Quick TR for 12/30

[Ski]

We pulled in at 8am to a pretty empty parking lot again. It was a Buckman's snowboard demo day, or something like that, with tents but no free soda or t-shirts, so we just went about our business. BTW, people don't come to Sno until after 10am---we had fresh cord for a couple of hours, then the lot started to fill and they probably had a pretty decent number of ticket sales. Funny, but the slopes remained empty except for the bunny hill. It was like everyone was a newbie and the ski school business was hoppin'.

 

Coverage between the slopes was real sketchy, so there was no off-piste skiing like 1st Grade teacher has at Blue.

 

Anyway, one of Ty's coaches moved up to teach an older group and so Ty's been with one of the same girls plus a really super guy who's also a dad of one her teammates. His style of coaching is upbeat and energetic, which the kids love. He was even nice enough to make fun of the lousy line I took through a tight set on the headwall After lunch, the devo team raced NASTAR, ran a stubbie course set for the older kids, then went down to the NF and skied Cannonball.

 

I ran into Nick, who has worked his way from rental shop to park crew and has promised not to land on Ty when they go through the terrain park.

 

BTW, Nick: "Japan four" is from Freddie Got Fingered. I probably seam like one of the more retarded grown-ups you know, but you'll meet Doug someday...

 

Oh, and at lunch I noticed someone had moved my Timberland boots and actually laced them up. A little old lady at the table told me they belonged to Donald. She also got pretty mad when I pulled Donald's Atomic backpack from under the table, which magically had my stuff in it. Later, Donald came in wearing his own boots and she was really sorry. She also fessed up that her grand daughter had been wearing them around outside. Any little thing I can do to make other people more comfortable...

 

All in all, it was an awesome day at Sno.

[Melissa]

I looked for you and Nick all day, and couldn't find either of you!!! Sadness.

 

The bunny hill was insane. I can't believe people were waiting in such a line for the bunny hill--they should have just hiked it--would have been faster than waiting for the lift.

 

In case anyone cares, we only hit the north face, and they def. blew last night. Decent powder on Cannonball and Boomer (though some spots skiied off to ice), second headwall on Cannonball bumped up, which gave tons of people problems, including me:). All in all, a fun day (despite not seeing Ski or Nick!!!), and we ended the day by a little beer in the Sno Grille, which is clearly the most affordable thing on the menu.

[Ski]

I looked for you and Nick all day, and couldn't find either of you!!! Sadness.

 

The bunny hill was insane. I can't believe people were waiting in such a line for the bunny hill--they should have just hiked it--would have been faster than waiting for the lift.

 

In case anyone cares, we only hit the north face, and they def. blew last night. Decent powder on Cannonball and Boomer (though some spots skiied off to ice), second headwall on Cannonball bumped up, which gave tons of people problems, including me:). All in all, a fun day (despite not seeing Ski or Nick!!!), and we ended the day by a little beer in the Sno Grille, which is clearly the most affordable thing on the menu.

 

Nick and I don't spend much time on the NF on weekends...pics or you weren't there

[Melissa]

Nick and I don't spend much time on the NF on weekends...pics or you weren't there

 

Ha. Ha. I've got snow in my jacket to prove it, how's that? haha. I wish you could have seen the second headwall of cannonball. It was a total obstacle course between the bumps, ice, and fallen children. Seriously, we saw so many people bringing young children who could not ski on that slope, it was atrocious. I feel so bad for all those little kids falling/tumbling down the headwalls.

[heretic]

Ha. Ha. I've got snow in my jacket to prove it, how's that? haha. I wish you could have seen the second headwall of cannonball. It was a total obstacle course between the bumps, ice, and fallen children. Seriously, we saw so many people bringing young children who could not ski on that slope, it was atrocious. I feel so bad for all those little kids falling/tumbling down the headwalls.

The reason all the people not being able to ski were on the slope is because they changed the rating on it. It is no longer a diamond it is now a square square. I don't know who else uses the 2 square system but this is the first I have scene it. Smoke was also down graded to a single diamond so there may be more skiers on that slope now.

[Melissa]

The reason all the people not being able to ski were on the slope is because they changed the rating on it. It is no longer a diamond it is now a square square. I don't know who else uses the 2 square system but this is the first I have scene it. Smoke was also down graded to a single diamond so there may be more skiers on that slope now.

 

Wtf, seriously? If they want it to be a square square, whatever, but then they need to groom it. Also, sometimes I think Cannonball is more challenging than Boomer. AND, my friend Sarah who has tried both Smoke and Boomer (I'm too much of a baby to try Smoke yet) thinks that Smoke is def. harder than Boomer. Sno needs to recalibrate its difficulty scale. Even if it's "difficulty inflation," I'd rather see those slopes remain the rating they had before--so people don't think they can take their kids on it or wedge their way down. (Note: I am not knocking people who like to challenge themselves and then fall down, because clearly I've fallen plenty, but some of the people I see just don't even have the skills to get themselves down the slope safely without creating a hazard to themselves and others).

 

Also, where do you see the new trail ratings? Their website doesn't reflect any changes...

Edited December 30, 2007 by Melissa

[heretic]

Wtf, seriously? If they want it to be a square square, whatever, but then they need to groom it. Also, sometimes I think Cannonball is more challenging than Boomer. AND, my friend Sarah who has tried both Smoke and Boomer (I'm too much of a baby to try Smoke yet) thinks that Smoke is def. harder than Boomer. Sno needs to recalibrate its difficulty scale. Even if it's "difficulty inflation," I'd rather see those slopes remain the rating they had before--so people don't think they can take their kids on it or wedge their way down. (Note: I am not knocking people who like to challenge themselves and then fall down, because clearly I've fallen plenty, but some of the people I see just don't even have the skills to get themselves down the slope safely without creating a hazard to themselves and others).

 

Also, where do you see the new trail ratings? Their website doesn't reflect any changes...

 

The office up there has a computer print out of it. I went in and asked if they had a new trail map and thats what they showed me. They didn't have enough of them to hand out but htey were fine with letting me look at it at the office window.

[Schif]

Thats terrible about Cannonball. That trail should definately be a diamond. Also, THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A DOUBLE SQUARE. I thought CB was the only place to do this but wow, this really sucks.

 

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN AT SNO MOUNTAIN: PLEASE KEEP THE TRAIL RATINGS THE SAME AS THEY HAVE BEEN

[Melissa]

Thats terrible about Cannonball. That trail should definately be a diamond. Also, THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A DOUBLE SQUARE. I thought CB was the only place to do this but wow, this really sucks.

 

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN AT SNO MOUNTAIN: PLEASE KEEP THE TRAIL RATINGS THE SAME AS THEY HAVE BEEN

 

Ditto! Let's start a petition... (maybe someone who is less lazy than I am could email Sno to let them know that this is a bad idea?)

[heretic]

Thats terrible about Cannonball. That trail should definately be a diamond. Also, THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A DOUBLE SQUARE. I thought CB was the only place to do this but wow, this really sucks.

 

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN AT SNO MOUNTAIN: PLEASE KEEP THE TRAIL RATINGS THE SAME AS THEY HAVE BEEN

 

 

I agree the trails were great the way they were. I didn't know that CB had a double square. The first I ever scene this was on the map that Sno's office has.

[phillycore]

ski is to sno as doug is to blue

 

keep up the good work man!!

Love the TR's

 

that's all

[Ski]

ski is to sno as doug is to blue

 

keep up the good work man!!

Love the TR's

 

that's all

Ha, thanks, Philly, but I'm just a lowly copycat.

 

I take it as a compliment coming from you...

Meant as such.

[Schif]

I tried to put this in my above post but I think I hit submit too early.

If you're downgrading Cannonball to a double square then I guess lower fasttrack and runaway are single squares now.

 

Seriously Sno, this is a terrible danger to everyone on the mountain. The way Cannonball is meant to be skied is by advanced skiers and riders ripping down the entire length of the trail. It is most fun when skied for a grand total of 35 seconds. Anyone crowding headwalls is putting themselves right in the line of high speed projectiles. If you haven't noticed, the headwalls on this trail are just begging to be aired off of. It is going to be impossible to tell someone like myself who has been doing this for 10 years to stop. Bumped up headwalls (which are caused by people turning and traversing) will cause people who are going straight down them to get seriously hurt. A beginner going 5 mph and tipping over can get banged up, but someone like myself and other members of this board who ski the trail properly are going to receive much worse injuries.

 

The straight facts are that you can see very little of this trail at any given time while you are on it. To put something totally out of the norm i.e. beginner skiers/boarders and potentially bumps because of them is equivalent to throwing speed bumps on the other side of a turn on I-81.

[riderossi]

 

but someone like myself and other members of this board who ski the trail properly are going to receive much worse injuries.

Know the code:

1) Always stay in control, and be able to stop or avoid other people or objects.

2) People ahead of you have the right of way. It is your responsibility to avoid them.

Edited December 31, 2007 by riderossi

[Glenn]

We have diamond inside square instead of double square here. Same difference though. 3 levels of difficulty certainly isn't enough. Even 4 doesn't really suffice. When you can ride double blacks the difference between a blue and a double blue isn't a big deal. However, when you are trying to pick the first blue trail to try after only riding greens, it's a huge difference.

 

Cannonball should probably be a diamond, but airing off those headwalls with no idea what is behind them is reckless and stupid, regardless of the trail rating. Which isn't to say I haven't done it, or that I don't air off blind cat tracks, headwalls, etc here. What I am saying is sometimes you will find people and/or ugly terrain on the other side and you need to be ready to accept the consequences rather than blame the mountain for poor trail ratings.

[trackbiker]

I'm all for keeping the whole lower mountain black diamonds.

I see that the new trail is a green circle and they downgraded Upper Fast Track to a green circle. No problem there as novices can get to the Iron Horse lift from those trails and stay on the upper mountain.

But they down graded Lower Fast Track and Lower Runaway to double blue squares. Those trails get steeper as you near the bottom and have some turns. Not good for Nubes who are carrying some speed when they hit the headwalls down there.

It seems like they are trying to appeal to a bigger market of skiers, but the true black diamond skiers will not like the nubes littering the trails and the nubes won't have such a great experience either after they crash down there.

Might be a good time to send some emails to Sno as it seems the map is not "official" yet. (And yes, Melissa, that includes you! )

[Keith92]

hmm i think changing trail ratings is a waste of time and energy... why not just leave them.

and another thing...i always considered smoke to be harder than boomer..maybe just me?

[Glenn]

hmm i think changing trail ratings is a waste of time and energy... why not just leave them.

and another thing...i always considered smoke to be harder than boomer..maybe just me?

 

Boomer is a longer steeper headwall. I guess difficulty is subjective, but I'd say boomer is the 'harder' trail. In reality, if you can make it down one, you should be able to make it down both. WL is far more difficult. I feel like all the northface except the extreme skiers right should be diamonds, and WL should be a double.

[Ski]

Boomer is a longer steeper headwall. I guess difficulty is subjective, but I'd say boomer is the 'harder' trail. In reality, if you can make it down one, you should be able to make it down both. WL is far more difficult. I feel like all the northface except the extreme skiers right should be diamonds, and WL should be a double.

Agreed. Smoke can be harder because it often bumps into pretty big bumps below the second headwall. If both are groomed flat, Smoke is easier, but yeah, if you are comfortable on one, then you're fine on the other.

[xNick11]

Ya Melissa, you will rarely see me out of the park unless it's a powder day. I might go up today for a few hours before I have to leave to go to my cousins. You might catch me on the NF today tho depending on how the park is.