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Buck Hill 21/22


bobble

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01/27/22, DAY 36

thursday morning. took day off.

bad light. temp in 20's. for a short while it was lightly snowing.

snow was good when you could see. eventually light got better. rode milkrun, crossroads, and olympic. 

rode with trent. there was another rider there on a donek.

trent left at noon. i stayed until 12:30pm. 

near the chalet i was brushing the snow off my board when an elderly skier came up to me.

"you guys were making big ruts."

when he said that i wasn't sure how to take it, "oh?"

he walked closer to me and said "you guys were making beautiful turns. i used to ride a snowboard with hardboots... about 25 years ago there used to be a sunday morning crew. i gave it up after i saw my friend break his leg."

must be before my time. i asked his name but didn't recognize him. he mentioned that he used to teach skiing and snowboarding at welch but never had much time to freeride.

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01/28/22, DAY 37 OF THE SIMULATION

friday morning. took day off. partly sunny. started out at 0F but rose to 10F. the lifty let me on early at 9:45AM.

rode coiler extreme carve with F2 bindings. i usually don't ride that board but thought with cold temps that buck would be less crowded. it took me a couple runs to relearn how to ride that board.

olympic has two large rollers as features. i think that's the first time i've ever seen such a thing.  the chute also had a large mound that was blocked off. i only took two runs on olympic. the snow was uneven and kind of rough from sculpting the rollers.

rode both crossroads and milkrun until 12:15pm. excellent snow. i wish i could've lasted longer but by my front thigh was fatigued.

decided that the best thing i could do is go home and have a restorative beer, Utepils Skolsch.

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01/29/22, DAY 38

saturday morning. partly sunny. warmer than yesterday.

i was feeling extremely tired. perhaps multiple restorative beers at 1 PM and subsequent beer naps wasn't such a good idea. more research needed.

buck had slope style event, big air, ski jammers, and ski teams on olympic. 

rode my donek with TD3s. it's really hard switching back and forth between F2s and TD3 + Sidewinders. range of motion when initiating a turn feels different especially on heel-side. later in season i might try switching donek to F2s.

crossroads was breaking up. milkrun was decent but more people were riding down it.

it got immediately got crowded at 10 AM with ski jammers. i really wish they wouldn't conduct lessons on milkrun. warners or railyard would be better choices. lots of people standing at the top.

i wish buck had a lifty to manage the lines.

left at 10:20 AM.

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01/30/22, DAY 39, BIBBLE DAY IS BEST DAY

sunday morning.

got to the lift at 8:45 AM. already a line forming. almost a dozen. the lift was running but apparently no one was on top and so the load area was cordoned off.

i saw this ski instructor coming from railyard. she skated right up to the front of the lift line, smiled at us, and then tried to unhitch the rope/gate. kind of a ballsy move. i've seen her do this a couple times. we have so much turn around with lifties. i guess she felt she could flex in front of everyone.

welp, today was not the day.

the lift ops manager was inside the shack training two new lifties. when he saw her unhitching the rope he loudly banged on the glass and yelled, "THE LIFT OPENS AT NINE!". he grabbed the clock and pointed at her. he was angry.

i could barely hear the ski instructor but she insisted that she needed to take the lift up to the top. she kept trying to unhitch the rope. again the manager yelled the lift opens at 9 AM. she continued to argue. the manager yelled "BECAUSE THERE IS NO ONE UP ON TOP! ITS A SAFETY ISSUE!". she continued to argue that she needed to ride up the chair.

the manager yelled "I'M IN THE MIDDLE OF TRAINING THESE NEW PEOPLE! THE CHAIR OPENS AT 9 AM!!!".

she turned to us in the line, "UNBELIEVABLE... everyone have a nice day" and skated off. looking back i don't think she really meant it.

i was laughing. so was another regular. 

anyways, snow was great. early morning hero. rode coiler extreme carve until about 9:45 AM. it got to crowded with racers warming up on milkrun. switched to donek. 

met a new hard booter who is just starting out. i think the guys at spirit met him. rides a hooger booger? i tried to give some pointers. bob did too.

rode until 12:30 PM.

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02/01/22, DAY 40

rode in evening. temp was 10F but windchill was below zero. the wind was gusting and blowing snow off the hill. there were patches of hard pack or ice.

crossroads had ski team practice. it was rough trying to ride with icy patches. i couldn't carve.

milkrun had ski challenge so i stayed away.

top of railyard was hard icy snow. could only ride upright. wasn't fun.

when i left i took red tail (backside) down to the parking lot. there's a lot of jumps back there. there's a very narrow path down the run that was icy. i regretted taking that run. 

the ice reminded me of an episode of mythbusters. in WW2, the UK tried to develop of battleship made of ice. so mythbuster made some pycrete to see if it could withstand melting and impact.

 

Edited by bobble
entered wrong date
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02/04/22, DAY 41

rode over lunch break. temp was around 5F. light dusting of snow early morning.

snow felt slow. place was tracked out.

there was a camera crew of about three people at bottom of milkrun. one had a 35mm camera, second had a video camera, the third person had a large microphone. i only noticed them on what would've been my last run.

i decided to take another run to see if they'd aim the camera towards me.

nope. they weren't looking.

i'm not worthy.

😢

 

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02/05/22, DAY 42

early saturday morning. 5F. windchill sub-zero. flat light. terrible visibility.

new lifty let me onto the lift at 8:45 AM. 

for a saturday, buck was not crowded at all. i think the cold scared people away.

crossroads was rough. really subpar grooming. took just one run. midway down i was crunching out on ice chunks. the snow just didn't hold together. i was skidding more than carving. hardly anyone was riding crossroads. everyone was on milkrun.

tried olympic couple times. it was better than crossroads but it also had ice just below the cord.

rode milkrun most of the day. snow was good. i was leaving fat ruts. does my ass look fat?

rode until 10:45AM. my hands and feet were in pain from the cold.

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02/06/22, DAY 43

sunday morning. 24F. cloudy. almost foggy. for a sunday, it seemed busier than yesterday.

small accumulation of snow. it made for hero conditions on milkrun and olympic. i really liked olympic since milkrun was busy with racing. very grippy. 

visibility was an issue. around 9:30AM my goggles were icing up from sleet. went in to the chalet to dry out mt goggles. went back out and by time i reached the top my goggles were glazed. decided to just ride without goggles for rest of the day. wasn't too bad. i saw some other regulars ditch their goggles.

took a couple runs on crossroads and it was better than previous days.

stayed until 11:15 AM.

22 hours ago, bigwavedave said:

About time you head north @bobble?

I'm gettin' tired of that whiny attitude. :nono: :ices_ange

i would like to head up there. the stars haven't aligned just yet.

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02/09/22, DAY 44

rode on my lunch break. temp was 37F when i left the house. flat light.

snow was soft but very grippy. a little slow. i rode with kinco finger gloves because my duct-taped mits were wet. when i palmed the snow the cord almost pulled me down. i didn't feel any ice on the board edges. just soft groom. would've loved to ride longer.

crossroads had gates setup. it looked completely rutted straight down the center. they really should have side slipped the piles they left behind. on way out a course was getting setup on milkrun.

i don't think it'd be fun to ride this evening. maybe on railyard. 

rode with @bobd who rode hardboots.

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02/10/22, DAY 45

rode at lunch. temp was mid 20F. was sunny but turned overcast in an hour.

snow was firm. almost chalky. 

i was worried that yesterdays warm temps would create icy conditions today. i couldn't feel any ice.

mostly rode olympic. felt great.

at the south chair the lifty stopped me and said (checks notes):

Quote

hey man... i just want to say... that you make that shit look like fun.

WHY ISN'T THERE A BUCK HILL WEB CAM ON OLYMPIC????

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02/11/22, DAY 46

early this morning it was 35F. later on it started sleeting then turned into light snow.

rode over lunch. flat light. the temp dropped to 20F with a 5F windchill. roads were icy.

i could hear skiers scraping down the runs. 

icy and fast. could barely hold an edge. had to ride upright. 

  • first run down milkrun... very icy but wasn't so bad.
  • second run down crossroads... mostly skidded. i wanted to leave.
  • third run was supposed to be my final but i was holding an edge most of the way.
  • fourth run i started to lose control. pointed towards the parking lot.
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02/12/22, DAY 47

saturday. early morning was -5F with a high of 5F. on way to buck the roads were icy.

only rode milkrun. warners, olympic and crossroads had race practices.

USASA snowboard race was on milkrun. one of the G-Team coaches was riding a Donek with a blue-tooth speaker attached to spare plate binding holes. i asked if i could take a picture but my phone died right away from the cold. Doneks are in vogue. think i only saw one kessler and an SG.

snow was firm. thin cord. very thin and shallow lines. way better than yesterday. i was talking to someone who skied yesterday and he commented that it was so icy that the place looked grey. today the ice was groomed out.

i stayed slightly more than an hour. it was hard staying in my lane with race course. i'd have to drop midway down before i could start carving. didn't see worth while. more people were riding milkrun. and my toes were cold.

 

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02/13/22, DAY 48

sunday morning. at sunrise it was -5F. there was a light dusting of snow overnight. at 9AM it was about 0F. blue bird skies.

i was expecting the snow to be firm like yesterday. despite the cold temp it was softer than yesterday. made for really good carving.

rode milkrun until it got busy then switched to olympic. at 10AM i went into the chalet to warm up. switched to my coiler with F2 bindings. rode railyard a few times then back onto olympic. at the top of the chair i was putting my rear boot into the binding. i heard "carve it up!". i looked and it was a ski patroller.

i like the looseness of the F2 bindings but riding that board causes my front leg to tire quickly. 

rode until 11:30-ish.

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2/19/22, DAY 49

past week i've been having lower back pain. haven't rode since last sunday. stepping into rear F2 binding and flipping the bale might be too much for my wee old back.

went out this morning. really good conditions. unfortunately, my back isn't ready. 

made 4 semi-carved runs and then left. wish i could've been out there longer. 

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2/20/22, DAY 50

sunday morning. temp reached 40's.

i was worried about my back but it felt better. not 100%.

snow was soft groom. felt great.

there were races on milkrun. boarder cross on railyard. started out on milkrun but then went over to olympic. around 10:15AM families started showing up on olympic. when you take off from the south chair and head towards olympic you just don't know what to expect when you come around the race ramp. on two runs i yelled "KEEP MOVING!!!" when i saw people standing there blocking the lane. it's annoying.

the lift lines got bad. i switched chairlifts based on which ever had the shortest line. 

a skier that told me "everytime i see you i love watching you carve". two kids tapped me on my shoulder to ask about the board, "can you lay out turns?".

last half hour the lift lines were unbearably long. left at 11:15 AM. 

not sure i'll be out tomorrow for presidents day.

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2/23/22, DAY 51

over lunch... yesterday we had maybe 6 inches of very light snow. when i rode today it was inconsistent. near the main lift it was packed down so much i could hear ice under the snow but then a few yards away there were deep tracks.

i went over to olympic. at the top the cord felt firm but over to the side it was soft. the bottom was also soft a snowboarder left some deep tracks.

on one run i abruptly slowed down and fell on my back and i slid down the hill headfirst. i enjoyed a nice invigorating back massage. i would've continued to the bottom if i could but alas i stopped and had to get back up to continue my journey.

crosstroads was chewed up. only did one run on milkrun and it was too much bouncing.

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1 hour ago, Scott.Creer said:

Thinking about doing a morning at buck maybe next week or the week after. Did they put moguls in the middle of the lift run again? 

yes, there are moguls on crossroads adjacent to the main lift. they also have a boarder cross on railyard which might be fun on your setup.

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