C1erArt

The kids are working in DC, so rather than head up to New England for our family get-together, we tried this area. Was raining when we drove up Wednesday, snowed all Thursday (about 10"), and was bluebird clear Friday, Sat and Sunday. A nice area with a lot of snow, the front side has about 1000' drop, Top of the Mountain (far right looking down the hill - like Jack Frost it is an upside down mountain - starting at the top) area has some nice blacks. Over on the left side are more greens and blues). Silver Creek area (which is set off from the other areas) has night skiing and a fair amout of parks - kids skied that one night. The real prize was the Western Territory runs - nice 1500 vertical blacks with a double black at the botton half of Shays - half groomed and the left side a little soft and bumped up from the recent snow. I spent most of Friday there - with the high speed lift I got in 25,000' vertical in less than 5 hours (with some of that on the front side). This week is spring break, so a lot of college kids came in this weekend, Saturday was a zoo on the front side, but WT was still nice - lift lines not too bad, and mostly serious skiers and boarders. The row of hotels and condos at the top of the mountain was pretty packed, but we had a house just down from the top road which was pretty quiet, and had a shuttle to the areas. Definitely would go again, especially since we picked up season passes for next year (including last week) for $225, less than what we would have paid for day passes. Also a link to a boring GoPro of Shay's run (long runout between the upper black and lower double black). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDXq1F_GdU4&index=3&list=PLaSIOfaw0ggrK6F2cJeFj5X1o1_ilHtYA Took about 4 hours to get down there on 81, then 3 hours on the back roads of WV. Hadn't been down there since boating the area in the 80s. Reminded me of that old whitewater book:

I noticed that too - we have been buying the family pass which saved about $100 between my wife and I.

If I was able to only ski on weekdays, Blue would be pretty attractive, but I just can't hack it on weekends, even first thing in the morning. Plus when we were there when our son was racing, it was full of death cookies and ball bearings. Skied it in March last year on the 'any mountain season pass' plan on a weekday, and had a nice time - liked Dreamweaver a lot, and was almost able to work myself up to where I could ski Razers without skidding, but then it got too crowded to try it. Also not thrilled about all the twisty intersecting trails, I like to turn when I want to, not when the trail forces everyone to. The view from the top of Blue would be pretty nice too if not for the legacy of industry in the area.

Skipped Sunday, and hit JF this morning. More than made up for Saturday - Rivershot is pretty nice when you don't have to worry about coming over the headwall and running someone over. Enough cover under the E Mtn chairlift to run it all the way down, and even from the top of the lift down to Lightning. About 9 degrees, sunny and a little windy on Challenge, but not on E Mtn. Was a little worried they would skip grooming Sunday night, but everything was in great shape. Nice thing about frozen cord is that it lets you know when you are skidding your turns. Been having some problems with my Square Jellyfish bluetooth volume control I have velcroed to my glove - the cold weather is making it unreliable connecting to my iPhone. Stuck a toe warmer pad on it and it worked a lot better. Also tried the Navionics ski app rather than Ski Tracks. Gave very consistent readings in the mid 40s, and its nice because you can see where on the run you hit top speed. 15 runs, 8000 vertical in 2 hrs 20 minutes.

Got there a little late, because I forgot my poles and had to go back (too involved with putting cold weather wax on last night), top lot was Subarus only, but weather was nice, about 8 degrees, overcast and wind blowing down the hill. I headed right over to east mountain, which was fortunate because I only got a couple of runs in on Floyds before they closed it for the racer kids: And the red coats were running a couple of sleds down Rivershot (can't complain about them too much since they gave me a free ride off of Floyds 5 or 6 years back). Unfortunately, with how narrow Rivershot is, if you have to stop to be sure the headwall is clear, what's the point? Skied Challenge and Tbolt and a little of the glade until about 10 when the little kids came over, then without east mountain to escape to, that was pretty much the end of the day. Tbolt headwalls were groomed to give a little more air than I expected a couple of times. Looks like another year with a narrow slope at the bottom. One thing that was nice about JF was the wide slopes, but they aren't bothering to fill them in anymore, making it harder to avoid slower skiers. They did groom the right 'fan' of the first headwall on Rivershot - was pretty scratchy Friday before last, but once they closed Floyds, there was nowhere to go at the bottom. Working from home next week, so hope to get out for a couple of hours a few days. Last two weeks was out at a company that made hip and knee replacement and trauma hardware (plates, pins and screws), so I got to see what's in my knee without an x-ray.

Up for a couple of hours. Trails were in great shape, hard packed and very fast. Glades were pretty deadly though - looks like they got some rain at the end of the storm Monday (trees were glazed) and there was a pretty good crust except where the groomer went. Some tracks off-piste, but no one was making any turns: Have to wait for them boarders to pack things down. Floyds was in good shape, but a little bumpy from the groomer, and coming over the top the slope was in total shadow when I got there around 2, so it was pretty much skiing blind. A lot of people hitting the bumps on Exhibition. Left side of T-Bolt slope still not filled in.

Closing Floyds every weekend would be the pits for the rest of us.

Was up with the wife Sunday afternoon for a couple of hours - Floyds was reopened. Looking at PARACING.ORG, that was the last race at Jack Frost. Interesting that they switched from Challenge to Floyds - makes it a lot more interesting for the racers. But is was surprising nice, especially after radio station day on Friday. Challenge and TBolt were still fairly flat, and Floyds was nice. Still hope they fill in to the left of the lower tower on TBolt - makes it a lot easier to stay out of the way of the rentals and kiddies.

My daughter tore her ACL playing soccer. It didn't hurt, she just heard a pop and when she tried to keep running on it it was unstable (the knee didn't 'lock' when extended). We found out afterwards that girls are 8x more likely than boys to tear their ACL playing soccer. She wasn't in any pain, and waited several months before getting it operated on. Unlike my tibia plateau fracture - that hurt right from the start.

Seems to be - they appear to be bandaging her near the elevator jump off (from her facebook page):

Got here at lunchtime, lodge and lots are crowded but slopes are nice. Groomed packed powder. Sunny, 26 degrees and wind blowing up the hill slowing things down. Several inches new snow. East mountain pretty quiet. Some cover in Mad Tree Glade.

Spending 24 hours a week travelling isn't what I would call lucky, but it has been a nice project. My wife came out for a month in September and we toured around a little.

Stayed over the weekend at our client site in Butte, and skied Discovery above Anaconda with some of our project team Friday and Saturday. Full coverage, although no fresh powder, did mostly blacks and blues, and looked at the double blacks from the ski-lift. Skied a couple of runs on the 'front-side' but spent most of the days on the back-side. No road access to the back side, although they are in the process of putting in a road from Phillipsburg. Nice long runs, 1500 vertical or so, mostly groomed, fast and wide open, although we did a couple runs on Orphan Girl that was a little bumpy. Powder stashes were pretty crusty after some freeze/thaw cycles, so we stayed out of the trees (which was fine with me). Nice area, mostly for locals, and not a destination resort (no condos). Didn't take any photos, but a lot of videos using my new GoPro remote velcroed to my right glove (left glove is my Square Jellyfish audio controller). Remote was really nice once I remembered to charge it. Started and stopped it a lot - I find its easier to splice segments together rather than separate one long video. Back to Jack Frost this weekend if they don't cancel the flights.

Haven't been there since Sunday, but the glades are pretty thin, with the exception of elevator glade. There are some skiable sections of Challenge glade, but not top to bottom - more pop into the glade and pop out when it gets thin. Subaru Winterfest is not much - maybe an outside bar-be-que, and parking in the closest lot is closed unless you have a Subaru. Not too many extra crowds because of it.

A couple areas of ungroomed snow but no bumps yet except elevator glade. So cold I couldn't get my boots off until they warmed up a little. Heading out this afternoon with the DW.

$10, kind of a bargain if you have a group. Fills up fast though.

Got there early and hit the slopes right at 8. -1 degrees but sunny, skied until 11 when it had warmed up to 6 degrees. Splurged for slope-side parking because I wanted to switch skis sometime during the day. Wind was blowing down the hill which was nice. Did a couple runs on Challenge as the race teams slalom gates were being set up and on TBolt before heading over to East Mountain. Floyds and Rivershot were in great shape. The grooming on Rivershot provided more interest than usual - the left side was a little mounded, rather than the uniform drop off they usually have. East Mountain never really crowded up - a little too cold for the rentals to come over. Saw JFskiDan over on east. A lot of good boarders there too. Tried out my GS skis, but switched back to my Elans - they are almost as fast and a lot more flexible and fun. Probably retire them for good. Not too many people in Challenge glade (still a little thin) or on the elevator. They have Exhibition full width, but still haven't filled in the left of the towers on T-Bolt - hope they do, because it is nice if TBolt gets crowded with slower skiers - they usually don't like it over that side. Was also out yesterday early before the WMMR crowd hit. E Mtn got crowded an hour after opening, and Floyds seemed a little uneven on the right side - got my teeth rocked on one run.

Got a couple of hours in first thing this morning. A lot of red coats out first thing.

I was keeping my pass in my thigh pocket, and the scanner would keep missing it. Moved it to my right hand handwarmer pocket and they pick it up every time. Just can't forget it if I change jackets.

Nice slopes early in the morning. Met for a lift ride up with JFskiDan. Things started getting crowded with rentals around 10:00, and with no East Mtn to go to I moseyed on home. Tomorrows another day.

Some videos of the action on Tbolt on Monday. http://youtu.be/lPPG6K1-HwE http://youtu.be/YtpbOrjWTWk My helmet speakers came through on the last clip.

RV forum, that is. Can't see my iphone screen with the small 4S phone and the new keyboard designed for the 6.

Don't let her hear you say that (although I am the one that usually unloads the dishwasher). DW is dear wife, and DH is dear husband, don't you guys know internet acronyms? [emoji12] Although those two are used almost exclusively on the old fart's RV.

Was out with the DW late Monday. Looks like they made snow all Sunday night. Just the top of tbolt was flat, but plenty of piles all the way down. The slope was posted as closed but pretty much every one was poaching it from a crossover from Challenge and having a great time (I valued my dignity and knees much though). Didn't walk over to look at E mtn. Conditions were OK otherwise, but a big difference from the cord first thing in the morning. Played around with a new Gopro - nice being able to watch the previous run on my iphone on the long ride back up to be sure the camera wasn't pointed up at the sky. Hope the slopes survive the rain and warm temps Ok. Everyone have a great holiday and hope you all get some nice new gear.

Back from a quick morning set of runs. A lot of snow blown on Exhibition and East Mountain. Challenge was freshened up a little. Groomer started on T bolt about 9 AM. Race team is back more crowds today.