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Conditions were great this morning with the cold air that’s been in place. I expect them to stay that way through the weekend until the thaw on Monday. Grooming was great. Glades were open and ski like a luge. Good fun. See you all this weekend! 😍

Also, the place was empty. Just rode right onto the lift each time

The trip is just around the corner... to the largest and most beautiful skiing area in the... I won't say the "World", but certainly the largest skiing area I've ever seen. GSS would probably call it the largest Jerry skiing area, but like I care. Located south-west of Austria, and is accessible by direct flights to Milan, Munich or Zurich, all involving about 4 hours of driving after the flight. If I was flying from Russia I'd probably be able to land right in Verona via some dirt-cheap charter thereby cutting driving time in half. Even now I could still definitely make a connection and go to Venice, that would mean less driving, but more flying, so in the end nothing to gain. The area is insanely large. The map shows 12 zones, and each zone is like a separate ski resort with a map similar to e.g. the last picture - would require a high-res PDF to actually see anything. Most are connected through the Sellaronda ski circuit (second pic) comprised of 26km of piste and 13km of lifts. You just pick a direction (left or right), leave the gates in the morning and come back to the same spot only by the end of the day. Doing this is like following a crowd of lemmings: all boarding next lift, going down the next slope, boarding yet another lift with occasional stops at the restaurants and posted maps in case if one gets lost. It's best NOT to get lost because once the slopes are closed, your only hope is the bus, and you'd better live near bus stop as well. Sellaronda is nice to do once, but in general that's not how one would want to spend most of the days in Dolomiti. The best places to ski are actually leaf zones (see how they branch off the Sellaronda loop on third pic) as well as the highest peak on the south-east of the circuit - Marmolada, only 5900ft vertical drop. Takes three lifts to get to the top, and the views on the way down are beyond awesome. The leaf zones are much quieter and slower-paced than Sellaronda, no lines, no crowds, no insane determination to finish the loop in one day, just endless snow and views in peace. Last time we've been there we rented an apartment in Arabba - cheaper both to stay and eat, this time due to smaller numbers we picked a hotel in Alba with half board in walking distance from two lifts. One lift goes straight to Sellaronda, so it's easy to take a make a circular day trip, if so inclined, or just "connect" to nearby places of interests like Arabba or Marmolada. One can't ski down from Sellaronda back to Alba - the same lift has to be taken. On the other side of the road by the hotel is a lift going to one of the leaf zones - Ciampac with terrain ranging from 4300' to 7900'. The red cluster of trails going to another place Pozza Di Fassa don't feel like red at all. If my memory doesn't fail me, they're all pretty blue with the emphasis on pretty. To get back to Alba one would need to ski down from 6900' to 4500' under the lift on a black trail, and my memories of that exercise in the afternoon are far from fond. So here we stand, with passes paid for, skis reserved, hotel awaiting, ready to leave on the most ski-hostile airline ever, Emirates. While they do allow checking in multiple bags for free, for some reason they don't recognize that skis can sometimes be longer than 150cm. But nothing to complain about for $450 RT. And thanks to them I'll be on Stockli Laser AX for days to come.

I rode last night with the three matts, Main st was perfect and I like the way they groomed sidewinder, its fun to connect all the little airs.

Day 1: Ajax parked in town at the garage which is surprisingly cheap at $10 per day. Started today off easy riding groomers with my dad. I had been worried about the terrain at Ajax being too advanced for him, but it wasn't too bad and he said it was one of his best ski days ever. Also had a knee scare on Monday so wanted to be a little cautious today. In the morning we did a lot of blue runs off Ajax lift, ruthies lift, and FIS. After lunch my dad called it a day and me and my brother went to ride tougher terrain. We did a few runs off gents ridge lift (Walsh and hyrups). Walsh was probably my run of the day as the snow was surprisingly good for nothing new in days. After that hit a few diamonds and glades on the two ridges on either side of the resort. Not sure what exact runs but the ones on either side of the gondy, as well as diamonds near FIS lift. Snow was bumped up on these runs, but nothing crazy. Perfect blue bird skies, temps in mid 20s, and no wind. I thought I took a bunch of pics, but apparently only took like 4. Snowmass tomorrow and then cross country skiing to some restaurant in the woods. Could be 10 inches of snow falling all day Sunday. I was planning on highlands Sunday, but the fam wants to do snowmass Sunday and highlands Monday. No biggie as Jeff said he likes snowmass best for powder. First impression of Aspen town was its not as snobby as I had imagined, a lot of lap dogs though. The convenience of the airport is also clutch

Stopped for a couple runs on my way up to the poconos. Got there about noon, not too busy, but it was the biggest circus act i had seen in a while. Razors, Switch, and main were real nice. Couple icy patches on Sidewinder, which reminded me a little of Brighton. Cold. I need a heated helmet.

You're making my brain hurt.

As is standard flying out of philly, they usually have no idea about the ski bag boot bag policy. Today was somewhat different, as the agent told me this only applies to skis, not snowboards. As you can imagine, I handled this very maturely. They refused to check my bags and I had to pay for an extra. By this time there was not enough time to get a supervisor. I paid it and immediately sent a firm but polite email to United. Props to them, by the time we landed in Denver I had received an apology and refund. Landed in Aspen after a 25 minute flight, got a Ford Explorer, and went to mawa's restaurant near the airport. Just go to the condo in snowmass. Not sure what mountains I'm doing when, but looking like highlands on Sunday. Also, I'm going to a restaurant in Saturday that requires cross country skiing. This will be my first time ever on skis

Love you too. 😍

with all this snow and open terrain, I might be back on the snowboard tomorrow to explore a bit.

My dad is now in, was able to get the day off work

Really neat video of the behind the scenes from Candide’s ski the world video. Check it out. New page sucka!

You shoukd find someone out there to tag along with for a few runs and show you around if they are willing.

I think Winter Park would be a good spot for Salty. Real nice groomers all over and he could ski bowl up top which gives him the opportunity to get above treeline, get great views but isn't anything too crazy.

Preliminary plan: ajax friday snowmass saturday highlands sunday snowmass monday potential morning session Tuesday would probably be snowmass

Nice suggestion! Just got back, place was great. Fish tacos were delicious. They now have my pic on the wall

Rummy (broken shoulder 2years ago, aching knee seems like forever).... Started when I was 30 and still love it!

Dom made it very clear the passenger would be allowed to work the radio. You and i both know how much fun that would be.

The YouTuber has it wrong. The song is actually called Exit and it's about not good things so your attempt at apologizing is a fail which means I'm still mad at you! BTW that was amazing live. My view of it when I saw it in Pittsburgh

Must need the healing hands of love.... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Never let your own indecisions make a decision for you. Good life strategy

The next time you’re having trouble making up your mind about something just think of Salty and pull the trigger

Definitely dumping here, but it isn’t snow.

If you aren't planning on going to Elk than take your shit to another pot, and wipe your ass already you're stinking up the joint. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I think Ryan is driving me. He could probably pick you up too. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Aside from Eaf most of the Russians I have known have been super cool.

Ok!

I'd think twice on that compact car. There are some things you shouldn't cheap out on.

I like how you used negate..high five on your first trip out west. Have you started thinking about where you want to ski? Did you book rental car and hotel?

Oh. Porn.

YOURE WELCOME AND ANYTIME

There's an old saying, when you own a ski house you have more friends than you ever realized.

Just the tip

That weiner slid right in there

I don’t know about PA barely being skiing. I sure felt like I was skiing when I was doing 7 laps an hour on razors Tuesday morning.

Aspen isn’t snobby at all..it’s actually kind of a hippy town. Nice report!!!

I'm sorry... You can thank Phillycore.

Have fun abs be safe! Don’t be a jerry... post some stoke-worthy pictures!

Can't quit... Just try to find ways to prevent it from happening again.

I take that offer back since John is has jokes. I'll be handling music. Perhaps we'll sit there in silence and talk about our feelings.

Epic thread with Dime, Chippy, R2D2, Outcold, Zaldon and many more OGs

Salty this is a classic Robert2 post.

If anyone coming from points south wants to meet me at hickory run service plaza I can take it the rest of the way from there. Can park in the employee lot so I'm not forced to go south once I leave.

Ryan will be there.

Probably wont encounter anything like that since I dont plan to venture off trail, being alone in unfamiliar terrain.

Wow only two more sleeps for you Salty...I still have four more sleeps until Jackson hole. All you should be thinking is,”This is Great”

I tried. Nope. It's nonrefundable and says so right on their website (25% off deal). No big deal, I knew that when I booked. My flight is during the Super Bowl, then I plan to ski Tues to Fri and fly back early Saturday morning. Not sure where I'm going yet, probably Copper and Keystone, wherever is most gaper friendly.

HTFU

Your regional generalizations regarding destinations are idiotic. Question: you ski hourglass or maybe even just the goat woods at Stowe? I’m not saying Vt is equivalent to Rockies but there is some spicy terrain up in Vt off the beaten path and the conditions often make it more so.