two_ravens

Jackson Hole: Casper Chair. There's a reason that Casper Carver earned his fame there. Grand Foggy: avoid it like the plague. Unless of course you want a fantastic riding experience. Carving will depend on weather of course - they get a lot of snow so you might be hitting it on a powder day. But if it's a groomer day, anything groomed will be good. If you want steepish - Crazy Horse, Wild Willie, Shadow Woman (as Allie mentioned), and Arrowhead. Less steep go for Wild Turkey, Big Thunder, Williamson and Chief Joseph Bowl. For natural half-pipe kick-in-the-pants carving - go all the way down Chief Joe to Blackfoot lift. That last section before you get to Blackfoot is awesome. And if they groom the Headwall - yowza!!!

I just posted this in OT a few hours ago - because I have no idea if it's a good hill for carving or not. But if you owned the groomer, it could be sweet!

Anybody have some extra cash? Soldier Mountain ski area is for sale for the price of their debt. You would probably want to have some extra cash for operating expenses, but it's still one heck of a deal! Come on, where are our 1%ers? Let's see you guys step up! http://snowbrains.com/bruce-willis-idaho-ski-resort-up-for-sale-for-only-149000/ http://soldiermountain.com/

Hmm.... well, there is a reason I recommended doing one turn at a time to start with - it's just a whole lot easier to sort out all the details if you do one full turn (down the fall line, across the fall line, back up the fall line) then stop and reassess, than if you are linking together quick turns. But it looks like you are feeling reasonably comfortable on the gear, and you'll be ready for more next year! And you're hooked! So I'd say you had a successful first season! Hoping my body cooperates and I'll be riding again next season. Maybe catch you at the Ghee next year and we can work on some details... Cheers!

Wow, I'm out of the loop for a few months and look what happens - the whole BOL universe explodes, and a shining star goes spinning off into space! Michelle, Summit County's loss will be Pagosa Springs' gain. Wishing you the best of everything in you new ventures. No doubt you'll be shining soon in your new constellation...

As you get more comfortable and everything starts to 'slow down' for you, you'll probably want to start looking around more. When riding my old hill I mostly shared the terrain with racers, so I looked over my shoulder almost every turn, heelside and toeside. Good skiers, but FAST, and they weren't always in control as much as they liked to believe. Only got hit once, but he was doing about 60 mph, so once is enough. Even on a hill with fewer racers, you'll have the occasional straightliner, so being aware of who is behind, as well as ahead, plus scouting your next few turns is always a good idea. Thanks for the stories - looks like you are making amazing progress!!!! Carve on!

Gone!

Gone! :)

Well, BigDogDave is COW grand central this year, and he's just not a morning person! He says meet at the base of Dream Catcher at 9:30 - he's really going to try to be there at 9:30! He will not be early! If you need a lift ticket, with his season pass he can get 4 buddy passes each day at $59 each. If you want to be on first chair, on Liftopia you can get a ticket on Sat for $66 (plus some taxes and fees I believe) and on Sunday they'll sell you a ticket for $56 + . But with rather summerish conditions predicted. first chair might not be worth it - looking like spring melty freezy, so best conditions might be late morning. And while first tracks can be extra nice, the BDD/Cramer/dredman crew will be cutting trenches until closing time (if conditions don't become lethal, or maybe even if they do.) Bring your powerbars! Ok, Duke - one more bit of advice: You are a new carver and you'll be trying to keep up with one of the most powered up group of carvers on the planet. This is not an exaggeration, just ask people at SES who've tried to keep up with them. To avoid being injured - pay attention to when you get tired or hungry. (This early in the learning curve, keep in mind that you will be working MUCH harder for each turn than they are.) It's ok to sit out a few laps, take a break, eat something, quit a little earlier than they do - especially if conditions get soft and sloppy. (Soft conditions can cause you to 'bury the nose' aka 'fold the nose'. This produces deceleration forces that can be catastrophic to your board and bones.) This is important survival advice! Quit while you still have one or two more laps in you and live to ride another day! :) (Btw Duke - BigDogDave says he thinks he met you at Kelly Canyon? He's one of the senior patrol guys there....) Have fun!

Ok, then. I will not be attending COW. Maybe another year..... Duke, you will have plenty of good carvers to follow around, and hopefully the suggestions I posted on your thread have you headed a good direction. Have fun!

I recently posted on Duke's beginner's thread a sequence that helped me learn a good functional body position. Monk, this might help you out too. Post #15 here... http://forums.bomberonline.com/index.php?/topic/41296-beginners-logday-5/#entry421595

I've dropped the price on these a couple of times, so I guess I better update here too. Now $100!!!! 3 days for one Franklin! Can't beat that!

Woot!!!! He's reached his funding goal! Good luck in Russia, Jeff!

Ok, season is winding down soon. How about $100? Seriously - 3 days, $100. Can't beat that kind of deal!