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re: 2022-2023 Ski Thread
Posted on 3/10/23 at 6:14 am to Hermit Crab
Posted on 3/10/23 at 6:14 am to Hermit Crab
quote:
Got to imagine a company as big as Columbia thought about that when designing ski pants...
Man, I sure hope so. My daughters Helly Hanson ski pants sure aren't but I pulled the trigger and will keep my fingers crossed
2
Posted on 3/10/23 at 1:46 pm to LSUfan4444
Question for people here- Skiing Aspen Mountain and Aspen highlands tomorrow/Sunday. Does someone know the best place to park? I don't mind if it's a free lot at Buttermilk and bus over to Highlands or Mountain or if needed I can pay to park.
Posted on 3/10/23 at 1:49 pm to CuseTiger
quote:
Question for people here- Skiing Aspen Mountain and Aspen highlands tomorrow/Sunday. Does someone know the best place to park? I don't mind if it's a free lot at Buttermilk and bus over to Highlands or Mountain or if needed I can pay to park.
I always park at Brush Creek, free parking and you can shuttle to anywhere in Aspen easily.
Posted on 3/10/23 at 5:25 pm to fargobison
Is that easier than buttermilk? The only good thing I can see about parking at buttermilk is they have the direct buses to the other spots. Do they have that from Brush creek or does everything require a transfer?
Posted on 3/10/23 at 6:24 pm to CuseTiger
quote:
Is that easier than buttermilk? The only good thing I can see about parking at buttermilk is they have the direct buses to the other spots. Do they have that from Brush creek or does everything require a transfer?
Direct buses to any mountain, the flyer bus goes to Highlands from brush creek on the weekend.
LINK
This post was edited on 3/10/23 at 6:25 pm
Posted on 3/11/23 at 8:06 am to fargobison
Parked at brush creek, easy spot to park! Thanks for the tip 
Oh and 11" at Aspen mountain, 14" at highlands. I'll do Aspen mountain today in case more avy blasting needs to go on for highland bowl, will try there tomorrow
Oh and 11" at Aspen mountain, 14" at highlands. I'll do Aspen mountain today in case more avy blasting needs to go on for highland bowl, will try there tomorrow
This post was edited on 3/11/23 at 8:09 am
Posted on 3/12/23 at 8:25 am to CuseTiger
Highlands got 5", Snowmass got 7" overnight. Snow keeps following me
Given all the avy blasting yesterday at Highlands, a little concerned their good stuff still isn't opened (website says yes, app says no). May end up at snowmass for a nice groomer powder day
Given all the avy blasting yesterday at Highlands, a little concerned their good stuff still isn't opened (website says yes, app says no). May end up at snowmass for a nice groomer powder day
Posted on 3/15/23 at 8:26 am to CuseTiger
Anyone been to Mammoth in late season? I am thinking about going for a couple days in June. Just wondering how it is.
Probably gonna sign up for ikon pass next year so it would be “free”
Probably gonna sign up for ikon pass next year so it would be “free”
Posted on 3/16/23 at 10:02 pm to CuseTiger
CuseTiger got me motivated to hit the road for a quick trip to Montana. Skied Bridger Bowl today...Haven't skied here for over a decade since I was in High School, was fun to go back to the place where I learned to ski big mountain terrian...Conditions were fanastic, the mountain had 8 inches of snow on Wednesday with 2 inches falling over the night. The groomers had a nice coating of fresh snow which made for some fun to get my legs warmed up... 
After that I hit the South Bowl and worked my over the Bridger lift. Pretty sure this run is sluice box...
Then the snow started to come down, made my way the Alpine lift for some low angle glade runs. A nice amount of untouched snow still from yesterday...
Finished the day back where I started on Pierre's Knob, hit last chance a few times and few other runs while basking in the spring sun...
Lets just say it won't be another decade until I ski Bridger again, fun resort and you can't beat a lift ticket for under $80. Going to have to hit Schlasman's next time though which is Bridger's expert area that requires a beacon which I didn't have with me. On to Big Sky tomorrow and Saturday.
After that I hit the South Bowl and worked my over the Bridger lift. Pretty sure this run is sluice box...
Then the snow started to come down, made my way the Alpine lift for some low angle glade runs. A nice amount of untouched snow still from yesterday...
Finished the day back where I started on Pierre's Knob, hit last chance a few times and few other runs while basking in the spring sun...
Lets just say it won't be another decade until I ski Bridger again, fun resort and you can't beat a lift ticket for under $80. Going to have to hit Schlasman's next time though which is Bridger's expert area that requires a beacon which I didn't have with me. On to Big Sky tomorrow and Saturday.
This post was edited on 3/16/23 at 10:04 pm
Posted on 3/19/23 at 9:04 pm to fargobison
Just got back, had two great bluebird days of spring skiing at Big Sky to finish out my quick roadtrip. Big Sky delivered great skiing and views... 
Spent most of my first day skiing the Dakota lift, this is the area to go to if you want to avoid lines. You do need to be able to ski black or double black terrian but it is mostly pretty managable for a solid intermediate on up. Skied onto the lift all day, I also had a great burger at the Shedhorn grill out in the sun. Skiing was good with leftovers from the foot that fell on Wednesday...
You can see Yellowstone Club in the background, could see never more than a handful of people skiing over there but that is what they shell out the big money for.
I finished the day with a few runs down powderseeker, found some good chalky snow but you need to commit yourself to a bit of a traverse to get it...
Day two was more sunshine, things were a bit crustier so I cruised some of the groomers on Andesite early and made my way over the Madison base area. Played around in the trees for a while on Broken Heart and White Bark and then decided to hit Challenger once things warmed up a bit more.
Wanted to ski the tram but $80-90 for a few laps, I just can't justify it. There is no shortage of gnarly terrian elsewhere on the mountain if you want it.
The ski season is winding down for me, one quick spring trip left in April to Summit County. Might ski half a day in Minneapolis next weekend if they can stay open since I will be visiting family and they all want to ski.
Spent most of my first day skiing the Dakota lift, this is the area to go to if you want to avoid lines. You do need to be able to ski black or double black terrian but it is mostly pretty managable for a solid intermediate on up. Skied onto the lift all day, I also had a great burger at the Shedhorn grill out in the sun. Skiing was good with leftovers from the foot that fell on Wednesday...
You can see Yellowstone Club in the background, could see never more than a handful of people skiing over there but that is what they shell out the big money for.
I finished the day with a few runs down powderseeker, found some good chalky snow but you need to commit yourself to a bit of a traverse to get it...
Day two was more sunshine, things were a bit crustier so I cruised some of the groomers on Andesite early and made my way over the Madison base area. Played around in the trees for a while on Broken Heart and White Bark and then decided to hit Challenger once things warmed up a bit more.
Wanted to ski the tram but $80-90 for a few laps, I just can't justify it. There is no shortage of gnarly terrian elsewhere on the mountain if you want it.
The ski season is winding down for me, one quick spring trip left in April to Summit County. Might ski half a day in Minneapolis next weekend if they can stay open since I will be visiting family and they all want to ski.
Posted on 3/20/23 at 9:00 am to fargobison
Just got back yesterday from Kitzski (Austria), and what an experience it was.
They are having one of their worst seasons in terms of snowfall, but it was still fairly good conditions, just not as wide open as usual.
What separates Kitzski from anything else was the food and drinking. They have over 50 places to stop on the mountain with many being family owned, and the food is phenomenal. Beers were 4.50 euro with food usually being 10-15 euro. We stopped at many places trying different entrees or desserts and each place had its own style. Never had a bad meal. Bars at the summit provided great views.
The Apres-Ski is also a completely different story. Bars about halfway down the mountain stay open and people get after it. A lot of shots/beers and europop blasting. Would stay most nights until 7 ish and then ski down to the main lodge to head back.
We stayed in Kirchburg and it felt like something out of a postcard. It was a beautiful town with many old buildings, a stream running through the town center, and old church overlooking the town. Also had a lot of great options for dining in the town offering many different cuisines.
Will get around to getting some pictures loaded up to share, but this was a ski trip unlike any other. It was a more consumer friendly experience than the states, and just a different element to the social experience. I'll definitely be going back to Kitzski, and would highly recommend it to anyone else to go at least once. Just a great all around experience.
They are having one of their worst seasons in terms of snowfall, but it was still fairly good conditions, just not as wide open as usual.
What separates Kitzski from anything else was the food and drinking. They have over 50 places to stop on the mountain with many being family owned, and the food is phenomenal. Beers were 4.50 euro with food usually being 10-15 euro. We stopped at many places trying different entrees or desserts and each place had its own style. Never had a bad meal. Bars at the summit provided great views.
The Apres-Ski is also a completely different story. Bars about halfway down the mountain stay open and people get after it. A lot of shots/beers and europop blasting. Would stay most nights until 7 ish and then ski down to the main lodge to head back.
We stayed in Kirchburg and it felt like something out of a postcard. It was a beautiful town with many old buildings, a stream running through the town center, and old church overlooking the town. Also had a lot of great options for dining in the town offering many different cuisines.
Will get around to getting some pictures loaded up to share, but this was a ski trip unlike any other. It was a more consumer friendly experience than the states, and just a different element to the social experience. I'll definitely be going back to Kitzski, and would highly recommend it to anyone else to go at least once. Just a great all around experience.
Posted on 3/21/23 at 5:11 am to Jolla
Austria is incredible.
The Bavarians are mountain goats. High alpine is second nature to them.
Apres is always outrageous with the ooompa techo.
Prost.
The Bavarians are mountain goats. High alpine is second nature to them.
Apres is always outrageous with the ooompa techo.
Prost.
Posted on 3/21/23 at 2:27 pm to One72
It's been an awesome season here in the Tetons, and across the west. Instead of dropping in and sharing a bunch of rad pictures from the season, I thought I'd share about a major avalanche accident I was involved in.
My group of friends and partners are very intentional in our backcountry travel. We discuss plans, snowpack, timing, etc. in depth before we go out each day. I, especially, play the part of being the devil's advocate (friends might say wet blanket instead) a lot. "It could be safe, but what about..." The fact is backcountry skiing, especially in big terrain, is an inherently dangerous activity. And the more time you spend doing it, the more your cumulative exposure to the risks adds up, even if you are being intentional and making good decisions. Margins become thinner the more you are out there. While I don't think there was a major red flag or mistake we made on January 16th, I think there are some lessons to be learned from our accident.
The deep avalanche we triggered was not listed as a problem of concern on the days avalanche forecast, and hadn't been for multiple weeks. One of the most respected mountain guides, and a personal mentor of mine, skied the same line two days before. My buddy Charlie got unlucky and hit the sweet spot for the slope to go big. We might've been able to ski the same slope 10x more times and not had it slide. That's the nature of a persistent slab problem -- high consequence, low likelihood.
After one thing went wrong, everything else after that went right. Charlie is back on snow after 6-8 weeks of recovering from 7-8 broken ribs, a lacerated liver, and punctured lung. We are all using this accident to guide our future in the mountains. It's been a lot of ups and downs -- happy we are all still alive, but also a good bit of questioning, doubts, anger, confusion, sadness, and fear.
We recorded a podcast with Teton County Search and Rescue that highlights rescues around this area. I thought it was an awesome discussion, and am excited for it to be released. Will come back and link it when it's out.
For now, anyone interested in reading more can check out a first hand report I wrote up the day after the accident.
Albright Avalanche - January 16, 2023
My group of friends and partners are very intentional in our backcountry travel. We discuss plans, snowpack, timing, etc. in depth before we go out each day. I, especially, play the part of being the devil's advocate (friends might say wet blanket instead) a lot. "It could be safe, but what about..." The fact is backcountry skiing, especially in big terrain, is an inherently dangerous activity. And the more time you spend doing it, the more your cumulative exposure to the risks adds up, even if you are being intentional and making good decisions. Margins become thinner the more you are out there. While I don't think there was a major red flag or mistake we made on January 16th, I think there are some lessons to be learned from our accident.
The deep avalanche we triggered was not listed as a problem of concern on the days avalanche forecast, and hadn't been for multiple weeks. One of the most respected mountain guides, and a personal mentor of mine, skied the same line two days before. My buddy Charlie got unlucky and hit the sweet spot for the slope to go big. We might've been able to ski the same slope 10x more times and not had it slide. That's the nature of a persistent slab problem -- high consequence, low likelihood.
After one thing went wrong, everything else after that went right. Charlie is back on snow after 6-8 weeks of recovering from 7-8 broken ribs, a lacerated liver, and punctured lung. We are all using this accident to guide our future in the mountains. It's been a lot of ups and downs -- happy we are all still alive, but also a good bit of questioning, doubts, anger, confusion, sadness, and fear.
We recorded a podcast with Teton County Search and Rescue that highlights rescues around this area. I thought it was an awesome discussion, and am excited for it to be released. Will come back and link it when it's out.
For now, anyone interested in reading more can check out a first hand report I wrote up the day after the accident.
Albright Avalanche - January 16, 2023
This post was edited on 3/21/23 at 2:53 pm
Posted on 3/21/23 at 3:11 pm to bamafan425
I triggered a small slab in Austria, sending myself and a buddy into an avalanche fence.
We both dug out downwards through the fence, as it had slats that we could slide our bodies through.
Id say my slab was a 40x40 yard patch, no more than six inches deep at first. Once everything stopped, I was pinned to the fence and snow was up to my shoulder blades.
I can only image yours, from what you wrote. So much bigger.
Anyway, interesting read on your google doc.
I read
I assume a pit was dug for the hand tests. Would that be correct?
Awesome y’all had beacons that y’all didnt have to use because yeah, that usually doesn’t end well.
Radios are true lifelines. Rad y’all found his split board.
Seems like y’all had the right amount of training, fitness and fortune.
Well done.
We both dug out downwards through the fence, as it had slats that we could slide our bodies through.
Id say my slab was a 40x40 yard patch, no more than six inches deep at first. Once everything stopped, I was pinned to the fence and snow was up to my shoulder blades.
I can only image yours, from what you wrote. So much bigger.
Anyway, interesting read on your google doc.
I read
quote:
Previous hand shear tests showed well bonded snow and unconsolidated surface snow.
I assume a pit was dug for the hand tests. Would that be correct?
Awesome y’all had beacons that y’all didnt have to use because yeah, that usually doesn’t end well.
Radios are true lifelines. Rad y’all found his split board.
Seems like y’all had the right amount of training, fitness and fortune.
Well done.
Posted on 3/21/23 at 3:44 pm to One72
quote:
I assume a pit was dug for the hand tests. Would that be correct?
Awesome y’all had beacons that y’all didnt have to use because yeah, that usually doesn’t end well.
Radios are true lifelines. Rad y’all found his split board.
Seems like y’all had the right amount of training, fitness and fortune.
Well done.
The hand shear test was done on just the new snow from the previous days, so only about a foot to two feet deep. They were also done on an eastern aspect, while our ski objective was west. We didn't extrapolate a ton of data from the hand tests for the days objective, but we wanted to observe the general strength of the bond between the new snow and old snow surface.
We did not dig a formal pit that day, nor do I know if we could have found a representative area on the western aspect to dig. The spatial variability within that slope was all over the place. I had a hard time thinking of actionable things we could have done differently besides just choosing something different to ski.
The fact we didn't make a major mistake and have had many trusted guides and members of our community, including one of the SAR rescuers tell me "I would've skied it that day" makes me feel better in our decision making, but it also highlights the scariest thing in my mind -- it's just part of the risk we take out there.
A few takeaways on our terrain selection:
-We don't ski west facing lines in the Tetons much. Our quality ski terrain favors South, East, and North. Due to this, we are less familiar with the snowpack on western aspects AND we receive less observations and reports from these slopes.
-We had discussed much steeper and more technical lines for the day. We settled on this face as a more "mellow" option. 35-40 degree treed chutes. It felt safer, but it is prime avalanche terrain.
-This slope receives a ton of wind from the canyon. As such, parts of the slope are loaded with a lot of snow and a deep snowpack, where as other adjacent parts are scoured by the wind and left with a thinner, weaker snowpack. The combination of having a very thin and weak snowpack next to a very deep snowpack made this dangerous and hard to evaluate.
-Our group had an excellent day high in the alpine two weeks before and we were stoking on a great season so far. I don't think we we were being reckless in our decision to ski what we did, but I think the pattern and frequency we had been in of skiing big, complex terrain certainly played a part in ending up where we did. We could've skied the standard east face of Albright that day and had all time snow conditions in much more familiar terrain. But the allure of a new zone, fresh snow, and the simple fact that skiing is fun as frick can distract you. I've been pretty hard lined about dialing back the frequency in which I recreate in that type of terrain. The Tetons are full of hard charging skiers in the backcountry getting after it on the daily, and it's easy to get lulled into thinking it's green light. It can become an unsustainable pattern.
More thoughts:
The wave of relief I had when I realized I didn't have to perform a super complex beacon search was an incredible feeling.
Radios were a huge part in the success and efficiency of our rescue. I can't emphasize their importance enough. 3 of the 4 of us also had satellite devices, but luckily we were able to leave one person in cell service for direct contact with SAR.
I'll also pat ourselves on the back for having a rescue tarp and extra layers to keep Charlie warm while we waited (not long at all) for the heli. Once we got him into the sun, and warming, everything started trending in the right direction.
Thanks for the kind words
This post was edited on 3/21/23 at 3:47 pm
Posted on 3/22/23 at 5:49 am to bamafan425
I imagined a wind aided slab, glad you mentioned it.
The allure of new snow after days or weeks without any snow is absolutely brutal. We know the elevated risk but can’t control that urge to go snorkel. That could kill us one day.
The only actionable thing that y’all could have done, in my humble opinion, was to pack tannerite and do your own avy control.
But that would be pretty fricking ridiculous (and maybe illegal in that area).
The allure of new snow after days or weeks without any snow is absolutely brutal. We know the elevated risk but can’t control that urge to go snorkel. That could kill us one day.
The only actionable thing that y’all could have done, in my humble opinion, was to pack tannerite and do your own avy control.
But that would be pretty fricking ridiculous (and maybe illegal in that area).
Posted on 3/22/23 at 6:34 am to LSUfan4444
quote:
Columbia
Those Bugaboo pants I ordered came in and look like they’d fit Santa clause in the waist. Guess I shoulda went with a medium. I can fit a 32-34 in the waist but these seem like they’d be more suited for a 38-40 waistline. Any of you bigger baws need some pants. ? Lol
Posted on 3/22/23 at 8:39 am to bamafan425
quote:
bamafan425
glad you and your friends were okay, but I have to ask - does anyone in Jackson run those avalanche airbag backpacks? I don't see many in the backcountry or side country around boise with them. beacons and probes and shovels, yes. but I wonder who buys those things and if they work?
Posted on 3/22/23 at 10:13 am to bamafan425
Damn. That’s a serious slide. To have your buddy radioing and sitting on top of the debris… talk about best case scenario in that situation. Great work and lots of takeaways from that day.
I had an interesting conversation with a guy that was a former JH patroller, teton area mountaineer guide, etc. After about 30 minutes of stories, I asked why did he get out of all of that. He humbly said, “I wasn’t the best, but I was up there. You know you’re up there because people you know and trust and do everything right die.” To your point, that cumulative exposure that teaches you and you become comfortable with can call your number at anytime.
I had an interesting conversation with a guy that was a former JH patroller, teton area mountaineer guide, etc. After about 30 minutes of stories, I asked why did he get out of all of that. He humbly said, “I wasn’t the best, but I was up there. You know you’re up there because people you know and trust and do everything right die.” To your point, that cumulative exposure that teaches you and you become comfortable with can call your number at anytime.
Posted on 3/22/23 at 6:06 pm to Bunsbert Montcroff
quote:
does anyone in Jackson run those avalanche airbag backpacks?
More common in the resort sidecountry but not so much in the true backcountry in GTNP. The packs themselves they come in are just never great to use in my opinion, plus the weight. I think there’s some scenarios they definitely make sense. Usually spots with big open clean runouts. Alaskan heli skiing they have probably saved hundreds of lives since they’ve come into play.
My buddy Charlie who got slid used to ride with one. Trees were his main enemy in this slide. You can make a case that the airbag helps protect the head as well as floatation. Luckily he never hit his head on the ride.
He had a GoPro on and he was on top of the snow for the whole time but just kept getting ping ponged off trees. We hypothesized he would’ve ended up near where I found his snowboard and likely on top of the snow. If he had been on skis he probably could’ve stopped himself on the first tree he hit. It bounced right in the middle of his board.
Once his snowboard popped off he was able to almost walk on top of the moving snow. He tried to get off to the side of the slide and then eventually stopped when a broken tree hung up on his backpack. The videos pretty crazy. I’ve only watched it 3 times. It definitely gets me choked up. I was so confident he was dead when I saw the powder cloud crashing down the drainage. Best radio call ever.
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