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Arrived up top at 545 with the wife and daughter. Met up with another couple and child to let the kids get some time on school hill. Other couple rented skis for their daughter while my daughter was rocking some 70 cm Little Bums plastic skis with boot straps. Walked up from rentals to find school hill closed, even though the website lists it as open. Drove to the bottom and ended up on Frontier Alley since the wives couldn’t get in to watch at Valley School. Had to look Frontier Alley up because I would have called it left of the quad. I’m assuming FA was closed because it wasn’t groomed and less then 5 people came through it. Fortunately the half hike up Headwall last weekend prepped me for the 50 foot repeated hikes with the little one. Fun night getting her on the snow for the first time. Even got her first season pass that we’ll hold on to in a baby book somewhere. Snow on the rest of the mountain looked nice as well even though I didn’t get out there. Kids split a chicken finger and fry(saved $1.03 with the season pass, ballin’) and then we left around 8. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Pics cost me $429....

Day 4 on Friday started out nice. Only a tiny bit of wind and plentiful sunshine. I warmed up on a pristine groomer then skied the trees under lift 2. After that decided I wanted to make a hike up to the far reaches of West Basin to attempt to find the entrance to Wonder Bowl. It wasn’t too bad to find, views were amazing and it skied great. I took lift 2 back up to the top and took my skis off to hike again, but saw a couple people skiing down Kachina Main and the lift was running. I high-tailed it over there to lift 4 up to Kachina basin but when I got there the lift was stopped and the liftie said that it wouldn’t open today. Must have been patrol up there. Oh well, did another high speed groomer, then back to the top. At the top of 2 I made a hike/traverse all the way to where Tresckow ridge splits off to the kachina hike and traversed through the trees and dropped into Tresckow proper. Wow, this north facing, off the beaten path run still had nice powder! Gotta work for it a bit sometimes I guess. At the base I took lift 1 up and skied Ernie’s into the natural halfpipe that meets North American which held some nice soft snow. Had an early lunch inside the St. Bernard which was amazing. Reuben croissant and soup, then headed back out for one last afternoon at my favorite place in the world. I took a lower traverse under lift 2 towards West Basin and found a gate at the rope line letting me enter Oster and Spitfire without having to hike and deal with the extremely gnarly entrances up top. I had never skied these runs before. These reminded me of Tower 3 at Jackson in terms of pitch, width and snow quality. Did this a couple times. Really nice. Did a few groomers, got some water at the whistle stop cafe, then did a hike up to Stauffenberg to finish myself off. On my way up there were some slow ass hikers that I passed and one of them had a BMR (blue mountain racing) jacket on! I harassed the shit out of them on my way by. Stauffy was filled with chalky wind blown and so so nice. Planned to do it only once but had to go back one last time. After that I skied down to the children’s center to get my kids for a top to bottom run with them and my mom. My kids are making parallel turns finally, skied all over the mountain this week, and my son is obsessed with bumps! Had such a great time. I haven seen coverage like this at Taos since the 90’s, and it opened up a lot of terrain that usually isn’t open or wrecks the skis. Already dreaming up my trip for next year. Views from atop west basin Stauffy Wonder Bowl Spitfire The Y Mom and kids Silly faces at Apres!

Hey All, I’m back from a fun session at Blue mountain the true mountain. I arrived at the lower lot at 720AM and in the house were JFDan, Atomic Jeff, Root, Mute, Ryan, Toast, Shadows, PSUFly, Nastar Glenn Phillycore, MBike Mike, Salty, Enjorales, Enjorales Dad, ZZSlope, Bethlehem ford guy and many others. Temperaturws were in the low 20s and rose through the 20s and 30s under sunny sky’s. I ended up on second civilian chair but that wasn’t gonna stop me enjoying the great snow. I skied challenge twice to start and was super nice cord..Nightmare to Dream was also good and still had a few rollers. I enjoyed Switchback although was very dark..my favorite today was going across to lower widowmaker than the chute and I skied that Root with Root twice. Liftlines got fairly bad but I was able to get a lot of nice runs in and the parking lot was off the chain with donuts, snacks, good beer and sunshine..all in all was a fun day. I am also in possession of these boots that were left next to my car. Claim them and they’ll bbe delivered to you.

Had a good time today...thanks to Dan for the buddy pass. Snow was good did the first few runs on challenge and razors, then lapped main street area for a while. I'll visit again soon and will likely get a pass for next year

Ummmm I think I might need those! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes, I’m confused as well. Eaf, did you buy a pass? And if so, why, if you feel you’re being ripped off? And BTW, when I typed Eaf into my phone, it autocorrected into Rag. Thought that was pretty funny

The boots found their owner.

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Day 6, not the way I had it planned! Got to the base around 7:40 or so and took our spot at the beginning of the gondy line. There was a cloud layer halfway up the mountain and the sun was peeking through at times. It was also a bit colder than yesterday, which actually felt good. Got on the gondy and ride up. About 1/2 way up, a strange feeling came over me that I’ve never experienced before and it kinda frightened me. Hoping it was just some random thing, maybe the altitude, I dunno, but decided to run down to Thunder and see what happens. We came down Ampitheater which was covered in about 2” of icing overtop sweet grooming. Ok, that was good, but still didn’t feel quite right. Up Thunder and down Laramie and still not feeling quite right. Then going up Sublette the feeling returns, that tears it, time to head for lower altitudes. Sat st the base for a while and can’t shake this weird feeling, so I head for the medical clinic that’s behind the Bridger gondy. I go in and they suggest a ski patroller talk to me. He brings out an pulse-ox sensor and those numbers are fine. Still having these periodic waves, he thinks it best that I get an EKG to see if there’s anytginf going on with my heart. Wonderful, I’m supposed to leave tomorrow, what a debacle! Still not knowing what the hell is going on, I get registered and the hook me up. They also draw blood in case I had had a heart attack. They also hang a saline IV. Being a clinic they have no lab and with no transportation, I get a ride in an ambulance. At the hospital I get swarmed upon by all sorts of people and tell the doc the story. Eventually all bloodwork comes back normal and after a second bag of IV saline the strange waves subside. The doc asked if I had been drinking water and I told him I had a camelbak. He said if I was just sipping on it every lift, with all the sweating and exertion skiing yesterday’s snow, I hadn’t taken in near enough water to replenish the lost fluids. They discharged me with severe dehydration. Thanks to @tarponhead for bringing me my shoes and taking my skis & boots back to the condo! At least I know know how it feels to be dehydrated. Unfortunately those symptoms are very similar to a heart attack. Lesson learned: Stay hydrated my friends!

Looks like my youngest (Hunter) and I will be there for opening 3/9 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That would require a willing vagina and not your hand.

Our parking lot scene is getting better every year! Welcome!

Gatorades from the loaf and jug is my move. Slam a big one first thing in the AM.

Also nice that Taos is an annual family tradition. It’s part of the schedule. See you at Blue this week.

Glad you’re okay!

Glad you’re ok..when your pee is highlighter yellow gotta drink more. When I saw that photo of you on Facebook I thought you had a season ending injury. Props to you for seeking help..I don’t know if I would have done the same.

My kids spotted this rock that looks like a giant ass when we were riding up the Sandia Peak tram.

Maybe I’ll wait until November to buy my season pass..or get sponsored by Blue for my great reports.

Salty bought next years season pass today. Dear Eaf, STFU

Dear Blue, Thanks for renewing my pass today. I realize that this winter was far from perfect. All that snow to make, all those bills to pay. So I'd like to let you know that I really feel for you, and in particular I feel like it will be toootally OK (and everybody else on this board will certainly agree) if you make a public service announcements on FB tomorrow about the number of discounted season passes suddenly reaching their limit, and the price going up by a hundred. Or two. Faithfully yours, Eaf PS. Do try to make an exception for Salty who in view of exceptional snow conditions couldn't get his ass off the slopes even for a minute to bring his $$ to the ticket window.

Yeah, the crowds surely picked up earlier than usual today. Last weekend it was 10am, and today at 9am the quad became packed. Thankfully, I was alone this time, so could take advantage of VIP gates, even though they periodically malfunctioned thereby gathering a small crowd of anxious passholders. Sometimes it was clearly a human factor, I saw one dude repeatedly trying to go through the VIP gate with a regular ticket. Amazingly, nobody close to him would give him a clue. For those who shy away from the Summit lodge, there was a Carve 4 Cancer event up there. Some free stuff, tacos, demo boards, live music and even a big stage in Vista ballroom for a concert to be had at 2:30pm. Couldn't wait that long... And yeah, the snow and sun were so good!

Great day. Would have been outstanding if it was a little less crowded, but the snow held up really well

Best Blue conditions of the year. A real treat. This is great!

Dude free boots ! Lol I can't think of anyone in the group with head challenger 120's

Good snow.

Great report!! I stayed for a while longer to get after it and made multiple runs down Razors, Challenge, NMDW and Sidewinder. Skied every run open today except Burma and Paradise.

I sort of want to have a kid for the likes.

Awesome you are getting her out that young!

Urine was pretty clear in the morning. I think it was more an electrolyte imbalance, with all the water I was drinking compounded by all the sweating from the skiing we did the previous day. Probably should have drank some Gatorade along with water.

Glad all ok. Happens to everyone out here at some point. I have never been hospitalized for it but have had times when I get severe headaches and cramps from not drinking enough. Sometimes you are having so much fun you just don’t think about fluids Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Glad you’re ok! Good thing you listened to your body and took care of it right away. I was like GSS when I saw that pic and got scared it was worse. Have a good trip home. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Dehydrating is a terrible feeling

Damn...glad u are ok.

Speak for yourself. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

And I practically devoured the whole thing by myself #notproud #diabetesfoundation #funonplanetomorrow

This is a lie. It was a single.

Ended up doing conference call this morning. Got on the hill by 10 AM. Parking lot getting spicy!

Mute and Ryan if you forget your sunglasses I have a backup pair you two can fight over.

7:30 at the pin.

SallyCat you need to post here more often!!!

Day 3, damn was it windy. I’m happy I got any skiing in today, I was really surprised there were no wind holds to start off. Started off the day with 2 steep tree runs off of Bambi ridge. First did Sir Arnold Lunn, then Lorelei Trees. Pockets of powder, some nice bumpy flow and a bit of crusty snow in the more sparse trees. Went over to the backside where it was less windy and skied Hunziker Bowl, Totally Wiard, El Funko and some groomers. Some nice wind-filled spots here and there. Made a hike up the ridge and skied Zdarsky again which I’m really enjoying. I made plans to meet my wife and mom for lunch so I took 7a up to the top and dropped into the Werner Chute into Longhorn for a 1,600 ft vertical thigh burner. The winds filled up Werner with 3-4 inches of snow and it skied beautifully. ROTD for sure. After lunch, lifts 1 and 2 were shut down so I drove up an icy mountain road to the backside and parked at the Bavarian which is near the bottom of lift 4. Did a couple runs until they shut down 4 and then I called it a day. Needed a beer after the drive down, it was rough in the rental car. All in all it was a good day and I have some left in the tank for tomorrow. Sir ARnold Zdarsky West Basin Totally Wiard

That’s exactly what they’re hoping for.

Those titty's are shopped for sure LOL I'm out this weekend, apparently I must have lost my job because I'm going to party rock in VT with my brother and friends. I'll be up tonight.

Pro tip: Fold the ticket in half before you expose the adhesive. Makes the process less like an I Love Lucy episode. Oh, totally forgot: I turned 50 and competed in a downhill fatbike race in the same week. I just rode my regular bike, though, not a fattie. Bottom line: if you ever get the chance to ride dh in the winter, you should do it; it's a ridiculous blast!

Nice! The Bambi chute looks legit as hell.

Kachina looks wild

Nice podcast about Alterra and the Ikon Pass. Alterra recently bought 11 ski resorts. Between the epicpass and Ikon Pass there are 58 North American resorts in total. The early season pass revenue is so good for these large ski resort conglomerates. There’s a lot more mid mountain beers to sell than slopeside real estate. Cultivating future customers while they travel across the country seems like a win win. On YouTube and Teton gravity there are accounts of people both young and old going on extended ski trips out west hitting multiple Ikon resorts along the way..the pictures and videos they share at the water cooler and online is seriously good marketing. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2019-03-01/epic-vs-ikon-battle-for-the-best-ski-pass