icebiker

Thanks again for all the tips folks. Despite the warm temps we had a great time. We slept in most mornings, opting to wait for the snow to soften up by 11. Broke out the carving board for the first few hours then switched to the twin tip board when things got really soft. Did Solitude, Brighton, Snowbird and Powder Mtn. Got to ride with Ron and Gloria at Solitude, Had blast on the twin tip in Mineral Basin (pic below) and was stoked to find this collection of classics at Brighton. Not shown is an Avalanche 175 with plates that Damian Sanders used to ride in his pink Koflachs.

Liftie at Powder Mountain last week as I got ready to catch a chair: "Ahh, so here's the gap maker!!"

Ron, good meeting you and Gloria today. Thanks for showing me around. I think we made the most of what was served up.

Diggerjr, his wife and I left evidence of our work under the Eagle chair at Solitude today.

PM sent Martin and Digger...hope to see you this week!

Thanks for the tip. I could definitely use some instruction. I watched the rub-in vids from ATC and aspire to ride as well as those guys and gals! If my posse is off in the trees that'll give me a window.

Sounds great!! Will do once we know our plans. Park city looks great and since we'll be there midweek hoping it won't be too much of a zoo ;-)

Will do! We're going to try and hit a different resort each day if possible. Where will depend on conditions. Solitude is definitely on the list. My son, his friend and his friend's Dad are two-plankers, and will likely be seeking trees and diamonds...while I will be seeking wide open spaces....would be great to have some company! I've managed to meet a BOL'er on each of my prior trips out west, hope this trip continues the tradition.

Awesome, thanks folks!! Looking forward to it, and these tips will help me figure where to focus. @diggerjr, thanks for the offer but I'm bringing two boards, one of which in case of soft and/or powder conditions.

I find riding hard boots in powder mode was a good way to get acclimated to the stiffer setup until I was more comfortable with them. Powder mode also helps in the bumps and late day chop. I would agree with others to try and find newer boots. Bomber runs sales at season's end and you may be able to find some for a good price. Good luck!

Would have posted this in the UT forum but it doesn't appear to get much traffic. Update on my prior thread regarding my father/son trip to UT this March, we've decided to stay in Murray UT, rent a car, and hit up several resorts over several days. As we prepare, would appreciate your tips/suggestions on the better carving trails at Brighton, Solitude, Snowbird, Park City/Canyons and Snowbasin. Ideally moderately pitched blues that are regularly groomed. Thanks!

Thinking of Windham this Friday. Anyone have a recent assessment of conditions? Welcome to join me too.

It's April 1 already?

Thanks for all the replies so far folks! Like the idea of Banff in particular....3 resorts on one ticket, favorable exchange rate, never been there. Have some research to do this week! Merry Christmas, all.

My 19 year old son and I have been skiing (him) and boarding (me) together since he was 5. We decided a few years ago to treat ourselves once a year to a trip away from the ice coast. We've hit Colorado and Montana in the past two years and are now mulling UT, WY, or ID. Our window is week of March 13th 2017. I'd appreciate input from some locals. Our criteria would be: 1) Good snow cover/low temps this time of year. 2) Black glade/woods trails for him 3) Blue cruisers for me 4) Bowls for both of us (like backside of Vail) 5) A town for nightlife/restaurants 6) Convenient to airport with flights from NY and Pittsburgh He is leaning towards Snowbird/Brighton/Solitude based on the altitude and historical likelihood of decent snowcover that time of year (#1). However, I'm pretty sure none of them meet #5. We thought of Park City/Canyons...but not sure about #1 in that case. Any and all suggestions welcome and appreciated! Thanks in advance!

Hi iCamera, as another icecoaster, I can say the more direct, stiffer connection one has between rider-to-boots-to-binding-to-board when riding alpine is a definite plus on harder snow...it's not a panacea for ice, but makes for more confidence when negotiating less than ideal conditions. My son and I will be up central VT way (love Pico!) after new years if you'd like to connect. I have a spare board you could try but you'll need boots unless you are a mondo 31 (roughly 13/14 American.) in which case you could use my second set. I also MTB (FS, HT, SS, DH, Fattie...it's all good!) and I know what you mean about despising straight lines....you'll be right at home as a carver.

Congrats! I'm a little late to this thread but wanted to let you know I followed a similar path to much of the advice on this string when I began piecing together my first alpine set up about 4 years ago and I think you're going to love this board. I have an Axxess in a 172 length, and ride it with TD SW SI's and Deeluxe 225's. I asked Sean to build with a tighter than standard SC (9-11) since I ride mainly east coast, and had him make it wider to accommodate my canoes (31 mondo). It was perfect from the first turn. I've since progressed to steeper angles and so it's probably a cm or 2 wider than I would prefer at this point, but still a great set up for all mountain riding. I will say that the TD SI's add some weight so my preference for deeper powder and late-day crud is my Ride Yukon 172 with Burton/Ibex race plates and Deeluxe LeMans. Lighter, less edge length, twin tip. Most important in powder (for me anyway) was switching the boots to powder mode. Seems obvious but it took me some time to flip the switch instinctively. Enjoy your new set up and post up pics when it's all together!

Very nice! Thanks for posting.

Th Thanks. We spent most of our trip at Moonlight or Lone Peak/Swifty. For the video the packed powder run was Upper Morning Star (from the Lone Peak Triple). The powder run was on Lookout Ridge.

Nice! I assume you slowed it down...nice effect....has a nice mellow vibe! (love the Safari tribute graphics btw)

Awesome Pat! Very impressive kid!!

Went to Big Sky a few weeks ago. Had several days of fresh powder and some bluebird too. I brought both the Donek Ax with SW SI's and the Ride Yukon with Raceplates. Both 172cm. Ended up using the latter more since we got a decent amount of powder. By Day 2 my legs were ready to give out not having had any meaningful snow time before this trip. But the place is amazing, and I got to meet a fellow BOL'er (ExcelsiorTheFathead). He's got some serious style, but sadly I have no video of him, so you'll have to settle for me lol. 1080p for best res. (and thanks to philw for tips on filming with a pole!) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AE84EfXcNE0

Sorry we didn't connect today Art. Very nice powder up top lone peak triple way and as far down as just past lone tree triple (meriweather). But shortly below that it was like a switch was turned off and snow was like a wet bathroom mat. Headed home tomorrow. Had a great time and was great riding with you. Let's see what next year brings.

Great riding together again this AM Art. After u left David and I headed to upper Morningstar. Spectacular conditions. Here's a quick screen grab. Got soft down mountain by 1. Things hardened up and glassy upmountain around 3.

As Art said, morning was ok but groomed runs were a bit hardpack. That didn't stop him from railing tippy's on the way to lunch. He slayed that slope while i fishtailed my way down. Snow came down fast from lunch on. Put the Donek away and broke out the Yukon again and headed to moonlight.We were cuff-deep in many spots. Amazing day.