JFskiDan

Day 2 for me in the books. Damn, what a nice day. Oddly enough, it sounded like today was going to be a wash based on what sounded like rain overnight. Woke up at the house to 2” of pretty dense snow at the house. Snow on the mountain was a lot less dense and made for some terrific runs in paradise bowl first thing, and skied around a bit there and kept getting some nice untracked runs. off to East River lift to play in some trees i found yesterday, which were pretty much untracked. this is when we split off from Barb, before meeting back up for lunch. Went up the North Face lift which is a t-bar. Here you will find some really interesting stuff, you can take many routes, trees, chutes, and some open faces. Snow in the North Face was nice and soft. Make no mistake though, you will find rocks available for a base grind almost anywhere. tomorrows activities will include some stuff off the high lift, i think, depending on what todays sun does to the snow in that area. Looks like the reset button gets pressed sometime tomorrow when the snow rolls in, and should continue into saturday i think. after lunch we ran some groomers over to the umbrella bar, and relaxed in the sun. A quick easy groomer back to the base and right on the bus back to town. no lunch pic Doug, but we are taking Barb out for dinner tonight, so maybe a few snaps latter on tonight.

You guys made the right call. Got the goods and got out of Dodge. Well done.

North Face. Goal of the day for me was to not eat shit on the t-bar. Goal accomplished. Some real nice stuff off north face. Steeps, trees, rocks, and chutes. stopped to see Rambo. Not sure pic does it justice. at least i think that pic is rambo. I had to hold my arm up and over the edge to get the pic.

In my short tenure there, yes. Its just awesome when their marketing department can add to weirdness that goes on there.

Done with day 1. Great skiing again with Barb. Visibilty was an issue for most of the day. 1st thing it was better up top, then the clouds moved up, went a little lower, was better still a little flat. Right as we went in for lunch it started snowing. After lunch it was sunny for a bit then got socked in again. So lots of different weather conditions today. Snow was really good all day, just got a touch sticky towards the end. Majority of the snow in the trees i went to play in was decent, but i did find some stuff that had been softened and refrozen. Doubtful we will see much sun this trip, some snow tonight and tomorrow am, and it looks like possibly some significant snow friday night into saturday. barb and i left about 3, Dom is getting a few runs in to close.

Its in the middle of a neighborhood. There are houses right across the street. Very interesting. snow has moved in. Loaded baked potato lunch and back out for some more. No cell service on the mountain.

A little socked in today. Moving around to find some good light. Snow is really nice.

skis are 1 bag. sometimes you will hear skis and boots are 1 bag, but please dont check your boots. carry them on.

if you are flying from philly to denver, i would assume southwest would be the airline of choice. bags fly free!

my take on this is, they were sending this deal to people that bought a triple ticket for 19/20, but instead sent them to everyone by accident. Does the confusion with all of this really come as any surprise to anyone?

Travel day. uneventful flights. Gunnison airport is a lot like Jackson Hole, tiny little airport with like 2 gates. Barb met me at the airport for a quick ride to her place at Crested Butte. Went for a nice walk around town, which is a really cool place. looks like some periodic snow in the forecast, with some warmer temps mixed in. Might be some decent snowfall for Friday night. This is what you get when you stay with Barb. I forget what this is called, but it was awesome. Ba Dom arrives tomorrow, Barb and I will be at the mountain tomorrow for opening. Cant wait to check this place out.

Looks downright awesome.

Awesome video. i actually watched it sometime over the weekend.

Will be there both days in hopes to fully abuse NMDW. Unless its closed for a torch light parade, a scavenger hunt or whatever.

Pond skim is the 22nd. "Closing Time" by semisonic is going off in my head. Sunday, March 22nd (tentative date) Our pond skim contest is set for Sunday, March 22nd, the tentative last day of the season! Help us celebrate another great year by skimming, or plunging, our Vista plunge!

Thats pretty sweet. i have always wanted to make a table out of a slab. i got bored last year (wasting time and money) and built a kitchen table just out of 2x8 fir that i beat the crap out of with chain, hammer, nails etc. Turned out pretty good, but i lack alot of tools for finish carpentry. I think i want to try putting a trail map down on a coffee table i made and doing that clear epoxy over it.

Mid Gad is my fav place to stop mid day on a bluebird day. the view is just awesome. The view doesnt suck from the new place at the top of the tram either. @Ski2Live Live2Ski See what pictures can do to a trip report?

Sure does. Phila-Florida-Seattle-Denver

Coming from someone that loves to blow stuff up, shoot stuff, light stuff on fire, and smash up cars, i have to agree. Fireworks would probably end all parties at Blue.

That "buy the mountain for a day" may only be for the weekdays when they are not open. I dont believe that applies to the weekend.

What did the signs actually say? "icy as fuck" ? "barely skiable" "dangerous slope. shouldnt be open" ? Did they groom it?

I dont understand the lift issues either. I get that things break, stocking "spare parts" is like spinning the wheel of fortune IMO, but i get there are some switches and whatnot that will go bad. I can have an old truck totally rebuilt to make run like new again, but its still an old truck, and not worth doing. Im not sure the lift issues really cause them to lose tons of money. Usually one of them is working, and people dont really have a way of knowing there will be lift issues before buying a ticket. Also, we just continue to show up, and give them our money for season passes, but there isnt really much we can do but continue with hope they get things straightened out. . Imagine if both were down at the same time one of the past 2 weekends? holy shit would there be chaos at the ticket office. If they arent going to replace the lifts, they just need to start throwing money at the problem in hopes that one of the darts they throw lands on the bullseye. eventually that method will work.

Nice. Always wanted to check out Platty as well.

Headwall and Evergreen were my favs at Solitude. I also remember Parachute being really gnarly.

Yummy. I think Toast said he would bake some bread as well. Boy, is that a funny sentence.