Barb

Getting another big storm. I have an avalanche class in Silverton that starts Thursday morning. We planned to drive here the day before. But the storm is rolling in now and tomorrow is going to be heavy. So we made the executive decision to come to Silverton today and stay an extra day. Once we got to Ouray, we could see the hell we would be driving into. Red mountain pass is not one of my favorites to drive on a clear sunny day. At the top and all the way down into Silverton we were in a white out pretty much. Glad we made it. Just got word that Red mountain pass AND Molas pass from the Durango side will close at 10pm tonight with no time listed for reopening. So not sure what will even happen with this class. Forecast says 1-3 feet by Thursday morning. Towards the bottom of the pass heading into Silverton.

@Johnny Law I think WP is owned by Alterra now but used to be owned by the city of Denver

Wow! Just read Alterra in a buying Arapahoe basin. I don’t really ski there much but my oldest loves that mountain. in other news I see Jackson Hole is staying independent and selling to a local family.

7” overnight. 8 humans and 6 dogs. This morning was fun.

Have to get the bibs with an easy zipper for bathroom breaks. Mine have a hidden zipper across the backside.

After a week of flat light the sun finally emerged today! When I took my dog for a pre sunrise walk and saw the bright full moon I was like, oooh a chance for no clouds today! my friend slept in and I sent her a text I was leaving. Got there right at 9 no lift lines to speak of. It was very chilly this morning. Headed right down to East River and it was so icy. So went back to Paradise, that was better. Then scoped out my usual smaller bump areas. Only one shot today. I think this is Middle Twister not positive though.

Years ago I took a class thru one of the state parks in the Poconos. I am sure there are places that offer cheap intro classes for you to try it. You can get a setup pretty cheap, especially used. Don’t let your husband’s lack of enthusiasm stop you. I say try it! A quick search showed free lessons at this state park. Trail pass $15 https://paccsa.org/paccsa-ski-lessons

My skis are fat and don’t fit in the track. I will say that you lose energy transfer outside of the track as the skis naturally go sideways a bit. When in a track all that energy is just propelled forward. But yes, it’s a great area. I will be here most of the week and will try to hit it daily. Just a good bit of cardio.

How did I not know that Crested Butte had a free Nordic section all these years? There is an elaborate trail system you have to buy a pass for but there are a few free loops. Went to the resort this morning to extremely flat light. I took exactly one run and decided to leave. I hate that my stupid old eyes just can’t see, just not worth it. So left and got my XC set up and my friend and I did a lap on the “poop loop” which is the dog friendly loop. Fingers crossed visibility is better tomorrow.

Again good info!! Looking at the map again I did not do Sneaky’w but the one next to it, Max Gulch or some thing. Will have to try it next time

Yes I am pretty sure it is Sneaky’s. According to my Aspen App, I do Dallas Freeway the most off that lift. Next time I go I really need to explore a new zone, but that is a fun area. Thanks for the beta!

Hit Snowmass today. Lift lines were actually busier than Christmas week. I guess because conditions are much better. Base lift had about a 20ish minute wait. Went to where I knew and headed back to the Big Burn lift. Lines were 10-15 min but I kept taking the singles line and it was like 3 minutes. conditions were good, everyone spread out and runs felt empty. There is some fun terrain off that lift. Lots of stuff in between runs not groomed. Tried to do a bunch in there, as my instructor at Aspen said last season “practice makes permanent.” just a few shots Was nice to actually ski with some sunshine today. Last few times have been very flat light.

I had that this summer, it’s terrible! 3 rounds of cortisone shots, a break from hiking and from now until eternity; no barefoot walking. Always have to have slippers or crocs on inside.

It is absolutely puking snow here. 12” overnight The other cam gets cleaned off at 5:45 am. It is 6:27 am and it already has 4” on it. Meanwhile in Aspen it snowed 2” overnight

I can hear the avy bombs going off from my house. Bitter cold and windy today. Getting soft in my old age, gonna skip skiing today. Another winter storm on tap tonight through Monday, gonna drop feet. I hear this is what I70 looks like now.

Got to CB Tuesday afternoon. Had to find a hole in the storm cycle to travel. In winter when Kebler Pass closes, it’s just as far from Marble as it is from Boulder to get here. There is a route that cuts 30 min off the time, but you skirt the road of Black Canyon of the Gunnison. Did it once in winter. It’s icy, foggy, twisty and desolate. I kept thinking if I slid off the road nobody would find me until spring! So now I drive here via Montrose and stay on the main roads. All of Colorado seems below snowpack levels. When I arrived my house wasn’t blocked by a mound of snow. But maybe winter has finally arrived. Yesterday woke up to a fresh 4”. It was negative temps and the wind was whipping. So I was lazy and took the 10:15 bus. I was told Paradise was socked in and absolutely freezing. So I stayed on the front side. It was bitterly cold. My face hurt after an hour so I left. Today the webcam said 7” when I woke up. By the time I left it was up to between 8-9”. Surprisingly quiet. Again, due to very low viz, I stayed on the front side. Decided to try and work on my very mediocre powder skilz. Did 6 powder laps and a few groomed. Snow was deep!! Only a few pics as it was pretty cold again. Supposed to snow all weekend. It’s a holiday so will probably be busy

Inbounds avalanche at Palisades Tahoe. Unknown if anyone was caught

Valid point, didn’t consider how much day tickets increased.

The whole Epic/Ikon thing is interesting. I think it definitely encouraged more people and families to take up skiing, which is a good thing, for them and for the sport. Once upon a time Epic pass ruled in Colorado. When Eldora was on Epic they had the same problems you guys are experiencing at Blue. But they have such limited capacity parking it was unsustainable. They switched to Ikon. I never went to Eldora on weekends but I think now it’s just as bad as when they were on Epic. I think both passes, here at least, are the same. Most of my friends who used to be on Epic switched to Ikon. They hated dealing with Vail and Breck. But now Winter Park and Copper are just as bad crowd wise. I have seen the huge increase in crowds since Crested Butte went Epic. It’s not as bad as the front range resorts but people have definitely discovered it. I puked in my mouth paying for a full Aspen pass this season. I haven’t skied there too much yet, but based on crowds Christmas week, the full price definitely keeps it manageable. I agree with you guys that if Blue goes full Ikon, it’s gonna be a shit show and that’s a shame.

I saw he was going to be! Thanks for the tag damn the limelight hotel! That place is a fortune. Surprised he didn’t just stealth camp at a brush a creek lot edit to the edit. Ok I see he didn’t pay for his room. Should have watched more then 30 seconds of video first

Love the top sheets on those Black Crows!

Keep in mind these snow totals are for 3 storms over an entire week, but let’s just say Chris Tomer’s forecasts has me a little excited.

I am very lucky indeed! I did get a full Aspen pass this season. It was the right call. I would not have been happy with 7 Aspen days on ikon pass. Plus I probably would not use ikon anywhere else. Another thing about Snowmass was that people really spread out. I thought it would feel busy since it’s a very family friendly mountain but it seemed empty. Only had a short line at the base. The lift we lapped was 3-5 min tops every ride. Nothing off that lift was groomed. Really really fun

Snowmass was really fun today! It’s a huge mountain. We mostly stayed in the big burn lift. Those runs are 2000’ of vert. And had some nice baby bumps, my favorite. However, I had been told it’s a Rocky Mountain and it is definitely true. I hit 2 rocks going in the bumps that I didn’t even see. When I got home I saw this nice shot to my skis Not even sure I can ski on them unless I get this fixed. Crap! Other then that it was a great day. Coming back to the base there was a cat walk so I had my speed up, turned a corner and it looked like someone threw handfuls of gravel on top of the snow. There was no way to avoid it. I could have gotten the ding from that as well.

It was!