ExcelsiorTheFathead Posted December 28, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2014 Sunday 12/28, Day 32: The overnight storm wasn't as productive as I had hoped and there was only 2" of new in the morning. It was single digits again, so I went to Yoga. Later I went to River Run after 2 PM and the place was crawing with emergency;vehicles. Somebody was having heart trouble on the hill and they were just in the process of getting that person out in an ambulance. The day has broken into nice sunshine. It is around 21 at the base and 11 on top. I'm determined to do something different today so I go to the top and get on the "lift to nowhere" which goes from Lookout to the top of Bald Mountain. This lift mostly does a traverse with a vertical climb of maybe 100 feet, if that. From there I took the cat track that skirts the top of the ridge and heads to Broadway Face, a short but good carving pitch. The snow all over the mountain this late in the day is cut up and scraped. I'm just sluffing around. Down Broadway and up the Seattle Ridge lift just before its 3 PM close. I ducked into the Seattle Ridge Lodge for the first time to take a look at it. Nice and posh. Next I go down Seattle Ridge to the bottom of Broadway and get out via the Cold Springs lift, an old double. Now I have to skid down a cut-up Canyon run to get down. Not fun for me. At last back at the base, I run into Instructor Jerry with a couple of students. One more LRR run and out. Inside the River Run Lodge The town of Hailey from Seattle Ridge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExcelsiorTheFathead Posted December 29, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2014 Monday 12/29, Day 33: I thought that crowds might subside a bit now that the weekend was over, but this seemed like the busiest day yet. Single digits in the morning, so I went up around 2:30 and got a few runs down LRR. Scuttlebutt says that the guy taken off the mountain yesterday passed away. Only 54 years old, but a history of heart trouble. Tomorrow morning is supposed to be super negative cold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carvedog Posted December 30, 2014 Report Share Posted December 30, 2014 Hey Art. Good to see you there yesterday. This is the busiest week of the year without a doubt. Next weekend they will all leave and the groomers will only get better and better. Early is the ticket this time of year. Broadway Face is one of my favorites. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExcelsiorTheFathead Posted December 30, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 30, 2014 Tuesday 12/30, Day 34: It's something like -3F in the morning. I just can't bring myself to go on the hill. What a nice clear day. You can visualize all the heat dissipating straight up into outer space. Once again I go in late. By the time I get from my car to the lodge I'm frozen, so I duck inside. Fortunately someone has barfed just inside the entrance to make things extra special. I'm on snow from 3 PM and do runs down LRR with the crowds. SV really needs some "Keystone Cops" down here in the funnel, cuz quite frankly it's a little unsafe with straightliners and goofballs. Temps have got to be single digit. After 4 runs I can't feel my fingertips so I bug out just before close. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExcelsiorTheFathead Posted December 31, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2014 Wednesday 12/31, Day 35: More of the same, just more inverty. -6F at open, but on top it is somehow +18. I get on LRR at 3:05 PM and it is still single-digit cold down here. Crowded. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExcelsiorTheFathead Posted January 1, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 1, 2015 (edited) Thursday 1/1, Day 36: Waaay inverty. At open it is something like +21F on top but near zero in the valley. At close it was 31 top/13 bottom. I did 5 LRR runs with the masses just before close. Idahoans welcomed the New Year with the Idaho Potato Drop. Edited January 1, 2015 by ExcelsiorTheFathead Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExcelsiorTheFathead Posted January 2, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 2, 2015 Friday 1/2, Day 37: Much like yesterday but a bit warmer. 5 runs and out at close. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExcelsiorTheFathead Posted January 3, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2015 Saturday 1/3, Day 38: For something like the 8th straight day, it is Negative Ass cold in the morning. Today it was around zero F. Lying around on my sofa at 10:44 AM there was a nice earthquake. Only weak shaking here, but it was a little excitement. I went to River Run around 2:45 and found that there were far fewer cars. The old, old liftie guy at #1 told me that he saw lots of cars driving out of town, each full of people. So the end-of-holiday exodus is on, and people are starting to head home. By now it is around 19F and I get 7 runs down LRR jamming quick, short turn carves on the Coda. The hill is much less crowded compared to even yesterday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExcelsiorTheFathead Posted January 4, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2015 Sunday 1/4, Day 39: Finally I'm able to get out of the cold & crowded rut. A storm is coming in bringing in clouds and warmer air, but no precip yet. I went to Warm Springs at open and hit the Greyhawk lift on the Oxess. 4 runs down Lower Warm Springs and one down Greyhawk. Flat light, but good snow. Two hardbooters seen, one might have been Marc? SV hasn't skimped on snowmaking. The guns on Limelight were going, and Greyhawk had some new man-made on it. Out at 10:15 in time for Yoga. There should be new snow in the morning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExcelsiorTheFathead Posted January 5, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2015 Monday 1/5, Day 40: The storm was a disappointment. Only 1" of new, but mountain temps are in the warm mid-20s. I headed straight for Seattle Ridge at open. The snow here is very good, but not great. A week of scraping by thousands of tourists has taken its toll, and there are some strangely discolored areas and a few floating rocks. Seattle Ridge is always groomed in the morning so the new snow was packed in, along with some tiny cookie action. I made several runs down Gretchen's, carving the Oxess as hard as I could. Some good turns were made, and some bad ones like a horrible chattering heelside slide-out that got my shin hurting a bit. The first few runs had few people, but Seattle Ridge is popular and more people arrived in a constant stream. By 10 AM I had to be careful to pick my spot. Once we get a little more new snow it should be excellent here, but I wonder if Greyhawk isn't a better place to carve. One other hardbooter seen. I met some nice people today, including an 88 year-old guy who wanted to talk Skwal. Out at 11. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExcelsiorTheFathead Posted January 6, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2015 Tuesday 1/6, Day 41: Cloudy but clearing, Mid-20s at open but quickly going above freezing. Good runs on Greyhawk with excellent snow. Flat light makes it hard to see the groom on the early runs. Few trails at SV get direct morning sun. On a really sunny day so much light will reflect off the bowl across the valley from Warm Springs that vis is great. Over at Seattle Ridge the sun will rise low off the side of Gretchen's and make for some deep shadows. On my last run I went all the way down the Mid-Greyhawk cat track. Hemingway and Cozy share a wide upper area that wasn't groomed so good. Lower Hemingway had gates set up on it, so I went down Cozy for the first time. Cozy is shorter but has a really nice easy pitch and was groomed perfectly. There's a race shack on the side, so it must be used for events. Unfortunately as I tried to make turns down it I freaked out on the side of the run because I thought I was going off the groom into rough. I slid on my butt, pinwheeling in circles, getting snow up my jacket. Fortunately nobody saw it, so it didn't happen. Out at 10:30. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExcelsiorTheFathead Posted January 7, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 Wednesday 1/7, Day 42: Sunny and warm. Mid 20s at open but we are headed for the 40s. Today I signed up for the SV Snowmaking Tour and was able to get inside one of the major snowmaking facilities up near the Roundhouse. Taking the tour on a warm day was a good idea because none of the equipment was operating. It would have been unbearably loud in that building otherwise. SV has one of the most extensive automated systems around, and the whole thing is quite interesting for us nerds. I noted an interesting similarlity to control systems used for Iranian uranium enrichment centrifuges. Water Pumps Air compressors A cutaway snow gun hydrant Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExcelsiorTheFathead Posted January 8, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2015 Thursday 1/8, Day 43: Nice Day! Around 25F in the morning, and I was fortunate to meet hardbooters Tim & Co riding a 4WD and ATV. SV is sooo quiet. 5 runs down Mid-Greyhawk on excellent snow with no one around. On each run I stopped at least once to rest, and nobody ever came down the trail. Riding the Oxess, I was trying to work on having good form with some success. Strangely though, I had several episodes when the edge just wouldn't hold. I'm pretty sure that I'm "outing" something, but I don't know if it is the binding, toes, heels, or cuffs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strider Posted January 9, 2015 Report Share Posted January 9, 2015 Thursday 1/8, Day 43: Nice Day! Around 25F in the morning, and I was fortunate to meet hardbooters Tim & Co riding a 4WD and ATV. SV is sooo quiet. 5 runs down Mid-Greyhawk on excellent snow with no one around. On each run I stopped at least once to rest, and nobody ever came down the trail. Riding the Oxess, I was trying to work on having good form with some success. Strangely though, I had several episodes when the edge just wouldn't hold. I'm pretty sure that I'm "outing" something, but I don't know if it is the binding, toes, heels, or cuffs? How about shoulder alignment? If you're dipping your inside shoulder towards the hill when you're really trying to put a lot of pressure on the board it will slide out from under you and could feel like you're booting out. Hard to tell what it could be without seeing you ride. Have someone take a short vid of you and you'll learn a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExcelsiorTheFathead Posted January 9, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2015 Friday 1/9, Day 44: I overslept and didn't get on snow until 9:45 at Warm Springs. The inversion that has been over much of south-central Idaho for days continues to sit here. Boise and the Treasure Valley have been under air quality warnings. High temps on the tops of Baldy can get close to 50F, so I'm going on the assumption that snow on Seattle Ridge just can't be good. Greyhawk continues to be decent. It is lower and out of the sun so there is little thaw-freeze action. This morning it was around 20F at the bottom and 30F at the top of the Greyhawk lift. The snow is pretty firm, and in some places is just on the edge of starting to get a little crunchy. It definitely doesn't have "hero" hold. I did some experiments with my riding and I think that the sliding out problem was mostly bad form. I'm trying to emphasize pulling my upper body away from the snow, but I think I was overextended for the conditions. When I focused on getting small and balancing more force directly over the edge rather than being "layed out", things held much better. But especially on heelside, I can easily "cuff out". Once I lose edge hold, it only requires a little bit of leg overextension for my boot cuffs to wrench the edge out completely. This is a Skwal, after all. I just don't understand guys that ride 11.5 cm skwals. I am riding a 12.6 cm waist and have minor issues. On a very narrow Skwal, turns with a high degree of "layed outness" just can't be possible? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExcelsiorTheFathead Posted January 10, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2015 Saturday 1/10, Day 45: Cloudy today, 20F down low and 30F on top. There is just one lift on Baldy that I haven't been on, so this morning I went down the Graduate run to check out the Frenchman part of the hill. Graduate is a nice slope, but it isn't nearly flat. For me, this isn't a carving run. I ended up back down at River Run and did a few laps down LRR until it clogged up like a Mobius strip of magic snake kids. Out at 10. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExcelsiorTheFathead Posted January 11, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2015 Sunday 1/11, Day 46: 6 early runs down a very groomy LRR at open. I saw my first Monoski here at SV, a topsheetless slightly green resinish board with dual mono/snowboard inserts. 24F and cloudy, on the edge of snowing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExcelsiorTheFathead Posted January 12, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2015 Monday 1/12, Day 47: 2" of new and snowing, temps around 32F. A much needed refresh. I was on the first chair at Seattle Ridge and farted around there for awhile. After it got cut up and a little bumpy I was still able to slice down Cristin's by staying on edge the whole way. I took Mayday out but the shallow trail back to Lookout was slow and I had to skate. Upper College was a bunch of pushed-around piles by then and I found it a little unpleasant. Over to Roundhouse and down Olympic Lane for the first time. Olympic Lane doesn't have snowmaking, so it isn't open early season but is the easiest way down. At the top of Lower Olympic there was a bunch of rocks floating about. Somebody must have run a cat into the dirt somehow. Lower Olympic could be fun on a hardpack day as it is tight and bowl-ed out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Posted January 12, 2015 Report Share Posted January 12, 2015 Hey ETF, thanks for all the updates on Sun Valley conditions! It's definitely on my list to hit one of these days. Wondering if we were going to see you at NICE this year -- are you planning on making the drive? I know it's a pretty hefty drive from where you are, but it would be nice to see you. We have lots of room in our rental - check out the NICE thread or PM me if you're interested. Cheers, Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExcelsiorTheFathead Posted January 13, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2015 Tuesday 1/13, Day 48: A great day. Another 2" fell during the yesterday for a total of 4" from this storm. Everything is groomed in for the morning and it is inverty again, around 20F at the top with open sunshine. I went to Seattle Ridge again early. Guns are blasting all the way up Gretchen's. It doesn't seem necessary, but they must be trying to make sure that the snow is good for the MLK weekend. The first day of groom after getting new, the snow isn't perfectly flat but the top is soft and super grippy. Every turn holds, even those that are stupid, poorly executed, ill-advised, or intentionally supermaned. I'm riding the Oxess, and I feel fairly competent on it. At some point I spot carver Tim & family and we make a good run down Christin's. The fast skiers seem to go around in packs, so once you wait them out it is possible to get a clear run. There's only two ways out of Seattle Ridge: Mayday or Cold Springs. Taking the Mayday lift is clearly best if one wants to head down to Warm Springs. For getting down to River Run, I've decided that the nice cruisy carve down Lower Broadway to the Cold Springs lift is worth the aggravating uphill skate at the top of the lift. I got out via the Olympic cat track today, but at the bottom I found that I had taken a bad base hit. I have no idea where. Doesn't it figure that I would get the worst base hit of my carving career so far on the most expensive board I have ever owned? It could have happened back at Seattle Ridge somehow, but I really don't know. For now I'll assume it happened on Olympic and avoid it for the near future. I drove the Oxess straight to a shop to get a patch. The view South from Roundhouse. Seattle Ridge on left, Christmas and Mayday bowls on right. An older SV cat. Looking down Roundhouse Slope to Olympic Lane. Hi Dan, yes I always think about NICE and WTF, but I'm likely to stick around SV. Strangely enough, the drive to Schweitzer from SV is over an hour longer than from Portland! And much of it is on back highways, so I would actually have to pay attention to my driving instead of zoning out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExcelsiorTheFathead Posted January 14, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2015 Wednesday 1/14, Day 49: Sunny and super inverty, single digits down low and 24F up top. I pick up my reparied Oxess at 8AM. The gouge didn't require a patch, but just some kind of filler goo. Up to Seattle Ridge again at open where it is pleasantly warm. At least 3 other carvers are making turns here. Guns are blasing Gretchen's again, so I make runs down Muffy's and Christin's. On Christin's I spy some rocks and end up making 3 skid runs down it just searching out for those dastardly nodules. I toss several big chunkos off the run as well as a rotting piece of wood that was getting tilled into bits of kindling. On the way out I blasted down Lower Broadway, but still having rocks on my mind I thought I saw a variety of hazards. I looped back for a 2nd run, this time skidding the entire trail. Sure enough, there were rocks all over. One was a good 5 inches around and in the middle of the trail. Then near the bottom I found a steel bar, appropriately enough with a shard of Ptex hanging onto one of the bolts. I threw the rocks off the trail, but took the steel bar to Lost and Found so that the cat driver could retrieve it. Lower Broadway doesn't have snowmaking, so I suppose it is prone to these kinds of problems. Until we get a foot of new snow, I might go out via Mayday, or just go real slow down this area. I'll bet that this is where yesterday's rock hit happened. You're welcome, SV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExcelsiorTheFathead Posted January 15, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2015 Thursday 1/15, Day 50: Still sunny and inverty, 6F at the base, 28 on top. At open, the #1 River Run Express breaks down so those people all pile onto the Gondola. I talked to a lift mechanic recently who told me that #1 is the most problematic chair on the mountain. Because of its low altitude it has issues with moisture, freezing, and the shifting of the lower terminal which sits in soft soil. Anyhow, I got 1st chair on Seattle Ridge. Maybe too warm for snowmaking here, so the guns are off. Grooming is pretty darn smooth and flat and I get some turns on Gretchen's then Muffy's and Christin's. The locals often refer to these runs as Huey, Dewey, and Louie, but nobody knows which is which. Three other hardbooters seen. I only made 5 runs then took Mayday out. On the way down I managed to make good turns with the Oxess on the steep Blue Grouse and Canyon trails that were so intimidating earlier in the season. The Frenchman lift was broken for the last 2 days but is fixed today. Scuttlebutt says that the motor burned out. I'm now well into my longest streak of continuous daily riding. The ticket scanner people tell me that I have "perfect attendance". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExcelsiorTheFathead Posted January 16, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2015 Friday 1/16, Day 51: Finally a storm rolls in to bust up the inversion. By open there's a couple inches of new and snow continues to fall at a good clip. Base temps are around 28F, 22 on top with some wind and bad vis. I take the Coda over to Dollar again and get 1st chair. Not like there was any rush. I made 3 runs before any other person came up the lift. The wind is blowing down slope today, making for cold lift rides and fast descents. Initially, the vis is terrible and I can't see any terrain features, nor differentiate between the snow, the horizon, and the sky. But after skidding down New Bowl a few times, I found that my own tracks started to provide enough visual cues to feel ok about carving down the trail. After that, I was able to tear it up pretty good. Out at 10:15. There were less than a dozen people on the hill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Posted January 16, 2015 Report Share Posted January 16, 2015 Hi Dan, yes I always think about NICE and WTF, but I'm likely to stick around SV. Strangely enough, the drive to Schweitzer from SV is over an hour longer than from Portland! And much of it is on back highways, so I would actually have to pay attention to my driving instead of zoning out. Yeah, I saw on the map that it's a real trek to get from SV to Schweitzer. Too bad, I'll hope to catch up another time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExcelsiorTheFathead Posted January 17, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2015 (edited) Saturday 1/17, Day 52: Four inches total from yesterday, no new overnight, high clouds with sunbreaks, and inverted again. I get to the River Run Lodge pretty early and there are lots of people milling about. At open there is a pretty good line for the gondola and I head for Seattle Ridge where it is a warm 24F. Sweet grippy goodness. I get 2 runs down Gretchen's and 2 down Muffy's before taking Mayday out. Muffy's had a thin spot where somehow the tillers are still hitting dirt. Sometimes the liftie at the top of Mayday will look at me funny, trying to figure out if I have dropped a ski. The other day I could see that she got up out of her chair and was peering at me with her hand on the slow button. Over at the top of Lookout, there were kids everywhere. I went down Ridge and tried to carve Blue Grouse, but there was a lot of loose snow. Over at Canyon the snow was tight, but it was in deep shadow and I couldn't get a clear run anyhow. Out at 10:30. It's really crowded on this MLK Saturday, but only "Sun Valley" crowded. It isn't "Breckenridge" or even "PCMR" crowded. SV doesn't have those multi-tier lift mazes with people ordering you about. Gretchen's Gold from the Seattle Ridge lift. Ridge Run from the top of Blue Grouse with the Christmas chair crossing overhead. Gretchen's is named for Gretchen Fraser who was the first American skier to win an Olympic gold back in 1948. SV is that old. Edited January 17, 2015 by ExcelsiorTheFathead 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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