C1erArt

First chair on the quad, all by my lonesome. ☺️ Other than a starter on Paradise and a cookie run down Challenge, spent the day on Switch out of the wind or fighting the wind on Main. Razors closed, I think for light work. Corrals were half full by 10:45 so I took off. Slopeside parking area roped off for buses. Saw an eagle flying around their nest across the street.

Crowds were pretty thin this week.

Slopes in good shape with the exception of Tut’s lane. Razors was open, and in great shape. Apparently it was closed yesterday for work on the lighting system. Apparently, they are blowing the LED bulbs. Main Street lift still closed at rope drop. Switchback was the run of the day with no one on either it or Main Street. Main Street was a little soft though. Challenge was also pretty good first thing. The slopeside parking lot was not roped off today. Several coaches and the school bus were parked across the street. All the slopes were holding up well when I left at 10:30. Was on the lift with a distant relation of the Elk ski area owner who passed away recently. Said it was up for sale, but he hadn’t heard if there was anyone bidding.

New blown snow on Lazy, and Freefall had grippy snow on top and groomed snow on the headwall. Main and Switch were deserted all morning except for one run past a bluecoat training session. New Carv high score on Main today.

Started with paradise on the first civilian quad chair, and then several runs down razors because I thought they were going to close it, which never happened. Razors was pretty solid but in good shape. By the time I left at 11 some clear icy spots were beginning to show. Freefall was in great shape, but once paradise started getting a little crowded it was just too little bang for the buck fighting the wind on lower Paradise. A quick trip over to Switch and Main from the Challenge chair. Good conditions, but the winds seemed to be a lot higher on Main Street. Nobody over there. A few more runs down razors and called it a day. 14° at the start and 22° when I left at 11. Light crowd for a Tuesday. Snow conditions were easy on the legs. Got my son‘s old atomic GS 11, 171 cm skis out of the attic over the weekend. Waxed and edged them and gave them a shot today. Kind of slow turning with a 22 m radius, but really stable, fast and incredibly quick edge to edge with the race plates on them. Fun to ski, but heavy. Think I still prefer the quick turns of a shorter radius ski though.

25 is the max, if I am driving a sustained speed of 15 or 20 on the flats I might switch out of 4 low. If I go too slow in 4 high for extended periods I start smelling the gear oil. After watching the recovery videos I got a kinetic recovery rope in additional to my tow strap. Not sure I’d have the guts to actually use it. I subscribe to the philosophy that off road capabilities are to get you out of trouble, not into it. Plus, it is really my wife’s jeep.

Last week in the soft snow, Upper Main Street was all trenched up from advanced snow boarders riding their edges. Just saying…..

I like to put it in low any time I am going under 20 for a sustained period, especially when climbing a hill. Easier on the transmission and transaxle. Had to get my 2015 JK front locker replaced because it wouldn’t come out of being locked. Pretty pricey. Should have had air lockers put in instead of getting the stock locker repaired. Love watching the off road rescue videos on Facebook.

Lockers didn’t help either? Never had my jeep out in really deep snow.

Other than my normal klutziness in the lift line, yes.

Oz ditched his buddies and got solo on the first quad chair. So my second chair score became the third chair. Switch and Main were Ok, but the ROTD was definitely Razors. Was holding up well when I left at 11, with a lot of pre-teens starting to run it with their parents. One run I was about halfway down the head wall and saw someone climbing up, looked around and saw a stray ski pole. Tried to stop to pick it up, but was going too fast, caught an edge and went for a tumble. No good deed goes unpunished. IMG_0818.mov

I loitered in the lodge to keep dry.

Good report of conditions. Just one other person at the quad with me at rope drop. Started with Paradise as usual to be sure my knees were still working. The approach to Razors was a little hard, but once on the slope it was grippy except for some groomer cookies at the bottom of the head wall which were completely invisible. Top of TCS was pretty frozen, but the slope wasn’t too bad. After a couple of runs on razors, headed over to the main street lift and saw J Law cruising down lower Main. Main Street was pretty nice, but Switch was superb. After a few runs went back to Razors. Switched over to my Head Kores today, which was a good call. I must have looked like a drowned rat changing out of my boots in the lodge. People were starting to arrive and there was even a bus in the lot. After the first ride up I didn’t have to share a chair or even share a slope.

In my case convo overheard on the lift between 2 apparent insiders (not blue coats).

Razors was pretty clean first thing. Then the softer snow on it got a little trenched up. Demo day was for the ski industry only.