C1erArt

Using your poles in getting off isn't as bad as pushing off the chair.

Much as I like JF, I have to admit you are right. Pretty short. The challenge is just taking that first step off the top into the steepest part of the slope. After the first turn or two, its all about controlling your speed so you don't hit the crudish bottom going too fast.

Challenge glade a little icier than it was yesterday afternoon - might be better later in the day. As if there aren't enough shots of Elevator, here is a different perspective with a ski patroller about to launch.

Warmer 35 at 8am, mostly cloudy no wind. Slopes in usual great shape. Elevator right side is anlittle bumped, but middle and left is still wide open

I've seen them doing this at Whiteface. They take a run with a fair amount of loose snow, and use a small cat. The cat moves forward, then reverses one tread spinning to the right, then moves forward and it reverses the other tread and spins to the left. It does this up the run, then turns and does the same thing going down the run next to the line it just made. It does this about a dozen times, and you have a nice mogul run. What the technique is for using the plow in front (if they lift it and lower it in the process), but I think they don't use the grinder in back. I'm sure there is a lot more skill to it than it appears watching it. Sure wish JF would seed a mogul field - they are a lot more fun than the natural mogul buildup after a snow dump.

Don't know why the image didn't turn out above. Between the cold, small screen, needing reading glasses and the end of the chair lift ride approaching, I tend to make some typos. You can see the rocks on the bottom left (on top of the little cliff) just before you would swing around the tree with the snow on the trunk and shoot down the slot between the boulders. Its a lot steeper than it looks in the photo - I was having a hard time holding my edge taking this shot. Respected by bases too much to try it (and I'm keeping to that story). Left about 2, and the snow was still great. Like spring skiing without the mashed potatoes and ice. Wifey finally tried on the Burning Luvs I bought her and loved them.

Snow on risk it looks great, but there is not enough. There are some rocks showing on the entrance to the slot between the boulders.

Warmer. Partly sunny mid 40s snow soft and carve able bit still fast. East mtn and elevator in good shape and not at all crowded.

No once you hit the bottom you have to turn to your left to avoid the trees between the bottom and floyds. But you can start on the right at top and traverse down and to your left across the face o the hill and shoot out onto the bottom of river shot carrying a lot of speed. But it's more fun to make linked turns down the face.

Don't let the b00 mountain people annoy you - to them anything with a particle size of less than 1/2 inch is powder . I'll be up Friday, unfortunately it was back to work for me on Monday.

Since you asked - jfskidan (aka you know who) waiting to go over the edge at Elevator (his orange hood doesn't show as clearly in the picture as it did by eyeball). One other PASRer on his way down. Elevator from the other side (not a PASRer though as far as I know). Doesn't look as steep from this vantage as my gut said it was. One of those slopes where the cookies you kick up on your turns tumble down the slope ahead of you (or maybe I just ski it too slowly).

Cold 14f sunny. Race today on Challenge and the glade is closed also. East mtn in great shape. Lodge crowded with racing families but slopes quiet so far.

I should be there at 8 over on east mtn. Blue/purple jacket Rossi 9s oversize.

The slopes can be pretty ripped up at 4pm, and pristine the next day since there is no night skiing, and they have time to blow if needed and groom everything. But there is tons of snow on the slopes, so if they don't blow there is plenty of base to be able to groom it smooth. But I think the previous poster had it right - the crowd will be in the lodge (they had the keggers stacked up today), not on the slopes, especially not on the east side. Saturday should be great (as long as they pick up all the beer cans).

No, I generally don't ski the slopes he is on.

Fresh snow on all the slopes. A little warmer today. Soft cord on the groomers. Elevator soft, no ice anywhere, carveable and easy to control speed. Blackmores Night type of day. Fast and melllow.

Another great day, 20 degrees at 12 noon on my way out. A little windy with flurries at the lodge, but not noticeable on the black runs. Slopes in pristine condition, soft cord with a little powder on top. Floyds was very smooth and carveable. Elevator windblown and hard, but not glare ice or bumped up. Challenge glade head walls had some pretty big bumps between the trees, but skiing out to the Challenge slope around them and then back into the glade made the flatter sections between the head walls and the bottom third enjoyable. Friday is WMMR day, so yet your skiing in before then.

14 degrees at 8 am. Blowing from the west. Snow flurries. Good day to test your warmest gear. Run of the day is Floyds - more protected from the wind. Some intrepid people running skiers right down Elevator, Challenge glade headwalls pretty bumped up and rutted. Kind of a hard core day. Slopes pretty quiet except for the red (ski patrol) brown (instructors) and green (race team) coats.

Hucking it is absolutely the way you should run it, but the landing looked icy, the light was flat, I didn't have anyone spotting the landing, I didn't want to damage the bark on the trees, 3 crows flew overhead (a bad omen), and the last time I was sledded off Floyds, I said some things when I was under for the operation my wife is still laughing about.

Calling it a day. Still not too crowded. A lot of people on elevator. First drop of Challenge glade getting some monster haystacks. Risk it was doable today. Two must make jump turns.

Challenge glade soft and deep. A lot of work with my 66 waist skis. Be great with Head Monsters.

Warm, no wind, 4" of freshies. Sun starting to peek out. Slopes as smooth as a babies bum. Run of the morning is elevator. Can it get any bettw than this? Only the ski patrol out on the east mountain. A nice feeling of security. Roads to jf are all clear

I find the fiberlene extremely useful for the harder waxes, such as swix blue, green or white for very cold temperatures. If you drip it on, iron it in, let it cool then scrape it (which is what I do for red and purple wax), I find the colder waxes tend to chip when scraping. After I drip the wax on and iron it in, I pull off about a 3 foot length of fiberlene (I usually cut the roll in half so the strip is only 4" wide). This is a little hard to describe, and takes a little practice, but it works great. I start at the tip of the ski (the tip is on my right). I hold the end of the fiberlene in my left hand and the iron in my right. I have the fiberlene covering the first 6" of the tip of the ski and the rest is draped over the tip, down to the floor. I place the iron on the fiberlene which is sandwiched between the iron and the ski. the iron melts the excess wax, and the fiberlene absorbs it. I slowly move down the ski pulling the fiberlene out from under the iron exposing 'fresh' fiberlene to absorb the was as I travel down the ski. So by the time I reach the tail of the ski my left had is stretched out away from the iron, and all the fiberlene has been pulled under the iron and has wax absorbed on it. As you pull the fiberlene out from the left side of the iron, you can see how much wax it is absorbing, and speed up or slow down your pulling the paper from under the wax to suit. For uncoordinated people like myself, doing independent motions with my left and right hand took some practice. The trick is not to use too much excess wax. Also a lot less messy than scraping. You could also do it on warmer waxes, but if you have flat skis, and don't use too much excess wax scraping is a lot quicker. Use the cutout on the scraper to get the wax off the edges, a quick brush with a brass or horsehair brush and you are all set. No scraping needed. I usually wax every second day - I find fileing and diamond stoning the edges to be more valuable than waxing when skiing the northeast.

Sunny and competitively warm. Like Smartass yesterday, we had guests (my sister and 8 year old niece), got there a little late and spent the day on the west side on the greens and blues. Slopes were nice and fluffy, not too crowded, but the lift lines were a lot longer than you will see on the east side. Big crowds getting tickets and in the lodge. JF admin was handling things pretty well and kept things moving. When the niece took a break, we headed over to Challenge. You know its going to be a good day when the trees in the glade are white. Bunch of people running it - a little crusty on the flats, but nice and soft on the headwalls. Didn't make it over to east mountain. Photo is from the chairlift over t-bolt looking across challenge into the glade.

Sunny 14 f, strong west wind. Frozen cord with some blown powder. Run of the day is challenge glade. Wind blew loose snow into it from the slope and it is sweet. No ruts at all