C1erArt

Started with a cold gray morning, temp around 15. Packed powder conditions, Subaru day. Challenge glade getting pretty bumpy in the center, and a little bare on the inner track. Floyds was closed due to GS gates for the race team, and half of Challenge for slalom gates, so did Rivershot, Elevator, C glade and Thunderbolt. Started on my Rossi 9S Oversizes and had a great time on the groomers, but pretty bouncy on the bumps. Switched to the PEs and they were a lot easier to control in the trees. Saw JFSkiDan go off Elevator a couple of times. Started to snow and Floyds opened up later in the morning, but was pretty ripped up. Needed a quick grooming to take out the ruts and scraped off areas. Did a couple of runs on the bumps. The groomers held up well up to when I called it a day around noon. Lodge a little crowded, but the slopes were nice. Was out at Seven Springs earlier in the week and got used to the high speed six pack and the longer runs on the North slope - back to the Frost slow lifts. Top of Floyds:

Wore my steep and cheap green soft-shell today.

Slept in again and skied from about 9:30 to 12. Sunny and in the 50s. Slow corn snow slopes. No lift lines but slopes a little crowded. No one in a hurry to get down. Ran the glades a couple of times, Floyds and Rivershot, but mostly did tbolt. Put purple wax on last night. A little sticky in some spots. Should have stayed with red. Also didn't scrape them down enough after waxing - a little squirrley on the flats. Since I wasn't skiing with anyone, and couldn't embarrass them by being with me, practiced my backward skiing and mogul technique (or lack of).

Suspect they are waiting until after Christmas week to blow snow on Elevator - shudder at the thought of someone pizza wedging down it. Wimped out on Elevator yesterday and started on my left foot with one turn before the rocks, rather than on my right foot with two turns needed.

Slept in, got to the mountain about 12:30. Slopes fairly crowded with a 5 min lift line. Warm, about 40, nice with my red wax job. Lapped challenge glade and tbolt. Glade nice and smooth developing soft bumps - great with my PEs. Will be a different story when it freezes.

Started off at 8:30, pretty cold but no wind. Sunny first thing in the morning. Slopes packed powder and fairly quiet. Slopes in great shape except elevator which is pretty iffy. Got too far over right and it was kind of nasty. Exhibition moguls are getting bigger. Top of e mtn. Elevator Line for tickets a lot shorter than yesterday at this time.

Elevator is off the right side at the top of the last head wall of Rivershot. There is a somewhat skiable glade on skier's right of the headwall above that. Risk it is off to the right at the top of Floyds. There is a flat section right at the top of Floyds, a cliffy jump, then trees below it. Between Floyds and the rhododendrons.

Cloudy and warmer today, sun coming out around 10:30 Elevator a little better, but still hardpack on top, but now fluff on the bottom. C glade mixed hard pack on the slots and soft stuff mixed in. Slopes still pretty quiet. Looking back up at the headwall on challenge glade.

Elevator definitely needs some snow blown on it. Last year they groomed the bottom run out and it made a huge difference.

Judging from the coating on the tree tops, they blew snow towards risk it. Saw a couple of race kids go off it b

Got there about noon, lodge was more crowded than last weekend, but still plenty of room. Saw from phresheez that PARidgeRacer was around somewhere. Headed over to east mountain and ran Floyds for the first time this season. Saw JFSkiDan and PARidgeRacer from the lift go down upper Elevator glade and off Elevator. Tried to get a helmet cam, but it didn't turn out. Ran Elevator a bunch of times, not much room on the right for that second turn. PEs were grippy enough to bite into the hard pack. Run out was a little iffy. Finished up with Happy Time (new sign on Challenge Glade) and an aborted run on the Exhibition moguls (light too flat). Snow picked up around 3, so decided to get home while I still could. Great day. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pc8FWqeqtjY

Hit the slopes around 2pm for a couple of hours with the family. First time out this year for everyone except myself. Lapped Thunderbolt and Challenge, I hit the glade and Exhibition moguls a couple of times. Quiet, sunny, and fairly cold when the wind picked up and the sun got low. Hardpack with some soft stuff on top. A little scraped off in spots on the head walls. A nice day before the crowds hit next week. Helmet cam of the moguls on exhibition. No more chunks, but the bottom half is getting a little worn down. Ignore my ski tips in the video - my form isn't the greatest. Flat light late in the afternoon. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTiUE_J9eHI I've been using Everytrail on my iPhone to log my runs, but tried Phresheez today. Like the statistics. iPhone Phresheez log

If you need the boot tighter, get some Dr Sholl's molefoam (not moleskin) and add some padding to inside of the tongue of the boot liner.

Those bumps. I am trying to conn people onto skiing them into some sort of reasonable shape so I don't kill myself on them next weekend.

Embarrassing for Jack Frost or embarrassing to ski on? It's the latter for me. Especially when the development class is running them. A couple more days (a little warm weather would help to unfreeze the lumps) and they will be OK. A problem I've always had is that no one puts up a starter set of moguls. A bumped up Floyds is beyond my capabilities, and even the bump run at Elk is intimidating. Main Street at Blue is nice, but who want's to put up with Blue on weekends to get to them?

Hit the slopes at 8:15, lapped challenge, rivershot and challenge glade. Slopes rippin fast. Cold (about 20) and a little foggy. Blowing snow on Floyds still. Didn't see anyone going off elevator yet. Tried upper elevator glade a couple of times, wasn't pretty at all, but made it through ok with only minor damage to my ego. Easier now than when the bumps between the trees get huge. Second day on my eBay special 164 PEs. Like them a lot. Fast and easy to turn. Did one park glade. Nice and mellow. Then a couple runs of exhibition bumps. They blew snow over them last night, so they are getting into shape. Taking a break around 11. No lift lines (didn't share a lift all morning - not taking a shower probably helped) and if you pick your slope, no one in front of you. Race kids on the right side of lower challenge.

He is the guy in front of me in the glade - Dan.

Some videos from a new GoPro helmet cam (wide angle, but not the hi def one). No music either. Like the way the trees just bent out of my way when I went past them in the glade Challenge Glade http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bCeBnbqdq0 Challenge Glade with Dan http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aHzQuVC5z0 Solitude and River Shot (blowing snow on Floyds) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWg3jJ7Qnes And finally, by Every Trail log. Up and down, up and down. Every Trail

If you have a micro adjust buckle, you can twist the buckle part (on the outside of the boot) to screw it in or out. If you don't have that, or need more adjustment, you can unscrew the receiver part of the buckle (on the inside of the boot, and move it (along with the nut) to another of the pre-drilled holes. It is a standard torx type screw with a little nut on the inside of the plastic part of the boot between the plastic and the liner.

Some videos from a new GoPro helmet cam (wide angle, but not the hi def one). No music either. (editing it now) Challenge Glade Challenge Glade with Dan

2/13 means my hands were too cold to type in 12/18.

Beautiful day, cold at start but a little warmer now. Challenge and one park glades are great. Elevator is very scratchy and lumpy at bottom. They seeded some moguls most of the way down the left side of exhibition. They just need some tlc to smooth them out. Come on people - lets get them skiied into shape.

Top to bottom, both Challenge and the new One Park glade.

Slow skiing sign? What are they? Got some eBay PEs. Could see the shadow of the rooster tails coming off the backs out of the corner of my eye.