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Blue is serving up a healthy serving of the Blue mountain special tonight. Otherwise known as Sugar! Or as my family would call it...zucchero. had to check my speed a few times on razors as the piles are large and in charge in certain areas. Either way it it certainly beats the news that I was watching before I left.

Skied Valley School East and West with the fam from 530-730 and it was Epic. Hurt the country club vibe seeing the buses but they did bring entertainment. Saw a kid walking with skis on pavement from rentals to the Valley school. Had some kamikaze skiers that kept doing full yard sales for fun. It looked painful and I was asking myself why would you keep doing that? Biggest improvement session for my 4 year old tonight. We have turns and stops but we need to build up her leg muscles and attention span. It’s fun to watch the progression. I’ll be back up tomorrow for a solo lunch session.

I didn't say that... I'm saying you haven't skied Elk in 15 ? or so years, and know nothing about Elk Mountain managements' philosophy of snowmaking or trail opening, their equipment, snow guns, or infrastructure. I've skied Elk for the last 38 years (yea I'm an "olds"). In those years they've built more trails, a terrain park with it's own rope tow. (Low priority. I know) installed miles of water and air pipes so that all their slopes, except Lehigh, are covered. New state of the art air compressors, bigger water pumps, new ponds. New fan guns every year it seems, new fixed fan guns in critical areas. Also fixed position guns line most trails. Elk has the best groomers and people who know how to operate them! The last several years, the groomers were able to restore the snow within one or two days of the wet, warm days we've been having.Their surface is on par with the best grooming I've ever skied out West (30+ trips) Importantly, when Elk opens a trail they let the blown snow piles dry out for 2 or 3 days, then they groom. And have enough snow for Edge to Edge coverage. It takes time to get slopes open using this method. Does Blue do that? I think the main problem is Blue can't afford the time to "do it right" due to the huge crowds they service. "Get them open as quick as we can and we'll worry about the cookies later." So yes Blue always has more trails open quicker, but at what cost to the skiers enjoyment? Yes Elk has slow lifts and you have to ride the Elkwagon..(not this year though with buying your tickets on line). No tree skiing is allowed. But new trees are planted every year, making it more Vermont Like! The lodge, although dated, is always clean. And Elk is not limiting ticket sales either, as far as I know. Midweek is always like a country club, except holiday weeks of course. In 38 years I've skied Elk they've been constantly improving all aspects of the skiing experience on Their Mountain and that's the reason I'm an Elkaholic.... Oh yea... they opened 2 more trails from the top today and guns are blasting.. Steeze.. you've been invited several times to enjoy a day at Elk and have always stubbornly resisted. Let me know when you're coming and I'll buy your lift ticket...maybe you'll find something nice to say about Elk in at least one of your 78k posts..... Rummy... Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

I was mostly ready to press after adding the rabbet to the core, I just needed to cut some glass and carbon so I pulled the press out and pressure tested it to make sure I did not have any leaks. I hit about 30 psi and I could hear air leaking so I knew I had some work to do. I used wood to crimp the ends of the fire hose when I built the press mainly because wood is much easier to work with than steel. I guess it was not quite enough, so I put on my big boy pants and started cutting and drilling steel. Original crimp to close off the fire hose. The way it should have been done originally. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

So, I had some plans do uphill at Park City but I’m not good with plans. I am GREAT at loosing things. in 2020, I left behind (err lost) my Garmin forerunner 235, AirPods, and Nintendo Switch. RIP electronics. In like 2015, I dropped my car key in the sewer and fortunately my brother went in to get it. Just in case, I brought my spare key on this trip. it’s 2021 and I guess I haven’t changed much. turns out, I also left one of my skis in the Brighton parking lot. So, I made the trek back to Brighton to retrieve it, which affected my original ski plan 🙈 Instead ... i dusted off my atomic skis and did some ski touring in the Wasatch on Mill D to Dog Lake. I parked in the Spruces lot and crossed the road. I found the spot through a Facebook group and downloaded the Wasatch Backcountry Skiing map that was highly recommended by my BC friends. i haven’t toured since at least 2018-19 and I haven’t really worked out since Christmas. It was exhausting. I blame it on the altitude. Pretty cool that they have a spot to check your beacon though. I really used the opportunity to take a photo (aka, catch my breath). I thought. Oh wait. I should snap a photo of my skis as I sang Kelly Clarkson, “Catching my breath, letting it go / Turning my cheek for the sake of this snow...” I think approx 1/4 mile in, you bear left. You’re basically ski touring on a road near houses. eventually the houses stop and there’s a gate. You go left and the skin track narrows a bit. I passed a few people. There’s a guy on the distance in the photo below. This is looking down to the beginning part of the trail. the sun started to set and I needed to pick up Wally from dog daycare by 7. No idea of the distance because the “Nordic skiing” function on my Apple Watch doesn’t track distance or elevation. (Miss ya garmin forerunner! I hope you’re in a better place) After of like 45 minutes of touring, I stripped the skins and turned around. It was great to get out and switch up my after work routine. Then, I headed back into SLC to get Wally and my GPS somehow (....) directed me to the Liquor Store instead. I was like damnnn beer is cheap. $2.15. Turns out, it’s $2.15 PER beer.. they definitely have beer laws despite no law claws. Then I saw these ones and I just couldn’t 😂 Made it this far? Hope you’re not asleep like Wally..

Tomorrow I get the first part of the COVID vaccine. Here's to hoping some normalcy follows in the next year 💉

Nah, we had a really fun week and no weird occurrences at all. Except when Salty accused the hot springs shuttle driver of double charging him. And when we were at the cook your own meat place and he ran down to the downstairs grill past the empty upstairs one cause there were girls down there and then a whole group of dudes came over and c-blocked him. And when Pops got super drunk and was talking about the waitresses ass-ets. To the waitress. Okay, maybe a couple stories. I’m sure they can fill you in on the embarrassing/stupid shit I did. But Salty without the internet or Doug to impress is actually pretty normal to be around.

Free @saltyant

1. it's the new york post. the first "related article" i see in their sidebar is about kanye getting a divorce. sure, he did post up in jackson hole to record an album and i think i've seen pictures of him on skis, but i wouldn't call that related 2. that article doesn't say anything more than hunter's own PR, aside from adding Greene County positive case numbers (sort of). definitely more going on behind the scenes that hasn't been confirmed yet, but hey it's a weird ski season and most of us are still getting our laps in. can't ask for too much more than that right now.

I forget who it was, but whoever it was that recommended indenting a beer can below the opening for a smoother pour is both a gentleman and a scholar.

I know it gets tracked out quick but what was probably the best ski day of my life was a rider of the storm day at the bird.

Haven’t banned anyone in awhile. That felt good. Carry on.

@saltyant if you cunt up @GSSucks’s thread one more time, you’re banned. Don’t even react to this post. Thank you for your understanding.

Absolute titty sparkles ! Your core work is amazing ! A person could make good skis and never rabbet the tips and tails, your getting super high level !!! If you ever want to make any ski in your head for others I'll gladly commission a pair. Whatever you want to make.

I think it was 2 consecutive nights after dinner. Still impressive.

Oh, and Salty ate an entire pumpkin pie. That’s not weird it just deserves to be recognized.

Wrong. Fake News.... I thought you were done commenting in the Elk thread this year...? That lasted about 2 minutes.. Sent from my SM-T867V using Tapatalk

Sausage Sunday.... Although, the spread that you and your crew put up for us was phenomenal as well. Sausage Sunday is still something to experience once in your life.

Doug’s just being a wet blanket

No need to flex, he can be free.

Not the semi-fun kind of sugar. More of the quicksand variety. Complete with hidden sugar bumps that keep me from opening it up on razors and nightmare dream. But in an effort to not salty up this tr. I'm still having a shit ton of fun!

Looks empty and thats the best condition

Update! I know everyone has been on the edge of their seats for months now, but it has snowed and I've got a few miles on the Tubbs now. Overall, very pleased with them. The boa binding makes putting them on and off a breeze and they're much more lightweight than I thought they'd be. The shoes really don't impact your stride at all, you can walk fairly normally in them, and it's easy to feel unaware you're wearing the shoe. The float isn't as good as I had hoped but I dont really plan to use these in particularly deep snow or particularly isolated trails so I'm happy to live with it. It's also worth mentioning the grip on hardpack is pretty great. Only complaint I have is that I've slipped out of the binding a few times, but I think that's more due to the shape of my boots. The binding can be put back on without taking your glove off anyway, so it isn't the end of the world, yet. Goal for the purchase was buy something that was easy and comfortable enough to operate so my wife wouldn't put her nose up to snowshowing while also performing well on the trails I'd like to use them on. I'd say the Tubb's RDG hits that goal.

All this elk talk and the only thing I can think of is how badly I regret not going last year.

WJW Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

Just to clear things up, this is my video not Salty’s, he’s in some of it though. The only part of this one that is sped up in the obvious glitchy part at about 2:00. Still not sure what happened there, it wasn’t there before the encoding process started. My laptop was fighting me too much to redo it though. The rest is real time, fat boy rest breaks and all. Salty did a video too and posted it, but this one is mine.

You really dont know what you're talking about... Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

Thanks for finding this. Johnny law could probably find Salty some powder baskets for his polls. I find poles to be most useful in the bumps and on flats. To make rhythmic pole plants while blasting down lazy mile is kind of asinine although I’m not a level 2 instructor so what do I know.

I like his steamboat perder video although he sped it up to double time. I’ll be back up at Blue tomorrow for opening. Looks like nice weather. Maybe the guns will be back on for a little refresh.

The flailing arm pole plants! As long as you're having fun @saltyant, that's all that matters!

That’s @enjoralas

Hunter closed tomorrow too. What does "excluded out of work" even mean? Maybe worth hiring someone who speaks fluent English to post these updates?

STFU x 2

Son of a bitch!!!....That's a major faux pas..

STFU

@GSSucksFantastic work and youre extremely talented, but you know you can just buy a pair of RTMs?

Why ski if your not gonna track stats....

I've used the tape/super glue method to hold stuff down a bunch of times...It works well for templates...After seeing how thin the layers were while constructing my splitboard I can only imagine how delicate the tip and tail profiles must be..Looks like good work.....

Better get there early.

TFTI. I gotta get up to Vermont real soon! PASR day @RidgeRacer??

1/6/21. Excellent conditions. Groomed soft packed powder. Overcast so visibility was not the best. Snizzle and no wind. 7 trails open from the top. Chippewa and Seneca ungroomed. Bar is open and caught with a lot of the regulars. Lodge and Bar have occupancy limits. CDC rules, and masks are required everywhere and enforced. 6 person limit in mens bathroom....??.... If purchasing tickets on line you can pick them up in lower parking lot and start your day riding the quad to the top, and skip the Elkwagon ride. Now back at TLCITW in front of the fire, building up the coals for steaks later... Life is Good!! [emoji2] Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

So life got a little busy, then it snowed and I wanted to ski tour so I took a bit of a break on working on these. They are now out of the press and deflashed. Im pretty sure I am going to have some issues on this pair but time will tell as I ski them I guess. Its a really fun and interesting learning experience for me. Shaped core, tip and tail fill with sidewalls before attaching anything. Attaching the sidewalls to the core, just some simple super glue and clamps. This shows the bottom of the core after the sidewalls have been attached, I used a new method to attach the core blank to the profiling jig and it worked out really well. Tape the bottom of the core, and also tape the jig and use super glue to glue the tape together, it easily comes apart which is critical when the core gets thin. Core blank glued on the profile jig. Core after it is profiled, on this pair the core is 8mm thick under foot and tapers to 2mm in the tip and the tail. The tip and tail fill that I buy is also 2mm thick so it all lays up very nicely. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Action shots?! That is boner doner right there 🍆

Skiing at Blue today did not suck. What a great morning. Just enough snow to take it from a 5 to an 8.7.

Politicians walk a fine line with getting the vaccines. For some reason people look to them for what to do with medical decisions instead of, you know, healthcare professionals, so it's a double edged sword. Turn down the vaccine and say that they should go to healthcare workers first and risk looking like you're avoiding a vaccine and sowing doubt or take it right away when you know you don't really need it over other more deserving people. The theater of national politics really gets in the way of actual usefulness in most cases.

I wish there was some incentive to get the vaccine like that. Literally pay people to take it. People would be lining up in seconds and we would be on a path to recovery a lot sooner.