sibhusky

And what resort(s) were you at that he didn't like and what exactly didn't he like? His reasons might be "stupid" reasons to us, but maybe there are resorts that don't have those "issues". I think that some Colorado resorts have different "flavors" from others. Why don't we work on finding out what his issue is?

All I care is that it will be a La Nina year here. That what we live for.

Barb, how old is the kid and where was he before, just wondering?

A son of friends needs a room mate. He's in his 20's. 2 blocks from gondola $640 a month + utilities.

Are you stalking me or something? By the way, there's a whole cadre of people who withdrew from the list who are not showing and not IN the count. (They didn't beat Fred, but some would have been in the top ten.) They got tired of people checking the list and telling them they were losing ground or whatever. I was low enough down not to care and actually rely only on my own altimeter and ignore their stats so I'm not arguing with the liftie for not scanning me properly. Although I do attempt to get scanned, I don't OBSESS over it like some. If you poke around with the tool, you'll see I am missing about 20% of my vert in their records.

Well, my daughter taught her boyfriend-at-the-time, who was a snowboarder, to ski so well that in SIX days he was going down Connie's Coulee here at Whitefish.... That being said, she was a racer with years of analyzing technique and critiquing movement behind her and he was a four-sport varsity athlete all through high school, with, IMO, a too high risk tolerance. Since they broke up, he has plateaued mightily and doesn't acknowledge that he really hasn't progressed beyond those glory days. (They are still friends, but no "free instruction" now....) So, I guess with the right instructor and athleticism and testosterone, you can learn pretty fast to "get down" pretty much anything. Most people take a LOT longer, tho.

Well, I have to go back 30 years to comment, but I hear it hasn't changed much. Good mountain, but not much money spent on grooming or infrastructure. You get what you get. Whitefish is in my plans...It's a La Nina year. Hopefully it means I'll actually get some tree skiing in.

video of Whitefish skiing after closing. It's ridiculous. We've had three snow storms since closing. I've got four inches of snow on my lawn. AGAIN. It snows, it melts, we get sun, it snows again a week later, etc. I mean, it's May 5, we had no winter, now we've got no spring.

There were certainly at least three "adults" who should have known better, but beyond that, I don't know the ages of many of the remaining idiots who continue to sling mud around on this board. I know this site was founded to avoid the moderation that was going on the Camelback message board, but that was corporate censorship of stuff critical of the resort. However, moderation of silly name calling threads would go a long way to ensuring there is "value added" instead of drivel. Who wants to wade thru all of that when there are plenty of competing ski forums out there already? If everyone would just take a deep breath and decide whether there's really a "value add" before they post something here, EVEN IF YOU'RE 12 YEARS OLD, this site would improve. If you have nothing to say worth hearing, then shut up or tell the clothes in your closet.

I agree the trip reports have been great this year. And I enjoy seeing them. But clearly this site is more social than anything else these days. Hence, the most valuable content is not even about the site's own title. Unless of course, you consider what everyone is doing this weekend valuable to anyone else. Frankly, that is the stuff of Facebook and Twitter-twatter, hence the loss of activity here. But let's think about what the POINT of a PA Ski and Ride site SHOULD be. Why would NEW PEOPLE come here? To read about trips to Jackson and Aspen? I don't think so. If so, maybe the site should be renamed "Ski and Ride", get rid of the PA part. I think that if the site owners want to stay viable in the future they need to focus on how to differentiate themselves from TGR, AlpineZone, Facebook, and other places. Theoretically, you should be differentiated by offering resources for mid-Atlantic skiers and boarders to meet, exchange rides, ask about conditions, whatever. I think you need to promote this more. This is the kind of thing us old guys think about when we analyze things. You know, "what is our mission?", "why is there air?", whatever.....

I agree with you about the flame war part, but his skiing knowledge and helpfulness about the area were valuable. and I don't believe you about the posting until I see it happen. It's like your diets.

Well, I think there is a point hidden there. The site is heavily tilted towards BOTH an age group AND a geographic area. The other named sites are more diverse. Once stuff drifted too much towards general discussion of Doug's eating habits or whatever and away from trip reports or discussion of ski-related issues, or mindless bickering started taking over, you lost any chance at being considered as a "resource" for skiers. What you SHOULD be is a resource for people skiing in the mid-Atlantic region, either for meeting or for questions about the areas. You CAN"T compete as a resource for information about SKIING OR BOARDING in general. I think that the owner, whoever that may be these days, needs to focus on the goal here and start tweaking forums and discussions towards the goal if the site is to have viability. Right now it's just hanging on due to the affection of some of the longer term members. From where I sit, you are on "life support".

Actually, I think the end was ski999 leaving.

SO, there was an El Nino this year, no snow and NOW what: Shot of the day at Whitefish Mountain Resort....after closing:

A bit more about that day was posted here

You're right, I don't remember this at all. But then, I'm getting really old and there's a lot I don't remember......

So you're telling me that since I have very little manmade snow here, I'm stuck? We've been having about 10 days of slush-ville and by 2 PM it's the grabbies. I leave. Still haven't tried the "spring skis" with the coarser structure. So far I've had to wax DAILY and I can't take it much longer.

The problem is, more than likely, when the day starts, everything is frozen hard as freezer ice and it rips off the soft wax. So by the time the slush shows up, that nice soft wax you put on is all gone. The open structure is important. I'm still trying to find the perfect solution myself. I was happy all day today. Dr. D's Universal wax, fresh structure in the ski (albeit a normal linear winter structure), still gliding nicely in the slush. Left when the crowds came, got back to the locker room, took one look at the bases, no way IN HELL I'm going to get another day out of the wax job. The AM was hard and fast ripping the heck out of things, so I bet if I'd stayed on until 3 or so, I'd have been increasingly unhappy. The "spring skis" I have I have yet to test drive because they have a sharper edge on them and I need to take them out on a day I don't need to be pleasant to anyone... I don't like to make others miserable when I'm adjusting to something new. I'll get back to you if I actually use them. They have the sharper edge and a more aggressive structure to them for spring conditions, but after I had it done last year we never had spring conditions. I had to spend a little time on them after they came back from the shop because I just wasn't happy with the work they did overall last year, they were in and out several times, etc., and I finally gave up and decided I'd do everything myself except the base structure, long story. I don't know if they'll go out tomorrow or not. As it is, I have to wax my normal skis AGAIN tonight with something that'll last more than one day and still glide in the slush....... Obviously the "universal" won't cut it, and I know yellow is even worse. I guess I'll go back to red, but then I won't have the glide in the PM. Maybe red and universal or red with graphite......? I HATE SPRING WAXING!!!!!

Macro? Wrong term perhaps? Macro is for closeups.

I guess when I said Aspen, I meant Ajax, wasn't including Snowmass.

Really nice shot of Johnny. Looks like a great trip. So, after this, where you got lots of fresh powder because the clientele doesn't attempt what's available, and leaving aside the actual snow experience (which is always a matter of timing anywhere you go), would you pick Aspen or Jackson in the future? I'm thinking Aspen MIGHT be pricier which might be a consideration. And it might be smaller in terms of terrain, but it was all new this time which was nice. But, if you had to go to the same place 5 years in a row, which would it be? Assuming it was your money paying for it. Just curious.

I'll be curious to hear how they are doing. They are the other side of the divide from me, I heard complaints about ice about a week ahead of our complaints. BUT they are higher and get different weather from us. IT SUCKS HERE IN WHITEFISH. Inspo was like a bowling alley with marbles today. Almost like being back in the Poconos. Thank god we have the "back".

More snowghosts: Jeff can tell you most of my pictures this year have been fog days. Ice crystals flying in the air: A somewhat-worse-than-normal day:

Just to illustrate, we don't need falling snow to "grow" a base. Here is a picture of rime forming over the groomed run. The same thing that forms our "snow ghosts", also forms on groomed runs. Rime on groomed run: Snowghosts and rime all over everything:

It's been really dense snow this year, not light and fluffy. We only had the light and fluffy stuff back in December. Since then a lot of it has been more like falling fog.