Mushroom Bowl, Vail

[Tippster]

...Long story short, I believe we drank margaritas for many hours at the little bar in Minturn ...

The Minturn Saloon. Good Mex. Food, too.

Word on Mushroom bowl: You do NOT want to miss the track out. Look for all tracks converging skier's right. If you go too far you're slogging through some serious heavy shit through brush to get back to Gold Peak/Highline.

[MakersTeleMark]

Skinning up to Benchmark then dropping into Mushroom is considered part of the Commmando Run. However, people also drop right down into Outer Mongolia and take Silk Road (Two Elk drainage) and ride China or Teacup out. Regardless, it is a super fun tour. I have also ridden it once in the summer. It is a sick ride. You can take the Two Elk drainage right out into Minturn.

Two weeks ago I started on Vail Pass and toured Commando (Vail Pass - Shrine Pass- Bowman's Shortcut - Two Elk Pass - Siberia Peak - Mushroom Bowl).

You can either:
- hit two elk pass and climb siberia (red) either dropping down mushroom bowl (with or w/o connecting with Mill Creek Rd.) or just drop down anywhere off of 21;
- spur off to Pete's Bowl before dropping down to two elk pass;
- follow the two elk drainage to chair 5 and beyond;

I hit the top of Blue Sky, did a few laps, then hit the Mile down to Minturn.

Last weekend I started in Minturn, toured up the tracks, up the two elk drainage and did some laps off of 5 and took the Mile back to Minturn. Really nice tour, and from breaking trail it looked like no one has been up the drainage this winter yet except for a mountain lion and one very recently mutilated elk or mulie.

Have fun exploring, and if your ever in the Saloon, look for a guy wearing superman bibs or railroad overalls.

[BurnHard]

Bumping this gem of a thread for YOU DUMB FUCKING DILDOS!

I wanna see a Mogadishu vs. Blurred ski-off!!!

[Blurred]

Bumping this gem of a thread for YOU DUMB FUCKING DILDOS!

I wanna see a Mogadishu vs. Blurred ski-off!!!

How are going to see anything with your eyes swollen shut?

[Interwebzshowboat]

A ski off would mean that Phishshow would have to remove his lips from B11's ass...not sure that could be done

[bitchbitch]

Vail rocks!

[marshalolson]

funny how phish actually turned out to be that big of a fool in person, but we let him tag along anyhow.

just sucks always having to wiat for him

[MakersTeleMark]

Posted this in the slide room, but since there is a somewhat relevant thread, maybe it will garner more eyes here. Not really an aspect that slides as often over there:

Anyone know anymore about this?:

The only report of avalanche activity came in from the East Vail area. A skier triggered slide that ran close to 1000' on a west, northwest aspect at treeline. The fracture line was just over three feet deep.

[Blurred]

Posted this in the slide room, but since there is a somewhat relevant thread, maybe it will garner more eyes here. Not really an aspect that slides as often over there:

Anyone know anymore about this?:

Some guy in the lot said Benchmark went......have been skiing other places in the area I don't want to mention here, but saw a few idiots drop into there without gear 2 days ago.

[PowTron]

have been skiing other places in the area I don't want to mention here

When ARE we going to see that sweet Buttermilk TR you promised, by the way?

[shera]

Phish is totally cool to ski with.

Ohman it was warm today, I'm not suprised something slid. Same deal tomorrow. Personally I would stick to north aspects.

[televback1]

anyone ski mushroom today?

[mankybrah]

Liftie top of 22 counted around 100 peeps headed up the stair case with packs on today. Tons of tracks in the chutes. The slide reported in E vail to the CAIC was in Big horn. One drainage west of water tank (or whatever the "new" generation wants to call it). It ran 1000' vertical with a 3' crown. Surface hoar??? JONG out and back to drinking.

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

Heh, nice bump burnhardo.


Anyone skiing tomorrow?

[Blurred]

Liftie top of 22 counted around 100 peeps headed up the stair case with packs on today. Tons of tracks in the chutes. The slide reported in E vail to the CAIC was in Big horn. One drainage west of water tank (or whatever the "new" generation wants to call it). It ran 1000' vertical with a 3' crown. Surface hoar??? JONG out and back to drinking.

Interesting.......was skiing there 2 days ago. Skier triggered?
Backed a group of 8 off that last week after digging a pit and deciding it was too sketchy.....

[mankybrah]

Interesting.......was skiing there 2 days ago. Skier triggered?
Backed a group of 8 off that last week after digging a pit and deciding it was too sketchy.....




It was reported by the intern at the CAIC. Their thinking that it was skier triggered. Looking as if their were three skiers in the party. No one caught nor injured. WNW aspect. I don't feel as though their is a WNW aspect in big horn. The hazard is calming down with the warmer temps in the chutes, but look what happened a few weeks ago when it got spring like. Timberfalls slide. Their are so many different small aspect changes in that their terrain. I will not be surprised if something slides below an east facing cliff band in the next few days. A lot of peeps are taking a ton of risks this winter of their (Center punching Old man's, CDC and west marv's).

[vailcat]

As to blurreds ? On why we groom benchmark. Ski patrol wants it groomed and that way if there is a rescue or recovery a cat can be brought up to help get the person out. Just makes it easier for everyone.

Burt one of the guys who has been here forever had a body ride shotgun with him down from there I believe twice now. Talk about a quiet drive off the hill.

[mr_gyptian]

that's silly. a cat would take hours to get someone out of there.

[jwproulx]

The stupidity of youth:

Winter 1997, my first in Colorado, when I was 18 and knew about nothing about avalanches, several years before BSB opened, I was looking for decent snow at Vail on a late February day (after warm weather) with about 6 inches of the lightest snow I'd ever skied. Of course, the Back Bowls were aweful -- dust on crust It sucked. Somehow I thought going father out toward Siberia or Mongolia bowls would help. When I got to the top of the Mongolia lift, everybody seemed to be hiking up, so I thought, what the hell, I'll hike up a bit and get a few extra turns in. Then we passes through the boundary gate, and I asked some people about what's there. They discouraged me, and told me, in no uncertain terms, not to drop into the East Vail chutes. But as to Mushroom, their terms were less uncertain. I was alone with no gear. I decided to "follow" some others down Mushroom.

On that aspect, the snow was light and soft. Trees just steep and open enough for easy fast turns, despite the waist-deep powder. Then there was the 30 foot cliff I hit half way down .... and spent a while traversing around (thank God someone else was there) .... Below, some more good skiing before it got flatter. I lost the others, and their tracks. I think I went too far left. I skied through some meadows trying to keep up my speed, and passed between a couple trees. Then I learned what a tree well is. It took about 15 minutes to climb up the tree so I could reach and unclip my ski bindings. Putting on my skis in that deep powder was an adventure.

I ended up below the road -- actually, I had no clue where I was -- and had to break some hard trail on alpine skis, It seemed like half a mile -- of course it must have been considerably less. It was damn hard anyway. I finally made it to the road and the long slide out. Up the damn Highline lift, down to Vail Village (missed the Lionshead turnoff), barely caught the last chair up -- which stopped for about five minutes, and skied like hell to just barely catch the CU ski bus that was supposed to leave at 4:00, and had been waiting for me for 20 minutes.

Damn, that was fun. And stupid. I like to think that I learned something from it.

[Blurred]

Interesting.......was skiing there 2 days ago. Skier triggered?
Backed a group of 8 off that last week after digging a pit and deciding it was too sketchy.....




It was reported by the intern at the CAIC. Their thinking that it was skier triggered. Looking as if their were three skiers in the party. No one caught nor injured. WNW aspect. I don't feel as though their is a WNW aspect in big horn. The hazard is calming down with the warmer temps in the chutes, but look what happened a few weeks ago when it got spring like. Timberfalls slide. Their are so many different small aspect changes in that their terrain. I will not be surprised if something slides below an east facing cliff band in the next few days. A lot of peeps are taking a ton of risks this winter of their (Center punching Old man's, CDC and west marv's).

There isn't any open aspect on Bighorn that is wnw. Saw no slide activity in there today, so I'm guessing the slide activity reported was in Mushroom, since hardly any chute has that aspect.

Ty for the info vailcat.

Also, ty jw. Thinking of doing my own signage. The Forest service would rather people die than be informed apparently.

[mankybrah]

the slide was actually in the gore range (big horn drainage). My guess is near the y coilour (sp?). Which makes sense. that is closer to wnw. That drainage does get a ton of cross loading from the recent wind direction. The y is an awesome ski. Actually that entire ridge is.