Big Sky 15-16

[ExcelsiorTheFathead]

Sunday 12/27, Day 13: It was -13F at home this morning, but warmer up on the mountain.  The weather is ok and I get on snow at 2PM after things warm up.  I thought that people would be getting off the slopes after lunch, but it was pretty busy all the way to closing.  On my first ride up Ramcharger I have to wait in line for a minute or so.  Ambush is open now and I took a ride down it.   I got a few reasonable turns in, but I'm going too fast for the tight Coda.  I spotted the first other hardbooter seen so far, and I'll have to call him "Brown Jacket Guy" for now. Who dat?

 

In order to stay out of the lift lines I just rode the runs up on Southern Comfort and cranked out turns as hard and as fast as I could.   The Coda really likes it here.  On the way out I tried Hangmans, another Andesite blue run that just opened.  It started out really hopeful, but then it became clear that it had been used for racing earlier and seemed like it had been salted or watered, or something similarly horrible.  I thought it was awful.  Out at 4.

Edited December 28, 2015 by ExcelsiorTheFathead

[ExcelsiorTheFathead]

Monday 12/28, Day 14: On snow at 10 AM for a morning with nice weather.  There hasn't been any new snow in a few days now.  It is a little cold for me so I head up to Southern Comfort to stay in the sun.  Deep South, Ponderosa and Sacajawea are groomed, but El Dorado, the main showcase run is not.  Some of my ruts from yesterday are still visible.

 

I don't understand why El Dorado is not groomed on some days.  I'll make a point to find out. 

 

Things are rapidly getting crowded.  By 11 there is a significant lift line at SoCo.  Many families are on the hill.  A photographer appeared on El Dorado and I wasted two passes of camera whoring on a photographer who was distracted by being lame.  So far, I'm not impressed with this photography outfit.  The company back at PCMR was much better trained.  After several runs the lift line was too much for me so I went back down to the base on Silver Knife which only recently has been groomed.  This run is an excellent carve, but the light was flat from being in shadow.

 

This is one of the only disadvantages of carving at Big Sky.  The best blue serious carving runs are in shadow during the morning hours and this is especially pronounced during the short December days.  Specifically, I'm talking about Silver Knife, Tippy's, Ambush and Hangmans.  I'll have to make a point of trying Elk Park Ridge in the early mornings because it gets more early sun.

 

When I got down to the base I found that both Swifty and Ramcharger had lines longer than I could tolerate so I went back to my car and drove out at 11:30.  I didn't think that Big Sky would get so crowded, but I guess it happens.  There's definitely more people here than at Sun Valley, but less than PCMR.

[ExcelsiorTheFathead]

Tuesday 12/29, Day 15: On snow just before 2 PM.  I waited for a little more warmth and to see if there would be less people later on.  The lift lines aren't too bad and I can get on in 1 or 2 minutes as a single.  I'm pretty much just sticking to Southern Comfort for now, tearing down El Dorado and the other runs.  I can only do 5 or 6 runs because my legs were destroyed last night from doing walking lunges with a barbell on my chest.  I did ask about why they sometimes don't groom El Dorado but didn't get a real answer, just confirmation that they do indeed rotate it out of the grooming schedule.  I still don't know why they do this.  I buzzed a photographer pretty hard, just like Mav and Goose in "Top Gun".  We'll see if any good shots come of it.

 

On the way out I took Ambush and made a couple of reasonable turns but many of these blue runs are heavily skied off, inconsistent with unpredictable scrapy patches.  I stopped on the side of the run and sat down to let traffic pass when a guy blew by me and proceeded to do a Yard Sale right under Ramcharger.  After I left as I was driving down the hill an ambulance was zipping on its way up to get somebody, but I don't know if it was the same guy.  This has been a busy time for both the regular ambulance and the air ambulance.

 

We'll need some new snow to refresh things after the vacation season ends.  There might be a little overnight, but after that the forecast is for several days of sunny skies.

 

 

Here's the latest Big Sky propaganda vid, shot after the big dumps we got before xmas.  Of course there are no shots of anybody carving a groomed run because nobody cares about that kind of stuff:

 

The BS Facebook page says that Miss Montana USA has been vacationing here.  I haven't seen her, but I guess she should be easy to recognize:

Edited December 30, 2015 by ExcelsiorTheFathead

[ExcelsiorTheFathead]

Friday 1/1, Day 16: Clear skies.  The morning low at my home was -17.8F.  This is the coldest place I've ever lived.  For whatever reason the Gallatin Valley is a super icebox into which all cold air settles.  I live well below the resort and just a little above the river.  Despite the cold at home, up at the base area it was +1F and at mid-mountain maybe +15F at open.  In any case I spent the morning reading a book and listening to the mountain ops on the radio.  Ski patrol is busy responding to injury after injury.  I went to the resort in the early afternoon.  The main parking lot is full and I have to go clear out to the very last lot.  Thank goodness for the shuttles.

 

On snow at 2PM.  Lots of people are milling about but some of them are eating lunch.  The lift lines aren't too bad.  On the way up Ramcharger I saw Brown Jacket Hardbooter Guy on an Donek.  I just head for Southern Comfort again on the Coda to do a few easy laps.  I buzzed a photographer on the first run, but then he disappeared.  I was only able to do maybe 4-5 runs before I was overrun by fatigue.  I have always had trouble with keeping up my stamina when doing lots of riding, but mixing Crossfit with carving is giving me even more of a challenge.

 

I'm just biding my time until after the weekend when all these people will be gone.  The restaurants and stores have been clogged up the whole time.

Edited January 2, 2016 by ExcelsiorTheFathead

[ExcelsiorTheFathead]

Monday 1/4/16, Day 17:  Almost warm with clouds rolling in and out.  The parking lot is back to pre-holiday levels and the big crowds are gone.  1st day this season on the Oxess 178 14m radius skwal.  It feels pretty good but I tightened up the toe blocks to take out some slop and now I'm having trouble getting my rear foot's Fintec to lock in.  I have to step the front foot out then fiddle around until I can get the back foot to lock, then step the front foot back in.  What a pain.  Catecs are great bindings for skwals but I wish there was a little more of a fine adjustment in the blocks. 

 

The first run is Elk Park RIdge but I'm not feeling confident about getting up to the speeds necessary to make this board carve.  Elk Park isn't a bad run but it has a bunch of undulations that make it less attractive.  It will be better once I get the terrain mapped in my head.  I go back over to El Dorado to do a couple of runs where I know the terrain well and everything was fine.  After that I tried Ambush, Tippy's and Hangman's.  These blues are all pretty firm but have reliable grip.  Some good turns were made and some bad ones, most notably at the bottom of Tippy's when I completely lost my vision in the big white expanse of the base area and couldn't tell where the ground was.

 

I took a ride up Swifty and happened to share the chair with the Director of Mountain Ops.  I gave him my compliments but also took the opportunity to complain about early-season snowmaking.  On the way down Calamity Jane I went off the groom on a heelside into a mogul then did one of those pinwheeling butt slides and got snow up my back and up my gloves.  Even including that embarrassment it was a pretty good day.  On snow at 10:30, out at 1:30.

 

Edited January 5, 2016 by ExcelsiorTheFathead

[monodude]

Monday 1/4/16, Day 17:  Almost warm with clouds rolling in and out.  The parking lot is back to pre-holiday levels and the big crowds are gone.  1st day this season on the Oxess 178 14m radius skwal.  It feels pretty good but I tightened up the toe blocks to take out some slop and now I'm having trouble getting my rear foot's Fintec to lock in.  I have to step the front foot out then fiddle around until I can get the back foot to lock, then step the front foot back in.  What a pain.  Catecs are great bindings for skwals but I wish there was a little more of a fine adjustment in the blocks. 

 

I have used duct tape on the bail to make up the micro adjustment. Works great

[ExcelsiorTheFathead]

Yeah, I might have to try the tape thing.  It was locking in just fine on the carpet, but not on the snow.  I figured that if anything the boots would shrink in the cold and I wouldn't have a problem.  But noooo.

 

Tuesday 1/5:  I totally misjudged the weather today.  While at home everything is pleasant, when I reached the resort the mountain was socked in and it was snowing kinda hard.  Temps are warmish and this would be a bad-vis day with goggle fog and other maladies.  I like the aftermath of precipitation but don't enjoy being precipitated on, so I just came home.

[www.oldsnowboards.com]

Great shots Art!!  Looking good!! 

 

Bumpy, I saw 210lbs for the first time in many years this week!!

[ExcelsiorTheFathead]

Bumpy, I saw 210lbs for the first time in many years this week!!

Going up or coming down?  Coming down, I hope.  Give Crossfit a try.  It is hands-down one of the best things I've ever done, even if it makes me too tired to ride.

[ExcelsiorTheFathead]

Wednesday 1/6, Day 18:  Cloudy and warm, only a trace of new this morning but there has been 6" in the last 48 hours which has provided a nice refresh.  On the Oxess again I start out with 3 runs down Ambush, trying to leave some good ruts under the chair.  The snow is pretty darn grippy with a soft top.  I have a couple of heelside blowouts due to failures in technique but otherwise make decent turns.  Over to El Dorado for several runs of big easy cruise carving.  Three camera whore passes yielded nothing as one photographer was training another in how to be lame.  The last run was down Ambush again where the bottom of the run is almost as wide as a football field is long.  I was surprised when I heard a noise behind me and looked back to see a skier tailgunning me.  Thank goodness it was a competent skier and not a dumb straightliner, cuz it was uncomfortably close.

[bumpyride]

Great shots Art!!  Looking good!! 

 

Bumpy, I saw 210lbs for the first time in many years this week!!

Hey Bryan,  Great news.  You'll have to PM on how you feel.

 

On a side note, check this out:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/health-benefits-of-chia-seeds-eat-them_568d42f8e4b0c8beacf52647

[www.oldsnowboards.com]

Hey Bryan,  Great news.  You'll have to PM on how you feel.

 

On a side note, check this out:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/health-benefits-of-chia-seeds-eat-them_568d42f8e4b0c8beacf52647

Thanks Bumpy!!  I appreciate your help!  Down from 245-250lbs this time last season.   Safely 30-40lbs off.  

Yes, Chia in my morning meal every day!! 

[ExcelsiorTheFathead]

Friday 1/8, Day 19: Single-digit cold this morning so I went to Crossfit where I strained my back.   Doing what?  Deadlifts?  Squats?  No.  I was doing a standing broad jump of all things.  After noon it was warm enough so I got on snow at 1 PM.  My back is sore so I'm not going to do anything too strenuous.  I decide to ride the Coda and go exploring since there are many places in this huge resort that I've yet to see. 

 

Up Swifty to ride Lobo for the first time.  Like the nearby Calamity Jane run, Lobo is quite varied in terrain with some steep carvy parts and various rolls and undulations.  It is fun, but the bottom of the trail is an uninteresting cat track.  Back up, then over to the Lone Peak Triple which goes up into a big bowl.  From the top I scoot over to the lower Tram terminal just to take a look, then head down Upper Morningstar which is the only groomed way down from here.  There are no trees here and it is really difficult to know where the trail is; it is just a vast expanse of white.  Eventually I lost the groom and had to flounder a bit to reach Lower Morningstar which leads to a cat track that winds around to the Moonlight side of the resort.  This connects up to Blue Moon and leads to the Iron Horse lift.

 

From the top of Iron Horse I went down Cinnabar as a way of avoiding the black top section of Elkhorn.  I cut over to Elkhorn where the blue lower section begins and took it down to the Six Shooter lift.  After a cold ride up Six Shooter I stopped at the top to pee in an off-kilter porta-potti.  How they empty that thing is a mystery to me.  Next I go down the Stillwater Traverse through the Moonlight Bowl and go up the Lone Tree lift for the first time then take Lookout Ridge to the bottom.  This run is another blue with varied terrain that includes some nice carvy pitches.  I didn't have time and was getting cold, so I still have to try the other two blues here: Trembler and Horseshoe.  I'm guessing that these runs are also of the more varied and curvy type.

 

I got back to the main base by taking Fast Lane from the top of Six Shooter until it met the green runs near the Explorer lift.  There is no doubt that Big Sky is huge. Even if you omit the double black runs from the top of the Tram, it might require a full day of riding 9 to 4 in order to cover all of the groomed runs.

 

The only problem?  Rocks.  Some places i saw today had thin spots with rocks.  Not too bad, but enough to be annoying for me.  Out at 3:30.

[ExcelsiorTheFathead]

Monday 1/11, Day 20:  A nice sunny day but 0F in the morning.  I went to the gym then got on snow around 1 PM.  There's around a half dozen buses from some Iowa/Nebraska tour company in the parking lot.  Big Sky seems to be popular with many in the Dakotas, the Great Plains, and even Minnesota/Wisconsin. 

 

I'm crazy tired and my back is still sore, so I'm just going to take it easy on El Dorado.  It is nicely groomed and I make 5 runs tearing it up on the Oxess.  The skier-to-terrain ratio is phenomenal, almost approaching #DIV/0 territory.  Going up the chair there were moments when the entire visible run was devoid of people.  After my last run I was inside the fence that protects the maze area at the bottom of the SoCo lift and just skating towards the load when someone skied up the tail of my board.  It was a ski patroller.  He had blown thru the opening gap in the fence and pretty much ran right into me.  I got apologies, but somehow the paranoid part of me thinks that it could have been intentional.  After all, this is a supposed snow professional.  How can he be that incompetent?  Now my super-expensive Oxess has a scrape on top with a nice edge bite to boot.  I can kinda accept stuff like this from regular people, but patrollers?

 

I made a nice run down Ambush on the way out.  It is getting a bit firmy firm and we really do need more new snow.  Tippy's is being used for an MSU Invitational FIS event and they had the whole thing shut down for slalom races.  I stopped to watch for a bit and it was impressive.  I don't have the guts to go straight down Tippy's like that.

[www.oldsnowboards.com]

Bummer about the patroller disrespecting your equipment.  I would dare say 98% of the fellow snow sliders on the hill have NO concept of how we (alpine riders) value our equipment.  The are either on rental gear, crap, equipment they drug across the pavement to get there ,  park boards that they expect to trash or they just fall into the "It is a tool use it" crowd.   All fine until they EFFECT MY EQUIPMENT.  

 

Add to that the "Me, Me, Me," "get out of my way, I am very impatient and that trumps respecting anyone else"  types.   Another reason I can't do weekends.  Standing in a lift line is tough enough, having some puke repeatedly banging into my trick , near perfect condition gear is painful. 

 

The Patroller could also be suffering from "This is MY HOUSE"  attitude rather than " I am a faithful servant, how can I help you" attitude.  

 

Art, just keep the big picture in mind. You are smart enough to have created an arrangement where you can move around the country doing what you love, when you want to do that.  That puts you the 1% of sliders! Enjoy!!

[ExcelsiorTheFathead]

I guess if a person waits long enough, just about anything can happen while riding.  It's not unlike playing the lottery, but I'd rather share a ride up the lift with Miss Montana USA than have my gear run over by a patroller.  Maybe I should watch reruns of Oprah and do more positive visualization.

 

Tuesday 1/12, Day 21: Cloudy, cool and a little windy but not bad.  On snow at noon because the morning is too cold.  Is Big Sky really colder than other places I've been, or am I just a total pansy now?  I just tear down El Dorado again, only a handful of times.  On the way out I tried Tippy's but the top section had a bunch of blue racing dye and some scrapy parts.  I veered down Silver Knife but didn't have the nerve to carve it.  It looks a little steep.  I'm tired.  The light was flat.  It could be scrapy.  I've got diverticulitis. 

Notes:

- Nobody at Big Sky cares about leashes. (I've yet to find a place that does enforcement)

- If you ever try to find a place to rent here be warned that Craigslist is FULL of scam ads.

- Kids in the Big Sky school district get rotating days off to go ski.

 

The weather forecast now shows a few potential snow cycles coming up!

[ExcelsiorTheFathead]

Wednesday 1/13, Day 22:  Warm and mostly sunny.  I'm on snow at 11 AM and head up to SoCo.  El Dorado is listed as being ungroomed on the Big Sky web site, but I find that it was indeed groomed.  I do a few laps and share a chair with some kid from the local elementary school.  He says that over the course of a school year each student will get 3 or 4 days off on a weekday to go ski.  A few camera whore passes were made and the photographer seemed to be catching on.  At first they would stop shooting well before I went by their position, but today's guy was shooting even as I went behind him.  On the way out after an hour or so I tore down Ambush without whining and made good turns.  Finally today was nice enough to take my own pictures without freezing.  By the time I was driving out however the winds were kicking up and by 1 PM some of the higher lifts on Lone Mtn had to shut down.  As I write this it is really clouding over and maybe it will finally snow?

 

Here is a link to a University of Utah snow forecast for Big Sky (that I got from Garry in Park City), which begs the question: Can Utahans reliably predict the weather without alcohol?  At least today it shows a likely accumulation of 12" over the next week.  Not great, but I can't complain.

 

Driving up the highway, Elk Park Ridge on the back of Andesite is one of the most visible runs.

 

Here is the front of Andesite from the parking lot before 11AM.  You can see that the best blue carving runs are in shadow.  From the left are Silver Knife, Tippy's, and Ambush (with the wide bottom). 

 

Looking up Southern Comfort at El Dorado and Ponderosa.  El Dorado is just a big bump but it is wide, flat and a great place to ride when you just don't feel like being fully ON.

[ExcelsiorTheFathead]

Here's Lone Mountain from the top of SoCo on Andesite.  Some good cruising blues like Lobo and Calamity Jane are in the foreground.  Mr. K is a little further back and the Moonlight Basin runs are on the back side of the ridge coming down the right-hand side of the peak.

 

This is about 1/3 of the way down Ambush.

 

Looking up mid-Ambush as Ramcharger crosses over.

Edited January 13, 2016 by ExcelsiorTheFathead

[www.oldsnowboards.com]

Photos help allot.  Very impressive place Art!!

[ExcelsiorTheFathead]

[boardguru]

Looks like you are killing it at Big Sky Art! Keep up the reports.

[ExcelsiorTheFathead]

Friday 1/15, Day 23: Too cold in the morning so I waited until 2:15 and rode for an hour or so.  Someone has put up a nice new thermometer at the top of SoCo and it was around 20F, cloudy and a little windy.  No new this morning, but there has been around 2" of new in the last 48 hours.  More is on the way.  Several runs down El Dorado.  I manged to catch the photographer on my first run, then he packed up and left.  On the way out the steep parts of Ambush seemed kinda skitchy so I didn't open up until I got to the wide lower section.  The upper part would have held an edge well, but I'd rather wait for new snow to make it more hero. 

 

Here is a view of the South side of Andesite from 4 miles below the main base area in the Big Sky Meadow business district.  The big stripe down the middle is El Dorado.  Next to the looker's right are Ponderosa and the top of Bighorn before it makes a sweeping turn down into a gully.  The next wide white area to the right is the top of Elk Park Ridge.  Smaller runs to the left of El Dorado are Sacajawea and Deep South.  Way further to the left is the Lewis & Clark lift line.

Edited January 16, 2016 by ExcelsiorTheFathead

[ExcelsiorTheFathead]

Sunday 1/17, Day 24:  There's around 7" in my driveway this morning and the resort claims 6-13" in the last 48 hours.  Ordinarily I would just stay home on MLK weekend but today has nice weather and tomorrow just has more snow in the forecast.  I may as well try to get a few runs in at the end of the day so I get on snow at 2:30 when people start to leave.  When I get up there just about every run looks like cottage cheese from a distance.  It's all a churned up bumpy mess.  I just do runs down Mr. K on the Coda, sluffing through the bumps.  Not bad, but not great.  I don't really like soft snow.  You can't make me like it.  Out at 4.

[bumpyride]

Art.  Will be back in Big Sky around the 1st of Feb..  Would be glad to see if I have a board that might make powder and plates an enjoyable experience for you.  Not sure what I have to fit you, and would have to know if you're on intecs and what your weight is approx.  You can PM if you're under 100 lbs or over 200lbs.  I sold most of my larger boards to a guy named Ron last year, so I may be short on those.

 

Bryan might have something in his stock that would work, if I don't.

[ExcelsiorTheFathead]

Hi Bumpy,

 

Thanks much for the offer, but the sparseness of my quiver is truly self-inflicted.  I used to have soft boots and a wider variety of boards but I just had to give up all of that stuff in order to make moving easier.  A few years ago I had an alpine board with a 4mm Lite plate and had a rollicking good time in lumpy snow that would have otherwise been unpleasant.  I don't mind the limitations of only owning 3 skwals.  I just need to pick my days carefully.

 

Tuesday 1/19, Day 25: No new overnight, but 5" fell during the day yesterday.  Today is a little sunny, a little cloudy.  Brisk but not too cold.  I'm on snow at 10 and go down Ambush.  Grooming here is pretty good and not too soft.  I'm able to make hard, slow turns on the Coda.  Next run down Elk Park Ridge.  This run is much softer but still carvy good.  I've decided that EPR is best with a short-radius board.  At the bottom I decide to go down to the Lone Moose chair for the first time, but I find that the shallow trail heading down there has not been groomed and much to my annoyance I have to skate for a while. 

 

The Lone Moose area is perhaps the lowest elevation in the resort so I haven't bothered coming here yet.  The steep black trails coming down its face have always seemed thin when viewed from the highway, but things should be better now that we have new snow.  I'm only going to try Little Calf, the easy green way down.  It hasn't been groomed, but since the run isn't steep there are no piles.  I'm able to just point downhill and do a surfy cruise without having to worry about picking up too much speed.  Almost nobody is around.  Now this is my idea of an enjoyable powder run.  I did it again on Little Dogie but this trail is way too shallow.  I'm not sure, but I think the Lone Moose chair might have been originally at Keystone and sold to Big Sky many years ago.  It is kinda strange in that it has no safety bar on the chairs.

 

From the top of Lone Moose there is no direct way back to the main resort base.  Either you go down Bighorn and up Thunder Wolf or take a cat track over to the Southern Comfort chair.  Since Bighorn isn't groomed today I do the latter.  On the way up SoCo I spot a photographer but El Dorado isn't groomed today and it seems plenty bumpy.  I take Ambush back down to the base where I decide to do the UNTHINKABLE.  I actually go inside to eat at the resort.

 

It is Taco Tuesday and you can get as many tacos as you can fit on a plate for $12.  That was plenty tempting, but I would end up eating 5000 calories of tacos.  I just got a slice of pizza for $3, which is an entirely reasonable price.  At some other resorts you can't get a slice of pizza for less than $5.

 

Up Swifty then the Lone Peak Triple.  I wanted to try the Tram to the top for the first time, but there was a small line that looked like it would take over 20 minutes to clear.  This is where all of the people are.  I decided to leave it for another day and put some good carves down Upper Morningstar and Mr. K.  Up Swifty again and down Calamity Jane which is groomed but pretty soft and cut up.  Halfway down I decide to try that time-honored strategy of carvers looking for firm snow: Carve the Park.  I dive into the Swifty Park right under the chair and put some turns into the good groom next to the features. 

 

I went up Ramcharger again and shared the chair with a guy from New Jersey.  He says that bunch of people from clubs in the NJ Ski Council are in Big Sky.  I've seen a few NJ cars in the parking lot too.  One last blast down Ambush then out at 1 PM.