Heading to Connecticut for work on Tuesday, taking the early flight so I can go up to Mount Snow.

1/13/2012 4:55:36 PM

^Mount Snow is a fun little mountain

1/13/2012 10:24:55 PM

Trip booked to Breck. I'm hoping for snow!

1/14/2012 4:17:51 PM

I adore Breck...we stayed right at the base last time i was there, so we would ski all day and then walk over to Breckenridge Brewpub for half priced pitchers and apps. It was 4 straight days of excellent skiing and beer

1/15/2012 12:23:52 PM

Went to Steamboat last Friday/Saturday. It's an awesome mountain, but all the exposed grass on the southern exposures was really . Of course, they get 11" the following Monday.

I'll be back there in Feb, and it's looking really good! Finally getting some big snow dumps out here.

1/18/2012 12:47:15 PM

^ when? I'll be there feb16-21

reading various sites, sounds like their mardi gras festivities are not to be missed.

1/18/2012 2:23:44 PM

^^^ I might be wrong--it might be Copper Mountain--but I think Breckenridge is one where you can ski an unmarked, unofficial trail all the way down the mountain to the middle of a little nearby town, and basically ski right up near the bars/restaurants.

1/18/2012 6:35:50 PM

Heading to Jiminy Peak on Saturday, will be there next week. First time skiing up in that region -- should be a nice little break if nothing else!

1/18/2012 10:05:16 PM

thinking about trying snowboarding this season. any advice for someone who's only skiied a handful of times?

1/18/2012 11:48:25 PM

Vail: 2137 of 5289 acres open
snowfall in last 7 days: 11"
snowfall this season: 108"
base: 24"...TWENTY FOUR FUCKING INCHES!

fucking hell

[Edited on January 19, 2012 at 9:01 AM. Reason : GD it]

1/19/2012 9:00:20 AM

^^ lessons are key.

Your knees and butt will hurt after the first day or two while you get the hang of it.

1/19/2012 11:50:35 AM

The snow might not be as fluffy, the apres-ski might be nearly nonexistent, and it might be a little less exotic and whatever, but if you're hurting for snow, it might be worth checking out my stomping ground from when I lived on Whidbey Island, WA: Mt. Baker and Stevens Pass. I haven't looked, but I bet they have giant shitpiles of snow. In a good year, they have to plow snow from underneath the lifts, hahaha. Oh, and they're cheap compared to the big name places in CO and UT.





(THAT IS FUCKING SNOW)

[Edited on January 19, 2012 at 4:03 PM. Reason : ]

1/19/2012 4:03:19 PM

yea, i've skiied Mt. Baker & Steven's Pass, both are good! wetter, heavier snow, but lots of it!

Mt. Baker is consistently in the top 10 places in ALL of north america for quantity of snowfall each year

[Edited on January 19, 2012 at 4:28 PM. Reason : ,]

1/19/2012 4:28:12 PM

If I'm not mistaken, it holds the record for most snow in 1 year, as well as highest annual average.

[Edited on January 19, 2012 at 4:45 PM. Reason : yep, looks like highest average and highest single year total for anywhere in the WORLD.]

1/19/2012 4:44:31 PM

Yeah, I was heavily debating going up there this last week. Suffice it to say, it didn't work out.

I putting my chips on the table and hoping Colorado gets out of its funk. This is getting ridiculous.

1/19/2012 5:30:05 PM

Also, Tahoe is slated to get back into the game.

http://www.onthesnow.com/news/379/a/105822/tahoe-forecast-calling-for-feet-of-snow

1/19/2012 5:37:05 PM

^that same storm system was the one in WA yesterday and the same storm system that will dump in CO tonight/tomorrow as well

1/19/2012 6:39:09 PM

^what predictions are there for dumping in CO? I didn't see anything of significance on the forecast for Vail in the next 10 days.

1/20/2012 8:14:55 AM

i heard blizzard like white-out conditions... but it appears most of that storm ended up going north into Wyoming (Jackson Hole got 25")... most CO resorts only got 3-4" out of it... so goes it.

[Edited on January 20, 2012 at 11:00 AM. Reason : .]

1/20/2012 10:59:16 AM

Quote :

"Also, Tahoe is slated to get back into the game."

Finally

1/20/2012 1:39:54 PM

Yay

Now it will take 6 hours to get there instead of 3.

1/20/2012 1:50:55 PM

About to decide on a locale for a trip. Where is the place to be this season. Haven't really giving it any attention thus far.

Any good housing deals out there atm?

1/23/2012 8:33:39 AM

Quote :

"^ when? I'll be there feb16-21 reading various sites, sounds like their mardi gras festivities are not to be missed. "

my friends are coming out Feb 7-11th. We'll just miss ya, but I thought the town of Steamboat was a lot of fun. They have a shitty mexican restaurant called "the rio grande" that also has locations in Denver and Boulder. There's a three margarita limit and I strongly suggest you try to get there one night....

Quote :

"^^^ I might be wrong--it might be Copper Mountain--but I think Breckenridge is one where you can ski an unmarked, unofficial trail all the way down the mountain to the middle of a little nearby town, and basically ski right up near the bars/restaurants."

I think Prospero might be a better judge, but I have the copper mountain season's pass, and there ain't shit around Copper. That's got to be Vail....

[Edited on January 23, 2012 at 4:44 PM. Reason : Cu vs Vail]

1/23/2012 4:42:51 PM

Quote :

"^^^ I might be wrong--it might be Copper Mountain--but I think Breckenridge is one where you can ski an unmarked, unofficial trail all the way down the mountain to the middle of a little nearby town, and basically ski right up near the bars/restaurants."

Nothing around Copper..unless he's talking about Copper village? As to Breckenridge, there's no way to ski down to the town.

1/23/2012 4:52:26 PM

^actually there is, on the bottom of Peak 9, it takes you into "Breckenridge Village" which is 2-blocks from Main St.

At Vail it's Riva that takes you into the Village, but it's all overpriced bars & restaurants.

A-basin = isolated
Keystone = isolated, end up in village
Breckenridge = end up 2-3 blocks from Main St.
Copper = isolated, end up in village
Vail = end up in any one of 3 different villages
Beaver Creek = isolated, end up in village or take tram over to Avon
Winter Park / MJ = end up in village or parking area

The only remotely close thing that could be close would be the old Long Trail, but never tried it. It takes you to Winter Park the town, but doesn't exactly sound ski-able, definitely not snowboard-able.
http://www.winterparkguide.com/activities/summer-activities/173-long-trail-to-town-of-winter-park

So that storm did end up dumping about 4" Friday night, and about 12" Saturday night... winds were 20-30mph though... ridiculous.

[Edited on January 23, 2012 at 7:08 PM. Reason : .]

1/23/2012 7:02:15 PM

^interesting!

YAY snow!

1/24/2012 11:28:53 AM

I got stuck in lab all weekend and didn't get to ski Sunday, but after the 10 - 15" predictions, winter park didn't get but 5" and I heard it all got blown off the runs by early morning. Kind of made me feel better for missing the pow.

Prospero, what snow predictor website do you use? I'm watching opensnow.com, is there a site you like better for CO?

[Edited on January 25, 2012 at 2:06 PM. Reason : formatting]

1/25/2012 2:05:57 PM

colorado people say 'village' a lot

1/25/2012 2:13:55 PM

because that's what a ski village (area of shops and restaurants) is called that's not a town, but part of a resort. have you never looked at a ski trail map before? i know NC ski mountains don't really have them, but most Colorado mountains have resorts and villages.

^^No not really. I check that if I know I'm headed up on the weekend, but otherwise I just setup a powder alert on my phone using onthesnow's mobile app - https://market.android.com/details?id=com.skireport&hl=en

[Edited on January 25, 2012 at 2:21 PM. Reason : /]

1/25/2012 2:15:36 PM

Quote :

"colorado people say 'village' a lot"

On the flip side there are way too many places in NC that are called "cities" that are nothing of the sort

1/25/2012 3:06:48 PM

Not to be pedantic, but there is no legal distinction between cities, towns and villages in NC.

Also...

Quote :

"YAY snow!"

1/26/2012 3:55:39 PM

^yeah but everyone knows what a city is. Let's not be silly about this...


Headed to vail in just over 21 hours!

1/27/2012 8:54:11 AM

35 hours till breck for me More snow!

1/30/2012 10:47:55 PM

don't forget to put the trail map in the freezer, wash your car, bribe the weather man, and do your snow dance!!!!!!!

1/31/2012 12:15:25 AM

^lol

Vail was great, though conditions were the "worst" (comparatively) that I've seen in my 3 visits. That said most of the intermediate and advanced trails were top notch. I stayed away from the extreme runs (that were open at least) as nobody else in my group was up to attempt them, and I've done them before anyway.

Groomed runs were great, but naturally most of the bowls were not groomed and were pretty rough. I didn't have any real falls this trip, which to me means I wasn't trying hard enough

This was my first trip using my GoPro camera, so I've got around 30 videos to sort through and edit. Don't have very high hopes for any really interesting footage though...

2/1/2012 9:40:47 AM

nice! got a GoPro for my birthday last year and used it for snowboarding, it does provide some good footage, but sometimes if it's not a bright sunny day the snow can wash the image out, but cool none-the-less... i also found the 720p 60fps setting a must, just so you don't get dizzy watching video of the bumps

[Edited on February 1, 2012 at 5:00 PM. Reason : .]

2/1/2012 4:59:53 PM

^^ I don't know that I've ever seen a groomed bowl.

2/1/2012 5:05:53 PM

there are two or three bowls in Vail though where they have one intermediate blue trail that's groomed, about 100-150 feet wide, down the center of the bowl... but yes, the sides are typically never groomed.

[Edited on February 1, 2012 at 6:05 PM. Reason : .]

2/1/2012 6:03:44 PM

^^that's why I said "naturally they weren't"

^Ah I will have to try that out, this past weekend I used 1080P 30fps

[Edited on February 2, 2012 at 1:21 PM. Reason : k]

2/2/2012 1:21:29 PM

http://youtu.be/hTWZ0ez0cwo

video of me tailing one of my friends down the groomed section of China Bowl. Not a bad clip IMO.

2/6/2012 10:52:55 PM

just got back from three days at Steamboat. The forecast when we got up there Tuesday was for sun all week, but then a miracle snowstorm blew in.

a bluebird day Wednesday (ok, that was the worst of it), then 4" wednesday night, 7" Thursday during the day, and around another 4" on Friday. The Boat needed the snow badly, but with that much powder we obviously had a great time. It was probably the best days of skiing in my young snowsport career of 1.5 seasons

Also looks like the whole state of Colorado should be getting snow this week. I think someone on here has a trip to Steamboat planned for this week - perfect timing.

2/12/2012 3:31:56 PM

^ yup, that's me, and i'm pretty pumped. Did they have the bowls open?


for those of y'all with POV cameras, how does the gopro HD compare with the contourHD? the contours seem a bit cheaper.

Also, a coworker has last years model of gopro HD he'll sell me for $175, worth it?

[Edited on February 12, 2012 at 6:32 PM. Reason : .]

2/12/2012 6:32:24 PM

^No that's too expensive if you're referring to the 720P model and especially if it comes with no accessories. Just last month I tried selling a brand new 720P on TWW in classifieds and nobody bit for $150. Sold it for $120 to someone on Craigslist.

2/12/2012 11:53:00 PM

that was my gut feeling as well.

what about this one?

http://raleigh.craigslist.org/ele/2843033363.html

and do you use a chest strap or attach to your helmet?

2/13/2012 10:04:02 AM

The gopro sticks on with an adhesive and latch mechanism. The contour uses Velcro and an adhesive. Both are very secure and no from experience the gopro stays secure in 200+ MPH wind. The video quality is impeccable.

2/13/2012 11:59:28 AM

^^That looks like a good price. I believe the 1080P model is still $200+ new.

When I was in Vail I used the helmet strap to mount the camera. This way I could let friends use it as well. However I don't think mounting it that way was the best, as in the videos you can hear a slightly "knocking" sound occasionally, especially over rough terrain (i.e. 4-5 day old snow on ungroomed bowls). I think the adhesive mount will work better. Or the front helmet mount, which I believe attaches through some sort of pinch mechanism. I own both types, so I'll be trying those out next month in Montana.

[Edited on February 13, 2012 at 12:23 PM. Reason : d]

2/13/2012 12:22:05 PM

Quote :

"^ yup, that's me, and i'm pretty pumped. Did they have the bowls open?"

everything at Steamboat is open except the Pony Express lift stuff, although I heard you can hike in to those runs. Morningside bowl was fun, but when the snow was really dumping, that 8+ minute lift ride wasn't worth the 3 minutes it takes to ride down the back bowl IMO

2/13/2012 12:50:02 PM

Taos on Saturday. Resort TBD.

2/15/2012 1:55:11 AM

Hitting the airport in a few hours for Snowbird!

2/15/2012 10:58:52 AM

A couple friends and I are heading out west either March 10th or the 17th. We're being indecisive about where. Where is the best snow this year?

2/15/2012 11:40:27 AM