2012 Montana Conditions, Stoke and Whatev Thread

[yeahman]

I'll be there this weekend with the fam. If we could even get a couple inches out of this weak system that would be nice.

[byates1]

I'll probably be at the gate 850 most mornings. Will look you up

[upallnight]

Been going down the rabbit hole watching some videos of some dude named Bennie in Austria trying to learn what part of the foot to weight during what part of the turn. All of a sudden I’m popping out of my carves with a little air into the next one.

got a link? sounds fun!

[usdatele]

Shredeagle is legitimately the sickest skier on this thread, and I can somewhat be entertained by 4 groomer runs at pig sty. But I'm gonna keep preaching the gospel of bad ass ice skating. Seems like this kind of thing doesnt happen many falls because it snows too much, and we've got smooth, tits conditions currently!

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[Shredeagle]

Upallnight. His Instagram is benniwalch if you want to watch some vids. I couldn’t refind the particular one I was talking about. The cool thing I gathered from watching him is the subtle weight shift onto his heels at the end of the carve. This seems to load up the tails coming out of the carve and gives you a nice pop. You can then use that pop to help set up a different radius for your next turn or just enjoy the pop. He doesn’t do it in all his vids but it’s super recognizable when you find one where he does. This is all coming from a guy who only has sharp skis when they are new and was embarrassed to be seen on groomers for years. So apologies to anyone who actually understands this stuff.

Thanks for the unnecessary flattery usdatele, especially from such an accomplished skier as yourself. But I’m only the third sickest skier in my own home these days. I’d be tempted to try some skating if I had some skates.

I should be up skiing the next three days. I don’t typically make it for byates hours but maybe try and get up early one day and make some turns with you all one morning.


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[yeahman]

Just saw that the Holiday Inn in West Yellowstone is closed for renovations this winter. That was my go-to for cheap lodging during high season.

Fortunately I have a friend who has offered me use of his spare bedroom in his condo. Only problem with that arrangement is I end up drinking way too much.

[byates1]

Stay up all night drinking Jack and torquing rails, straight to the lift without a wink of sleep.

[Bunion 2020]

I have to say, the coverage on the open terrain was good and the sliding was fun. Good peeps and a nice although cool day made the trek down worthwhile.
OTOH, some chick on Mr. K threw a sudden turn in front of one of us and very nearly got her ass run over. Fortunately he was going slow and able to avoid her but many others on Mr. K and Ambush were skiing all out Mach Chicken.

[romeo tango]

.... torquing rails ....

haven't heard that one since I left AK

.

[Bunion 2020]

Almost forgot. Looks like an excavator operator with big balls cut a real LRT traverse in from the lower gate on Morning Star to Buttress Gully. That should improve access from the Challenger pod to the Bowl, for better or worse.

[yeahman]

^^cool, I saw them working on that this summer. I wonder if they also cut a traverse from the Headwaters around to the Gum Wall, as was rumored.

[Bunion 2020]

No one cares about the Gum Wall.

[Shredeagle]

Byates. We are expecting first tracks down ambush and at least 20 slarvy faceshots out of you this morning!!


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[yeahman]

No one cares about the Gum Wall.

I'm surprised I had to wait so long for that.

Powder day! Lol. Hope to see some of you kooks out there.

[byates1]

An inch or two. Makes it look less lean

[Bunion 2020]

Really Big claiming 2.5" Lobo says the same. A couple inches should really improve things. Probably headed down again on Monday, have fun.

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

Almost forgot. Looks like an excavator operator with big balls cut a real LRT traverse in from the lower gate on Morning Star to Buttress Gully. That should improve access from the Challenger pod to the Bowl, for better or worse.

Saw a crew of orange shirts up there quite a bit this summer. Almost like they were cutting it all by hand?!? Never had binos on me to see what was really going on.



Also, I messed up and we didnt cut our tree before 12/1 and I realized most of the good FS gates are now closed. Oops. Anybody want to PM me some intel on a place to go without a gate? Understandable if people don't want to share their tree "stash". Shame with so little snow you could really drive deep this year.

[Bunion 2020]

Wow, if they dug that by hand it was a feat of sheer convict labor.

Check your PMs

[Talisman]

Word is the next terrain expansion at Big Scree will be Elk Park Ridge next Saturday if the control issues on Thunder Wolf are resolved. Closer view of EPR than from the Spur Road.



Marlboro Country needs a little more snow:

[elesquiador]

Patroller I rode Swifty with today told me they finished load testing the tram last week, and it's set to open as scheduled. Looking unlikely that we'll be skiing from the summit then, of course. He said they're planning to operate the new tram with 3 separate lines for guided, scenic, and general public, with up to a 3rd of the car from each line. Who knows what that means in practice-I can't imagine 20 guided skiers on each tram, but it is clear they're going to continue to jump the line. Also said the current plan is to limit it to 65 people per car (capacity is 75).

I also heard the Elk Park Ridge next weekend rumor.

Small terrain park opened on Explorer this morning, much to the delight of my kiddo. It was snowing pretty hard when we left at about 1. Skiing is fun!



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[Bunion 2020]

Lots of ins and outs to consider.
Buddy from BSSP called asking about some barely remembered procedures from 10 years ago. He said the LRT traverse started out as a "hand job" but progress was slow and a talented ex operator and a Mini were available so he (Jed D) cut it in.

As far as he knows, no Gum Wall traverse yet. He said there are lots of questions about traffic flow to the tram loading area. What with all the traffic from the bowl and A-Zs/Challenger, upper morning star along with traffic returning from Lenin and Marx and from Swifty, and the traffic passing through to everywhere else its going to be a busy place with a of different speeds and directions of travel.

We were watching the Tram being run and it appears that the cabins have independent drives and can operate separately, very space age compared to the old tram.

[yeahman]

Nice to see shredeagle today, made me think about that memorable powder day we shared last spring. That was awesome man!

Skiing got pretty good toward the end of the day today as it kept snowing. Fun to be back at the Big.

[Trackhead]

Also said the current plan is to limit it to 65 people per car (capacity is 75).

What was capacity of previous tram?

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

What was capacity of previous tram?

15

[swimmy]

Cool light this evening.



Heading down to Big Sky tomorrow. Maybe I'll see some of y'all out there...