned to cream cheese slop. Attempted to Xc ski McClure pass this morning. Got there by 9 but already all the parking was full with snowmobile trailers. Went back into town and just did a lap around the park. Snow was not good for skiing but the weather is beautiful sunny and warm.

Currently sitting at a wine bar in Chamonix after 19 hours of travel with no issues. Philly direct to Zurich, train to Geneva, bus to Chamonix, walk. Stopped in the Black Crows store and even though I didn’t buy anything, my new skis were on display in their window and I smiled. Caesar salad at Geneva airport waiting for the bus, charcuterie in chx. The plan is Les Grand Montets tomorrow and then Verbier for 3 days. Maybe Zermatt for the last day.

CS bumps= munneh

Side note. The amount of snow that blue has compared to mountain Creek is nuts

It was like a zoom flume. Tweaked my knee a couple of weeks ago and advil and compression sleeves are getting me to the end of the season. Think my boot cant was too inboard.

I don't know exactly why, but I do know and have seen the bear enclosure beneath the lift. I believe there's a natural cave there that Boo the Grizzly bear prefers and the Canadians set up the area to give it free reign of the place. I thought I read that there were people on the box that fell off, aboot a meter off the ground; nobody was injured. But people from the other boxes had to be dropped via line or saved by helicopter, that I thought was odd. Thinking about it now, maybe it was the people in the boxes over the bear enclosure that they pulled using the helicopter?

The cab wasn’t supposed to be the only lift on Vernon. It was supposed to be used to access a mountain top development that was never built, and another high speed chairlift was supposed to go in. The master plan shows all the development that never happened. Many new trails were supposed to fill in the gaps. There are also a ton of abandoned trails as well. the new (current) owners are committed to installing a 6 pack on Vernon soon. I think the snowmaking upgrade they made on Vernon this year was a step towards it.

I was thinking the condos might have been a factor as well, but realistically Vail is so much bigger than a small condo association in the Poconos.

This plus Buddy passes from this year and the free first timer thing expire at the end of this season (or earlier, i think, for the lesson thing) so maybe she was talking about that too

When BB was a terrain park it had a justification for staying open. Vail very obviously favors JF over BB. I guess BB is small enough that Vail doesn't notice the loss on their overall bottom line.

sounds crazy, great job on getting out there and volunteering. Normally I'd make fun of you for posting in last year's (2023/2024) ski season thread, but given the situation, I will behave myself

if you plan on using any of the summer stuff, the pass has to be paid for in full, before those kick in. so, like for me, i did the payment plan. so if i wanna take a scenic lift ride or play tug of war over the summer, i would have to pay off my pass first.

Rode with C1er this morning, more of the same but lower crowds meant it held on longer. Plus when it got beat up around 10 Razors had gotten enough sun to soften up and got super nice. I renewed my pass today and the desk lady had a whole talk about when you can claim your benefits LOL Is that like a thing ? Isn't it just $50 ?

Some steeper pitches here and there. Definitely thin cover in places. Don't see this place surviving too long after this week. Good terrain and they definitely make the most out of almost 1100 vert. Just funny to me how 40 something trails can be so spread out. So much mountain that is untouched in between. Riding granite now as I don't feel like getting on the cabriolet. Heading to South and bear next

tfti btw

@GrilledSteezeSandwich I'm back home from a radical trip to Vail. Time for a good, bad, ugly summary: The Good: skied perder The Bad: United's Kiosks SUCK The Ugly: The dryer at the condo SUCKS

This is amazing. Nothing more Euro than enjoying a fresh croissant in a telecabine! Loving these reports

Verbier Day 1 Massive doesn't do it justice. Did the gondola up to Attelas for two quick warm up laps and them up to Mount Gele and the 3100' down to Tortin. Stopped for a beer, espresso, and tart before continuing down to Siviez to make the run a total 4100' descent. Worked our way to La Dent and saw a north face with what looked like good snow so did a short tour up. Snow was good and was an empty party of the resort. Played around at Plan du Fou with some chutes and drops before working our way back. Last run took 2 hours and stopped at 2 mountain restaurants and finally a third one that was right across the street when we walked off the snow. Had hot wine, Blanche and beer tataki, and finally another Blanche. Made for a 10 hour day in ski boots. Went to the Shed for burgers and they had a banging old school American ski movie rap classics playlist going and ended up staying for an extra drink. Our server said laughed when he heard we went to Mt. Gele since he knew it was crusty. Snowing now but supposed to clear soon. Heading to Bruson for the trees.

Thanks Joseph

On the train to Martigny then 1 transfer to Verbier. I did a good job hydrating while traveling so I'd be ready to ski and threw it all away party rocking late night in Cham. YOLO We planned to let the snow soften up anyway so it worked out. Grabbed a full bus around 11 and was lucky to get a seat. For as warm as it is in town, the snow was nice fluffy chalk up high. Groomers had some skied off spots but we were off piste almost the whole time. Some north facing slops had better soft snow but only found a couple of those zones. Stopped at Plan Joran for bite and beer(have to get back on the horse sometime right?). We talked about doing a skin tour skiers right but we were pushing time to catch our train so we split to get some laps. Still took the rocky traverse across to check it out before they headed up. Did a top(ish) to bottom for the last lap and the legs were screaming. Watch said we finished with a little over 15k vert. Verb tomorrow and mad hungry as it's 8 pm and haven't had dinner yet.

Some radical pics from today.

Enjoy the vibe dude...Looks fantastic..Take more pics than you think you need too..

After the thaw and rain yesterday was expecting everything to be locked in, pleasantly surprised to find pixie dust on corduroy crust morning conditions and views exceeded expectations in a groomer zoomer sort of way Snow stayed grippy and edge able all day as winds and clouds increased enough to shut down the Mt. Ellen lifts and head to Lawsons

Arrived to row 3 at 840 to a minimal crowd. Only had 1 ticket window open and wouldn't have been a problem if one person didn't hold it up. Did notice every table inside was taken with boots on them so we expected a school group. On the snow just after 9 and up Iron Horse. First run was Snake to Fast Track. Super nice soft cord and able to slut it up as some would say. Without warning Lower Fast Track turned ungroomed. We stopped and skipped over on Pusher to Lower Runway with was also ungroomed. Besides White Lightning, I believe those were the only 3 ungroomed. The ungroomed was pretty smooth, just firm to start with exposed glacier sections. The buses showed up around 10 but pretty much stayed off Shuttle and Short Haul lifts. Lapped everything up top with Lower Runway-Rattler-Cannonball bottom finish our favorite. Snow was great, grooming could have been better. Not terrible but probably driving too fast with all the cat track marks. Caught @RidgeRacerwhen I was coming out of Rattler and took a couple laps with him after Boo went in. Long Haul was open so had to ride that and did a White Lightning to finish. One thing I wasn't ready for is after loading the Iron Horse chair, it get to 3 inches off the ground in about 15 feet . My knees did not like that and it was awkward to deal with. The other lifts were similar but not as bad as that lift. Soft snow and light crowds always make for a great day. I still don't care for the layout and taking two lifts to the top but it's good for once a season.

Good seeing Mute and Boo Bear. Skied for maybe a half hour with them and now riding solo because I'm pulling late shift. Figured I'd just write a TR now because these lifts are freaking slow. That said and not to put a negative on skiing here today. The weather is excellent, conditions are excellent and the company was (before they left) most excellent! The north face always delivers and as always I find myself planted there. Made a few runs up top and one on the long haul (can't do that ride twice) but the action here is down below. Unfortunately that cuts the mountain on half so you definitely feel the short runs. White lightning has really big bumps in the middle and semi flat on the sides. Regardless you can't get to much speed or you'll get wrecked. Fun but I kinda prefer it when it's flat. It's actually somewhat crowded today as well but those folks primarily up top. Riding the iron horse lift now to get more t2b. That said montage is still a pod skiing mountain which isn't my favorite layout... In pa or anywhere for that matter but today is still a fantastic ski day and it's always nice to get someplace else. That said without company on the lift, the ride definitely gets boring. Hanging here for a few more then it's of to old forge for pizza

Lovely morning

Great weekend at Snowmass. Had a friend come visit. Bluebird and warm both days. Light crowds surprisingly. New boots are $$. That bootfitter at Highlands knows his shit. Natalie in Powerline Glades skied Longshot for the first time. I think it just opened last weekend. It is indeed long. 3 miles and 3275’ of vert. The first 2 miles are bumps and trees then it’s just ungroomed crud. Our legs were pretty toasted by the end. hiking up views at the top signs tell you when you are 1/4, 1/2 and 3/4 of the way down. definitely a run that’s more fun with a friend then solo.

Drove out for an evening ski session at Boulder. Got to the mountain and the gate was down and there was a sign saying Boulder is closed for the season mid week days. Nothing on their Facebook page, and you had to drill down to their hours of operation page that was apparently updated today. Guess Alterra figures they gave us enough value for our Epic passes.

I’m mad jelly of the skiing yall had earlier. My knee is still a little wonky and two sides of me one cautious one more risk taking..I’m having skiing withdrawals.

Vail just announcing $100 million in "cost saving efficiencies" so who knows.

Unfortunately my brah got a 28 day Epic Pass suspension on Tuesday for going out of bounds. As we all know, Vail just doesn't have enough terrain in bounds.