Quote :

"A couple friends and I are heading out west either March 10th or the 17th. We're being indecisive about where. Where is the best snow this year?"

Europe

[Edited on February 15, 2012 at 12:09 PM. Reason : k]

2/15/2012 12:08:44 PM

Breckenridge looks nice! Park City too...

http://www.breckenridge.com/mountain/terrain-status.aspx
http://www.parkcitymountain.com/winter/conditions/snow-report

2/15/2012 1:12:49 PM

I mean...most places out west are good right now. But every. single. place. is having a down year if you go off of snowfall.

2/15/2012 1:39:12 PM

^ for sure.

2/15/2012 1:43:35 PM

Heading to Snowshoe the 24th to the 26th.

2/15/2012 1:53:49 PM

by this time tomorrow, I'll be in Steamboat

2/15/2012 3:53:51 PM

Break a leg

2/15/2012 4:59:37 PM

By this time tomorrow, I'll be in Taos.

2/17/2012 12:58:05 AM

by this time tomorrow, I'll be in Massanutten

2/17/2012 10:47:09 AM

by this time tomorrow, +1 week, I'll be in Winter Park / Mary Jane

2/17/2012 12:04:53 PM

T minus 19 days till I will be in Montana

2/17/2012 12:15:23 PM

BobbyDigital Let me know how the boat is! I'll be there in ~1 Week

2/17/2012 1:27:55 PM

T-24 hours for Heavenly

2/17/2012 1:44:01 PM

^^ the conditions there look epic! I was there last week and got powder days on Thursday and Friday. It looks like it's been snowing every day since then.

http://opensnow.com/location/steamboat

Finally the season looks like it's starting to turn around.



[Edited on February 17, 2012 at 2:19 PM. Reason : figure I might as well post this pic I took on our last night there]

2/17/2012 2:18:17 PM

Heading to SLC on Tuesday to ride Wednesday and Thursday. Supposed to get up to two feet through Monday. This may be epic.

2/18/2012 1:26:39 PM

I did winterplace this morning.

Worked on my snowboard buttering skills.

2/18/2012 10:17:55 PM

Skied Taos Ski Valley yesterday.

2/19/2012 7:26:35 PM

Steamboat has been epic so far. The Ski Tracks app is pretty sweet, btw. Here's stats from the first three days.








Got some great footage with the GoPro. I'll post some vids when i get some time to edit.

now time to drink.

[Edited on February 19, 2012 at 7:35 PM. Reason : .]

2/19/2012 7:34:36 PM

That's a really cool app.

So did the 46.5 mph come from a gondola ride or a run?

2/19/2012 8:20:57 PM

^lol, do you think that gondolas go 45 mph??

My personal best (gps recorded at least) is 57, though I'm looking to top 60 this year

2/19/2012 11:20:08 PM

^ Really, those speeds look kinda high. Maybe if your a professional ski racer.

2/20/2012 12:58:22 AM

Well it does feel pretty damn fast when I'm doing it, and you wouldn't want to try it on the wrong type of skis. Pretty much you have to scout out the run you want to try it on. Once you know the run and terrain conditions your speed is really just a function of how straight down the mountain you want to go (depending on how steep it is of course). I've hit 53, 55, 57 and am pretty sure I've gone even faster out of GPS range (blocked by mtns). It's pretty brutal slowing down. Either way, I'm confident in my readings.

[Edited on February 20, 2012 at 8:37 AM. Reason : d]

2/20/2012 8:35:43 AM

I've gotten up past 50mph before on my snowboard and it was kind of pointless. The only satisfaction was in knowing how fast my top speed was. Other than that I just felt like I wasted a run (considering the wait to lift back to the top). It's much more enjoyable to carve and trick down the slopes than going insanely fast. You also have to pretty much be on a slope all by yourself to do it so you don't endanger others (or yourself).

max of 25-35mph is much more realistic for 90% of my runs... but mostly because I'm in the powder. 50+ is only possible on groomers.

[Edited on February 20, 2012 at 7:18 PM. Reason : ,]

2/20/2012 7:15:01 PM

yeah, i only go that fast on groomers, because groomers are boring and I want to get back to the good stuff.

woke up to 27" of fresh powder this morning.

probably the best day of skiing I've ever had. waist deep powder in many areas. unfortunately, in my inebriation last night, I forgot to recharge the Gopro. no good footage from today.

[Edited on February 20, 2012 at 7:42 PM. Reason : .]

2/20/2012 7:40:01 PM

I like those Ski Tracks screenshots. I just downloaded AlpineReplay for my Android phone. It'll be cool to see how it stacks up.

2/21/2012 2:17:18 PM

Got back from Vail on Saturday...was there for the 4-5 inches so had 3 great days, but the not so great:

During a run through Blue Sky I clipped a tree with my helmet and thought, "Gee, that didn't hurt at all". A minute later caught up with my group and buddy asks, "Hey man, where's your camera?"

Took another run to look but no luck...so if anyone happens upon a GoPro on Steep and Deep IT'S MINE GOD DAMNIT

oh and I started using Ski Tracks this year too...awesome app, and its really cool if you take pictures using the app because it shows you on the map where you took the pictures...I am suspicious of the accuracy though. Sometimes my friend and I who spend the whole day together end up with miles difference between our distance and different verticals as well. Also I apparently went 85.8 MPH one day

[Edited on February 21, 2012 at 4:26 PM. Reason : a]

2/21/2012 4:23:52 PM

I find for high speed runs early in the morning on weekdays is best. Bad part about those gps things is if you are with a couple buddies, someone always tries to be the fastest. I find going for overall speed is better than instantaneous speed. Personal best is 70. Though I got some good early runs at breck this year. I still need to hook the gps to the pc to get the detailed report.

2/21/2012 6:47:00 PM

Taos Ski Valley was ok. Appeared to be a rather steep mountain, although I mostly just skied blues and stayed off the double blacks entirely. Anything out west will offer terrain challenging enough to keep me entertained, so that's not that big of a deal to me.

It was pretty crowded, which I HATE. No big lift lines, but I felt like I was picking my way through slower traffic almost constantly. Definitely a fun day, and much needed after only skiing 1 out of the previous 3 seasons, but I didn't like it as much as anywhere I've been in CO or UT. Actually, for me personally, I like WA better too, but I can see some preceding the lighter (albeit less) snow and steeper terrain of Taos.

2/21/2012 8:03:33 PM

Got into SLC late afternoon.

Planning on hitting up Snowbird tomorrow. Any tips/advice/reviews/experiences in the area? Where should I go Thursday? Park City? Brighton? Solitude? Snowbird again? Don't say Alta or Deer Valley.

2/21/2012 8:51:10 PM

Mineral Basin at Snowbird, especially with the snow they just had...i'm also a fan of Thunder Alley (the farthest right portion of the resort) there for some tree/wooded technical stuff

A lot of locals like Solitude for, well, its solitude

[Edited on February 21, 2012 at 11:07 PM. Reason : ]

2/21/2012 11:06:44 PM

Damn yo. Saw a dude go too fast & out of control into a chute this weekend at Kirkwood, fall, and then slam into some rocks. Left some blood on the snow and didn't get up. Got 'coptered out of there later I hear due to a head injury. Lots people were being carried off the slopes for some reason. Dunno why, conditions were really good.
People are dumb.

[Edited on February 22, 2012 at 12:05 AM. Reason : x]

2/22/2012 12:05:24 AM

Quote :

"woke up to 27" of fresh powder this morning. probably the best day of skiing I've ever had. waist deep powder in many areas. unfortunately, in my inebriation last night, I forgot to recharge the Gopro. no good footage from today."

holy shit, I can't believe you were there for the 27" dump, that's Steamboat's all time record for snow in 24 hours. Plus they've gotten an addition 21" in the two days since. And you forgot to charge your fucking GoPro???????

seriously, though, awesome timing on that trip. Quit skiing now

2/22/2012 10:49:29 AM

yeah, I blame the $2 shots of beam that Sunpies had going on Sunday night.

That said, it was still snowing most of the morning, and visibility wasn't great, but it got really sunny after about 1, so would have liked to have had the cam for that.

I decided to try demo-ing powder skis for the first time, and they made a world of difference. It was kind of weird getting used to a different stance in the powder, but took only about a run to get the hang of it.

Nothing like making fresh tracks in waist deep powder.


fuck. i hate real life.

Quote :

"A lot of locals like Solitude for, well, its solitude"

Solitude is my favorite resort that i've skied in Utah. If you get out there, the Honeycomb Canyon area is fantastic. I'd love to go there again. Plus it's like half the price of the park city ski resorts.

[Edited on February 22, 2012 at 11:24 AM. Reason : .]

2/22/2012 11:22:37 AM

Quote :

"Nothing like making fresh tracks in waist deep powder. fuck. i hate real life."

pretty much sums up why i moved to Colorado. life is too short to work. i just need enough money to support my recreational activities. craft beer and snowboarding.

2/22/2012 11:34:48 AM

Had a blast at Snowbird yesterday. Sadly, Mineral Basin was closed and will be closed again today. Love the trees and how open the mountain is - everything is fair game.

Think I'm going to head up to Solitude today. I would have went back to Snowbird if Mineral was opening, but it looks like I'll miss out on that whole side of the mountain.

2/23/2012 8:53:33 AM

^ i just got back from SLC Monday. We rode snowbasin, brighton, park city, and canyons. My whole group really loved snowbasin based on size of mtn and lack of crowd. Its an hour from Park City area though, but beautiful area.

FYI if you are a costco member, go there immediately. They have a deal where you buy a camelback type waterbag and it comes with FREE all day lift passes to canyons, snowbasin and sundance (among 30 other resorts in the US..) The product is 64.99. They are separate passes to be used anytime in 2012 ski season. Even if you just use 1 pass, you save 25 buck or so on lift price for a day and get a free camelback. We rode two days for 64.99 total and got a water backpack out of it so it was a nice corner to cut financially.

Food for thought.

2/23/2012 11:53:42 AM

Here's my edited footage from steamboat. You can see me eat it about halfway through.



[Edited on February 23, 2012 at 4:01 PM. Reason : .]

2/23/2012 4:01:12 PM

That was a tight jump at 1:05.

2/23/2012 4:25:07 PM

haha, it's because he's white.

2/23/2012 4:36:20 PM

[image]http://http://thewolfweb.com/photo_photo.aspx?user=32601&photo=525606[/image]

fat old dude in terrain park trying to hurt himself.

2/23/2012 7:43:48 PM

I knew being old and fat would turn awesome one day.

2/24/2012 12:26:08 AM

here's Steamboat's video from the 27" dump:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9h-ENQR82Q&feature=related
and an open snow video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7oi83XvagY

Quote :

"That was a tight jump at 1:05. "

also at 4:10

[Edited on February 24, 2012 at 7:44 PM. Reason : bobbydigital video]

2/24/2012 7:38:24 PM

Bought some overpriced goggles with A fan in them so I can wear my glasses and see properly when I'm on the slopes.

At a cabin near snowshoe watching the snow fall. Looks good for tomorrow!

2/24/2012 10:38:15 PM

...so my main criticism of Taos Ski Valley was that it was crowded, even with the caveat that it was President's Day weekend.

Well, it turns out that they hosted about 4000 skiers that day. Apparently the norm is 400, according to the owner of the condo I stayed at. No wonder it was crowded...I'll have to check it out again sometime, I guess.

2/25/2012 9:44:57 AM

This is the Alpine Replay ($Free for Android) dashboard after my runs today. There are a ton more stats available. It's a pretty nice app!

[Edited on February 25, 2012 at 7:00 PM. Reason : s]

2/25/2012 7:00:15 PM

Quote :

"Bought some overpriced goggles with A fan in them so I can wear my glasses and see properly when I'm on the slopes. At a cabin near snowshoe watching the snow fall. Looks good for tomorrow! "

I have over-the-glasses goggles, and I put Cat Crap on my glasses, and it keeps them from fogging up, usually.

2/26/2012 4:48:06 PM

2/26/2012 6:50:57 PM

i tried out that alipne replay app on my Galaxy Nexus and it kept closing on me. i'd turn it on, wait for a GPS fix, then throw it in my sleeve jacket pocket sometimes after the run the app would be closed, other times it would log just fine.

i just got back from my first trip to tahoe. in order of decent to bad conditions, i skied sierra, heavenly and squaw. sierra had great snow for the tahoe area, and had some great runs for how small it was. heavenly was flippin beautiful, and totally worth the ~$100 lift ticket (it didn't sound like there were many discounts out there...but i didn't really look ) due to the views, great runs,and overall service. squaw was icy as shit, and not groomed much/well, probably due to rocks sticking out of the snow everywhere. *some* of the runs were fun (especially the downhill slalom runs), but in all it was a giant piece of rock.

2/26/2012 10:52:56 PM

^ yeah, this year the tahoe area has had terrible, terrible weather and a bad season. when it's good, it's really really good.

2/26/2012 11:14:51 PM

Wow that Alpine Replay app looks sweet. Just downloaded it to my phone and will try it out on my next trip. Coincidentally, there appears to be an Alpine Replay app specifically made for Big Sky (my next destination). I wonder what is different about it compared to the regular app.

2/27/2012 8:41:49 AM