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Spirit Mountain 2018-19


bigwavedave

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Wow, nice day:1luvu: Arrived early at the top and the parking was already quite full (Monoski-ism hapnin'), so I rode down Skyhooker directly to the Gandy lift and made the first tracks on Gandy (never did that before). Turned out to be the best groomed surface on the hill today!:biggthump So, I made a beautiful mess of it all morning--something for the groomers to work on tonight.:eplus2: Snow was rather firm, 1-2" trenches. Mostly sunny. I was surprised by all the rollers on Blue Ruin. Summit chair was painfully slow. The "D" chair was running too until the Express lift started up about 1pm and seems to be running fine now. Made a few runs with boarder patroller Don.

Layin' tracks on the Gandy Dancer with the Super8...:cool:

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Nice. If you close one eye and squint a little, the top 2 trenches make a wave; a big wave, Dave... 🙂

If you can just get that Thirst to trench a small island (with palm tree) and a stick figure on a thruster you have replicated the doodles in  my school books!

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Rode with Russ for a couple of hours this morning. Flat light and monoski-ism forced us over to the Gandy side for awhile. Again, Gandy Dancer had the nicest groom other than the BigAir park, but Bindle Stiff gave us the most satisfying runs with nice carvable snow and better visibility (thank you trees). Scissor Bill  was closed again today for a monoski GS course.(we got one run before they closed it).

Started snowing around 11am.:ices_ange Might go out again when the lights come on and all the home schoolers and monos are gone:biggthump Rode the 175 Super, but kinda wished I had the 162 SF to keep my speed down with the flat light. I hit an invisible roller during a transition and was airborne for about 10 -15 feet landing on the opposite edge with out so much as a wobble.

Russ wisely chose to ride his Donek SL.

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Out for an evening sesh. 2-3" of tiny snowflakes and still coming down. Pretty empty hill made for good carving. Soft under surface with plenty of fresh on top. Rode the Squash with hardboots and had a blast carving some deep trenches.

I think the this will groom in nicely and make for a superb morning carving session tomorrow. Spirit calendar shows a USASA halfpipe and rail comp Saturday and slopestyle Sunday, so I'd expect the upper parking to fill up early and lots of softbooters on the hill early too. Also a Nastar event tomorrow?, so no Scissorbill?

I plan to be at the bottom when the lift starts turning at 9:30.

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From last chair last night to first chair this morning with Jim O. Cold air and bright sun with fresh groom. :1luvu:Ken was there later and so was Jane. Again, Gandy Dancer had the best snow and the least people. :biggthumpBack over to the Express side about noon 30 and found a huge line,:eek: so just kept on going down to the car. :cool:...and the Summit chair was running by then too!

The 8rw makes everything smooth as silk (until you start hitting your own ruts)

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The only apparent reason that Spirit was open today was for the USASA slopestyle comp.:eek: It was just me and them for the first hour or so. "Winter sports enthusiasts" (as Russ would say) have apparently lost their 'thusiasm for subzero temps (or they're seeking protection from the wind in the forest). The place was empty.:ph34r: Intense late winter sun reminds one that spring is near.:1luvu: Brisk NW winds began to blow at about 11am about the same time as others started arriving and I called it a day.

Even fiery snowflakes on the Superconductor couldn't soften the extra cold and firm snow...

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Monday, March 4

Bright sun and firm groom at the noon opening, but the single digit temperatures and a brisk west wind kept it refreshing (but also kept nearly everyone else at home!). Ken, Dave, and I had our way with the Express side until the light suddenly went flat around 2pm. I stopped at the lower chalet for a few minutes as Ken and Dave were leaving; when I went back out the light was a little better so I got a couple more runs in. I'll be back tomorrow!

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Tuesday, March 5

A near carbon copy of yesterday (groom-wise, sunlight-wise, and number of customers-wise) though Ryan closed out a several year hiatus from the sport and joined Ken and I today (and plans to come back on Thursday). 😎

 

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After a satisfying day of carving up Indianhead yesterday, I was going to take the day off, but morning sun lured me out for a few turns at Spirit.:ices_ange Rode for 1½ hours as the sun gradually disappeared behind ever thickening clouds of the approaching storm and more and more people arrived at the hill.

Over the past few weeks we've experienced one of the best stretches of stellar carving days in years!:1luvu:  Today was no exception, everything from Gandy to DoubleJaw (BlueRuin & CinderSnapper had races).:biggthump A  peek at the weather forecast for later next week foreshadows a break in this stretch.:mad:...but the next few days should be fun, I'm thinking Monday:eplus2:

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First run at 11:30 with the polecam (lifts start at noon Monday). A nice soft groom like you'd expect the day after a few inches of snow. For some reason it was hard and bumpy over on the Gandy side ('cept in the park), so we went back over to the Express side and the crowds weren't bad. Mild temps and not a cloud in the sky blue sky.:1luvu: Rode all 3 carving sticks today, stayed til 4:30 when the  sun-softened snow started to set up as temps dropped. Russ, Ken and Don all on the hill today!:biggthump

IMG_3373.jpg.24792b57b54572bda782126f8c3c1576.jpgRain :eek:and warm temps:mad: for the rest of the week:nono:771847404_Screenshot2019-03-11at5_11.40PM-Edited.png.4dc7d1071ee0cb28487374328802e8b8.png

 

 

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...well...CRAP... broken ribs and a broken wrist yesterday shortening my already short boarding season ,what a bummer. Collision with another high-speed snowboarder was not optimal ,but the melon cover saved me.....

Layed on the hill with the other guy for awhile ...compressed front ribs on my  right side all the way to my backbone it felt like...surprised all my internal organs did not come out the closest orifice,,,,,  caught my breath finally in time to see Ken go by who I had been riding with ….coulda used a Doc right about then.....

we both limped to the bottom ...he went to his car I believe and I took the lift up.....not how the day was supposed to go.

Will be up with Grandsons to coach them on the bunny hill  next couple weeks but my riding is over for the year.

 

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Monday, March 18

My how conditions have changed in the last week....after a months-long stretch of firm groom frequently replenished by new snow, quickly softening groom under the bright sun met Ken, Patroller Don, and I at the noon opening today. After a bit Ken left us to check up on his spouse's activities in the terrain park; Don and I stuck it out until about 2pm when undisturbed groom was getting harder to find....

I'm planning another short session tomorrow too.

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