bobble

3/15/23 slush. very slow.

woo-hoo ... from my kitchen chair

3/14/23 rode over lunch. surprisingly good conditions. snow was firm, somewhat fast. wish i could've stayed longer. the only complaint was there were deep tracks from an ATV going up milkrun. it was near the tower. there would be consequences for anyone that rode into them. olympic was good too.

https://www.snowboarder.com/trending-news/ever-try-snowboarding-with-a-paddle

3/12/23 early sunday morning. got first and second tracks before anyone else. snow flurries that lasted about an hour. conditions were slow but okay. started out on milkrun. really good carving. i was content to stay but then i noticed that the chair lift was dripping oil/grease on my new pants. went over to the south chair and stayed on olympic. there was a half-pipe event. there was a snowboarder standing in the lift line. he looked like he was there for event. he looked at me and said, "brah, that's awesome". he sounded just like spicolli. the south chair got busy. it kept stopping so i went back to main chair and used my gloves to block the drips. around 1030am, i switched to skis.

3/11/23 lightly snowing. strong wind blowing from the easy. visibility was not great. the snow was slow but very carveable. left some fat trenches. olympic had practice. milkrun was smoother than crossroads. left at 11am when it was getting too busy. next week buck is reducing their hours. open from 11am until 7pm.

couple weeks ago at buck i was riding the chairlift with a skier (regular passholder). i had never ridden with the guy but i always saw him. he kept looking at my donek board and then said that he was friends with with a guy that manufactures snowboards up in northern michigan, "ever hear of a guy named Al W... ?" i said yes, i met him at at indian head. he reps for Thirst snowboards.

3/5/23 sunday morning. snow was much better than yesterday. rode olympic, crossroads and milkrun. stayed until 11:15am. my back was hurting again.

3/4/23 d-teams had practice on olympic, warners and olympic snow felt okay at first but then it started to break down quickly. i fell twice on the same run while heel-side. when i flipped over to get up, it felt like i was laying on top of rock candy. it was getting busy. left after 10am. just wasn't into it.

3/3/23 rode over lunch. conditions were better than yesterday. soft and sometimes surfy especially at the bottom. stayed mostly on olympic. ran into another hardbooter, aaron.

3/2/23 tough conditions. very fast. mostly skidding. olympic had terrible grooming. couldn't cross the run without hitting small bumps/divots. crossroads was hard to hold an edge. there's small ice rocks everywhere. milkrun was slightly better than crossroads. the only run i could carve was redtail and that was when i was heading out. only made 5 runs. moguls are back.

2/28/23 rode at lunch. snow was a mix of slush and ice. mostly snowcone at the top of the runs but then just turns hard. rode mostly vertically. hard to maintain an edge without skidding. falling down would shred gloves. the moguls are finally gone. unfortunately, the snow under the lift is crap. a skier who came out with an 8-th grade class from Minnetonka told me on the chair he was looking forward to riding bumps and was wondering when Buck was going to make them. those 8-th grade kids were bombing the runs. they'd all start off as a group of 8 or more and try to bomb the runs.

2/26/23 more ski racing. when i arrived at 8:30am, the lift was already running and kids were skiing. everyone was warming up on crossroads and milkrun. long lift line even before 9am. olympic was mostly open to the public until st. olaf ski team showed up. karl and i continued to ride while they practiced. the snow was too good to leave. my biggest complaint was the pedestrian traffic at the bottom of olympic. long lift lines.

2/25/23 there were two ski racing events; milkrun and warners way. olympic was roped off. i got two of the best runs on olympic. snow was perfection. there was a light dusting of snow on top of cord that sparkled in the sunlight. crossroads had a lot of traffic from kids warming up. and then the ski patrol started doing drills. why?!? i rode the chair was a woman on skis who said, "you are an excellent snowboarder". later at the top i was waiting for the run to clear. i see a father with his kid motion to me, "watch that guy he's got a cool snowboard". i lasted just over an hour and gave up. too much traffic.

what's the wait time at the bottom chalet?

2/20/23 about an inch of snow on cord. flat light but manageable. olympic was closed. milkrun and crossroads... still a bit icy under the snow. on crossroads my edges were hitting chunks of ice. the new snow helped. for about 30 minutes there were a handful of people. the parking lot wasn't even 1/4 full. at 10am it got busy. when i left it was almost full. milkrun was drawing in all the families. lots of little kids. i would switch between milkrun and crossroads depending which run had the most people/kids lined up at the top. ended up leaving around 11AM.

2/19/23 there was patchy fog. i rode without goggles. it's something i've been doing lately with shitty light conditions. my eyes tear up and it feels like crying. after a while i get that oxytocin feeling of well-being. crossroads has ice under groom. milkrun had racing. olympic wasn't open until 11:30am. lift-ops blocked the run to change out the tow rope which they didn't even complete! really poor planning but in a way it worked out. ski patrol was taking up most of crossroads to do some slow-mo drills or something even through the place was busy. so in a way its a good thing that olympic opened late because ski patrol would've commandered olympic and take up the entire run. i got to enjoy some decent cord. the snow was better than milkrun or crossroads. olypmic started to get heavy traffic. i got 5 runs in and left. there are two things that bug the shit out of me: 1. any or all aspen ski coaches who stop mid-run on olympic to watch the chairlift while blocking my line and then stand there looking up into the sky for two more runs. 2. guests without lift tickets who come to watch snowboarding event on railyard that walk on the runs in a staggered formation that makes it impossible to get back to main chair. 3. moguls 4. photographers who ignore me 5. skiers that don't turn.

2/18/23 the snow looked great from the chairlift. a skier told me he came out thursday and buck was nothing but a sheet of ice. there was a course on milkrun, olympic and warners way. some sort of snowboard event on railyard. i managed to get onto olympic for 2 runs and the snow was decent. on crossroads i was constantly hitting ice beneath the cord. i would have liked to have had a decent run or two on milkrun but everytime i started down the run, someone was right behind me. a woman on the chairlift asked me if there were any runs left to ride. i told her just crossroads and milkrun. she said she was thinking of cutting her losses and leaving because of the long lift lines from d-teams. i left around 10:15am. i just don't like constantly looking uphill and seeing kids on approach.

2/12/23 great day! decent snow. warm temps. erik showed up. we got first chair. couple runs later there was a photographer on the run. i never seem to find the pictures they take on their facebook. i would post a video but alas i cannot... instagram... bobble904. lasted until 12:45pm? i wish i had more energy but i was feeling hangry towards the end. @flatcokei didn't see you with your board until you took off. i was right behind you when you veered off down the backside of buck. my back is sore. no superb owl for me.

2/11/23 lots of doneks and one coiler**. one of the lifties whom i've not seen before commented that he hadn't seen so many doneks. we got to talking and he has a ryan knapton board. anyways... had no idea there was an alpine race on milkrun. surprising that i didn't see anyone riding kesslers. got a few runs on olympic before d-teams started to set up two courses. they also had courses on warners. snow was okay. crossroads was not great. from center to skiers right it has ice just beneath the cord. near the moguls the snow was softer. as i turned to skiers right, the edge rode up over the ice and chattered/skidded. i maybe went 3-4 runs. after 45 minutes, the run was looking really bad from everyone warming up including the ski team. milkrun was busy with everyone taking warmups but it was manageable. the snow was softer than olympic. at around 10:15AM it was getting choppy. i started taking a few runs down to teachers pet. left around 11AM. ** met ken's wife on the chairlift, "are you bobble?". she had the only coiler.

2/10/23 fast conditions. i had problems with maintaining and edge on olympic. the cord was somewhat brittle. i couldn't make big turns because there was a race course on skiers left. the rollers also made things challenging. tried crossroads but too much traffic. traffic also on milkrun. as i was going down the run i heard a noise over my shoulder so i turned on toe-side to look uphill. it was a small child on skis that wiped out just behind me. lot of kids with ribbons bombing runs. they were also messing up the lift line with no-go's. what's the german word for people who stand at the top of the run talking for minutes and as soon as you start your run, they start theirs too?

you should've seen it yesterday. lift-ops have been running ATV's across the run. yeah, so no rolls, just tire tracks. what the hell is wrong with those guys.

2/9/23 rode over lunch. flat light. couldn't see the snow very well. mostly skidded. couple runs on olympic had potential but just couldn't see to anticipate the rollers. maybe had 2-3 decent turns and then skidded. if there wasn't ski practice it might be worth checking out in evening. crossroads was choppy. milkrun was ok. some ice. i was struggling to see. backside onto teachers pet... quite a bit of ice chunks from the groomer.

2/8/23 rode over lunch. temperature was 37F. soft snow. rode olympic. so far no ice. milkrun was a bit rough. it looked like there were ATV treads going across the fall line towards the middle. there were deep ruts from ATV on backside of the run. those guys really like the throttle. crossroads had a clinic with gates. there was another hardbooter there riding a donek riding on warners. didn't catch up to him. he was riding switch on an alpine board which is impressive. i think i've met him before and lives near st. cloud. when i got home i was sweating.

2/6/23 rode over lunch. partly sunny skies. wind blowing from south east. my weather app said it was 11 mph but it felt much stronger. the wind was pulling on my board while riding the chair. it was also lightly scouring the snow at the top. it slowed me down while cutting across the fall line. warm conditions. about 32F. great carving. stayed mostly olympic. only problem was pulling into the main chair lift line. it's bare ice. almost fell on my back trying to heel-side brake.