Robert2

My wife got sick and couldn't drive to fetch the good drugs so I just walked a mile to the pharmacy in 25 degrees. Oh well. I be back tomorrow.

http://www.djjohn.biz/s/index.html Its that time of year again. Just click on the link and DO IT

The TIMMY bus is BACK. Blue skies most of the day until the passing snow shower around 3PM. VERY cold all day long compared to the past month. The cold thinned the crowd. As always I was dressed like an astronaut with no exposed skin so I never felt the bite of the cold air. I lost most of last winter to a knee injury so for my first day back on the snow I did nothing more than lap POWDER PUFF for 2 hours. There was about 3 inches of groomed powder and crunchy solid groomed cord on the edges. I got a lot of speed out of this tiny hill all day long. I stayed near the edge. Landings with hockey stops blasted the powder. I'll move off POWDER PUFF after I get more strength back in the bad knee. But for now..my philosophy is you make your fun where you can. I was very surprised to find so much powder. It was 50 degrees here yesterday and raining so I sort of expected either slush or sticky mashed potato snow that grabs the board and feels like someone is tugging on your ankles all day. But it wasn't any of that warm weather crap today. It was cold. The snow was groomed powder and solid cord. All the snowmaking fanguns were fired up at 4 PM so it even looks like winter at Jack Frost now. JADIP

It will be good to get back into the daily groove at JF. I had a knee injury keep me off the snow most of last winter. I kept busy learning to play flute,Celtic fiddle, cello, mandolin and jazz sax. I took music lessons in Bethlehem for 2 years. I sort of inherited an OPEN MIC night. It started off as just folk musicians gathering weekly and then I donated a PA system and an electric guitar amp and a bass amp and an eletric guitar and an electric bass and then anyone could show up an play rock N roll without having to haul their gear out in the snow. Im the fat furry fiddler in the picture: http://www.strangebrewopenmic.com You make your fun where you can. Thats my philosophy.

If all dogs go to heaven Michael Vick is in for some trouble when he dies. Damn. Looks like I'm going to have to learn how to play golf if I am going to hang out on Lehigh on Monday. My winter fun starts Monday.

Feel free to hijack the thread. At least you had something real to say. I'm about ready to get out the HOW ABOUT A NICE CUP GSS image again.

I don't instruct for money anymore since I retired. I do instruct anytime I get requested by friends or relatives all ages to teach them how to snowboard without getting hurt. I taught a lesson Christmas day to a 21 year old kid from Texas. My daughter's boyfriend. This kid never saw snow before. He did fine. No blood. No broken bones. It was a good day. He shot like a bullet down the hill all night long. Made it down many times without falling at all. It was a good lesson. I wish they all went that well.

Temps in teens .There was not a lot of people for a holiday with kids off of school. No waiting in lift lines. I saw more people at Blue on FRiday nights. JADIP

Real nice dry 2 inches of powder everywhere today. It looked like smoke trailing everyone skiing today. I lapped Powder Puff , Ridge Run, Janes Lane and Lehigh today. No real crowding. I never saw more than 5 people on Lehigh any time I jumped off the headwall. No lift lines. Just another day in paradise. I'll be back Monday.

Blue sky..... 28 degrees..... no wind. Not crowded. Never waited for a lift line. The surface was groomed hardpack with some over blow powder near some edges. Pretty corduroy everywhere. Real fast riding. My first day back so I just lapped Powder Puff,Ridge Run and Janes Lane for 3 hours. I'll sleep good tonight. JADIP

First day back on the snow for me and I had to teach a snowboard lesson. This wasn't just any lesson. This was my daughter's 21 year old boyfriend from Texas. This kid never saw snow before in his life and he shot down the hill without falling. He learned fast and we lapped Freedom Park for 3 hours riding between the rails and jumps. The surface was groomed hardpack. Really nice. ICE IS NICE SPEED IS GOOD JADIP

I'm not talking about dirty ski clothes. I'm talking about brand new clothes, all layers, mittens, helmet, goggles and armor for my student. The goggles alone cost $50. You promise what? Assholes steal the worthless stuff at Blue all the time and you promise what? My stuff is safe stashed where? Bullshit.

My seasonal locker was at the top lodge. They are built for storing skis... real deep and narrow. Too narrow to stow my duffel bag and backpack. Since I was going to Blue to teach newbies I figured I'd scope out the teaching area in the valley and set up base camp at lockers down there. That way my student would not have to waste time and energy getting in and out, in and out of clothes, in and out to pee, or eat. I always brought a full set of body armor for my student and all this stuff adds up to bulk that just does not fit in the season lockers. So I figured getting two keyed 75 cent lockers would be perfect at 2PM every Friday. Then I could go freeride until my student arrived on a bus at 6PM. No key lockers. No free riding. Its that simple. So yea, I got fucked out of a season pass. It wouldn't bother me as much if it were a simple one time issue but I was told by employees at Blue that these key mechanisms were worn out and failing for YEARs and everyone knew they were broken LAST year. Nimrods.

All I was saying about that letter was that they could have posted on their web site the contents of that letter and the time , effort, and money spent on that letter to 200 people would have been better spent on fixing the worn out key locks on the 3 quarter lockers in the valley lodge. I gave Blue Mountain a fair chance at making this work for me this year and last year. As a paying customer at a tourist destination I don't expect any miracles. I expected lifts to be running on beginner hills. I expected those beginner hills to be groomed, not sharp dirty volcanic ash chunks of black ice. I expected to find working lockers so I could get off a bus, lock up my stuff, and go ride, without having to shit around for an hour finding Blue staff that could locate a working, locking locker for me. I DON'T ski ONLY when it snows. I'm an all weather customer. I come on a bus and have to have extra clothes if its cold and have a place to stash clothes I don't need if I'm too warm. Get it wrong, catch a chest cold and die. When I come off the snow I am drenched in sweat from the 3 hour workout and I change into dry, clean, street clothes.... and wait , sometimes 2 hours for my ride. So I need reliable indoor lockers at Blue. Its that simple. I don't ski at dawn ... never get fresh tracks and first chair. That never bothered me. I arrive on a bus, to meet people who come on a bus on Fridays. I'm not concerned with the hills being "skied off" or trashed by hours of skiing. I ONLY WENT TO BLUE to use the beginner areas and ski lifts so when I reported what I found and why it bothered me it really didn't require any advice from you guys telling me I would be better off arriving at dawn to get great conditions and avoid crowds. That really didn't mean much to me. The fact that you guys boot up in the lot , eat at BM diner, and leave before the crowds show up sort of spells out the facts. Blue doesn't make much of an effort to make the place work for people like me who can't pick the time I arrive or leave and have no car to stow gear or bug out to eat. I had two Fridays at Blue this year that I got to go free ride while I waited for my student to arrive and I was very pleased with the snow I got to ride on those two days. If every day you go to Blue is like those two days then ..YES... I would agree it was a good year at Blue but this is not the case. YOU guys reported the death cookies at the beginning of the season, not me. I guess I just got spoiled by doing 5 days a week for 3 years at Jack frost and having 100 percent immaculate grooming for the whole season... first day to last day on the snow. Its good to hear you guys had a good season at Blue. I piped up about the lockers because if they refuse to fix them I can't come back to Blue by bus. I bought the Blue season pass to do Friday nights at Blue. It was doable..... only if I could get a locker at the valley lodge..... which didn't seem too unrealistic to me or too high an expectation. I arrive by bus 3 hours before the massive after school buses crowds arrive so getting a 3 quarter locker wasn't impossible. Finding one that worked, that actually locked and let go of a key... that was a disaster. So for all the new improvements at blue, fire pits, patio bar, air bag, I would expect simple key locker maintenance to be done without ME having to be the guy that gets fucked over and then make some noise about it. They should have taken care of this issue a long time ago. Nimrods.

I got a notice from blue mountain in the mail today that said I must empty my season rental locker by April because Blue is going to do maintenance on the season lockers. What a crock of shit. Blue should be figuring out how to better maintain the keyed quarters lockers. nimrods. I pulled my board out of my Blue season locker last night. I won't be back. It was such a waste to invest in Blue this year. I'm sure the PASR blue crew will keep us posted as to how they fix the problems we witnessed this year. Between the dirty volcanic ash sharp ice they called snow and the key lockers fiasco I wouldn't pay for a season pass this coming year. Blue just hasn't made any effort to earn my tourist dollars. They really let this place go to shit. Too bad, I heard is was a nice place a long time ago.

Did an AM trip to JF today. Absolutely amazing day with really fast riding under blue skies all day. Nothing sticky today on Exhibition, Janes, Lehigh, ONE park. We bugged out about 2 PM I wore sun screen all day. I got a ride with 3 people I gave my season freebie lift tickets to so they all rode for free today. I still have one lift ticket left to give away. JADIP

No

NO MORE TICKETS ALL TICKETS ARE NOW USED UP.

Hey...its all cool... no hard feelings here. I was just saying these conditions can be great for brand new snowboarders to get out in the sunshine and get wet instead of crunched so ANY reply arguing this fact is nothing more than opinion banter.

I still have tickets left on my season pass. Give me your phone number in personal messeging if you want a lift ticket Saturday.

Way to go... highjacking the thread. I stay on the west side because I stay within my ability. I don't NEED to go to East Mountain. What I need is to be able to come back day after day. Not get crunched or worn out. ALL I AM SAYING IN THIS THREAD IS THAT NOW, TODAY, TOMORROW, THE BLUE SKIS AND WET SNOW MAKE FOR PERFECT BEGINNER SNOWBOARDING. Don't bother me with powder talk. You can count DEEP powder days on one hand here in the Poconos.

WHERE did you take that picture?

Every snowstorm we had this year made me slow down to lethargic slow speeds on hills that I normally could blast at warp speeds when they had groomed cord. So when I say 6 inches of wet brand new heavy blizzard snow rides the same as wet spring slush I am comparing how the ride will be very much slowed down by the soft snow. Either way...its nothing like the unforgiving solid hardpack that breaks bones from even the simplest of falls on beginner hills in February. Its now soft and slow and great for beginners.

Falling? Take a lesson from a pro and learn to ride.... and not fall .. on fast ice or slow slush. There's no difference between slow slush in 60 degrees and riding in 8 inches of freshies powder. Its just a hell of lot more fun doing it in 60 degrees and a wet T shirt. This kid rode one day last year... the last day in March at Jack Frost. Then one day this year during the blizzard 2-25... same conditions....slow..no go... sticky 6 inch deep fresh snow. Then this video shows her on hardpack 2 days later. http://www.paskiandride.org/my022710.mpg You want to learn on the soft stuff. It builds confidence... and gives a taste of the ride. And if you can't build up enough speed to ride without having to walk it off then move to a steeper hill. I see no reason to not get to play on the white stuff this week in the sunshine. There's a lot of crap coming up through the snow now... black muck...almost like beach tar collecting on the bottom of skis and snowboards. I clean this stuff off EVERY DAY and oil my board with ZARDOZ TEFLON oil EVERY DAY before going out so I don't have a sticky ride. I get greased lightening speeds EVERY DAY. I can't tell you how many people complain that the snow is sticky but when you look at the bottom of their skis they have black crud caked up on them. Or ask somebody when is the last time they waxed their board and they say it had wax on it when they bought it from their buddy 2 years ago. I clean my board with denatured alcohol to get rid of that crud. The zardoz oil lasts about 10 rides so I do a cleanup and a reapply of the zardoz after an hour or two of ride time. It depends on how much fun I'm having to drag my butt back into the lodge to clean the board. I've only had to do it when the temperature rises above 50 degrees and the black muck surfaces in the snow. And whats this about choppy snow? Jack Frost is STILL grooming. So ... yea... go out and play in this stuff with a newbie. And some skier said that these conditions suck for teaching skiing. Perhaps they might learn to snowboard now. I don't know if you skiers noticed this but snowboarders come out in the snow, the rain, the ice, the spring melt off, the mud, funny looking in the mud I must say. I can ride solid blue ice in control on a snowboard but wouldn't dare try blue ice with skis. Its a control issue. I can ride slush with a snowboard and kick up rooster tails while carving ribbons in this slop. If it slides, it rides.... thats how I see it on a snowboard. But skis are a shitload more technical and totaaallly unforgiving on "not so perfect" conditions. I can't go tomorrow but I'll be out there Saturday. Go get your nuther day in paradise.

60 degrees and sunshine made the surface wet and fast. Absolutely ballistic speeds dropping off headwalls but a little slushy on the flats. Looks like this is the weather all the way to Sunday. This is the perfect newbie learning surface so if you know someone who wanted to learn this winter but was afraid of hardpack.... get them out on this stuff. Falls go splish instead of crunch. JADIP