Ride Delaware ?

Glad to see you were slightly motivated for the weekend... Glad it turned out swell... I would have done way more of the drinking on the couch than the driving to BJ's and grilling part... Well done... All I had were some steak and potato's on the regular grill yesterday... Still tasty though...

PM sent, no response...

Can we get years on the boards? And what size are the bindings? My friend rides a Believer and I like using it... A friend of mine may be interested depending on the model year...

Were their skier visits up? Are they finally making some headway on reviving the ski area? I am interested to see if the fruits of their labors are paying off... I know we were all pretty skeptical about the plans/finances of the mountain in recent years, and I was wondering if they were finally getting to where they want to be...

Sounds like it wouldn't be a bad time... Since I live at the beach I wouldn't make a trip up there, but for those of you that live close it sounds like it could be fun... What did they add this year? No more construction delay issues? How much more do they have planned for the water park?

If only Camelback had the climate of the Catskills...

I want to hit 50 days on the snow, but that isn't going to happen...

I was at Sugarbush in March this year, and you can see everything in the Northeast from there lol... Mount Washington, Whiteface, Stowe, and Jay... Pretty sweet view if it is clear...

I've never been to Whiteface but I'd love to try it out... Preferably when its not windy and icy... Which is basically Whiteface in a nutshell from what I've heard...

I am sure there are some even better sections outside of the boundaries off the quad, but I haven't been that adventurous yet... The toughest part about getting into the trees is the evergreens they have planted along the sides of most of the trails... However, once you get through them it really opens up and gives you cover from the ski patrol... While tree skiing at Elk may seem as difficult as capturing a snipe or seeing the lochness monster, I assure you it does exist...

I used to want to board here, but if I am making the trip up from Delaware and not staying with friends from college, I might as well drive the extra hour to the catskills... Not the greatest, but better than the Creek... I don't see the improvements they could make there unless they were to make a MASSIVE terrain and high speed lift expansion... Theres just too many people... I'm guessing its a good cash cow, but their season has been so short lately and their snowmaking and base don't seem to be up to the competition...

Moe, I'll share where I went into the trees... I had no issues from ski patrollers since it is always so slow and they have very few patrollers working, especially midweek... From what I have seen, there are very skiable trees on the East (double lift) side aside from maybe the very small area beyond the terrain park between the Delaware and Lehigh trails... Most of the trees I have boarded were on the West (quad lift) side of the mountain... I would say that most of the trees I boarded were between the Lenape (19 on trail map) and the Wissahickon (18 on trail map). There is also a really cool little section up on the ridge between the Mahican (27) and Schuylkill (11). There is also a steeper (albeit smaller) more challenging section near the top between the Schuylkill (11) and Tioga (12). It drops in off the the right near the trail entrance and then crosses over into the Tioga. Hopefully we can coordinate next year and I can show you guys first hand if there is some powder on hand...

I got to go to Elk on a couple powder days and there are some sick tree runs off the quad lift... Double Digiting? You posted more than 10 days there? Or are planning on it?

Hmm... I wasn't sure if your were joking or not when you made that comment, but now I'm pretty sure you mean it... If you want to hit Elk sometime midweek just give me a week or two notice and I will try to arrange to come up there... I'm all about the rustic feel... Snow quality over run quantity... Unless its a sheet of ice, I'm just happy being on my plank...

I'm definitely hoping that the season starts mid November... Two years ago I got some great boarding in the Mon-Wed before T-Day at Sunday River and Sugarloaf... 27 and 6 trails respectively... But I got a 24 in dump at the Loaf... I would love to make it up for some early season East Coast again...

And no problems with the bindings popping out of the channel? I think I am going to get a Malolo if I can find one on sale or a decent used one... I'll probably go with a 158 since they say it isn't necessary to go longer... Doesn't make sense to me, but alot of guys are saying to go the same length as your regular board or shorter... Any comments there?

I want to hear the update first...

And it actually opened on time?

What kind of terrain do they still have open? Vertical? Trails? Just Bowls?

162 for this past year at the knob? I'm surprised its not higher... They hit like the mid 200 range at the Springs this year... Broke records all around... I'd be game for Elk sometime mid-week... Holla at me G...

I'd love to hit Blue Knob but thats on the "if I somehow get there" list...

I was just sitting at the office getting a little bored, and realized like many others that the site is super dead in the summer, so I figured I would start the annual thread. I hit 29 in 08/09, 19 in 09/10, and I am aiming for 35 in 10/11. Work is starting to calm down a bit, and living in a resort community, business is as dead her in the winter as this board is in the summer. Hopefully this year will be the last year I have under 50 since we are looking at getting a possible condo somewhere up north (hopefully sooner than later, but it depends on how often we use it and how easily accessible it is). As for the hit list, this is what I've got... List is from most desired to if I get there I would be happy but definitely not disappointed if I didn't make it... Most of these I will probably try to gauge powder dumps and hit the road if work isn't busy... Try to model my trips after Moe... Jay Peak Saddleback Sunday River Magic Stowe Snowshoe I have never been to Jay, Saddleback, or Stowe. Worst case I hope to make it to Stowe during the PASR annual retreat during mid-April. Best case I would like to make it in early March during pow season. Same for all 3 of them since I have heard they are all super epic during pow dumps. I have been to SR like 4 times before and love it. Great layout and terrain variety. I went to Magic this year during that epic February powder dump, but the snow was very wet and after the first run I had to bail to take a friend to the hospital... I would love to get back there for a day mid winter with some pow... Lastly is Snowshoe where I have been twice and learned to board nearly 10 years ago. Its not high on the priority list, but after the snow year they had this year, I wouldn't mind a powder day or two there. Theres alot of smaller mountains I would swing by in the Northeast if I went near them or had the time, but these are the most important... If I have the cash I may be headed out to CO this year to Vail, Keystone, or Breck for 4-5 days, but thats only if I'm lucky since I'm going to Europe in September... Post away!!!

Although I live in DE, my family is exploring the option of purchasing a condo somewhere up north in the next couple years. I would probably be able to vacation a couple weeks at a time a couple times a year and would really like to volunteer for a ski patrol. I know we had several ski patrollers on the board here, and I was hoping I could get some input as to how the process goes. I know you have to take the class 80-100 hours, and a 3 part refresher, one part every year, but past that, I'm kinda lost. I have heard it is similar to EMT in that you must be registered with a ski patrol for your cert, but that could be any ski patrol. Then you transfer it? Pay dues to National Ski Patrol? If anyone could clarify this for me, I would really appreciate it...

Have any of you boarders out there tried the new Burton ICS? I've been kind of skeptical about it and wanted to know if there was any firsthand experience...

Should I go longer with the board for Pow? The 158/159 seems to be fine, or do you think I should up it to a 162 for powder use?