OutCold

My buddy and I went to Steamboat for our last spring break ever. It was both of our first trip out west and it was pretty killer. The pics are kinda crappy, but they're there. I was supposed to meet up with Glenn one day, but I forgot to write down his # and it didn't happen, oh well. I'll probably never meet anyone from pasr lol. Anyway, here goes.... Ill start off with a nice pic of me standing by the avalanche warning sign by one of the backcountry gates. No we didn't go into the BC. We obviously have no experience with BC, nor do we have the proper equipment. Besides, Steamboat is so massive, in our four days there, we had no chance of exploring all of the inbounds terrain. The first day we got out on the mountain, Monday was pretty nice. They got a decent amount of snow sunday....6"+ and it was a crappy day so on monday there was still plenty of fresh. It was near bluebird conditions that day. We started off in the Pony Express area, which is mostly blacks. I don't really see the purpose of designating trails over there because its not really defined at all. I ate it at the bottom of the first run and bit a nice whole in my tongue. Kinda a crappy way to start the trip but oh well. The rest of the day, we mainly stuck to the trails, mostly ungroomed that got pretty bumped up by the afternoon. It was a pretty exhausting day both from the ungroomedness and the altitude. The second day, Tuesday was the day Glenn was there. There were a few new inches of poe overnight. It was windy and cloudy and unfortunately, they closed the upper mountain in the afternoon. Tuesday we mostly hit the tighter aspen trees around the lower storm peak area. Late morning, we discovered the more spread trees of the sunshine area. Unfortunately, after our first run through there, they closed the lift. Being restricted to the lower mountain sucked. Wednesday, we went back to the sunshine tree area. It was a much better day. It was sunny and there were a few more inches of poe overnight. After the morning of trees, we headed to the area they call Morningside Park on the backside of the mountain. It was nice, a couple hundred feet of fairly steep vert that runs out into a nice, gently sloped area of evergreens. I hit my first rock drop back there. It was only maybe 5 feet or so...I actually didn't see it coming and just launched off of it. That was most of the excitement for the day. Thursday, we went back to Morningside. I found another, bigger drop...maybe 8-10 ft to drop off of. It was fun. We also headed to some of the hike-to terrain on Morningside Peak. It was a serious hike uphill to get to the entrance of North St. Pats. This was the sickest run I've ever done. It started off with a moderate slope through fairly dense evergreens. Then it gets mad steep and the trees clear out. It ended with a nice headwall of steep open powder with no tracks. The top of the headwall had a series of cliffs that you could drop off of, but they were all a little too much for my ability. After St. Pats, theres a long traverse out back to the rest of the mountain. After that, we went back up to morningside and hit the Christmas tree bowl. It was pretty serious too...real steep, dense trees. The last run of the trip we went back to pony express and finished with a nice run down there. My friend and I both dropped off a nice sized boulder right in the middle of the trail. Ok so now that you've skipped all of that...heres the pics...nothing great, but pics.... Looking up at the mountain from the base area My friend at the top of the headwall of Tornado Me coming through the trees in the sunshine area Me during a break in a clearing in the Sunshine trees My friend coming out of some aspens A shot to show the pow is up to my knees A blurry shot of my friend coming down morningside Thats it...enjoy

Thanks for the info. I'll definitely be there tuesday so if you get up there I'd be down for a few laps.

Thanks glenn, I'll do what I can about the pics. I'm planning on taking a disposable camera so I don't have to worry about dead batteries in the cold. I'll get them on a cd when I get them developed. How do the trees compare to trees in Vermont? I've done some of the black glades at Killington and I can't image things being much tighter than that. I always imagined the trees out west were generally more open.

Well we're going to Steamboat. We leave on Sunday. Im so stoked to finally get to go out west. It doesn't look like we're gonna get dumped on or anything but there is a chance for a couple inches.

Hahahahahahaha its so funny because its just about believable

I'm headed out to Steamboat in 3 weeks. It'd be great if this weather keeps up and we got dumped on out there. Its my first time out west is there anything there that I can't miss? The Mt. Werner/Morningside Peak area looks killer.

Wow you know you're a loser when you suck that bad and you have the time to make a whole website dedicated to your suckyness

I'll be at Steamboat during that time too...pray for snow

We're renting a condo at trail creek from sunday night to thursday night, we're driving home after riding friday.

Me and some friends are headed up to Killington tonight....mad stokage. Looking at a foot and a half plus for snow!

Im going to Killington Sunday....super stoked!!!

I guess they didn't make it

Thanks for all the help guys, it is appreciated

I beat you. 1,109 miles...but then again, I didn't go so nevermind

You kind of missed my point. I wasn't really bashing on Boulder, I was actually commending them. All I was saying is they have a ton less terrain than anyone else to be able to claim 100%, while they're working on a similar budget. That is why it is worthwhile for them to open. And as far as getting off my ass and going up there, it would be tough to get me there even if I wasn't 1000 miles away because its so small. Its great that everyone else can enjoy it and whatnot, but when it gets to the point that I am spending more time on the lift then the trail, its not worth my money. I would simply rather save my money for a couple weeks and ride somewhere else.... again, thats just my opinion.

Guns still going?

Exactly

Thank You

I agree, but it is easier for them to achieve more firepower per acre due to their small acreage and the fact that their small acreage doesn't seem to affect the number of lift tickets they sell compared to blue or cb. Would it be right to say that they get the same ballpark numbers of visitors as blue or cb? If so, that gives them more money per acre to spend on snowmaking. I really would like to see a bigger mountain like blue or cb get bb's attitude and start upping the ante the same way bb is doing. It would be nice to be able to ski a mountain this early where you can't see the end of the run from the top. Regardless, bb is stepping up and setting the bar for snowmaking in pa.

Yeah what Doug said. Although it is impressive, it would be more impressive if they did it on the amount of terrain that Blue or CB has.

I've been looking at K2s because thats what I have now and I know their XL size can fit my boot. Part of my problem is that I live in Florida right now so theres no shops to go to to try them on. I am going to Killy the day after I get home from school so I don't have time to shop around when I get home. Does anyone know how K2 bindings compare to other companies in regards to quality, durability, etc.

Anyone.....Anyone.....Bueller.....Bueller

I'm getting a new setup for christmas and I have some questions. I already ordered the deck. I got a Venture Zephyr 162 Wide. I weigh about 180 and have size 15 feet. I am now trying to figure out the binding situation. Last time I bought bindings (which happened to be the first time) I did it based on the recommendation of a friend. So anyway now I'm trying to figure out what bindings to go with and really have no idea what to look for in a binding. I mostly do freeride, but occasionally dabble in the park. If anyone has any tips or suggestions, they would be greatly appreciated.

K2 Auto Bindings Anyone checked these out or have these? I was looking at them, they look pretty interesting. Just looking for some opinions on them.

Which board did you buy?