guitar73

I can get some snackage and I have some folding chairs that I can bring.

we'll be there tomorrow, but not bright and early, lol. anything else needs to be brought?

I heard they have pretty good Chinese food there

better bust out them rock skis.....

well, you're going to the sweet spot of vt ski areas.....so I don't think you'll go wrong no matter where you go. having said that I've been to stowe, smuggs, and sugarbush. don't overlook smuggs, especially if they get some snow. also, the tree skiing at smuggs is very good (if the trees are still open, lol). mad river glen should have had a good season as well, so you should def check that out as well.

um, no....just, no....

no, i think they will be open next weekend. i asked the guy at the ticket window and they said that jfbb is gonna make the call after this weekend as to what they are doing. ETA.....elan amphibio rip sticks, not rib sticks, lol....

tinymoose and i were at jackson frost today with our friend wendy. conditions were really nice in the morning. the snow was very fast for being wet. once the fresh stuff was piled up, the scratching underbelly was revealed, but it wasn't bad at all. floyds was in great shape, especially skier's right. took two runs down the elevator and each was really fun: soft piles of bumps with crusty but edgeable exposed base. the bumps on exhibition were really really nice between mid-morning and 2pm. tons of ppl were skiing the crap out of these bumps and as the temps rose, the fluff on the tops of the bumps got packed down. around 3 pm it started to get slow and a little slushy on the flat areas. called it quits around 3:30 and apres was held in the legendary e2000 lounge. tinymoose bought a set of line future spin shortie's (147cm) this morning and she had a blast on them today. i borrowed a friend's pair of elan amphibio rib sticks (176cm).....holy crap are those a fun ski. at 70mm under foot i was suprised at how well they handled the cruddy snow, while on edge and on flats. super grippy, supper turning, very hooky, and needed a few runs to get used to them....but once i did get used to these skis i was having a blast. i took these things all over the mtn and really had no problems at all. tomorrow it's montage for us. ski on my friends, ski on.

yes, it's snowing in center city philly

the mantras are like skiing 4x12 planks of steel......

good stuff.

um...when you don't weigh enough to bend that ski....that's a bad time yo.

snow in SEPA at 7:15 AM and temps are dropping!

idk, this ski season has seem really short to me...

I believe that based upon geologic records that the entire California area is prone to very long droughts....like centuries long droughts.

I agree with tp4, spring is the worst. I hate rain...you can't do anything outside when it's all muddy and stuff. late spring is OK b/c by then the golf courses are dry enough to start playing.

doh, don't say that.....I am hoping to get out this weekend.

I hope they still have snow by then, they were losing about 2 inches a day last week on the south facing aspects.

oh, i forgot a couple of things.... tree skiing - we didn't get to ski a lot of trees there, but the ones that we did ski were very wide open and i really wouldn't consider it tree skiing. rocks - i knew going in that big sky resort is a rocky mtn....however, i didn't take that to mean there would be rocks everywhere within the snowpack. we hit so many rocks there. they varied in size from little pebbles to full on fist-sized rocks. do not take your brand new skis to big sky, you will put a few dings in the base and your edges. low snow pack - so this year was obviously a low snow season for the west, big sky included. but, the resort still skied well. the Dakota lift was closed most of the week (i assume to preserve the snow for the weekend) and stuff on challenger was not worth skiing. we found that the best snow to be had was in the turkey bowl (lone peak triple), the tram, and the Stillwater bowl (lone tree quad in moonlight).

back in PA after a great time at big sky resort. below are some of my thoughts of the mtn. overall i think big sky resort is def a mountain to check out. terrain - this is by far the number 1 selling point for big sky resort. they literally have it all (except for a glacier). mellow, rolling groomers for the newbs, a good variety of intermediate level terrain (groomers, "trees", bumps, etc), and of course the advanced to expert terrain goes from challenging to outright rowdy. the bowl and chute skiing on lone peak alone is worth the trip out. we skied six days and we probably covered 30 to 40 % of the stuff out there. moonlight was fun, but it would be awesome on a powder day. lift tickets - we went with a large group and were able to get a group rate. if you can't get a large group to go, be sure to hit up liftopia or similar websites for discounted lift tickets. otherwise, you'll be shelling out about $100/day pp. lifts - almost no lift lines to speak of, except at the swift current and ram charger lifts (both at the main base area) and the tram. lift layout leaves much to be desired. there is no good way to lap the tram, nor is there a good way to ski from the base area over to moonlight basin. if you ski fast, it's a minimum of 30 mins to get from the bottom of swift current lift to the bottom of the six shooter lift at moonlight. also, there are only two main lifts in moonlight, the six shooter and the lone tree quad. one must go all the way to the bottom of the six shooter to lap most of the terrain off the lone tree quad. crowds - we were there during spring break and the crowds were essentially non-existent. even the base lodge wasn't too crowded. food - on mountain food options are few. however, what they have there is relatively good. the cafeteria food is very reasonably priced and is way better than the typical PA mtn fare. we could easily do lunch for the both of us for under $25. b-fast and dinner were mostly at the condo, but the restaurants that we did go to were good. be warned though, most of the restaurants are very small and require reservations. be sure to call well in advance to reserve a seat. also, most food service there is VERY slow. lodging - in general, lodging is expensive around the base area....especially if you want ski-in/ski-out or trailside access. there are more reasonable options down in meadow village area. lodging in moonlight basin is all very expensive. travel - flights into bozemen are not cheap....expect to pay at least $500-850 pp. it's pretty much a united and delta destination, with frontier as a close third. i would recommend delta over united b/c their check-in line when we departed was insanely long while there was literally no line for delta. also, flight time options suck....it's either early AM, 1:30 PM, or early evening....basically a handful of times a day, that's it. rental cars - we got a good deal through Costco, but be warned....all of the rental car companies at the airport have very bad costumer reviews, mostly relating to being charged for unverified car damage. make sure that you document your car before and after the trip. also, request that the agent at the counter does the inspection with you before you hand it over. shuttle bus - there is a shuttle that runs between the airport and big sky, but it only accesses the on-mountain lodging. we were glad that we got a rental car instead of relying on the shuttle. cell phone service - most of the mtn has good service (we have ATT/cricket); however, there is poor service at the summit (obviously) and in moonlight basin.

At the airport...sad.

Last day in big sky...Blue bird day and more soft snow!

Overcast day, so only one picture today. Demo'd the volkl rtm 84 & 81 today given the hard conditions. Loved them both, but probably would choose the 81's for my daily driver. we're supposed to get some snow tonite **crosses fingers**

Moonlight and headwaters

We haven't eaten out much yet, but we did have dinner at a place called m.r. hummers.....typical pub fare. had bison burger which was pretty good. we got a condo in the alpenglow units, which is across the street from the main base area. There is a shuttle that runs btwn our area and the base lodge, but we got a rental car bc stuff around here is really spread out. ETA: We got a condo with two other couples.