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It took a flight in a 30% full two-story A380 (awesome dinner, btw), 40mins of wait in line at passport control, 4 hours of driving on autostradas with incredibly "straightforward" in-between navigation, to finally get to where snow is. It was rapidly getting dark, but I think it's quite clear that there was some serious snowfall lately.

At KPHL, will be at KDEN in only 6 hours. Thanks to everyone who made it happen. Honorable mentions: Enjorales - lent me ski bag Steeze - provided tireless hours of pro bono ski travel consulting Ridge - recommended Winter Park Toast - recommended putting boots in carry on Atomic - called me a "chode" when I was contemplating backing out (thanks for the encouragement) Jlaw - made the final decision for me yesterday on the Challenge Express after I provided him an executive summary of my debacle ...and many many others

Hey All, I’m back from another fun day at Blue mountain the true mountain. I arrived at the lower lot before 720AM and Phillycore was already in the house. Also in the house were Toast, JFDan, NMSki, MBike Mike, Mrs Snowbunski, Gary, Gary’s son, gahskier george, Enjorales, Enjorales Dad, Johnny Law, Justo, Rose, Ty, Matt Edge, JFDan, Antman, Root, PARidge and many others.. The temperature was in the mid 20s at the base which felt really nice although it was moist. First civilian six pack and challenge was great, hit that the first three runs and switchback was amaze balls as well, did challenge again later and Main Street was also pretty good and I skied that multiple times. Crowds were about the same as yesterday but lifts were running fairly smooth. The temperaturw has climbed through the 30s for parking lot thirty and was a fun time with some great meat and even cheddar chick flat bread. Parking lot on fleek.

The ride to blue this morning was more eventful than the parking lot for me. Had a deer run out in front of me and had to Slam brakes on spilled my coffee. Than some super slow ass driver took the fun out of the blue mountain drive rally course. Skiing was good though.... Never hit paradise for my first run before but boots were tight so I chose that....blasting wide turns on that was fun but left me behind the crew. Sidewinder was interesting but fun... Main was main... First time on Switchback this season so that was nice. Lazy skied awesome as well... Falls needs a no parking sign at the top. No beers or sausage for me today.....was home by noon after flying home. I'm ready for Elk on Friday... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Cross country skiing/dinner TR.. Drove to a lodge 12 miles into the middle of nowhere mountains (castle creek road between Aspen and highlands). Had to cross country ski 1.5 miles in the dark with a head lamp up a small incline to the restaurant. It fucking sucked and I was miserable. Walked with my skis half the time. Dinner was good. 1st course was these puff ball things, shrimp, and quail. 2nd course was a salad. Third course I got trout that was great. 4thcourse was brownie and ice cream. Real cool rustic lodge type setting. Skiing back was a lot more fun and I enjoyed it. However, cross country skis have no edges and I don't know how to stop, so since I was going down hill my only way to stop was to crash. I crashed hard 3 times in the way back but like 10 other people crashed multiple times as well, one lady broke her thumb. The first half of skiing sucked, the second half was fun. It was cool being in the woods in pitch black, the stars are so bright.

Today was one of my more fun days this year. Conditions were nice, and got to try out my new skis. Was super happy with the new planks and enjoyed good times in the lot and on the slopes. Great hanging with everyone. Next stop Jackson Hole!

Arrived at CBK Lodge Lot at 8:40. On mountain skiing by 9:00. Started on the Stevenson express with no lines. First run was Nile Mile snow was great. Next run was Pocono Raceway even better snow and a fun run. Real wide-open trail to ourselves. I convinced my son to do cliff hanger. He was a little tentative because of his first run on a "double Diamond" this year but managed himself well and wanted to do a second run which was much better. The lift line started to get a little crowded. We did another run on Pocono Raceway and took a look at the new trail scarab which is just a 30 yard connector. We then skied Julius caesar to honeymoon to get to the Sullivan express. We planned to take a break at the upper lodge now Called Kartrites summit house. I always liked taking a break there and having a coffee/hot chocolate. Apparently it is now a little more upscale restaurant and we were told it was closed until 11:00. We went down Rocket to get to the main lodge. Snow was pretty good with soft snow but a few hard pack/ice spots from people using it off earlier. My son made it through the more challenging headwall but ended up falling after hitting a soft snow bump and crossing his tips. He was ok but it aggravated his ankle that that he tweeted yesterday at basketball. It also hurt his confidence. After our break the lines were definitely longer and I found some people doing annoying things like not moving in line when it was there turn to alternate as well as some people not taking turns. At one point I pushed in since a group of guys was not waiting their turn. I ended up falling in the lift line which was crazy and a little embarrassing. I am pretty sure one of the guys behind me either popped me binding or got their ski on top of mine. Either way I have now fallen twice on the season on a bunny hill last week and now the lift line. I am becoming a worst skier as I get older. We ended up skiing King Tut and then we skied Big Pocono. Both were fun runs but my son said his ankle was giving out on him and he didn't want to ski any more steep trails. We finished by skiing Upper Cleopatra/Lower Cleopatra back to CBk/Lodge. My son said he was done and didn't want to push his ankle so we called it a day. We went to Billy's dinner in Tannersville on the way home. Pretty good food and reasonable. Today was my first time at Camelback since the Hotel was opened. I have always skied on Sundays and it was clear that the crowds on the Lift lines arrived earlier then the past. I always felt lifelines got long around 11:00 on Sundays but it happened around 10:00 today. I have 2 more visits this year since I purchased the triple ticket.

Great day before going out for seconds... Ended up breaking my humerus(upper arm) clean through. First real injury From snowboarding. Ill save you the X-ray unless you guys wanna see it. Waiting to be brought into surgery now. <3<3<3 y’all.

I’m gonna say today were the best conditions and grooming of the year. Challenge was $$ first thing. Always a grand time when great skiing turns into a solid sausage Sunday.

Out for a couple of hours this morning, 24 degrees, cloudy, light very flat. Race on Challenge closed the glade also. First run down Rivershot and Floyds. Snow was in great shape, Elevator still iffy. Took off around 10 when the rentals and lessons started hitting Tbolt.

Day 3: snowmass woke up a little disappointed as the projected snow hadn't fallen, but instead was sleeting at both the condo and snowmass village . Luckily, it was snowing at mid mountain. Prob 2-3 inches had fallen. All upper mountain lifts were on wind hold til early afternoon. No biggie, did some laps off SAMs knob lift, then went to campground lift. This area was great as it was empty and protected from the wind. Snow was starting to fall much heavier and glades were filling in a little. Upper mountain lifts were still closed other than elk camp lift, so we made our way from one side of snowmass to the other. By this time 6 inches had fallen and elk camp area was getting really fun. Soon we got word that the upper mountain lifts were opening. Made our way over there and got great runs off sheer bliss lift and big burn lift. I'd say these areas got about 8 inches (Not 100% on the accuracy of this, wind started getting rough after 2:30 and blowing snow everywhere). By 3:00 the visibility and wind at the top of big burn lift was getting pretty bad, so we took one more run up and made our way to base. Ended up riding from 9:00-3:30. Snowed almost the whole time, varied between light, moderate, and heavy at times. Probably my best day out west in years. Wind got tough at times but temps weren't bad at all. Pictures will be lacking a bit as visibility got rough at times and I only snapped a few during breaks in the snow

Back from another fun session at the largest mogul this side of the Mississippi. Pulled in the lot at 8:20 and had to park pretty far back considering the time, not a good sign of things to come. Booted up and went in to guest services to get my free ticket, the lady in front of me was asking the attendant if they had any covered lifts because she was worried about exposure? Anyway, got on the snow at around 8:35 and first run was down black bear to scope things out. The park setup right now is nice, but other than a two rails being switched out it hasn’t changed at all from two weeks ago. Lapped the park from 8:35 until around 10 then me and some of my buddies decided to go over to F side. Timberline was closed due to a race, back up F chair and down Sasquatch. Sasquatch at that time was virtually untouched and ROTD. Lapped the park for about another hour and a half. They had a “big air” contest going on so I was trying to keep an eye on that. It didn’t seem like they had too many people entered. By 11:30 is started to get packed so we ducked into trails end to grab a beer before heading back up to meet with out two fiends on ski patrol. They were grilling some meat up top which made for a nice (free) lunch. Downed a hamburger and a hot sausages then headed back to the park for a few more runs before calling it a day at 1:30. As we were leaving there were still people pulling in. Seems like it’s going to be a busy night for them. Didnt take any pictures today, they seemed to have good coverage but there were some bare spots starting to show in the flats, that’s been a problem for years. All in all it was a good, warm day. My knee didn’t fall apart, and getting my skis center mounted helped drastically in regards to park.

This is exciting! Have a great and safe trip! Your mind will be blown and your skiing will improve. You will be more exhausted than you have ever been from skiing. You will understand why we are jaded and slightly angry returning to ski in the Poconos. Enjoy!

Salty, I started skiing in my mid 40’s. Tore my ACL when some j@ckass skied over the back of my skis. But I love it, will never give it up. If I were you, I’d go on lots of ski trips. You have no obligations. Enjoy it now. Go on every trip you can.

Hey guys! Back outta surgery and relaxing for the night catching up on some Super Bowl coverage before falling asleep. Thanks for all the well wishes and I’ll be back to update tomorrow. I’m in good spirits so no worrkes!

Great decision Salty, hope you remembered your GoAmateur camera! Remember to drink LOTS of water while you’re out there! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I lied, I had one photo from today.

I can’t believe I forgot the BBQ sauce. First run at flatbreads was a smashing success tho. Another item in the repertoire. Gotta start thinking about what I can pull off for Gaper Day Loved the snow everywhere across the mountain early. Got slow and grabby when we went back out, so I think we only made like 4 more runs. Much more work and the legs were beat. Crowds got nuts, but the VIP lines at both lifts made the wait very tolerable. Saw that they had finished on both Razor and Dreamweaver, but for some reason still hadn’t opened either by the time we quit at 2:00. Maybe a night sesh this week, potentially Trivia Tuesday. Otherwise, Elk on Friday! Hope all you guys headed west have great trips.

11 fun runs with the girls - I think the most they have ever done at Blue. Thought Sidewinder was the best. Did everything open to the public and hit that and Baumer/Lazy 2x. Both glades were nice today. Pizza & Cocoa for lunch.

I always miss sausage Sunday unfortunately but the barely skiing was exceptional first this morning. Great conditions all around and much more comfortable temperature wise than yesterday. The crowds descended upon Blue in a big way around 9:15 or so. Overall a fun morning.

Sounds like you had a great day all around! I’m 100% jelly.

Pic of Phillycore slaying Parsenn Bowl.

Antman, sorry you got hurt. Fracturing your humerus does seem a bit unusual, now you have to tell us how you did it. And post the X-rays.

QFT

Damn. I was gonna post some meat, but that doesn’t feel right after reading about antmans injury. Heal quickly and strong. Edit: I’m in for seeing the X-ray.

Antman heal up buddy, you'll be back killing it and looking super fly before you know it.

Aw Antman, that sucks big time! Heal quick and stop by the lot sometime(s)! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Antman so sorry. Injuries are so frustrating. Heal up quick. I enjoyed all your reports and pictures.

Sorry Antman. Be well

They’re awesome. Hope they get bigger.

@antman12 sorry to hear that, get better soon!

Happy for you Salty. Enjoy dude. You're gonna have a blast.

Antman so sorry dude. Hang in there man and here's to a quick recovery.

Damn dude, thats horrible. Heal up quick. I dont want to see any xrays.

Sorry to hear that Antman. Hope you heal quickly.

Thanks Toast! This will be my 4th time in Colorado and I'll finally be on skis. Kept putting it off so I wouldn't become jaded like you say, but life's too short and like Steeze said in a meme, if I dont do it this year I'll be another year older when I do. I'll be sure to write a report and post a pic or 2.

Wtf what happened? Hopefully you heal up quickly. Hate seeing this 😩 Obviously I want to see the X-ray.

Reminds me of Jim Thorpe.

My opinion on where stuff is. Green is Elevator, although the upper section could be called Elevator glade, starting at tower 6. Blue is where little Cliff Huck was. Yellow is risk it. The sign for risk it was just to the right of the top of the start of Floyds.

Yes.ill drive myself if need be.

We're going on Friday remember?

I tried cross country skiing as a kid..shit is hard..I’d rather just skate on my regular skis or for you cross country snowboard.

I am sold on this idea. Great suggestion, thanks Ridge. I'll go to Winter Park 2 days, and it might even snow on Wednesday. It would be great to get above the tree line and check out this area, and not worry about falling down a chute or into a crevice or anything (hopefully):

Testify, brother. What's the rush, right?

If you make it up to my neck of the woods, give a shout/PM. Sounds like you've been "sucked" in to VT life. And you HAVE a job.

I miss the parking lot. Hope you all are well and gettin' after it! VT is great; fell into a great community here in Brownsville. Amazing people, outstanding beer everywhere, unbelievable mountain biking and skiing when I can steal time from work. Headed to Magic for two days tomorrow!

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

Apologies for simply not knowing but whats "Elevator"? I don't see it on the trail map, are you guys referring the to the circled area below? Regardless it looks fun, too bad he took the wrong route....