Quote :

"Looks like you guys are shredding the gnar!"

I fell out the first time I heard that. I was staying with a few friends of friends who were working Beaver Creek for the winter and they were all about shredding the gnar-nasty pow pow

2/23/2010 9:51:36 AM

That box looks wicked buttery dude.

2/23/2010 10:28:15 AM

butta face!!

2/23/2010 10:30:09 AM

Best word ever invented by board culture.

Steez or Steezy.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=steezy

2/23/2010 11:07:30 AM

Steez is almost [old] enough to be cool again. I'd give it at least 1 more season to ripen though.

2/23/2010 11:10:41 AM

the best one i heard from the olympics:

kickin' chicken - when you kick in the air to maintain balance in the half-pipe.

2/23/2010 11:19:48 AM

Forecast for Park City at the moment is highs above freezing every day and sunny most of those days. That does not bode well for all of the bowls I want to tackle that will not be groomed. and of course, its currently only 4° there.

fucking timing

2/23/2010 11:31:47 AM

Quote :

"That box looks wicked buttery dude."

Oh, it is man... it is. You can bust nosepresses on it like nothing.
...and in other news: I'm scheduled to get 3-5 in. today, 4-8 in. tomorrow, more snow on Thursday, Friday, and possibly Saturday... sooo pumped.

2/23/2010 12:58:39 PM

Debating heading up to Wintergreen with S&S tomorrow. Anyone doing the same?

2/23/2010 2:53:48 PM

Whats S&S?

2/23/2010 3:18:26 PM

Slope & Sail. They do day trips up to Wintergreen out of Raleigh/Chapel Hill.

2/23/2010 5:56:57 PM

2/23/2010 6:19:42 PM

^^oh cool, do you have any more details, link, etc? Or is this a closed private club?

2/23/2010 6:28:29 PM

LOL, nah not private at all. I just thought everyone on here knew about it.

http://www.slopeandsail.com

They run day trips with pickups at the Alpine Ski Center and Lowes hardware off of 15-501. The bus r/t is $44 and they have discounted lift and rental prices. They leave early, around 4:30 from Alpine, pickup at the Chapel Hill stop, and get up to Wintergreen around 8:45ish. You ski a whole day session and the bus leaves around 5. It's a pretty good deal if you're going solo or with one other person, but if you have more than that you might as well drive because it will be cheaper. I almost always use them when going solo or with one other so I can pass out on the way up and back down.

Decided against tomorrow, but I'm thinking of going Thursday if anyone else is interested.


EDIT:

Just price compared. Didn't realize how much of a reduction it was on the lift tix with S&S. $17 cheaper for a weekday full session (Rentals are $18 cheaper if you need them). Pretty good deal.

[Edited on February 23, 2010 at 7:19 PM. Reason : .]

2/23/2010 7:14:26 PM

Wintergreen doesn't actually look that bad... but after looking at all of the "local" resorts, I'm definitely going to miss the northeast. I have family like 2 hours west of Raleigh, so I could just drive there on a Friday night and crash there after my classes.

2/23/2010 8:43:18 PM

Look on the bright side, it's better than moving here from out west. One step down is better than two.

2/23/2010 8:53:11 PM

I dont want to hijack this thread, because it is one of my favorites...but it needs more pictures.

FROM THIS SEASON

Jackson Hole from January;



reppin the pack






above the cloud cover at the top of Apre Vous




Wintergreen in early Feb

2/23/2010 9:22:49 PM

Quote :

"Look on the bright side, it's better than moving here from out west. One step down is better than two."

It's funny how if I do ski club at state, it'll be my first time going out west. So I guess that moves it up a step to being even.

2/23/2010 9:44:11 PM

hah i don't think anyone i Boston actually says 'wicked', i think tis a burbs thing.

2/23/2010 11:09:04 PM

^My money is on its a teen thing.

2/24/2010 12:03:24 AM

Represent.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4x0B3MKBgiM


[Edited on February 24, 2010 at 12:12 AM. Reason : (]

2/24/2010 12:11:29 AM

Was it just me, or did it sound like one of those dudes was English trying to do a Southie accent? Anyway, fuck Boston. New Yawk represent.

Blizzard of '93.

Oh yeah, if you're from anywhere north of Philly, you drink Dunkin'.

[Edited on February 24, 2010 at 12:46 AM. Reason : .]

2/24/2010 12:44:57 AM

^what does the Blizzard of '93 have to do with anything? Anything, besides the fact that it was one hell of an awesome week out of school for me

Quote :

"They run day trips with pickups at the Alpine Ski Center and Lowes hardware off of 15-501. The bus r/t is $44 and they have discounted lift and rental prices. They leave early, around 4:30 from Alpine, pickup at the Chapel Hill stop, and get up to Wintergreen around 8:45ish. You ski a whole day session and the bus leaves around 5. It's a pretty good deal if you're going solo or with one other person, but if you have more than that you might as well drive because it will be cheaper. I almost always use them when going solo or with one other so I can pass out on the way up and back down"

How much does this cost including a lift ticket? $44 seems hella steep to me just for the bus. When I lived in NYC I'd take charter buses up to VT for the day to Okemo or Stratton. The cost was $75-80 including lift ticket. If you're telling me that some southern ski resort (with inferior skiing and reduced cost of living) can't beat that price by $20-30 I am truly amazed.

2/24/2010 9:02:21 AM

^ i'm sure thats the case. it's stupid, but it's what happens when there aren't other options.

2/24/2010 9:13:18 AM

trying to figure out where I will take my group next year. Already been to lake tahoe twice, jackson hole this year... I'm thinking Big Sky Montana or possibly Vail.

2/24/2010 9:37:58 AM

^^the curious thing is, what benefit is there? Unless you absolutely hate driving its cheaper for you to drive yourself. And if you go with 2-3 buddies and split the fuel costs cheaper still.

I've never been to Wintergreen so I just checked out the trail map...its no wonder I've never gone, lol.

^I'm headed to Park City this year. Next year planning on Jackson Hole or Whistler. Have you considered anything in Idaho? I've been hearing really good things about some resorts out there.

[Edited on February 24, 2010 at 9:55 AM. Reason : k]

2/24/2010 9:42:12 AM

Sleep on the bus.
Drink on the bus.
Don't have to worry about driving in snow.
Plenty of people don't have a vehicle that they trust to drive on an 8 hour round trip.
etc.

2/24/2010 9:51:02 AM

I guess there's plenty of demand if they continue to do it...

2/24/2010 9:56:27 AM

I took the S&S bustrip on a thursday 2 weeks ago. My "out west" trip was cancelled this year:-( & I needed to try out my new sticks. I figured WTH, $74 for a lift ticket and a ride to the mountian & back, not a bad deal if you ask me.

My ride gets about 22 mpg, so that would cost me about 45 in gas. Now if we were rolling 3 deep in the car, it may be worth while, but then you have to drive.

Wintergreen was actually quite nice the day I went. I was riding the lift on my own all morning. The snow was in quite good condition too. The trails were not challenging, but you could get some fun speed bombing the runs in the highlands doing large swooping GS turns. My GPS clocked my top speed at 50mph on that day, not close ot my record, but my new skis have a lot more left in them. The resort had left some hard bumps on a few of the runs, which made for some fun exercise, and a good knee workout.

The terrain park landings & features were decent, The "large" features were far from "large" but made for a bit of fun in the afternoon. I liked how the terrain park is right next to the lift, you better come with it, or you'll look like a clown.

I am considering another bus-ride next week, depending on the weather.

2/24/2010 10:18:02 AM

Quote :

"Have you considered anything in Idaho?"

technically, we did Idaho this year as well skiing at Grand targhee. Skack loved it. I was more on the fence. The powder quality was amazing, but no run really stands out in my mind. Lots of things stood out at Jackson, and the length of the runs was stellar.

2/24/2010 11:39:06 AM

^^ I think you were on the same trip that I was

I was sitting towards the back of the bus, and my friend got his brand new burton board/bindings stolen.

2/24/2010 11:53:32 AM

Quote :

"If you're telling me that some southern ski resort (with inferior skiing and reduced cost of living) can't beat that price by $20-30 I am truly amazed."

Umm. Welcome to the real world. I can get a lift ticket to Vail for the same price as Snowshoe, sometimes cheaper.

I'm not pushing Slope & Sail, Golovko asked about it. However, it's not a bad deal if you do the math. Like I said, going with more than two people, you'd probably save more money driving yourself. Two people or solo, it's cheaper and less hassle.

2/24/2010 12:49:34 PM

^I guess the deals up north were just unbelieveably good




(and it is a bitch that IntraWest overcharges for Snowshoe lift tickets)

2/24/2010 1:20:04 PM

Slope & Sail does sound really good. I love wintergreen its one of my favorite resorts within driving distance. I like it almost as much as snow shoe. Snow shoe just seems larger because of the amount of cross trails and they get away with things like 'upper, lower _______' and count it as two slopes because there is a 'upper, lower ________' cross-trail that runs through it.

Also, its called Slope & Sail. Does the sail part pertain to actual sailing in the summer time or is the 'sail' referencing the bus ride Because I sail and if there was a local group for that I'd be interested in that as well.

2/24/2010 1:26:33 PM

costco or vertical urge are the places to go for snowshoe lift tickets

2/24/2010 1:27:17 PM

When I went to Snowshoe I got my lift tickets off someone in Classifieds here on TWW $90 for 2 passes, FTW!

2/24/2010 1:41:29 PM

Have any of you done any research on skiing in europe? From what I can find, there really isnt much that can compare to the best the US can offer (400+ snow seasons). The bases at a lot of the european resorts are not good, and conditions look marginal.

2/24/2010 2:40:13 PM

I did a few years ago, and from a cost/skiing quality perspective, it's really not worth it. It's cool to say you skied the alps or whatever, but you could fund several US ski trips for the cost.

One area that did look intriguing was South america. Chile and Argentina are the places to go from what I looked at a few years back. IIRC, getting there is costly, but once you are there everything is very very cheap. Also, given the opposing seasons in the southern hemisphere, you'd be scheduling such a trip during our summer, which is awesome.

I never could convince any of my friends to go, tho.

[Edited on February 24, 2010 at 3:04 PM. Reason : .]

2/24/2010 3:03:21 PM

Yeah, I looked into Chile. problem with the big resort there is they have poor avalanche control, and if they get a big dump, you wont get to ski it for days. Really sucks.

2/24/2010 3:23:51 PM

^&^^yeah I'd agree that skiing in South America is more of a draw for me than Europe. I'd imagine that overall it'd be considerably cheaper than Europe.

2/24/2010 3:31:01 PM

I would rather go to Argentina over out west any day. After I read this magazine a while back, going to Argentina has always been a dream.

2/24/2010 3:32:24 PM

^well don't compare apples to oranges. For someone living on the east coast CO is probably the best place to go for the least amount of money (specifically Summit County area mtns).

2/24/2010 3:41:53 PM

that or SLC area stuff (Alta and The Canyons, particularly, unless they've raised their prices)

Quote :

"I never could convince any of my friends to go, tho. "

i'll be in qatar and afghanistan this summer, but otherwise, i'm 100% down if you ever want to go.

2/24/2010 7:50:37 PM

The Argentine ski season can be short and it's a long way to get to the various resorts. The Andes are *very* dry until you get very south. However, for ski mountaineering the Andes have many unclaimed first descents.

The skiier Carl Scoog died attempting the descent of this monster the season before I was on it:


[Edited on February 24, 2010 at 8:43 PM. Reason : x]

2/24/2010 8:43:14 PM

Forgive my n00bishness but how does one ascend that with skis then ski down it?

2/24/2010 9:07:02 PM

You climb up it with your skis on your back. This is the South Face of Cerro Mercedario (~22,300 ft). The face's maximum steepness is about 60 degrees, after the the face you pop out onto the summit plateau and you can put skins on your skis and skin up to the summit. You need ice climbing gear.

The face starts at about 14,000 ft so it is possible to have an 8000 ft descent. The downside is that the face/glacier gets pretty damn icy (it was a sheet of ice when I was there), which is probably what killed Scoog.

2/24/2010 9:16:33 PM

To get an idea, here's a pretty sick video of some people skiing the Grand Teton in Wyoming:
http://www.thesnaz.com/2009/11/11/the-otterbody-experience/
One guy has the same dynafit bindings I do, makes me feel good to see people doing shit like this with them.

2/24/2010 9:19:41 PM

oh damn...so I guess this is a one time deal and takes up pretty much the whole day?

2/24/2010 9:53:52 PM

damn

2/24/2010 9:59:22 PM

Once I get flight benefits back, I will seriously consider going "al otro lado" for some July snowboarding.

2/24/2010 10:05:26 PM