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Hey All, I’m finished with a fun AM session at Blue mountain. The drive up was herky jerky with 22 east closed at 15th street so I took 309 to ridge view to walbert back to Winchester to cedar crest through Roma corporate center to Whitehall ave backup on girard so cut around by the Jordan creek to mauch chunk to rural to mechanicsville to 145 to Sheetz to blue. At the top entrance the temperature was 27 and a brisk 19 degrees at the base with frozen fog. In the house were BenM, Ryan, Mute, Rodney, Fritz and Bethlehem Ford Guy. Was on second civilian chair since my gate didn’t work and no six pack just the quad. I don’t really like this 9am opening already a solid amount of people right out the gate, the OK Boomer midweek crowd are early risers. First run was on Razors and it was sweet..some fresh manmade on top of groomed at the top and then smooth cord the rest of the run. Lapped that two more times then tried out Switchback which wasn’t as good a little rolly Polly. Lower park is still closed along with challenge which had giant whales and Sidewindee. Nightmare to dreamweaver was pretty nice still a little cord left..Main Street was variable and I managed fresh groomed on paradise an hour into my session thanks to two groomers going up it. Lazy was also good the falls was chunky and homestretch wasn’t that smooth. Ended up skiing until 1040 then brought my Kastles inside for a tune and also bought 2 pairs of ski socks. Skis will be done at 1145 so I guess I’ll just hangout here and have a beer or two. JADIP

Good snow, spicy grooming. Had a squirrel run out at me going down Razors which was a new experience. He lived but we both puckered for a second.

Finally, found this lonely boarder for you. Oh wait, there was another one today! All these days I'm listening to Italians, Germans, Polish, British and Russians on the lifts, in the order of decreasing probability. Much to my surprise I finally ran into a couple in Arabba today that spoke American! One guy was on wide skis, the other was on a board, and neither had rental stickers on them.

Blue seeded the learning hill Not crowded, no line on quad. Barney’s is like [emoji3063]

Today was a road trip... Well, come to think of it, it didn't not really involve any roads compared to the two days before, I didn't have to use anything but lifts or piste. So no buses, no escalators, just skiing... The goal was to reach a remote monastery, La Crusc. It's about two zones away, on an appendix that I've never skied before. A local guide suggested to go there, and I was all for it, as anything that looks like an appendix rocks compared to the main trails of Sella Ronda (just wait to see a pic that I took on the way back). There was plenty of time and no rush, but still the snow is best in the morning, so the first car up was mine. The snow look and feels great when you're the first to ski it, doesn't it??

Well, let's say that the trip was worth the trip, for the monastery itself was rather blah. The most fascinating thing about it was the discovery that technology makes its way to the most unexpected areas. I still remember times when one would buy a real candle and then would light it, in memory of someone. Well, here you still have a place to deposit your money to as well, but the candle is all electric, and the "burning time" is all carefully tuned, I'm sure, based on the season, time of day and what not.

I was taking it easy, skiing local slopes several times each while they were still good, slowly making my way, knowing that I had plenty of time, until I've reached Corvara area and... got lost... Only this can really explain the weird choice of lifts that I had to take a couple of times. I was desperate at times. But in the end it worked out fine, and I've got to the final chain of lifts that was supposed to take me up there, toward the monastery.

What she's pointing at is this... Down below is just one wiiiide groomer in Belvedere area. It's awesome to ski it first thing in the morning, and it actually holds on rather well till the end of the day, compared to some other trails over here. These guys are sitting at a trail turn. It comes from their behind and then turns sharp left. It's sunset. What's really amazing is how out of time this couple is. Everyone including myself is rushing to get back to the home area, looking at watches at every opportunity. And these guys just sit up top and absorb the view...

Reporting live from Blue Mountain the True Mountain. Currently eating a Steeze Burger in the lower lodge. It's great! Conditions are rad, icy in a lot of spots. It's completely ridiculous that both Razor's Edge and Challenge are closed, so I've been stuck skiing with gapers all night. @AtomicSkier gets to ski Razor's which is unfair. The line for the 4 pack is long as hell for a weeknight. Overall tonight is a 6 out of 10.

We headed over to the little gap side, the conditions were excellent, and the old school lift rides were fun.

The return was pleasant most of the way, up until I hit the transit slopes when I realized that somehow the number of people has increased a lot... IDK whether it's due to the day of the week, or because schools have closed somewhere, but the number of people on certain slopes was exceeding what I had to witness in PA on long weekends...

I would almost guarantee a machine of that degree would come with training. Whether or not Blue uses manufacturers support, is probably unlikely. They probably suffer some from the same thing i see at work, which is, "i know what im doing, i have been doing it for years." And the grooming at Blue does sort of reflect someone "doing it for years" just maybe not the best way.

FIFY Weather depending

It depends on the weather. Don't listen to Doug. He won't be there but that wouldn't persuade anyone either way. We should know a bit more tomorrow about weather plan, but if it is rain like the trend is going, nobody will go. If snow is more likely, then I'll likely go and I know others will as well.

Well, today I've been to the land that all boarders visit in their nightmares from time to time, the land that their mother threaten to send them to if they don't finish their breakfast, the land is since avoided by them as a plague. Different nationalities have different names for this place. Italians call it Alpe di Siusi, Germans - Seiser Alm, Americans would probably call it the Land of Flats and be done with it. Most skiing zones around here would typically have a few peaks, several base towns, lifts taking you all the way up and trails that can generally be followed all the way down. Yeah, once you get up you don't really have to return to the base, there are shorter lifts and trails near the peaks, and the snow there is better anyway. But the important part is that usually there is a choice. Want to lose 1500m of elevation in one run? Go for it! This land in the other hand is a freaking plateau. The last decent steeps you see in the way here is from Seceda (incidentally, the last pic below). After that there is a looong trail that brings you all the way down to the town of Ortisei. That town is so low in elevation that by the time you get there all natural snow is gone and there is just a narrow groomer. Then you grab your skis and go to an under ground escalator that helps you get even lower, down to the road level. You cross the road, walk the snowless town for a little bit and get to the lift on the other side, which finally takes you back to the whites. Except that now you find yourself confined to a very pretty area with a rather small variation of altitude. It seems to be a local winter playground for the town folks. You wouldn't just find skiers there. You'd see people trekking, sledding and running around on cross country skis, there are even some horse carriages. Just hardly any boarders. Because kids in Ortisei know how to finish their breakfast.

What I like about local villages is how they look. Even if I screw up, take the wrong trail down and have to walk half a kilometer down the slippery streets toward the lift back up, there's still something to see along the path. This is Canazei. I don't live here. I only come for grappa or if the map fools me. The red guy with the skis goes the wrong way. There's no lift behind me and the slopes have just closed anyway.

Beautiful morning at Blue, again. Until the lift broke. The 6pack has been down all morning. On the quad now which has been stopped for 11 minutes and counting with the emergency stop happening every time it starts. I’ve never been anywhere else with such continuous lift issues. Hopefully things get fixed soon. At least the sun is out. I ❤️ Blue.

Yup. No post-tinnies so why not and got 1st row 20’ from stairs. Unloading was devine

Nice two hourish session this am....Grooming was OK...pockets of crumbs here and there.....It seemed crowded with out the six running...Main St and Razors skied the best for me.... Hella amounts of snow on Challenge......

They had free water last year

Update: Barney’s “ok”

Sunday for me this week

They need to go slower and make more passes...I don’t think the work of the groomers is inspected much by any sort of supervisor.

lolololololol

I bet that made your heart beat a little faster...woooo

@RootDKJ I heard you’re skiing this weekend.

Unbelievable!

I'll bring an extra beer for you @saltyant

Elk has the guns cranking. All of the previously opened trails have been resurfaced and are in excellent shape. Their website says machine groomed / variable conditions. There are very few variable spots (read ice patches) on any trail. I think they will have 3 or 4 more black trails open by Saturday. Kickapoo, Tecumpsah, and Chippewa, are either being groomed out today or tomorrow. Tuscarora was being bombarded all night last night and today. Iroquois and Mohawk should be next leaving only Lackawana to be covered. Lehigh, the natural snow trail, does not have enough snow to open. Elks' grooming is fantastic. The only thing keeping the R&R Ski boys anchored to our bar stools this weekend will be the crowds created by the $30. lift ticket sales..... Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

keep looking until you find someone that claims 4-6"? I guess you haven't found him yet.

That’s the advice my grandma gave to my aunt who never married.

Just keep looking until you find one that says 4-6”.

it's distilled from the grape seeds and varies like you say, it can be like grain alcohol or a liqueur. I had a few bouts with the grappa when I studied in Rome for a semester and traveled in college. Can definitely make you hallucinate lol! oh yea, great pics and report!

It's a local drink that really varies. Made of grapes. The taste depends on how they make it. Can be like a sweet liquor, can be like medicine, can be aged in barrels. Is stronger than wine though not as strong as vodka.

Well, I think I've figured out that Erbe Alpine grappa is best to be avoided. IDK what bush they cut that bottled branch from, but the nightmares after it, oh my...

Incredible amounts of snow on challenge and sidewinder. Got a nice run down Shicola Chute today.

Wear a fucking helmet.

2018/2019 favorites

Pretty cool to see how similar these are to today’s Look bindings.

Nice natural bumps.. Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

I'm sure that is Vail's #1 priority.

I was thinking about it earlier in the week but then I got laryngitis so it’s not looking good.

Thanks but I'm home sick smh