N.I.C.E. at Schwietzer Feb. 22-27. '11

[big canuck]

That was wicked. What run is that? Totally makes me want to revisit Schweitzer. Thx for posting.

K

[Dan]

Back home in Portland now with sore legs from riding and sore faces from grinning. Thanks to Rus, Boardski, and everyone else involved in putting on such a great event! Schweitzer is a great mountain and the local crew really made us feel welcome. Big thanks to Mark Kram and Steve P for providing riding tips and lots of inspiration :biggthump, and thanks to Sean for bringing the Donek demo fleet :biggthump -- review coming soon.

Great terrain, great grooming, and we really enjoyed all the love we got from mountain staff - one liftie told us how much he liked seeing our "big beautiful carves", another one told us with a big smile "They put triangular panels on the Nastar course!" ...which surprised me until I saw his board: a Donek with plates. (Kickass -- we're infiltrating the mountain staff.) Saturday afternoon, we were doing the demo board two-step, swapping bindings back and forth (then forth and back, etc.), and a shop tech invited us to use their bench (inside) and then shot the breeze with us.

NICE is definitely on my calendar for next year.

I didn't get that many photos -- too busy riding -- but I did manage to grab a few on Thursday, the day of the cat trip.

Waiting for the cat in the lodge, ChrisK gets into a rather intimate conversation with Max (Grayontray) and Garret (?screen name?). Garret looks skeptical.

It's...let's see...9 a.m., where is everybody?

Oh, that's right, the mountain is closed today due to high winds...

So anyone without a cat booked is out of luck today...but we're feeling rather lucky.

Sorry, no action shots -- we were too busy riding deep deep powder -- but here's the last run, coming back down on the piste from the Selkirk Powder lodge.

Octavio up front, Randy T on the SuperSwede (woody), Russell behind him on the 4807, ChrisK in the red jacket and...not quite sure, but maybe David, a local rider.

Here's a glamor shot so everyone who didn't make it this year will make sure to put it on their calendar for next year: my riding buddy Octavio getting ready to chow down on some fresh groom during early loads on Friday. It was incredibly nice to be on the mountain an hour before everyone else: an hour of perfect groom, unlimited visibility, and no checking uphill for out of control straightliners.

[Sultan Guy]

Anyone watching this vid.

It was -4F when this was filmed. That was the coldest weather I have ever gone riding in...but so worth it!

[Sultan Guy]

Art and I made it back Sunday without issues. Slow going over the Cascades as it was dumping snow hard. Looks like our local run got 23" overnight.

THANKS to the local Schwietzer hard booters for organizing this event.

The early loads for my two days of riding were fantastic, although my legs were toast by 1:30 as a result. So worth it!

Great grooming for Saturday.

My favorites runs were:

Ridge Run

Cathedral

Lower Kaniksu

I have new confidence in my ability to ride in temperatures below 10F.

Andy

[kinpa]

Waiting for the cat in the lodge, ChrisK gets into a rather intimate conversation with Max (Grayontray) and Garret (?screen name?). Garret looks skeptical.

That's Buster!

[b0ardski]

NICE shots Dan, the glam pic of Octavio on the cord w/lake Pend Orielle in the sun is awesome:biggthump

The week turned out great despite a few monkey wrenches thrown at us (crazy weather, lost luggage, broken boards, sick host). This week I'll get the powder days I missed with the NICErs.

A day of rest for us except; I'm looking out my widow at near whiteout from 2" per hour dumpage, dreading going out to blow the drive which I'll have to do again in the morning just to get out for an EPIC pow day:eek:

• Weather
  
• Village Temp 27°F
  
• Summit Temp 22°F
  
• Visibility Variable due to snow
  
• Wind Moderate
  
• Current Weather Heavy Snow
  
• 

• Snow
  
• Past 12 hrs 14"
  
• Past 24 hrs 22"
  
• Past 48 hrs 25"
  
• Past 72 hrs 25"

• Base Depth
  
• Lower Elevation 78"
  
• Mid Elevation 95"
  
• Upper Elevation 138"
  
• Season Snowfall 264"

• Runs & Trails
  
• Runs Open 92
  
• Acres Open 2900
  
• Lifts Open 3
  
• Surface Snow Powder
  
• Hours of Operation 9:00am - 4:00pm

[grayontray]

Hi ho, all:

What a wonderful event. Kudos to Russ, Troy, Mark, Tanya and ALL the folks at Schweitzer who put this on:o) A good time was had by all, it is safe to say. Mikestrain, loved the video. Thanks for posting. Ma Nature's cold weather did NOT put a damper on us.

Thanks again, everyone. It was nice to meet new folks and put faces to names. Incredible riding was seen all around the mountain. Hope to see everyone there next year.

Cheers,

Max

[chrisk]

Thanks to all my friends (new and old) at NICE. I had a great time in spite of all the crazy travel problems. Everyone was very kind to me even though I'm from the wrong coast.

Chris K.

[Pusbag]

Hey mike,

Thanks for posting video ! We will be posting another video soon and pictures of the week also. Please email your address to northidahocarveevent@hotmail.com. Next year will be bigger and better. We got lots of good ideas and I will be working on more days of early loads. Thanks again for coming.

.

[kinpa]

Thanks to all my friends (new and old) at NICE. I had a great time in spite of all the crazy travel problems. Everyone was very kind to me even though I'm from the wrong coast.

Chris K.

Does that mean you and your gear made it home in one piece?

I took my son to Lookout on Sunday and skied on the beginner hill with him.... was snowing all day.... today they reported 27 inches of snow since late yesterday afternoon! UGH.... glad I stayed home today

[grayontray]

Hi ho, Dan:

Glad to know what your face really looks like under that mask:biggthump Sure had fun at NICE and thank you for helping me swap out bindings when I demoed the Donek.

Snow, snow and MORE snow. I plowed twice today - first time dry and second time very wet. 2 FEET of new at most hills. Cool. Thinking spring but hard to let go of riding:o

The pix of Octavio et al are great. Thanks for posting. Garret is looking skeptical and I'm thinkin' "oh, yeah?";)

Anywho, it ALL was good. :lol:

Same time, next year.

Cheers,

Max

[Donek]

I just got home. This was an excellent event and location. The early loads were great. Empty runs open only to carvers is always a blast. The grooming was excellent. I think it rivals any I've seen and the steep winch cat stuff was terrifyingly fun to ride. The crowds, even on weekends, were so minimal I never felt like I had to look over my shoulder. This is definitely an event that need to be repeated. While next years ECES is likely to keep me away, I will be returning in 2013.

Thanks to the organizers and especially Mark for transporting me to and from the airport.

[Donek]

Sean showing off his new Double S-Rocker board.. was the hottest demo on the mountain!!

So I thought a little explanation was in order for those who were not there. Schweitzer has some of the most amazing groomed steeps I've been on. On Friday I came down upper Kaniksu and was pleasantly terrified. Just before lunch we headed for Stiles. Assuming the the grooming to be the same, I dove right in. Unfortunately the extensive recent snowfall had made winch catting that run a bit challenging and I found myself on a run with some significant inconsistencies. By my 3rd turn I decided it was time to put on the brakes and stop. Unfortunately, I was too late and I found myself doing 6 to 7 cartwheels in the soft snow on the side of the trail. With each turn I heard various pops, cracks, and snaps. Stuffing the tip and tail repeatedly and levering through the snow is simply beyond the structural ability of most snowboards. When I came to a stop, the tips and tail were dangling. The interesting thing was I was completely undamaged and never felt and real strain during the fall. The plate really saved my legs. Unable to bend and decoupled from what was happening to the board in the fall, my legs and the plate formed a very stable triangle. I wonder how I would have fared without the plate on. I guess we'll never know. The board will never ride again, but I went in and got another board and went out and rode the remainder of the trip without and any issues.... And yes I went back the next day and conquered Stiles twice.

[Pusbag]

Yea no doubt about it Schweitzer does have steep groomers. They are to steep for me to carve down but I can slide a turn if it means not crashing. We also have mellow groomers too. I'm very glad you had a good time. We'll be in touch and see you @ SES next Feb.

[Pusbag]

In the process of editing 1200 pictures. It could be awhile. we will post them on bomber and we will also be able to mail you a disc with all the pictures if you would like. Just let us know and give us your address.

[bonzo]

By my 3rd turn I decided it was time to put on the brakes and stop. Unfortunately, I was too late and I found myself doing 6 to 7 cartwheels in the soft snow on the side of the trail. With each turn I heard various pops, cracks, and snaps. Stuffing the tip and tail repeatedly and levering through the snow is simply beyond the structural ability of most snowboards. When I came to a stop, the tips and tail were dangling. The interesting thing was I was completely undamaged and never felt and real strain during the fall. The plate really saved my legs. Unable to bend and decoupled from what was happening to the board in the fall, my legs and the plate formed a very stable triangle. I wonder how I would have fared without the plate on. I guess we'll never know. The board will never ride again, but I went in and got another board and went out and rode the remainder of the trip without and any issues.... And yes I went back the next day and conquered Stiles twice.

Sean,

Having recently suffered a Maisonneuve fracture of the fibula, I am definitely going to contact you before next season. I am getting old enough to realise that due to life constraints, one has a finite number of epic days. They should not be spent with a leg up on the couch. I never considered using a plate as a safety device. There are an unacceptable number of leg injuries on the "Alpine Injured List" thread. Perhaps a plate could have spared a few broken bones and surgeries.

For me, this is an epiphany. :D

The fact that I was riding one of your pro series (1998, stiff) boards with Catek bindings didn't help me. Your board did what it was supposed to do, that is, survive something short of a nuclear blast. The board is definitely tougher than me, it was unscathed.

[tokenskier]

I didn't have a great lens on the camera, so I didn't get a lot of winners.

But I did get a few (click the image to go see the whole set)

<a href="http://flickr.com/gp/aaronwhiteman/3d48x2"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5140/5488235098_aba5fcced7_d.jpg"></a>

Sorry, I don't know names to match faces!

[chrisk]

Yes. I made it home safely, as did my equipment. Of course, I did get stuck in Denver's airport for 2 extra hours on the way home, but I didn't expect anything less. I pulled in my garage at 4:00am on Sunday, about 20 hours after I left the condo.

As I said before, thanks to everyone. Great pictures Dan.

Chris K

[kram]

I don't have any pictures of Sean doing cartwheels down Stiles but I did see it.

He wasn't the only one doing tricks.

[Shred Gruumer]

Kram.. I know you have a ton of these. glad no one got hurt... so I guess I could see more body carving..:)

RSS

[grayontray]

Tokenskier (aka Aaron?);

WONDERFUL pix:D Good on ya. Once again a good time was had by ALL. (Even Sean breaking a board on Stiles):( No injuries so it's all good.

Cheers and yours in carving,

Max

[Pusbag]

Of course you didn't get any pictures of me crashing, I'm too good ! (Lol) I noticed a picture of kram by tokenskier . Seen quite a few other nice pictures I downloaded today. If anybody wants a shirt let me know, I'm doing a order on friday with some pre orders .

I don't have any pictures of Sean doing cartwheels down Stiles but I did see it.

He wasn't the only one doing tricks.

[Donek]

Sean,

Having recently suffered a Maisonneuve fracture of the fibula, I am definitely going to contact you before next season. I am getting old enough to realise that due to life constraints, one has a finite number of epic days. They should not be spent with a leg up on the couch. I never considered using a plate as a safety device. There are an unacceptable number of leg injuries on the "Alpine Injured List" thread. Perhaps a plate could have spared a few broken bones and surgeries.

For me, this is an epiphany. :D

The fact that I was riding one of your pro series (1998, stiff) boards with Catek bindings didn't help me. Your board did what it was supposed to do, that is, survive something short of a nuclear blast. The board is definitely tougher than me, it was unscathed.

I don't really know that the plate is something that will protect you in many situations, but I do believe it did protect me in this case. Cartwheeling down a super steep run on a carve board is a fairly rare occurrence. I did suffer from a sprained ankle in November as a result of overloading the nose while riding a plate.

[Randy T.]

Thanks to all that showed up to ride and make this event great, and special thanks to all of the organizers.

I was only running at about 70% while I was there but I still had a great time. I got a cough a couple days before the event and it just never got better and kept me awake most nights so I went to the doctor on Monday and found out I have Pneumonia!

[Pusbag]

We never would have known your riding skills are excellent. Hope you recover soon and get back out on the slopes.

Thanks to all that showed up to ride and make this event great, and special thanks to all of the organizers.

I was only running at about 70% while I was there but I still had a great time. I got a cough a couple days before the event and it just never got better and kept me awake most nights so I went to the doctor on Monday and found out I have Pneumonia!