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I'm pretty sure it's related to the efforts that it takes to handle your overweight suitcase. Hence number of pieces and the weight of each piece both count. Edit: Should've said "usually related". Here they say that the entire flight is overweight, wow. Must be due to altitude and warmish air.

Full speed! Time to make an appearance.

LOL, what?? Two threads about the same day, one talks about western groomers, the other - ruts, crumbs and push piles.

Well... I figured, I'd follow salty's footsteps and go to Camelback this Sunday, seeing how the 6-pack at Blue is having troubles... The day started at about 8:10am with a closed CBK Lodge. Nobody's inside, no sign saying when it might be open. There were a few cars near it and a couple of people booting up in the parking lot, but all of them must've been pass-holders, for there was no way for them to get a ticket otherwise. So we got back in our car and drove toward the main lodge. This is our first time at CB this year, so it was the first time we saw what they've done to the lodge entrance. In the past it was possible to go straight from Sullivan express to the doors, but now they've fenced the entrance off creating a large kinda terrace area, and so one has to zigzag toward the terrace entrance first and only then go back to where the lodge entrance is. Very annoying. Hardly surprising that many people prefer to just go through the ski shop instead of doing that stupid detour. The snow varied, but varied between different grades of bad. Some trails with cookies, more with sugar, found literally only two trails that were in good shape. One was a green on the right side, the other one was Raceway. After Alps the contrast in skiability is especially striking. Stevenson express was crowded from the get go. And the worst part is that they didn't care to start any other lifts. Raceway, The Glen, Marc Antony, Cleopatra lifts were all down. That made the entire left side of the mountain pretty much unavailable for skiing due to the bottleneck at Stevenson, which was especially unfortunate since snow on Raceway was better than average. They're still not 100% open. Pharaon is closed, so is Basilisk, even Glen wasn't open. There might be more holes in the middle, we just tried sticking to the right to avoid lines. It was interesting to overhear red jacket's chat about how the new guns are so much better. Well, that might be so, if only they could groom it better. All in all, the day was a disappointment.

Pardon my ignorance, but what is a safety break??

And not half-fixed as others reported here? I.e. it runs full speed?

So the 6-pack is officially fixed?

Finally, found this lonely boarder for you. Oh wait, there was another one today! All these days I'm listening to Italians, Germans, Polish, British and Russians on the lifts, in the order of decreasing probability. Much to my surprise I finally ran into a couple in Arabba today that spoke American! One guy was on wide skis, the other was on a board, and neither had rental stickers on them.

The return was pleasant most of the way, up until I hit the transit slopes when I realized that somehow the number of people has increased a lot... IDK whether it's due to the day of the week, or because schools have closed somewhere, but the number of people on certain slopes was exceeding what I had to witness in PA on long weekends...

Well, let's say that the trip was worth the trip, for the monastery itself was rather blah. The most fascinating thing about it was the discovery that technology makes its way to the most unexpected areas. I still remember times when one would buy a real candle and then would light it, in memory of someone. Well, here you still have a place to deposit your money to as well, but the candle is all electric, and the "burning time" is all carefully tuned, I'm sure, based on the season, time of day and what not.

I was taking it easy, skiing local slopes several times each while they were still good, slowly making my way, knowing that I had plenty of time, until I've reached Corvara area and... got lost... Only this can really explain the weird choice of lifts that I had to take a couple of times. I was desperate at times. But in the end it worked out fine, and I've got to the final chain of lifts that was supposed to take me up there, toward the monastery.

Today was a road trip... Well, come to think of it, it didn't not really involve any roads compared to the two days before, I didn't have to use anything but lifts or piste. So no buses, no escalators, just skiing... The goal was to reach a remote monastery, La Crusc. It's about two zones away, on an appendix that I've never skied before. A local guide suggested to go there, and I was all for it, as anything that looks like an appendix rocks compared to the main trails of Sella Ronda (just wait to see a pic that I took on the way back). There was plenty of time and no rush, but still the snow is best in the morning, so the first car up was mine. The snow look and feels great when you're the first to ski it, doesn't it??

Generally between 1500m and 2500m. There's this Marmolada peak that sits at 3300m, but I'll probably not go there this time.

What she's pointing at is this... Down below is just one wiiiide groomer in Belvedere area. It's awesome to ski it first thing in the morning, and it actually holds on rather well till the end of the day, compared to some other trails over here. These guys are sitting at a trail turn. It comes from their behind and then turns sharp left. It's sunset. What's really amazing is how out of time this couple is. Everyone including myself is rushing to get back to the home area, looking at watches at every opportunity. And these guys just sit up top and absorb the view...

Well, today I've been to the land that all boarders visit in their nightmares from time to time, the land that their mother threaten to send them to if they don't finish their breakfast, the land is since avoided by them as a plague. Different nationalities have different names for this place. Italians call it Alpe di Siusi, Germans - Seiser Alm, Americans would probably call it the Land of Flats and be done with it. Most skiing zones around here would typically have a few peaks, several base towns, lifts taking you all the way up and trails that can generally be followed all the way down. Yeah, once you get up you don't really have to return to the base, there are shorter lifts and trails near the peaks, and the snow there is better anyway. But the important part is that usually there is a choice. Want to lose 1500m of elevation in one run? Go for it! This land in the other hand is a freaking plateau. The last decent steeps you see in the way here is from Seceda (incidentally, the last pic below). After that there is a looong trail that brings you all the way down to the town of Ortisei. That town is so low in elevation that by the time you get there all natural snow is gone and there is just a narrow groomer. Then you grab your skis and go to an under ground escalator that helps you get even lower, down to the road level. You cross the road, walk the snowless town for a little bit and get to the lift on the other side, which finally takes you back to the whites. Except that now you find yourself confined to a very pretty area with a rather small variation of altitude. It seems to be a local winter playground for the town folks. You wouldn't just find skiers there. You'd see people trekking, sledding and running around on cross country skis, there are even some horse carriages. Just hardly any boarders. Because kids in Ortisei know how to finish their breakfast.

It's a local drink that really varies. Made of grapes. The taste depends on how they make it. Can be like a sweet liquor, can be like medicine, can be aged in barrels. Is stronger than wine though not as strong as vodka.

What I like about local villages is how they look. Even if I screw up, take the wrong trail down and have to walk half a kilometer down the slippery streets toward the lift back up, there's still something to see along the path. This is Canazei. I don't live here. I only come for grappa or if the map fools me. The red guy with the skis goes the wrong way. There's no lift behind me and the slopes have just closed anyway.

Well, I think I've figured out that Erbe Alpine grappa is best to be avoided. IDK what bush they cut that bottled branch from, but the nightmares after it, oh my...

There are some, like a percent or so. I don't think terrain is the limiting factor. Probably lack of regional popularity. And there are enough challenging slopes here with no flats top to bottom. Val Gardena and Arabba offer probably the steepest trails. Some are clearly mismarked. I've seen a red trail that would be a DD in the US based on the incline alone. On top of it it's freaking long, and on top of length it turns into a mogul course by the end of the day, not unlike Falls. And it's unavoidable if one needs to cross Val Gardena toward Val di Fassa. Skiers definitely struggle there. Boarders just scrape down.

To close the Hidden Valley subject, here are some pics from it. Basically, it's a long, 11km return trail that undoes both the winding climb of the bus and the Lagazuoi lift. It goes and goes surrounded by peaks on both sides. At some point it passes a waterfall area. Difficulty ranges from blue to red, but overall it's a sightseeing track. It brings the skiers almost back to the point where he boarded the bus, but is about 1km short. This final km can be conquered by taxi, cross-country skiing or a horse tow, like in the pics above.

They're heavy on polenta, lasagna and goulash. If you get to the German country then inevitably simple things like sausages and fries pop up. I had a deer yesterday. It was like beef, structure wise, just some special taste, which I'm not even sure wasn't due to spices. Yeah, I did some off piste in Alta Badia yesterday, the snow is great this year, but if you want to get far, like today, speed and groomers is all that matters. What I can't place yet is grappa. Finished one blueberry bottle, it was like a sweet liquor. Today got one with Erbe Alpine, and it's smelly, yet bitter, brrr.

Today was all about a trip to Hidden Valley and the adjacent Cinque Torri area. It's far, three valleys by ski, then a ski bus, then a few more lifts to get to the farthest point of the day - the Five Towers. Honestly, the trails aren't any better than in the valleys much closer, quality-wise. They're much longer though, emptier, and since there's so much snow in the mountains this year (sorry, Venice), sometimes it feels like skiing in the plains. Yeah, there's a groomer, but if you want you can just go sideways and get lost. So, I took the first lift up from the hotel, and was so rushing to get to the destination that had to spin wheels on local slopes for some time because the next connecting lift wasn't running yet. Followed the Sella Ronda circle counterclockwise till I reached Alta Badia - the final area before the bus hop, took me 90 minutes to get there, then boarded the bus, and after following winding roads for 15mi or so got to the bottom of Lagazuoi lift. A picture from the top of it is in the previous post, but I didn't take the lift yet. The lift would take me to the 11km Hidden Valley trail back, and I didn't get to my towers yet. So I passed the lift line, crossed the road and entered the Cinque Torri skiing area. Like I said, piste-wise it's hardly anything special, but views were different, and that's all that matters here. Alas, after some time skiing the same place you get used to it, and so like a junkie, you seek for something new, something different, something far, doesn't matter if it's any better, you just want to take in more and more... The only limiting factor is that you must get back to your home area by 4:30pm, for everything gets closed for grooming at 5, and lifts are starting to shut down before then. You can miss the last lift by a few, and land in a different town of the same valley, that's fine, just take a ski bus to get home. But if you miss by far, then IDK what can possibly help. If passes are closed, look for a place to stay overnight. Anyway, somewhere below is a pic with the Five Towers. Luckily (with all bussing, exploring, trying all the trails in the way, etc) I got there by noon.

Then I would be able to go higher than this.

Damn, I wish I had one of these on the trip!