defining snow conditions in trail reports

[Robert2]

The soft snow that is grabby - if you use warm temperature wax instead of all-temp you can get through it at normal speed. I don't know how much your tune your gear but I do it often enough that come March I switch waxes and I actually really enjoy those warm weather days.

Can you point to a web page that shows which warm weather wax you like to buy?

[DiMe]

Can you point to a web page that shows which warm weather wax you like to buy?

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/CANWAX-Slide-Ski-Snowboard-Wax-200-gram-bar_W0QQitemZ230425715446QQcmdZViewItemQQptZSnowboarding?hash=item35a67162f6

 

I've been using these 200gram blocks they're super cheap. I used blue last year which I purchased by mistake not reading what each color was for and it worked great all season and even in the Spring. Any wax is better than no wax but this year I bought a couple bars of gold and it's been working great I plan to try the red in spring and see if it's a noticeable difference.

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Salty this is a classic Robert2 post. 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Robert2 is still around here’s a video of him roller skating in Jim Thorpe

 

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

On 1/19/2010 at 11:40 AM, Johnny Law said:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARXfQzfl9EQ

 

Shit, I was away and almost missed this important and informative thread.

Epic thread with Dime, Chippy, R2D2, Outcold, Zaldon and many more OGs

[saltyant]

2 hours ago, GrilledSteezeSandwich said:

Salty this is a classic Robert2 post. 

Thanks! Sometimes I read old threads way way before my time for the lolz. This place seems to be a lot calmer (less arguments, flaming etc) than it used to based on what I've read.

Edited February 1, 2019 by saltyant

[NMSKI]

39 minutes ago, GrilledSteezeSandwich said:

Robert2 is still around here’s a video of him roller skating in Jim Thorpe

 

 

Watch out for those cars!

And WTF did I just watch.

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

2 minutes ago, NMSKI said:

Watch out for those cars!

And WTF did I just watch.

That was like slow motion 

[Schif]

Is that really Robert2? and if it is, how the hell did you find that? 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

7 minutes ago, Schif said:

Is that really Robert2? and if it is, how the hell did you find that? 

I found his last name on an article about him on jack frosts website then went on google. 

[Kyle]

1 hour ago, Schif said:

Is that really Robert2? and if it is, how the hell did you find that? 

Does it even surprise you anymore that Doug does shit like that? 

[DiMe]

On 1/17/2010 at 3:03 PM, Robert2 said:

Its full tilt into the ski season and we have a few ways we have been describing

the snow we found at each ski resort.

Some of us do not say it the same way as others and I keep having remarks posted in my trip reports that say things like "DON'T CALL IT POWDER" and other directives, as if any one

description could be the perfect decription conveying knowledge to other people who may

decide to come or bail out on a ski trip based in our trip reports.

Is that runon sentence the record yet?

 

My trip reports will state what I found. Exactly what I found on the hills I visit.

I have no reason to slant my reports to be anything but truthful.

If its ice, its ice.

So what.

That just means the newbies should wear roller blade armor and get out there any go ski.

If its real fluffy brand new snow... it could be very wet and sticky and VERY slow riding.

So again, brand new lessons , never ever seen the snow, kinds of people can go play and not get hurt.

So go ski. ... and bring a friend who never skied before.

Then we have the various man made groomed conditions that nobody seems to be able to agree how to describe.

So lets start with solid ice.

I call this BLUE ICE.

Its sort of the same thing you make in your freezer to make cold drinks.

Blue ice has no features, no grooves, no detectable man made markings.

Just a flat ice skating rink type of ice.

BLUE ICE can be the absolute best most fun ride you ever have on a snowboard if you learn to carve by riding on the metal edges of the board instead of keeping the snowboard flat on the snow.

Since there are control issues with blue ice there are MANY skiers and boarders that just declare this surface impossible to ride and just stay home.

I can not SKI on BLUE ICE but I can snowboard all day on BLUE ICE.

So if you can't ride BLUE ICE then go take a lesson or 3 and you may find that

once you can ride BLUE ICE you never will NOT go play on the snow because someone said it

was "icey".

The cause of BLUE ICE is from the snow being in a warm wet slushy state then getting hit with a fast freeze.

This is a VERY common event that happens at Big Boulder during warmer winters.

As the sun sets and that last 10 degree temperature drop happens we get instant solidification

of the snow that may have been nice and soft all day.

BUT

since Big Boulder opens ONLY for night skiing they manage to run their groomers in the afternoon RIGHT UP UNTIL opening the lifts.

So even when it freezes there's a nice ridable surface.

The key here is the grooming.... grooming closer to the time YOU the rider hits the hill.

 

Next we have GLACIER ice.

This is that last six inches of snow near the base hill grass that has leaves and mud mixed into it. Sometimes when thats ALL thats left and they can't groom anymore we get spots of dead leaves and mud mixed with solid ice that has melting and mixing features in it.

This is usually very bad to ski on and is only in the last week before resorts close for good.

 

We just don't get enough snow here to rely on natural snowfall to keep a ski resort open so

the only thing you can do to stay open is make the snow and groom it every day before customers

play on it.

It seems to me there are a few ideas of how to make this surface worth the price of a lift ticket.

Jack Frost... seems to manage to grind up this ice and make a snow cone granular surface thats sometimes fine like chalk or thick like snow cones we eat.

Sometimes its dry, sometimes its wet, but its usually an inch or 2 deep EVERYWHERE.

This stuff kicks up a rooster tail when you turn or sprays big time when you do a hockey stop

on skis.

Now I've been calling this stuff POWDER and a few people tell me I should call it SUGAR or SWEET n LOW when its real fine like chalk.

My point here is that this is the stuff you WANT to ski on.

It has great control... doesn't break you if you fall in it like BLUE ICE and

I have been and will call this stuff groomed powder.

 

Sometimes the grinding to make powder can't happen and groomers cut groves we

call groomed corduroy.

A lot of people hate corduroy because its very fast and very much like riding BLUE ICE.

BUT

because it has those grooves we have much better control than just plain blue ice.

AGAIN

if you can't ride on it...take a real lesson from a PRO.

 

So I'm sure everyone will have their 2 cents to say about how to describe the snow ..

feel free to speak up here.

I just wrote this so newcomers will know what I mean when I describe a surface.

 

THIS IS NOT THE YOUR MOUNTAIN SUCKS AT GROOMING THREAD.

 

I'm not saying Blue can't groom for shit here. You BLUE lifers already said that a dozens times.

 

I'm not comparing OTHER mountains to BLUE.

You all know I do 50 days a year on Jack Frost hills so I have a real basis to make my descriptions accurate and not just slinging bullshit.

I don't say "I GOT IT FROM A RELIABLE SOURCE". I only say what I experienced.

 

Now what I'd really like to see is a real snowmaker and groomer from BLUE step up to the plate here and explain how they decide what condition to leave the hill in as final product.

Its the groomers manufacturing the ski hills here and its really up to them when it comes to quality control.... and when its OK to make BLUE ICE in beginner areas on the heaviest visitor days of the year...Friday nights.

 

I'll make video next week of the VALLEY SKI SCHOOL beginner learning area at the bottom of the hill near the carpet lift and drop a water bottle on the snow to show if it sticks in snow

or BOUNCES on BLUE ICE like it did Friday night.

Such a valueable lesson, I am forever greatful for.  I think with all the fighting lately we should get back to the core trip reports and take a refresher on how to standardize condition reporting for everyones benefit

 

Edited February 23, 2023 by DiMe

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

On 1/17/2010 at 3:03 PM, Robert2 said:

Its full tilt into the ski season and we have a few ways we have been describing

the snow we found at each ski resort.

Some of us do not say it the same way as others and I keep having remarks posted in my trip reports that say things like "DON'T CALL IT POWDER" and other directives, as if any one

description could be the perfect decription conveying knowledge to other people who may

decide to come or bail out on a ski trip based in our trip reports.

Is that runon sentence the record yet?

 

My trip reports will state what I found. Exactly what I found on the hills I visit.

I have no reason to slant my reports to be anything but truthful.

If its ice, its ice.

So what.

That just means the newbies should wear roller blade armor and get out there any go ski.

If its real fluffy brand new snow... it could be very wet and sticky and VERY slow riding.

So again, brand new lessons , never ever seen the snow, kinds of people can go play and not get hurt.

So go ski. ... and bring a friend who never skied before.

Then we have the various man made groomed conditions that nobody seems to be able to agree how to describe.

So lets start with solid ice.

I call this BLUE ICE.

Its sort of the same thing you make in your freezer to make cold drinks.

Blue ice has no features, no grooves, no detectable man made markings.

Just a flat ice skating rink type of ice.

BLUE ICE can be the absolute best most fun ride you ever have on a snowboard if you learn to carve by riding on the metal edges of the board instead of keeping the snowboard flat on the snow.

Since there are control issues with blue ice there are MANY skiers and boarders that just declare this surface impossible to ride and just stay home.

I can not SKI on BLUE ICE but I can snowboard all day on BLUE ICE.

So if you can't ride BLUE ICE then go take a lesson or 3 and you may find that

once you can ride BLUE ICE you never will NOT go play on the snow because someone said it

was "icey".

The cause of BLUE ICE is from the snow being in a warm wet slushy state then getting hit with a fast freeze.

This is a VERY common event that happens at Big Boulder during warmer winters.

As the sun sets and that last 10 degree temperature drop happens we get instant solidification

of the snow that may have been nice and soft all day.

BUT

since Big Boulder opens ONLY for night skiing they manage to run their groomers in the afternoon RIGHT UP UNTIL opening the lifts.

So even when it freezes there's a nice ridable surface.

The key here is the grooming.... grooming closer to the time YOU the rider hits the hill.

 

Next we have GLACIER ice.

This is that last six inches of snow near the base hill grass that has leaves and mud mixed into it. Sometimes when thats ALL thats left and they can't groom anymore we get spots of dead leaves and mud mixed with solid ice that has melting and mixing features in it.

This is usually very bad to ski on and is only in the last week before resorts close for good.

 

We just don't get enough snow here to rely on natural snowfall to keep a ski resort open so

the only thing you can do to stay open is make the snow and groom it every day before customers

play on it.

It seems to me there are a few ideas of how to make this surface worth the price of a lift ticket.

Jack Frost... seems to manage to grind up this ice and make a snow cone granular surface thats sometimes fine like chalk or thick like snow cones we eat.

Sometimes its dry, sometimes its wet, but its usually an inch or 2 deep EVERYWHERE.

This stuff kicks up a rooster tail when you turn or sprays big time when you do a hockey stop

on skis.

Now I've been calling this stuff POWDER and a few people tell me I should call it SUGAR or SWEET n LOW when its real fine like chalk.

My point here is that this is the stuff you WANT to ski on.

It has great control... doesn't break you if you fall in it like BLUE ICE and

I have been and will call this stuff groomed powder.

 

Sometimes the grinding to make powder can't happen and groomers cut groves we

call groomed corduroy.

A lot of people hate corduroy because its very fast and very much like riding BLUE ICE.

BUT

because it has those grooves we have much better control than just plain blue ice.

AGAIN

if you can't ride on it...take a real lesson from a PRO.

 

So I'm sure everyone will have their 2 cents to say about how to describe the snow ..

feel free to speak up here.

I just wrote this so newcomers will know what I mean when I describe a surface.

 

THIS IS NOT THE YOUR MOUNTAIN SUCKS AT GROOMING THREAD.

 

I'm not saying Blue can't groom for shit here. You BLUE lifers already said that a dozens times.

 

I'm not comparing OTHER mountains to BLUE.

You all know I do 50 days a year on Jack Frost hills so I have a real basis to make my descriptions accurate and not just slinging bullshit.

I don't say "I GOT IT FROM A RELIABLE SOURCE". I only say what I experienced.

 

Now what I'd really like to see is a real snowmaker and groomer from BLUE step up to the plate here and explain how they decide what condition to leave the hill in as final product.

Its the groomers manufacturing the ski hills here and its really up to them when it comes to quality control.... and when its OK to make BLUE ICE in beginner areas on the heaviest visitor days of the year...Friday nights.

 

I'll make video next week of the VALLEY SKI SCHOOL beginner learning area at the bottom of the hill near the carpet lift and drop a water bottle on the snow to show if it sticks in snow

or BOUNCES on BLUE ICE like it did Friday night.

Correct. 

[Johnny Law]

On 2/1/2019 at 1:45 PM, NMSKI said:

Watch out for those cars!

And WTF did I just watch.

I could never tell if R2D2 was so meta it was all a joke or if he was actually just crazy

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

On 2/1/2019 at 3:00 PM, Kyle said:

Does it even surprise you anymore that Doug does shit like that? 

Haha

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

13 minutes ago, Johnny Law said:

I could never tell if R2D2 was so meta it was all a joke or if he was actually just crazy

Crazy and also condescending..