23-24 Ski and Snowboard thread

UtahJoe said:
This place is really quite an experience. I am here skiing with my wife and friends, so I'm not venturing off and exploring a lot of the off piste stuff.... But it's also hard to know where you can go and also get out. In the US we have ropes and gates to enter avalanche controlled areas.... Here there are generally no ropes, just poles on either side of the piste.... Sometimes I see a field of powder and there are no tracks or ropes, so I'm assuming you can't get out of wherever it goes. But not sure... It's just crazy how massive this place is. Skiing down... Oh, we're like in a neighborhood now.. Wtf? Lol
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Just like you say, it's hard to know, where you shouldn't go. I skied down one of the best runs of my life, only to realize I missed a crevasse by 10 feet, when I came up a different lift, and looked at my tracks. Stomach dropping!

Make sure to get some Rosti, if you haven't already. YUMMMMMMMY
 
I was in Aspen / Snowmass last week with a buddy from town (who also has a family condo at Snowmass 😎). First day we skied Ajax which was firm but sunny and neat to see the mtn setting up for the World Cup event.

The 2nd day was one for the books. We went to Snowmass as he knows it very well and it ended up dropping 17" of new during the day. Lots of cold smoke and knee deep fluff. We ended up hiking a couple of the runs to get to some steeper areas and it was well worth it.

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Last Wednesday was another great day. We went over to Highlands to explore for remnants of the storm. Word was Snowmass got the most at 17" and the other ares were closer to a foot.

After a couple of steeper but torn up and chunky lift served runs (but some nice sections found in the woods) we decided to do the hike up the bowl. The weather was perfect and the gate to that area had just been opened an hour before so it was a must do. But we were pretty spent from the day before. We ended up cheating a little and waited for the snowcat to bring us some of the way.

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But we still had a while to hike especially with tired legs and flatlander lungs
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But the top was amazing and had a ultra fun vibe with the other skiers that did the trek and there were views for days
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We then dropped into skier's right and rode towards the trees to look for good snow. I don't have any proof but some of the turns/short shoots I rode were the most epic I've ever done.
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I wish we had the legs and time for another lap but we were exhausted. We took some more runs on the packed powder lift served blues, grabbed a shadowy view of our climb route and made fun of the Cloud 9 scene from the lift lol

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Thursday and Friday we skied Snowmass but just rode groomers and enjoyed the sun.
 
@roc had rosti a couple of times, goddam that is good stuff!

Thursday we skied from zermatt to Cervinia and back.... I have to say that was one of the coolest things I've ever experienced on skis.

From zermatt it was the Matterhorn paradise gondola to the trocker steg, then the tram to the top of the Matterhorn paradise..... So from roughly 5000ft to 12,700..... I'm terrified of heights so being hundreds of feet up dangling from a few wires... Even Swiss ones, didn't make me feel all warm and fuzzy, but the ride was smooth.. And goddam these views... In a week I never got used to it

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From the top we skied into Italy... Which I don't know... Being from an Italian family, hearing about Italy my whole life, felt pretty cool to say that I have been... And that I skied to it. Pretty cool seeing the Matterhorn from the other side...
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The views in this area... Don't know how to describe it.... Makes you feel like a little fly speck... So we skied all the way down to Cervinia, which was this beautiful groomed path that snaked thru the valley....
Once we got down we got some tickets and started making our way back... The lifts on the Italian side are old and janky compared to the Swiss side.... Two gondolas up and we found a place to get some food and a cappuccino.... I have to say... Sitting in Italy, drinking cappuccino while looking at the Matterhorn... That was pretty cool

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Two more trams got us back to Matterhorn paradise glacier at 12,700 ft... Then we headed back to zermatt..... Made our way past the other side of the Matterhorn

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From the trockner steg area, Zermatt looks so far away... I said to @Norm ...it feels like skiing from the top of snowbird all the way back to salt Lake city.... Probably pretty similar in terms of mileage and elevation change
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Down thru the riflealp and eventually back to town... So essentially 2 runs, 16,000 ft of vertical, 35 miles and we skied 930 til 430... Granted my wife has only been skiing a few years and she's not exactly Lindsey vonn yes in terms of speed... It was so crazy to be out all day on this little adventure. I was actually very proud of my wife as some of the intermediate trails here are steeper than most black diamonds on the east coast. So she did awesome...

That was just such an amazing day.... The views were truly mind blowing. I can't in any reasonable way compare this to skiing in the US, it's just such a different experience..... If you love to ski, really.. Make this happen before you die....
 
don said:
I was in Aspen / Snowmass last week with a buddy from town (who also has a family condo at Snowmass 😎). First day we skied Ajax which was firm but sunny and neat to see the mtn setting up for the World Cup event.

The 2nd day was one for the books. We went to Snowmass as he knows it very well and it ended up dropping 17" of new during the day. Lots of cold smoke and knee deep fluff. We ended up hiking a couple of the runs to get to some steeper areas and it was well worth it.

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Riding w a local on a powder day is a gift.
 
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UtahJoe said:
@roc had rosti a couple of times, goddam that is good stuff!

Thursday we skied from zermatt to Cervinia and back.... I have to say that was one of the coolest things I've ever experienced on skis.

From zermatt it was the Matterhorn paradise gondola to the trocker steg, then the tram to the top of the Matterhorn paradise..... So from roughly 5000ft to 12,700..... I'm terrified of heights so being hundreds of feet up dangling from a few wires... Even Swiss ones, didn't make me feel all warm and fuzzy, but the ride was smooth.. And goddam these views... In a week I never got used to it

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From the top we skied into Italy... Which I don't know... Being from an Italian family, hearing about Italy my whole life, felt pretty cool to say that I have been... And that I skied to it. Pretty cool seeing the Matterhorn from the other side...
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The views in this area... Don't know how to describe it.... Makes you feel like a little fly speck... So we skied all the way down to Cervinia, which was this beautiful groomed path that snaked thru the valley....
Once we got down we got some tickets and started making our way back... The lifts on the Italian side are old and janky compared to the Swiss side.... Two gondolas up and we found a place to get some food and a cappuccino.... I have to say... Sitting in Italy, drinking cappuccino while looking at the Matterhorn... That was pretty cool

View attachment 233967

Two more trams got us back to Matterhorn paradise glacier at 12,700 ft... Then we headed back to zermatt..... Made our way past the other side of the Matterhorn

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From the trockner steg area, Zermatt looks so far away... I said to @Norm ...it feels like skiing from the top of snowbird all the way back to salt Lake city.... Probably pretty similar in terms of mileage and elevation change

Down thru the riflealp and eventually back to town... So essentially 2 runs, 16,000 ft of vertical, 35 miles and we skied 930 til 430... Granted my wife has only been skiing a few years and she's not exactly Lindsey vonn yes in terms of speed... It was so crazy to be out all day on this little adventure. I was actually very proud of my wife as some of the intermediate trails here are steeper than most black diamonds on the east coast. So she did awesome...
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Looks amazing, very cool stuff. Did you need your passport to ski to Italy?
 
jdog said:
Riding w a local on a powder day is a gift.
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My buddy Pete is local to me here in NJ lol - but he does have a lot of time in Snowmass and overall knows the mtn well but doesn't have my eternal search for "the goods".

We did get a little tip from a couple of local snowboarders earlier that day on the lift and followed thru with it (that's where the pics are from). Come to find out, when you talk about dirt bikes and mtn bikes the locals figure you are overall pretty rad and not just some basic tourist skier/snowboarder 😉
 
Was also at Killington today. A very rare huge powder day with very good visibility. Between yesterday at Sugarbush plus today here, this weekend has already been fantastic and there’s still 1 more day.

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Today was real nice. I think the stuff by the South Ridge chair was the best for me. Ski season is not over yet.
 

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Id_rather_be_skiing said:
Mt Ellen closed for season and Heavens Gate chair is being replaced, starting today. Closed a ton to build a construction safety zone.
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Oh right, I did see the hoopla about that. Totally forgot.

I guess we nailed the last good weekend of the year there. I'll take it.
 
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2Julianas said:
Look like 17" predicted for Weds/Thurs up in Ludlow. I wonder if the weekend will be more quiet or still super crowded?
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Normally very quiet this time of year, but big snow forecasted this week and eclipse on Monday. Two weeks ago, local chatter and concern about gasoline shortage this weekend due to eclipse traffic. Not sure if it is hype or a real concern.

The weekend of March 22nd, Ludlow was very crowded for late march. There were no lift lines during the Saturday snowstorm, but Sunday saw longer lines on the two main chairs. I can't see crowds being greater than typical January / February weekend, but okemo's J1s are all done for the season, so they may have a staffing issue that results in lines and lodges feeling more crowded. If you haven't been to the area recently, the local Shaws still isn't open and restaurant tables are at a premium due to a several restaurants not reopening after flooding last summer.
 
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kearneyb said:
Normally very quiet this time of year, but big snow forecasted this week and eclipse on Monday. Two weeks ago, local chatter and concern about gasoline shortage this weekend due to eclipse traffic. Not sure if it is hype or a real concern.

The weekend of March 22nd, Ludlow was very crowded for late march. There were no lift lines during the Saturday snowstorm, but Sunday saw longer lines on the two main chairs. I can't see crowds being greater than typical January / February weekend, but okemo's J1s are all done for the season, so they may have a staffing issue that results in lines and lodges feeling more crowded. If you haven't been to the area recently, the local Shaws still isn't open and restaurant tables are at a premium due to a several restaurants not reopening after flooding last summer.
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I was there last sunday and monday, we had a decent lift line at that bubble lift by the clock tower. Once we got away from that area, the lines were 2 minutes long. It was wierd, some trails were packed and others had no one on them. The conditions were awesome! So great, but very bumped up.

I don't think the eclipse will affect any lift lines, just my 2 cents. It could definitely affect everything else.
 
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