2012 Montana Conditions, Stoke and Whatev Thread

[Hodgge]

I rode up the lift at BB, I think it was last season, with a local helicopter pilot who echoed the same thing - someone in the Y/C owns a bunch of land in the crazies and they'd been heli skiing. According to him, were trying to make it into a commercial operation, but yeah, not the first place I'd drop a ton of cash to go skiing.

[FringeLife]

Duuuude!



Conditions report from the homebase in the S. Bangtails

[SUPERIOR]

Money can buy a lot of things, a heli skiing operation around here ain't one of them. That Cedar land swap does make some sense.

I worked at a start-up a heli op in Japan with absolutely amazing snow and terrible weather. Anywhere rich folks can congregate and spend money, rich skiing will follow.

[usdatele]

Do u guys think this is athletes foot of the shin? Are these bear tracks? And then maybe a pine marten? Heli skiing in the craycray mtns is gonna be mostly fucked, but will be a willing spectator when it happens... been flown over in the wasatch a couple times already, and the helis didnt make me pissed or jaded. Btw.... report from out there is thin af, even w 2" swe on the shields snowtel last thursday...

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[lifelinksplit]

Pretty sure theres Bobcats at bridger but the griz stick to snowbowl....
Found some barefoot hippie tracks yesterday. And Dr Nest n friends in the western crazies!

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Love that zone. Super unique perspective under the rock on that couloir. the shorty that is melted out across the way next to the rock fin is a nice short follow up as well. Thanks for the stoke!

[I Skied Bandini Mountain]

LOL, you don't want a IKON pass you don't get pole position parking.

Fuck right off Boyne.

[I Skied Bandini Mountain]

Let's see, lace out the $700 Ikon pass, the buddy tix and the pole position parking and you can save (scribble scribble, carry the 2, scribble scribble) two hundred dollars.

Yep, bite the pillow it's coming in hard and dry.

[yeahman]

The double black pass with loyalty pricing is a decent deal, but not enough to make me change my plan to get the Flex 5 for the family and spend the rest of the winter skiing the Mom 'n Pops.

[usdatele]

Love that zone. Super unique perspective under the rock on that couloir. the shorty that is melted out across the way next to the rock fin is a nice short follow up as well. Thanks for the stoke!

Ya! I always use that one to boot to the ridge, quick and direct, although the steep trees underneath can be a bit of a biatch.

200 bones can buy you a set of touring bindings, an ounce of kush, or 50 of these-


Mo Stoke from the North Moonlight Slackcountry


A local told me its called the "Alluvial Face"
Then a Storm moved in and we sat around on a cold ridgeline for 45 minutes waiting for it to either clear, or start thunder powing. Neither happened so we toured out through Bitch Seat Basin.

Next Day did a Gallatin to Wilson Tour.....



Summit Sardines!

4pm corn on the Wilson..

That Feb slide really cleaned those pesky shrubs and 20 yo trees out!


Pretty combat getting through the box canyon and back to the cross country trail...

With cold snow, we were able to stay high and right, and did a skating traverse to avoid going all the way down to where Hell Roaring and the Wilson Creek meet. Prolly saved us an hour er so. The trees weren't too thick down there, and it was all in all a really dope tour- and not much further than doing a Gallatin out and back.

[lifelinksplit]

Oh shit, I was thinking of the even shorter(but sportier climb) further down from that fin. We always boot up the one you have pictured as well, seems the wind usually does a number on the upper section before gaining ridge and yeah those steep trees before that can really be annoying at times.

Solid work on the gallatin to wilson!!

[Bunion 2020]

Let's see, lace out the $700 Ikon pass, the buddy tix and the pole position parking and you can save (scribble scribble, carry the 2, scribble scribble) two hundred dollars.

Yep, bite the pillow it's coming in hard and dry.

In reality the 2x Black isn't that bad a deal and better than what I would have expected from Boyne. I still cannot see how they plan to operate the Tram.

Fuck them I am buying a mid-week BB pass.

[Hodgge]

I still cannot see how they plan to operate the Tram.

or how any ski area will be able to open lodges for food service. I don't like going in the lodge around lunch time even without COVID.

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

Kind of random, but do any of the SWMT/Bozeman mags know of an accountant with any experience in forensic accounting? PM please if so. Thanks.

[Talisman]

I still cannot see how they plan to operate the Tram.

N-95 masks? Not sure the tram is any worse than the bubble chairs.

[Bunion 2020]

I figured they would disable the bubbles in the up position. But who knows.

The way this is playing out there could be a lot of skinning and little lift riding.

[Talisman]

The way this is playing out there could be a lot of skinning and little lift riding.

It would do our hearts good to skin more and ride less. More eye candy for the YC cougars...

[yeahman]

I'm guessing the tram will operate half capacity. Buffs required. No one allowed who is sick/coughing/sneezing, and they might actually have somebody asking about that at the gate. Maybe plexi-glass dividers between people in the tram car with everybody facing the window away from each other. Windows all the way open every day, of course. From what I've read of how this virus spreads, the risk of transmission would be very low if they took these precautions. No way they are continuing to cram 15 strangers in there breathing on each other.

Same for the chairlifts, I don't think they will load strangers together. Either family units, groups of friends, or singles. The likely drop in crowds should help facilitate this type of loading.

The lodge...best case scenario would be half as many tables or less. They should add outdoor dining options in the courtyard and try to encourage people to eat outdoors.

I dunno, it's all pretty fucked up but I think ski resorts can operate relatively safely if they put in the effort. There seems to be increasing consensus that risk of transmission outdoors, during brief encounters, is very low, so that's a good thing.

[anotherVTskibum]

The lodge...best case scenario would be half as many tables or less. They should add outdoor dining options in the courtyard and try to encourage people to eat outdoors.

I dunno, it's all pretty fucked up but I think ski resorts can operate relatively safely if they put in the effort. There seems to be increasing consensus that risk of transmission outdoors, during brief encounters, is very low, so that's a good thing.

Lodges are the biggest issue, IMO, at least from a theoretical standpoint. On a nice day, lower capacity, encouraging outside breaks, etc., would go a long way, but when it's a high of -10 F and the wind is blowing, eating outside doesn't seem like such a great option, and you probably don't want to trade decreased viral risk for increased frostbite.

The other kicker is the "if they put in the effort"—I have no doubt that management is taking this very, very seriously. But convincing a minimum-wage-collecting 18-year-old to do the same is another ball of wax, and I'm glad I'm not in charge of that effort, especially in an industry where accepting risk is part of the culture.

[Hodgge]

Agreed on all counts.

I'm no business wiz, but if I were in charge of a ski area, I'd definitely be weighing whether or not to invest in staffing up, purchasing supplies, etc for this coming season given, at best, revenue will likely be down and, at worst, it could just be a total loss. I suppose the bigger resorts have more cash to gamble with, but I would think the smaller areas may choose just not to open. Also, it would seem shitty to hire a bunch of people and potentially give them false hope.

[yeahman]

Not sure what you mean by smaller resorts, but I think small, local ski areas that make a decent amount of their money off daily ticket sales will definitely be open, with or without an open lodge. With people disinclined to travel, not to mention the wounded economy, local hills will benefit IMO.

I think the big destination resorts have significantly larger hurdles to overcome, so I could see them taking a year off rather than deal with the necessary infrastructure changes. Problem with that approach is there's no knowing how long this virus remains a risk, or god forbid the next pandemic after that, so might as well figure out how to deal with it and still try to make money.

[anotherVTskibum]

Not sure what you mean by smaller resorts, but I think small, local ski areas that make a decent amount of their money off daily ticket sales will definitely be open, with or without an open lodge. With people disinclined to travel, not to mention the wounded economy, local hills will benefit IMO.

I think the big destination resorts have significantly larger hurdles to overcome, so I could see them taking a year off rather than deal with the necessary infrastructure changes. Problem with that approach is there's no knowing how long this virus remains a risk, or god forbid the next pandemic after that, so might as well figure out how to deal with it and still try to make money.

I don't see it being at all likely that bigger resorts will throw in the towel on the season. Regardless of how we may feel about any particular decision the holding companies make, most of them know the business pretty damn well (or they don't exist for very long), and they're working on figuring out the details now, even knowing that things will be a moving target.

The SAM (Ski Area Management) podcasts provide some interesting insight, and I've also found the musings of the Wintry Mix Podcast to be interesting; anyone who claims they know exactly what will happen this fall/winter is full of crap, because if their crystal ball was that good, they'd be sitting on a socially isolated beach or mountaintop somewhere, funded by the ludicrous money they made shorting the market earlier this year.

[Bunion 2020]

RE: the Tram, riding will be one issue, just managing the line will be as difficult.

I wrote this a page or so back. If a resort cannot open in 20/21 they face a very real risk of losing their entire mountain operations team. 70-90% are seasonal workers who will find something else to do to feed themselves and many will not return. For areas will an avalanche control program that loss of experience would be devastating.

And for the patrol to have to respond to every medical incident with full PPE???

I already e-mailed Big Sky telling them, thanks for all the fish, I am going to figure out another option for this season.

Like Yeahman, I plan to spend my $$$ on the smaller areas and spend more time skiing uphill. Probably throw for a BB Midweek and a Flex 5.

Right now is probably a scary time to have any sort of management job in leisure based companies.

[Talisman]

And for the patrol to have to respond to every medical incident with full PPE???

My bride recently was first to assist a person who slipped off of a hiking trail, tumbled down a steep embankment and broke their ankle (in multiple places it turned out). Fortunately the spot wasn't far from an access point by road. The EMTs who arrived had no PPE beyond nitrile gloves and when asked about it "we are saving the PPE for calls in nursing homes and houses when people are sick." I am not sure how this translates to ski patrol responses in PPE.

[Hodgge]

Not sure what you mean by smaller resorts, but I think small, local ski areas that make a decent amount of their money off daily ticket sales will definitely be open, with or without an open lodge. With people disinclined to travel, not to mention the wounded economy, local hills will benefit IMO.

I'd call smaller around here anything not owned by some big outside company....so I guess everything other than Big Sky? No doubt they make a lot of money on day tickets, but guarantee they also have less room to loose money and bounce back from it. A mid-season stay at home order that shuts everything down could be catastrophic. Plus, with all the unemployment, are people going to be dropping cash on day tickets to go skiing? I guess we will wait and see....

[Bunion 2020]

My bride recently was first to assist a person who slipped off of a hiking trail, tumbled down a steep embankment and broke their ankle (in multiple places it turned out). Fortunately the spot wasn't far from an access point by road. The EMTs who arrived had no PPE beyond nitrile gloves and when asked about it "we are saving the PPE for calls in nursing homes and houses when people are sick." I am not sure how this translates to ski patrol responses in PPE.

Hopefully within 6 months the supply of PPE will be much more robust. Depending on what infection rates are next Thanksgiving, no way in hell would I be touching a patient who could have come from anywhere unless I had proper gear.