I need some goggle recommendations. The pair I have now fog up like crazy. They must be able to fit over glasses. I'd like to keep it under $150 if possible.

12/18/2012 1:45:59 AM

Smith I/O

12/18/2012 8:42:44 AM

https://www.mountainsportsclub.com/register.cfm

savings up to 50% on lift tickets, lodging

12/18/2012 1:45:51 PM

Quote :

"Skack nailed it - it's dumping at Steamboat right now "

Yes! The conditions are great. It has snowed nearly 24 hours a day since I arrived. At 5:00 a.m. they were reporting 14" of snow in the past 24 hours at mid-mountain. Yesterday we had calf-to-knee deep powder on the groomed runs and knee-to-waist deep powder in the trees in the early morning runs. Tomorrow will be one of the best days of the 2012/2013 season if the weather reports hold true. Our timing lucked out in an unbelievable way.

I chose to take today off unfortunately. I came down with a cold the day before my flight out and I was coughing my lungs out this morning. I have a three day lift pass, so I'd have to buy a $98 ticket tomorrow if I went out today. Given the circumstances I made a judgment call to rest today because tomorrow is supposed to be absolutely epic. As soon as I got back to the room (I actually rode the bus out to the mountain, but was hacking up mucus the whole way) I regretted it though. I should have done a half day even with the cost of buying another lift pass.

Quote :

"haha, that's where we stayed last year. not a bad joint, esp. for the price."

Agreed. We've got one of the rooms with a balcony overlooking the river. It's not a luxury hotel by any stretch of the imagination, but the accommodations are much better than expected at this price point.

Quote :

"I need some goggle recommendations. The pair I have now fog up like crazy. They must be able to fit over glasses. I'd like to keep it under $150 if possible."

If it's just the goggles fogging put some Cat Crap anti-fog on them. If you're trying to keep your glasses from fogging underneath the goggles get a pair of the Smith goggles with the fan built in. I will warn you that they can still have fogging problems in precipitation or if you're sweating. It's not a cure-all.

If you have long hair that is getting between your forehead and the goggle pull it back or stuff it under your balaclava/helmet. Sweat and melting snow will run down your hair into the goggles causing fogging. Also, if your helmet has vents don't put your goggles on top of them when you're not using them. Moisture from the vents will get into the goggles and cause them to fog when they go back on your face.

[Edited on December 18, 2012 at 3:25 PM. Reason : s]

12/18/2012 3:24:19 PM

Damn, I wanted to take my daughter skiing while I'm up here in NC for the next week and change. Looks like Beech/Sugar/Wintergreen are not even open. I wonder if they'll be able to blow any meaningful amount of snow in the next week or so? I really wanted to go on Fri, but that's prob gonna be impossible.

12/20/2012 12:35:55 AM

its supposed to snow at sugar tomorrow and possibly saturday. I was looking at going there on Sunday, hopefully it will be open. Also doesnt look like Wintergreen will open until after Christmas.

12/20/2012 9:32:44 AM

The trail cams at Wintergreen and Sugar show basically all grass, haha.

Beech has a little bit of snow on the ground. Their website says that they will open tomorrow. I don't know if I'll ski; NC skiing sucks on the best day, and tomorrow it probably won't even be worth it. If it looks like they have enough snow for a 6-year old on her first day on the slopes, though, I might take my daughter up there.

12/20/2012 12:52:09 PM

^ seriously. I live an hour from wintergreen, and while it's not great skiing by any means, I really wanted to get my daughter on the slopes frequently to maintain the progress she made last year and build on it-- she was able to handle greens with ease, turn, and stop as a 4-year old (having 5 days of ski school in a row was crucial).

but this looks like it's going to be tough to do with another shitty east coast winter on deck.

Quote :

" Slopes Open O Lifts Open O Average Base O Snow Making? THURS PM "

[Edited on December 20, 2012 at 1:19 PM. Reason : .]

12/20/2012 1:15:48 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkQLzmH1YEQ

Probably hitting up Summit Co. this weekend, maybe Vail, season 6 out here in CO woot!

[Edited on December 20, 2012 at 1:24 PM. Reason : ,]

12/20/2012 1:24:04 PM

I took my daughter up to Beech Mountain today. What a fucking scam. Their website last night said to expect 5 trails to be open today (which would be, like, half the mountain). When we got there, only the bunny slope was open. That's sort of odd to me, because they got a bunch of unexpected snow. It's not like the weather was forecasted to be snowy and cold enough for snowmaking, and then wasn't...it was the opposite scenario.

I bought my daughter an afternoon lift ticket ($20) and rented her skis/boots ($9--very reasonable) and sent her out for a 1-hour private lesson ($52).

After her lesson, she wanted me to go ski with her, so I was like, "OK, I'll go buy a ticket and rent some skis (I only brought my boots). I asked her instructor if she was comfortable riding the lift, and he said "No, actually, the lifts aren't running...you just have to walk back up the hill."

WTF? Not his fault; he was great...but really? Selling lift tickets, then not running the lifts, and not telling people that when you sell them the ticket? Piss poor; I'll never go back there.

12/21/2012 11:18:21 PM

since i didn't think it was supposed to be snowing, I drove my Corvette up there...the snow started in Wilkesboro; we got past Boone, and I saw that once we got onto little side roads, that they were totally snow covered. Since I had promised my little girl I'd take her skiing for Christmas, I turned around and went back to Boone to rent a car. They didn't have any 4x4s, so I rented a Versa and headed back towards Ski Beech. We got within a couple miles, and then some fucking stupid dickhead completely stopped ahead of us in the middle of the road going up a hill, for no apparent reason. At that point, we were boned--I couldn't make it up the hill from a dead standstill, so I backed down the hill until I could turn around. Still determined to make good on my promise, I bought a pair of chains for the rental car (that won't fit my car, let alone the fact that I live in FL, anyway). With the chains, we made it easily.

...then we get up there and there's only one shitty little slope open despite their website claims, they're blowing so much snow that it's painful to be on that slope (understandable, of course), and they're selling lift tickets without mentioned that the motherfucking lifts aren't running.

A 15-hour, pain-in-the-ass ordeal and hundreds of dollars spent all for a 1-hour ski lesson. Damn.

12/21/2012 11:26:26 PM

that sucks man. I probably would have completely lost my temper but it's cool how hard you tried to keep it together for your daughter.

12/22/2012 2:56:43 AM

^^

haha man, i feel you on all that. In any other scenario, it'd be time to say fuck it, but when when it comes down to honoring a promise to your daughter, we'll go to ridiculous lengths that are completely out of character and fiscal responsibility.

hope she had fun at least!

12/22/2012 11:32:16 AM

yep

12/22/2012 9:26:32 PM

12/22/2012 9:27:31 PM

I've got the ski-bug really badly this year

Gonna book my Snowbird trip soon for a week around President's Day

12/23/2012 1:07:05 PM

so I've got a decision to make. My friend has a group going to Big Sky Feb 22-26, ski three days, and he wants me to come along.

Alternatively, my g/f's cousin just bought a ski in/out condo at Steamboat and will let us stay free. We are planning on going for the second week in March.

I should probably only do one trip - I've skied Steamboat (5 days last year) and Moonlight Basin (2 days last year), but never Big Sky. Any opinions? Montana will also be a bitch of a flight from RDU - can't find anything cheap, whereas SW is super cheap on the direct flight to Denver every day.

1/2/2013 12:30:37 PM

I've got to go to Point Mugu, CA for work in February. We will have some time to do some skiing while we are there. Anybody ever skied at Mt Baldy or Mountain High and which would you go to between the two. Any recommendations appreciated.

1/2/2013 12:58:26 PM

Any recommendations on a relatively cheap / simple place to go snowboarding for a day or two? Preferably not too far away, though I realize I can't be choosy in some regards.

1/2/2013 1:03:12 PM

Anyone know of a way to get discounts on Breck and Vail lift tickets, or are we stuck paying the ~$100/day/person?

1/2/2013 1:14:06 PM

^typically no discounts on Vail resorts (Keystone/Breck/Vail/Beaver Creek).... sorry.

Unless you know a season's pass holder that has buddy passes they're willing to give you for a lower rate of $65/ticket (I think)

1/2/2013 1:22:47 PM

Went and spent a week at massanutten over christmas. They only had half the slopes open because of the warm temperatures and early season rates, but it ended up being fine as it was my boys' (8 and 7) first time skiing. We had intended on getting them some lessons, but the resort was booked for the week so I taught them myself. As it turned out, ski school would have been a waste because my boys were naturals. I'm pretty proud of them. Can't wait to plan the next trip because it's one of the few active things our family can do together and have a good time.

1/2/2013 2:40:59 PM

^^^^^ I'm going out to Mugu sometime in the next couple of months, too. I'll have to figure out when I'm going.

1/2/2013 6:47:06 PM

I was in Mammoth over the weekend and it was the most snow I've seen since going to Colorado. The street signs are buried it's so deep. I finally got the wife to go down a blue confidently because it was so easy to stop. I believe I'll be going back in 3 weeks

1/2/2013 7:42:20 PM

Tahoe is great right now

If I weren't leaving for Europe next week, I'd definitely be hitting the slopes this weekend

1/2/2013 8:56:46 PM

I'm really debating getting a 2nd snowboard. Right now I have one of the first Burton v-Rocker Boards (joystick). Its great in powder but dosnt seem to have the grab on ice that I would like.

Considering getting a mixed camber/rocker board. Looking at LibTech as they have that serrated edge design taht is supposed to be great on ice.

1/3/2013 11:14:34 AM

Quote :

"^typically no discounts on Vail resorts (Keystone/Breck/Vail/Beaver Creek).... sorry. Unless you know a season's pass holder that has buddy passes they're willing to give you for a lower rate of $65/ticket (I think)"

I would think you could just ask people in line before first lift and get hooked up with a buddy pass easy. I've done it several times.

Or you could do what my cheap-ass buddy did and hike through the national forest adjacent to Vail, get to a mid-mountain lift that doesn't check tickets, and ski free all day

1/3/2013 8:30:19 PM

Anybody ever been to Wolf Creek near Pagosa Springs CO? I just booked lodging in Pagosa Springs which is about a 30 min drive from Wolf Creek. The mountains looks nice with a good variety of Chutes, Glades and bowsl but most of it you have to hike to which I kind of like. Means only the fanatic boarders and skiers will be in those areas. The mountain evidently gets more natural snow then any other resort in CO.

1/14/2013 3:06:07 PM

^ holy shit I would love to go to Wolf Creek. My buddies in grad school caught a powder dump there in 2010 that was 50" in 48 hours(?). It gets crazy snow down there, and has really cheap lift tickets.

[Edited on January 15, 2013 at 1:21 PM. Reason : asdsdf]

1/15/2013 1:21:16 PM

yeah i'm hoping for some good snow but hope it doesn't dump too much. there is no lodging on the mountain so I'm staying in Pagosa Springs 20 miles away. If they get a huge dump they close the mountain pass to Wolf Creek so I need that to stay open.

1/16/2013 1:56:49 PM

Planning on Vail this weekend.

1/24/2013 12:56:20 AM

^ Let us know how it goes...

Hoping for some snow in Breck and Vail...headed there in a month.

Oh course Tahoe is swimming in snow, since we went last year and there was barely any.

1/24/2013 9:41:30 AM

never seen a western ski resort with the lack of snow that Vail had today...but still had a great time. just had to watch out for rocks and even grass peeking through in certain spots (primarily on cat tracks and in the back bowls)

1/26/2013 10:33:54 PM

I'm hitting vail all next week. I'm doing my snow dance.

1/27/2013 7:17:25 PM

Breck and Vail just got a ton of snow...hopefully it continues

1/31/2013 1:20:04 PM

Apparently steamboat got another crazy 24" dump? save some for march, snow gods

1/31/2013 1:52:22 PM

Anyone ever done this at Breck?

Quote :

"Last Minute Half Day Tickets Half-Day lift tickets are available for same day purchase. Prices and start times vary per resort. Please visit any Breckenridge lift ticket office for the most current information."

Good deal?

2/8/2013 3:46:51 PM

Not worth it. Just get up earlier.

2/8/2013 10:46:04 PM

yeah, i think it's normally something like 10% off the full-day ticket price.

2/9/2013 10:29:26 AM

In Denver for the week! Friends are taking me to Keystone tomorrow to learn to ski. Never done it before! Wish me luck!

2/9/2013 3:09:22 PM

2/9/2013 7:00:02 PM

^ What's going on there? Is there any more video?

2/11/2013 10:02:43 AM

Hit up Snowshoe this past weekend. It snowed a few inches Friday night, but most of it blew off the mountain. There were pockets of snow, but most of the mountain was pretty hard packed. Cupp and Shay's were groomed and could be ridden super fast all morning. Lower Shay's was a huge sheet of ice that didn't look very forgiving if a rider fell. Rode the western territory from 8:45-11:00, rode the eastern side of the mountain from 11:00-3:00, and then went to Silver Creek until dark. The weather was great for a laid back day of cruising though. Not too cold with sunny blue skies all afternoon.

[Edited on February 11, 2013 at 12:54 PM. Reason : l]

2/11/2013 12:33:55 PM

Ended up going to Keystone all day Sunday. My first time skiing! We ended up skiing for about 7 hours. I'm incredibly sore today. After a few greens they started taking me on some blues! Only fell 3-4 times the entire day. I did much better than expected. My main frustration was I KNEW I could do more complex routes my quads were just giving out at the end of the day not allowing me to continue. Was awesome though! Got a weekend in Showshoe planned for mid-March then going back to Colorado for a weekend on Vail.

2/11/2013 12:49:28 PM

Quote :

"My main frustration was I KNEW I could do more complex routes my quads were just giving out at the end of the day not allowing me to continue. Was awesome though! Got a weekend in Showshoe planned for mid-March then going back to Colorado for a weekend on Vail."

Squats & Lunges!

2/11/2013 12:59:23 PM

Is there any way to get deals on lift tickets for Keystone, Copper or A-Basin,

2/11/2013 1:02:51 PM

^^Yeah I think I'll be doing those prior to my first two trips in March.

^I couldn't find any. We just ended up using friend's buddy passes. They were $79 instead of $110 (1 day). Not a bad discount. I wish they were cheaper though. I got a 2 day pass at Snowshoe for $65 online. haha.

2/11/2013 1:23:08 PM

Quote :

"What's going on there? Is there any more video?"

I'm not sure...it was a random GIF. It looks like some backcountry heli-skiing

2/11/2013 1:39:45 PM

leaving for Big Sky for a week this Saturday. Big looking all over for lift ticket discounts of any kind and can't find shit that isn't blacked out Pres week. Even called Costco and Albertsons (who does have discount tix for Moonlight) but struck out there.

Anyone know something I don't?

2/11/2013 1:40:36 PM

oh he dead

steamboat next week. wewt.

2/11/2013 1:43:36 PM