YummerzZz

Undeniably,Moto X is the least understood cat-driver at Big Boulder Park.Both feared and revered,he inspires rumors that whenever he builds a terrain park,crashes are sure to occur.A helmet and goggles used to conceal his identity further shrouds him in mystery,only adding to his reputation as a jinx. Unbeknownst to Steeze (and his family),Moto X is really his older brother Ex Racer,a fact we are frequently reminded of throughout the long ski season.Long ago,while grooming a steep trail at JF,Ex crashed a snowcat that Pops used.Subsequently he got booted from JF when Pops told him he lacked the necessary experience to groom professionally.Aided by his mentor Kearnsala at BB,Moto X hones his grooming skills,learning how to groom on "tubing parks and no longer on the map trails".After this internship he becomes a professional cat operator.

The Boulder Cross name was used back in 2001-2002 season for the park and races on Big Boulder trail.Gotta give mad props to Moto-X for building that!!!That was prolly his best work up until recently.Sick,Sick Sick.I was one of the first people to drop-in on it when finished.I bet it was the most fun I ever had at JFBB that season on the Boulder Cross course.There must be a few head's on here that remember it???The HUGE water-gap(literally,it was a warm winter) at the end was nut's until they made him take it out due to high risk.That gap hadda be around 30',it you didn't make it across you were taking a bath.Anyway,on to my name suggestion...how about "Boulder X-ing"?Make a sign like a moose or deer crossing traffic sign for the trail,lolz.

Jordan,you are a bit off about The Elevator.It has been a trail since before I ever started working there(1992) and has a had a sign there at least since then.And the descent angle is around 45^ iirc.I though putting the snowmaking over there was a good idea(at the time) too.They ran two corrugated conduit's with snowmaking hose's over there underneath the snow on Rivershot.Because alot of customer's/racer's asked for this is why they did it.A crazy mo-fo cat operator I know drove over the edge to groom a chute that was a little over 2 cat's wide.We never had a winch-cat,Camelback has the only one in PA afaik.That took some gut's,I would have never done that!!!!The problem was once it turned to ice,you couldn't drive down it if it was like that,only when it was soft or had freshie's on it,there was no way to groom upward's on that slope.And we couldn't groom it wider because of risk-management issue's,that's why it looked like a big snowtubing chute.Ehh,it was a nice try though,I respect that.With those fangun's on Rivershot now,enough snow should drift over there when condition's are ripe to powder it up quite nicely.

Not only that BDK,the headwall was blown bigger and steeper back then.Probally close to 50 degree's and around 20-25 feet taller.It was a challenging trail to put it mildly.

Jordan,that area you mention,we alway's called it the "Far East".It is fun w/natural.It was a area planned for expasion in the past.The drawing's of it looked sick!They even included another small lodge.I doubt that will happen w/all the new townhome's that are going to be built in the East Mtn./former Traxx vicinity.

I guess they finally joined JF's other diamond's in the sky.....Gonzo's Grind and the infamous The Elevator, R.I.P. Another crime was many,many year's back when they graded off the first headwall's on Challenge and T-Bolt,both trail's used to be MUCH steeper.Anyone remember back in the day when they let Floyd's Folly bump up?It was like a smaller version of Sno's White Lightning when I first started working there(1992).Skeepa Troll responded to call's on it all day long,lolz.

Yea,those tower mounter Wizzard's really pound!I still get nervous around the last 1/4th of WL.Ever since that racer kissed a tree and perished a few year's back.I can't shake that thought out of my head no matter how hard I try when I'm around there.

I think it was after the President's day dump in 03' that we went up and got lost in the wood's over there on skier's right.And off of the cliff under the Long Haul.Big fun when there's natural in the wood's over that way!!!

I liked it.Nice to see some dusk and nightime video come out so good(most shoot in the day).Sno is looking VERY nice.What has always held them back was snowmaking.That place was always great with a nice dump of natural pow.The HS quad will be a nice addition next year too.

I just looked at BB webcam and Tannenbaum still only look's about 50% across.There's now way your gunna drag the Zaugg through the Progression Pipe/Park,or even ski down it for that matter either.

Neveplast is the answer and you can run over it w/ the groomer all day long(as long as there is snow over it) plus it doesn't need water. http://www.paskiandride.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=7402

I'm glad you follow me,it's pretty confusing.What I'm trying to say is that they want to make snow until the end of the year without going over their alloted snowmaking time/budget(Which you understood BDK),lol.Yea ER got open this past weekend w/ 2 trail's as far as I know.You gotta call the condition's hotline @ 384-6500 to get the real deal.I didn't hit the snow there yet though.I <3 Majestic,the trail that's run's under the lift on the lower half.It's nice and steep/wide,you can really lay down some nice trenches on it.

I'll try to clear some of this up before it get's out of control,lolz.First off if you own/run a ski area,you try to estimate/budget how many snowmaking hour's you are going to need for the coming year,let's say 1000 hour's total.Figure for example,1 hour of Off-peak snowmaking cost's $2500 and one hour of Peak snowmaking cost's $5000.Now at said ski area,"Usually" the power company adjust's the meter so it only read's Off-peak until around the first week of February "Normally",afterward's,the meter get's adjusted back to timed Peak/Off-Peak.Now,you try to use up your budgeted snowmaking time before this deadline/switchover to daytime On-peak and nighttime Off-peak.Peak Resort's philosophy is to make Off-peak snow until the end of the season whenever possible.So,upon further speculation,I would have to say that they are in money-saving mode and hoping to make all the snow they need at night/weekend's.The real snow get's made at night anyway so I wouldn't worry too much about it.Remember too that a couple of their other resort's are just getting open now this late in the season,so that's not helping out any either.

This stuff is better and doesn't need to be wetted. http://www.neveplast.it/eng/np30.html

Method9455,after watching fan gun's operate numerous hour's,I recognized this problem with the gun intake icing from another area I mess with....drag racing! http://www.billzilla.org/engineintro.htm ,if you scroll down look at the picture of his ITB trumpet's.Notice the plate that surround's the trumpet's.Most of the air entering into the gun is NOT from the rear,it curl's around from the side's/front.If you fabbed up a plate for a fangun like this I bet you would solve most of the icing problem,along with greatly improving gun performance.Although I never got to try this out at the last place I worked,gee wonder why???Mark,the pumped storage idea was what I was alluding to in a prior post too,it is a excellent idea.It is nice to know that BC is in such good hand's along with being customer-minded/employee-minded/open-minded/enviromentally-minded!!!

I believe this changed after a groomer at Alpine Mountain ran over a snowboarder in the morning by accident during the 2001-2002 season(I think it was found out that the boarder cut a rope right before opening).After that,PA areas became much more careful with daytime grooming.Also,correct me if I'm wrong,that The Challenge is the trail at Blue Mtn. that they shutdown for daytime grooming.Possibly Razor's Edge now too,although I haven't seen them do this trail in person during the day.

THE BIG GOD HAS SPOKEN!!!!! Book of Job 1 Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said: 22 Have you entered the treasury of snow,Or have you seen the treasury of hail, 23 Which I have reserved for the time of trouble,for the day of battle and war? 24 By what way is light diffused,Or the east wind scattered over the earth? 25 Who has divided a channel for the overflowing water,Or a path for the thunderbolt, 26 To cause it to rain on a land where there is no one,A wilderness in which there is no one, 27 To satisy the desolate waste,and cause to spring forth the growth of tender grass? 28 Has the rain a father?Or who has begotten the drops of dew? 29 From whose womb comes the ice?And the frost of heaven,who gives it birth? 30 The waters harden like stone,and the surface of the deep is frozen. PS:If you need advice,go to the original snowmaker.

Mark,if you guy's do build that reservior,how about a 2-way hydro-static stationary/floating WP?Just use a sno-cat to fill it or pump from it.Just like a hydro-static coupler used as backup motivation on a high-speed quad.You could probally even hook a genny up that way too somewhere.And,I know it sound's crude,but dropping snow into the water is a easy way to raise up the water level,at the same time it cool's the water off,again please nobody ask me how I found this all out......

Good looking on the bio-diesel dwnhlldav.Imagine all the leftover veggie oil from the deep fryer's up in the lodge to power generator's.FREEBIE!!!

Mark,like I stated in another prior post(along with other's now),it would be a excellent idea for a water cooler at BC.I also have often thought about all the return snowmaking water's electricity generating potential.Kind of like a turbocharger on a diesel or gas engine.You would be using wastewaster(exhaust) to spin a generator(turbocharger).This might be something to talk to Ratnik or SMI about too.Now with the advent of ULSD(Ultra low sulfur diesel),it has become a lot less polluting to operate ULSD compatible diesel motor's.Another thing to think about,York Snow make's the Waterstick snowgun that require's no electricity at all,they can really pound it out if you will have the cold water and temp's in the future.

Shutting down at least JF would be a wise move until they get it back in shape again.BB will be back in shape in no time flat due to it's size.You'll see 24/7 snowmaking now if possible,I'm sure the customer's will understand and not get too upset.Back when Melanie was the GM @ JF,she would make us run the gun's all day even if they were pissing water,we would just point them into the wood's,then turn them back out when the temp's dropped again.Sure it cost more,but that was less of a hassle than shutting down then starting back up again.Also the customer's thought that they were making snow the whole time!

Hey Syd,It look's like Chuck Norris roundhouse kicked just about everyone into the mud pit today @ JFBB.Especially the one's who dared to wear white.

http://www.paskiandride.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=7172# Ya the fog is the real snow executioner.There will probally be a round of Apache fog tonight or in the AM after the wind's die down.Plus,the rain Sunday/Monday and another round of Killer fog afterward's.It's ashame JFBB have all their major competition's\event's during this time frame.It's probally too late to reschedule them too.Thankfully good snowmaking weather is coming up Wednesday and there should be a rapid recovery for MLK weekend for all the area's,even though right now it's looking rainy next weekend too.

Lol you guy's are giving me grief even when I'm trying to plug your TP.I would never dream of going through a TP with fruit boot's on firstly,secondly I believe every park should have SS sign's and that they should be enforced.Park passes are a good idea too.I don't ever remember getting hurt or hurting anyone while I was out riding.I have been riding since about 1992 before some of you were even born I bet.

Before Sidewinder was a TP it was my favorite trail,now that it's a TP it's even more exciting imo.I like going down after it's first built because you don't know WHAT to expect around each bend.I also like the fact that it flow's and you don't get all those hiker's in there like in a small,straight park.People mostly just hit and run.Really,when Blue is in tippy-top shape it can't be compared to the small mountain's.After you do a good run down Sidewinder to the high-speed six-pack or quad,you leg's are burning and your adrenaline is pumping.