2012 Montana Conditions, Stoke and Whatev Thread

[skiJ]

fkna buddy



fkna

+1

100%


skiJ

[total_immortal]

And usually these hyped storms are the kind that fizzle while the sleeper days like today continue to delight.

FIFY

Tomorrow will be a dud but the lift lines will be epic. I'll be there to contribute my body as a lift line filler.

This afternoon at the local, non-profit, ski hill the skiing was fantastic and had a country club feeling

[swimmy]

Awesome shot in its simplicity. Anyone who has ever set off from the top of a mountain in milk bottle conditions can feel the vertigo in that shot.

Skiing in those conditions is weird enough. Add to it I was the only one on the entire slope and it felt like I was in another world. It was so quiet and calm...such a unique experience.

This storm looks like it's kinda just skimming by whitefish. Which is lame. 2023 is not impressing me so far.

Bummer, I know we all can empathize.

But hey, here's to hoping.

Really cool shot swimmy. I decided not to pay the tram charge today and just skied trees on the lower mountain.

Thanks! When I didn't see you in line I figured tram was out. It'll happen soon enough.

https://www.explorebigsky.com/the-la...fes-work/47522

Just about everybody who has skied up there a lot has gotten the s*** scared out of them at some point

Thanks for posting. Hadn't seen that and I learned something.

Looks like I found swimmy… good dude!

What are the chances?

We have a good crew rallying at the Big today. I'll look for ya. Chartreuse jacket, big camera.

Tomorrow will be a dud but the lift lines will be epic. I'll be there to contribute my body as a lift line filler.

I've decided to head south again. It feels a little weird...kind of like I'm cheating on my wholesome, all-American girl for a hot a$$ slut.

But I hope you guys have a killer day and can't wait to see some reports.

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

::::boing::::

[BobbyBill]

Thanks for posting this, Myron
https://www.explorebigsky.com/the-la...fes-work/47522

"Just about everybody who has skied up there a lot has gotten the s*** scared out of them at some point"

Great read; honored to know Mike since we grew up skiing together in rural Maine. He is the reason I moved to Bozeman and started at Bridger way back in '94. One of the most soulful, genuine and thoughtful people out there.

[swimmy]

[Bunion 2020]

Mike has done a lot of growing up since then.

The first year the tram went in 95-96 there was 1 guy who was in charge of avalanche forecasting as well as being a patroller. Fortunately he had been on Big Sky patrol since 1982 and knew the mountain like the back of his hand. Unfortunately his boss, the Pat. Dir. was a complete headcase.

I really wanted to be in a Snow Safety Department except that it didn't exist. As said in that interview we had a very forgiving snow pack the 1st year and got away with it. The 2nd year we had a normal Lone Mountain snow pack and a former patroller returned and was given the role of asst. SS Dir. and I was elevated to asst. Patrol Dir. I was not happy but did what had to be done.

On X-mas day 1996 when Erika was killed that guy had failed to show up for work that day, the SS Dir. had a bum knee and could not go on route, another guy flaked out on us and we were short handed and Erika ended up blasting when she should have been sitting backup. She had adequate training but fucked up and I helped wrap her body in a sled tarp and bring her off the hill. I still have some PTSD from that day.

The next day we were all pretty shell shocked, it had kept snowing all night and blowing like hell from the west and we suspended routes the day before when the accident happened. I was on the same route (High Traverse) and was standing at the top of the gullies traverse when Lenin went wall to wall.

As Mike alluded to, we did that route differently in that time period with 2 teams going out together and working separately. In bad visibility that is a recipe for disaster. He and his partner were 1st team and were working their way along the Lenin Roller just above start of the Dictator Chutes when the other team decided to shoot Lenin's little gullies (Otter Slide). Mike and his partner either didn't hear the radio announcement of "fire in the hole" and the location due to the wind or couldn't see the other team so they were moving slowly. When the shot went off it took out everything to near the ground and as far right as the start of Castro's. The 6"+ crown broke right at their feet and both dropped off with the slide but managed to hold their place on the bed surface. It was a case of 1 foot being the difference between life or death.

After that near miss we made some changes to the departments. At my insistence I and the other guy swapped positions and Mike and another guy who now runs the Sawtooth Forecast Center came into a newly created Snow Safety department. We worked together to streamline and improve the way we ran the routes, increased training and prepared for the lawsuits that were to come. They did.

When I left Big Sky in 2001/02 Mike succeeded me as SS Dir. and had some issues dealing with personnel, he then he left the patrol for carpentry and the other guy (Scotty) took the helm. He blew a knee out getting caught in a small avalanche a few years later and had difficulty coming back from the injury and Big Sky dumped him and Mike who had then returned to the patrol re-assumed the SS Dir. role.

That would have been around 2007/08. Since then the BSSP has matured a lot and the SS Dept. has as well. Mike deserves a lot of the credit as do many others including the folks I helped train at Moonlight that went on to join the BSSP. I am proud of what was accomplished at Big Sky but it came with a lot of pain.

[Talisman]

I doubted that WRG was actually going to lead the "pain train" south and be first in the corral today.

[Trackhead]

Bunion,

That story reads similar to the Alpine Meadows avy documentary and the learning process their snow safety program went through.

[yeahman]

Thanks for sharing that bunion.

[Bunion 2020]

Bunion,

That story reads similar to the Alpine Meadows avy documentary and the learning process their snow safety program went through.

Thanks, we were so fortunate that day, there easily could have been a snow-cat and operator at the top of Shedhorn clearing the top terminal or lift ops or Lift Maintenance working of the chair.

Back then the departments didn't communicate worth a damn and we were constantly getting employees moving underneath us when we were doing control. Changing that culture alone was a major
headache.

To counter the anticipated lawsuits, we developed an explosives training program that eventually was adopted by the NSAA (Natl. Ski Areas Assoc.) as a standard for all patrols and through our work along with that of the Patrol Dirs. and SS Dirs. from Alpine Meadows, Snowbrid, Alta, JHMR, Crystal and other Class-A areas it has become an industry standard for explosives handling. With that program the explosives industry made the decision to continue to supply product to ski areas for avalanche control. There was a very real danger of losing that access completely.

When I started the Moonlight Snow Safety program one of the 1st things we did was start sending 3-4 staff members a year to Canada to take CAA L1 and L2 courses until the US began offering a similar set of programs. I ran into a former staff member last Monday just before my misadventure. She was heading to the Tetons later this month for a Pro level class there. Good to see that tradition still lives and maybe she and HMS can bond some, her hubby is a Mag and all around good guy.

[I Skied Bandini Mountain]

Reminds me of a couple years back where a few hundred people (including myself) spent 3+ hours waiting for Bridger chair to open. If this delivers, I'd be surprised if that doesn't happen again and would guess Schlasmans is shut until Sat or Sunday. (not that I'm trying to be negative - it's so great to see the snow coming back)

Slushies closed, parking full, glad I sat this one out.

[Norseman]

Baha, yup

Predictable powder technician hypethink.

and thanks for the tales, bunion

[Iowagriz]

Snowbowl parking full, long line at the base before 9am. Then we all realize there is no power. Lodge and bar get power around 9:30, but lifts had yet to spin at all when I left at 11.

Typical Snowbowl lack of a communication, as I drive down with a group of about 10 cars, there had to be another 30 coming up. Maybe they'll be the lucky ones.

Sent from my SM-T580 using Tapatalk

[kathleenturneroverdrive]

Slushies closed, parking full, glad I sat this one out.

You def made a good call. I think the upper mtn is still closed. I did a couple Bradley’s laps for lack of better alternatives and then bounced.

When I left before noon people were walking up the access road from parking at the entrance, and there must have been a few hundred vehicles on Bridger Canyon still waiting to turn left.

[I Skied Bandini Mountain]

Yah, I had to punch the clock this afternoon so I knew this morning would have been too much crazy town for me.

[toastybroski]

Big sky was a clusterfuck today. Forgot how crowded mountains can get.

Some fun runs were had though.

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

Deep Days brought the deep day. First time skiing with Max in like 15 years!

[Deep Days]

Pretty damn fun straight gangbanging those trees mercilessly w a legit crew today. Damn I have missed that. Here’s to more tomorrow!

OG Mohshishid:









Many thanks to the whole gang for showing me around today ! That challenger lap was :fingerstache:…


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

[S_jenks]

how in the fucking fuck am I out of the state during this time- of all times!?!?

hoping that roads stay good enough on Saturday to make it safely back.

and nicely done on the pics. tasty tasty

[swimmy]

Holy shit that was fun. Haven’t skied bell to bell in a long time. Pics to come later but gonna take me a while to get home. The traffic getting off the mtn is unlike anything I’ve ever seen.

[byates1]

FKNA duders!

[Bunion 2020]

Tomorrow will be insane.

[The AD]

Big sky was a clusterfuck today. Forgot how crowded mountains can get.

Some fun runs were had though.

Yes on both counts. We kept moving around, but somehow the lift lines followed us,

Got pretty dead toward the end of the day though. Can't really complain about the timing of my trip. Frist day was Wednesday and last day is tomorrow. Looks like I'll never get to actually see Lone Peak, but I'll take the fresh snow!

Best snow for us the first couple days was Shedhorn and Dakota. We decided not to even bother with the tram. Getting up there and not being able to see anything didn't seem worth $60 and it sounds like tomorrow is going to get really cold.

[toastybroski]

I got about 4 back to back laps on powder seeker when it opened that was just stupidly fun. Even got to tomahawk for the first time in years since there was no visibility. Then the line caught up to me too.