***** Nww Ski Thread *****

[rivercat]

you have to get off the beaten path at snoqualmie to find the steep and technical [less alpi] but it has it gems.... here's a few photos of a hike we took last year out to Silver Peak, on the backside of snoqualmie's nordic trail system. Snowboarder friends on snowshoes got their asses kicked trying to follow me on gotama/fritschi'/bd skins.... but had a blast

 

[Pat]

Nice pictures Rivercat!

So Hyak is done for the whole season?

I wonder what Alpental looks like? :eeek:

 

[nwgrand]

silver peak is wayyyy off the beaten path. It is awesome up there, it seems like it gets alot more traffic now days, the last few yrs anyway. I've taken the jeep up there late spring to the top of the medows and met a skier walking down from there, he was stoked i broke trail for him. Last year i went up there a few times in the jeep late, late season(dirt to the medow) and always seem to find a parking lot of sub's. No encounters but i'm sure i'd be a #*%!!! if i ran into the skinny skiers in the jeep.:looser: (sorry i've only had bad encounters w/cross country skiers)

nice pic's though, i've been wanting to get into the rondane bindings, i have the trekkers but don't use them.

 

[nwgrand]

boxxerrace - the sullivan name sounds familiar but dont know them. I'm not in the big ski scene anymore, used to ride b.c. alp all the time, now i'm dad with the kids up there. Bummer hyak was my fav w/kids and was the only place you didn't have to wait in crazy lines to make some turns.

 

[rivercat]

boxxerrace - the sullivan name sounds familiar but dont know them. I'm not in the big ski scene anymore, used to ride b.c. alp all the time, now i'm dad with the kids up there. Bummer hyak was my fav w/kids and was the only place you didn't have to wait in crazy lines to make some turns.

word is hyak will be hike/skin up for nordic only the rest of this year, this is good because the shuttle bus can pick me up after i poach a little to deep off the fir.... i'm wondering if we'll see a new quad at hyak for next season, put that MDP to work....

alpi - i haven't taken a look myself but a friend of mine said things didn't fall through to much up on chair two. going to be springy up there this week...

 

[nwgrand]

ya, i heard it was done for the year. Maybe i'll have to throw the skins on if it gets too deep pow, that would be fun. I though they were supposed to replace dinosaur w/ the old silver fir chair, just something i heard back a yr or 2 ago. Hyak should be next for a face lift, as all the other parts of the summit have been done.

 

[Boxxerace]

boxxerrace - the sullivan name sounds familiar but dont know them. I'm not in the big ski scene anymore, used to ride b.c. alp all the time, now i'm dad with the kids up there. Bummer hyak was my fav w/kids and was the only place you didn't have to wait in crazy lines to make some turns.

I hear yah. I am a daddy of three now, the oldest who skied for her first time this year. She had a blast.

Now, if the darn tickets were back to the 14 dollar / 22 dollar / even 32$ days I remember not that long ago, I could afford to get them in the sport. At $60.00 per day I might as well buy a snowmobile and charge for laps in the BC. :redneck:

Touring is going to a growing sport out of necessity.

 

[Gibby1]

Crystal

Just spent the past week up at Crystal. Skied with the family Monday through Thursday. Conditions wer OK. For a family of mostly intermediate skiers groomed trails with a little fresh snow each day is perfect. High Campbell didn't open until today but there's still way to many rocks and trees sticking out where they don't belong.

Higher up was either with wind blown sections but they're doing a good job with their grooming to keep conditions as good as they can be with limited snow since the storms in December.

It's a late season start for us, we didn't get up before Xmas because of the late start and then we were on vacation. When we got back was right as the heavy rain hit. Could've gone last week but it was still very warm every day and I hate skiing in slush.

This was a good week to get back on the skis. If things go right, we'll be up skiing 3-4 days a week until the end of the season.

I did buy myself some new boots this year. I ski on the little K2 Fattys. They're 90cms long and have non-release bindings. Keeps the stress of my ACL deficient knee in junk conditions and during falls but they're not much good for deep snow. If I don't get the tips up just right, it's automatic face plant. There's so little surface area they sink. Getting back up in deep snow is next to impossible. I have to start rolling down the hill until I can finally get my skis perched on something, stand up and get moving all in one move. I look like a snowball LOL!

 

[Boxxerace]

NOOOOOOOOO Say it ain't so Gibby! You're a Snolerblader!

Now, how is it that a dude who somehow can afford to ski three or four times a week, ski's on short short short skis? Either way, you get an A+ in manhood, cause you have to be hanging some major junk to ski that often on Japanese-sized skis. Props!

High Cambell: I got up on there on the 26th of December when the snow was deep, somewhat fresh, but sorta medium density cement. The skiing was excellent (on fat K2's as well) and I did a bunch of hiking vs. lots of runs.

1st run on the new skis was up High Cambell, high out South, around the King and down through the first set of chutes. The turns were butter, but I found I'd blow through the 36" or so deep snow if I really pressed them hard. Nothing like fresh gouges on a new skis. :eeek:

Once out of the shoot and onto the open glade below, I spotted two ski patrol and one messed up boarder. I skied over and did what I could to assist. The rider had smacked a rock with his rear end at high speed, rag dolling him through more rocks. He was probably ok, just very sore and lucky he did not break his back. The snow completely hid the rocks, no lumps. There must have been several feet of windblown for that to occur?

The rest of the day I hit up the front side of Rex, or far skier's left, around the nose a bit. No-one was back there, the snow was untracked and the tree skiing is excellent. I'll leave the pock marked green valley for someone else thanks to it's new-found accessibility.

I love Crystal. I'll be up there in February (on a Sat ).

 

[Gibby1]

I use the little skis to save my already compromised knee. Since I ski mostly with my 3 kids 7, 9 and 9, along with my wife who's an intermediate skier at best, there's not much need for a powder ski. We ski with another family quite a bit and the dad and I do take off once in a while for a fun run while everyone's having lunch. I don't do any hiking and stay on the regular trails.

We have a chalet at Crystal Village 1 so I work during the morning and the kids to school, then we head up for the afternoon. Our Chalet is 20 minutes from the resort. I get to go back to work when we get back. I work from home and we home school the kids.

We don't go on weekends at all because it's WAY too busy and we rent out the Chalet on the weekends.

We've never waited for more than 1-2 groups in front of us on a lift. Most times there are several empty chairs in front of us. I love having a private resort which is how it seems on the weekday. Even Campbell Basin we can actually get a table to grab a bite and not have to wait 30 minutes to buy a hot chocolate.

 

[Boxxerace]

Ahh, those are the cabins at the bottom of the hill, just a few minutes down 410?

One of my co-workers is dating the guy who has been plowing the cabin roads with his dad's bulldozer. Small world.

At least the snow is finally back so we can all get up and have some fun. Gib, I think it's cool that you have your kids up skiing every a ton. It's the best you can do in this non-ski-resort state.

 

[Gibby1]

Ahh, those are the cabins at the bottom of the hill, just a few minutes down 410?

One of my co-workers is dating the guy who has been plowing the cabin roads with his dad's bulldozer. Small world.

At least the snow is finally back so we can all get up and have some fun. Gib, I think it's cool that you have your kids up skiing every a ton. It's the best you can do in this non-ski-resort state.

We're a little farther down that that. Crystal Village 1 is the closest of the Crystal Villages (about 5 miles east of Greenwater) and pretty much the last piece of privately owned land. The cabins right at the corner are all on USFS land. We looked into those but they didn't make sense to us. A 1200 square foot cabin on land you don't own and no indoor plumbing was almost $200,000.

I figure it's a lifetime sport that they can do all over the world and till their old and gray.

 

[zig80toy]

Went night skiing at Stevens last thursday (Jan 1). Was great...well great, mostly because its the first time i've been up this season. Didn't get up there until late, waiting for friends and such to get off work, only got to ski under the lights. On one hand its nice cause lift tickets are only 38 bucks after 3pm, but you loose so much terrain to the night sky.

Has anyone been to Stevens yet this year? I got to say, i don't like the new lift tickets. Its no longer a sticker that you wrap around a little metal thingy. The lift ticket is now like a credit card that you just carry in your pocket. Once you safely stow away this card you ski though a machine that looks like a metal detector you'd find at the airport. This thing scans your body, registers the card in your pocket, then a gate opens up and lets you through. While i didn't have any problems getting through this new gate system i could hear others around me murmuring things like "damn technology", stuff like that. I guess if you put it in the same pocket as your cellphone it will throw the machine off...? one of the staff told me that, anyways.

 

[Gibby1]

Conditions at Crystal right now are probably rated as good spring skiing, but it's FEBRUARY!

Skied up on High Campbell today and Ferks but spent a good chunk of the last two days on the groomers. Many of the other runs were too icy until today. It softened up a lot today but I'm sure it'll be hard as a rock everywhere by morning.

Supposed to start seeing some snow this weekend. Crytal needs snow in a BAD way.

 

[Gibby1]

I think Dr Drae and his crew are heading up to Crystal this weekend. We're supposed to see a few inches of snow but not feet...

It started snowing lightly as we were leaving today.

 

[Gibby1]

We're getting a TRACE of snow up here tonight. I hope we at least get a couple of inches.

 

[briejer]

Any of you ski Rainier in the spring? A little climb for about a 10,000ft. decent. If any of you have, I want details.

 

[Gibby1]

LOT's of snow up there today! It was a really cool day with 6-8 inches of fresh light snow.

Jackson and I were carving figure 8s!

 

[zig80toy]

LOT's of snow up there today! It was a really cool day with 6-8 inches of fresh light snow.

Jackson and I were carving figure 8s!

I'm jealous! Sounds like fun!

Went to Stevens this last weekend. They need more snow in a bad way..:booo:

 

[zig80toy]

Any of you ski Rainier in the spring? A little climb for about a 10,000ft. decent. If any of you have, I want details.

Not me, my friend. However, i'd love to try, but don't think i have the proper equipment or skills to make it. I got a laugh when you said "little climb" and "10,000ft" in the same sentence.

Anyone got a helicopter they can drag me up in:;