WOOT WOOT! Nukin' in Missoula

[stuckathuntermtn]

It'll be terrible tomorrow, no one go.

[S_jenks]

So the morning report was a bit underwhelming at first- until I skied it. It was enough of a refresh that we had been needing, and I measured close to 8 inches in the trees after the morning flurries. Snuck in a couple top-to-bottom laps before I had to leave for work, but was very pleased overall.

NOAA is still sticking hard to their forecast, so hopefully we can capitalize on this storm cycle for another night.

On a side note- I got to see how the new chair is changing the morning dynamic. Snow park opened right at 9:30, while Lavelle stayed closed until patrol finished their avvy work. Most of the crowds headed to the new chair, so when the top finally opened there was nobody around. With the right timing, you had the pick of the litter and nobody to contend with.

[RootSkier]

Yeah, it was real fucking good. All praise to the windgroomer gods. Skied right onto Griz and Lavelle every time, too.

Be curious to hear how many people were skiing over on Snowpark. It felt empty on the "old" hill.

Edit: Check-in from the Mrs. who just came down. She said the sun came out (??!!) and it started to get heavy. NOAA is still singing the siren song despite what feels like warming temps and increasing visibility. Based on my success of trash-talking the forecast last night I am calling for an angry inch tomorrow:

[lifelinksplit]

Nothing to see here down at disco... one of these days I'll make it up to snobowl.

[S_jenks]

Lost a ski today, which was a shit ending to a great morning. Got caught up skiing with some randos down Tree Chute, and hit the cliff band skiers left of the exit. Took a good tumble and had one of the skis submarine on me. Ran out of time/energy after looking for >30min, so I one-skied it down Longhorn back to the car. I've got other pairs to sustain me, but those have been my daily driver skis, so I'll be spending next week looking for them when I get back.

Anybody got a metal detector I can borrow for a day?



Stuff that hadn't been skied yesterday was knee-deep today. Ya just had to go looking for it.

[stuckathuntermtn]

daaaaamn. Couldn't make it today. Worked 8pm to 5am after skiing and not enough sleep. That pic is sweet, care to share?
I have also tumbled down because of the weird rocks bottom left of Tree Chute. Somehow didn't lose a ski.

[senior researcher]

Slide the Mayor a $20 ,and tell him about your ski. Put a lost ski note by the bathrooms in the lodge,bar. I would not be surprised if it made it across the Angel face traverse. wagging. woot.

[senior researcher]

The outback----centered, on top of a rock @ the hairpin at days end, also defied physics.

[Rasputin]

The outback----centered, on top of a rock @ the hairpin at days end, also defied physics.

Damn having to go to work, I miss all the good stuff.

[Iowagriz]

Late report from Weds at Discovery. Drove over from Big Sky and rolled into the Disco lodge near 11am, bummer that they wouldn't rent skis to 1 of our party and allow them on the backside. 3 of the 4 of us rolled out to explore. I did nail a sizable rock on Winning Ridge that ripped the ski right off the boot. At least it wasn't to the core. Spent time exploring the backside, mostly on Good and Bad Finger. Coverage was pretty good, could normally see the trouble spots if you are paying attention. Haunted Forest and Spooky Woods were a little worse, maybe because of the heavier traffic on them. Good times, will definitely spend more time there in the future.

Thursday was up to the Bowl. Parking was a cluster, and everyone must have driven up solo as the mountain didn't feel crowded. Snowpark skied well in the trees, surprisingly untracked thru there. We had one of the first runs down West Ridge and it was easily boot top deep. Found the trees to skiers right at the end of Longhorn to be fun (new to me). Found what we used to call the Waterfall (below upper Griz and down that chute). But that wasn't as fun as when I was 25 and had better legs. Outhouse was good, the amount of thinning in the bowls area over the past 20yrs is amazing. Overall a good experience. The snow was getting heavy by the end of the day. I was very tired after 4 solid days of skiing. Just happy that my knees didn't blowup.

[lifelinksplit]

You guys were one day too early for disco been getting around 5in every night since wed. Things have really filled in most places on backside fingers area has been riding the best imo. We did get a some pretty good wind thurs(limelight went on windhold for about an hour) and made for some sensitive pockets of wind slab around catch a wave area. Fri got another refill and things were still skiing great. Took today off but they got another 5in. Wife ran to Drummond this morning and said it looked like quite a bit of Missoula was headed up. Finally feeling like winter around here.

Curious why they wouldn't rent to your buddy?

[RootSkier]

Damn fine again today. The wind gods continue to deliver bigly.

And Iowagriz, you are right about the thinning. I dont remember when the major work happened on West Ridge, but it was a game changer for sure.

[chaka]

is this the defacto thread for NW Montana? Curious what the locals are saying about Whitefish conditions both current and expected for next week. I see current forecast calls for minor precip and staying the good side of 32F. We're heading over your way with a couple other families for a few days of fun. And no, not IKON pass 2nd homers destroying the vibe Choosing between beloved OG ninja Gotamas or Scott Punishers (I think 108 width) for the travel ski. thanks!

[senior researcher]

Lighting strike,fire, on west ridge 10 years ago, then a bunch of work. The shark fin flatting really improved the experience.- Art, not sucking.-Works well with rocks.

[mntlion]

did a maggot from Missoula come ski at Lake Louise this weekend, and have some banff local suggest a few runs on whitehorn2 to him?

[Iowagriz]

Curious why they wouldn't rent to your buddy?

They would only rent for the frontside and groomers only. Didn't want the gear to hit any rocks on the backside. Said they would let him take them, but any damage would quickly hit $100, $200 or more. Any core shots would be ski price, which they then quoted at $1300. That was for demos, then stated they didn't have any regular rentals longer than 165cm. Really odd....

[FreakofSnow]

did a maggot from Missoula come ski at Lake Louise this weekend, and have some banff local suggest a few runs on whitehorn2 to him?

Think that's probably a buddy from work. He and his wife were married up there and not sure how many Missoula folks were in attendance and skiing.

Today was $ at the Bowl. A legit 5" for sure (not so much yesterday). Skied Tree Chute with my 7 year old. Proud papa



Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

[RootSkier]

Hell yeah, mini FOS killin it!

[Rasputin]

Today, The Bowl did not suck.

[toast2266]

is this the defacto thread for NW Montana? Curious what the locals are saying about Whitefish conditions both current and expected for next week. I see current forecast calls for minor precip and staying the good side of 32F. We're heading over your way with a couple other families for a few days of fun. And no, not IKON pass 2nd homers destroying the vibe Choosing between beloved OG ninja Gotamas or Scott Punishers (I think 108 width) for the travel ski. thanks!

Current WF conditions are fine, but not spectacular. Recent storms have mostly trended further south, but it's been breezy so moderate free refills have been in effect. Looks like the weather pattern gets more active towards the end of this week, so fingers crossed that something worthwhile blows in.

[S_jenks]

is this the defacto thread for NW Montana? Curious what the locals are saying about Whitefish conditions both current and expected for next week. I see current forecast calls for minor precip and staying the good side of 32F. We're heading over your way with a couple other families for a few days of fun. And no, not IKON pass 2nd homers destroying the vibe Choosing between beloved OG ninja Gotamas or Scott Punishers (I think 108 width) for the travel ski. thanks!

Was in the flathead this past weekend, and while I wasn't at WF I did ski Blacktail today with the pops. Not as much new snow, but was enough to bury the previous crust and make for some nice turns.



Not bad for 67.

Whitefish was, of course, completely socked in from where we stood across the valley. Agree with toast that the recent storm only grazed them. Area should stay cold enough this week though, so you should be okay regardless.

[chaka]

Was in the flathead this past weekend, and while I wasn't at WF I did ski Blacktail today with the pops. Not as much new snow, but was enough to bury the previous crust and make for some nice turns.



Not bad for 67.

Whitefish was, of course, completely socked in from where we stood across the valley. Agree with toast that the recent storm only grazed them. Area should stay cold enough this week though, so you should be okay regardless.

thank you Toast and S_Jenks. I appreciate the intel. Looks like OG Gotamas for the win. your dad rips S_Jenks! inspiration for us all

[S_jenks]

Went looking for the missing ski today at the bowl. I knew the recent snowfall would be an issue, so I rented a metal detector to help out the search. Not wanting the rental place to know that I was going to stuff in a backpack and go skiing with it, I made up a story about the GF losing her keys while snow plowing.



Getting up top was easy, though I stuck out like a sore thumb.



Skied through tree chute and arrived at the scene of the fall.



And then went searching.



Made long sweeping patterns that fanned out as I got lower and lower. Tested it out at certain depths, and it seemed to work well. Alas- no sign of any ski, despite my slow combing of the area.



At this point, the ski either:

1. Buried itself so well that the detector couldn't pick it up.

2. Shot further down slope and lodged itself in a tree well.

Ah well, looks like I'll have until spring now to retrieve it. At least I was planning to replace them this spring, so I now have an excuse to buy a new pair.

The skiing was really damn good btw

[yeahman]

^^Well, at least you tried. It could have worked out.

Did it get warm/heavy at all in the afternoon? Trying to decide between Snowbowl and Disco for tomorrow...or just work.

[stuckathuntermtn]

Pictures no worky. Might be a TGR forum problem.


Fucking great day today