backcountry_rider

My bad, the name is high peaks cyclery My memory is as bad as my health apparently...

Props again on becoming a 46er! Marcy usually has pow in March after the March storms blow through (mid-march). Problem is, it's getting warm again by then, so you'll be skiing in shit at 35-45F. That's also when the tourists love to hit Marcy. You'll recognize them by the 7lb cameras and 40lb day packs. Occasionally Marcy will get hit in later December/early January. I went a while ago (probably about 10-12 years back) on xmas day and there was some pow...only about a foot, but take what you can get in the ADKs. Avalanche (if they still call it that...just the upper portions of the mountain) used to hold snow pretty well even when the base was shitty all through late Jan/early Feb during that balls-fucking-cold spell in early Feb/Late Jan. The snow is cold and dry even when there isn't a lot of it. Not exactly fresh pow unless you get a storm. Be warned, however, that around that time it's not unusual to be skiing in temps around -20 to -35. The folks who work at Northern Ski and Cycle (Main Street Lake Placid heading out of town next to Stewart's) have a wealth of knowledge on ski trails around the region. It's well worth the stop in; they don't care if you buy anything or not.

I just accept it. At least you don't "pimp out" a jetta! Nero, sometimes lifties will let you through anyway. That is most likely the scenario you faced at Blue. I don't believe that they scan you every time through, do they?

Don't a few guys on this board try for a million plus vert every year? I've never kept track of my vert...seems mostly like ski-penis. I lack that fascination.

I'm surprised that Killington was empty. Never been to Windham--always heard it was terrible from catskill locals... I hit Jay once on Presidents day. I'll never do that again. All the neon from the romper suits burned my retinas. One of the bigger weeks that always seems to be cut out of a non-holiday pass is xmas week. I always remember Whiteface being more or less inaccessible during xmas week. Gapers on diamond trails and in the woods hurting themselves and clogging up trails. Skiing and riding are odd in that they don't seem to bolster enthusiasm of tourists to actually get better at the sport. Anyway, thanks for the heads up about good mountains to hit on holidays, Root!

Didn't see that part, my bad. Take it in stride, my friend. Even Magnus Samuelsson gets sore. I used to ride 3k + vert 8 hours a day, though, and it was meant as a comparison. Way easier to ride blue for 8 hours than Jay or Whiteface. When you don't have much money, you take every last second you have on the mountain. Luckily, that isn't the case any longer and I can spend much more time in the bar! I fear the day they call drunk snowboarding illegal. So yes, yes I do get sore as I am human. I greatly appreciate your concern for my physical aptitude, however! Rails and booters...I'm sure that the park junkies love what they do, but it never had much draw for me. To me, epic cliff drops seem way more hardcore. To clear that up, though, no I don't drop huge cliffs. Just mediocre ones! I lol'd at that! When winter comes around again I'll get back out of political threads. I have no political affiliation: I hate all politicians equally.

Inflation matching price increases aren't what I'm talking about. Their daily lift ticket prices are good, so no complaints there. Food: What dumbass buys food at a mountain? Every resort has high prices for shitty food. Blue is no exception. Their food blows ass. Never tried the drive-inn thing. Corned beef and cabbage. You PA folk are an interesting bunch with your food. Beer: Their beer prices are okay for draught brews. Their selection sucks, but they have a couple craft brews. Booze: Middle shelf booze at middle shelf prices. No complaints. Bartenders there have always been kind of standoffish to me. Discounts: Haven't heard of the discount days. I never go to any mountain on discount days because it's super busy. I'd rather pay full price. Business Processes: I don't really care how their balance sheet looks. If they're happy with it they won't change; that's no big deal. Service: BLOWS ASS. I enjoy conversation with lifties, but half the time they're just bitching about something. Last time I was there one of the lifties said "Thank god! Looks like rain, everybody's gonna leave!" What the fuck is that? Vert: Hey, we're in PA...what do you want? All things considered, it's pretty good! Trails: No complaints. They keep the park junkies away from the rest of us, so props to that. I would love to see a steep trail or two put in, but if it's not economically proficient, then they're not gonna do it. OB Riding: no idea. When I was there the only snow seemed to be on the trails, so I can't really put in a word about that. Again, it's PA, what do you want? I'm going to go back to Blue and I'm happy to pay their day ticket price. I have no major beef with the resort. A lot of the ski patrol guys I've met are real douche nozzles, but a lot of them seem to be good guys too. Some of them must suffer inferiority complexes.

Every mountain is in gaper lockdown on those dates; it's not even worth the trip. I wish blue had a non-holiday pass. I know how you feel, though, Nero. A lot of shit just isn't what it used to be. Can't blame Blue for catching up with the times. Hell, they'll probably do price increases in the next few years because, for the most part, the people who bitch about Blue do just that: bitch (especially on the internet). They don't take their business elsewhere. So props to you for taking your business to a new mountain. Blue is, IMO, one of the best mountains in PA, so it's where I usually go. I won't buy a season's pass there because I feel that it's way overpriced. For the same price you can get a full season pass to mountains with more than double the vert of Blue. I will give blue mountain credit, though: it's fun to ride 8 hours and never get sore!

PITA for a rider. I don't really think that any exclusive snowboarders are missing out on any of these mountains--there's a lot of great stuff nearby as you mentioned with reference to MRG. You nailed exactly what bothers me though: Hmm...interesting, let me dig into this a little bit (keep in mind I'm also a skier). My assumption would be that, as you mentioned, they serve a specific clientele. Probably mostly older folks, and more conservative folks. I bet it's not so much snowboarders, considering there are many 55+ folks who turned to riding (awesome). So as I go into this, I'd also like to put forth that I'm a freerider...I don't like the park, I don't like a 26" stance, a pink coat, or tight pants...I prefer to go unnoticed on the mountain. If you like to be noticed, no harm no foul, it's just not for me...anyway: It seems that mountains like DV are trying hard to hold a firm grip on the "classical" form of skiing...something they see as more "pure" of the sport. They don't like things like twin tip skis or terrain parks or skiing backwards. They don't like snowboards because snowboarders are put forth in the media as freestyle park junkies. The twin tip ski, the freestyle snowboard, and the park/pipe is a sign of progress. I don't know if these mountains have parks and pipes...they might, but only as a necessity of marketing. After writing that I guess it really shouldn't bother me, since that's the kind of shit that I like about the sport. However, the feeling of elitism is still pretty rampant. I read about MGR and what happened with the riders. That's fine...again, a few assholes fucking it up for everyone. I'm sure that was resultant because they wanted everything their way. Considering the shareholders of the resort, though, I don't think MGR will be changing any time soon either. My posts in this thread are more or less just rants. I like to rant. It's because I'm an opinionated asshole.

My bad. Don't know why I thought it was '05. I assumed and well...time makes fools of us all. Sweet videos though! I remember reading an article that was more or less flaming Burton for the contest and a bunch of skiers were pissed at the author. They were all supporters of allowing skiing/riding at all resorts.

I wouldn't want a snowboard exclusive mountain, to be honest. It wouldn't bother me so much if the resorts weren't so smug about it. Coming from where I lived most people were skiers and were all about ski only resorts. There were actually a couple months back in the 90s when Lake Placid locals tried to get ORDA to make whiteface a ski only resort. Luckily, ORDA looks at $$ above all else, so that worked out in our favor. Root, I don't think they're okay with riders hiking...in '05 when Burton did their poaching contest MRG was pretty pissed when their resort was poached. Take your business elsewhere is the only tactic and so it shall stay. I don't think those resorts will ever change. There are still places where riders and skiers are aggressive toward each other...BS in my book. Bro up and work for the greater winter good.

This might not be the right forum for this thread, but it seems most apt out of any on here... What's your take on ski only mountains? I ski and ride. I learned to ski long before I ever saw a snowboard, and before the snowboarding scene really hit the northeast. Now I primarily ride...I'll pull out the skis once or twice a year. So why should I be bitching about ski only mountains? Even I'm not sure...but man do they piss me off. I get the same feeling from mad river glen as I do when I pull into a nice hotel with my SUV. "We're better than you, and you shouldn't be here." However, if I call them up and talk skiing they're happy to hear from me and "can't wait for [me] to visit [them]!" Same person, something different strapped to my feet. What the hell? Are skiers so dainty and precious that they can't be disturbed by the scary snowboarders? I actually get a better reception from college level ski racers when I ride in to time an event (and let's be honest, if they had as much intelligence as ego our society would have no problems. You know who you are.) From the Alta website mountain FAQ: Is snowboarding allowed at Alta? No, Alta is a skier's mountain. Snowboarding is not allowed. Alta Ski Area is committed to preserving and protecting the skiing experience. Snowboarders are encouraged to go on Snowcat Tours. I see, so since snowboarders aren't good enough to grace your utopia of a mountain, they should just go see what they're missing instead? Pretentious, self loving bullshit! So for those guys who love Alta and MRG and the like...what is it that brings you there instead of going to what is probably a better mountain not very far away? Is it because you're attempting to protect your identity as a skier who doesn't like to collaborate with riders? Or do you feel that the mountain truly is superior to those around it? I believe Alta is right next to Brighton...from what I've heard, Brighton actually has better backcountry since it's further up the mountain. I've ridden Brighton bc, but never Alta. An Alta ticket costs $64, Brighton $58. The vert on the two mountains is more or less the same (Brighton is actually hikeable to open up more vert than Alta). So what is it that facilitates this ski-supremacy in the eyes of ski only resorts? /rant This post was catalyzed by a post on a fly fishing board of all things.

I thoroughly enjoy the fact that almost every PASR thread can turn into a Blue patrol conflict thread. I've only ridden there a couple times...the last time they did take the liberty of embarrassing me in front of my family. I figured blue square trails meant haul slightly less ass than on diamonds. Stoked about this new deck though...can't wait for winter to get here again!

Since this came out in Fall of 07 I've been wanting one. Unfortunately, up until Fall 08 I couldn't afford it, and by that time they were nowhere to be seen. Just lucky enough I guess, a 163 07/08 wasteland showed up on eBay and I snaked it. FINALLY, after months and months of searching I'd just about given up hope. When they made this deck it stood for everything I loved about the sport...steeps, pow and the (very) occasional run through the park, but most of all: speed. Watch out, blue ski patrol...you'll have someone new to harass in 09/10! here's a shitty image from elements-rider:

I'm trying to unload some ticket called a "snow guarantee" pass good at whitetail, liberty, or roundtop until Feb 2010 because they don't give refunds. Did one run and said fuck it...so they gave us those passes in lieu of crediting my card. Will sell for $25 if anyone is around Harrisburg. Just PM me.