2012 Montana Conditions, Stoke and Whatev Thread

[yeahman]

Well shit, sounds like Skeeze and I made the right call to just lap north side Andesite trees all morning. Didn't get much for pics except this quick one of Skeeze, dude pretty much just points 'em and goes. Got over to Challenger when it finally opened, pretty nice up there too. Heard some guy say he waited two hours in line there this morning, no thanks.

[Skeeze]

Good skiing with Yeahman this morning—plenty of powder bumps to be had on Andesite although it wasn’t quite steep enough to really get much speed. Got a nice line on Challenger relatively soon after the lift opened and then a few decent ones on Headwaters. Finished the day lapping deep wind buff on Challenger with no lines.

[swimmy]

Looks like my flight will get in tonight on time.

What’s the play tomorrow? BS or BB?

[Micol]

cant comment on bb, but i can on conditions from wed till tomorrow at bs in southern areas....in shedhorn and dakota areas
(this report may be a given since it is pretty widely known what did not open today...but maybe the benefit to this post is what conditions were like on Wed late in day on south facing terrain)


i tram'd up wed and entered lower south aspects off marx...on marx (and from what i could see passing dictator and lenin there was a lot of scouring up high transitioning into some wind slabs and variable conditions in lower sections and throughout that area...consistent micro releases with sluffing from the wind slabs.

im no authority on all this but i was out Wed mostly in shedhorn and dakota....it was all tracked when i ieft for the most part...but not bumped (except around screaming left)...so since tram, liberty , dakota, shedhorn did not open, that terrain will be holding goods. when i was hunkered down at the rope, there were some bursts of winds blowing from the south that seemed to gust up into the 30's so there is probably some transport that occurred that i could not see in the little gully where i was stuck....

....mtn ops has been grooming directly under dakota..(which i dont like) but if they do not do that tonight...that terrain is super bumpless and with the new snow should be the best bet for mach looney pow laps...if they did groom...bets off, cause it wont be that deep....but like i said everything else was tracked at end of day wed but not super bumped so teh new snow should be nice for lapping...note there are some choke points that had bumps late in the day wed ..but that is pretty limited and short ....


have fun

[Bunion 2020]

Looks like my flight will get in tonight on time.

What’s the play tomorrow? BS or BB?

Looks like a toss up. Webcams show light snow at both areas. Ridge and Lift 9 remained closed at BB, upper lifts except for Challenger and Headwaters remained closed at BS, Headwaters was zone 0 only.

I don't think you can go wrong.

I am heading south and hoping the hordes are tired or partying hard.

[regct]

12345

[ChaseBrooklyn]

Nice day at Big Sky. Is it just me or was the snowfall today about the same as yesterday?

Anyway, looks like the storm for tonight in Big Sky has been downgraded, and that of Jackson has been significantly upgraded. So that’s where I’m heading.

Took these 3 pics as I was heading out, all within the first 10 miles south of Big Sky on 191.

[Harry]

6am: Resort website says 5 inches, but only 1 inch at my place across the street. Temp = +19F.


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[Bunion 2020]

Good thing I am not skiing at your place.

[swimmy]

Fuck, I leave the state for a couple of days and the place goes to shit

[axebiker]

Monte Carlos are the best mountain cars...

Mrs Axe surprised me yesterday - looks like she found some deals at the Ghee, so we’re gonna actually see something bigger than 1000’ vert this year after all! She’s awesome... Last time I was there, we got 4’ of snow in just over 24 hours. That.Was.Fun.

Careful out there boys. Saw another Avy warning was put out this morning.

[FringeLife]

getting to spots

[usdatele]

Here's some pictures for the licariously living. Yesterday was like skiing peanut butter at bridger. Saw lots of the first chair crowd leaving along with myself at 1130. Everyone kept talking about how Wednesday was the best day ever at BB. I'd have to agree, sleeper cold smoke with everything open. I did almost manage to smoke Bobby Billy, my bad. And Qski almost skewered himself on a staub launching Carve My Charm. Monday night, went to Beer Canyon for a dog lap- they were turning the T bar and had just groomed the shit! Super nice guys, pretty much demanded that we take the free ride. Never thought I'd get that opportunity. Blackmore has been bad ass recently. Had 2 days up there last week with no wind and 8-10" of bouncy, spongy pow. The luge is all time right now! And Bobby Billy got a new pair of skis that needed some topsheet tagging.

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[Norseman]

Haha, yes! Thank you.

[Gnar_Shralp406]

Here's some pictures for the licariously living. Yesterday was like skiing peanut butter at bridger. Saw lots of the first chair crowd leaving along with myself at 1130. Everyone kept talking about how Wednesday was the best day ever at BB. I'd have to agree, sleeper cold smoke with everything open. I did almost manage to smoke Bobby Billy, my bad. And Qski almost skewered himself on a staub launching Carve My Charm. Monday night, went to Beer Canyon for a dog lap- they were turning the T bar and had just groomed the shit! Super nice guys, pretty much demanded that we take the free ride. Never thought I'd get that opportunity. Blackmore has been bad ass recently. Had 2 days up there last week with no wind and 8-10" of bouncy, spongy pow. The luge is all time right now! And Bobby Billy got a new pair of skis that needed some topsheet tagging.

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Qski has complicated relationship with trees.

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[I Skied Bandini Mountain]

Billy Bob's skis looked super cool.

Great morning at BB, definitely better snow. Still a pretty heavy pack, and it looks like at least half of BHS and MSU took a snow day, good for them.

Off to work.

[regct]

The rat race was unbearable this morning. 9am lines at swifty were longer than I’ve ever seen. Ram wasn’t turning so skied low dog to t-wolf. Took one lap and called it a day. Cars are parked along every road in the mtn village. Thought I’d give skiing the resort on my days off a try but it’s too overwhelming. Back to the backcountry on weekends.


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[t-the-east]

Here's some pictures for the licariously living.

Sendy! Nice pics

[swimmy]

The rat race was unbearable this morning. 9am lines at swifty were longer than I’ve ever seen.

My buddy just sent me a pic. Wow. I'll see if I can load it up.

Fun little morning at Bridger. Ran into Bobby Bill in the line and had a chat. I'm gonna get on that video before end of season.

Viz was tuff up high but they did get the Ridge opened up. It was worth the nut to butt hike. Got into Bridger Gully and surprisingly it was pretty much untracked. Probably my deepest turns of the season.

Snow started getting a little heavy when I left at 1. This weekend is going to be a zoo.

Black Cocks

[regct]

My buddy just sent me a pic. Wow. I'll see if I can load it up.

Fun little morning at Bridger. Ran into Bobby Bill in the line and had a chat. I'm gonna get on that video before end of season.

Viz was tuff up high but they did get the Ridge opened up. It was worth the nut to butt hike. Got into Bridger Gully and surprisingly it was pretty much untracked. Probably my deepest turns of the season.

Snow started getting a little heavy when I left at 1. This weekend is going to be a zoo.

Black Cocks

excellent!

I got mine yesterday for sure. So I guess the masses can have it. Not bitter about the crowds but I’ve been making an effort to rekindle my passion for skiing and the crowds on the weekends has exacerbated the challenge.


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[kathleenturneroverdrive]

It was worth the nut to butt hike.

Totally agree. Don't think I've ever gone through a 10-minute lineup just to check my beacon before, nor ever had the actual hike take that long (maybe 45 minutes?), but I'm not complaining at all. Everyone was in a great mood and lots of fresh was there for the taking.

[Bunion 2020]

To echo Regcts comments.

I got there early to procure a couple of buddy passes for RTRs friends in town from WA. It was pretty easy and the guy I dealt with was a good Boyne Representative. Thanks Eric.

I dropped the tickets where RTR would pick them up and got dressed, a slope side locker is tits. Headed out and rolled into what looked like fucking Woodstock and the base area.

Huge line up for the Ocho and Swifty. The line from Swifty extended well back to the west but oddly enough the east side corral was empty. It was fucking closed. Hey Big Sky!!! People will patiently stand in a line if there is some order, having the east corral closed created chaos. As I was trying to make a decision the crowd surged to occupy the east corral and some employee was yelling that is was closed and to get back in the west line. What line? It looked like those Black Friday videos of people at Walmart ready to kill each other over a fucking TV.

I made the decision to beat it to Explorer and directly to Challenger. I rolled into Challenger before the hordes and teamed up with a nice couple from Carbondale CO. It was 9:15.


By 9:40 the line looked like this. Shitty selfie doesn't do justice.



Again Big Sky, on big days you need a corral. People were pretty cool and there wasn't much barging.

When the lift opened at 10:00 I did a run down Little Tree and lapped back around. If anything the line was bigger so I headed to Iron Horse for a way to get to Lone Tree. I have to say the lift ops there had their shit together and were grouping people into 4s. No empty chairs. Kudos.

I had teamed up with another ex-MLB patroller who is a ripping skier and was alone. We decided to take the short cut across Elkhorn and skate to Lone Tree rather than brave the bottom of 6-Shooter. The line at Lone Tree was epic and again no direction. It was a very European experience. Brandy and I had no qualms about getting into the spirit so we held our own and rode Lone Tree for a lap down one of the long glades. When we rolled into the bottom of 6-shooter the line was beyond epic. We rode the beginner lift up to the Madison and skied a dubious choice, Black Powder. It was bottomless facets covered in new snow. No bad but short and there we were back at 6-Shooter. One line extended up to Humphries Hollow and the other extended to tower 4. We opted to stand in one and it did move pretty well, the lift ops and ticket checkers were doing everything in their power to load every chair with 6.

Our 5 some was joined by a guy who started to bitch about the crowds. I asked if he was an IKON pass holder. He was not. He was a"local" and spends 3 weeks a winter skiing here and has a 2nd home.

As we got to the gates he started bitching out a lift op about 35 minute wait for a 5 minute run. His back was to me so I was giving him the finger. The lifty could barely keep it together.

It was lunch time so Brandy and I drifted back towards Challenger and the lines had diminished. We rode up and skied a couple more laps. The line blew back up so we decided to go have a look at the Bowl. The skiing to get there was good and we ran into a ex-MLB guy who stuck around to patrol at BS and we shot the shit. Bowl was closed but at least Powderseeker was open. It was getting a lot of use. Brandy bailed so I headed back to the base area and up the Ocho to ski to my locker. There were some further adventures involving wallowing in deep snow and seeing God but they can wait.

Anyway. Big powder days suck. The attitude and the stress are not really worth it. Getting there early isn't worth it. 1st chair is a joke.

Give me a sleeper powder day with 4-6" and shitty vis. any day.

/rant.
.

[WMD]

Anyway. Big powder days suck. The attitude and the stress are not really worth it. Getting there early isn't worth it. 1st chair is a joke.

Give me a sleeper powder day with 4-6" and shitty vis. any day.

/rant.
.

Took my 12 year old to BB today and unlike the more positive BB mags above, I'm going to complain about the crowds. We got there just after 9 and parked in "I" lot. It's a Friday. WTF? Headed straight to PK and the line was crazy. Singles line was way up the hill.


My shitty photo doesn't do it justice.



Did a couple laps there but my kid, who has grown up here, had no patience for waiting in line so we went to Alpine.

No lines and great low angle untracked pow were found there. We wanted steeper lines but had no patience for the crowds and then we had to go.



As we left we noticed the entire parking lot was full. Got back to town only to realize we now live in the Pacific Northwest as It is warm and melting here in early February . . .

Overall I found the day depressing.

Edit to add: all this after I bailed on yesterday because of the crowds. I had set up my day so I could ski for 2 hours but once I saw the crowds, and the delayed opening, I had to bail as it wasn't going to be worth the traffic or lines.

[t-the-east]

First pic with the guy chugging from the flask is great

[lifelinksplit]

Unfortunately that's the new reality and the reason I left. Wanted to be a glass half full type but hey I'm one less person clogging those lift lines(of which were non existent at the new hill yesterday and today). My buddy sent a pic of the ikonic lines at big sky today, holee shit!