johnasmo

Well, we're back in Whitefish now. We had a great Saturday, but then couldn't corral everyone into going back out Sunday. The verdict from the two hardbooters among us is that Schweitzer is a fantastic carving resort. Sorry we didn't hook up with anyone; I just figured we'd see someone else carving eventually. I should have called, but I forget that you listed you number, Russ. Anyway, I just wanted to post a little pre-event venue review. If you're on the fence about whether to check out carving at Schweitzer, just do it. I thought Whitefish is a good carving hill, but I think the North Idaho guys have use beat on the number of good steep groomed runs. Right off the bat we asked at the ticket window where a good steep long groomer was, and they sent us to Kaniksu in the Outback Bowl for our first run. Whoa! A steep narrow start (nailed it!) and then a long as heck carve fest down to the Stella lift. What a great way to start the day. Next we hit Cathedral, then to the front were we hit Pend Orellie, White Lightning, and Stiles repeatedly. I don't recall being at a resort with so many groomed black diamonds. Except for Cathedral, we were throwing ourselves down black runs all day and loving it. They must do a lot of winch grooming here. It helped that the snow on Saturday was excellent for carving. Firm and strong, but not icy. The only run that wouldn't let itself be conquered was A Chute off the Lakeview triple. The right side was a bit soft and kept blowing out. Tried it three times, but I couldn't get a clean run the length of it. Had fun trying though. :) Oh yes, it helped that we had good visibility. Though things started out flat with a bit of rime, it quickly gave way to an inversion. Here are some pics (thanks to Sarah for bringing a good camera along).

The two hardbooters were willing, but the other seven are not up for another day. Looks like nice breakfast and an early return to Whitefish. Oh well, good carving hill, and I'd love to be here on a full on powder day too. Will return.

party has moved to Puccini's. Mmmm, Manny's. Cheers.

Saturday. Inversion. Great carving. At tap room now... Cheers!

I usually miss NICE because of work travel, now with this year's earlier date, it will be because of out-of-town guests staying at my house throughout the event. Nonetheless, a couple car loads of Whitefish locals will be headed your way this upcoming weekend, Saturday Jan 5th and Sunday Jan 6th. Only two hardbooters in the bunch, myself and the Skwal Guy. Hope to see some of you out on the slopes; I'll bring both hard and soft boots to seize whatever the weather offers.

I usually do a buy-it-now option, but this time I'm already traveling and won't be home until Christmas to ship them. I'd look slow on shipping if it were to end prematurely, so I'm going to let it play out and see what market price for TD2s really is. If they don't sell, I'll let you know.

Selling a used pair of TD2s. Includes standard bails plus a pair of step in heel receivers and toe bails so you can swing them either way. Purple and yellow e-pads. Choice of cant disks. Selling through eBay, just cross-posting here, sorry. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Bomber-TD2-snowboard-plate-bindings-extras-/150967066231?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2326569e77

I'd take one (size L). It'd be a bummer to get mentioned in Carving Magazine and then not have an event tee this year.

Village is bare, but summit has about two feet. Backside maybe 2.5 feet. Decent to mid mountain, then things get sketchy. With no concern for the PBR board, I continued until I scrapped to a halt about 200 vertical from the village.

I have a 2006 F2 Eliminator LTD 164 Wide. Sidecut 8.8. 254 waist. No titanal though. Wasn't really looking to sell, but... maybe...?

Not so unusual. Including this year, three of the last four years I've been able to get turns out of Big Mountain before Halloween. This pic is from today (Tuesday, Oct 30). Temps a bit warm though, so won't last. Village is nearly gone already. Next storm will probably stick.

Snow line receded 1000 feet by the following day. There's rain coming, and low temps, so we'll wait and see if that was the last hurrah or not. Meanwhile, I'm clearly having too much fun with that old Canon pocket camera... <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/S4_WCZyG7NM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Held a press conference. :) http://www.nbcmontana.com/news/31169568/detail.html

http://www.nbcmontana.com/news/31169568/detail.html

Today was a repeat run, but with the sun out. :) Temps in the 60's down in town; will probably go mountain biking later. Life is good...

Spring rain turned to snow last night. Knee deep at the summit, and 6 slushy at the village. Enough for another top-to-bottom run. Only 10 days until the opening of summer season. :)

Got powder? Got fresh lines? At 3:50 PM? Yes? Then you must be at Turner Mountain. Cat skiing without the waiting. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Brcb6EZF2BE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

The lifts start spinning again June 16th. There was a bunch more ground slumping around the same tower, but this time the new footings have held. Looks good for chair one. They are going to be building more downhill runs this summer (http://www.flatheadnewsgroup.com/whitefishpilot/article_d3f73a90-99f1-11e1-bfac-0019bb2963f4.html), though they probably won't be ready until early September.

Hot. Sunny. Continuous snow now only a little past half way down. Was top to bottom until about a week ago, but now connecting patches only gets you about 3/4, then down hike. Day 148, but now I think it's time to stick a fork in it. What's left is melting fast. Will pry get to Logan Pass when Going To The Sun Road opens, but 'til then, time to bike.

WooHoo! I arrive today (Apr 21st) and guess what? With a pass from another resort, you get child price! So instead of $79.95 + some, I paid just $26.20. That's a good discount. Special rates run Apr 21 to May 6. Guess I won't be going to Sunshine Village this year; they never discount worth sh@#.

Anyone going to be riding at Banff Lake Louise or Sunshine this weekend? Thinking of driving up from MT.

Suunto watch with altimeter. It counts vertical ascent and decent in feet, but more importantly, number of laps (runs). I reset to a new log when I switch boards, then update a spreadsheet each evening. For the local resort, I track based on the number of runs on each lift so I can compare to the numbers posted online by the resort, which tracks by scanning your pass at each lift ride. When elsewhere, I just average the accent and decent numbers and round to the nearest hundred. The only board in the quiver that didn't get out this year is a non-metal Coiler 188 with 17m sidecut. It's the board that taught me that big SCR can be fun, but I didn't have a binding kit on it and the ready-to-ride alternatives where always too attractive.