NMSKI

Good shit. I always enjoy a good stroll through ski equipment history. I'm on Look Pivots right now and they've been working out real well for me. Vinny, I've got some of last year's Salomon STH 14s that I'd give you a nice PASR discount on if you're interested. I liked them, but I got new skis and left them on my old ones.

I've been to the Marmot store but I thought it was kind of small and selection limited. Both items I wanted they didn't have. They were super helpful looking them up in a catalog and offering to order them for me though.

Its great. They dress in authentic German clothes and have all German food and beer. One day I had Spatzl, and another I had a big old bratwurst with all the fixins. 32 oz Spaten Optimators and Franziskaner Hefeweizens to wash it all down.

Glad you guys like it, sorry about breaking the TR into 3 separate posts, believe it or not I'm still figuring out how shit works on here.

Nice TR! Thanks for taking the time to give the details and pics. I'll have to check that place out, looks fun.

I was feeling pretty good about my skiing after 3 days and on day 4 decided to drop a cliff in between Sir Arnold and Walkyries Chute. Looks higher in the picture than it really was, and the snow was soft so I said what the hell after thinking about it for a minute. Would like to say I landed it but my ass and right hip are sore now. Some of my favorite things about Taos are as follows and in no particular order: Steeps, trees, chutes, mexican food, german food at the Bavarian, tap list at the Martini Tree, white girls with dreads, mexican dudes that rip, views of Kachina Peak, Wheeler Peak, Lake Fork Peak, driving from the desert to high alpine in 20 minutes, crazy texans that can't ski risking it on the steep stuff, and much more. Especially love how even 4 days at a place like this can reinforce how much I love this sport and make me want more. I can think of so much more that I would like to ramble on about, but I'll save the rest of the stories for when I see you all on the slopes. Here are some more random pics: Wheeler Peak in the Distance: Kachina Peak from top of Lift 2: Lake Fork Peak: Chutes: Steeps: Bumps: Views: Apres:

Another area of the mountain that I had sort of overlooked in the past is accessed off of Lift 2 also. Instead of either going skiers right immediately down the groomer to the backside, or going skiers left right away down the upper frontside steeps (Castor, Pollux, Blitz, Reforma), you go straight down a blue run called Bambi. After about 100 yards you see gates for Walkyries Chute, Sir Arnold Lunn and Lorelei/Lorelei Trees. These are very steep, and with the exception of part of Lorelei they are pretty thick trees. Lorelei and Lorelei trees are now probably my favorite runs at Taos. Nice and steep, trees here and there and where there aren’t trees there are playful terrain features. Me coming out of Lorelei go ahead and make fun of my form: Sir Arnold Lunn:

100 mm.

Got up to Taos on Saturday just in time to get some skiing in and see the final day of the Salomon Extreme Freeride Championships. I think this is a pretty decent qualifier for the FWT, and there were some sick skiers/boarders in the comp. Day 1 had been in West Basin which has some huge cliffs and nasty lines, but is somewhat short. Day 2 was on Kachina, which isn’t quite as nasty in general, but there are lots of choices and its nice and long. Saw one skier go into (and fall backwards down) the Dahl Bredines, which is one of the craziest lines on the mountain. He picked his way through tight rocks and fell down 2 large cliffs one right after the other. He lived, but it looked like he had broken a femur or a hip or something because he didn’t move for a long time. I actually didn’t wait around until patrol helped him because it took forever considering there is no way to get a sled in there. As awesome as it was watching this, I wanted to get my own turns in too. I always like warming up with, and mixing in throughout the day, some long groomers. After a winter at PA ski areas thus far, they seem endless and are really steep in comparison. You can absolutely fly. My favorite groomed run is from the top of lift 2 to the bottom of the backside. It’s a combination of greens and blues, and it goes on forever. The snow was better this year than last, so I was interested in exploring some new areas that only ski well with a lot of snow. I hiked up to West Basin and took a look at my choices. Unfortunately, at least for my skill level, there needed to be a little more coverage for me to take my chances in there. The entrances to the chutes that I looked at were very tricky, and with the headwalls at 50 degrees or better you can’t make a mistake. Figured I’d skip it and keep all my limbs and head intact. Looking up Stauffenberg from bottom – this is one of the ones I briefly considered: I hiked the rest of the way up to Highline Ridge instead, and did Juarez. This is a great wide open very steep run. The snow was nice and soft and it’s a cornice drop ranging from about 5 feet to maybe 15 feet depending on what you like. I go for the 5 footer, and drop at an angle so I can arrest my speed easily. I did this hike a few times throughout the trip and enjoyed Juarez, Ninos Heroes and Hidalgo. I didn’t make it up to Kachina peak this year as it was closed 2 of the days, and the other 2 I didn’t want to spend the time and energy it takes to get up there. One of my favorite spots on the mountain is the Hunziker Bowl area because no one wants to herringbone uphill for 5 minutes to get in there but I don’t mind. There was more snow this year than last, and I was able to traverse all the way across past an area that is sometimes too rocky to pass through called Totally Wiard (not sure what that name is all about). If you’re looking at a map, it’s all the way toward the left (skiers right) up to the boundary. This area isn’t listed on any map, but it’s enormous and wide open with the exception of boulders sticking out and some small drops here and there. I went over there a couple of times and just enjoy how weaving through a boulder field in a wide open bowl when not a single other soul is around (other than my buddy) makes you feel so small. Pics of Hunziker/Totally Wiard: I skied some bumps, but not a ton. When I did, I made sure it was in the afternoon, and they were really soft. If you are into steep bump runs you could spend a week at Taos and not get bored. Same goes for the tree runs, and this is more my thing. Walkyries Glade was one of my favorites. Even though its listed on a trail map, I had actually never been able to figure out how to get in there. It’s a little tricky, but me and my buddy finally found the gate below lift 7 on skiers left side of one of the bump runs. Snow definitely was not untouched in here, but still nice. Trees were perfectly spaced, and was steep enough to be challenging but not extreme. Did this run a couple times throughout the few days. Looking up inside Walkyries: More coming later, need to get some work done.

Thanks. They fit me great, I replaced the stock insole with my custom orthotic and everything else was perfect. Nice and tight. I skied on them 4 days and was expecting to have to have the guys make a couple minor adjustments, but no need. It was very warm on the days i skied them, so I'll be interested to see what the stiffness is like in cold temps.

Picked these up at the boot doctor in Taos, needed some stiffer boots.

Skied some steeps today and got a goggle tan. I'll post some pics when my buddy sends me the good ones he took. Poked around in some areas that aren't on the map that were off the hook.

I feel you man, my flight boards in 15.

In my mind I picture beer involved in the equation, but without that I agree with you it probably sucks.

The thought of people running around with saws on their property probably scares the shit out of them, but if they did that I would gladly help out too.

Looks awesome guys! Even where its tracked out the snow still looks so nice! I guess that means I'm officially used to skiing in PA. Keep up the good work.

Had I been watching her phone she would later wonder why there was a random picture of balls on her camera roll. Get some pow!

Depending on the binding, it might be able to be adjusted considerably without re-drilling. Take it to a good shop and they should be able to either adjust it (best case/cheapest scenario) or re mount the binding if is too big a difference to adjust. I think as long as they fill the old holes and drill the new ones far enough away from the old ones then you don't risk damage to the ski.

Challenge bumps were great this morning also. My pants and jacket really needed a good washing and they got it this morning. Got about 20 laps in and called it a day.

Well I guess good insurance does cover it at least in your family members case. I have a friend who owed $1,000's after being airlifted, and have heard many others complain about the same thing, possible their insurance sucks.

Just remembered they have that zip line thing too.

Stay out of the chute.

Debts "exceed" $24.2 million (ouch) while a 2010 appraisal estimated the value at $27 million.

Bar up or down, this sums it up. Some people can't sit still for 5 minutes without fucking around. How pissed are that kids parents that he had to get airlifted out of there? Insurance usually doesn't cover that.

I saw this on the Today show this morning when I was getting ready for work. Apparently the kid threw a snowball at his buddies in the chair ahead of him (who were filming) and his momentum carried him right off the chair. Looks like he fell into Chile's Glade which happens to be an awesome run. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/0zioMFv2_pk?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>