Ski season preparations, what did you do 2 weeks ago?

[Tradewind]

if you're not a certified LEO with the forest service you're on iffy ground checking tags

volunteer rangers can certainly ask to look at your tags, but i don't think they have any legal standing to force you to show your tags or identification, and as far as i know have no law enforcement authority beyond that of an ordinary citizen

Ran into the game warden, elk season a few yrs back. Made a point of showing him my license. He looked at me a kinda funny as no one goes out of their way for that.
I told him there was no point in me buying a license if he didn't want to look at it. Got a laugh.

 

[noharleyyet]

Day 8-
Wind switched.
Hiked up to same glassing knob from previous evening. Made a racket getting there.
Sun came up, it was Smokey.
Sat till 10, walked around.
Saw no animals.
Got scared of snow.
Walked down to car.
Talked to Amish people with cool bowl cuts that’s weren’t afraid of snow.
Talked to a guy who had a moose tag for later in the year.
He showed me pictures of cool bulls.
Slept in parking lot.
Wind picked up and blew dust in my tent.
Chickened out
Drove home.

 

[cedahm]

I’m sure it’s the only thing standing between my sorry ass current ski form and my Olympic aspirations. Actually, I’m just hoping it can help get a few more years of skiing out of this body that I’ve spent 55 years abusing. Folks at SureFoot are awesome! They’ve expanded out to several of the major ski destinations, so if you have one nearby you should check them out. I’ll post a follow up once I test the new boots out on the slopes this winter.

I have odd feet (effectively two different sizes) and finally went to Surefoot 2 years ago after ~15 years on my old Salomon XScream boots that had become basically like wearing moccasins. Wow, what a difference. I had dialed my skiing days way back until my son started riding 5 years ago, and now am back to 20-30 days a year. The difference is incredible.

The first day or three were a little rough on the bottoms of my feet as the footbed settled, but after they break in, it's delightful.

I think custom boots are the best overall skiing investment you can make. Not cheap by any means, but if your feet are done growing, you will not need to buy another pair of boots for decades - maybe ever.

 

[AvidIndoorsman]

I have odd feet (effectively two different sizes) and finally went to Surefoot 2 years ago after ~15 years on my old Salomon XScream boots that had become basically like wearing moccasins. Wow, what a difference. I had dialed my skiing days way back until my son started riding 5 years ago, and now am back to 20-30 days a year. The difference is incredible.

The first day or three were a little rough on the bottoms of my feet as the footbed settled, but after they break in, it's delightful.

I think custom boots are the best overall skiing investment you can make. Not cheap by any means, but if your feet are done growing, you will not need to buy another pair of boots for decades - maybe ever.

I get about 150- 200 days out of a pair of boots before they are totally trashed but yes agree, surefoot does great work.

 

[AvidIndoorsman]

Day 4: “don’t leave deer to find deer”
So even though I’d seen those deer up in the meadow the night before (maybe I blew them out?) I decided to load up my pack and head down the mtn to another spot I wanted to check out like 10 or so miles from where I was at. Again, I was loaded up and hiking before daylight. I worked my way down the drainage w/ bad wind, skirting the edges of the meadows. Saw some elk sign, no animals.
Midday I pulled a pro move and stopped at the creek for a quick shower.
View attachment 154174
I learned this lesson last winter in Az. If you’re by a deep spot midday and you feel like you need a quick rinse. Go for it. Felt like a new man after this.
(*by creek shower I mean jumping in for a quick rinse. No soap. If this is a frowned upon practice because of like contaminating the water or something let me know and I’ll stop supporting it.)
Continued down, got to a spot on the trail above an area I’d found some doe’s the year before so I decided to drop down that-a way and see what I saw... blowdown... no deer.
View attachment 154175
Cussed my way through this into some meadows and aspens and at about dusk I was at the bottom of this drainage and the base of this big hill that had kicked my ass the year before.
I decided to top off my water and climb this hill in the dark in some weird attempt to like get back at it or redeem myself or something. It was actually really easy in the dark, however the next day when the sun came out. I was reminded that it gets really freaking hot on that hill.
Anyways... I got my camp set up on top of the hill at about 10. And set my alarm to sleep in...

Hard pass on that hell hole jungle

 

[cedahm]

I get about 150- 200 days out of a pair of boots before they are totally trashed but yes agree, surefoot does great work.

I would wager the higher end boots with the surefoot customizations will get you out to 250. So like 5 bucks a day. I also have ~10 days a year on Tele's or a snowboard so I figure these alpine boots will last me the rest of my skiing career if needed. In 20 years I'll be analagous to the guys still rocking rear-entry boots today.

Hard pass on that hell hole jungle

That picture is VERY familiar to me (not that I know where it is, but it looks like half of my archery unit). I'm frustrated and starting to sweat just looking at it.

 

[Aperventure]

Looking forward to skinning up the closed roads of the wasarxh canyons tomorrow to remember how it all feels. And doing lots of squats. Glad there are some BC ski fans here.

Always wondered if using skinny skis would work for a dec tag in wilderness area

 

[Hunt&FishCO]

Day 6: headed up the trail at first light. Got off the trail and followed a little side creek for a ways. Peaked over the top of a hill, jumped a doe at like 100yds.
Even though she looked right at me and trotted off along the edge of the timber I decided I’d try to circle around with the wind in my face, hopefully see her again and get back on the trail that according to onx she was bedded right next to. That didn’t work out. Stepped in quicksand with my right foot up to my hip. Ended up in blowdown hell. I think it was worse than the picture I posted earlier. Couldn’t find the trail.
Spent a couple hrs just trying to find my way out of there.
Got back to camp, heard it was gonna snow, bitched out and walked back to the car.
Drank a beer. Headed for Wendy’s
Met 5 trucks on the way down the single lane 4wd rd who I very kindly moved out of the way for. *I would think the downhill vehicle would have the right of way
Decided to check out the spot the Forrest service workers had mentioned the next day.

In Colorado vehicles traveling uphill have the right-of-way due to momentum and traction.

“Passing on an Incline: Vehicles going uphill have the right-of-way. On steep inclines, the loss of climbing momentum might cause a loss of traction or an engine stall.”

 

[Wildabeest]

Park City resorts are opening next weekend - woohoo! We’ve had great snow here over the past week and good snowmaking temps on days it didn’t snow. I’ll be hunting in MT through Thanksgiving, so won’t be here for the first week, but looking forward to hitting the slopes when I get back. And trying out the new SureFoot boots.

 

[DouglasR]

Park City resorts are opening next weekend - woohoo! We’ve had great snow here over the past week and good snowmaking temps on days it didn’t snow. I’ll be hunting in MT through Thanksgiving, so won’t be here for the first week, but looking forward to hitting the slopes when I get back. And trying out the new SureFoot boots.

Psh bro you know I’ve already got parking reservations up at the bird
Jan 11th-15th.
HMU if you feel like giving some free lessons or letting me use your shower.

 

[Wildabeest]

Psh bro you know I’ve already got parking reservations up at the bird
Jan 11th-15th.

Smart move on getting early reservations. Most of the ski areas are going to limited capacity due to COVID. So buying tickets and getting reservations ahead of time (not just parking, but the ability to even get a pass for that day) will avert disappointment. For those who buy EPIC or IKON season passes, don’t make the assumption that it guarantees you a spot. With limited capacity, they will turn you away if you don’t have a reservation and are at capacity. I saw that happen a few times last year during some of the busier weekends. Folks showed up thinking they could just walk in with their IKON Pass, and they were turned away.

 

[DouglasR]

Smart move on getting early reservations. Most of the ski areas are going to limited capacity due to COVID. So buying tickets and getting reservations ahead of time (not just parking, but the ability to even get a pass for that day) will avert disappointment. For those who buy EPIC or IKON season passes, don’t make the assumption that it guarantees you a spot. With limited capacity, they will turn you away if you don’t have a reservation and are at capacity. I saw that happen a few times last year during some of the busier weekends. Folks showed up thinking they could just walk in with their IKON Pass, and they were turned away.

You’ll never know how much anxiety you’ve just caused me.

 

[peterk1234]

Hmm... well we sold or condo at Sunday River in Maine this August figuring skiing there will be a sh&t show. Good call since Maine just announced 14 day quarantine or get tested requirements for anyone from Massachusetts. Made money too.

Used the money to buy a townhouse in Livingston MT because we are done with living in this brutal state with too many people that have beliefs completely opposite of ours. Plus the hunting is less then stellar here in Mass. Selling off stuff we do not use and will use the funds for AT gear so we do not have to deal with COVID silliness at any resort when we are in Montana. Time to earn our turns.

 

[Wildabeest]

Hmm... well we sold or condo at Sunday River in Maine this August figuring skiing there will be a sh&t show. Good call since Maine just announced 14 day quarantine or get tested requirements for anyone from Massachusetts. Made money too.

Used the money to buy a townhouse in Livingston MT because we are done with living in this brutal state with too many people that have beliefs completely opposite of ours. Plus the hunting is less then stellar here in Mass. Selling off stuff we do not use and will use the funds for AT gear so we do not have to deal with COVID silliness at any resort when we are in Montana. Time to earn our turns.

And you’ll be relatively close to much better skiing at Big Sky or Bridger Bowl!

 

[peterk1234]

And you’ll be relatively close to much better skiing at Big Sky or Bridger Bowl!

We got to ski Big Sky for one day before they shut it down due to COVID. And it dumped. Big Sky was awesome. Two days later we skinned up Bridger. Now that place is special. That's all I need right there

 

[Aperventure]

Psh bro you know I’ve already got parking reservations up at the bird
Jan 11th-15th.
HMU if you feel like giving some free lessons or letting me use your shower.

Unfortunately it’s a terrible snowpack this year. We’ve not gotten anything big yet, and are sitting under high pressure ridge now

 

[DouglasR]

Dude tell me about it.
After getting my tent set up today I had just enough time to run up to solitude and take a few laps and man, for a Midwestern blue run dork like me that place would be a vibe if there was just a little bit more snow
To a man who doesn’t know what he’s doing or talking about the terrain off eagle ridge looked badass if it was covered up a little more.

solitude doesn’t make snow though, right?
so the other resorts might have better groomers?

I’ve got a week left in my road trip.
you guys know if it’s snowing anywhere else?
I could pick up and move

Unfortunately it’s a terrible snowpack this year. We’ve not gotten anything big yet, and are sitting under high pressure ridge now

 

[DouglasR]

Then again, I could always just lap the park, bros.
#parkrat
#newschoolers

 

[Wildabeest]

There was a nice 8” dump in the Wasatch Monday night. That’s the biggest since mid-Nov here. Nothing in the forecast for the next two weeks either, except more blue bird days skiing hardpack groomers. At least it’s been cold so they’ve been making lots of snow around here. Had an avalanche death in Dutch Draw off the backside of Park City resort yesterday. So be careful if you go off-piste looking for powder!

 

[AvidIndoorsman]

Then again, I could always just lap the park, bros.
#parkrat
#newschoolers

Pack enough tall-tees