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  1. #18501
    Join Date
    Dec 2016
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    In a van... down by the river
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    13,653
    Quote Originally Posted by swimmy View Post
    Grabbed first bucket this morning. Tough viz and I kind of skied it like shit. But the top of Liberty was deep.

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  2. #18502
    Join Date
    Dec 2004
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    Where the sheets have no stains
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    22,069
    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.
    I have been in this State for 30 years and I am willing to admit that I am part of the problem.

    "Happiest years of my life were earning < $8.00 and hour, collecting unemployment every spring and fall, no car, no debt and no responsibilities. 1984-1990 Park City UT"

  3. #18503
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Hell Track
    Posts
    13,845
    Quote Originally Posted by swimmy View Post
    Grabbed first bucket this morning. Tough viz and I kind of skied it like shit. But the top of Liberty was deep.

    Daaaaamn.

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

  4. #18504
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
    Last Best City in the Last Best Place
    Posts
    7,270
    Really cool shot swimmy. I decided not to pay the tram charge today and just skied trees on the lower mountain. Open areas seemed pretty wind affected. Around noon I went down to Dakota and I guess the word was out because there was a looooong line backed up the cat track. I just turned around and hiked up out of there and went back to Shedhorn. Kinda sucked they didn't get Thunderwolf operating until afternoon when I was getting ready to leave. I bet there were (and possibly still are) some great stashes in there.

  5. #18505
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Posts
    8
    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

  6. #18506
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    Saaaan Diaago
    Posts
    3,488
    Looks like I found swimmy… good dude! Thx for snapping pics brother.

    I found the vertigo too. Honestly on first tram there were points when I wasn’t totally sure if I was moving or not. But ya, as depicted, it was deep and face shot City.

    Pretty much everywhere was good today. I was pretty pleased as a newby w the ground I covered. One disorienting tram lap was enough, then 3 laps on Dakota (lift line was actually quite smooth and even at 11am Bavarian fairly untouched), 2 on shedhorn (main bowl off skiers right from the top was pretty well buffed), 3 on challenger (sharky and crusty at the top but creamy and nice albeit not super deep down low), 2 I think on thunder wolf (same story), and ran out of time to get to lone tree from six shooter, but it looked really really nice. Visibility was far and away best on Dakota, shedhorn, and andesite, but even bottom half of challenger was really not bad. Deepest in the bowl of course and skied very slightly skied-out most everywhere else but goddamn I can’t complain.

    I like Montana…

    And indeed J, my boy turned 2 in sept, and I believe if you look up Gangster on Wikipedia, this photo from Massachusetts comes up now.
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    My wife texted me a few min ago w his comment after seeing that delightful photo swimmy took: “helmets are for skee-en Mama!” He’s going to be such a badass. 🤣

    Tomorrow should be rad. Look for the orange helmet and dirty orange pants…




    Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums
    "I said flotation is groovy"
    -Jimi Hendrix

    "Just... ski down there and jump offa somethin' for cryin' out loud!!!"
    -The Coolest Guy to have Ever Lived

  7. #18507
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Big Sky/Moonlight Basin
    Posts
    14,416
    Quote Originally Posted by swimmy View Post
    Grabbed first bucket this morning. Tough viz and I kind of skied it like shit. But the top of Liberty was deep.

    Holy shit.
    "Zee damn fat skis are ruining zee piste !" -Oscar Schevlin

    "Hike up your skirt and grow a dick you fucking crybaby" -what Bunion said to Harry at the top of The Headwaters

  8. #18508
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
    Location
    the Low Sierra
    Posts
    17,818
    Quote Originally Posted by Deep Days View Post
    Looks like I found swimmy… good dude! Thx for snapping pics brother.

    I found the vertigo too. Honestly on first tram there were points when I wasn’t totally sure if I was moving or not. But ya, as depicted, it was deep and face shot City.

    Pretty much everywhere was good today. I was pretty pleased as a newby w the ground I covered. One disorienting tram lap was enough, then 3 laps on Dakota (lift line was actually quite smooth and even at 11am Bavarian fairly untouched), 2 on shedhorn (main bowl off skiers right from the top was pretty well buffed), 3 on challenger (sharky and crusty at the top but creamy and nice albeit not super deep down low), 2 I think on thunder wolf (same story), and ran out of time to get to lone tree from six shooter, but it looked really really nice. Visibility was far and away best on Dakota, shedhorn, and andesite, but even bottom half of challenger was really not bad. Deepest in the bowl of course and skied very slightly skied-out most everywhere else but goddamn I can’t complain.

    I like Montana…

    And indeed J, my boy turned 2 in sept, and I believe if you look up Gangster on Wikipedia, this photo from Massachusetts comes up now.
    Click image for larger version. 

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    My wife texted me a few min ago w his comment after seeing that delightful photo swimmy took: “helmets are for skee-en Mama!” He’s going to be such a badass. 🤣

    Tomorrow should be rad. Look for the orange helmet and dirty orange pants…




    Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums
    fkna buddy



    fkna
    I didn't believe in reincarnation when I was your age either.

  9. #18509
    Join Date
    Dec 2014
    Location
    BZN
    Posts
    1,379
    Quote Originally Posted by Buzzworthy View Post
    A buddy of mine’s son is in Bozeman for school and his girlfriend is scheduled to fly in about noontime Friday. Dad is thinking about contingents if things go nuclear and asked me to hit you guys up.

    What are your expert opinions about her making it in then? Is there even a shot with this storm? I’ve never flown in there, only have driven.

    TIA!
    Weather doesn't stop flights from arriving at BZN unless there's a fog layer sitting over the field and nowhere else. Happens once in a while, but tomorrow won't be that day. His special lady will get into town just fine.

    Source: it's part of my job.

    Quote Originally Posted by Deep Days View Post
    And indeed J, my boy turned 2 in sept, and I believe if you look up Gangster on Wikipedia, this photo from Massachusetts comes up now.
    Click image for larger version. 

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    My wife texted me a few min ago w his comment after seeing that delightful photo swimmy took: “helmets are for skee-en Mama!” He’s going to be such a badass.
    Dads of TGR unite! How many days does the little man have on skis? He doesn't look at all troubled to be in hard boots.
    People here are typically assholes (it's part of the charm) - dan_pdx

  10. #18510
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Posts
    2,748
    Quote Originally Posted by ~mikey b View Post
    fkna buddy



    fkna
    +1

    100%


    skiJ

  11. #18511
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Posts
    557
    Quote Originally Posted by Bunion 2020 View Post
    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

  12. #18512
    Join Date
    Dec 2019
    Posts
    1,282
    Quote Originally Posted by Bunion 2020 View Post
    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.

    Quote Originally Posted by toast2266 View Post
    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.

    Quote Originally Posted by yeahman View Post
    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.

    Quote Originally Posted by Myron View Post
    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.

    Quote Originally Posted by Deep Days View Post
    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.

    Quote Originally Posted by total_immortal View Post
    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.

  13. #18513
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    On a genuine ol' fashioned authentic steam powered aereoplane
    Posts
    16,804

  14. #18514
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    BoZone
    Posts
    592
    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.
    Buy the ticket...take the ride.

  15. #18515
    Join Date
    Dec 2019
    Posts
    1,282

  16. #18516
    Join Date
    Dec 2004
    Location
    Where the sheets have no stains
    Posts
    22,069
    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.
    I have been in this State for 30 years and I am willing to admit that I am part of the problem.

    "Happiest years of my life were earning < $8.00 and hour, collecting unemployment every spring and fall, no car, no debt and no responsibilities. 1984-1990 Park City UT"

  17. #18517
    Join Date
    Jan 2018
    Location
    Gallatin County
    Posts
    1,556
    I doubted that WRG was actually going to lead the "pain train" south and be first in the corral today.
    Quote Originally Posted by swimmy View Post

  18. #18518
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    Was UT, AK, now MT
    Posts
    13,499
    Bunion,

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

  19. #18519
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
    Last Best City in the Last Best Place
    Posts
    7,270
    Thanks for sharing that bunion.

  20. #18520
    Join Date
    Dec 2004
    Location
    Where the sheets have no stains
    Posts
    22,069
    Quote Originally Posted by Trackhead View Post
    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 have been in this State for 30 years and I am willing to admit that I am part of the problem.

    "Happiest years of my life were earning < $8.00 and hour, collecting unemployment every spring and fall, no car, no debt and no responsibilities. 1984-1990 Park City UT"

  21. #18521
    Join Date
    Jan 2019
    Location
    59715
    Posts
    7,447
    Quote Originally Posted by kathleenturneroverdrive View Post
    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)
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    Slushies closed, parking full, glad I sat this one out.

  22. #18522
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Location
    PNW -> MSO
    Posts
    7,889
    Baha, yup

    Predictable powder technician hypethink.

    and thanks for the tales, bunion

  23. #18523
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Posts
    1,685
    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

  24. #18524
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Posts
    1,488
    Quote Originally Posted by I Skied Bandini Mountain View Post
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    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.

  25. #18525
    Join Date
    Jan 2019
    Location
    59715
    Posts
    7,447
    Yah, I had to punch the clock this afternoon so I knew this morning would have been too much crazy town for me.

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