old lady lessons TR 1/15/10 on solid ice

[Robert2]

I went to Blue Mountain today to teach my wife how to snowboard.

I scored a locker next to benches near the lady's room in the valley lodge.

I came by bus and my wife came after work by car so I met her in the parking lot to haul

board and gear and when we got inside to the benches there was 3 snowboards ,poles, and skis

all melting piles of slush onto the benches.

I looked pretty mad I guess saying OK PEOPLE... HOW ABOUT LEANING THE WET BOARDS ON THE WALLS

INSTEAD OF WHERE WE SIT TO CHANGE....

there was a mad dash to set things right but still the benches were left with piles of slush.

On a night where 1000 kids get off buses to ski you would figure the day shift of skiers would

have learned by now where to not leave wet gear.

It probably would not have bothered me so much if it were elementary school age kids but it wasn't. It was adults that should already know better than to soak the changing benches with slush. Nimrods.

Perhaps Blue mountain can post signs on the walls around the lockers saying

DO NOT LEAVE WET SNOWBOARDS ON THE BENCHES.

PLACE THEM HERE AGAINST THE WALL.

 

 

So we dress for snow and leave off a few layers because the temperature is above freezing

and my wife had no problem wearing all the heavy armor.. wrist guards, elbow guards,knee pads,hockey pants, and helmet.

 

We went to the valley ski school slopes and stayed at the bottom near the carpet lift.

 

THE SURFACE WAS SOLID ICE.

The was nothing about it that had any crunch or give or fluff. Just blue ice.

I LEFT NO FOOTPRINT when I walked.. and I weigh 245 pounds.

 

OK .. so on my OH SHIT meter I sort of figured injury risk was high and student learning level

was going to be very low.

 

Well... I was sort of correct. Student learning level was low but there was ZERO injuries.

There are two types of new snowboarders who can't snowboard.

I said can't snowboard here because a third type would be a new snowboarder who goes riding

in control down a hill.

What I'm talking about is the ones who can't snowboard yet and are truly just learning control.

You see them all the time on the mountain.

The newbies that ride 20 feet and drop to the snow...in any number of bail out forms....

the knee drop.. the butt drop ..the face plant drop... the slide into first base drop...

all because at some point in that tiny ride of only a short distance they realize they do not have ANY control and decide self preservation would be best right about now and just stop the ride any way they can drop.

The other newbie who can't ride in control yet goes for the ride... has the balance to just flat board the trip down the hill... kicks the flat board in circles to keep it pointing straight down the hill...and just shoots the hill like snowtubing.

Just one problem with these wannabees.

Somewhere in that blistering speed trip down the hill they turn the board across the hill

and catch an edge. The cartwheels , Tazmanian devil spinouts, scorpians... very bad crashes that happen next usually end that riders day for good.

Scorpions are really nasty. Thats when you catch the edge and slam your face into the ice like a hammer then the snowboard whips up and smacks you in the back of the head.

Sort of looks like a scorpion to the rest of us in the hill.

 

So having no edging control on solid ice my wife decides she should drop when she feels out of control.

Every 20 feet.

And because of all the armor she never once dropped and banged a knee or anything else.

Then she found out that getting up was hard work so there was the incentive to NOT drop.

All in all it was a very productive first day but I must say that the surface condition

robbed her of any chance of really learning and enjoying the learning today.

And I definitely feel like I was mugged for the price I paid for her lift ticket

to play on such crap surface. I guess I'm just spoiled by Jack Frost's grooming.

We will return and give Blue a few more chances at making a beginner hill newbie friendly.

Perhaps when its colder weather they do have a better surface.

I just don't understand this solid ice pack in beginner ski slopes.

If I don't leave a footprint and I weigh 245 pounds then thats some hard surfaces.

Edited January 16, 2010 by Robert2

[sexkitten]

Should have joined us at BC Robert! Sucks that ice was her first experience on a board. Make sure she doesn't give up.

[sexkitten]

I would love to see Doug on a board. We should have a PASR Switch Day where all the skiers board and all the boarders ski. Maybe not.

[Robert2]

Should have joined us at BC Robert! Sucks that ice was her first experience on a board. Make sure she doesn't give up.

She's not discouraged at all and not giving up.

She was psyched up all week and excited like a little kid on Christmas morning as Friday

approached.

She knows that the ski season is now open all the way till the last week in March so

she gets at least 10 shots at doing it Fridays for the next few months.

Even more if she wants to go weekends.

 

Even though it was ice , it was not a total loss.

She learned that the armor would protect her against pain and suffering.

Most... probably 99% of all brand new skiers who crash... are affected by that one bad crash that either chases them off the snow forever or delays them from trying soon again.

I see this every day at Jack Frost.

And the boarders who fall are much worse than the skiers because at least the skiers stand up...shake it off... and maybe walk or ski down the hill ...

but snowboarders lie on their backs contemplating animals in the cloud formations

or sit like potted plants for a half hour deciding what to do next.

 

So without any injury causing her to stop and wonder about what a bad idea this might be...she knows she can get up and ride some more.

We got the desired results out of the armor investment.

 

Ice can be a good thing to learn on.

Once you learn control on ice you don't ever NOT go ski because conditions are icy.

I love riding blue ice. Give me blue ice any day over 8 inches of sticky fresh powder.

Ice I can carve all day.

 

 

 

There is no time limit or goal here.

We will return all winter and play a little more each time gaining some more control.

When she's ready to ride outside of ski school slopes is up to her progression.

At least she's trying and not getting hurt.

She suggested I teach her in my backyard. Not even bother with the trip to Blue.

If we really wanted to practice ...on the very same ice pack surface we found at Blue...

we could run the pressure washer sprayer and cover my back yard with ice.

I think that about covers it. She's motivated and will be back.

[toast21602]

wtf

[RootDKJ]

wtf

 

+1

[Robert2]

I am 210 pounds and I didn't leave a footprint here in Jackson hole. Friday nights seem like a pretty crowded tome to learn. Why not try Monday nights which is ladies day at Blue. All women save 10 dollars on lift tickets.

Perhaps its just my expectations of groomed surfaces to be groomed.

I know its not going to be soft powder every day but it seems that every day I go to Jack Frost there has been a groomed surface that gave up some powder or snow cone granular slushy crystals.

Always something to do steering control without having to totally ice skate on solid ice.

I just did not have that luxury on Blue Mountain's VERY BEGINNER SKI SCHOOL teaching area.

I was very surprised they did not make sure those conditions were not in the teaching area.

I don't care if they don't groom the whole mountain or don't groom the whole ski school area.

It just would be nice for them to grind up the ice in the 100 foot bottom teaching area so the newbies get more of chance to actually learn something instead of fear and crashing on solid ice.

[DiMe]

It just would be nice for them to grind up the ice in the 100 foot bottom teaching area so the newbies get more of chance to actually learn something instead of fear and crashing on solid ice.

Tilling up thick ice = death cookies Nobody is willing to eat all the cookies to make it safe.

Edited January 16, 2010 by DiMeThIcOnE

[kragan]

wtf

Awesome ... could not have said it better myself.

[zaldon]

 

So we dress for snow and leave off a few layers because the temperature is above freezing

and my wife had no problem wearing all the heavy armor.. wrist guards, elbow guards,knee pads,hockey pants, and helmet.

 

We went to the valley ski school slopes and stayed at the bottom near the carpet lift.

 

THE SURFACE WAS SOLID ICE.

The was nothing about it that had any crunch or give or fluff. Just blue ice.

I LEFT NO FOOTPRINT when I walked.. and I weigh 245 pounds.

 

How can you have "blue ice" when it is above freezing, and I heard from a reliable source that conditions were excellent on Thursday night.

[First Grade Teacher]

I must say that the surface condition

robbed her of any chance of really learning and enjoying the learning today.

And I definitely feel like I was mugged for the price I paid for her lift ticket

to play on such crap surface. I guess I'm just spoiled by Jack Frost's grooming.

I just don't understand this solid ice pack in beginner ski slopes.

If I don't leave a footprint and I weigh 245 pounds then thats some hard surfaces.

Welcome to Blue Mountain where the conditions suck and the service is worse. Just be glad you didn't have to sit on the floor to eat your $50 lunch!

[Robert2]

Tilling up thick ice = death cookies Nobody is willing to eat all the cookies to make it safe.

This is where I have to disagree.

Tilling up the ice .... seems to be no problem at Jack Frost every day of the year

to produce fine granular snow cone powder...not death cookies.... out of that same boiler plate ice.

[Robert2]

How can you have "blue ice" when it is above freezing, and I heard from a reliable source that conditions were excellent on Thursday night.

Were you there? Your reliable source ain't so reliable.

I'm calling it ice. It was ice.

And as far as ANYONE stating conditions goes....

ITS A BIG MOUNTAIN so when someone says Paradise or Main Street.... etc was powder or soft slush or whatever.... that ain't ski school teaching areas.

Get it right... don't just give a conditions report and assume the entire mountain is the same.

I give a trail report every day I go play on the white stuff and I tell it like it is where I went.

I don't get a "reliable source" to tell me what conditions were like.

I was there.

 

 

It was cloudy all day with zero sunshine and regardless of the warm 41 degree temperature it was a raw balmy uncomfortable chilly day. Sure it was nice to not be 10 degrees outside but

it was still winter weather.

The fact that we did not leave a foot print in this surface says it all.

 

They did a great job shaping an ice sculpture, not groom a beginner hill.

 

And as far as conditions being excellent go.... if I were to have gone riding I would have given a great trail report.

I love to ride on solid ice.

The less powder, the faster I ride, the more up on edge flight time I get to have.

My track looks like 1 one inch ribbons cut in the snow when its that firm.

 

Condition sucked on the teaching hill for newbies. Thats all there is to it.

We will be back again next Friday and perhaps your reliable source will take the hike over to

the valley teaching area and give an accurate conditions report better defining what the surface

was really like.

[AtomicSkier]

stop calling it "powder"

[Robert2]

stop calling it "powder"

You know what I mean.

And so does everyone else who rides on man made powder.

It can be fine like chalk dust... or thick like snow cones...it can be dry or wet.... its still one or two inches of soft stuff that kicks up a rooster tail and has a wee bit more control than a flat blue ice hill.

[AtomicSkier]

You know what I mean.

And so does everyone else who rides on man made powder.

It can be fine like chalk dust... or thick like snow cones...it can be dry or wet.... its still one or two inches of soft stuff that kicks up a rooster tail and has a wee bit more control than a flat blue ice hill.

 

everybody else calls it sugar

[zaldon]

Stop calling it a BIG MOUNTAIN it isn't, and never will be, and if it truly was solid ice than their is no way you would be cutting 1 inch ribbons into the snow unless it was with a chisel.

[eggbert]

Welcome to Blue Mountain where the conditions suck and the service is worse. Just be glad you didn't have to sit on the floor to eat your $50 lunch!

Edited January 21, 2010 by eggbert

[Cadillac]

DO NOT LEAVE WET SNOWBOARDS ON THE BENCHES.

PLACE THEM HERE AGAINST THE WALL.

 

Good Idea Signs would be a easy enough fix!

Should have put the idea in their suggestion box.

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

On 1/15/2010 at 11:07 PM, Robert2 said:

I went to Blue Mountain today to teach my wife how to snowboard.

I scored a locker next to benches near the lady's room in the valley lodge.

I came by bus and my wife came after work by car so I met her in the parking lot to haul

board and gear and when we got inside to the benches there was 3 snowboards ,poles, and skis

all melting piles of slush onto the benches.

I looked pretty mad I guess saying OK PEOPLE... HOW ABOUT LEANING THE WET BOARDS ON THE WALLS

INSTEAD OF WHERE WE SIT TO CHANGE....

there was a mad dash to set things right but still the benches were left with piles of slush.

On a night where 1000 kids get off buses to ski you would figure the day shift of skiers would

have learned by now where to not leave wet gear.

It probably would not have bothered me so much if it were elementary school age kids but it wasn't. It was adults that should already know better than to soak the changing benches with slush. Nimrods.

Perhaps Blue mountain can post signs on the walls around the lockers saying

DO NOT LEAVE WET SNOWBOARDS ON THE BENCHES.

PLACE THEM HERE AGAINST THE WALL.

 

 

So we dress for snow and leave off a few layers because the temperature is above freezing

and my wife had no problem wearing all the heavy armor.. wrist guards, elbow guards,knee pads,hockey pants, and helmet.

 

We went to the valley ski school slopes and stayed at the bottom near the carpet lift.

 

THE SURFACE WAS SOLID ICE.

The was nothing about it that had any crunch or give or fluff. Just blue ice.

I LEFT NO FOOTPRINT when I walked.. and I weigh 245 pounds.

 

OK .. so on my OH SHIT meter I sort of figured injury risk was high and student learning level

was going to be very low.

 

Well... I was sort of correct. Student learning level was low but there was ZERO injuries.

There are two types of new snowboarders who can't snowboard.

I said can't snowboard here because a third type would be a new snowboarder who goes riding

in control down a hill.

What I'm talking about is the ones who can't snowboard yet and are truly just learning control.

You see them all the time on the mountain.

The newbies that ride 20 feet and drop to the snow...in any number of bail out forms....

the knee drop.. the butt drop ..the face plant drop... the slide into first base drop...

all because at some point in that tiny ride of only a short distance they realize they do not have ANY control and decide self preservation would be best right about now and just stop the ride any way they can drop.

The other newbie who can't ride in control yet goes for the ride... has the balance to just flat board the trip down the hill... kicks the flat board in circles to keep it pointing straight down the hill...and just shoots the hill like snowtubing.

Just one problem with these wannabees.

Somewhere in that blistering speed trip down the hill they turn the board across the hill

and catch an edge. The cartwheels , Tazmanian devil spinouts, scorpians... very bad crashes that happen next usually end that riders day for good.

Scorpions are really nasty. Thats when you catch the edge and slam your face into the ice like a hammer then the snowboard whips up and smacks you in the back of the head.

Sort of looks like a scorpion to the rest of us in the hill.

 

So having no edging control on solid ice my wife decides she should drop when she feels out of control.

Every 20 feet.

And because of all the armor she never once dropped and banged a knee or anything else.

Then she found out that getting up was hard work so there was the incentive to NOT drop.

All in all it was a very productive first day but I must say that the surface condition

robbed her of any chance of really learning and enjoying the learning today.

And I definitely feel like I was mugged for the price I paid for her lift ticket

to play on such crap surface. I guess I'm just spoiled by Jack Frost's grooming.

We will return and give Blue a few more chances at making a beginner hill newbie friendly.

Perhaps when its colder weather they do have a better surface.

I just don't understand this solid ice pack in beginner ski slopes.

If I don't leave a footprint and I weigh 245 pounds then thats some hard surfaces.

Wow 

[theprogram4]

8 minutes ago, GrilledSteezeSandwich said:

Wow 

didnt the poster named "Cadillac" leave a note with a Cadillac logo on your car, both at blue and at some random grocery store?

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

3 minutes ago, theprogram4 said:

didnt the poster named "Cadillac" leave a note with a Cadillac logo on your car, both at blue and at some random grocery store?

Yes

[theprogram4]

i think its time for a good new PASR controversy/beef.  i dont know why you guys want to ban eaf, i give him props for bringing the beef to the front door like Dominos.  also props to sally for keeping her foot on poster's necks when they come at her sideways.

[RootDKJ]

5 minutes ago, theprogram4 said:

i think its time for a good new PASR controversy/beef.  i dont know why you guys want to ban eaf, i give him props for bringing the beef to the front door like Dominos.  also props to sally for keeping her foot on poster's necks when they come at her sideways.

Ditto. 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

On 1/21/2010 at 12:14 PM, eggbert said:

 

Thanks for dropping in