Eerie

Oh I forgot to add: if you want to ski moguls move to Colorado. nuff said.

Hey, moguls suck. Get over it. The only thing they are good for is watching cool guy skiers beat themselves up trying to haul ass down a field of the no-good things. Whether the guy wipes out or not doesn't matter cause everyone knows he is gonna have to take an ice bath that night and call in to work sick the next several days.

nice hitchhiking bobby. That reminds me of a time I was heading up to Baker. The car I was driving then couldn't make it up to a cabin I was to meet some friends at. It was a powder day and I was taking a class that day. I didn't want any hassles with the car so I decided to ditch it in Glacier and hitchhike up. I got picked up by a cute WWU gal (too bad I had a girlfriend already) but she had the as well!! We get just past the DOT lodge and her gas light comes on . So we park her truck in a lot and hitchhike. The whole time she is profusely apologizing. No worries, we get picked up and ride the rest of the way in the back of a pickup truck. The class I was taking was in the Heather Meadows lodge and the truck I was in was going to the lower lodge. I braved the ticket nazi lady's wrath and loaded the chair at the base. The WWU gal and I took several runs before I had to bail for the class. Thats right, I walked into the class covered in powder while my buddies, dry as they were, had an envious look about them. Ahh, the choices we make that turn out just right .

Moguls are created by inferior skiers who cannot handle the steepness of the slope they are "skiing" and are forced to make "jump turns" while "skiing" downhill . IMHO this is even more egregious than a snowboarder sideslipping the same slope.

saturday at StevensPass: a couple friends and I were headed out for a little hike on the backside. The hike we were doing begins beneath the power lines at a notch in a bowl and there is a short traverse to get there. I was ahead of my friends and came upon a group of young kids (4 middle school/fresh.or soph.??). One of em says to me"Did you see that?!!" What am I supposed to have seen? The kids go on to tell me they were just involved in an avalanche. I'm thinking damn kids you're pretty lucky if you were just in an avalanche and all of you are already back at the top of the slope. I ask them what happened. Their story went that they were standing at the edge of the bowl getting ready to jump when the slope gave out. Well, its a pretty small cornice they were standing on but still a cornice (probably 2-3ft). I ask if everyone is ok then go on to tell them they were standing on the edge of a cornice. Explain to them what a cornice is and why they shouldn't be standing on the edge of one especially not the whole group. I'm pretty sure this group of lucky kids will proceed a little more cautiously around cornices from now on. oh, the hike was cool and I made sure to sideslip a chute for all the skiers out there.

if you're gonna ride Gable's don't do it beneath the chair lift. its crap there. always is and always will be. i wouldn't be too concerned about it being sideslipped if i were you. now if you are hiking Shuksan Arm and you see someone sideslipping all the way down then you have something to complain about.

ahhh, do you what ya gotta do there Bug. seems pretty fair to me, just don't get pissed when they follow you down to the chair lift and jib your skis when you stop to wait for your buddies. have you ever had the feeling while doing something that it was just the way it was meant to be done? High speed powder turns do that to me. I always thought skiers making jump turns in tight situations were doing that cause it was the safest way down for them. Picturing myself on skis (this is an extremely difficult thing to do) and facing a tight chute I can only think the last thing I'd want to have happen is to catch an edge on snow, tree, snag, what have you and tumble backwards downslope. Envisioning that happening I can only think that a skier making many, many, many "hop" turns as they've been referred to as the safest way down. Snowboarders on the other hand normally have the advantage of a shorter board and as well as being able to face the chute and any terrain features that may be problematic. So yes, it is generally "easier" for a snowboarder to sideslip a chute where a skier would be forced to make "hop" turns. Oh yeah, and remember skiers have two edges to work with. Whether that is an advantage I have no idea probably depends on the conditions. In a perfect world every chute would be straightlined by skiers and boarders alike.

AlpineK - I can guarantee you those "really good boarders...that don't sideslip much of anything" you know were once punk ass boarder kids that sideslipped the hell out of the resorts. I was once one of those punk ass boarders and who knows maybe I still am. Anyways, let the kids progress. Better yet if you see some kids sideslipping give them some advice rather than spraying at them that they suck and shouldn't be there.

Can't answer your question but would like to ask you a couple... My riding buddies have been throwing out the idea of getting sleds. What kind of sled do you use (specs...make, model, yr, cc displacement, track and depth)? If you use an older sled do you ever feel the need to upgrade? Finally, is the hassle and cash worth it? Yeah, I've been on sleds before but not for accessing slopes to snowboard. Also, I wish I could have back the time I spent at the "Sno Parks." Those places should really be called Sno Zoos or something. I hope you don't mind answering these questions. Thanks phil, Eerie.

marylou - Can you please give a report when you get back from your course? thanks. Eerie.

thanks Dave.

http://www.komotv.com/stories/29473.htm Thats a tough thing to have happened. My condolences to his friends and family.

Are either of Union or Jove the peak on the north side of US2 just east of Skyline Ridge? I've been looking at and dreaming of riding down that peak for several years now.

StP was *very* nice this weekend. I'd like to thank everyone who did snowdances last week.

I was gonna say Mt. Erie myself but was afraid it might be too trendy of a vote around these parts. I guess not.

snoboy, I'm considering taking some more vacation either the 2nd or 3rd week in February and want to head back over to Red Mountain. It'd be cool to hook up with a local around those parts. My buddy and I did pretty well for ourselves exploring the mountain considering the conditions last week. However, I'm sure a local has a lot more light to shed...kinda like lifting outta the fog to some bluebird on top?! Eerie.

murray's right. the snow sucks up there at the moment. conditions rival snoqualmie pass. murrayscool. remember that.

is very nice. no corporate feel and STEEP.

GNU Haulin' Oats 170cm, essentially brand new for $220. Ridden maybe 3 times. Can still see where the factory sticker was peeled from the base in the One Ball Jay wax coat. Can't remember the year, could be 97/98 or 98/99. Bought to use as a backcountry and resort deep powder board and never seem willing to switch with my current setup. PM if interested. I live in the Kenmore/Bothell area and work downtown.

GNU Haulin' Oats 170cm, essentially brand new for $220. Ridden maybe 3 times. Can still see where the factory sticker was peeled from the base in the One Ball Jay wax coat. Can't remember the year, could be 97/98 or 98/99. Bought to use as a backcountry and resort deep powder board and never seem willing to switch with my current setup. PM if interested. I live in the Kenmore/Bothell area and work downtown.

Fejas said: Yeah Fejas, I'm a boarder. I get sick of watching rail slide after rail slide on movies. I much prefer the drama of steep lines than a "270 to boardslide to 270 off" type crap. Whether its a skier, tele, or boarder ripping a killer line it doesn't matter. Thats what I prefer to watch if I can't be out riding myself. So the movie Lame whats it all about? climberchris01.....you're dead on with your analysis of what and who to expect current days movies to be made for. Apparently I'm just too old to appreciate the movies of today. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to live out my own dreams and make movies in my mind.

Congratulations on your choice ehmmic. Snowboarding is certainly not for everyone. Glad to hear you had a great day!

glen - sorry to hear of your loss. i would advise you to spraypaint your topsheet, cover it with stickers, or let a skier scrape the hell out of. then it won't be all shiny and asking to be stolen. marylou - whats up with the homeowners ins.? isn't there normally a deductible on that kind of stuff or will the ins. pay the total estimated loss?

hey shredmaximus, thanks a ton for the videos, great job. The Whitewater video cemented my resolve to make it up there. Kicking Horse, ah Kicking Horse. Holy shit that place looks more amazing than I could have imagined solely from looking at the brochure. Wow! Would you mind telling me what the storm cycle was like when you were up there? Did you hit both places after a storm came through or several days after a storm? When in the season was your trip and how good/bad was the snowpack? Thanks a lot.... Eerie.

if you are interested.... the Canadian Avalanche Association has a nice website at http://www.avalanche.ca/ also, the Canada Avalanche Center has some a bit of info on their website http://www.csac.org/Canada/ these websites may be useful enough to add to the freshiez links page.....just a thought.