Big Mountain report

[sibhusky]

Well, it's begun snowing in earnest. Twelve inches at my house in the last 24 hours. The mountain is reporting 21 inches in the last week, but that must not include today!

 

I loved the ski reporter's first sentence this AM: "Hey all you weekday powderhounds, that low pay part time job is going to pay off!! " That describes me these days.

 

Anyway, I have some pictures. It was definitely snowing all day, so no sun and plenty of low flying clouds.

 

First two pictures are on Russ's Street, a long flat run coming off the top of the mountain. It's a green run, so had been groomed last night:

 

Looking "down"

Looking "back up hill"

 

This is part of the way down Toni Matt, looking back at the main chair. Visibility had improved enough to take this.

 

This is on another "groomed" run, Goat Haunt, about mid-day:

 

My leg, you can see the snow is just below my knee. Yes, I am on a ski. (I discovered the K2 XP's are good to about boot top, then get to be a bit too narrow as we approach knee deep snow.)

 

Looking back up Ed's Run, an ungroomed blue. This was the run that showed me my ski's limits. I started trying to turn in other people's tracks.:

[LineSki]

my friend is there right now I bet he is having a hell of a time.

[sibhusky]

my friend is there right now I bet he is having a hell of a time.

 

Yeah, I'd like to thank him for showing up and bringing this nice snow. BUT, he's in for some really cold days. Wednesday the HIGH is supposed to be 5 degrees.

 

What's he wear? Maybe I should keep an eye out for him.

[ole2planker]

Sib,

 

Thanks for the great photos.

 

And, I love the Whitefish photo in your signature.

[LineSki]

Yeah, I'd like to thank him for showing up and bringing this nice snow. BUT, he's in for some really cold days. Wednesday the HIGH is supposed to be 5 degrees.

 

What's he wear? Maybe I should keep an eye out for him.

 

Brown coat with fur hood. very LOUD

[sibhusky]

I didn't see the description of LineSki's friend until I got home, so I couldn't look for him. (What should I say to him assuming I want to talk to someone who is loud, by the way?)

 

Today was absolutely frigid, but outstanding. The temperature was either side of zero depending on where you were on the mountain and if the clouds were blocking the sun and I had to ski with a novice skier today (who got a workout from me), but it was just an outstanding day.

 

Get ready for some "screensaver" shots, gang! The first few are about midday, but you'll see that I hung out at the top as the sun was getting lower on the horizon until the ski patrol chased me along (they wanted to go home). Consequently, I got some great golden hour shots.

 

Here's a link to a screenshow (which works a bit better if you hit F11 before starting):

 

Golden Hours at Big Mountain

[LineSki]

amazing shots.

[ole2planker]

Great shots, Sib. I remember the inversion from when I was there. Wish I could have been there skiing with you.

[kragan]

Simply amazing

 

I was planning a trip to Mt Tremblant in Canada for the spring ... but screw that, westward ho!

[sredding222]

you dont by any chance know what big mtn has in there park so far this year? i heard they moved off that backside?

[sibhusky]

you dont by any chance know what big mtn has in there park so far this year? i heard they moved off that backside?

There is a temporary park set up on the backside at the moment. I don't know when the superpipe on the front is opening. The area it will be in is out of my normal travel zone. I imagine when it opens there will be a description.

[sibhusky]

Brown coat with fur hood. very LOUD

 

So, I ski up to this guy with a brown coat with a fur hood. He's with two friends/relatives/whatever. I say,

"Are you guys by some chance from the East Coast?"

 

They say, "How'd you know?"

 

I say, "I recognized your jacket."

 

Then I ask the jacket if he's got a friend who calls himself Lineski on a PA skiing message board. He says yeah, but frankly I wasn't sure he'd really understood what I said -- it was kind of an off the wall question. I tell him to tell you that "Sib says hi". Total blank look of course. Then one of the friends says again, "How'd you know we're from the East Coast?" I say, "His friend told me."

 

Then I say "Just tell Lineski that some strange lady came up and said Hi." And I skied off.

 

They were probably still scratching their heads an hour later.

[ThinkSnow]

That's awesome

[LineSki]

haha thats great, he will have some questions for me on sunday

[sibhusky]

So, did you see him? Did he enjoy it here or was it too cold and insufficiently open?

[snorovr]

Big Mountain! That place is sooo awesome. I took Amtrak there from Seattle back in the day and it was one of my favorite ski trips of all time. I dropped my poles on the backside chair right after they closed it and they took a sled and found them for me and had them waiting for me at the main lodge when I got down. That place is sick! Wanna go back after seein' those pics.

[LineSki]

So, did you see him? Did he enjoy it here or was it too cold and insufficiently open?

 

he called my friend while we were on the lift saying he was snowboarding on all this fresh pow, then he said who the hell does mike know in montana?

Edited December 13, 2005 by LineSki