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Jarcode

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Posts posted by Jarcode

  1. Looks like my season will be coming to an early close this year due to a multitude of reasons, including limited snowfall. I have a couple weeks before I head to Vancouver.

    Hoping things will improve in future seasons. A staggering amount of staff have been quitting this year.

    @Sirui I heard that you talked to someone who tried to radio me while I was on shift. I have a lot of work at Manning this year, so I can’t just respond to these requests while in private bookings. If you’re back at Manning, you can either try to catch me on my days off, or book a lesson.

  2. Days 1-8

    Snow is very, very low for what we usually have at this time of year at Manning Park. Blue chair only opened recently, for most of the time just the handle tow and T-bar have been running. Good for most lessons, just a shame that we still need more of a base to open our main chairlift. If we had snow machines the whole mountain would be open.

    Spotted Ray and our snow skate friends again. Carving on the T bar is unusually good, just a very short run. Wagon trail off blue chair is a bumpy mess since there isn't enough snow to push around for uniform grooming.

    Word from above is that we'll have bear chair open soon, but we can't open our main green run due to a stream running alongside it.

    New years party was fun... lots of alcohol.

  3. 20 hours ago, Cousin of Beagle said:

    Good news: Monday's atmospheric river will replenish the reservoir for snowmaking at Cypress.

    that's one way to look at it 😆

    Returned back to manning in staff housing for the winter season. Training tomorrow.

    We have rain at the lower resort, will see what the ski area looks like tomorrow when we're up there. From the looks of things, we'll be able to hit our opening date.

  4. 22 hours ago, Sirui said:

    It's been really cold, going to Lake Louise Nov 11 to kick off my season. Local mountains are not likely to open until late Nov or early Dec? 

    Yes, as usual:

    • Cypress: mid to late November, pending appropriate weather conditions and coverage, as they usually get good enough early season numbers to justify opening as soon as possible.
    • Grouse: tends to follow shortly after Cypress opening dates.
    • Seymour: usually opens in December.
    • Whistler: November 23rd.
    • Sasquatch: mid-December, up to just before the holidays. This mountain deals with volatile snow conditions, some seasons it has suffered.
    • Manning: early December. Usually limited by the number of guests, not snowfall.
  5. 39 minutes ago, Sirui said:

    Baker is a bit too far for me, Whistler is my go-to for big mountain and freeriding, but I've heard that they have crazy snowfall.

    Apex is much further than Baker. Apex is also a ridiculously long drive just because of the #3 highway being so windy, plus you pass Manning on the way. if you have not driven this road before in the winter, make sure you're prepared and check road conditions ahead of time. It can be harsh.

    If you're interested in a true hardboot setup, Boris is a walking encyclopedia for anything alpine related and has helped a lot of us out. He kept a board available for anyone to try in the instructor hut last season.

    • Like 1
  6. New season, same old mountains.

    I will be working and living full-time at Manning, leaving very soon. I will likely be staying year-round, so its going to be my new home. I really liked living out in the mountains there.

    There's some optimism about a snowboarding club program working out this year, and I also have some extra work on the side to fill out my hours. Still working out details since I've been given a bit of a unique arrangement there. The club met last weekend, but I couldn't catch up with them since my truck needed a leaky fuel line repaired on my truck.

    I was invited back to work at Cypress but I will not be returning. I had a blast last season with @BlueB and Ethan, although it was borderline insane working at both resorts last season in hindsight. I might visit, though.

  7. Hey! I'm Levi.

    Cypress has hands down the best staff training you can get, but I've been turned off by the volatile "clear" snow conditions and crowds. Same situation at Grouse/Seymour. I worked there last season once a week, taking @BlueB's carving training and it was the highlight of working there — he's the expert in this region. There are also other excellent trainers at Cypress too that can help you get higher CASI certifications. @roch is also an instructor there.

    Manning is an awesome mountain, we've had a few Vancouver "refugees" coming out here, but keep in mind it is a small resort with old school lifts. The upside is largely empty runs, no lines, and excellent carving. I will be returning to work and living there full time this winter, I should be the only one in an instructor jacket on hardboots. Feel free to yell at me.

    Sasquatch (formerly Hemlock) is very hit and miss. It is very similar to Manning in terms of size and sports the same old lifts, but it is just too low elevation to get consistently good snow. Its only advantage over Manning is distance.

    Mt. Baker is a legendary mountain if you are willing to cross the border. They get a lot of snow, so expect more powder than carving, and they have a lot more technical terrain than runs suitable for carving.

    I haven't been to Apex yet, but I've heard good things. I get free passes there, so I will be checking it out. It's a very long drive from Vancouver though... not "day trip" distance.

  8. Day 86 & 87, Manning

    Last day of the season, followed by a staff only day. We got snowfall both days, decent carving. A lot of staff showed today, making it busier than the average weekday!

    Lots of farewells, funny costumes, and inebriated staff. The kitchen was making comically oversized meals to get rid of food:

    spacer.png

    I got to see a lot of the staff I taught riding today, pretty satisfying to see their improvement.

    My front knee may have been twisted at some point this season because it has been aching for some time. I actually think it was from my last attempt at skiing. The week of downtime didn’t do much for it…

    Loved working here, and will be returning again next year.

  9. Day 85, Manning

    Returned to work after a break… since my truck’s fuel tank sprung a leak and needed to be replaced, I had to borrow a car to get up here.

    Snow! Firm and somewhat uneven hard pack, but about 5-10cm fell today. I expected warm temps, but the forecast was yet again way off with this surprise snowfall. Not the best conditions by our standards, but it reminded me of “good” Cypress snow.

    Two lessons, one chairlift, the other on the bunny hill.

    My feet were really sore today, it felt like they had to reshape to my boot again after the break. Was better at the end of the day.

    Met a parent interested in my club program for next season! I also spotted the lunatic skwal-skaters again today.

    Tomorrow is the last day for the public. Monday is staff only. There’s also another L1 course going on again, tons of staff getting certified…

    I will be coming up to Cypress for one more day as well, with my sister. I also might consider Whistler again late April, if anyone else is interested.

  10. 19 hours ago, barryj said:

    I guess the #1 question I get most every day (riding Coiler Angrry 160 UPM Donek F Plate TD3 SW) is  "What Is THAT??    

    Maybe it's the head injury but I've run out of snappy answers...and patience!

    My 1st thoughts are pretty snarky but I usually take a deep breath and just say "it's an Alpine snowboard like you see in the  Olympics" and keep moving to avoid further interrogation!

    Anybody got some quick and or appropriate  one liners??

     

    2j6lod.jpg.1d0c23ea309bc4024af26bd7b5891362.jpg

    “What is that?” - a snowboard

    ”How does it work?” - gravity

    ”Why are you wearing ski boots?” - why are you wearing oversized sneakers?

    “Nice mono ski” - thanks, I like your wakeboard.

    Got a really funny one today after clipping in at the top of the lift: “Wow, those look easy to use! Are those step ons?”… mind you, I’m not even on intec heels, just bails.

    • Haha 6
  11. Day 84, Manning

    We had a PSL course set up today with stubbies. I couldn't run it because I had so many lessons, but I also can only really do it on the bastard... next season I am picking up a SL race board.

    There were two other hardbooters up today... one I already met before, and his brother trying out hardboots! I lent out a board to the brother since he was riding a really old oxygen with no lift in his bindings.

    Very firm conditions in the morning, very soft in the afternoon. Gibson pass is approaching genuine off-road terrain due to the rather extreme erosion.

    My knees are extremely sore.

  12. Day 83, Manning

    Race day! We had two end of season events, "streak to streak" and "rail jam". The former was a slalom race, the latter was a park competition.

    Naturally I competed, and got the fastest time on a snowboard. Not by a large enough margin though... it was a harsh course that started with SL radius ski gates and opened up at the end to Super G speeds. I used the WCRM but had to "slarve" it for the tight half of the course, and messed up a couple gates.

    Saw lots of funny costumes today.

    The snow started extremely firm this morning and ended in slush. Very warm. Awful grooming on horseshoe this morning... they prioritized the race course and rushed everything else.

  13. Day 82, Manning

    Firm hardpack in the morning (for once!), snow softening up a lot in the afternoon and resembling spring conditions. Freeze-thaw is in full effect now. Blue chair had about 35cm of fresh snow upon opening but the first 10cm was a frozen slab. Back bowl was nice since it avoided the sun baking, but the rest of Blue chair was really weird to ride.

    Had one lesson in the morning, and a staff carving lesson in the evening. I have also been asked by two staff members to teach to the CASI L1 cirriculum! They are planning on becoming instructors themselves...

    The last lap of the day was hilarious. We were joined by a small seven year old kid on the lift who wanted to ride with us, and he proceeded to completely smoke us! Looked like a future racer.

  14. Day 79, Manning

    Over a foot of heavy pow landed overnight today. Probably some of the most exhausting to ride in because of how much it would weigh you down if your tip just happened to dip under. My K2 was required off-piste this morning.

    First lesson was chairlift, uneasy rider but very fast learner and good form. Just not comfortable with speed.

    Second lesson was bunny hill, really smart kid who was very close to linking turns in an hour. Love these lessons.

    Third and fourth lesson was for a kid and his parents. They were booked as separate lessons, but I sort of "merged" them together since they were all on the bunny hill. Kid had a blast, went from nearly giving up while trying to ride on his own, to wanting to stay past closing. Got his dad on the chairlift afterwards.

    Then I was asked to help patrol with sweep again. I ran into FIVE people on the way down... a group of three skiers trying to hike up to the pow stashes (30 minutes after lifts closed). Had to yell them to come down and give it up. Then I had a kid and his dad, kid was still very much learning and the dad was unfamiliar with the mountain. We were on shadow, so the kid was struggling a bit.

    Had to accompany both of them down the hill, and then the dad proceeds to injure himself on the moguls above tower six under my supervision. I swore under my breath a little and then kept the kid entertained as I got him down while the snowmobile went for his dad.

  15. This season we met a small group of snow skaters on the hill I work at, and with us being the hardboot weirdos, they quickly asked a very unusual question: “do you have a skwal, by a chance?”

    Turns out @roch, who was standing in line with me, happened to have two for sale. These lunatics wanted to mount them under their skate decks for more stability at higher speeds, which blew me away. I doubted I’d ever see it on the hill, until I encountered them today:

    spacer.png
     

    I don’t think I’ve seen someone go that fast on a snow skate before. They were skidding most of their turns, but rode really nicely on the shallow slopes.

    Apparently they had been looking for quite some time to find this niche equipment! They apparently want to enter into a snow skate race (I had no idea this existed) with these things.

    This definitely goes up on my list of ridiculous encounters on the ski hill…

    • Like 6
    • Haha 3
    • Confused 1
  16. Day 78, Manning

    No lessons, short snow school meeting and then the final session for the club, which I was invited to for free food and to advertise my program more. Some kids were interested but most are pretty invested in skiing. I have had much more success getting the little shredders from the resort lessons interested in our club's program.

    There was unusually firm hardpack this morning, thanks to the little bit of freeze/thaw we got over yesterday. It made for excellent carving on my WCRM, but I heard a lot of complaints about "icy" snow from clueless guests. By Cypress standards, it's still soft.

    I am staying and working an extra day since we are down a very important instructor (Daniel), who hurt himself today 😞

  17. Day 77, Manning.

    Nice sunny day, good hardpack but about 5-10cm of snow fell all of a sudden this morning before clearing up. Ended up creating some soft, bumpy snow towards the end of the day. Grooming wasn't as good today, probably because the fresh snowfall made it harder to climb the steeps.

    One school group lesson. A bit all over the place, but my students had fun. The rest of the day I was freeriding again.

    I spotted over ten telemark skiers again. These weirdos are taking over Manning Park!

    Since our season is coming to a close, a lot of departments are getting staff cuts to save money. I get the impression we didn't do so well financially this year due to the road closures during the Christmas holidays. I'm not going to expect many lessons as we get closer to April.

  18. Day 76, Manning

    Yet another day of excellent grooming and great hardpack for carving. Some snow fell today though.

    No guest lessons at all, and one special staff lesson... getting Daniel on hardboots! Our best ski instructor, who is responsible for the lion's share of private requests at Manning, wanted to try an alpine board.

    I managed to fast-track him to perfectly linked turns unusually fast, thanks to a lot of instruction I got from the training at Cypress. I think he also drew from his skiing more than his experience on softboot boards, since he was getting some crazy inclination on the last couple runs that I wouldn't have normally expected out of a snowboarder.

    It also looks like I will be teaching him more alpine lessons in the future!

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