sibhusky

I skied the Plunge.. Back when they didn't groom it. I hear they groom it now?

It definitely has some steep sections. It is definitely not crowded. But, it's a hell of a drive for the amount there is to ski, 75 acres, making it less than half the size of Blue. Now, how many hours did that take you to get there (four each way)? If you're on the way to something else, it might be worth the side trip to do a visit to another era. But, as a reason all by itself? I might as well fly to Blue from here.

Siblet and I went to a race there ten years ago, stayed in one of those cabins on the lower left of that map. Very strange place, sort of like a volcano cone sticking up out of nothing. At the time, had zero cell phone service. Race trail was really steep for a slalom. Beyond that and the fact that the race organizers lost my drivers license, don't remember much. Certainly wouldn't recommend anyone drive there only for the purpose of going there.

Snow welcomed at Whitefish Mountain Resort WHITEFISH - The snow starting falling in the Flathead Valley Friday night and it just keeps on coming. It may not be ideal for drivers, but others are rejoicing over the overnight winter wonderland - including eager skiers and snowboarders at Whitefish Mountain Resort. "We saw the snow this morning when I woke up, and I wanted to go up," Whitefish High School student Brendan Young said. "I've been planning it for a while, we've been getting ready all day to hike the mountain," added classmate Kody Canfield. The mountain doesn't officially open for another three weeks, but that didn't stop hundreds of people from enjoying what some described as the best day of preseason skiing they've ever had. "This is fantastic skiing. There is so much snow here for mid-November, I can't believe it. We skied all the way down in fabulous powder," former Big Mountain employee Fred Jones told us. "If it wasn't so foggy, it would probably look like the Chilkoot Trail, up in Alaska. There's a steady stream of people heading up. For early season right now-you just look around and there's a lot of snow and there's more in the forecast," explained Dave Stephens with the Big Mountain Ski Patrol. The numbers showed that 48 inches of snow had settled at the summit as of Saturday afternoon. The folks with Whitefish Mountain Resort are encouraging people to familiarize themselves with the Uphill Traffic Policy and the Uphill Skier Responsibility Code. Skiers and snowboarders are also not allowed within 100 feet of any groomer or snow making machine as a safety precaution under a special order that the U.S. Forest Service issues year round. "The snowmaking machines - when they're in operation - have both power and water lines going to them. Even though you might see the snowmaking equipment over there, underneath the snow is potentially water and power. So you have to be aware of that, not ski over it, and just stay aware from that," Stephens explained. "As long as people stay safe and mind the precautions and look out for one another, we think it's great for them to get up there and start getting their legs working," added Jeff "Butte" Soyland with the Big Mountain Ski Patrol. It should be noted that dogs are welcome up on the mountain, but are required to be on a leash.

Fortunately, all the canting I needed was solved through the cuff alignments. Plus, you know, if you're mostly on soft snow, a lot of the precision you need in tuning and alignment is negated because of the 3D surface. The terrain is uneven, the snow is soft, the skis have way more to deal with other than you. Reaction is more important than precision.

RR, everyone in town is, but Sib is too lazy.

We've got snow!

So glad I have normal feet. Tried some Langes, too loose across the central section of my foot. Heads much snugger. Might have a slight arch issue, will see. Mostly crazy snug everywhere right now, won't really know until I ski.

Totally aware of the shell issue, but you can't shrink the shell, so if you FIT in a 26.5, can't see why you'd go up.

I have custom insoles that just moved to my new boots. The local shop includes all the fitting in the boot purchase. That's the norm here. But then again, I don't have weird feet and my stance on their fancy machine was alignable with just cuff adjustments. The only time we've paid for extensive bootwork it was for Siblet to have plug boots she got on a pro form from the rep to be carved to her feet. Friends who've had to pay got the boots elsewhere as well. It's not the normal thing here to have to pay for fitting at any of the stores. They have prices posted, but if you buy there, I don't know of anyone who has been charged.

You're going up a whole size? Why not a 27?

Not seeing them in either the mobile or the desktop versions. Could you have accidentally installed a browser extension? Check your add-ins and run a malware check.

Ads?

Confession. It does drive me nuts that some of you are skiing already. Even though I remember WHAT you are skiing.. I still have to wait over three weeks. :-(

1 - The Bear in the Muddy Tutu 2 - The Turtle-Girl from East Pukapuka 3 - The Spy's Little Zonbi All available on Amazon. And all available in Kindle.

And Glenn and I are friends on Facebook, so we communicate occasionally. He's big on white water kayaking.

Fwiw, I'm in touch with ski999 practically daily. His third book just came out, I finished it last night. He is still doing coaching and photography. His daughter still races, but is more soccer, and I don't think she will be traveling to races anymore.

12/8 or 9th is soon enough. No rush. Just need to beat last year. Not sure what the story was last year. Must be age.

Doug, I'll ski 70-80 days. No point in getting hit by someone the first day.

Personally, I usually give Day 1 a miss. And sometimes even day two.

I'm breaking in my new boots by doing my ski tuning in them. :-D

Sounds like you'd love Denton.

I agree. We're 2.5 hours from an interstate here. The population of our county (which is 60% of the size of the STATE of NJ) is all of 90,000. 5.3 million are sitting in the same space over in NJ.

They call the ski areas "metro ski areas". In other words, it's never going to be anything really neat...

Snow stake at the mountain