Our 2007 ski video on youtube

It took a while – like 9 months – but I’ve finally edited and thrown a few of our clips into a video and uploaded it here on youtube. It’s only 9 minutes, and the music is good :-}

Steamboat delivers the goods – eventually!

What a difference a day makes.

It was a bitterly cold morning as we strode off the gondola at Steamboat on a Thursday morning. Bitter as in well below zero – on the Fahrenheit scale. But the cold soon paled into insignificance as we put on our skis, and didn’t slide. On newly waxed skis too. It was like we were stuck to the snow. Pushing over to a groomer helped but as soon as we slid off machine groomed slopes, the stickiness returned. And it was bad.

We took our skis in to be waxed at 10am, and warmed up with a coffee or two. The wax made a slight difference, but not much. Even the locals complained, so we knew it wasn’t just us. There was really little we could do except explore various runs, get our bearings, avoid frostbite, and cross our fingers for new snow. It wasn’t the best day’s skiing.

Friday was a little warmer, with an inch or so of new. There were few people out at 8.30am, so we ripped the perfect groomers to warm up before plucking up the courage to sample the trees off the Pony Express chair. But when we did – wow – it was like a different mountain. There was lightly tracked, 3 day old knee deep fluff everywhere, and no glue. We skied so many trees that day, aspen groves, perfectly spaced pine tree, and we had it all basically to ourselves. It was a great day skiing.

And then it got better. Saturday’s snow report said there were 5 inches overnight, so we got in the shuttle and hit the gondola line at 8am. This translated into about the 5th gondola loaded. Pony Express didn’t open until 9am, so we took off down the front side on Vagabond, licking up the pow on the side of the groomer and in the trees. Back at the top, we dropped down an untracked, bumpy Surprise to the Pony chair, where tree pow heaven awaited (pics here).

It was a holiday Saturday, but we skied fresh lines all morning – I’ve no idea where the people were. It wasn’t difficult to find at least twice as much fresh as the reported 5 inches. And this was the perfect champagne pow that Colorado is famous for. Cold white dust that explodes as you effortless  cruise through the deep pillows and troughs in fun aspen groves like Nash Junction.

Around 2.30pm we met up with (trip organizer) Gene and the remaining Deb Armstrong groupies (!). He suggested a final run down Twilight, a tree run on the other side of the mountain. We headed over, and were rewarded with one of the runs of the day. The sort of stuff you see in ski movies – carving through tight aspens in knee deep snow. And we thought Friday was good!

Our buddy Gene has an uncanny ability to conjure up new snow on his wonderfully organized ski trips. Keep it up Gene – and I might even join the groupies next year :-}

Day 17: 8300m, Day 18: 9650m Day 19: 9150m Day 20: 6300m

Season totals so far: 20 days, 10 powder days, 151,200m vertical

Lots of Blue and White at the Pass

It’s a welcome sight when, just past the small town of Naches, the gloom and fog that cloaks the Yakima Valley in winter slowly evaporates. Replaced by vivid dark blue skies, a snowy wonderland is revealed as we drive the 30 or so remaining miles to White Pass for a Sunday ski day. This La Nina winter has brought consistent cold weather and heaps of snow to the Cascades, so an excellent day was looming.

It certainly was a glorious day. The snow was creamy and soft on the groomers, and the north facing steeps like Hourglass and Execution were covered in chalky, forgiving softpack. And then there was the mesmerizing views of a cloud-capped Mt Rainier (oics here) and the surrounding Cascades peaks. Days at White Pass don’t get much better than this.

In fact the only downside of the whole day was the crowds. White Pass is getting too busy for its single, top-to-bottom fast chair, and the mooted expansion is badly needed. Ten minutes waits were common, and the lines persisted until late in the day. Also the bottlenecks where the intermediate runs converge become precarious to navigate due to the masses of riders competing for an escape. Collisions are a common sight. But with two more lifts, and a wad of new blue groomers, White Pass could become a very attractive venue indeed.

Day 16: 7150 meters vertical

Season totals so far: 16 days, 7 powder days, 117,800m vertical

Day 15 – Schweitzer

Schweitzer invariably delivers a fine ski day. But on our last two trips, for various reasons, these have been delivered at a rate of just one day per weekend. This weekend, strong winds closed most lifts on Saturday. We hung around until lunchtime walking around the village and drinking coffee, hoping they’d abate. But they didn’t. No ski day.

Sunday was a different story (pics here). 4-6 inches of new snow, crisp temperatures and the usual ‘no people’. There was simply no bad riding to be had. The snow flicked off the front of your skis, leaving a fine, shimmering vapor of crystals in the bracing air. The perfectly spaced trees off Sundance were a playground of powdery pleasure. There was face shots to be had in Australia, and later in the afternoon the North Bowl runs off the top of the T-Bar were full of wind-loaded lightly tracked fluff.

We bailed around 3.30pm, completely shagged out from a day of trees and steeps and perfect cruising. And yet again we found much new terrain to play in. I guess the way the lifts are laid out, it’s actually difficult to do too many laps of North Bowl in a day. And with all the steeps and glades accessible from the ridge line, it’ll take many a trip to ski all this mountain. It’s a true hidden gem.

Day 15: 9850 verts

Season totals: 15 days, 7 powder days, 110, 650m vertical

New Year at Red Mountain

By New Year, La Nina was in full force and everywhere in the Pacific Northwest was getting dumped on. This included Red, but unfortunately, Red needs a fair bit of snow to cover the shrubbery low down, and the cliff bands up high.

Still, a good foot of new the day before we arrived certainly helped the situation (pics here). Saturday dawned cold and clear, and it took us no time to figure out that the crowds the day before had been small. There was boot deep fluff – true BC champagne powder – everywhere begging to be mined. Papoose Bowl was superb, Beer Belly deep and Booty’s Run virtually untouched. The cliff bands around the back of Granite took some careful navigation, but the reward was thigh deep at times. A bit of base damage was inevitable, but hey – skis can be fixed!

Sunday was blessed by 6 inches more. Another fine day of exploration around Granite and the trees on Red. Unfortunately the trees were full of hidden snags as the cover was still a little thin, so great care was required. This discouraged me from going too far off the beaten track alone. But there’s so much terrain at Red, it wasn’t a problem.

No more storms arrived for our last two days, but the temperatures hovered at -10C and much colder up high, meaning the snow remained pristine. Much bump practice ensued, and even a bit of high speed cruising on New Year’s Day. This is always a top day to be out on a hill, as you’re guaranteed to have wherever you are pretty much to yourself. minor New Year’s Eve restraint pays big dividends.

Another 2 feet on the base would’ve made this a perfect trip, but it’s pretty hard not to have a superb time at Red Mountain.

Day 11: 7,315m, Day 12: 8,690m, Day 13: 7,325m

Day 14: 6705m

Season totals: 14 days, 6 powder days, 100, 800m vertical

Day 9 and 10: 49 Degrees North

On the way up to Red Mountain for New Year, we decided to get a couple of days in at 49 Degrees North. An early departure on Thursday saw us buying half day tickets at noon, and skiing the blissfully deserted and soft cruddy ski hill for a very fun afternoon. Seriously cold weather and a lot of recent snow had left the cover deep and forgiving, especially in the tree runs that abound off Chair 4.

It started snowing before we headed out for dinner that evening in Chewelah. And it didn’t stop until the next day. 10 inches of dry, light powdah awaited us at the ski hill, and with the usual 49 Degrees North crowds, you knew this meant fresh lines all day long.

The best day of the season so far followed (pics here). The ‘freshies-to-folks’ ratio was well in our favor, and the slow lifts ensured nothing got tracked too quickly. We again hit Chair 4, lapping the black diamond Sluice Box and Last Chance in knee deep, and cruising through the Cy’s Glades. Later we explored the rest of the hill, finding virgin snow everywhere. Unfortunately a dense fog enveloped the peak about 2.30, so we bailed, happily tired, to drive the 70 miles or so up to Canada and 4 more days of downhill sliding.

Ever since our first visit here a few years back, I’d craved a decent powder day. Extensive terrain, no crowds, and great glades were always going to be a recipe for a fine day. After this trip, I’m sated now. It’s a top year at 49 Degrees North!

Day 9: 4,540m

Day 10: 6,705m

Season totals: 10 days, 4 powder days, 70765m verts