Sun Valley 14-15

[ExcelsiorTheFathead]

Come on up regardless. 3 free days is hard to beat.

SV is busy making snow.

This huge aircraft hangar is located in Test Area North of the Idaho National Labs, near Buttcrack, Idaho. It was built to house the Convair X-6 nuclear powered bomber, which thankfully was never built. Nor was a runway.

This is the big deal in Arco, Idaho

Edited November 21, 2014 by ExcelsiorTheFathead

[ExcelsiorTheFathead]

I'm glad I left Big Sky a day early to beat the storm. So far, 7" has fallen and the roads are dangerous.

SV is open for early race training. The public opening isn't until Thanksgiving day, so I get to sit here and twiddle my brain.

[two_ravens]

Maybe two ravens should consider having C.O.W. at Sun Valley this year? Trish and I have 3 days at Sun Valley on our Snowbasin passes.

Not out of the question - it would be fun to check out SV, but I have a pass at Targhee this year, so if money is tight I'll just be at the Ghee....

ExFat - hope your brain survives the next four no-carving days! Looking forward to your SV reports - your Park City diary was so well done and fun to follow along. :biggthump:biggthump

[ExcelsiorTheFathead]

Hi Kelly, I hope to have this season well documented but the riding picture situation here can't compare to PCMR. I recently called the resort photography outfit and asked if they do any action shots. They said: "Yes, we can do action shots on request." So basically they are just concierge photographers for people willing to shell out big bucks by appointment. The photography situation at PCMR was definitely the best I've encountered so far. I'll bet that Vail will try to run them out of town and replace them with their own EpicMix photographers.

Yes, these last few days of waiting are rough. I'm soooo fat from summer lethargy.

Bald Mountain now looks like a ski resort, although coverage is thin. On opening day only a few select runs will be available, the ones beefed up with snowmaking.

I happened to catch the ski patrol guy clearing the snow stake.

[carvedog]

I've ridden at SV 3 times over the last 5 years and absolutely love it. Jerry is awesome, rider and photographer, and was a big help my first time there. He pretty much fixed my heelside after one run. I've kept going back because it truly is never crowded as long as you are happy to move around on the mountain when one side gets crowded. I've also never had anything but good comments on the hill about the HB setup. The only snicker was from the NASTAR guys, but once you run a gold they kind of shut up :-) It's also interesting, but things labelled blue there are often as steep as blacks in CO, and I've thought that the average ability and skill level of the people on Baldy is far above anything I've encountered anywhere but Jackson so you pretty much don't have to worry about people mistaking your line.

Just checking in on this thread. The mountain is looking awesome. After swearing off working for the Co. again, I found myself being offered too good of a deal to turn down. So I am teaching again. Brett - so kind of you to say a few nice things about me. It was a challenging for a few years after I got hurt. Not sure that I fixed anything, just gave you a different way to look at something you were willing to do, but I am glad it worked. I am going to talk to management about some things we can offer for carvers other than private lessons. I would be very interested in trying to help host a carving weekend too. So if anyone is stopping in hit me up, I will be trying to destroy the grooming on a regular basis. I have taught here for 16 years and one winter in Whitefish. If you know someone looking for lessons, of course I can help. If you just want to slum around with an old dirt bag for a day that will likely happen too. 

[www.oldsnowboards.com]

Drum Roll!!!! The Excelsior is back!!!

[ExcelsiorTheFathead]

Ok...  So for the record, the forum has been barfing and choking for nearly a month and it came back recently with new software that we all have high hopes for.  I've been keeping my daily notes offline and will dump them in here and hope for the best.

 

Thursday, 11/27 Thanksgiving, Sun Valley Opening Day

I got in the muddy parking lot around 8:15.  Not too many cars, but many people are coming in.  I get suited up just in time to get picked up by the shuttle for the short ride to the base area.  The small buses have carriers on the back end that are made of galvanized steel.  Only conventional skis will fit into the tight carriers, and the wide snowboard area forces an alpine board to lean over precariously.  Not good, but not a big deal.  Up at the base lodge lots of people are milling about and some people are already lined up at the Gondola and River Run lift.  By 8:45 I am lined up at the lift with my Easy Jungle.  The River Run lift makes an odd downward bend just before the top terminal, and it is just a short skate to the Lookout Express load.  The Lookout lift is a detachable quad, but it seems like a long ride.  Once on top, the view of the Wood River valley is pretty decent.  From here, Upper College is the only run, and it is full of people.  It looks like a good wide carver, but I'm just trying to find my feet again.  The man-made snow is nice and firm, with no rocks to be seen.

 

Lower College looks pretty steep and narrow, so I just shuffle down the Roundhouse Lane cat-track.  I get a few turns on Roundhouse Slope which is wide and shallow, then down some unnamed cat track to Mid River Run.  In this area, everyone is funneling back together.  Many are lining up at the Lookout lift but I went down the Lower River Run trail to the base.  This shallow green trail had fewer people, and was a good place to try and whip the Easy Jungle into a few turns.  So the rest of my morning was spent just doing loops down here with the little kids while the upper runs were seriously crowded.

 

Friday, 11/28, Day 2:  Cloudy and warm again as many record high temps are set across Idaho today.  Lots of people are in line at open.  I try Lower River Run first, but it is frozen pretty hard after thawing yesterday.  The snow up top is better, but I don't dare try to open up on Upper College because of all the people around.  SV has been mostly rock-free so far, but there was a bunch of exposed stuff where Roundhouse Lane gets near the lodge at the top of Canyon.  By 10 AM it was 40F, but the lower runs weren't thawed enough to be grippy.  I was out by 11.  Signage says that leashes are required, but no one is checking.  Regarding food pricing, the cheapest burger in the lodge is $12, and the soup of the day is $8.  They don't offer soup in a bread bowl, so I can't make a comparison based on the Fathead "Soup in a bread bowl" index of ski resort food pricing.

 

Saturday, 11/29, Day 3: 40F at the base.  The top is 26 and in the clouds.  Weather is moving in today and it is alternately raining and slushing.  For the first Saturday of the season it doesn't seem very crowded, but most of the people are going to the upper mountain.  I just do 6 or 7 loops down Lower River Run.  This is the most I've ridden the Easy Jungle since I got it.  The snow has a bit of grip today, but there are a few skitchy patches.  Off snow at 10 AM, soaked to the membranes.

 

Sunday, 11/30, Day 4: A cold front has settled in and temps are in the low teens, but at least it is sunny.  I bring the Coda out for the first time.  The snow isn't the same as yesterday by any means, but it feels like it has way more grip than the Easy Jungle.  I only get 3 loops down Lower River Run before I have to go back in to warm up.  Serious goggle fog problems.  I come back out and do some more, maybe getting 8 runs total.

 

Monday, 12/1, Day 5:  This is the first real weekday of the season and SV is utterly uncrowded.  Temps are in the low 20s with overcast skies and a tiny bit of falling snow.  Lower River Run is at its grippiest since opening day, and I am able to get the Coda in the groove and whip it into quick turns.  I do something like 10 runs like that, just trying to get my core and back into shape.  Of the other open runs Upper College is probably the best place to carve, but it is pretty steep and the only way down from the top of the Lookout lift, which makes it a bit of a people funnel.  I might wait until snowmaking can open the Warm Springs run before I attempt any "real" carving.

 

Tuesday, 12/2, Day 6: Snow fell thru the day yesterday and overnight, making for 5" in 24h.  This morning is sunny and beautiful with morning temps in the mid-20s.  The new snow has brought out tons of people and the pre-opening lines at the lifts are about as long as on opening day.  I'm still the King of Lower River Run which is very groomy with a slightly soft finish.  As I go up the lift I can see people coming down from the top in a crowded, constant stream.  It looks uncarvable up there.  Around 10 AM I go to the top just for the heck of it and find Upper College to be completely cut up with big piles.  It was a big chore just to skid down with skiers zipping by me.  I was totally out of my element.

 

Wednesday, 12/3, Day 7: Another 5" of new and snowing in the morning with temps around 30.  Lower River Run has maybe 4" of new on it.  It must have been groomed last night.  Good riding, although it gets a little slow and lumpy.  No point in going to the upper runs which are a bumpy mess, based on the descriptions I overheard.

[ExcelsiorTheFathead]

Thursday, 12/4, Day 8: SV is reporting 10" in the last 24h.  Really?  It is too warm, above freezing at the base and maybe just below freezing on top.  Some new trails are opening today on the same lifts, but I don't think it is good for carving yet.  On Saturday, the Challenger lift will open along with the Lower Warm Springs run.  That might be good.  This morning the top is in clouds and it is drizzling rain at the base.  Lower River Run is in that dense, smooth state just before slushiness.  Good grip, but it is a little diggy and could be stuffy if you're not careful.  In at 9 out at 10.  Wet.  I haven't seen another hardbooter since opening day.

 

Friday, 12/5, Day 9: A nice sunny morning, just below freezing at open.  Lower River Run is pretty firm and fast, even a little skitchy at the base.  I'm riding the Oxess, and it is plenty scary because it needs to go fast.  Today I meet hardbooters (Mellowjonny) Jeff and his wife from Boise, then later on I see another unidentified rider.  Back on opening day I met local carver Marc and I'm pretty sure I saw Lamby & Co.  Out at 10 again.

 

Saturday, 12/6, Day 10:  Back on the Coda today.  The string of warm days continues with temps starting at 35.  The top of the hill is in clouds.  I get 3 runs down Lower River Run at open, then go to the top.  By the time I get there the vis is so bad that I start to lose sight of the chair in front of me.  Lower Warm Springs and the Challenger lift have opened today, but I'm not sure how best to get there.  I look around for a Mountain Host, but there is nobody.  What the hell?  Last season at PCMR I could rely on the presence of hosts at the top of most major lifts, especially on weekends.  But here at SV they can't put a single person at a place where 3 lifts unload tons of customers on a Saturday?  Lame.  Fortunately I have some idea of what is going on, so I go down Upper College, then Flying Squirrel, then down a cat track until I make it to the Warm Springs run.  Many people are zipping around, but this run looks pretty decent.  It is wide and flat.  I even make a few decent turns between paranoid checks to look uphill.

Down at the base I check out the lodge then go up the Challenger lift.  Challenger goes up over 3000 feet and is a long, earpopping ride.  From the top you can access the full series of Warm Springs runs which must be one of the longest constant pitch drops anywhere.  Once at the top it is socked in and snowing.  I fell over once on Upper College just from the bad vis.  Down lower the fog clears but it is raining.  I get a couple more loops down Lower River Run then leave at 11, soaked.

I've only ridden a small portion of SV terrain, but I'll go out on a limb and make this statement:  Sun Valley has the steepest green runs anywhere in North America.  I think that Lower Warm Springs is nearly as steep as High Noon at A-Basin.  The greens at SV are as steep as most blue runs in any average resort.  True "never ever" ski lessons cannot be done at Bald Mountain, and are instead provided at the bunny slopes of Dollar Mountain.

 

Sunday, 12/7, Day 11:  Sunny but a cool 20F at open.  The snow has set up pretty firm and conditions are variable.  I get a couple of laps down Lower River Run then go to the top where again there are no mountain hosts.  I skate over to Upper Warm Springs and start the long descent.  Quickly I find myself on Warm Springs Face, which is now the steepest blue run that I have ever been on.  Down to Mid Warm Springs and I'm still scraping along.  There are a number of floater rocks churned up in the snow.  Finally down to Lower Warm Springs, the slope is mild enough to make a few turns but the snow has crushed cookies and isn't so great. 

Back up top I go down Upper College, then Ridge and over to Roundhouse Slope where some slalom training is going on.  After watching that for a while I scrape my way back down to Lower River Run to do a few more laps.  It is getting rather crowded now, with lots of kids and racers.  Off snow just after 10:30. 

 

More impressions:  The blue runs here are freakin' steep.  This is the steepest place I've ever been.  I very well may spend all season riding only green runs.  If you like steep and want more challenge, SV is the place for you.  Book your trip for a quiet period in January or February so I can watch.  I do not have what it takes to carve much of the terrain here.

 

Monday, 12/8, Day 12:  One of the best mornings yet, just doing laps on Lower River Run on the Oxess.  Opening temps are in the low 20s and the snow is perfect.  I'm pumping the Oxess as hard as I can to make it flex and turn.  After a few runs I pull something in my lower back.  Just 8 runs total, but some of the hardest work I've done out here so far.

 

Tuesday, 12/9, Day 13:  Good snow but a few places are a little crunchy and the groom starts to come apart into soft spots after a few runs.  Cloudy, mid 20s at open.  My back hurts, so I'm just trying to take it easy.  6-7 laps down LRR from 9-10AM.  I watched a guy try to teach himself to snowboard at the top of the run, but he just fell over constantly.  After a while I saw him download on the chair.  The lifties at LRR still think I am some kind of freak for just doing laps on the easiest run on the mountain.  I wouldn't mind riding Lower Warm Springs, but until the Greyhawk lift opens, I'd have to take the Challenger lift to the top and skid down either Warm Springs Face or Flying Squirrel on every pass.  We need more snow.  There hasn't been much new natural snow in almost a week, and the groomers are starting to churn up more rocks.

 

Wednesday, 12/10, Day 14: Decent weather much like yesterday, but my back is screaming.  4 runs and out.

 

Thursday, 12/11, Day 15: My back hurts too much to go out early, so I drug up and hit LRR at noon.  Not bad.  Cloudy with temps in the mid 30s.  Around 1PM some guys start roping off one side of Lower River Run to create a kid's slalom course.  A person I talked to on the chair said that this happens nearly every day.  The kids must show up right after school to train.  Six runs and out.

[ExcelsiorTheFathead]

Friday, 12/12, Day 16:  6 laps down LRR from around 10:30.  The mid-morning is a little crowded, but the snow is decent.  Weather is starting to move in from the storm that slammed the PNW.  In the evening it is dumping rain at base elevations but apparently snowing on the mountain.

 

Saturday, 12/13, Day 17: Blarf.  8" of new on top, but only 2-3" at the bottom. It must have rained well into the night before it turned to snow.  I'm in the parking lot at 8:30.  Not many people are here yet, but cars are rolling in.  At 9 I go up the #1 River Run lift and it starts to choke around halfway up.  After a couple of starts and stops I get to the top and make a run down LRR which has a couple of inches of new over dense, soggy groom.  Not bad.  At the bottom I find that the lift is having major problems and they shut it down, so I have to take the Gondola up to the Roundhouse.  Once there I watch large numbers of people come down Rock Garden which has lots of vegetation poking through it.  It seems barely covered to me, but what do I know?

 

I'm having real trouble stepping in to my Intecs.  I can't get my front boot in and spend 5 minutes trying to get the iceberg off the bottom of my heels.  Aggravating.  Finally I am able to ride off down Roundhouse Slope then over to Lower Canyon, one of the only ways down from here.  Lower Canyon is pretty steep and covered by big piles of cut-up snow.  I have to skid down, and my sore back screams every time I jump up to unweight.   This is one disadvantage of SV:  No easy way down.

 

Down at the base again, the lift is still busted and there is a whole battalion of 4-5 year-olds lined up to turn my favored run into a huge magic snake whenever it comes back up, so I head out for my car.  Short day.

 

The new snow was much needed.  I talked to a guy on the lift who said that the rocks over on the Warm Springs side were getting really bad in places.  Another guy on the parking shuttle said that he got 3 great early runs in on top before it got cut up, and he was heading back to his car to swap out skis.

 

Despite high hopes, no new terrain opened on Bald Mountain this weekend.  Dollar mountain is now open daily, but only 2 of the lifts are running there.  Recent days have been too warm for good snowmaking.  I'm probably staying on Lower River Run until either Greyhawk or Seattle Ridge opens.

 

Sunday, 12/14, Day 18:  6 quick laps down LRR at open.  20F clear weather with good groomy groom, but there is one pass of the cat on skier's left that dumped a bunch of rocks all the way down the run.  I get out early enough to make a yoga class and stretch out my knotted back.

 

Monday, 12/15, Day 19:  Pretty cold in the morning so I wait until 11 to go out.  The crowds on weekdays aren't bad, so it isn't a big deal especially when snow conditions are such that the groom doesn't get cut up.  Wx is bright and sunny.  Sure enough, the groom is firm, tight, grippy, and self-healing.  Still riding the Coda pretty much daily.  7 LRR laps today, ending with a 360 down at the bottom.  LRR still has many of those rocks from yesterday, but the big ones seem to have been removed.  I saw at least 5 paraglider launches from the top of the mountain as I was going up the chair.  A Beautiful day, and my back feels like it is healing up. 

 

Tuesday, 12/16, Day 20:  SV sent out an announcement last night that on Friday, Seattle Ridge and the bowls along the Mayday Lift will open.  But today only the bowls will be open for a "sneak peek."  These bowls are black runs that I am never going down, so I do the contrarian thing and take this opportunity to visit Dollar Mountain.  Dollar is the separate beginner bump near the SV resort with only 628' of vertical.  This morning it is snowing lightly when I go out, with temps around 30.  When I arrive at Dollar and and put my board in the rack I meet an instructor that used to race WC alpine back in the day and we chat about all things hardbooting.

The only "real" run open on Dollar is Sepp's Bowl, but it is a pretty good carve.  I looped down it over and over until 11 AM when the clouds started to fully obscure the sun.  Snowmaking is going full blast to get the place ready for holiday families.

 

Wednesday, 12/17, Day 21:  Back to Baldy and doing laps down LRR.  4" of new that fell mostly during the day yesterday is all groomed in, and temps have been nice and cool.  21F at open with clear skies.  The run is grippy and tight.  Whipping quick turns on the Coda.

[ExcelsiorTheFathead]

Thursday, 12/18, Day 22: Another cool and groomy day.  I just finish doing 6 laps down LRR when I run into Jerry at the base.  He's just arrived for his 2nd day on snow, riding a big Burner.  After one warm-up run down LRR we go to the top and do a few laps down Ridge, Blue Grouse, Canyon and Mid River Run.  I'm trying to turn the Coda has hard as I can to keep speed down while Jerry is blasting out some huge arcs.  There are lots of people around, especially at the top of Ridge so it is necessary to pick a good spot.  Seattle Ridge opens tomorrow!

[www.oldsnowboards.com]

Hey Art, sorry to hear about the back pain, I know only too well. 

 

 

Yes, allot of terrain there is pretty steep.   Time to get a slalom board?  Tight radius,  hopefully you can meet up with Jerry and he can show you some of his haunts.   He has some physical issues so that might slow him down this season as he comes back from being off a couple years.   Hang in there!   We still don't even have enough snow to open at Mt Hood!! Bummer!!

[www.oldsnowboards.com]

Geez Jerry, try to take it easy buddy!!     

 

Obviously Art and I were typing at the same time and Art posted first.  

 

Glad you met up with Jerry,  tell him to "Chill" a bit if he wants to get more than a couple days in.  He must be stoked to be rippin again!!

 

I will send him a 160 Tommy and see if he will slow his role :) 

 

You guys have fun!!

[ExcelsiorTheFathead]

Friday, 12/19, Day 23: Seattle Ridge and the Baldy Bowls open today, so lots of people are here.  Temps in the mid 20s, the top of the mountain in the clouds, and it is snowing lightly.  At open there is a line of people waiting for the gondola, and we all pile in.  On the way up my cabinmates are joking about how the price of nearly all food items in the lodges went up this season, and how they cut back on portions, condiments, etc.  Up on top there is a crowd of people waiting at the entrance to Gun Tower Lane, the easy way to Seattle Ridge.  Ski Patrol hasn't dropped the rope yet, but they eventually let us in around 9:15.  This gentle cat track is plenty annoying because I have to be in a tuck the whole way to keep my speed up and there are lots of people all around.  Eventually it dumps us out right at the bottom of the Seattle Ridge lift, a high speed quad.

 

Up the lift into the clouds.  At the top I head for the easiest way down, a run called Broadway.  I'm almost the first person here, and it is a perfectly groomed easy cruise of softness.  Next I loop back up the lift and try each of the three primary runs here:  Gretchen's Gold, Muffy's Medals, and Chrstin's Silver, all greens, the steepest greens in North America.  The snow isn't great because the top is very soft and coming apart, with some crunch underneath in places.  Despite this, the potential for carving here is tremendous.  Each run is wide, flat, of near constant pitch, and just steep enough to be plenty of fun without having to be in "hard attack" mode.  They might not be steep enough on a soft, grabby slow-snow day, but otherwise seem pretty decent.  One other hardbooter seen here, but I'm not sure who... I'll just call him "green helmet guy."  I get a few good turns in, but there are too many people.  Vis is poor, so I take the Mayday lift out.  This old, slow triple is the only way out of Seattle Ridge until they start turning the Cold Springs chair. 

 

The Mayday ride seems to take forever.  Once on top the vis is really bad and I have to take this shallow trail over to the Lookout lodge.  It is so slow that I have to step out and skate in places, and I can't see to know what is ahead of me.  Some guy on a snowboard wants to high-five me cuz he says that he sees me carving every day.  He sees me every day?  Doesn't he have a job?  Finally I make it to the Lookout Restaurant, a squat, flat building that is built so low into the hilltop that it probably was designed to just get buried in snow.   Inside, I check out the menu.  I have no intention to eat here, but just want to see what's cheap, if anything.  No cheap single slices of pizza.  A taco is $3.75.  It must be tiny.  On the side dish menu I find rice and beans for 75 cents each.  I could have rice and beans for $1.50 and try to pretend that I'm eating in Costa Rica?  Pura Vida!

 

Back outside in the wind, snow and clouds I skate over to the top of Upper College and head down, getting a few good turns even though the snow is way soft.  Over to Canyon and skid down, finally on Lower River Run which is below the clouds and carveable.  A few loops here and out at 11:30.

[Strider]

Hey Jerry, Glad to hear you're back at it. We plan to make it out again next season and I'll definitely stop by the gallery. Still wishing I would have picked up that picture of the fire over the river last time.

 

 

Excelsior...what you said about it having the steepest greens and blues is so true. Don't give up on them. Once you get comfortable they are a blast to carve on.  Seattle ridge is really nice, now that it's open you'll really like it there.

[ExcelsiorTheFathead]

Hmm.  Playing around with posting images.  Here's a view of Seattle Ridge from Lookout, photo taken a couple of weeks ago.  Behind the mountain we are looking South down the Wood River Valley with the town of Hailey visible.

 

Edited December 20, 2014 by ExcelsiorTheFathead

[ExcelsiorTheFathead]

Saturday, 12/20, Day 24: A storm is supposed to dump on Central Idaho over to the Tetons this weekend, but it seems like it got here several hours early.  When I go out it is already snowing lightly on top of 1" of new from yesterday.  I'm in the parking lot by 8:25 to make sure I beat the rush.  Up at the River Run turn-around where the $1100 parking spots are, they have a $50 valet stand set up.  Everything from mid-mountain up is socked in, so I'm determined to just do LRR laps and get the heck out.  LRR is groomy smooth, but a little soft in places.  I get a couple of runs in before I see anybody come down from the top.  The rest of the mountain is soaking up the crowds like a sponge.  By lap #4 the ski school has some adults on LRR and dozens of kids are grouping up at the bottom.  Six runs and out.

 

 

Hmm.  Looks like the Greyhawk lift opened today.  That makes it possible to ride Lower Warm Springs without having to take Challenger to the top and skidding down the steep blues.  I'll have to add that to the mix.

Edited December 20, 2014 by ExcelsiorTheFathead

[ExcelsiorTheFathead]

Sunday, 12/21, Day 25:  Zowie!  8" of new snow in the morning.  I only want to get about an hour's riding in, so I again go contrarian and head for Dollar Mountain.  I get there stupid early, around 8:10 and there are few cars in the lot.  At 9 AM I am on the first chair of the Dollar lift and blast down New Bowl and Dollar Face.  These runs were groomed last night and allowed to get pleny snowy.  After these runs start to get cut up I switch over to Sepp's Bowl.  The upper part was groomed pretty wide just before open and it was carvable.  The lower, steeper section had a couple of groomer passes but the vis is so bad that I can't see where the edge of the pass is.  At the bottom I zoom up the ramp to the top of the Half Dollar lift and head down to the bottom via an easy set of brush gates that seem to be there every day.  All the lifties here seem to be South American.  Out at 10, and Dollar isn't the slightest bit crowded.  A family with little skiers could have a great time here.  Baldy must be a zoo by comparison.

 

As I write this at 1:30 PM the snow stake is approaching 12" of new!  It's a Christmas Miracle!

 

Dollar lift just before open.  Can't even see the top of a 600' bump.

Edited December 21, 2014 by ExcelsiorTheFathead

[carvedog]

Wow is right. What a day yesterday. There were pockets that I hit that were fully waist deep. I was only good for a few top to bottoms. the new hip is feeling awesome but a few of the muscles in the left butt cheek were screaming at me "we aren't ready for two foot deep powder". I ignored for a while and got some serious faceshots. First powder day in about five years. carvedog went to bed tired and happy last night. 

[ExcelsiorTheFathead]

Monday, 12/22, Day 26: Maybe 2" of new overnight for a total of 14" in the last 24h.  The Cold Springs and Frenchman's lifts are starting today, so I think that SV is now almost fully open.  Let's call it majority open.  Temps around 30 down low.  This morning I make the drive over to the Warm Springs base area to check it out.  I'm in the Greyhawk parking lot around 8:30.  The upper lot is more popular because the very bottom of the Greyhawk run skirts the edge of the lot so it is possible to ski back to your car.  For people who get here early, this is probably the shortest walk to a lift that doesn't involve a parking lot shuttle.

So my goal today is just to ride Lower Warm Springs and Greyhawk.  I get on the Greyhawk lift which goes only halfway up this side of the mountain.  It's a little windy here, but not bad at all.  Upper Greyhawk is ungroomed so I make my first run down Lower Warm Springs.  This green is big, wide, and easy.   Half of it is being used for race training.  The snow is excellent but the grooming isn't quite flat.  It needs at least another day to get smoothed out from the 14" dump. 

 

Once one gets near the Warm Springs base, there is a noticable smell of...   ?   Is there a dead whale around here somewhere?  Apparently the name "Warm Springs" is just a nice way of saying "Smelly Springs."

 

On the next trips up the Greyhawk lift I cut back on a cat track to get to the top of Mid-Greyhawk.  Wow.  This thing is nice.  Wide, flat, steep, with super good visibility when looking back for danger.

This run is a blast, and not many people are on it.  It needs more grooming to get really smooth and flat, but I still made good turns.

 

I quit after 6 runs.  I have that fatigue from not taking any days off.  Down in the parking lot some guys are talking about how the Seattle Ridge and Mayday lifts weren't running because of winds over 50.   Apparently, it is crazy windy on top.  After I got home I was listening to the mountain ops radio and they had to shut down Lookout Express for half an hour due to winds.

[ExcelsiorTheFathead]

Tuesday, 12/23, Day 27:  No new today, the weather is clear and mostly sunny, but somebody turned the thermostat to NEGATIVE ASS.  For me, ASS occurs around 15F, and this morning's temp of 9-10 is a little unpleasant.  There is a bit of an inversion and the top of the mountain is warmer, but I just want to ride Greyhawk again.  Today I've brought the new Oxess out for its first time on "real" terrain.  There is finally enough snow that I feel ok about the rock situation, and now I have steep, wide terrain.  I take the first run down Lower Warm Springs.  Just starting out from the top of the Greyhawk lift I get up a little speed and put the Oxess into a turn.  The board comes around and catches me just after my body slams into the snow.  Apparently I wasn't going nearly fast enough.  It was like I was standing still and fell over on purpose.

 

Lesson learned, I go faster and make some decent turns down to the bottom and go up again.  Grooming on Mid-Greyhawk is nice and flat today, with a dusting on top from snowmaking on Hemingway and Cozy.  All the guns blasting make it sound like the end of the runway at St. Maarten.  Once I get the hang of the Oxess' 14m radius I'm able to focus on technique, get my hips down and extend my legs into the apex of turns as hard as I can.  I'm fully extended on turns and scrunched up like a ball on transitions.  This is fun but exhausting.  I can only make 4-5 linked turns before I have to rest.  After a few runs I'm sweating in my core but have freezing extremities.  Only 5 runs and out at 10.

 

Yesterday I saw an older gentleman on a Burton Speed with TD-Ancients.  Today I saw the green helmet hardbooter again.  Back in the early, early season I remarked to myself about the high average skill level of skiers at SV.  But now during the holidays there are some terrible skiers on the hill.  On my last run down Greyhawk there was a family torturing their little kids who had no business being there.  I'll bet that they still haven't made it to the bottom.

Edited December 23, 2014 by ExcelsiorTheFathead

[ExcelsiorTheFathead]

Wednesday, 12/24, Day 28:  No new, overcast, temps just above ass.  At Greyhawk again at open.  Snowmaking conditions are great right now, so guns are blastin' away on Hemingway, Cozy, Upper Greyhawk and parts of Mid-Warm Springs.  I guess that this is what I paid for when I bought my super-expensive pass, and it kinda seems worth it.  The light is a little flat compared to yesterday and the snowmaking is creating a cloud system over the Greyhawk run, so I spend most of my time on Warm Springs.  The first run is wide open with not a single person seen on the way down.  By my 5th and last run I had to pick and choose my spots as there were many skiers zipping about.  Grooming on Warm Springs has gotten progressively better since the 14" dump of a few days ago.  Almost all of the bumps have been pushed out and it is pleasantly flat.  Some areas had perfect, grippy groom covered with a thin layer of fresh man-made.  My legs are tooooost now. 

[ExcelsiorTheFathead]

8" of new for Christmas morning!  Day 29:  Santa brings snow, but also a sleighfull of wind.  High 20s in the valley but way colder on top with huge wind chill.  In the morning I'm agonizing about where to go, but after I hear groomers talking on the radio about how windy it is, I head for Dollar.  At low altitudes it seems just a tiny bit breezy, but on top of Dollar it is a full-on sandblaster.  I'm on the first chair with no one else around.  The 5" that fell overnight is nowhere to be seen as the top of the hill is scoured down to icy groom.  Dollar Face is scoured all the way down, but New Bowl is holding snow.  The wind isn't too bad once you get off the top, and I find that I'm having a great time whipping down this trail as fast as I can while carving it from brim to brim.  It is simultaneously carvy and surfy.  I never went over to Sepp's because I thought that the wind might blow me to a halt on Poverty Flats.  I must have gone down New Bowl over a dozen times before quitting at 10:30.  Today the lift crew was a quartet of Andean beauties. 

 

I'm not sure what happened over on Baldy, but I know that the Gondola had to be put on wind hold right at open.  I went up the Dollar lift with a guy who just got a phone call from his brother who was on top of Baldy and he was told: "Don't come here."

 

But the wind must have blown the snow on Baldy somewhere.  The people who braved the conditions and found the stashes must have been well rewarded.

 

Here's Dollar this morning with the Coda in the foreground and Baldy in the background.

Edited December 25, 2014 by ExcelsiorTheFathead

[ExcelsiorTheFathead]

Friday, 12/26, Day 30:  It is single-digit, negative ass freezing at open so I go to Yoga instead.  Then I have to buy longer screws for my Oxess because I want to switch from regular to D3 elastomers and still use the protective spacers.  As far as I can tell, there is no hardware store in Ketchum so I have to drive 10 miles south to Hailey.  This store has exactly 8 of the screws I need, so I buy them all.  I finally hit the hill around 2:40 PM at River Run.  I'm able to scavenge a decent parking spot and take the shuttle to the base.  It is very crowded here.  I just do 4 LRR runs, each time it feels like merging onto the freeway.  But Lower River Run is like a funnel at the bottom of the mountain, and the far-flung corners of the resort probably feel less crowded.  Even so, one of the old liftie guys says that there were 5000 guests today.

[www.oldsnowboards.com]

The chair looks empty and no lines ,  lunch time?    Looks pretty good from here :)

[ExcelsiorTheFathead]

Saturday 12/27, Day 31:  It was Negative, Negative Ass cold this morning, colder than yesterday.  Some local readings were down to -5F.  I went to River Run again and got on LRR at 2:50 PM.  6 runs and out.  All the kids gawk at the Coda like it is from outer space.  Even though the afternoon temp was much warmer than early morning, my hands were still freezing.  I wonder if I have Raynaud's or something.  One other hardbooter briefly seen, but I'm not sure who.

 

Yeah, the lift lines really aren't bad when one looks at it objectively.  Relative to the number of guests, SV seems to have really good uphill capacity when all the lifts are running.  I haven't seen anything like the weekend lines at PCMR's Silverlode chair.  All those people with their skis in the racks are in the lodge near the resort close time.  I walked in there today around 3:45 and the place was wall-to-wall with people.  There was a live band, food, inebriation, just about everything.