Results 101 to 115 of 115
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03-30-2011, 08:48 PM #101
huckwheat, thanks for posting all the pict.s, and thanks for the email!
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03-30-2011, 09:00 PM #102Registered User
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- Jan 2011
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- 272
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04-04-2012, 03:41 PM #103
Bumping this with Gopher's write up......thought it was great.
http://unofficialnetworks.com/chimne...#comment-58394
The Chimney is a generator of fear within the few skiers who have the knowledge to attempt it. At no time do you feel entirely confident that you will emerge unscathed. The unknown element perpetually exists; tapping your temporal lobe. Standing on top of the Chimney, you look directly into that unknown.
How big is the initial cornice air in? How hard will the chute be? How fast will I be going off the second take off? Will I keep it together in the air? How IS that landing today? The run out…should I just point it or try to make turns?
These questions swim and froth and crawl over one another inside your brains as you stand atop looking down into what will soon be the most intense moment of your season. When confidence in the conditions quells the question’s agitation, a calmness arrives.
It’s within this window of tranquility that you make you decision. A deep breath. Another. An excitement builds as the adrenal glads receive stimulation and the heart rate accelerates. It’s now. Your life is now. A fire builds inside and overflows as a savage yell and a hard clanking of ski poles.
This is where you have to be to drop in. Once you’ve gotten there, it’s over. You’ve made your decision to enter and the following incoming sensory information is never processed.
The initial cornice air never happens. The chute’s hardness goes undetected. Your speed upon the second take off isn’t registered. Your position in the air is unimportant. The landing’s condition is nebulous. You only come to once you are bounding down the runout.
At the bottom, you look up and see tracks. A moment is spent delving thru your brain in search of a memory that matches the observed marks in the snow. You won’t find it. You’ll just find an external smile and a comfortable feeling of accomplishment.Donjoy to the World!
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04-04-2012, 04:54 PM #104Registered User
- Join Date
- Apr 2006
- Location
- Tahoe City
- Posts
- 722
awesome write up, I backed out of it last week and it's been haunting me, a little.
Like I told my last wife, I never drive faster than I can see, besides it's all in the reflexes.
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04-04-2012, 08:05 PM #105Torn Edge
- Join Date
- Dec 2007
- Location
- Tahoe
- Posts
- 92
oldest, a dubious distinction
I was up there in 2006 when Kevin (jolly, pink faced big wall climber ripper skier in his 50s) was greeting everyone and drumming up a real party spirit. He asked my age and declared that I was the oldest (58) to ski it. In any case, a dubious distinction. there is a picture of the run thanks to Jim B.
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04-04-2012, 10:38 PM #106
NICE!
was checking this on unofficial and that last two paragraphs is pretty right on with how i remember my experience the first time in chimney. "another please" is what i told my patroller buddy, after a full five minutes on top of said cornice deliberating with my nutsack. Anywho-wife started looking over my shoulder and i explained my nostalgia, showed her a POV. she told me i was crazy and that under no circumstances am i to encourage my kids to do shit like that. i told her that is just not possible. HA!one step forward, no step backward
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04-05-2012, 09:16 AM #107
Ha, good point.....yes someone has to dig very deep and make a decision like that on their own.
I have kids now too (1 and 4, boys). It makes us think different about Squaw skiing (for the kids).....I want the boys to learn to love skiing, but there shouldnt be pressure to be "rad"......when i was in high school a heli in the bumps was a big thing, not the fingers. I was in college before I started legitimately dangerous stuff.
The kids make me think different about Chimney now too (or maybe I am just old (mentally))......in recent years I am pretty happy running the tube, or a little air into extra.....I usually look at chimney and remince a minute and keep going.Donjoy to the World!
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04-05-2012, 02:59 PM #108
You're smart.
Every man dies. Not every man lives.
You don’t stop playing because you grow old; you grow old because you stop playing.
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04-09-2014, 10:22 PM #109
Well, despite the meager 2014 Ski Season, mother nature finally gave one worthy Palisades day.
April 2!!
And on April 4 a few guys pulled off the Chimney Sweep!
Donjoy to the World!
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04-09-2015, 11:20 AM #110
April 8, 2015
Interesting Palisades day in this pathetic snow year.
--Without Headwall running (due to low snow at the bottom), Reverse Traverse was open.....preventing Palisades from opening.
--Finally at 2PM Patrol closed R.T. and opened Palisades.
--Due to multiple wicked traverse lines, you had to point your lines and then quickly shed speed before traverse tracks.
--The lines were steep (Extra) and big (Box), due to low snow.....that made it fun.
Last edited by Huckwheat; 04-09-2015 at 11:45 AM.
Donjoy to the World!
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04-09-2015, 02:12 PM #111Registered User
- Join Date
- Apr 2006
- Location
- SF & the Ho
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- 9,373
Some very spicy and steep lines. Was impressed that chimney was claimed w the thin snow year.
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04-09-2015, 10:26 PM #112
PSA - I fixed all the broken photos links in the first post.....going back to 2005, wow.
Donjoy to the World!
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04-10-2015, 11:19 AM #113
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04-10-2015, 01:45 PM #114
Love when this thread pops up. Thanks Huckwheat.
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04-10-2015, 11:50 PM #115
Fantastic pics, thanks.
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