PCMR and Canyons 13-14

[www.oldsnowboards.com]

"Kong" ??? Art , it has been too long, but I remember having a great time on a run(s) off a chair called "Kong" I think?

Have fun! Bryan

[mattdeal]

Need some locals' knowledge. Carved for years at Aspen-Snowmass, but now live in southern California, which now puts Utah on the radar. Would appreciate the scoop on Park City and The Canyons (which appears to be huge; never been there).

Edited November 24, 2013 by mattdeal

[ExcelsiorTheFathead]

PCMR Day 2. Sure enough, the 9AM crowds are far smaller than yesterday. Temps today are near 32. First day this season on the skwal, first day ever on Catek OS2s. The First Time lift maze is staffed with older, more parental types given the number of kids that use it. Sliding up to the lift, the guy points at my feet and says "Hey. What's that?" I was about to tell him about my skwal when he said: "Is that a safety strap?"

WTF?

He said that he hasn't seen a leash in years. "Don't you require them?" I asked.

"Yeah, but I haven't seen one since I was a kid." ????

I guess it is safe to say that using a leash at PCMR is so rare that the presence of one is MORE WEIRD than riding a skwal. I might have to stop using a leash if it draws this much ridicule. I don't want to be called "Leash Guy."

So I hit Home Run and find out quickly that I have my bindings set up with far too much toe/heel lift. It feels like my knees and feet are too close together. I already use a 16.25" stance which is wide for a short guy on a skwal. I could go wider, or just back off the lift. Compared to yesterday on the 4WD, Mr. Flaccid's 12-14m radius really requires more speed to feel solid in a turn so I went up Payday to find something steeper. The Treasure Hollow and upper Home Run trails have varying pitches and widths. Some places are a bit too steep to feel comfortable trying to take up the whole run with all of the people zipping about. Despite the early season, I haven't seen a rock on the groom yet! I stayed until 11 when crowds started to build. Legs are burning.

PCMR has announced plans to build a Woodward training center on or near one of the parking lots. All this effort to pander to freestyle riders seems like a waste to me, but I'm not the target demographic. I'm kinda glad that I will be long gone before they build this. Another news article talks about the increased competition brought about by the Vail deal at Canyons. While I have read editorial articles in the Park Record by people who fear that Vail will cause prices to increase, I believe that competition and more pass sharing will force prices down. Imagine what might happen if Vail buys a front-side resort in the Cottonwoods. If Vail bought Solitude and brought them onto the Epic Pass, all heck would break loose around these parts. Vail could buy off enough politicians and bureaucrats to make the SkiLink Gondola happen, thus driving even more moose into the parking lots.

[ExcelsiorTheFathead]

- Hi Mick, I'll consider doing a day at Snowbasin. I suppose that I should make my way around while I am here.

- Bryan, PCMR has a "King Con" zone, with a lift and run of the same name. That part of the mountain isn't open yet, but the maps indicate that there are 12 blue runs in that area. I guess I'll find out soon enough if they are carving runs.

- Hi Matt. I'm a local for this winter, but I don't know much. I bought a pass at PCMR just because it was my understanding that it had more wide cruisers than Canyons, but I could be wrong. PCMR doesn't really have pass sharing with any other resort. Canyons is on the Vail Epic Pass plan which can give you Heavenly, Kirkwood and Northstar. There must be good carving terrain at Canyons, but I haven't been there yet.

[ExcelsiorTheFathead]

Monday morning was blissfully uncrowded for the first hour, then people started to flow in. Lots of ski school activity along with people from the National Ability Center. Snowmaking continued in the morning, but afternoon temps are forecast to be in the 40s for the next several days with no new natural snow. Springy thaw-freeze is happening, and some of the steeper parts of Treasure Hollow are pretty scratchy and not particularly groomed well. The flatter parts of Home Run that soften in the first direct sun were the best carving for me. Legs are wrecked now.

[ExcelsiorTheFathead]

I went an hour late on Tuesday, riding 10-11 AM to let things soften up. Snowmaking was already turned off when I arrived, as it was too warm. Some of the steeps are pretty scrapy and awful. Good carving on parts of Home Run, but slow and shallow. I'll bet that much of the hill is slushy and mushy by late afternoon.

[boardguru]

Great updates, they help to let me know what sort of conditions Trish and I might be facing at Snowbasin starting Friday.

Looking at scrapy and zoo time with only a few runs open. Oh well it's a start!

Mick

[ExcelsiorTheFathead]

PCMR hasn't been making new snow overnight on the already open runs since it is more important to open new terrain. But Friday at Snowbasin will only be day 2, and the weather will start to cool, so it might not be so bad, except of course for all those darned people.

The December Ski Magazine has an article about the current goings-on at Powder Mountain with those rich hipsters. It is worth a stop at a library to read it. Here's their previous article from a year ago.

[ExcelsiorTheFathead]

I rode until Wednesday, but my quads are wrecked so I'm taking a break until Sunday when the crowds will hopefully thin out some. Here at home I've been monitoring the ski patrol's radio traffic, and just today I have heard at least four ambulance calls. Three suspected fractures, two head injuries, various collisions with people and towers, even an injury in the main lodge rental shop. A good day to surf my couch and read a book. It is still too warm and too sunny, with snowmaking only taking place after dark. One new trail has opened: Upper Home Run on the Bonanza lift.

[ExcelsiorTheFathead]

The under-represented of Utah take their observances very seriously. Don't mess with the mobile Menorah.

[ExcelsiorTheFathead]

Canyons is open now, but whatever trails are open are accessed from the top of the gondola on the upper mountain. It isn't possible yet to ski down to the base area, so the people-watching isn't very interesting. I'll be going back to PCMR on Sunday morning. It sounds like snowmaking is focused on Muckers, Jonsey's, and Claim Jumper.

[ExcelsiorTheFathead]

Sunday. Up First Time at 8:45, then wait at Payday for the 9:00 open. From the top of Payday I scoot off to the Bonanza load to head for the Summit. Home Run has been open up here since Thanksgiving, but this is my first time. The only open trail on this lift, Home Run is a wide, flat, moderate green with good visibility. It's a great warm-up run that is big enough to feel confident about opening up and carving hard (but slow). I just did loops up here with the meddling kids from the Park City Ski Team. After about an hour, it got a little crowded with meddling everybody. I had already re-destroyed my legs, so I was off snow by 11.

There's an abandoned mine at the base of Bonanza.

The top of Bonanza, looking down Home Run from near the Summit Lodge.

View of the town, just a slight pan to the right from the photo above.

[ExcelsiorTheFathead]

Monday and I'm riding on painkillers. I get to the parking lot and there are no other cars near the lift. I'm the first one here. I end up on the first Payday chair with a bunch of old skier dudes, then go up Bonanza. It is overcast with a storm coming in. Snowmaking is already turned off. It is either too humid, too windy, or too "why bother?" to run the guns with natural snow on the way. I did 6 laps on Home Run with few people around.

Yesterday I completely burned out my back leg by riding too far back. This morning I added a little more heel lift in back and removed a little toe lift in front, in an attempt to shift a bit more forward. This, along with a focus on riding more aggressively forward helped balance out the leg fatigue.

At 10:15 I took my last ride up with wind gusts over 30 blasting over the top of the ridge and a little snow flying about. We should get at least a few inches of new over the next day or so. I might stay home tomorrow if it is dumping during the day.

Food at PCMR is pretty expensive, but not the worst I've seen. A single slice of pizza is $6.00, which isn't too awful; maybe this is the loss-leader item. But the Fathead "Soup in a Breadbowl" Index of Ski Resort Food Costs is pegged pretty high at $7.95 + $1.50.

[ExcelsiorTheFathead]

Wednesday. PCMR has reported 9" of new on each of the past two mornings for a total of 18". Not much fell during last night, so everything should be groomed in. There are some mid-level clouds but the top of the hill is out in sunshine. It is seriously cold, and the snow has that squeaky super friction. I had to step-out and skate in order to make it down the trail from Payday to Bonanza where the thermometer read -4F. Upper Home Run is groomed well, but running way too slow and slightly soft for Mr. Flaccid. Only on the steeper areas could reasonable turns be made.

There's a bunch of fat-ski people out here who were tricked by PCMR's "Powder Day" emails. Sure, there is new snow, but no new trails have opened and all the open runs are groomed. I only managed 4 runs before I had to take refuge in the Summit Lodge because of the cold. New terrain will certainly open this weekend, if not sooner, but this super cold will continue. It's cold enough to make you wonder if you really want to go out.

The November issue of Powder Magazine has a decent article on the city of Ogden and its relationship with Snowbasin, Wolf Mt, and Powder Mt, but ya gotta find it in a library.

Upper Home Run from the top of Bonanza. I had to warm up my camera battery in the lodge to make this picture possible.

[ExcelsiorTheFathead]

It's brutal out there. Brutal, I tell you.

It was too cold yesterday to bother going out. Mucker's was the only new trail added. This morning I woke up again with mountain temps well below zero, so I waited until 11 to hit the hill. I could have just as well stayed home today too, but they have opened the Silverlode Lift and the Claim Jumper and Assessment runs. Claim Jumper is a big, wide easy green. Some of the coverage is still thin, and the snow here is full of crushed cookies. Home Run and Bonanza are way better. Noontime temps at the Snow Hut and Bonanza load were +2F.

Rumor has it that the McConkey's and Pioneer lifts will open tomorrow, but I dunno.

[ExcelsiorTheFathead]

I've enrolled at the Softbootsailer School of Grainy Riding Shots.

See? New Jacket!

[www.oldsnowboards.com]

Nice jacket, great content , crappy photo:) Did you sign up for his satellite site?

[boardguru]

I agree Bryan. That is a nice jacket Art, but the photo is even grainier than Softbootsailer's postings. But Great form in your turn.

[Steve Prokopiw]

My youngest boy,Nathan and I did Canyons for the first time yesterday,while big brother stayed home sick with his mom.We were able to ski/ride to the base via Doc's Run.Not much open, but it was fun to go there for what we called a 'recon mission'.Our commute time from Spanish Fork turns out to be about 1hr20 min without going above speed limit,not bad.The 'Orange Bubble Express' will undoubtedly be one our favorite lifts on cold days for our family of four.In other news-I told Nathan that daddy will not pay $8 a slice for pizza,even if we win a lotto.The Epic Passes we have are a great deal;but only if we do not succumb to the 'loss leader' lure aspect of pass price and pay the insane food prices at the resort.That's why mommy and daddy have backpacks. :-)

[www.oldsnowboards.com]

Cool Steve, what is the closest area to you? Does the Epic pass cover most of the UT areas?

Art, is that the pass you bought?

[www.oldsnowboards.com]

Cool Steve, what is the closest area to you? Does the Epic pass cover most of the UT areas?

Art, is that the pass you bought?

[ExcelsiorTheFathead]

My guess is that Sundance, in the Provo Canyon is the closest resort to Spanish Fork. You have to drive by it in order to get to Park City from the south. The Vail Epic Pass only works at Canyons Resort. Utah has almost no pass sharing. My pass is to PCMR only.

I stayed home today cuz it is still too cold for my lame wussy butt. Tomorrow should be tolerable.

[ExcelsiorTheFathead]

A great day today. I waited a bit to let the hill warm up and was on top of Bonanza at 11 AM in time to meet up with Florida Fred on a Kessler (what is his board handle?) We did a bunch of runs down Claim Jumper and whored it up for the photographer. Snow conditions here are really nice now, and the super deep freeze is ovah. Later on I shared a chair with another hardbooter who rides a skwal stance on regular alpine boards. Cold, sunny, not too crowded. Much more terrain is open now for people to spread out.

[www.oldsnowboards.com]

So , let see the proofs?

Glad to hear the snow pack meets with your approval. :)

[Steve Prokopiw]

Bryan,we bought Epic passes because we plan to visit friends in Vail and Summit county.The pass is even good at A-Basin.Unfortunately,not a single one of the Vail operated resorts does Nastar,which hadn't occurred to me before buying the pass.Not quite a deal breaker but I might consider other options next season since the boys and I like rec racing enough(ie,cheap) we would do it every week if it was available.Can't beat the bang for the buck with Epic pass otherwise. Canyons looks like it will be fun to carve when more opens,which will happen this week.