Skiing On My Mind

Most skiers that I know are very passionate toward their sport. During the Winter, everything revolves around the skiing. During a recent visit back to Alta, I was reminded of the lifestyle that surrounds the pursuit of powder, and big mountain skiing. I am continually intrigued by the aggressive way that “skibums,” live life. It is really awesome. Ski hard, work hard, party hard. Repeat. You gotta love this sport.

Jay Peak. Is there any other ski area in the East that can compare to Utah in snowfall numbers? Jay is unbelievable. The terrain is awesome. Great steeps, trees, and most importantly, SNOW. On top of that it has a nice feel, solid local skiers and a good attitude surrounding it. I couldn’t believe when I just checked the Jay Peak site to see that they woke up to 7-9” of new snow. WHAT? Sometimes I think the only place that is snows is Jay. There is no new snow at my house? This seems to happen all the time. No snow anywhere, until I look at the Jay Peak site to see that they got yet another dump.
Jay is a bit of a trip for me, but every time I’ve headed up, it has been well worth it. I’m thinking I’m overdue. Maybe I can even get some powder skiing in.

Okay, so Vermont is back in the mix. We actually got hit by a solid 12-15 inch storm and it has been super cold since. Okemo is in pretty good shape, although we did not get the pow pow that Virginia just got. 24+ inches. Pretty good for Virginia. I think TGR should do a segment at Wintergreen! That would be cool. I think.
So, just read a short blurb on my buddy, Gary’s blog, http://www.skibumpoet.com. He talks about “paying the price,” at Alta. Gary is a seasoned veteran of Alta, that continually gives Alta the respect that it deserves. He taught me that if you are going to sprint to ski High Rustler on a 2 foot deep day, than you better pay your dues when it hasn’t snowed for 3 weeks and ski it at that time too.
I’ve certainly skied High Boy straight out of the gate on a 2 foot deep day, but what a great tradition to respect the goods when the skiing is below average.
I’m looking forward to a deep Winter in Vermont, but ready to pay my dues if need be. Also looking forward to some High Boy runs, in this April’s trip to Alta. Hoping the dues will be all paid up by then!

Well I usually take the bad news first…

It is a few days until Thanksgiving and there is little to no skiing to be had. People are starting to get a bit cranky? Everybody is anxious, and there is nothing to do but wait. The temperatures have not even been getting low enough to make good snow, and the Vermont ski areas are pushing back their originally planned opening dates. It’s not even looking good for a Thanksgiving Weekend opening. That is the bad news.

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It is true that every day or week feels like an eternity in November when you are waiting for the lifts to turn, BUT…… There’s still hope! Here is my theory. In the past when we’ve had an early start, with good skiing in November, it has all been green by New Year’s, and never lasting much into April. So, we might be starting a little late this season, but when it hits, it is going to hit HARD, and last LONG. Its going to be a deep winter in VT. For sure. Aside from this slow start, all the other signs are good. The farmer’s almanac says “Cold and Snowy,” the Wooly Bear caterpillar has an extra long black band on a heavy coat of fur this year, and the old woodsman that I talked to the other day said the Bee Hives were built extra high in the trees, clearly calling for a deep, deep snow winter.

folklore-winter-weather-forecast

So, if I were you, I’d have your skis ready, knowing that this Winter is going to be the best one yet!
Think it, Live it, Love it…..SNOW (sooner or later)

frigid-2010-forecast-how-cold-will-the-winter-weather-be

Yup.  It’s early November, aka,”stick season” in Vermont.  The leaves have blown off all the trees, the weather is not that great, there’s no skiing to be had yet, and the sun in setting at like 4:30 pm.  Ouch.  Man, it is not motivating when it gets dark that early.  I guess I’m  just coming down from some ski movie premiere’s and an awesome fall.  Not to mention that it has already dumped in Utah.  That place is ridiculous.  I think I’m going to start doing a late October ski trip.  Seriously. 

   Maybe it would be better to call this time of year, “the calm before the storm.”  Things are definitely calm around here right now, but perhaps that means big storms to come!

http://science.howstuffworks.com/calm-before-storm1.htm

Well, you NEED a Powder ski,
Must have a DEEP Powder ski(not to be confused with just a powder ski),
It’s nice to have a telemark set-up,
Hard to hike to ski without an AT set-up,
I actually had a great time on a nice sidecut carving ski last season…certainly a must for the Eastern rider,
You can’t ski switch without a twin tip,
Nice to be able to ski pow with a twin tip,
You have to have a “go-to” all mountain ski for everyday use,
I suppose you may be into bumps, which means a straighter mogul ski,
and last, but not least, every skier really should have some type of “shotski” laying around in the basement or garage, for those special times of celebration after a good ski day.
I think that’s it though.

Fall in Vermont is my favorite season for so many reasons. Yes, the leaves are very nice, and I love the cooler, hoody weather. But, fall also means that Winter is coming and it is Ski Movie Premiere season.
I just headed up to Burlington last Friday night for the MatchStick Productions movie, “In Deep.” I had a great time. Hung out with some good friends, saw some familiar faces, and got pumped up for the season with a full house of skiers.
In Deep is definitely worth seeing. Highlighted by the intro Sean Pettit section, and an awesome Shane McConkey tribute section to end the movie!
This kid Sean Pettit destroys it. They took him to AK and the kid did work. At first glance you might think this acne faced teenager was a seasoned pro. Watch for this guy.
My favorite part of the movie was the Shane McConkey tribute section. It was awesome. I think it made everyone realize how huge an effect Shane had on skiing. And, a great reminder of what it should be all about…having a good time! What a loss. After hearing the crowd’s reactions to the Shane McConkey section, I’m pretty sure that he directly and indirectly had some impact on everyone in the room. That’s pretty cool.
After the movie, the RBV’s had thoroughly kicked in, and I felt the need to chat with Hugo Harrison, the MSP athlete that attended the show. What a good guy. He recommended the Chic-Choc mountains as a good destination for the north-east coaster looking for some good terrain. I really gotta check that place out.
Anyway, I walked away a little more excited for the Winter to come.

http://www.skimovie.com

Just recalling my first snow storm in Alta. This was a storm I will never forget.
It was early November. My friend Nick and I headed out to the Peruvian Lodge, for my first season out West, as soon as they would take us. There was not much work to do yet at the lodge, but we were anxious for the season.
1 week passed. Then 2 weeks…..then 3. NO SNOW. Nothing. By this time most of the employees had arrived at the lodge for the season, but there was no real work to do as the mountain had not opened yet.
By this time we were going a bit stir crazy. We were about out of money, and our friends back East kept calling to tell us how good the skiing was at Killington. I was really getting nervous that Utah was not going to get any snow that Winter.
Turned out there was no reason for me to be worried. I still remember the morning that I woke up and looked out the window, only to see car antenna’s. This was because all of the cars were buried in snow. Deep, White, Fluffy, Goodness!! This storm, my first Utah snowstorm dumped 100 inches in 100 hours!!!! Unbelievable. From that day on, I never doubted the snowfall in Alta again. Alta delivers.
What a start to one of the most memorable ski seasons of my life. It doesn’t get much better then that. Needles to say our friends back East, skiing Killington got a call that night. They moved to Alta the following Winter.