dumpin'!
after a brief warm spell w/some R, then wet snow, the mtn has packed-down nice and the trees are skiing/riding sweet! woke-up to steadily falling snow, 2-3 more days of it forecast, couldn't ask for better!
andy cruised-up on fri/sat for some runs w/my bro-in-law chris. both guys hadn't been out in 2yrs, so i helped them warm-up the legs w/the steepest stuff on the hill before hitting the trees for a monster woods run into Slidebrook. from Lincoln Peak you only get to ski 1/3 - 1/2 of the Slidebrook vertical, from Mt Ellen you're out for an epic adventure (at least through the routes i "know"). there's glades skiing, then there's skiing in the woods-woods. andy was all smiles while chris plowed through small unsuspecting saplings, the furry flaps of his flat shimmering w/speed, his face marked in concentration. really good times. thnks for rolling-up guys.
spent saturday w/another ex-skier on the comeback trail, his first day out in years. david ripped it up, pushing the legs till they were mashed potatoes. then sunday afternoon w/nat and mikey-j, back in the trees, searching for the untracked lines... a binding on my board has been loose/broken since Nov, got that fixed w/a zip-tie and the difference was incredible. instead of shooting the line around the drops, was able to take the high road, have some good fun. amazing what a difference functioning equipment makes! now just need to get a board that has edges or onto my teles...
today i'm chillin' w/little miss s, watching the snow fall from the windows vs the lift. no complaints, w/steady snow in the forecast, wednesday's shaping-up to be something special! and i might just be able to sneak-out for a cpl hrs this morning w/the help of our friends. w/2 kids and one in the oven, they won't even notice seneca runnin' about their house. right?
epic black diamond
when off-piste and/or in trees so thick you have to turn sideways to sneak through, nail that turn, then another and another, unpacked snow laying on the limbs of small pines, ready to collapse underneath if you slow or adjust. into patches of windblown thick and heavy, keep those tips up, then into untracked soft powder, make a cpl turns and hope you don't go down, digging-out doesn't just take time, it sucks future runs from the legs... snuck-in a cpl EBD runs/moments w/Mikey-J, then a cpl more yesterday w/his buddy Nat. good times, it's why i like playing in the snow. and thnks daren for the uncopyrighted use of your term for bad-ass skiing/riding - i know you're busy doing the same type of runs out your way!
just learned that my 5yr-old deck is shot, untunable. i've know it since the beginning of last season, slowly compensating for its 100% lack of edges, how loose and unstable in the tail it'd become. the idea of a new deck is exciting, if i only had a cpl dollars to spare, which i don't. to be able to bomb the cruisers and dig into the hardpack vs just slide across and hope for some snow on the other side... a little spring in the moguls and trees would be nice too.
calm before the storm
conditions are epic!
day 6
conditions on the mtn have been incredible. "there's no noise" jenn says in awe. no scraping of dull edges. powder caches everywhere, many untracked lines on castelrock all day yesterday, well worth the 30min hike/ski over. did the first lap at 930-10a w/mikey-j, broke trail, middle earth was full of wind-blow, still light enough to dive down mid-thigh then pull up before getting sucked under on the water bars. bobbing in and out like a dolphin. i'm definitely not used to this powder! more snow on friday night?
snow!
oh yeah, it is a'dumpin'! looking like more than a foot, less than 2. aspirations of late "lunches" on the mtn are brewing. this is why we live here, or, at least, one of the reasons. what's crazy, is that while driving-up a big climb this morning, i found myself thinking, "it's gonna be a while before i can bike on this." snow is falling hard, we live 5m from two of the best ski resorts in NE...
after getting a little warning from a friend after the last post, i wanted to say that i never ride through someones property on purpose, or pass a "no trespassing" sign. i do occasionally get lost or follow a trail/road that just happens to exit through a yard or whatnot - and the more i ride the dirt in the valley, the more infrequently the mistakes occur. sorry if i've invaded your privacy by mistake. and no more taking pictures of the places i accidentally get lost in...
