Burton0688

Another weekend up north. I drove up to Whiteface on Friday night to chase the storm. The drive up was sketchy. It was interesting at 7:30am driving to the mountain in 7" with a Kia Forte. I only had to go 1 mile as I pulled off in a parking lot. They ended up with 6-8" after all said and done. It was a gamble with the 2" of rain the day before and 50 degree temps. I went for it and it ended up being a pretty fun Saturday. Some areas were extremely variable, but I'm just happy it snowed. At 1am it was still sleeting. That's actually a great sound to fall asleep to surprisingly. Last night and this morning was brutally cold. I woke up to it being -16 degrees and more snow in the car. The cross ventilation and fresh air is key to a good nights sleep. It makes the car 5-10 degrees colder, but if you're in the proper gear it won't matter. Sucked driving home because I couldn't get my windows fully up until I got into NJ LOL.

I was there for the first time this year. Decided last night I was going to Blue for the morning. Would have sent a message earlier if I knew I was going. Great first 3 hrs! Hit 62.7mph on Challenge my first run on ski tracks app which is a record for me at Blue. I didn't feel my face for an hour after that run.

I am taking a weekend off from VT. It's suppose to go down to -28 this weekend with high winds and I'm starting to feel like a homeless person.

Nice! Always like Whiteface. The place to stay is Ledgerock at Whiteface right across the street. Cool owners. Place goes lights out after 6pm LOL.

Definitely agree with you!! I don't feel luxurious sleeping in the trunk of a Kia though LOL. Upgrading next year to a Crosstrek from Subaru.

Right? Haha. I love GoPro, but you figure they would have solved the shutting off after 3 minutes in cold weather. Maybe they fixed it in the Hero 6. I have the Hero 5 black. Apple figured it out apparently in the iPhone X. Too over priced for me to get though. Everybody on the mountains up here all the iPhone X's are working in -5 temps.

So I thought I'd update on the sleeping adventures in the north east. I've now tested the Marmot Never Summer bag at -10. I had to add a blanket over top. I was only wearing a thin long sleeve shirt and pants. This weekend I'm looking to head up to upstate NY and or possibly ME. I'm switching over to the Marmot CWM as the temps this weekend will be between -20 & -30 at night. The bag has a -40 degree rating with 800+ fill down. This baby packs some serious heat!! I can't tell you how awesome Marmot bags are. Great quality and will keep you warm! I changed my spark plugs and battery LOL. I have to say it is brutal outside in these temps. GoPro batteries last 1 run before shutting off. I carry 5 batteries and I got a total of 5 runs before all batteries were shot.

GSS, I've slept in cars for half my life chasing epic journeys from snowboarding to surfing. It is to save money. Sometimes if it's a weekend getaway the first night I drive I sleep in the car and the 2nd night I get a hotel. It wasn't easiest waking up to -3 and getting into wet frozen gear I'll tell ya that haha. Gotta do it to chase the dream and keep the journey going. Probably in two weeks I will be at Blue Mountain. Would definitely be cool to meet up with you guys. Driving to Killington tonight! First 2-3 hours tomorrow morning should be awesome!!

Yes they started opening up some woods. I saw some people ditching off early Saturday morning. Since I brought a brand new board I tried to stay on everything that had a solid base haha. Anything that was labeled thin layer I stayed off. GSS - First night I slept in Rutland and blended in at one of the bigger hotels. Second night I slept in one of back parking lots at Hill Side Inn. 5 minutes from the mountain. Perfect parking lot for that stuff FYI. I knew some people that were staying there and they do take down license plates, but if you go in after 11pm and leave by 7:15 the next morning I don't think anybody will know or say anything.

So my first stop on the MAX pass this year was Killington & Pico this past weekend. Saturday morning was decent with 1-2" overnight softening everything up, and Sunday was bluebird AND COLD!! I drove up Friday night, slept in my car both nights. Saturday night I was pushing the limits of a 0 down bag with it being -3 out. Have to say if anyone is looking for a good sleeping bag for cold weather I would recommend the Marmot Never Summer bag. Added a blanket around my feet and slept like a baby! Decent coverage at Killington for earlier season with 80+ trails open already!

I got some untouched in my backyard on a bodyboard this morning. The hike was harder than I thought with the wind over night making it tough to break trail. Decided to go beacon, probe, shovel, avalung just to be safe. Can't be too cautious. IMG_2386.MOV

The train set is up, the snow is coming tomorrow, and the conductor is enjoying a few too many IPA's this evening!

Agreed!! If anybody has a dance or technique they use that has worked in the past to bring snow i am all ears lol

Bridger would be awesome! Montana predicted to have a really good winter! Just read an article they predict the jet stream will stay this way through the end of December. SoCal is having the 11th driest Oct - beginning of Dec in 120+ years

I was suppose to do an extended weekend trip to Utah next week, but canceled it tonight. Why bother when Snowbird only has 5 trails open, and Snowbasin is opening I believe tomorrow. I have another trip the last week of Jan to Utah. That's sweet that you lived in Montana. I feel like Big Sky is one of those places where you need to go with a local or someone that really knows the mountain unless it's all time conditions. When I was there we thought the one day the conditions were okay, then saw pictures from a local at a bar and it looked like a different mountain.

I'm not sure if anyone is following the storm that is going on in AK right now, but it's incredible. Since Saturday a few sections have received 160" in the mountains with another 40+ on the way. Yes I realize it's AK where final snow totals for the year can reach 1200", but 200" in a week? Yikes! Fun to follow when you're stressing over the high pressure and no snow over 85% of the west coast for the next 12 days! Common Utah snow more! MORE!!!!

Great photos!

Hahaha. Yes!! The waffles are awesome!!

I agree with you! Thanks for the input.

Curious to see what the thoughts are if I were to write a letter prior asking permission to put a drone up at Blue Mountain for footage. In the past I've done this at resorts out west and gave them the footage for their social media. Most have said no, but a few have been really cool about it as long as all the filming was not in bounds. I'm trying to make a video of east coast mountains this year. I doubt many will even ponder the thought. Just have to stick to gimbals, gopros, and SLR's for the traditional approach.

Waffles!!!

I'm a Monday - Friday work guy, so definitely will be looking out for a role call to meet up with some of you on the weekends!

I have been planning this since last December and yes you're correct a lot of vacation saved and a lot of flyer miles and hotel points used. Here are the dates this year for the trips. I can give anyone more detail if they think they're around the area on those dates. Blue is a home mountain for me and definitely wouldn't mind meeting up with you guys. I live in the Allentown area. Just a 29 year old guy who loves extreme sports and is easy going. (surfing, snowboarding, skiing, mountain biking) Jan 17th - 21st CO (Copper, Winter Park, Loveland, A-basin) Jan 27th - Feb 10th (Snowbird, Snowbasin, Solitude, Brighton, Big Sky, Jackson Hole, Grand Targhee, Mammoth, ) March 3rd -10th (Telluride, Snowmass) Possibly trying to squeeze a 3 day Whistler session in the beginning of Jan, but might push that back to 2019 for the heli package up there to have more time in British Columbia.

Thanks guys! GrilledSteezeSandwich I got 3 days out of a 6 day trip. It was a trip to remember. Mother nature always gives ya just enough. Two of the days were all time. So much snow and drifting they shut the tram down half the day because the snow drifts at the top were to high the tram couldn't clear. Later in the afternoon they limited to 50 passengers. This year I'm doing the Mountain Collective & MAX Pass. Out west 32 days this winter across 6 trips. 5 Days at Jackson Hole. Anybody doing trips out west this winter let me know dates as I might be out there. Wouldn't mind meeting up with some of you!

Can't wait to get out there to Jackson Hole again beginning of Feb. Last year I was out there Feb 7th when the power went out. I was on the 2nd last Tram going up. They never should have let anyone off it was that dangerous. 100mph wind gusts came through that night, took down 17 poles, and a serious avalanche occurred on Teton Pass making an easy ride to Grand Targhee a nightmare!