Johnny Law

Jay

I would go with something like a Metron, big power shovel for different kinds of snow and massive side cut for easy turn initiation and all that shit. Atomic skis are well made and the lower level metron's were pretty forgiving. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001IWHY76 All noobs need something that turns easy and is durable, the metron did this very well.

Where you going ? I'm going next year and can't decide between Niseko and Hakuba, Niseko gets more snow but Hakuba has better terrain.....

Well then maybe Jay is back in the mix, 30 mins and they can drink somewhere in CA.

Fix the heal fix the problem... Now seriously tele is cool and a great way to get up the hill but there's a reason only 1 dude has passed that French SAR test on them. No matter how good you may be you will never be able to have the power and precision of similarly skilled locked heal skier. The boots are more comfortable and the pivot point is more natural than AT bindings but that's about it. Your sacrificing alot of down hill capability for what is now a pretty modest uphill gain and really at the end of the day going down is the primary reason you were going up in the first place. Dynafits are lighter and arguably more durable and all of the at bindings have pretty acceptable pivot functions. AT truly is the best of both worlds. There is stuff to explore in pa but really only because your bored, look for power line cuts and petro pipelines. Power lines normally have some small scale brush involved because there only trying to keep plants off the towers. Petro pipelines are pretty much just grass, nearly perfect for skiing. Buckeye operates nearly all the lines in PA so check out their map page and look for something crossing over a good sized hill. http://www.buckeye.com/Default.aspx?tabid=113 Cambria is close to you (assuming your in state college) look for where it crosses Bear Gap....

I can't believe this but I agree with you, Stratton, Okemo, Snow suck fat monkey balls. Go to Stowe end of story.

Nothing secret, its supposed to snow up there this week and they blew some snow a few weeks back when they had the patrol refresher, plan is to blow as much snow as they can in the next few days and see what accumulation they can get. Apart from Killy and maybe a few whales on Snow all the mtns in Vt are pretty much snow less. Jay can see alot of snowfall when others don't but I'd still figure they are looking at the 21st weekend if not later.

I wish just a good friend who lives in Randolph who works with alot of mtn opperations peeps. Good news Mt. Snow will be open the 13th with mother natures cooperation of course.

Word is 48-72 hours of 28 degrees and their open, its supposed to rain thursday but its going to be real close.

Don't know about killy but the vast majority of snow they blew melted with last weekends rain. Someone over at kzone or whatever would have a better idea. Snow's the one who said the 21st not me, though I would also tend to believe they will open earlier if possible. The loaf isn't opening until the 20th and its far colder there than Willimington , VT so who knows how snow making's gone. Cams seem to indicate they haven't started blowing yet...http://www.mountsnow.com/livecamshot.php

I have it on good authority that the beast will open on the 14th with the exception of Sunday River this will be the only hill open next weekend as Snow, Stratton, Smuggs and Stowe plan a 21st opening. Belleayre is kind of a shitty mtn but it would be nice to get back out on snow.

They changed alot about the H1B process so now not only do you have to pay more but they are alot harder to get. Intel needs 10,000 Indians to make better chips, ski industry needs a bunch of South Americans to bump chairs who do you think ends up with the H1's. The ski resort industry as a whole is in a pretty big bind right now, the real $$$ was from housing not from riding. Right now its pretty difficult to find a thousand people who want Mc Mansions at Ascutney therefore lots of places are trying to figure out how you do business in this enviroment. Additionally the big banks who kept the resort conglomerates properly liquid don't feel like lending money to them....tough times ahead for the destination resorts and some of the smaller players.

long term dibs if no one else wants it...pm sent

Down is a super cool insulator light years better than the 99% of the synthetic stuff, Primaloft and co. can't lick down's ball sack. Though like Malozzi said down on its own sucks major balls when it gets wet, all the sudden your oven gets turned off. Most decent company's now mix it with a water proof/resistant layer unless it is strictly for going under a shell. Oakley and Burton will fuck you over on the waterproofing so ignore their offerings. Additionally all down products loose down over time, baffling helps but your going to loose it in the end so don't go too crazy on price unless your taking baths in 100 dollar bills and such. Lastly all down products are all about the loft, you can pack down super small for bc backpack trips but you can't leave it like that or your kill the loft and hence the ability of the down to keep you warm. If you want cheap I got a 20 buck down vest from Cabelas last year that is as warm as any other down vest, its just alot heavier than the techier stuff. Additionally it isn't baffled inside so the down tends to pile up in the shoulders and such but be thin in the elbows. For $20 though it was a hell of a good purchase. I have to imagine in your neck of the woods you can find something similar if not better. The best of the best though as far as down is concerned is Western Mountaineering, no body makes down jackets and sleeping bags like they do. Their flash vest is 850 fill (sleeping outdoors in Antarctica stuff) and weighs 3.5 oz, I wouldn't say it looks good but no body is going to make a warmer lighter layer than WM. The Flash vest is $140 which is steep but I can't recommend their stuff enough, I spent one night in a friends Gore Tex Lynx sleeping bag and now don't want to sleep in anything else. http://www.westernmountaineering.com/index.cfm?section=Products&page=Jackets%20%26%20Vests&viewpost=2&ContentId=61 As an aside I used to think nothing could keep you as warm as down and then my sister hooked me up with an Arcteryx Delta fleece. Its the %1 of synthetics that is up there with down. You look like a wookie but holy shit is this thing warm. Honest to god the first time you go outside and realize your wearing a tshirt and the fleece its 20 degrees out and your pulling the damn zipper down you'll realize its worth the insane price. Last year I remember hitting a really cold streak in VT, it was -10 or so and I was warm with just the fleece, jacket and tshirt. I believe the Patagonia R4 is very similar in function though it trades some warmth for wind protection.

those were some of the best hits they have ever made...

Because skiing is all about vertical feet....

Dartmouth is a good place to ski and it has lots of character

Here's what you do, you have essentially two weeks of vacation available so you turn it into one or two traveling shit shows. Grab some friends and some booze and have at it. Lots of cheap places to stay around every mtn so just bring money and a sleeping bag if you decide you'd rather spend the loot on some bud or something. If you stay at any mountain for a week your going to get bored unless its absolutely nuking and most mtns have zero nightlife in VT and NH so why not move around. Week One NH Attitash, Pats Peak, Cannon, Wildcat, Loon, Dartmouth, Cranmore Week Two VT Magic, MRG, Smuggs, Burke, Bush, Pico, Bromely I'd do the VT mtns in the order because you would see the whole state and it would minimize the time spent in the car. I don't remember were exactly all those in NH are located so you would have to look at a map to change the order. You could do something similar in NY state but it be a waste of time, Whiteface and Greek are cool but that really it. If you do something like this you would have skied at a lot of places that are somewhat off the radar and you would have seen almost the entirety of VT and NH.

Hope you brought your DR Power Mower...

I've seen them all over VT, Stowe and Burke I distinctly remember. Weird but someone from here must be putting them up because they are all over.

Ascutney accesses one amazing run everything else is worthless, this run however is world class. Suicide Six is tiny but no one is ever there so its good for a half day or something, fun low angle trees. Bolton has some good BC stuff and one decent run but most of the hill is pretty flat Burke is a great mountain, constant empty bleachers with a great little town nearby, best mountain food in VT. BMA is there though so lots of uber rich aholes. Great trees. Magic is a gnarly little mtn with lots of cliffs and glades, always empty, they don't blow snow so if mother nature hasn't provided its going to be crazy boney. Almost always this close to going out of business. Pico is a nice mtn that sees far less crowds than Killy, lacks sustained steepness and the lifts run infrequently at best. Queeche Lakes has two trails and is for noobs that want to learn, don't go there. I've never been to the bowl, hopefully this year I can get up there. The rest are well publicized.

Trees at Bromley are ok but Magic is a much better mountain and is in the same general area.

Wow what a cluster fuck, WME makes shitty movies as they pretty much phone it in every year so I really don't care if we never saw them again. However, if Warren Miller the man essentially goes and creates another Warren Miller company he has to a large effect made WME useless. I would imagine that is what the contract is all about hence WME assertion that Warren Miller violated his contract by doing work with Level 1. It sounds like total bullshit but they don't have to win in court, all WME has to do is make Level 1 spend more than they got and Level 1 will settle for some bs or go out of business.

No, he can be on the team yet at the same time an independent in terms of training and such though I would have to believe the team wouldn't have been to fond of that.

x3 the lobster claw is what every mitten/glove should be.