SallyCat
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Everything posted by SallyCat
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The Ski Diva asked me to do a guest write-up about Mammoth on her blog; it's mostly about traveling solo, but has some stuff about Mammoth. http://www.theskidiva.com/women-roaming-solo-taking-a-ski-trip-alone/
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I don't want to be an "intermediate" skier for any longer than I can help it, so I went out there and worked my arse off for three weeks. Skied from 7:30 to 1-ish like it was my job, then went mountain biking followed by hot springs or the Mammoth Brewery in the evening. Pretty sweet. Made a lot of progress, too. Also achieved next-level dirtbaggery by heating my ski bases in the blazing parking lot sun and just letting the hot bases melt the wax. EDIT: I skied groomers mostly. What was available off-piste was either too advanced for me or too intolerably sticky because it wasn't salted.
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Yes, skied June 13 to July 3rd. I asked some locals about the salt and plant life, and they said (fwiw) the salt doesn't seem to do any damage. Of course, Mammoth is volcanic so there's relatively little plant life to begin with. I'm curious about runoff, too; never got an answer on the extent of it. They used a LOT of salt every day. The grooming trucks were equipped as salt-spreaders, and they were usually out and busy every day. The race teams had their own pallets of salt that they used on the race courses, and the lifties slung it constantly around the loading and unloading areas. I'm still mystified by the salt thing, but dang if it didn't result in some seriously fun skiing.
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Mammoth was the trip of a lifetime. What nobody tells you is that Mammoth is the only mountain that salts its snow, so that it doesn't get grabby. It's a f***ing miracle. I skied 21 straight awesome days. The news reports always focus on the bikini-clad women and shirtless dudes, but there were plenty of serious skiers and riders there every day skiing off the top bowls and chutes. They're losing snow pretty rapidly now and are closing sections and reducing hours, but the skiing is still legit; it's no summer novelty.
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Sweet! I was there in late April and you had to hike up and over the snow at the top of Superstar to get to the trails on the other side. Worth it; soft snow, fun bumps, hoppin' umbrella bar, and a lively crowd. Thanks for your report, I've been curious about conditions!
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I bet you could plunk down some cute tiny houses up at the summit with great views. Be a unique wedding venue.
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Wish they'd spend the $$ maintaining their MTB trails better. There's a difference between a natural, challenging, rocky trail and a "we don't give a f***" trail with loose rocks gratuitously strewn about on what is supposed to be a beginner "flow" trail.
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Great analysis! There's a lot of overlap between generations, too. I'm Gen-X, but my parents were born in the 1930s. Also, when we talk about "the sixties" culturally, we realy mean the period from about 1965 to 1973 or 4. Yeah, the push for no-fault divorce combined with more opportunities for women to support themselves economically, independent of a spouse, dramatically increased divorce rates. Not necessarily a bad thing at all, and in the case of abusive or negligent spouses/parents, a pretty solid good thing. My tenth grade students were born in 2000 and 2001, so I won't be teaching any more 20th century kids! Re your last para; Reaganomics.
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Ha, I teach AP and used to coach Quiz Bowl. Now I oversee Model Congress and help with Robotics. I love the students; they are all way smarter than I ever was or am. :-) The competitive robotics kids will rule us all in ten years. (I am injured and not allowed to do ANYTHING remotely fun, hence trawling ski boards in late April....Glad there are others here!)
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I suspected.
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MAX pass includes 5 days at Windham, Bellayre, and Mountain Creek*, as well as Okemo, K-ton, Stratton, Pico, Sunapee, and Loon and many others, including western resorts. Worth it if you like to travel north a bit. I had the Peak pass this year and didn't use it much. Went to Mt. Snow some, but Jack Frost bores my face off, why go to Hunter when I can get NYC crowds at Blue, and to get to Wildcat and Attitash, you have to drive past, like, eleventy-thousand great ski areas. Crotched's "midnight madness" is unique, but again, I can get crashed into by random drunks while skiing at Blue and save the drive. *Disclaimer: I've never been to Mountain Creek, so I'm not sure if it being on the pass is a positive or not.
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I'm most recognizable by my s**ty technique, but I always destroy all video evidence. To hell with self-reflection.
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Hey I'm going to try to get there this evening; Gray "Ragin' Cajuns" sweatshirt and black pants. Would be nice to say hi IRL.
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Tonight was an unexpected blast. Arrived around 4:30 pm and the snow sucked; it was wet and very slow and I thought I'd made a dumb mistake driving up for that mess. So I had a couple beers and waited a while. Sure enough when the sun started to go down, the snow lost its wet/grabby quality and became hella fun. It was still soft, but now it was fast-soft instead of stop-in-your tracks mushy. There couldn't have been more than 20 skiers on the whole mountain; the valley lodge's bar and retail shop were both closed, and the lodge was a ghost-town. Wore myself out doing laps and for most runs had the entire trail to myself. Super fun.
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Dang, sorry I missed you; I didn't see the message until the evening. I have to be in Philly all weekend for work, but will definitely be up next week.
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Absolutely! I usually ski after work on weekdays unless we get lucky with a snow day (or three!). Lets keep in touch and see if our schedules coincide.
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Is Blue ok with overnight parking in their lots?
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Predictions for storm? Could be a great couple of days for locals...
SallyCat replied to tnt's topic in Blue Mountain
Blue was blowing snow on Widow Maker and Chute today (both trails have been closed for a couple of weeks). Looks like they're not going down without a fight. -
I'll have a snow day when the schools close, but I don't think I'll be able to get to the mountain with my car. It's a front wheel drive VW wagon with Blizzak snow tires. Baller grip on snow, but no ground clearance. I'm seriously tempted to get a cheap motel room up near Palmerton Monday night just to be able to ski Tuesday.
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Is this vaguely the place? If I find the spot, it better be the site of a Mayan temple that does something awesome at noon on the summer solstice.
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Jaysus, I don't have the cartographic skills to decipher that minimalist masterpiece. If you see this mess out there trying not to suck, say hi:
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Turns out I will be at Blue this weekend. Be nice to meet people if nobody minds being seen with a middle-aged lady with slovenly skiing technique and a tendency to swing by the bar for morale purposes. :-)
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Living and working in south Louisiana, mostly; I was kicked up here after Hurricane Katrina and eventually remembered how fun skiing was and decided to give it a try last year. Shaped skis, man; wow! And boot heaters!! When I saw Okemo's heated bubble chair last year I just about fell over. Will be in Vermont this weekend. I'll probably get to Blue an evening or two this week; I'm committed to skill-building, so I practice a lot.
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Don't enable me! I just started back skiing last year after about a 25 year hiatus. I have a LOT of questions! :-)
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Thanks very much for the recs and the warm welcome!
