Pics from the weekend

A couple of quick pics from the weekend before I go do some stuff around the house.  Full report coming tomorrow.  Needless to say, the entire weekend was epic.  Best weekend (Friday-Sunday) that I think I've ever had at Gore.

More to come tomorrow . . .

Yes!!!!

We're finally getting some snow, and I'm psyched.  I can't understand why people aren't loving this as much as I am.  People were complaining last night at West because it's not light and fluffy.  And people are complaining about ski area websites posting pictures that exaggerate snowfall amounts.  Disgraceful!!!!  Right now, after the year we've been having, is the worst time to complain.  Take the powder and go ski (or risk angering Snow God Ullr once again!).  Unfortunately, I couldn't get out today (although I probably should have), but I'm thinking tomorrow and Friday are a go.  Finally, some SKIING!!!

In other news, I found this really interesting article from NPR about life.  From what I can gather, it says that the reason time speeds up as we get older is that we stop having fresh experiences.  Time "slows down" when our brains are recording things that they've never seen or done before:

That's because when it's the "first", there are so many things to remember. The list of encoded memories is so dense, reading them back gives you a feeling that they must have taken forever. But that's an illusion. "It's a construction of the brain," says Eagleman. "The more memory you have of something, you think, 'Wow, that really took a long time!'

"Of course, you can see this in everyday life," says Eagleman, "when you drive to your new workplace for the first time and it seems to take a really long time to get there. But when you drive back and forth to your work every day after that, it takes no time at all, because you're not really writing it down anymore. There's nothing novel about it."

 So, the solution to everlasting life (or at least a life in which time moves really, really, really slow) is to do something new and exciting every day.  See something you've never seen before.  Take up an activity that you've never tried but always wanted to.  At very least, try something on the menu that you've never had. Or risk the belated realization of a life that has passed you by.

Get Thee to VT . . .

I should note, however, that not all of the east is experiencing a snow drought.  Maine is having a very good winter.  And, as those Famous Internet Skiers found, so is Stowe.  I won't post the pictures without permission, but just trust that you want to go to the site and see the pictures.

Snow Drought and Other Stuff . . .

According to Harvey Road, the last time the National Weather Service in Albany posted a Winter Storm for the Adirondacks was December 9th.  His Gore Snowfall total is down more than 5 feet from last year.  According to the NWS, Albany has had only 6 days with more than an inch of snow this winter and is down about 20 inches from last winter.

Depressing, yes, but fear not.  I will always remember the sign at Sugarloaf on one of the lift towers that says that its snowiest months are March, April, and February (in that order).  I'd assume that Gore is similar.  Here's hoping that this winter will be redeemed with a monster Spring.

I would like to call to your attention, though, the difference in "snow droughts" from East to West.  Talking with people in Utah, you would think that it's the end of the world out there.  When I posted the Tahawus Glade Video on my facebook page, a guy I went to college with said that there's more snow in the trees here than there was out there.  Granted, they've gotten a little more snow since then - I thought PowderQueen's TR (also on Harvey Road) looked pretty damn good to me (even she, however, put in a mild complaint - "We didn't get too much deep powder, but we made the best of what we had").  Then I checked the Statistics.  Alta had gotten 162 inches of snow before I posted my video (they're up around 250 now).

Amazing!!!  In my wildest dreams, I could only hope that we'd get 162 inches of snow this year.  Imagine someone complaining!  I know, I know, mountains out there need more snow to operate because they don't have the manicured runs that we have here, but come on!!  If I lived out west, would I become a snow snob too?  Would I look out the window, see a base depth of only 84 inches and go back to sleep?  If the answer is yes (and I think it might be), that just speaks volumes about the difference in skiing from East to West.  We ski here because it's enjoyable, fun to do with friends, and great excercise.  Out there, though, people ski because they SKI.

And that's the difference.  I had a blast on Sagamore last week.  It was great: fresh gun-pow, soft bumps, and good people.  But I stayed on Sagamore for pretty much the entire day.  That was the only place where I could SKI.  I guess it's obvious that I believe that SKIING is different than skiing.  And it seems like this year, I've had a lot more skiing than SKIING.  Don't get me wrong, I've had some great runs, but there hasn't been a day where I've been completely gung ho about pushing myself, exploring, and taking charge of a ski day.  I've mostly been taking it as it comes, finding the good snow, and lapping it until I'm tired.

Come to think of it, I always do a lot of that at the beginning of a season.  When the mountain isn't fully open, the best bet is to find the trail that they've been hammering with guns, and ski it until your legs give out.  The problem is, this year has been like an extended early season.  There's not too much separating skiing now from skiing in December or Early January.  Yeah, there are more trails open, but none that really excite me (especially since they keep grooming the trails that have character).  How many times can I ski groomed frozen granular before I get bored?  Pretty soon, I'm going to want to SKI.  I want to rip bump lines and tree lines, I want to adventure, I want to explore, I want to find a stash that no one has skied for weeks, I want to stare at big mountains, and plan tomorrow's day over a beer (because it will be different than today).  These are the things I love about skiing.  And they're the things that I can't do in an Eastern Powder Drought, but can do in a Western Powder "Drought".       

Update (and goals)

If we ever get any snow this year (and I get my new skis), Ace and I are going to tackle the Thunderbolt Trail:


75th Anniversary Thunderbolt Ski Race from Blair Mahar on Vimeo.

Just another goal to add to the list.

Currently, I'm working two jobs, traveling a lot for one of the jobs, up north on the weekends, and getting home late on the weekdays.  Not much time for blogging, but lots of time in my car.  When I am home, though, the Ski Channel has some SICK tele movies on from sweetgrass productions.  On my Time Warner Cable, the Ski Channel is in the "On Demand" section under "Sports".  Check it out.

Livin'

Sorry for the lack of posts lately.  I've been super busy.  I picked up another skiing job (instructor of a skiing class for a local community college), so I'm doing that on Tuesdays and Thursdays until mid-March.  Plus, I have regular work (which seems to be picking up lately), plus my parents are going on vacation, so I have to look after their dog for a week (which should actually be pretty fun).

We got hit with a pretty bad rainstorm Monday, but skiing was decent on Tuesday and Thursday at West, so I hope there's some promise for the weekend.  I'm actually going to ski Royal Mountain (outside of Johnstown) tomorrow, and Gore on Sunday.  Hopefully, when I come back on Monday, I'll have enough time to write up a report.  Of course, then I'm going to ski Willard on Monday night, so the report might not come until Wednesday.  But Lost is on Wednesday, and I really want to see what happened at the end of last year, so maybe the report won't come until later . . .

I'm sure I'll fit something in sometime.  But really, when I get old and look back on my life, am I going to say "I wish I spent more time on my computer"?  No!!  I'd rather be skiing.

Content

The key to a successful blog is original content (stuff you can't get anywhere else).  So, with that in mind, here are some videos and pics from this past weekend.

First, some helmet cam footage of Tahawus Glades on Saturday:

Tahawus Glades on Saturday, 1/16/10 from Matt Charles on Vimeo.

Then, some helmet cam footage of Rumor when they dropped the rope on Sunday (very cool morning to ski, sunny at the top with clouds in the valleys, you can sort of see it in the video):

Rumor on Sunday 1/17/10 from Matt Charles on Vimeo.


Then, the batteries on my helmet cam were running out (rechargables don't last as long as the lithiums), so I put it into photo mode (where it takes a photo every 2 or 3 seconds), and ripped down some off-the-map glades.  Here's a selection of pics:

 

 

 

As for the report, Monday was the best day.  There are a couple of droplets on the lens there because it was misting for a while, but the 4-5 inches of snow on the mountain felt real good after the snow drought we've been going through.  Just to feel the soft snow under your feet (even on the trails) was a great feeling.  I skied tele on Saturday and Sunday (as you may have noticed in the videos), and alpine on Monday (although I kind of wish I brought my fat tele boards out).  I skied trees all weekend, always had people to ski with, and I had a blast.  There were a lot of people on the mountain on  Saturday (and, to a lesser extent, Sunday), but by skiing the trees, we were able to leave the crowds behind and get into our own little world. It really is amazing how quiet it can get in an area that is only a short hike away.  The fireworks on Saturday were great too, but I didn't stay at the bar long enough to get into the shenanigans that other people got into.  Maybe that's a good thing.   

Still Time for New Gear . . .

I keep waffling back and forth on what I want.  I consulted this chart, and it seems like the BD Stigma (in the 182) weighs 7 pounds 9 oz.  Also on the EMS website (for $100 more) is this nice looking ski:

 That'd be the Movement Freeheel, made in Switzerland, and asymmetrical.  It weighs 7 pounds, 5 oz. in the 176.  But that puts me up around $400, and if I'm going to spend $400 on those, shouldn't I just spend $375 for the Atomic RT 86 on Telemarkdown.com (feather light 6.5 pounds in the 183)? I'm leaning towards the RT 86 at this point, especially if I can get it at that price, with the Voile Switchback bindings (which they don't have on Telemarkdown . . . I guess I'll miss out on the free mounting).  It's a good thing that nobody reads this blog.  I think the RT 86's will sell out pretty quick at this price.

Time for New Gear?

Since three of my goals for this year involve backcountry skiing, I thought I'd take a look at what I'd need for my future off piste adventures.  I pulled up this list, so that I could get an early start on preparing for the Haute Route, and make sure that any gear purchases that I make between now and Spring of 2011 will further the cause.  I have several problems:

1. I need skis.  My only tele skis are twin tips (Dynastar concepts and Karhu Jaks - the old ones, not the Jak BC).  I'm looking at buying new older model skis in the $300-$350 range, maybe something like the Black Diamond Voodoo or Stigma.  I'm leaning toward the Stigma right now because of the lower weight and more preferable length (182 vs. 185).
2. I need bindings.  I thought I could get away with using my G3 Targas, but their durability has been questionable lately, and they don't have the free pivot feature that a lot of the newer BC specific bindings have.  After hearing some questionable reports about the Black Diamond O1 and the G3 Targa Ascent, I've got it narrowed down to Voile Switchbacks and 22 Designs Axl.  The Axl will probably ski like the Hammerhead, which would be awesome, but it weighs 1 pound more, and doesn't look like it would be compatible with ski crampons (which seem to be a must on the Haute Route).  I have to decide if I want to power of the Axl or the weight advantage of the Switchback.
3. I need other backcountry equipment.  I was never much of a winter adventurer, so I need crampons that would fit over my tele boots (probably these or these), an ice axe (probably something "cheap" like this), a harness, and maybe a new pack (apparantly there is a stereotype of Americans over there with ridiculously oversized backpacks and 18 different GPS systems, altimeters, and barometers coming out of their pockets).  This doesn't even include the beacon/shovel/probe that should be part of every serious backcountry skier's collection.  

So, about $1000 later, I'll be (sort of) ready for the Haute Route.  I hope I get a decent sized tax return this year . . .

Last Weekend

Last weekend was sweet.  Lies was sick on Saturday (I hit it 18 times).  I was skiing alone, so I didn't sample the trees too much (did Darkside Glades, Lower Newt's and Mineshaft/Nugget).  All were good, but I really loved pounding the soft bumps on Lies with my Tele skis.  Here's some pics from that day (all pics are screen shots from my video camera.  My helmet cam works great, but the batteries only last if it's warm.  And this past weekend was decidedly not warm):

High Peaks Chair

Dark Side Glades (first one in!)

Another trail (which shall not be named)

Sunday was good too.  I spent the morning skiing with Marino and Eddie O ("The Mayor?"), and I even skied Top secret and "Paul's Peril" (I always called it "Upper Hippy") with a group including Harvey44.  He left early, though, and we proceded to rock the trees for the rest of the day.  All in all, it was a solid weekend, and I can't wait for more snow (then the trees will be REALLY good).