Don't ever use the expression "this day couldn't possibly get any worse." As I unloaded my board from the car I remember thinking about Shania Twain's song "up, up, up, can only go up from here." I thought it was an appropriate description of my day. Actually, it's ironic, looking back on the events that unfolded, because those lyrics LITERALLY described the situation in which I found myself. But first things first.
First, I woke up this morning. Through bleary eyes I tried to focus on the digital clock on my cable box. It looked like it said 7:08. I squinted at it. Yep. 7:08. I slept through three different alarm clocks. I was already over an hour late for work. ON A POWDER DAY! Bad, bad, bad. I was out of the house within 5 minutes, and got out to the village around 7:30-ish. I updated the phone right away, then started to work on the roundup, since everything else was already late but that, at least, would only be a few minutes late. Riiiiight. If you read my report yesterday (or if you scroll down and read it now) you know that our printer isn't working. I can deal with that. I try to log onto our computer. It's not the right computer, which means my user id and password don't work. They were working on some project and switched out the computers. No sweat, I'll use Anna's computer..... which doesn't have the printer set up. I couldn't get it to "find" any other printers on the network, so i couldn't print that out. I worked on a couple other updates, but by this time Anna was already in, and she called tech support... oh yeah, it's after 8.... tech support is available! Sweet. We got it printed out and I went upstairs to retrieve it. I figured I'd use the copy machine up there, but it decided to statically charge all the pages and stick them together, so I took it back downstairs and managed to finish printing it without incident. I finished the other updates, and updated the local phone, but the 888 line wouldn't update because I can't update it if anyone calls in while I'm trying to record it. And when it's a half an hour late being updated, there are twice as many calls, and it was a mess. I tried for a half an hour, but no luck. Finally I just made sure everyone in the office knew and told the front desk to just tell people to call the local number. Whew. What a day. Things can only get better, right?
Since I had missed the lift ops pickup for the roundups, I decided to deliver them myself. Pop quiz - do you know where all the giant trail map signs with boxes for the grooming report are? If not, you're about to.... well, actually at the end of the day I still had 2 left, so it's possible I may have missed one.... but I didn't go to moose creek and I'm pretty sure there's one there, and I think the other one goes to the lift supervisor, so I probably did hit them all. Anyway, there are 4 at the base - one at the tram, one by the Walk Festival Hall, one by Teewinot, and one by the Gondola. I ran into my friend Tag who works at Union Pass, so I gave him the copy to go over there. Sweet timing. See, my day is already getting better. I went up the Gondola and dropped off the one at the top. I took a run through the powder down to Thunder, hitting the gully and traversing over into mushroom chutes, past the sign that says "caution, cliff area." The Thunder roundup is at the top of the lift, so I rode up with some skiers and their ski instructor. They were discussing the cliff signs, and I told them that if it said "caution, cliff area" that meant there were cliffs, but there were chutes around them and you could get down without dropping them. If it said "CLOSED cliff area" there wasn't a way out and it was a cliff band. They said they didn't really want to hit either, and discussed where they were going to ski. At the top of the shack I dropped off my report and headed down to thunder through the powdery trees. Where it was soft, it was beautiful. Where it was skied off it was totally scratchy. Luckily there was a lot of fresh.
Sublette's report is also at the top of the chair. I dropped it off and crossed back over to hit tensleep, which was phenomenal. I wanted to take either cirque or expert chutes down, then traverse over to casper to deliver my next roundup. I can never find the entrance to Expert Chutes, but today I saw it and cut into it. Woo hoo! I saw a sign that said "closed, cliff area" and traversed over above it until I saw a sign that said "caution, cliff area." I took my own advice and cut down. I could see huge rocks, but it looked like there were a couple of very steep, narrow chutes. Then I fell.
I knew I was about 20 feet above some hairy rocks, so I concentrated and sank my edge into the snow. I was sliding on my butt, so it wasn't that hard to maintain control, but it was pretty steep and the light snow fell off the hardened surface. I looked down the chute and saw only rocks. Figures. I traversed carefully across to the next chute. Also only rocks. Crap. I saw some skiers down below and yelled down to them, asking if there was a path anywhere, or even something that I could climb around and get down through. They told me I should be able to clear it if I jumped, but I didn't really see a good launch that was accessible from where I was. At this point I was about 10 feet above the cliffs, and looking up, it was only about 10 feet to hike. I asked how big the drop was, and they told me it was 20 feet, but I'd have to jump OUT to clear it. If it had been 8 feet, with a nice launch, I probably would have dropped it. Hell, I probably would have gone to it on PURPOSE intending to drop it. But 20 feet is a little beyond my level of fear tolerance, so I decided I'd better hike back up.
I unstrapped my back foot and tried to kick a it into the surface. The snow just sluffed down the slope. My foot sank into the powder, but didn't find anything to grab onto. I strapped back in and tried to relax. "everything is going to be alright" from Yellowcard's "Believe" started running through my mind. I took a few deep breaths. I was right above a tree, which I thought might give me a bit of leverage. They guys below told me I should use the tree to try and unstrap. I edged over to it and wedged my board against it. My left arm was wrapped around the trunk, and my right arm was clinging to the branches. I reached down and tried to unstrap again, but still couldn't get a foothold, let alone turn around to try and hike back up. I REALLY didn't want to take the board off because at this point it was the one thing keeping me from sliding down the hill and over the rocks. I yelled down to the skiers and told them I wasn't going to be able to manouver from where I was, but at least I was stable for the time being. They told me they'd go get ski patrol. Just after they left, I remembered that my cell phone was in my pocket. I called the resort operator, who transferred me to ski patrol, and I told them where I was. They had already heard about me, and had me describe my exact position so someone could come down and find me. Once they were confident that we were both describing the same area, they sent a patroller with a rope.
Here's where I was hanging out - the arrow points to the tree to which I so desperately clung:
Ski patrol ROCKS. They are so awesome! Thank you so much for helping me! I had told them I was stable and uninjured, so if there was some sort of horrible crash they could leave me hanging for a while, but luckily for everyone on the mountain (especially me) there were only a few minor accidents. I waited MAYBE 5 minutes before I heard someone yell "hello?". I yelled back, and he looked down and saw where I was. He said he was going to ski down to where I was to pack the snow down, then kick a boot pack in so I could hike back up. He asked if I could just turn around and climb, but I told him I was nervous about losing my footing if I unstrapped and I preferred to use a belay rope. After he had hiked back up, he lowered a rope to me, which I put around my chest. I unstrapped and used the tree to leverage myself so I could remove the board and turn around. Using the board to create a handhold, I managed to hike up to where the patroller was. At that point, a second patroller had arrived to assist if necessary. Between the two of them, I hiked across, above the rocky cliffs and into the first of the Expert Chutes. I got my board back on, thanked them, and cleaned off my goggles. Of course, they were still really foggy so my run down the chute was not nearly as cherry as it should have been, but the snow was more than knee deep and mostly fresh, so it was a great run anyway.
I managed to find lots more freshies on the way to casper, where I delivered another roundup (once again, at the TOP of the lift.) Moran woods was incredible, although my goggles were so fogged at this point I felt as though I did that run blindfolded. I dropped off both traverses and cut down to AV, my final stop on the mountain roundup dropoff adventure. Of course the map is at the top, and this one is high enough that I had to take off my board and climb up a snowbank onto a pole to replace it. Yeah, that was NOTHING. I found a path down through the trees that I haven't taken before, and got to hit some untracked snow on the way down. About halfway down, I crossed the snow line of the day - we had received 11 inches at the top, 7 inches at mid, and ONE inch at the bottom. It's a gradual shift, and it was snowing all day, so there was still quite a bit of snow, but I definitely felt the difference. I managed to cruise the rest of the way down on the groomer, and paused just above teewinot to make sure I hadn't missed a roundup. Nope. No sign at the top. Which was exactly what they had told me at the bottom when I delivered the roundup there. So I think I hit them all. I'll ask Eric when he picks them up tomorrow.... assuming I WAKE UP when my alarm goes off...
So an eventful day, despite the late start. Actually, an eventful day BECAUSE of the late start. But I'm home, and I'm safe (and uninjured), and I'm not leaving the couch unless I need something from the refrigerator (or to use the bathroom.... I'm not Jack Bauer, after all....)
Have a great day. Stay safe. And don't ever use the expression "things couldn't possibly get any worse." Because anything is possible. And no matter how bad it gets, there's always something worse that you can be thankful you avoided. Just be sure when you wish to "only go up from here" that's really what you want. Sometimes it's better to be able to go down.
Patience Mood: irritated Topic: shred report
New Snow: 5"
The first few hours of my day were frought with technical difficulties. Raymer plot wasn't working. The printer was on the fritz, even before I tried to use it. I am resourceful. I used the avy report and the tram tower info to get the info I needed. I sent the grooming report to the printer in the office next door. Of course, I don't actually have a passcode for that office, so I set off the security alarm retrieving the printout, but all in all I was super efficient and finished right on time, as usual. I quickly got into my snow clothes. As I was lacing my boots, the lace disintegrated. I tried to knot the two pieces together, and they broke again. And again. So I went downstairs and bought a new lace. Extra SUPER long, but also strong enough to lace my boot TIGHT. Sweet. I'm ready to go.
Of course, I'm meeting people who said they'd be here around 9:30 or so. Even after a leisurely breakfast at Nick's, it wasn't even 9 yet. I thought about taking some runs, but we had a huge backcountry expedition planned and I had to work at 3, so the last thing I needed was for THEM to have to wait for ME. I wandered up to the shop, got a triple macchiato, and ogled a 686 jacket on the sale rack. I wandered back to the tram to wait. I called Erica - she was just leaving town, and had just spoken with Donnie, who was also just leaving town. I surveyed the tram line. Not making the 9:20. Not looking like we'd be in line quickle enough to make the 9:40. I hate the tram. I hate squishing into the car and riding up for 12 minutes in a half squat. I hate waiting 20 minutes in between cars. But the terrain makes it all worthwhile if you're going out the gates. So I waited.
9:45. No Erica. No Matt. No Donnie. No way we're making the 10:00 tram or even the 10:20 at this point. Crap. I have to work at 3. Why didn't I just take some runs. Erica told me to take some runs. Too late now....
10:00. Got sick of waiting. I left the tram dock and got in the gondola line. I was about halfway through when my phone rang. Erica was on her way up from the tram dock, and she had found Donnie in the parking lot. She said that because of the wind and visibility we were going up the gondi to thunder to sublette to the lower gate instead of taking the tram. Nice. I got out of line to meet her in front of the shop. I showed her the jacket I was ogling. We met up with Donnie. Matt was in the warehouse, waiting for his coworker who was loaning him some backcountry gear (for Erica, since I had HER shovel....) We waited.
At this point, I was unbelievably cranky. I didn't know how long the backcountry adventure would take, and I was starting to think I wouldn't have time to go and I'd have to just take a couple of runs in bounds before heading back to town. I got really annoyed and started to storm off but Donnie and Erica stopped me before I got back into the gondi line and ditched them. Friends are nice like that. When I get really frustrated, I have a tendency to say EXTREMELY hurtful, inappropriate, insulting things to the people I care about. Since I don't like doing that, I prefer to remove myself from the situation until I calm down. I'm generally pretty tolerant and I don't let it show when I'm annoyed, so when I reach the breaking point I tend to snap. hard. I really didn't want to do that right before heading into the backcountry. I understand that patience is the most important thing to take with you when you go out the gates - patience to wait your turn going down steep sections - patience to wait for everyone in your group and make sure no one gets hurt or lost or stuck - and patience to stop and plan your line instead of impetuously hurling yourself down every fresh face or off every rock drop that appears in front of you. I was afraid I had used up that patience, thereby making me a liability to everyone in our group. Luckily, my friends managed to calm me down long enough to wait two more minutes, which was all it took for Matt to ski down from the warehouse.
As usual, I had completely disassembled while we were waiting, and it pretty much took the entire ride up to get all my gear organized. At the top, we strapped in and went straight for the gully. This was my first run EVER with Donnie and I know he totally rips, so I was eager to see if I would be able to keep him in sight. I'm pretty sure he was taking it easy, partially because we were with him, but also because visibility was rough and the conditions were a little rough. Five inches of feather light snow on top of 2 days worth of sun baked crust. Where it was fresh, it was scratchy. Where it wasn't fresh, it was piles of snow that wouldn't pack into moguls because the snow was too light, surrounded by crust. Sketchy. I took all my aggression out on the mountain, and it felt good. My edges held, and I absorbed the uneven surface through concentration and sheer force of will. I did the same thing down Grand, not once considering the possibilty of seeking powder in the trees. Screw that - I wanted to tear up some moguls. I hate moguls. I can carve right THROUGH these moguls though. There's nothing quite like being able to destroy something you hate.
We traversed from the top of Sublette, and though I lost speed and dropped down below everyone else's line, I still made it to the gate without having to unstrap. We followed Donnie across the ridge until the slope flattened and we had to unstrap and hike. It was deep. No gapers. No FOOTPRINTS. We blazed a trail across the ridge to the treeline, where we assembled our equipment sheltered from the wind. I was overheated, but took Donnie's and Erica's advice and left my jacket on. The climb would be windy. It wasn't. Well, it was, but there are two things that happen to me when the adrenaline flows. #1 - I get short of breath. #2 - I sweat. About a third of the way up the boot pack I reached the end of my tolerance and removed my backpack, board and all. I took off my jacket. Ahhh. That's better. I grabbed the bindings and used my board for leverage. NOW I can climb. I was panting at the top, and Erica was baffled by my state of disarray, but I felt great. We waited for Matt to finish the climb (I've never hiked in ski boots, but I can't imagine it's comfortable) and continued to the top of the ridge. We stopped to strap in and traversed over to a steep face where our run would begin. Donnie went first.
One turn down the face, and the light snow sluffed off, leaving a scratchy, exposed surface with several ominous rocks. He pointed it and straightlined across the flat, where he stopped to wait for the rest of us. Erica went next. Her edge wouldn't hold, and she pretty much slid down on her butt, all the while trying to get her edge to dig in without putting herself in greater peril. She slid over a rock that was sticking out onto the trail, but managed to maintain some semblance of control and ride across the flat to where Donnie was waiting. My turn. I was on my edge, on my butt, at the top, and I was trying to choose a line. There wasn't a good one. There was a rock blocking my way, so I edged down to it, eased my board out over it, released, and tried to catch myself. Yes, I was still on my butt, that's how steep the face was. I managed to stop just after the annoying rock, point it, and float across the flat. The lower part was actually really nice, but just below the surface it was still scratchy. It didn't sound like snow. I loosened my bindings and sat down to watch Matt.
Matt encountered a problem right away - he tried to turn and his uphill ski released. It miraculously managed to stop just below him, wedged next to a large protruding rock. The ones we had navigated were just on the surface, but this one was more of a cliff. Matt climbed down to try and grab his ski, but it was just outside his reach. He smacked it with his ski pole to get it out from the rock, and it slid down to a nice open area just below the rock. Of course, he still had to get to it, and he only had one ski on now. He removed his ski and used it to hike back up the face, around the rock, and over to a more open chute. I don't know how he did it - it was so steep and icy. Erica was cringing the entire time, and I could hear the panic in her gasps. I'm sure that was nothing compared to what Matt was feeling. But he edged his way around the rock, put his ski back on, scraped his way down to his other ski, reassembled himself, and joined us. Whew. That was stressful.
At the next steep slope, I stopped above what appeared to be a drop. Erica and Donnie assured me that it wasn't, it was just snow. They dropped and crossed a long flat. Donnie had warned us to maintain momentum. I dropped over the snowy pile and saw the surface of a rock just below me, so I carved out around it. The snow was soft and untracked, but unfortunately I had to carve a wide arc instead of pointing it down the steep so I lost all my speed. I tried to hop - no luck. I unstrapped my back foot and sank to my knee in the powder. Ah well. Guess I'm hiking. I got over to the face where Erica and Donnie were waiting and couldn't catch my breath. It occurred to me that I was hyperventilating, and I remember thinking how odd and unusual that was. Of course, I didn't happen to have a paper bag with me, and never understood that cliche anyway - why didn't the person just breathe slower? And how would a paper bag help anyway. Well, I learned the answer. I tried to slow my breathing, but the fresh air just made me gasp harder. I covered my face with my hands and voila! It worked. The stale air caused my breathing to slow. I took my hands away, felt the difference, and quickly covered my nose and mouth again until my breathing was normal. Imagine that! I think my friends were a little freaked out, but I assured them I was fine so they relaxed and we headed down another pitch. Eventually we found ourselves in a rock garden, with huge boulders that could be used as ramps or ridden around. I jumped off a few, Erica jumped off a few, and Donnie sailed over the biggest ones. The landings were a little scratchy, but do-able. Matt was definitely struggling, mainly because his calves were seizing up from climbing a steep face over a rock in ski boots. Nonetheless, we waited and made sure he was still with us, and before we knew it we were at the drain - or as Erica calls it the 4 lane highway back to the hobacks. The lower part of the hobacks was actually decent, and we traversed back over to Union Pass.
At this point, it was already 1, and I had a few errands to run in town (aka - get food. change clothes. etc.) before work so I bid my friends goodbye and carved down to the parking lot. Despite my irritable mood and lack of lungpower, I actually had a great day. I had forgotten how the backpack cuts into my diaphram and cuts OFF my ability to take deep breaths, especially when I bend in half to strap or unstrap. I don't profess to be in the best of athletic shape right now, but even at the top of my game I still get short of breath the minute I start to exert. But I work through it. Now if I could just learn to do that with my frustration, I'd be set. I'm going to work on that. Later. Right now, I'm just going to work.
Workin' it Mood: sharp Now Playing: 24 - season 4 reruns Topic: shred report
New Snow: 2"
I had to work today. Good morning skiers and snowboarders! Then I had to go work some more... that's what happens when you have multiple jobs. But in the middle I had some time to take a few runs, so I made the best of it. After a quick breakfast at nick's I was on my way up the Gondola just after 9. At the top, I noticed that headwall was open. I decided to check out thunder and sublette first, then head over and hike the ridge. The snow was good, but not great. Two inches usually means dust on crust, but today it was more like dust on soft moguls. and soft corduroy. It's snowed every day this week, so the surface underneath is still pliable, but I knew a little hiking would do me good, and get me some deeper freshies.
Since the trees were pretty mogully I hopped out about halfway down and cruised the rest of the way on the corduroy. Buttery. With sugar on top. Yummy. That got me to Sublette. Then I traversed over to tensleep. BIG mistake. The wind was completely blinding. So blinding in fact, that until I dropped down off the ridge I didn't even notice all the "closed area" signs blocking the bottom of the bowl. Cirque - closed. Expert Chutes - Closed. headwall - forget about it. Not that I would have wanted to hike in that wind anyway, but I didn't really have a choice. At first it was just windy, and the snow beneath me was so windpacked I walked right over it. Then I got to the ridgeline, and started upward. The snow got deeper and I sank further until I was buried to about my waist. There was another snowboarder just above me and I warned him that all was closed. I finally managed to struggle my way up far enough to strap back in and be able to make it over to Rendezvous, but by then a lot of people were on their way across the ridge. I yelled to them that it was closed, and told them to let the lifties know so they could warn people. Then I cruised down to tell the lifties at the bottom the same thing - they at least have a phone and a radio, instead of just having to shout across a windy ridge.
Despite the miserable hike, I actually had a pretty nice run down Bivouac woods. Nothing spectacular, but certainly fun. Then I delivered the message to the liftie at the bottom and traversed over to thunder. From the top of thunder, I traversed to the bottom of expert chutes, since i knew no one from Sublette would have touched the powder there. it was fantastic. Soft and smooth and deep. I decided to head over to Casper for my last run, knowing there would be areas of powder off the traverses on the faces below the gondi. I cut over until i saw some freshies, then cut down through the softness.
At the top of Thunder, I cut into the trees just right of liftline. Not my usual run, and I stayed high enough to cut back onto liftline instead of going down to EDI. I don't think anyone else ever goes that way either. Then I cut across sundance to the trees under the gondola. I kept cutting through the trees until i finally found myself on GV, finding more neglected areas on the way. Then I hit the trees between FIS and Slalom, which were virtually untouched. And also rather shallow. Where it was good, it was very very good. Where it was bad, it was scratchy. But I was close enough to the groomer to cut out at any point if it got too bad. It didn't. Carved my way down to the parking lot and by 11am I was on my way to the Trapper. Time to get serious. TTYL.
Another SICK day Mood: irritated Topic: shred report
New Snow: 4" New Snow last 72 hours: 14"
Erica called me early and we decided to meet at Nick's for breakfast. Of course, just as I was coming out of the OSP to get my board out of the car, I found her in the driveway coming back from the Kids' Ranch. She stopped and waited for me to grab my board and throw everything else in my Jeep, then we rode together down to the Ranch lot to park her car. I didn't know we had acquired new shuttle busses that are completely enclosed - what a comfortable way to get from the parking lot to the base! Not that we needed it since we were early enough to be in the front part of the lot, but it was right there, so we took it. After a delicious breakfast at Nick's, we decided to go straight over to Sublette and out of bounds. Erica is hooked. Rock Springs is her new favorite run. I'm pretty fond of it myself. And with good reason - although it was tracked from the previous day, there was enough new snow and enough fresh lines to keep us floating the whole way down. I followed her, which was a good thing because I would have gone the wrong way otherwise. One more reason NOT to go out the gates by yourself.
When we got to the bottom, Erica checked in with Matt and I went into the ski shop to visit Donnie. He was going on break in about a half an hour with a bunch of his coworkers, and we decided to meet them at the top of Sublette and hike over to Green River with them. Donnie is the backcountry GURU so we were pretty stoked. I was feeling a bit lightheaded so I drank a few cups of water. Meanwhile, Erica found Jimbo, one of Matt's coworkers, who wanted to come out of bounds with us.
We went back up the gondola and over to Thunder, where we ran into Kami from Queenie & Co. She recognized Erica's voice, which was good because otherwise we never would have known it was her through all the snowgear. I was half asleep on the lift, but I mustled the strength to say hello. We took a run with her over to Sublette, and when we got to the bottom my phone rang. Donnie was just leaving the shop to get on the gondola. He told us we would probably have time for one run on Sublette before they got there, and he'd meet us at the top. I was still feeling headachey, and I had to go to the bathroom again from all the water I drank in order to NOT feel dehydrated. I decided to wait at the top of Sublette and assess how I felt before heading out the gate. Meanwhile, we had run into Smiley, who was anxious to go out of bounds and find some nice cliffs to get crazy off. Smiley, Erica, Kami, and Jimbo took a run and I sat in the snowbank absorbing the sunshine. By the time they got back to the top, I was still feeling ill, and knew that a run through the backcountry would be a bad idea, and I would only be a liability to my friends. I told them to apologize to Donnie for me and headed down Rendezvous trail. I had enough energy to cruise the groomer, but that was about it. My goggles were fogging and I felt groggy, but I made it down to Casper restaurant and used the bathroom. I felt a little better, but my head was still throbbing so I cut down the face behind the lift intending to zip down to Sundance. I noticed a little traverse and a ski trail sign, so I followed it over onto a part of Jackson Face I haven't hit before. I keep finding these little areas that are mostly ignored. The snow was getting mushy from the warm sunshine, but it was still a sweet run down untracked lines. It dropped me down onto Sundance and I headed back to the OSP where I had told Erica I would meet her. I dropped my board off in the car, got my shoes, and changed out of my boots. Then I went to veg on the couch in the Marketing office. I took some excedrin and waited for it to kick in.
Eventually Erica wandered in and found me. She said they had waited 10 or 15 minutes, but saw no sign of Donnie. Since both she and Smiley had to get to work, they decided to head over to Rock Springs and hit that instead of continuing to wait. They probably just missed Donnie, because he called me later to find out what happened. I told him how I had been so sick I made Erica drive back to town, and I didn't leave the couch for the rest of the evening. Ah well. At least I'll be well rested for tomorrow. And hydrated. I drank an entire Nalgene bottle of water while I was resting in front of the TV, watching the Seahawks trounce the Panthers. I'm an Eagles fan myself, so I'm not as into it this year as I was the past few, but I enjoyed the game nonetheless. Football is like pizza. Even when it's lousy, it's still pizza. But this blog is about snowboarding. I'll get back on that tomorrow.
Punks and powder turns Mood: flirty Topic: shred report
New Snow: 8" New Snow past 72 hrs: 18"
"Yeah, I'll take 8" any day." That's just the sort of mood I was in this morning. I think I'm affected by the powder. Went to Nick's for breakfast and met an interesting character with a degree in philosophy, a full pitcher of beer, and a lot to say. Had an enlightenting conversation with him, and his friend in Alaska, who he borrowed my cell phone to call.
Luckily, I had already received a call from Adam, who I was planning to ride with today. He's working on the construction at our hotel, installing the plumbing. I told him not to quit his day job because his pants wouldn't be appropriate anymore. I can be rather caustic sometimes, but I have a very low tolerance for sagging-off-your-ass pants. Hmm, I wonder where that comes from? Anyway, he had told me he was on the 9:25 start bus, which meant he'd be in the village at 10. My original plan was to take a few runs, but I took my time getting ready and hung out at Nick's longer than expected, so I just waited until the bus arrived.
Adam took one look at the Gondola line (which would have been about a 5 minute wait) and refused to take it. So we took Teewinot to Sweetwater to Casper. Yeah, Ok. Much faster.... But Moron woods was FANTASTIC so it didn't really matter how we had gotten there. Of course, I had been expecting the Gondola, so I was all disassembled when I first got on the lift, but I managed to get my gloves and goggles on, and my powder skirt snapped down, and my coat zipped by the time we got to Casper. We took a few runs there, then continued down through Moran until we got to AV. Adam wanted to see what the halfpipe looked like, even though it was closed, so we cruised across the traverse to gaze down at it. Ahhhh.... what a beautiful sight.
My original idea was to hit Saratoga Bowl, but Adam didn't really want to take a run which required a lot of traversing, and who could blame him on a day like this? Well, OK, I could blame him, but we managed to find a sick line down through the trees and under the lift, and through some other trees, so there really was nothing to complain about. We went the rest of the way to the bottom, hoping the Gondola line would have thinned out by then.
At this point, it was about 11:30, and Adam suggested that we get lunch early to beat the crowd. I wasn't really that hungry yet, but didn't really want to deal with the lunch rush (or a hungry riding companion) so when we got off the Gondola we went through Airbowl to Casper restaurant. Not only was it SICK, we also stopped to take some nice video along the way. Adam dropped off this big rock, and blames me for the fact that he didn't land it because I told him NOT to hit it with a lot of speed (which would have sailed him way past the landing and out into the trees.) Then he dropped another rock and landed perfectly. I got that on video, too. Say what you want about his pants, the boy can RIDE. He may not care for hiking or waiting, but he's all over anything he can huck himself off of.
We managed to avoid the brunt of the lunch rush and ate a leisurely meal, then headed back out to Casper lift. Why go down when you can go up? So up we went, and over to Thunder, which was yet another traverse. Adam was struggling across the flats, most likely because of the lack of wax on his 151. Or possibly due to the fact that he was riding a 151 on a powder day.... but that's his choice. He actually HAD a choice, because he had brought 2 boards with him to the mountain, but for some reason he had left the 154 at the base and opted to ride the 151. This was not a decision about which he had asked my opinion, so I take no responsibility for the consequences.
At the bottom of Thunder, we ran into my friend Dave (who I only ever seem to run into at the bottom of Thunder.) He was with his friend TJ, who was on skis, and we decided to take a run with them. I had a feeling Dave would know where to find the best powder, and I was right. We cruised over to Sublette and took Bernie's Bowl, which was still mostly fresh, and the wind had blown quite a bit of snow into it so it was deeper than anything else we had seen today. Dave totally RIPS, and so does TJ, so I had to haul ass to keep up, and with the exception of crossing the flat sections Adam was right there with us. Then I took a wrong turn across a powder field at the bottom and got stuck. I know better. But I had to unstrap and skate the rest of the way back across to Rendezvous trail. I figured Dave would have cut into the powder, so I sped down the groomer, hoping to catch up so they wouldn't have to ditch me (no friends on a powder day.) I saw them drop out of the trees ahead of me just as I was approaching the lift. Sweet. Thought that would work.
We took our next run over to Cirque, which was the only time I got to lead the pack. Dave stopped to show me where the entrance to Expert Chutes was - I had remarked on the chairlift that I was never able to find it. Then I followed him down the not-nearly-as-moguly-as-usual field at the bottom of Tensleep and across the flat section. Everyone else had to unstrap.... well, except TJ of course, but I zoomed across on my newly waxed NEVER SUMMER. Yeah, I still need to write it all in caps. It's just THAT GOOD. We headed into Cirque and Dave traversed over to hit this rock drop so I followed him and dropped it, too. Yeeeeeaaaaaah! Like landing on air. Cirque was incredible, and we floated down and were back at Thunder again. We took one more run together - Dave and TJ had to leave to get ready for work, and it was almost 3 so the lifts were closing soon anyway. We traversed over to the lower part of expert chutes, hit some more powder, and then parted ways. TJ and Dave headed to the bottom, and after some discussion about what run to take, Adam and I went across the traverse toward Gros Ventre. We dropped into the woods on the right of GV, which were still mostly untouched. I guess everyone was sticking to the upper mountain. Not unusual, but certainly good for us. We got back to the base, Adam switched to his 154, and we went back up the Gondola to find more powder. If you stay on the ridge and don't drop down to Sundance, the Gondi line is always fresh. We cut through the woods and I pointed out the mid-mountain study plot on our way. Eventually, we found ourselves back on GV, right at the point we had entered the woods last run. Apart from our tracks, it was still totally fresh so we hit it again. We were both completely wrecked, and although we probably could have caught one last gondola for another run, we decided to listen to our bodies and head back to town. An exhausting but fabulous day. I think I need a shower now.
Fresh board, fresh snow Mood: caffeinated Topic: shred report
New Snow: 3" New snow past 4 days: 20"
FINALLY I got to ride my new Never Summer! What a week. Constant snow and constant obligations that kept me out of the snow. So I was itching this morning. I learned my lesson LAST Saturday, though, and took the time to eat breakfast at Nick's before heading up the gondola. It definitely made a difference in my energy levels for the day. Of course, my caffeine levels didn't hurt either....
At the top of the gondola, I noticed that headwall, casper bowl, and the crags were open. My plan was to head over to Sublette right away, but I couldn't resist the lure of surveyor's rock so I took an extra run off Thunder before cruising to Sublette. I was having trouble controlling my heel edge, which I realized was caused by an improper binding setup. My feet are so small that I didn't have toe drag, but I was definitely too far toward the frontside edge. And even though my screws were tight, my bindings were loose. So I knew I'd be heading to the shop eventually. But not now.
At the top of Sublette, I considered taking a run somewhere other than headwall, but I really wanted to HIKE. I wanted the exercise. Fresh snow was just a bonus.... or so I thought at the time. Despite the cold and the wind, I zoomed over to pepi's bench, where NO ONE was hiking. I couldn't tell if it was open or closed, but I knew it was open from the gondi so I walked toward it. I took out my camera and tried to zoom in and take a picture, but I still couldn't read the sign on the little display screen in the blinding snow. So I hiked closer. It was open. Usually I take off my goggles to hike, but when I did that I couldn't see anything so I put them back on. Mine were the first footprints in the boot pack. A VERY good sign. A bit of vertigo, and at times I couldn't tell if I was even ON the boot pack, but certainly worth it. When I finally got to the top, I considered hiking across the ridge into Casper Bowl, but I remembered my last trailblazing experience and thought better of it. The upper traverse into Casper is much longer and much flatter than the lower entry. I strapped in and carved straight down the face, blinding myself with each turn. I crossed the Gondola offload area and cut through the trees onto Casper traverse. Headwall AND Airbowl in one run. Yee haw.
Despite the fresh powder, I was still aching to test my new board in the halfpipe. I cut over to Moran and into the pipe. On my old board, I couldn't even make it halfway up the walls. On my new NEVER SUMMER I made it almost to the top. On an icy surface with 3 inches of fresh snow over it. I can't wait to ride on a GOOD pipe day.
As I sped from the halfpipe down into the baby park, I noticed that the obstacles in the park had moved again. The long, flat, box rail was now at the top, with a little drop off steep enough to enable a grab before the landing. The last roller was now a kicker. I know there were more rails over on the right side of the trail, but now that I am on a lighter board I just wanted to catch AIR. I grabbed the back of my board at an angle that could almost be called a method. Next time I'll have to tweak that out so I actually CAN call it a method.
I went into the shop and got some shorter screws to adjust my bindings. Just as I was finishing, I got a call from Erica, who was dropping off Joshy and parking the car. She had left Matt at the MOB already. I said I'd take a quick run through the baby park and by then she'd be at the Gondola. The bottom of Teewinot took me right past the MOB, so I took a sharp left and went to find Matt. He was almost geared up so I waited with him and it was about then that Erica called to tell me she was at the Gondola. Great timing! I rode down with Matt to meet her, and we hopped in the car and discussed our options. Matt really wanted to go through Rock Springs Bowl. None of us had backcountry equipment along, but he said he was going to take us into an area just outside the gate that wasn't prone to avalanches, and the danger at that elevation wasn't very likely today anyway. Since he's the one that knows the backcountry we trusted him and told him to lead the way. Of course, we were on the Gondola, so we still had to get over to Sublette. Since I have to work at 3 on Fridays, I knew it would be my last run, and even then I'd be pushing it, so we sailed down Ampitheater to Thunder, and down Grand to Sublette. Holy crap, I ride FAST on flat groomers when I have edges! We traversed from the top of Sublette over to the gate and out into the backcountry. Matt was right - we didn't have to hike at all and soon we found ourselves atop a steep, fresh bowl that ran out into a wide, flat area. In other words, NOT a terrain trap. The snow was fresh, but not so deep that I was afraid to get stuck going across the flat. We gave Matt the camera and he filmed both Erica and me dropping into the bowl. Sweet!
We followed Matt the rest of the way down the face, and saw numerous other backcountry enthusiasts. Of course, "followed" isn't exactly the right term, because we kept telling him to show us where to go, but he would tell us which way and then follow US. I think he wanted to make sure we made it across the traverses before he wound up above us in an area we wouldn't be able to cut over to. What a guy! At only one point did we separate - during one of the traverses Erica was leading and she cut over a ridge while she was still out of my line of sight. I stopped just before the ridge, not sure if she had dropped down or continued over, and waited for Matt. We called to her but she didn't answer. We decided to cut over and down, keeping an eye out in both directions. As soon as we got around the ridge we saw her cutting down and she saw us. She asked why we didn't answer when she called us, and we asked her if she had heard US calling HER, which of course she hadn't. But we were back together and made it the rest of the way down without incident, but WITH incredible conditions and nice steep fresh lines. We got back to Union Pass and I headed for the parking lot. I'm exhausted and I have to work for the next 8 hours. And I can't wait to repeat the entire cycle tomorrow - especially since I don't have to work and can stay at the mountain ALL DAY!
NEVER SUMMER! Mood: celebratory Topic: shred report
New Snow: 3" (as of 6am) New Snow: 5" (as of 8am) Weather: SNOWING
YEAAAAAAAHHHHHH! Never Summer is here! This is the day I get my new board! But not until after the demo. Ah well. One last day on the Salomon.
Erica met me at the mountain bright and early. And by early I mean BEFORE the lifts opened. We waited in the gondola line, and I showed her my new vest that I bought on Friday. She thought it was kewl. Up the gondola, and off to Thunder. Headwall etc. was completely closed, and with good reason. It was dumping. There was at least 6" of snow on top of the groomed traverse. We went straight for the gully, which was so good I didn't stop at the bottom. I dropped into the lower gully, which was SICK. Of course, I couldn't see ANYTHING at this point - between the snow and goggle fog I was blind. There was just enough accumulation to cover the moguls and hide them, but they were still there. I found myself unexpectedly in the air several times, but luckily the surface was very soft. Managed to make it down into Dick's Ditch, and up over to Thunder lift. It was great.
Erica and I decided to head to our own private powder field - aka upper Rawlins bowl. We got to the cornice and I told her that we were stopping to take a picture. We always say we're going to stopo, then we never do, then we get all annoyed because we don't have any pictures to post in our blogs. I gave her the option of BEING the picture or TAKING the picture. 3 guesses what she picked:
Ah well, maybe you'll see a picture of me next time. You CAN see where I landed - it's the only other track in the picture. She may have gotten the shot, but I got first freshies. We continued down to the traverse. Erica was ahead of me, on the traverse. I cut over in hopes of having enough momentum to get up into jaws. of course, i didn't. I got into the lower part, but I didn't see Erica. I figured she had just followed the traverse back to the lift, so I made my way over to Thunder. No Erica. I waited. No Erica. I called her. She had dropped off the traverse and continued down Rawlins Bowl. Oops. She told me to lap thunder, and she'd be up as soon as possible. I ran into my neighbors in the liftline so I rode up with them. They were headed for Sublette, possibly to hit some backcountry. I took paintbrush, which would have been great had I been able to see where I was going. It felt like the snow was hitting my eyes. It felt like I wasn't wearing goggles at all. I stopped at Thunder Snack Shack at the bottom to clean my goggles. Lo and behold, the lens was sticking out of the frame at the top. No wonder it felt like snow. No wonder they were all wet inside. sheesh. Anika was kind enough to let me use the warm interior of the shack to take them apart and clean them off. Working for the resort sure has its perks. I tried to call erica to tell her where I was, but her phone was dying. I sent her a text msg. Then I watched for her. Since she wears a bright blue jacket, she was easy to spot, and I yelled to her as she zoomed by. She saw where I was and I told her I was on my way down. I reassembled and off we went.
We hit a nice tree line which is supposed to be a secret so I'm not allowed to say where it was. We weren't the only ones in it, so it's obviously not THAT big of a secret, and I know I've been through there before, but I'm still not telling where it was. Then we decided to head over to Casper and beat the lunch crowd. Which we timed perfectly.
Casper lift went down due to mechanical problems while we were inside the restaurant. We decided that what with all the competitions going on there wouldn't be anyone riding AV (except the competitors) so we went to Saratoga Bowl. Another good idea. Fantastic snow, fantastic terrain. We were pretty deep so the traverse out was pretty rough. Erica wanted to visit Joshy and I wanted to stop by the NEVER SUMMER tent to say hello. It was late enough in the day that I could pick up my board, but unfortunately it was late enough in the day that I didn't have time for another run before taking Erica back to town in time to get to work. Ah well, at least I HAVE the board.
Drove back to town and tried to download the pix onto Erica's computer. It hates me. Gave her a ride to work, and on the way home I stopped to get a stomp pad at the boardroom. And who should I run into, but Nichole and Matt from GNU!
Of course, as we're standing there talking, up drives a Never Summer vehicle.... funny how that all works out. So I got to see everyone, and I bought a cool dakine butterfly stomp pad that complements the flowers on my board nicely. It's the 154 Infinity, and it's black with bright flowers on the bottom. Mine came with 2 bluebird wax stickers, because I got it from the demo guys. While I was in the shop, the Gunbarrel called to see if I could work. Sure, why not! Went home and applied the stomp pad (as well as a few 686 stickers, which amazingly there weren't any of on the board already....)
As for my night at the restaurant, eight words accurately describe the type of shift I had. "I'm not even supposed to BE here today!" But at least I got some extra cash, and all things considered it was definitely worth my time. Went home exhaused and crashed. CYA Lames!
Demo daze Mood: hungry Topic: shred report
New snow: 0"
I decided not to eat my mini-wheats this morning because I intended to get some eggs at Nick's. Of course, as I was walking over, I noticed a Gnu demo tent. WTF? How did I not know about this? Went directly to the tent to berate Matt for not telling me he was coming, but he greeted me with a huge hug so I decided to be nice about it. He and the guys took one look at my board and immediately confiscated it. They removed the bindings and set me up on a 153 rider's choice. I forget what they called it, but it has the squiggly edges with 8 different contact points, making it the most snowboard specific sidecut ever invented, and causing superior grip and edge control. Free demos are supposed to be for an hour, so I decided to forego breakfast until after I had tested the board. Yeah, that was a bad idea.
Took a run from the gondola over to casper, and met a girl from colorado on the lift. took a run down sleeping indian woods with her - there was snow but it was really thrashed so basically just moguls. sheesh. I really wanted to hike, but on a demo board? Ah, well. At least I have edges. I had forgotten what that felt like. And MAN do I have edges. The board TOTALLY grips. And it SINGS. There's a faint whistling sound it makes as you speed down the trail. Must be the squiggles.
Continued down to AV, but there was a competition so I didn't get to try out the demo board in the pipe. waaaaah. And it was too early in the morning for the baby park to be open so I didn't take it in there either. I did return to the demo tent to see if Matt was going to be ready to take a run at 10:30 like he said. I was a little early, so I figured I'd have time to grab some food. Yeah, NOT. Nichole set me up on a board that I could thrash, and while the guys were moving my bindings, she went to see about lift tix for her guys. Sure enough, she wound up in the shop, where I had wandered while I was waiting. I probably should have gotten food, but you know me. So she finally got in touch with the people she needed to talk to and headed down to the ticket office to pick up their lift tix. Soon I was on the gondola with not only Matt, but 3 other members of the demo squad. They wanted to hit something different, something they could only do in Jackson. We got off the gondola and they asked me where we should go. I said "option 1 - hike headwall." They immediately started climbing straight up the stairway. Didn't even ask for option 2. Didn't even wait for me to de-goggle and unzip. Didn't care that they only had a half an hour of riding time. But it's all good.
Halfway up, we were all exhausted - most of all me because I HADN'T EATEN ANYTHING ALL DAY. Yes, no one's fault but my own. The entire group had no desire to continue the rest of the way up, so we dropoped into the first Casper entrance and went over to the chute. It was SICK. Deep and soft. Partway down there was this little tree - well, the top of a tree poking out from the snow. 2 of the guys hit it, and since I was behind them I decided to follow their lead. I didn't grind all the way down it, just kinda jumped off the side. It was steep and it kinda freaked me out, but it was fun. Next time I'll slide down a bit further before I wuss out.
We went the rest of the way down, and then of course cut down to AV to gape at the halfpipe. For about 3 seconds. Then it was over to the big park, which had been completely reshaped. I almost hit the kicker in the middle, but changed my mind at the last minute and went around it. It's not that much bigger than the ones I've been hitting, but I hadn't seen the landing EVER and I don't really like hitting things blindly. I like to know what I'm getting myself into. We cut down to the kiddie park and hit that, this time I was NOT riding blindly and I DID hit all the jumps. woo hoo! It's great having a board that doesn't weigh a ton and actually has edges when you're going off kickers. Spectacularrrrrr.
So you'd think I went to the base and got food at this point, but of course Nichole was ready to take a run so I went up with her. She was NOT in the mood to hike, which worked out well because I didn't have the energy either at that point. We went over to thunder, hitting little moguls and other fun stuff along the way. We took Rawlins bowl and hit the cornice, which she really liked. She kept saying she was a "novice" but she rode really well and I didn't know if she was just joking around or if she just hadn't gotten much riding time in this season. But I had a blast riding with her, and then we stopped at the halfpipe to see if her sponsored kid had taken his run yet. He already had. We hung for a few minutes, but then we went down to the baby park. She didn't realize I meant there would actually be BABIES there. We got there just behind a group of ski school grommets, average age probably about 4. They were tiny and cute and went down in a neat little row at the prompting of their instructor. So we waited. Finally we got to take our run, and when we got to the bottom, Nichole gave me a high five and jokingly said "we kicked those kids ASSES!" yeah, we rip.
Went back to the demo tent and retrieved my board. ONE MORE DAY! Yes, I had to tell the gnu people about my intent to acquire a never summer board.... As much as I liked the boards I rode (especially coming down ampitheater with edges.... wow. haven't ridden that fast all season) they were all still too wide for my little feet. I need something that isn't more that 24 wide. Which is hard to find in a board longer than 147. But not impossible.
At this point, it was already after 2pm. I was getting a headache, because not only hadn't I eaten, but I hadn't had anything to drink all day either. Needless to say I was a bit dehydrated. OK, I was completely dehydrated. Went home and took excedrin and drank lots and lots of water. And slept. And drank more water. And slept. And slept. Wait, wasn't I supposed to meet those guys at the cowboy? Ah well, they'll be on the mountain tomorrow. Tomorrow. the day I get my new board. and then it started snowing. and I slept.
Exploring new territory Mood: lazy Topic: shred report
New snow: trace New snow last 72 hrs: 9"
So it snowed... yesterday. I, of course, was working. Today it was mostly cloudy and flat light, but visibility was decent. On the east coast, it would have been a powder day. Here, it was dust on crust. I have become a powder SNOB. When did this happen?
I thought about hiking headwall straight off the Gondola, but decided I'd rather hike the ridge. It was mostly laziness. Funny, isn't it that due to laziness I took 3 extra runs to get over to the boot pack. Kinda like the whole Casper Restaurant dilemma.
I figured out why I'm so lazy this year. (To quote Shannon Doherty in Heathers when asked why she was such a mega-bitch) "because I can be." Last year, I had to move my car to the ranch lot at 8am. So I not only had to be finished reporting, but I had to have all my gear on and be ready to get out of the building right away after work. This year, I don't have to move my car. Which means I don't have to get dressed until AFTER 8, which gives me plenty of time to putz around doing whatever strikes my whimsey. Today it was shopping. As much as I love my new jacket, the velour liner is just TOO MUCH. Way too warm and not nearly breathable enough. Yet on its own, it isn't warm at all. But it's stylin'. I guess that's what the snowboard companies figure girls want in their gear. Since I've already posted a tirade about this tendency, I'll move on. I decided that what I needed was a vest, to keep my core warm. It had to be thin, because my jacket is pretty fitted. It had to be at least water resistant, because I intend to wear it when I'm hiking the pipe. So I visited EVERY ski shop in the village and was left with 2 options. #1 - a Burton softshell vest, perfect and exactly what I wanted, in the EXACT color scheme of the outfit I just retired. Sadly, Burton actually has 3 colors for that particular line (because they had the knitted sweaters in stock, too) and one of the colors is the mustard yellow of my snowpants. But not at Lowrider. Maybe on the internet... Option #2 - a fleece North Face vest that fit perfectly but had no pockets, and being fleece, was the opposite of water resistant. That was at Jack Dennis, the ski shop I have somehow managed to NEVER visit before. Unbelievable but true. TVS and JH Sports didn't even STOCK vests. Except the JH black and red fleece vests at JH Sports. You already know how I feel about fleece.
By the time I finished lollygagging, it was after 9. Erica and Matt had insisted that they would be on the mountain today, but I hadn't heard from them yet. Either Joshy is sick and they're not coming, or they just decided that sleep was more important (a luxury I won't have until April 9th) and chose to snooze. Ah well, they have my phone number. Up the gondola I went.
Oddly enough, the gulley off the gondi wasn't tracked. Well, maybe one or 2 tracks, but it was mostly fresh. Four inches of snow over packed moguls is enough to make you THINK it's deep powder, but you definitely feel the surface underneath. Nonetheless, still a farily pleasant run. Took the trees part of the way, then cruised down the groomer to Thunder. Halfway up Thunder my phone rang - Erica was just leaving town. I told her I was on my way to headwall, by the time I got back to the bottom she'd be here. She was disappointed that she wasn't going to get to hike headwall with me, but she had all day to ride while I had to be at work by 3pm. I also needed to go to the bank, shop for a vest, eat lunch, and take a shower. So my degree of urgency was a bit altered. Luckily for me, best friends love each other. Best friends understand.
Carved down Grand to get to Sublette - didn't even TRY going into the woods. Even the groomer was a little sketchy, most likely due to the flat light and lack of edges on my board. 2 more days.... I GET MY NEVER SUMMER IN 2 MORE DAYS! woo hoo! So after a quick ride up Sublette, I was traversing through Tensleep bowl over to Pepi's bench. Along with a slew of other people who got off the chair when I did. Ah well, plenty of powder for everyone.
I hiked up the ridge, and halfway up my phone rang. Erica was here, but she still had to drop Joshy off and park the car, and Matt had to go to the MOB to change into his ski gear. I told her this would likely be my last run since I had a lot of crap to do before work. She was bummed, but best friends understand. I already discussed this. I told her I'd give her a full report of the snow condition the next time I talked to her.
At the top of Headwall, I decided to try something new and hike across the ridge. I took lots of pictures, which will be posted here as soon as I optimize and upload them. I followed the traverse into Casper Bowl, strapped in, and continued across through a flat area surrounded by trees. Hmmm, am I in the right place? Had to unstrap my back foot and skate for a while. The trail continued further, but I saw fresh snow so I decided it was time to drop. I've been studying the trail map, and I think I was either in Shot 9 or the trail just skiers' right of it. Wherever I was, it was phenomenal. The snow was deep, fresh, and total powder. Every time I approached a knoll, I had to slow down and scope it out to make sure I didn't accidentally drop a 20 foot cliff, but there were plenty of lines I could have taken, and lots of little chutes I did cut through. Each time I slowed, though, I was blinded by the face shot I gave myself. Awwwww geez, doncha just HATE that?
My powder run dropped me just above EDI, and right about then my phone rang. I stopped right where the EDI merges with liftline to call Erica back - she was at the MOB waiting for Matt to get dressed. I told her I'd swing through there on my way down. I cruised the groomers all the way down to the halfpipe, which to my surprise was open to the public! Unusual on the day before a major competition, but a pleasant surprise. The pipe was in beautiful condition, but my board is no longer capable of holding an edge. 2 more days..... Cut down to the kiddie park and my phone rang AGAIN - Erica was leaving the MOB, which would put her at the base right about when I got there. I hit all the jumps on the way down. whee! Somehow managed to beat Erica and Matt to the base, but I did get to see them right before I bailed.
On my way home, I decided to take a detour to Wilson Backcountry Sports. Which was a fantastic idea becaue I found EXACTLY the vest I was looking for. Warm, light, lots of pockets - I think one of them is supposed to be a stash pocket for the vest itself - if you flip it inside out it looks like a pouch, but the zipper isn't a 2 way. The entire vest fits perfectly into it though. It's black, with gray stripes down the sides, so it doesn't clash hideously with anything else I'm wearing. Seems like it's always the smallest store with the least amount of selection that just happens to have the ONE thing you happen to be looking for. Go Wilson BC! And they're super friendly and helpful too. SO glad I took a right turn instead of a left.
Drove home. ate. showered. went to work. Time to go home and sleep. rinse. lather. repeat.
I used to be hardcore Mood: mischievious Topic: snowboarding
Not everyone in the world knows how I got my nickname. There used to be this little discussion group called rec.skiing.snowboard. I used to post lots and lots of comments there the summer after my first real season when I learned to snowboard. Well, what else was I going to do - it was SUMMER! Of course, this was back in the day when I was still using a MAC SE and checking my email with ELM and PINE. Before I knew what netscape navigator was, back when I thought webpages were just TEXT. Back when I worked at Upenn. Incidentally, this was the same summer that my skateboard got run over by a maniac in West Philly - I think she was actually trying to run ME over.... but I digress.
In this newsgroup, there was a fellow by the name of John Webster. He's the one who gave me the OFFICIAL nickname of punk rock shred grrl. I was playing around with different signatures, and he kind of combined them and helped me discover my true internet identity. An identity that has followed me through 4 states / 7 ski resorts (and that's just the ones I've lived in / worked at.) I actually met him while I was living in Vermont - he had lived at Mt Snow the year before I moved to Stratton, and he was living in Massachusettes, but he came up to visit a friend of his, who happenned to know my roommate at the time (kinda like jackson, stratton has the two degrees of separation / small town ski resort / everybody knows your name situation.) I meet the coolest people on the internet.
Anyway, back then, there was a different type of spam. Porn websites would post advertisements in every newsgroup, regardless of whether or not it was appropriate to the topic. This really irritated those of us who actually wanted to discuss SNOWBOARDING.
Which leads me to my discovery. I just knew something unusual would have to happen on Friday the 13th. While surfing the internet, I google'd myself. Yes, I know, I am a dork. I noticed, for the first time, the other links at the top of the page, and clicked on froogle. Golly, Gee, I don't come up as an item in the shopping search engine. What a shocker. Then I clicked on groups. I was shocked to discover that not only does rec.skiing.snowboard still exist, but all the posts EVER are archived. I'm pretty sure it wasn't originally affiliated with google, but it is now. Anyway, I found links to all sorts of things that I had posted. Talk about a blast from the past. The most interesting one was so hilarious that I have to share it now.
------------------------------------------------- ORIGINALLY POSTED IN REC.SKIING.SNOWBOARD 9/12/96 -------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: rec.skiing.snowboard From: Adena Chernosky Date: 1996/09/12 Subject: Re: HOT WOMEN ARE WAITING FOR YOU!!!
DISCLAIMER!DISCLAIMER!DISCLAIMER!
If you found this message offensive DELETE NOW. DO NOT READ MY REPLY.... if this type of thing amuses you, press the space bar until you see more text....
On 12 Sep 1996, Rod Sundholm wrote:
> just call 1-800-SNO-SLUT
> and you can be hooked up witha beautifull snowboarding date for a day of > fun on the snow
Top ten reasons why snowboarding is better than sex:
1. No matter how drunk you are, the board is always stiff. 2. You and your best friend can swap boards for a change of pace. 3. It doesn't take 3 hours of foreplay to get the snow wet. 4. Boards don't go limp after the first run. 5. No one whines about not wanting to go down on the mountain. 6. No matter how many times you do it, you can always get back up for one more run. 7. It's always easy to find a screw when you need one. 8. Stopping to take a piss doesn't kill the mood. 9. You can snowboard with someone who's only 14. 10. You don't need proof of your age to buy magazines with pictures of people snowboarding in them.
(anybody got more of these?)
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------------------------------------------------ END OF ORIGINAL POST FROM 1996 ------------------------------------------------
Yeah, I used to be uncensored. If you found this amusing, and you'd like to see the rest of the thread, (there were some pretty funny replies to that post, let me tell you!) the entire thread can be found HERE. Enjoy!
P-p-p-POW Mood: caffeinated Topic: shred report
New Snow: 11"
8:30 AM and I still haven't heard from Erica. I call her, she's on her way out the door. I wasn't ready anyway. For starters, I had forgotten my socks, so I went downstairs to Lowrider and examined the selection. Settled on Burton, and the most appropriate size was the kids' s/m. Yes, I have REALLY little feet. My etnies are size 4 (boys). My snowboots are womens' 5. So I go for the kids 2-4 size socks, in order to ensure that they have NO extra material and don't bunch. They fit PERFECT. Well, except for the fact that they are a bit tight on the calf. But the feet fit great, and my boots are super comfy today. woo hoo! About time I straightened that out.
Around 9, I checked to see where Erica was. Issues, issues, issues. Joshy is teething so he didn't sleep well, so she didn't sleep well. But she was a trooper, and definitely on her way. I told her I'd take a run and check in with her. Got through the gondola line pretty quickly and headed toward thunder.
It was still dumping. Accumulations were now at 12", and piling up fast. Snaked some skiers who were staring down the gully, traversing across it one by one. I cut straight down and threw powder spray everywhere. SICK! I love powder days. Cut over to the bottom part of mushroom chutes and hit the trees. Untracked as usual. It wasn't excessively windy, but there was some obvious loading because it was knee-deep and then some. Cut into the other trees a little lower than usual because I got stuck in a ditch at the bottom of the woods. Hopped my way out, went around thunder lift, got myself a kleenex, and sat down in the snow. Called Erica again. I feel like a stalker. She was just parking the car and on her way to gondi. I told her I'd meet her there.
Considered taking lower faces for about a half a second. Hmmm. 2 inches of new snow at the base. so dust on crusty moguls. no thanks. Besides, if I wound up at union pass I'd DEFINITELY take way too long to get back to the gondi. So I took Gros Ventre with the intention of carving through FIS trees. As I glanced at the trail sign, I noticed that I was on slalom. Aha.... so that's where slalom is. Slalom was the groomer's choice this morning. Slalom is almost NEVER groomed. SLALOM IS UNTRACKED! Took the sickest run down perfectly groomed corduroy with 6 inches of untracked powder on top of it. Thanks, Erica! Had I not been meeting you, I would have stayed on Thunder, which would have been great, but wouldn't have been Slalom. What a cool run. But it's tracked now, so I'm perfectly content to go back to the upper mountain.
Met Erica at the gondi and went over to Thunder. I had a feeling Rawlins bowl would be fairly fresh, and I was right. Led her over to the cornice, which we both dropped, taking chunks of it with us. Then we cut over through Jaws. Best run of the day. By far. Totally powder, and we didn't see another person the whole way down. There were some people under the tram line, but that was it. Once we cut into Rawlins it was all us.
We went back up to the top of Thunder and decided to head over toward Sublette. There were a bunch of skiers clustered on the side of the trail, and I was debating which way to cut around them. They kept moving. That is SO annoying. They were kind of side-slipping down, waiting for the rest of their group, discussing their run. Couldn't they STAND STILL to do that? Sheesh. I hate gapers. So I decided to let them know that they were blocking the trail. By hitting a kicker RIGHT NEXT TO THEM and airing around them. hehehe. Hey Erica, how did you like my GAPE-AIR? She was amused, and the gapers got their act together and moved, so mission accomplished. Cut down the face WAY higher up than I usually do, and took a steep chute between the rocks. Ducked across the trail and cut under the lift line to hit the huge rollers that are always covered with pow. And ate it right at the bottom where everyone on the lift could laugh at me. That's my goal today - amuse everyone who encounters me.
Took a run down bird in hand, which was pretty tracked. How spoiled are we that we can go down through 12 inches of soft snow, and only notice that it's tracked. In Vermont, this would be the sickest powder day ever. We'd be jumping off the piles of sluff on the sides of the trail. Even with the tracks, it was still a great run. Then we headed for the hobacks. Took the North tree line and got some freshies. Not first freshies, but fresh enough. Cut out of the trees into a huge open powder field. At this point we were low enough that there was about 7 or 8 inches instead of 12 inches, but it was still totally fresh and smooth. Kinda like the light. Totally smooth and flat. I knew there were moguls under us, but there was just enough snow that I couldn't tell where they were. Until I was in the air. The snow was great, though, so I just kept my knees bent and went with the flow. I had thought that the bottom would be crusty, but even the lower part of the trail was still smooth.
Erica went to visit Joshy, and I went to get the car. Apparently they made pizza for lunch at kids' ranch - I would have guessed grilled cheese from the strong aroma that permeated the room. Which was close enough - bread and warm cheese. I couldn't breathe. And I LIKE cheese. But the kids didn't seem to mind, and Joshy was happy to see his mommy.
Got back to town. Erica went to work. I went to sleep. Do not pass go, do not collect $200. Zzzz.
El half-pi-peh Mood: d'oh Topic: shred report
Training. Oh joy. Due to an unfortunate ACL injury, Lauren will no longer be my new counterpart. We hired Nate to be the PT reporter, and he seems really nice and really smart. He also lives 4 buildings away from me, so we carpooled. Anyway, training always takes longer, so I was already in the office longer than usual, and since I wasn't running to meet anyone I took my time getting dressed and piddling around until finally I went to Nick's for breakfast. Around 10AM. Yeah, that's late. But there wasn't any new snow, and the halfpipe was scheduled to open, so I figured there wasn't any hurry. So I ate a leisurely breakfast and headed up Teewinot. The baby park wasn't open. Went over to AV. The main park, and the pipe, still being groomed. Ho hum. Decided it would be a good time for an espresso. Traversed over to Casp-gnar but was too lazy to walk up the stairs. So I took the lift up and rode down EDI, then cut into the restaurant. Go figure - I'm too lazy to walk 10 feet, so instead I take and ENTIRE RUN. Don't try to understand my logic. Seriously. You'll just give yourself a headache.
So at 11:30 am, I was in Casp-gnar, enjoying a quadruple espresso, after taking ONE RUN. Something is seriously wrong with this. I decided to check on the P&P guys and see how things were coming along. I cut into the halfpipe area, which was not open yet, so I took off my board and walked to the shack. JP appeared not long afterward, as is usually the coincidence whenever I show up. I think it's really that he's EVERYWHERE. He's omniscient. That must be it. During the two minutes he was talking to his crew, 3 different people called him on the radio to see when the pipe was going to open. He was remarkably calm and patient in his responses. What a guy. Anyway, he told me that they were pretty much ready to open both parks and the pipe, they just needed to finish putting up some type of deterrent fence so that people coming out of the pipe would not attempt to hit the big quarterpipe at the bottom of the park, endangering themselves as well as anyone who happenned to be coming through the park at the time. One of the other guys on the crew needed to go to the bottom, and was of COURSE going to do it by way of a run through the pipe, and told me it would be OK if I wanted to follow him and take a run myself. SWEET! I get to be quality control.
This year's halfpipe is SO sick! It seems taller, but that may just be the fact that it's still early and I'm not used to it yet. The top deck is even with the upper walls, so you don't have to ride UP the walls to drop in, which is much smoother. The light was really flat today, but there were painted u's up the walls at even intervals, as well as paint along the edge of the deck. So nice. The lower part of the pipe has been extended so it's significantly longer, and the right (frontside for those of us who ride regular) wall continues down and around into a quarter pipe. So there's a nice huge curve at the bottom. Which directs you straight over to the rope tow. Or you can turn down the slope to get back to AV or the kiddie park or the base. So much better designed than last year. The walls were a bit icy, which is the way they're supposed to be, but I had no edges on my board so I fell twice. Next weekend I get my Never Summer. I can make it. I think I can I think I can...
Stopped at the bottom to thank P&P crew for their hard work. JP said they were going back up to the top to take down the closed signs. Woo hoo! They got it all open before noon. I think that was their goal. Pity they can't get a snowcat any earlier, but the mountain has other priorities, like, oh, I don't know... the beginner and intermediate trails.... hehehe. Cut down to "stinky britches" which was just preparing to open. 3 ski instructers and their little grommets were waiting by the entrance, as well as a slew of other people. Sheesh. I decided to stop and wait with them. Didn't have to wait long for it to open, but DID have to wait for all the munchkins to take their turns and get out of the way. Which is appropriate seeing as how it is a BEGINNER park. So I waited, then I took my run. One of these days I'm going to work up the nerve to hit one of the round rails, but not this run.
Went into the shop to hang out for an hour or so. Then I took another run because they halfpipe was just too good to forego. Except that there was a pack of about 30 people cluttering the left side, just in front of the end of the rope tow. I, of course, drop in from the OTHER side, so I have to wait my turn AND make sure I don't get snaked because they're looking the other way. What a mess. I finally take a run, and call it a day. Hit the mini-park on the way to the base, then cut through the kids' ranch parking lot to get back to cody. I think I got back to town around 2. After 2 runs. Sheesh.
I'll do better tomorrow. 5-10 inches expected tonight. It had actually started snowing while I was dilly-dallying around inside the shop. That last run down AV was almost soft. Tracked, but snowy. So tomorrow will be good. Plus, tomorrow will be Sunday. Sundays are usually calmer than Saturdays, at least in the morning. Ahhh. Maybe I'll even get some sleep tonight!
686 rocks! Mood: caffeinated Topic: shred report
My new gear arrived last night. YEEEAAAAHHHHH! Awesome, awesome awesome. I love 686. My original plan for today was to do the report, then go home and take a nap - 3-11 last night really took it out of me. But I HAD TO try out my new pants and jacket. Lack of sleep is easily counterbalanced by increased caffeine intake. Spent the morning showing off my new gear to my coworkers - I really am a walking advertisement for 686.
Finally made it out the door and went straight to Nick's for a leisurely breakfast. Which I inhaled.
At the top of the gondola I sat down to strap in. First test of new snowpants - passed with flying colors. Didn't even feel the cold of the snow. Complete dryness. Of course, I had to buy men's pants because all the women's stuff was lowrise. I really don't care if my ass is cute. I care if my ass is dry. These pants actually come all the way up to my waist and FIT, whereas the girly ones only came 3/4 of the way up my butt and gapped out in the back. I'd prefer my tailbone NOT be exposed to the elements, thank you very much. The guy stuff is much more waterproof, too. So I'm extremely pleased that I bought boy pants. LOVE them. I did, however, buy a girl jacket. They didn't have a medium, so I got small, which is tighter than I would have wanted, but still fits. Interfaces perfectly with the pants, so it's probably for the best. I could rave about the jacket, but it's basically just a brown version of the one I had, minus a couple of stash pockets (waaaaah. I'll get over it. but waaaah. I love stash pockets.) Of course, my old jacket had a zip out vest as a liner, and this one has a long sleeve velour zip up, so in that respect it's much cooler. They redesigned the hood and made it better, too. Go 686!
I rode around, looking for powder, but most everything was pretty tracked up. The upper part of casper woods was crusty from the warm temperatures yesterday, so I headed lower where the temps stayed cold all day. There's a distinict temperature wall right where the clouds sit, and I could definitely feel the difference. Brr. But the snow quality was way better so I stuck it out. That's what I have this new super warm gear for! I didn't even miss the neck gaiter I wasn't wearing becuase the jacket covered my neck. woo hoo! Casper woods were OK, but very tracked. Found little areas of powder, but no fresh lines. Which was what I expected anyway, so I wasn't disappointed. Meandered over to Apres vous to peek at the pipe - looks like it's ready now, but I'm sure there are things that need to be done to it. Should be open this weekend, hopefully tomorrow. Took a run into Saratoga Bowl, in search of fresher snow. Found some in the trees, but kept traversing farther and farther left in hopes of finding more. Instead, I found the ski area boundary. Ah well. Didn't realize I was down that far. Time to traverse back. That was a burner, but I'm well trained. Took another run from AV over to Casper through Moron woods, and found a little bit of fresh snow, but not much. Traversed over, crossed liftline, and rode down to the parking lot. I've tested my equipment enough for today. Time for a nap. We're supposed to get snow tomorrow night. I can wait.
El half-pi-peh Mood: energetic Topic: shred report
People who know me are aware of my addiction to riding in the park and pipe. It should come as no surprise, then, that the most exciting event for me yesterday was the opening of our Superpipe. Sure, there were two races, demos and free trail passes at the Nordic Center, and even the onset of a snowstorm, but I was much more inclined to skirt the edges of the orange fence, waiting for park and pipe crew to say all was clear. Several delays caused the rescheduling of the halfpipe opening day, but after riding it yesterday, I assure you it was worth the wait. Not only is it bigger than last year, but the bottom has been redesigned into a curve that reminds me of the terrain on snowboard video games! Perfectly shaped, and painted so that even in flat light the walls are easy to see. Of course, today it will be buried under 11 inches of new snow... Oh, darn.
Bluebird day of happiness Mood: happy Topic: shred report
New snow: 7" New snow since xmas: 90"
Today is Thursday. I don't do the report on Thursdays. Only this week, I did. My fellow snow reporter was unfortunately injured and won't be working anymore, so I was asked if I could cover her shift. Had to shuffle the rest of my schedule around, but I made it work. I'm good like that.
They set us up on a new computer, which is great because we have our own computer, but also meant that it took some time to organize everything and sort through all the emails and all the other fun stuff ya get to do when ya get a new computer. So I took my time getting out of the office, then I took my time getting breakfast, then I took a run over to teewinot to go to the MOB building and borrow Erica's backcountry gear.... she gave me a transceiver for xmas, but I haven't gotten around to buying a shovel or a probe or trekking poles yet. So she sent her stuff in with Matt and I went over to meet him, and caught him just before he left on a delivery. Great timing! For some reason, he didn't think I'd want probe POLES because they were probe POLES, not a PROBE. Ummm..... so nothing is better?? whatever. Not like I found anyone to leave the gates with anyway. Not that I NEEDED to leave the gates - the snow was fantastic!
Yes, all the snow fell while the lifts were still open. But sunshine and inverted temperatures made the day beautiful, and before long I realized that there were still tons of untouched lines to hit. I went over to Thunder by way of the trees, and ran into some tourists. No, I didn't run them over - I rode up the lift with them. Two were beginners on their first blue run of the day. One was the "teacher" and he decided to take a run with me and meet them at the bottom. We took Rawlins bowl, and it was SICK. There were places where the snow was up to my waist, and untracked. We found an awesome cornice and dropped it, then we carved down to the traverse. Instead of taking the switchback, we traversed into JAWS, right past the nasty warning sign with black diamonds all over it and a 'caution you are entering JAWS' statement. I'm sure my friend wondered where I was taking him, but he trusted me (I can't imagine why....) and we hit some nice powder surrounded by some nasty rocks. He decided to wait for his friends at the bottom, and I went ahead into the line.
As the 4 lines merged to 2, then one, I saw a familiar face joining in behind me - PETE from the colosseum! (see link for colosseum on sidebar.) My original plan was to head over to Sublette and hike headwall, and since Pete was going over to Sublette I decided to follow him. Not surprisingly, he RIPS. I was hauling ass, and I could barely see which way he went. Luckily he was with a posse, and I managed to stay somewhere in the middle of the group and Pete stopped to wait for the stragglers. He's nice like that. Anyway, I rode up sublette with them, and Pete said he was going over to the Hobacks to hit the woods just above cheyenne gulley. I decided to follow. I'm sure headwall was awesome, but I really don't care that I didn't get to find out because the run we took was INSANE! I tried not to drop too far off the ridge into the gulley because I didn't want to get stuck, but next time I'll probably be a bit more adventurous. Apparently everyone shares that fear because the deeper we dropped into the woods, the deeper the snow got. And the fewer tracks we saw. About halfway down, I had to rest, and I think that was the point where I lost Pete and company. I know he dropped farther down into the gulley, but I also know HE knew where he was going, and he's a bit taller than me so he wasn't as buried as I would have been. I wasn't surprised that they weren't at the bottom when I got there. I did meet some guys from Minnesota at the bottom, part of a large group, the rest of which was waiting at the top of union pass. I rode over to the gondola with them, but we didn't actually get to take a run because they were short one member of their posse and went over to the tram line to find him.
At the top of the gondola, I encountered my long lost friend Deb. I met her way back when she worked at Casper, which was my first winter - five years ago. I met her again the week before xmas at my neighbor's party because she happened to be associated with them in some way - that's jackson for ya - 2 degrees of separation. Anyway, she's in real estate now, but she also hosts a weekly show on channel 13. She had a huge tripod strapped to her back. I would have taken a run with her, but she and her cameraman stopped halfway through casper woods to shoot their footage in the deep powder. Once again, I was up to my waist. I meandered down towards air bowl, and this time wound up on the LEFT side of it. Wow. I never traverse that high! Dropped into it, but it was pretty skied off. Scratchy at the top, carveable sluff at the bottom. Made my way out of there and stopped at casp-gnar for a delicious lunch (blackened salmon AGAIN.) At this point, it was almost 1:30 and I had to be at work at 3. My original intent had been to take a shower, but I didn't know if I'd have enough time (turns out I didn't, but don't worry... I'm not a dirty girl tonight, I took a quick bath and cleaned my body without having to spend an hour styling my hair.) Anyway, I cut through the park, missed the first rail because I wasn't lined up right and I didn't have enough speed, avoided everything else, and cut down to the kiddie park. This time I hit the rainbow and the rail, then the jump, then cut over to take the other rail.... but it WASN'T THERE! Ah, yes, I remember now. They reshaped the park the other day. hmmm..... maybe in a day or 2 I'll try one of the rounder rails - they're looking much more approachable now, and I need a new challenge. But for now, I sped to the bottom and realized I was on the wrong side of the gondi... again. Cut over to kids ranch, walked around the building and down the driveway, and managed to get to the parking lot without having to go all the way down to nick's and back up. whew. what a day.
King of snow Mood: chillin' Topic: shred report
New snow: 15" (JHMR) New snow: 10-12" (Snow King)
Ah, the joy of Tuesdays. Especially when it snows. Yaargh. But I was prepared - I knew we were getting a huge storm, and I packed all my gear the night before, so at 3pm when my replacement came in to work (which just happened to be Erica) I was ready to bolt. Six blocks an five minutes later I was on summit chair, heading up the king. Expedition was pretty tracked up, but I wasn't worried. See, there's a trick to snow king. If you can ski it, there will be powder. But ya gotta be able to do it. Being able to navigate through tight trees is the key, because most people don't bother. Most people didn't learn to snowboard in Vermont, where sometimes the ONLY way to get powder is to go through a tight tree run. So I wasn't phased. I WAS waist deep in powder in some spots. Luckily, most of the upper mountain is very steep, so momentum wasn't an issue, until I dropped onto the traverses. Which you literally have to do at snow king because there are rocks just above each traverse. so you jump over the rocks, land flat, then glide over and drop off the other side of the traverse. Except today. Today, you dropped onto the traverse, landed in a pouf of snow, and stopped. I had to hop my way across the traverse - only 3 feet, but still challenging when the powder is that deep. But the snow was great, and then at the bottom where it was tracked, it was still super soft - the type of moguls you can carve through, not the type that have any type of packed surface. I took my second run down bearcat, which was a bit more tracked, but still soft, and there were fresh lines through the trees on the side of the run. I got back on summit chair, and noticed it was five minutes before 4pm. Which means that by the time I got to the top, summit chair would be closed. Ah well. One more run through the trees, then another run on cougar, and it was time for dinner. The snow was good but the sun was setting and the light flattened out under the halogen illumination.
Happy New Year! Mood: celebratory Topic: shred report
New Snow: 11" past 7 days: 57"
Yes, that's right. 5 feet of new snow. Apparently that's enough to get Erica's attention because she called me to let me know she was dropping Joshy off at daycare. And meeting me at the gondola. NOW. Of course, my cell phone battery was dead so I told her to text me as soon as she had moved her car and gotten back from the ranch lot, which didn't take very long. I msg'd her back and wandered over. She was saving me a spot in line. What a sweetie. I asked her if she wanted anything from the coffee shop (there was no WAY I was waiting in line without at least 4 shots to jump start my engine.) I got her a brownie and returned to line. Of course she was in the middle of the pack so I had to climb over the fence (which impressed the throngs of skiers whose equipment was undisturbed by my antics.) The gondi opened on time and we were at the top within 10 minutes.
Since we had beaten most of the crowd, we decided to head over to thunder by way of the gully. Super fresh and super deep. Then we cut down the upper part of Dick's Ditch, carving turns and catching face shots. From Thunder, we decided to take a run down Paintbrush into the mushroom chutes. Once again, we had beaten the crowd and found fresh lines. We took Thunder again and decided that Laramie bowl wouldn't be its usual pile of moguls because it was still early and the new snow was deep. We were right, but the snow at the bottom was thick and heavy, so any ideas about the hobacks were quashed right there.
On our way up Sublette, we met some idiots from malibu who trash-talked the JH daycare, sending Erica into a paranoid fit about joshy getting sick from being there. I don't know why she gave any credit to the opinions of people who would prefer their child get measles (which could kill him) than autism (which has not been conclusively proved to be an after-effect of vaccination.) I didn't know it was legal to refuse to vaccinate your kids. Someone needs to charge them with child endangerment.
In case you haven't already guessed, I've completely lost my patience with gapers. ALL OF THEM.
After our grueling ride up the lift, we headed straight down the face to pepi's run / bird in hand. We took bird in hand and traversed high, but I noticed an untracked line through the trees and detoured straight through it. Sick, steep, and untracked the entire way down. We hit the traverse and were back at Sublette, this time riding up with a local who was also a parent. He and Erica discussed their children, and child care issues in Jackson, and various other parental topics. Just as we were about to get off the lift, he mentioned where his son goes to daycare - which is the same place Erica takes Joshy (when he's not at the kid's ranch). What a coincidence.
We decided to take one more run on Sublette before heading for whiter pastures, and selected bivouac woods. By this time we had lost our "jump start" and there were a good amount of people and a good amount of tracks, but there was still fresh snow to be shredded. One more ride up Sublette, and we were off to Expert Chutes / Cirque. I keep staring at the trail map, but I'm still not sure which run goes down the chute between the rocks. Well, whatever it's called, it's the one I took last week with Taylor, and we took it again today. Sketchy, but totally fresh. We decided to bypass Thunder and head straight to Casper restaurant to beat the lunch rush (and to make a quick pit stop.) Our original intent was to stay on the high traverse, but when I saw a completely untracked field I hollered to Erica to cut down instead. For powder like that, I'll take the long, flat traverse and cut across liftline and go into casper from the lower level. Oh, yeah. Plans change. You have to adapt.
I emerged from the stairway to find Erica with Matt - apparently he was on a lunch and ski break - our timing had been perfect. We ate a leisurely meal, warmed ourselves in front of the fire, and headed back out for some runs on casper. Erica was excited because she never gets to ride with Matt. We headed into Moran woods and discovered the snow over here was light and soft, "cowboy powder" as we call it here in wyoming. If we were in utah, we'd call it champagne powder. But we're not in utah. Thank heaven. We took another ride up the chairlift and another run down moran, but somewhere in the woods, Matt took a different line. We saw freshies and leaped off the traverse that would have taken us back to casper, cut through another previously ignored open powder field, and found ourselves at the bottom of Apres Vous. Both our cell phones were dead, and Matt always leaves his in the locker room anyway, so we assumed he'd figure we got lost and head up without us. Which is almost what happened. I guess there were a couple of girls dressed in similar colors to my and erica's jackets. So he thought he saw us get on the lift, and followed us up, figuring we'd still be strapping in when he got to the top. Of course, when he saw the girls at the top he realized that I probably hadn't traded in my snowboard and learned to ski, and that the other girl was very clearly NOT the mother of his child, so he enjoyed the rest of his break without us.
Meanwhile, back at AV.... We stopped at the top to ask ski patrol when saratoga bowl would be opening. He informed me that they were just finishing putting up the last of the fences, and the bottom was open but he didn't know if there had been time to pull any of the closed signs yet. We skirted the boundary until we didn't see any more signs, then cut through the woods into the lower part of Saratoga Bowl. Holy crap it was good. First freshies of the SEASON, so you know it was deep. As we got lower, I knew we weren't at the boundary yet, but I also knew there wouldn't be a lot of tracks out and didn't want to get stuck on a slow powdery traverse and not be able to cut downhill if I lost momentum. I told Erica we needed to start cutting back before we hit the boundary (especially since I wasn't sure quite how "finished" ski patrol was and which fences weren't in place yet.) In retrospect, I probably should have been a little more calm in my delivery, because Erica got very paranoid and started yelling "where are we", especially when the track she was following was not ski tracks, but footprints. Eventually, we had traversed far enough around to see the cat track, and we breathed a sigh of relief. Our legs were burning and we knew it was definitely our last run. What a way to end the day!
Wow. That's a lot of snow. Everyone headed over toward Thunder, so I took Casper woods. The snow on that side was incredible. I cut through the woods onto sleeping indian, which hadn't been groomed. It didn't matter. The snow had filled in all the moguls, leaving a soft, open surface the whole way down. I took a couple of runs down through Moran woods, where most of the rock drops were missing. There was so much snow they were moguls now. I was FLYING. I got cut off by a gaper kid so I cut down earlier than I usually do and found a different line through the trees. Apparently no one else drops through Moran from there, because it was completely untracked. Oh, yeah. Loving it.
My original plan was to head over toward Thunder and Sublette around 11 AM when all the gapers would start thinking about lunch. Since I didn't feel like traversing, I took a run from Moran woods all the way down past the traverses to AV, then followed Moran trail to the bottom. I wasn't expecting the lower trails to be good, so I wasn't disappointed when they were a bit crusty. Not quite frozen granular, but definitely big cookies. Yikes. Not a good surface to learn on - I pity all the beginners today.
Took the gondola back to the top, and was on my way over toward thunder when I noticed the sign next to the boot pack. Headwall OPEN. Casper Bowl OPEN. Crags CLOSED. Wait, WHAT? Casper Bowl is OPEN? Holy crap. Two minutes later I was hiking up the stairway. I huffed and puffed and a whole bunch of people passed me, but none of them stopped at the first gate. I decided first freshies through the chute would be nice, so I strapped in and started blazing a trail.
35 inches of untracked snow is awesome. Unless of course, you have to traverse across about 20 yards to get to a steep chute. And the snow is thick and heavy. Not quite cascade concrete or sierra cement, but pretty darn close. I was buried past my knees, and my board refused to float, no matter how far onto my back leg I leaned. I inched my way across, hopping and pushing and shoveling snow out of the way with my hands. My legs and feet were burning by the time I finally made it to the top of the chute, but no one had snaked me so I was happy. My goggles were completely fogged so I tried to manage without them, but face shots tend to make your vision cloudy, even WITH goggles so that didn't last very long. But the snow was great, and there were no moguls, or even any tracks, so I just cruised. The lower part of the bowl (which is accessible from the gondola) was a bit less fresh, but still wonderful. At this point I really couldn't see anything and the light was very flat so even what I could see could have been a mogul or a powder field and I wouldn't have known the difference. By the time I got to the bottom I melted into a heap next to my board. Didn't make it over to Thunder or Sublette after all. Ah well, there's always next year!
Gape-O-Rama Topic: shred report
Mood: Sleepy New snow: 15" New snow (past 48 hours): 25"
Add another inch to that before the lifts opened. Add thousands of gapers. Add a haze of fog from mid mountain to the top of thunder. Stir it all up and what do you get? Cream of potato soup.
OK, so the cream of potato soup thing is a private joke that I need to explain. While riding up casp-gnar today, a skier compared the weather to split pea soup. I corrected him, saying that split pea soup was green, and that today was more like cream of potato soup, especially with the mashed potato surface from the throngs of skiers. Yeah, it's not THAT funny, but we were remotely amused at the time.
That happened to me on my last run. As usual, I've skipped ahead to the ending. Sorry. My bad.
So I didn't dally, but I didn't hurry. The tram line was all the way through the maze, out around the building, and wrapping around Nick Wilson's at 7am. I could see it out my office window. Excellent. That should keep some of the gapers off the slopes until 10:30 or so. The gondola was also packed, so I got myself 4 shots of espresso in the Bridger center, which was just about enough to make me feel as though I wasn't asleep anymore. Not quite energetic mind you. Yes, I had already been up for 4 hours. Yes I had already polished off 16 oz of regular coffee that my programmable coffee maker was kind enough to prepare this morning. (side note - how did I EVER live without that thing?) I have a caffeine problem. Shoot me. (preferably with a camera.)
I knew everyone would be heading for thunder, but with 24 inches of fresh off sublette I didn't really care. Sure enough, the lift line was annoyingly crowded. At least I had found some nice, soft powder in the gulley at the top and in the trees on my way down. I traversed higher than I ever have before, because I had to cut down due to a "closed area" sign I never knew was there. Several, actually. I guess there are some cliffs back there.
Took one run down thunder toward sublette, through the woods. Again, sick amounts of snow. And this was OPEN yesterday. This is going to be worth it, I can tell. And sure enough, another mess of people awaited at the sublette. I looked at the clock as I reached the top. It was 10:30. Holy crap. Thought about taking the hobacks to avoid the line, but knew I wouldn't come back if I did, and also knew bird in hand was going to be insane. Dropped down the face toward pepi's run - FINALLY it was open! No more nasty traverse! Dropped into the woods and confirmed my suspicions. 2 feet of untracked powder. Gave myself some face shots and noticed a huge mound of snow to my right. Traversed over to it and discovered that I was standing atop a cliff. Whoops. Where did that come from? I don't remember seeing that on this run before... found a way to traverse back the way I came. Had to jump over some tree branches and drop about 2 feet, which in 2 feet of powder is nothing. Literally. Headed back to the lift. The singles line went about 20 vertical feet up the hill. I was NOT about to hike up just to wait in line. Some people get annoyed when you're by yourself in the main lift maze, but it all works itself out by the time all the lines alternate and merge, and you always wind up with the right amount of people before you get on the chair. Decided I wasn't going to wait in THAT line again, so I headed for the hobacks.
Yeah, that was the right decision. Traversing in there were a whole bunch of gapers. One woman skier was whining because her group had traversed in too far, and she didn't like the south hoback, she wanted to take the north hoback. Get me out of here. 3 turns later I was in the woods and they were nowhere in sight. Tore through the powder, got more face shots, and hella speed. I found myself on top of one of the ridges in an open powder field that was mostly untracked. Floated down, until I heard someone yell "whoa" from behind me. I noticed a ski patroller coming down parallel with my line. I was on the right, and he was on the left, and I could tell he was trying to cut right while I was just going straight. I had slowed down when he yelled at me, so he sped up and cut me off, then he made HUGE turns back and forth. I'm sure he wasn't purposely trying to be obnoxious, and 'whoa' was just the first thing that came to his mind when he noticed there was another person coming down the same line, so I suppressed the urge to huck something at him and cut left. Ahhh. powder. that's better. wheeee. wheeee. CRUNCH! Yikes. The bottom of the trail was just a bit crusty, but I managed to make my way back down to the traverse and over to union pass.
Have I really only taken 4 runs? It's almost NOON! At least all the gapers took a lunch break. Gondola line wasn't too bad this time. cut into the woods below casper traverse. Guess no one's been here. Didn't quite cut high enough to hit air bowl, so I came down through the trees instead. Found a steep, narrow chute between two small cliffs. Pointed it and floated. Nice! Didn't see one other person until I got to ampitheater traverse.
Casper lift had a steady stream of people, but no significant wait. Especially since there was no one in the singles line. Found some great powder and some seriously tracked powder in moron woods (no that isn't a spelling error, it's a JOKE.) I took 3 runs, and just as I was getting in the liftline again I changed my mind and dropped off Jackson Face in search of powder and a shortcut home. Mistake of epic proportions. Holy CRAP is this even the same mountian? Or did I take a wrong turn and end up on snow king? Icy hardpacked lumpy moguls. I guess I should have known better. Ah well, at least I was able to traverse across high enough to cut onto the lower part of sundance right above eagle's rest. Which made it possible to cut down the snowmobile path before the teton club bridge and ride into the cody lot. I think that's enough swimming in cream of potato soup for today. I need a shower.
L'chayim Mood: incredulous Topic: couch potato commentary
New Snow: 19" New snow in the past 3 days: 31"
Yeaaaaaaah! Hell week is over. Goodbye to the evil "r" word, hello SNOW! I am working a double shift today (just like yesterday, and the day before that.... and of course on Monday I worked 12 and a half hours between 2 of my 3 jobs...) But I'm not jealous. First of all, I now have the money to pay off the credit card on which I just bought new snowpants and a new snowboard jacket. 686 all the way baby. Second of all, I know there will be powder tomorrow. How, you ask, do I know this? hehehe.... The answer is at this website. Thunder, Sublette, and the Tram are all closed today. Which means there will be freshies tomorrow. Hooray for the wind! And the sky's looking pretty gray, so maybe we'll get even MORE snow. Either way, I'm fired up!
Channel 8, I'm sorry I doubted your report yesterday morning that we would get a foot and a half of snow. I fell asleep in front of the TV, which was apparently on ABC for some reason, and when I awoke the weather report was just starting. I was only half conscious, but I remember thinking I must still be asleep because the national weather service only predicted 1 to 3 inches. But KIFI knew what they were talking about! Way to go!
18 hours until I'm at the JHMR doing the ski report. 18 days until I get my new board. For those of you not fluent in Hebrew, 18 = chai = life. Halfway through Chanukah and we've already gotten 31" of snow. Life is good.
lucky
irritated
sharp
flirty
caffeinated
celebratory
hungry
lazy
mischievious
d'oh
energetic
happy
chillin'
incredulous