method9455 Posted January 4, 2010 Report Posted January 4, 2010 Had an earlier thread planning this trip, now it's time to start a massive running TR for no reason other than narcismism. Well, maybe it will inspire someone or people will like the pictures. Original plan - drive my Subaru to Winter Park and stay for a month. New plan - use frequent flyer miles to fly out there and use shuttle bus. Advantage - save 4 days of driving and wear & tear on the car. So far the new plan is sucking. Right now Newark has a security breach with someone getting through security and hiding in the terminal I need to go through, 5+ hours of delays, and there is no word on when our flight will leave. Should have gone with the driving. Grrrr. http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/01/03/new.jersey.airport.breach/index.html I was hoping to ski tomorrow but that probably won't happen now because there is no way in hell my flight is getting off at 6am as planned. Definitely not sleeping tonight. Quote
Justin Posted January 4, 2010 Report Posted January 4, 2010 A month in WP with no car? I hope you brought scrabble 1 Quote
AtomicSkier Posted January 4, 2010 Report Posted January 4, 2010 Regardless of free airfare, I would've driven. Good luck man...keep us updated. Quote
Johnny Law Posted January 5, 2010 Report Posted January 5, 2010 Things will get better and you'll forget all about dirty Newark. Good luck and interested in seeing your pics. Quote
Johnny Law Posted January 5, 2010 Report Posted January 5, 2010 Kevin...you make it out there??? I want to hear about your first ever day riding out west.. Shit first day ever, dude's probably trying to find a job out there right about now. Quote
method9455 Posted January 5, 2010 Author Report Posted January 5, 2010 Made it out yesterday about middday. The whole airport experience sucked, slept about 45 minutes Sunday into Monday. We arrived 3 hours before the flight (for a domestic flight and using the first class lines for security and check in), and got to the gate with about 20 minutes to spare. Our whole flight was standby from the night before, I guess the upside is that we didn't have to sleep on the floor in the airport like so many other people. Got into Denver around 9:45, the roads were dry up to Winter Park so it was a quick ride and got to our condo at 12. We unpacked our ski gear, grabbed a shuttle, and got our season passes. On the snow by 1. Bluebird day, sunny as it gets, and around 35 degrees so really warm. We rode until close, not sure how many runs we did or really where we went. We just got on the first lift and kept trying different runs until the lifts started closing. It was awesome. We talked to locals on pretty much every lift and asked where to go next so it worked out well. Snow conditions were very good - true packed powder not what PA resorts call packed powder. They got a few inches of snow the night before so I hit some trees near the end of the day and found some. Overall it was awesome, even only 3 hours was great. We were exhausted and fell asleep around 7 last night. The views are what got us the most, and the mountain is taller than I thought which is what I worried about the most, I think the trail map just makes it look short. A lot of the locals were complaining there isn't much snow yet, but coverage everywhere we were yesterday was good. As for the shuttle, we're lucky it literally stops outside our door, so its a 50 foot walk. It comes every 15 minutes so you do have to time it a little but its not unreasonable. I also got the phone number for the car service that brought us here from the airport so if I need a cab I can get one. Today we're going to get groceries right now and then hit the mountain from like 11 to close. It didn't snow last night so we're not missing out on morning tracks and its a lot colder today. Quote
Johnny Law Posted January 5, 2010 Report Posted January 5, 2010 Nice dude If you run into Glenn he'll show you the goods. Quote
method9455 Posted January 5, 2010 Author Report Posted January 5, 2010 Some pictures from January 4th 1 Quote
nick malozzi Posted January 5, 2010 Report Posted January 5, 2010 i should be up this weekend... and the locals are correct, coverage sucks right now, trust me. Quote
Timeless Posted January 5, 2010 Report Posted January 5, 2010 Snow conditions were very good - true packed powder not what PA resorts call packed powder. I'm not sure which is funnier, hearing PA resorts call sheet ice "packed powder" or hearing people in the west coast resorts claiming "ice" everytime the hear the slightest noise coming from an edge. Anyway, congrat's for making the break, it will be hard to go back. 1 Quote
method9455 Posted January 6, 2010 Author Report Posted January 6, 2010 Porn first, TR later Weather for the day - overcast, mid 20s, 15mph winds. My girlfriend Danielle Me Quote
method9455 Posted January 6, 2010 Author Report Posted January 6, 2010 Quick TR: Weather was 20s, overcast, medium wind at 15-20mph. Flurries in the afternoon. Snow was choppy today. Not bumps like moguls, but bumps enough that they would buck you when you tried to go all out. They don't groom much of the mountain each night so there were 3 or 4 trails today I was like damn it if only they groomed this out last night I would be blasting down here. Sounds like I'm bitching for home but honestly nobody enjoys that condition between moguls and smooth. Groomed trails were great though. We stayed off the Vasquez Ridge (mostly blues), the Winter Park main face, and the area in between. Tomorrow we're going to hit Mary Jane/Parsenn Bowl/The Cirque which are the marque areas, we haven't actually headed over there yet. It is supposed to snow about 10" tonight, but high winds tomorrow might throw it all into the trees. Long range, they keep saying the jet stream will change but they said it would this week, now they are saying next week. I really hope it comes south to Colorado before Danielle has to head back to school on the 19th. A month in WP with no car? I hope you brought scrabble It's my girlfriend and I on the trip. Apres-ski is not a concern. I'm not sure which is funnier, hearing PA resorts call sheet ice "packed powder" or hearing people in the west coast resorts claiming "ice" everytime the hear the slightest noise coming from an edge. Anyway, congrat's for making the break, it will be hard to go back. Agreed, but I'm aware of that. Yesterday was really good - the night before it snowed 5", if we had been in Colorado for first chair instead of getting to the house at 12 it would have been almost a powder day. Today was quite different and I would say it was like an afternoon at Camelback. Quote
AtomicSkier Posted January 6, 2010 Report Posted January 6, 2010 Today was quite different and I would say it was like an afternoon at Camelback. LOL....I don't think I'ver ever said that about a mountain out west. Quote
DiMe Posted January 6, 2010 Report Posted January 6, 2010 LOL....I don't think I'ver ever said that about a mountain out west. He's only saying that because OBV Camelback is so sick its comparable to mountains out west Quote
Timeless Posted January 6, 2010 Report Posted January 6, 2010 Sounds like I'm bitching for home but honestly nobody enjoys that condition between moguls and smooth. You should get used to that, you will see a lot of those conidtions if your in the resort and it's not snowing everyday. Today was quite different and I would say it was like an afternoon at Camelback. Wow, you're really not selling WP very well. Quote
nick malozzi Posted January 6, 2010 Report Posted January 6, 2010 Wow, you're really not selling WP very well. He isn't lying, don't waste your time at WP, just keep on driving and head to summit county. Nothing worthwhile off of the Empire/Granby exit. Quote
Dan- Posted January 6, 2010 Report Posted January 6, 2010 I'm heading out there Friday. Not really sure where we are riding yet but winter park is in store for at least 1 day over the weekend. Quote
nick malozzi Posted January 6, 2010 Report Posted January 6, 2010 Nick how many days do you in so far this season at Winter Park? 15 Quote
phillycore Posted January 7, 2010 Report Posted January 7, 2010 Kevin.... send Glenn a PM and meet up with him for a bit.... your impression of Winter Park will change dramatically I assure you this... It's a different animal for sure... especially if you've never been out west before. Like I said... PM Glenn....and meet up with him....BRAH! You won't regret it. Quote
method9455 Posted January 7, 2010 Author Report Posted January 7, 2010 (edited) No time for a TR right now, we went to an avy class for the last few hours and are getting up for first chair tomorrow. Much better day today as you can see from the pictures. Edited January 7, 2010 by Kevin. 1 Quote
phillycore Posted January 7, 2010 Report Posted January 7, 2010 Hell yeah man.... gettin the goods... ++++STOKE Quote
method9455 Posted January 10, 2010 Author Report Posted January 10, 2010 (edited) Wow, been a few days since I really went on my laptop so here is a 3 day TR. Wednesday - went up there 11 to 4, snowed the whole time. We rode Mary Jane the whole time, it was awesome. Really enjoyed the Sluice Box trees and some off the right side of Sleeper. The pictures above are from wednesday. That night we went to the Friends of Berthound Pass avalanche safety class. It was primarily about the recognizing avalance conditions/route planning and the like, not so much about beacon finding or digging pits. They have a field day where they teach you that stuff but it is 2 days after I leave, bummer. We don't plan on doing anything backcountry this year but there are not many opportunities for a good class like that and it was free with a $5 donation recommended, so I threw them a bit more than that and they gave me some sweet maps and posters. The guy teaching it was really good too. About halfway between your average store avy class and a Level 1 class. Thursday - powder day. 10" of snow overnight. We got there for first chair, did a few runs on Mary Jane and then headed over the bowl. We made some runs there, but the wind had reduced it to like 6" of fresh and the rest had moved into the trees. After the bowl was tracked we headed to Mary Jane and the trees were full of snow. Danielle took a break and I rode a few runs with Glenn. No way in hell I can keep up with him in the bumps/trees, maybe on a groomed run but he moves through the trees and bumps at a speed that I didn't even know was possible. We got a bit off the beaten path and got some nice powder in the woods that he knew about. After Glenn wore me out we split up and Danielle and I did some more Mary Jane. Aside from getting stuck in a tree well at one point it was a great day. Friday - took the day off and slept a lot, did some laundry and then went to a restaurant for dinner and walked around the town for a while, then ended up back at the hot tub in our condo complex for the night. Saturday - Decided to slow it down because we figured there would be clouds so I took out my skis for the first time this season. Started out on green trails but remembered pretty quick and ended up working up through blues/blacks and then onto bumps over on Mary Jane (first time hitting bumps on skis). We did the looser trees over at the bottom of the bowl and I did OK, but we hit Eagle Wind which they dropped the rope on this afternoon and the trees were too tight/powder too deep for me. I struggled really badly and ended up falling about a dozen times and one time I was struggling to get up and started moving, and went about 5 feet before slamming into a tree. We forgot the camera but it was a gorgeous day, 37F and bluebird. We stopped at the lodge on the top of mary jane, it was sweet. They had beach chairs out facing the bowl and we hung out in the sun for a while, what an unbelievable view and an unforgettable day. Thursday the powder day, forgot to mention it became bluebird and no wind in the afternoon. Edited January 10, 2010 by Kevin. 1 Quote
Timeless Posted January 11, 2010 Report Posted January 11, 2010 Awesome pictures, making plans to stay yet? Quote
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