*** Official Snow Surfing Thread ***

92122

Michael Peterson status
Jul 29, 2015
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Well the storm dumped snow, but it was pretty wind blown at Kirkwood....... Although the frontside was tracked out, found a couple okay pockets of fluffy stuff. But the sleeper conditions that ended up being very fun was the wind buff.

Ventured over to the backside when they opened for the first time in days, and the powder was rather lackluster, as it was super packed. Wind blown and firm,
Sounds like much the same on the north shore last weekend... was out on the hill Friday, the first sunny day in a week or so, and while the temps hadnt warmed up yet, it was surprisingly firm for a forecast of 8'+ just finishing up. :shrug: The locals said the storm started with some rain and may have set up a wet surface before freezing and then kicking winds into overdrive through a lot of the storm. I was expecting A conditions and would give it a B- at best.


It will always be Squaw Valley! Still trips me out a bit looking up at the main zone from down in the valley and especially at the base village. Any beginner there has to be thinking, how am I gonna ski / ride this place!?

Squaw Valley.jpg


Had a group event going on at Everline Resort, formerly The Resort at Squaw Creek, which is very nice, but we'd likely never stay there without the group discount, and other festivities going on. 3-5pm happy hour on the patio next to the resort chairand then taking some final runs was one of the highlights of the trip. Here's the view up and down. Some pretty aggressive terrain down the middle if you want it, or a nice long groomer (with a bit of a lake view) around lookers left / riders right...

Resort Chair.jpg
Resort Run Lakeview.jpg


Made it a point to ride the new(ish) Gondola up KT22 and down to Alpine Meadows, where we found the most buttery snow in the afternoon sun.

I remember seeing the 4 routes proposed for the Gondola, and still thought there could be a top station at Alpine Meadows, but instead it takes a route from the KT22 top station directly down over the Alpine parking lot. They moved and upgraded the Red Dog lift too which is now a high speed six pack.

You cant say enough about Squaw, and these lift upgrades take it to the next / highest level, but it's still very spread out and just not my favorite overall.

KT22.jpg



View from the breakfast table on Saturday was nice. Spot the hottie!? lol

Everline View.jpg
 

Kento

Duke status
Jan 11, 2002
68,687
20,894
113
The Bar
Absinthe... yes, the Travis Rice flashbacks...


I just laugh when I watch him in the backcountry because it's so mindbending next level creative. In a way, like if you put Mason Ho on a snowboard.
 

Leonardo

OTF status
Aug 10, 2020
342
356
63
Absinthe... yes, the Travis Rice flashbacks...


I just laugh when I watch him in the backcountry because it's so mindbending next level creative. In a way, like if you put Mason Ho on a snowboard.
Yeah. Did you watch NST live yesterday though? Was that a tie really? 2 run...? Amazing riding by both btw, him and Red destroyed the course and it sucked to see red going home early.
 

r32

Administrator
Staff member
Apr 1, 2005
17,936
9,460
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Cambria
Sounds like much the same on the north shore last weekend... was out on the hill Friday, the first sunny day in a week or so, and while the temps hadnt warmed up yet, it was surprisingly firm for a forecast of 8'+ just finishing up. :shrug: The locals said the storm started with some rain and may have set up a wet surface before freezing and then kicking winds into overdrive through a lot of the storm. I was expecting A conditions and would give it a B- at best.


It will always be Squaw Valley! Still trips me out a bit looking up at the main zone from down in the valley and especially at the base village. Any beginner there has to be thinking, how am I gonna ski / ride this place!?

View attachment 175046


Had a group event going on at Everline Resort, formerly The Resort at Squaw Creek, which is very nice, but we'd likely never stay there without the group discount, and other festivities going on. 3-5pm happy hour on the patio next to the resort chairand then taking some final runs was one of the highlights of the trip. Here's the view up and down. Some pretty aggressive terrain down the middle if you want it, or a nice long groomer (with a bit of a lake view) around lookers left / riders right...

View attachment 175047
View attachment 175048


Made it a point to ride the new(ish) Gondola up KT22 and down to Alpine Meadows, where we found the most buttery snow in the afternoon sun.

I remember seeing the 4 routes proposed for the Gondola, and still thought there could be a top station at Alpine Meadows, but instead it takes a route from the KT22 top station directly down over the Alpine parking lot. They moved and upgraded the Red Dog lift too which is now a high speed six pack.

You cant say enough about Squaw, and these lift upgrades take it to the next / highest level, but it's still very spread out and just not my favorite overall.

View attachment 175049



View from the breakfast table on Saturday was nice. Spot the hottie!? lol

View attachment 175051
so hawt

1710448820019.png
 
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manbearpig

Duke status
May 11, 2009
29,772
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in the bathroom
Earning turns today in the backbowls with the split board. The stream pit was one of my freakier experiences as I got bucked into it and was standing in shin deep water. Quick reaction and I avoided getting soaked. The bowl was mellow and I went back to try and do a big carve off the bank but took a shitty line. Found a chute for my final run that was much more challenging but storm moved in and it was nearly white out conditionsIMG_2849.jpegIMG_2851.jpegIMG_2852.jpegIMG_2854.jpeg
 

Kento

Duke status
Jan 11, 2002
68,687
20,894
113
The Bar
What a crazy last week. First off, was great spring boarding up at Kirkwood early last week. Kids took a massive leap, expanding way beyond the beginner area. In search of soft morning snow, took them over to backside, which was a little over their heads (steep blues) but they handled, although my heart was in my throat as I watched my son pretty much do the entire main face of Happiness Is in about 4 high-speed brute-force heel-driven maniacal turns on freaking 120s. He was easily going 25/30. Couldn't breathe again until he was down in the flats, even though no trees, a crash would have hurt. That kid scares me sometimes. My daughter took the more tentative but safer approach. But it paid off as everything they had previously been nervous about was easy for them and it was on to all the fun gullies (Snowsnake, The Drain, that one under Chair 6, etc.). Good times.

My mother was up there and was acting progressively goofier, like quick-onset dementia, resulted in a petty argument. On the way down, while I was trying to keep track of 3 separate-speed groups (seriously like herding cats), lost track of my mom behind us. Apparently she crashed, smashed her head (wearing a helmet), had a massive contusion near her temple. Tracked her down and got her to ski patrol. She passed all the concussion tests which I found amazing. Even though she was cleared, I took her to ER in S. Lake while my wife drove her car. The head wound apparently wasn't the issue and holy sh!t I've never seen a medical staff move that quickly. Her O2 level was 84, acute hypoxia, so she had to stay overnight in the hospital. Drove her back to my place, where she recuperated for a couple days. Head wound was lucky in a sense - would never have known about the hypoxia otherwise.

The snowboarding was fun but overall, a really long trip, don't even know it was food poisoning or stress, but was super sick Sunday night, massive chest pains, and heaving my guts out all night/morning. Been a super rough go...