sibhusky

That's a glacier, full of crevasses. Not for walking, even assuming you wanted to scramble up the loose talus, etc. to get to it.

The white stalk-y things are beargrass. They only bloom every three to seven years. Plants in the same area are generally all going to bloom at once and then the following years they just look like grass bunches.

Those are edited down from the 100 I took. I also have close-ups of most of the flowers if anyone is into that and if you want the higher original resolution of anything, just PM me.

Well, I've been so busy working to pay off a car repair bill that I haven't had the time for hiking much this summer. However, yesterday I undertook a moderately strenuous to strenuous (depending on the book you read -- all I know is the ranger told us that anyone with health problems should not be on this hike) hike in Glacier. 10.3 miles long, 2000 feet up, 3000 feet down. Frankly, the group I was with were all either longer legged than I or out to prove something. I wasn't hearing my heartbeat in my head or anything, but I was certainly holding them all up!!!! I was in slomo or something!!! But, I did survive and got some great shots. I've split them into four posts so that your downloads won't be as long. There are far more pictures of the route down (I'm good at down -- must be the skiing) than the route up.

Yeah, I would lean towards the shorter pair myself. It's not like years ago, where longer skis were somehow proof of more advanced skills. Nowadays you are going to tailor the skis to your size, your strength, and your skiing preferences. Longer skis tend to be more stable at speed, shorter skis easier to turn. So, if you want to schuss down cruisers all the time, go with the longer skis. If you want to handle moguls, powder, trees and other tough terrain that requires a shorter ski arc, go with the shorter skis. And just because you tried a pair last year doesn't mean you don't have to demo them in each size. Truly, you can try a ski at 167, try the SAME ski at 174, and it feels totally different!

It depends very much on the ski itself. I'd consult with the ski shop guy. They usually have info from the manufacturer that tells them what to recommend. I'm 5'8", 152 pounds and ski on 167's. I resisted going down to this size quite a bit as I'd made the progression from 193's (straight skis) to 187 to 184 and didn't think I should go below 175. Some skis that length were good, some shorter were too short. The pair I got was best for me in the 167 length. I am a great believer in demo'ing exactly the pair of skis you think you want to buy. Especially with shaped skis, different lengths can be totally different skis.

Yes, really. What difference does it make if it takes 13 days if you're skiing for 40 days? Or do you buy a season pass at more than one resort? (Siblet will need at least two next year and maybe three....aaaggghhh!)

I thought that only applied to new homes bought directly from CB (don't know if PPS bought new or from someone else) AND I also thought that ended a while back.

Um, depends where you go. Siblet's state university is $14,000 a year, including fees and room and board. Of course, the place she originally wanted to go was $35,000 a year. Thank goodness she changed her mind. At the end of college, at least there will be a job. At the end of your ski career...there are only so many sports announcer slots out there.

USSA Major Events

I just noticed that the US team will have an event at Mountain Creek: Jan. 20-21 U.S. Snowboard Grand Prix M & W - HP/HP/ Slopestyle Exhibition Mountain Creek, NJ I thought you'd all want to mark your calendars.

Wow, just found out that two of Siblet's teammates made the National Development Team and those two plus another two got slots to train with the US team down in Chile this summer. And THAT's how I know that Siblet has "missed the boat" for having a great ski career. These kids range from 17 to 20 years old. It's great that our team has so many terrific skiers. But, part of me wishes one of those kids was Siblet. Boo hoo. ...on the other hand, those kind of skiers cost $20,000 a year.

I guess years ago I walked up and took it from the rack by the ticket window. :-)

I am starting to think maybe they pick on teenagers or something. I never saw any of this stuff happening.

I have been stopped a TOTAL of four times by a ranger. Once was by a ranger who wanted to give Siblet a poster for skiing so nice. And three times for help in filling out accident reports. THAT WAS IT over 27 years of skiing at CB. There's one guy I always think of as a turd for almost running over toddler Siblet on Bactrian as he tucked it in a race with another ranger, but I found as long as I was clearly in control and not endangering others, the actual speed didn't matter.

I don't remember this being restricted to passholders. Anyone who got there at 7:30 got on the lift. When they shifted the AM ticket to a later set of hours, it also destroyed the lunch lull when AM tickets were no good and PM tickets hadn't started yet, but all day ticketholders who could control their lunch cravings had a window of short lines for a while.

Haven't checked the math lately, but usually around 13 days or do as I recall. Here it is only 9-10 days.

Now THERE's an idea: Open up two weeks early for premium passholders PLUS 6 AM access to Sully lift. Now that might be worth the extra bucks!

By the way, where did you find this info? I didn't see it on their message board.

I HATE the idea of there being premium passes, although the earlier lift opening would be nice for ALL passholders. They have some premium passes here, the main benefit being that it is transferable. Here the premium people get special lockers and special parking, but frankly, if I get my butt out of bed, I can get a better spot and they have to climb over me to get to their "special locker room" which requires them to have not only the combo to their locker but to have the code to get into the room.

Does anyone recognize these areas?