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Wonder
climber
WA
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I hate it when they say, "Go, old skool." or "old skool rules".
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Chaz
Trad climber
So. Cal.
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Why should you care what others consume?
Live YOUR life, not mine.
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golsen
Social climber
kennewick, wa
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blinny! I love those pistonbully shots. Those tracks look awesome. Nothing like a well waxed xc ski. I know because I seldom get it right so when I do, whoa boy!
stich,
have at it man. My first day on shaped skiis was memorable too. One of those days where you could get 2 feet of nice untracked on a sunny day and some groomers. Great fun.
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quartziteflight
climber
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Topic Author's Reply - Dec 9, 2006 - 10:56pm PT
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Ground up,
Sounds solid. Thanks for the info.
Kat,
Rock on.
Aya,
How is the ice up there? I f'd my mcl slacklining of all things..bleh!
Pimp daddy,
Thanks for the info. Stay strong.
Tar-bra,
Well sh#t bra send your stretech H2 out to pick a shadey bra up chocked fulla bunnies....hustla!!
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Kartch
climber
belgrade, mt
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Skiing the lifts isn't all bad (the wife and I at my old job on a cold day.)
And selling out to work for "the man" is bad on the enviroment but they let you play w/the chemicals at least.
Sometimes this work leads to a cold bath; but it's usually proceded by deep pow.
But don't get me wrong, I love the backcountry. It is important to wait for the right conditions though 'specially on the gnar.
However good friends are in both the front and the back ranges. It doesn't matter where you're at but who you're with; good friends make a big difference (and in avy country can/do save your life).
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Licky
Mountain climber
California
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Dec 10, 2006 - 12:09am PT
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I started skiing (Alpine) in 1962 with wooden Gresvigs and screw on edges. Double leather lace up boots and borrowed baggy ski pants. As a teen, cross country skiing didn't offer the thrills that I could have from high speed down hill running or catching air when I could. Years later I took up Nordic skiing and learned to enjoy a different view of the winter wilderness. I still love to do both. Its not one over the other, both have their place. But then so do all of the different types of climbing, motorcycle riding, and on and on.
As for ski resorts. The people that complain about them forget about the income they bring to the local community for both winter and summer. There was a time when summer pretty much created a dead spot in most alpine ski communities. Now with mountain biking, hiking, and climbing a world of high altitude access is available for many that couldn't do it years ago.
Everytime I fly over this country's wilderness, I am reminded how much is still out there, untouched.
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Batrock
Trad climber
Burbank
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Dec 10, 2006 - 12:16am PT
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Resorts rock!! I learned to ski by hiking up to the top of some small hills in th elocal mountains on gear I bought at a thrift shop. It was great fun but not the way I want to teach my 4 y/o daughter. Get the basics at the resorts then move to the backcountry. Also, nothing beats doing laps on Lincoln Mountain in the powder when it's dumping. Yeeha!!
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golsen
Social climber
kennewick, wa
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Dec 10, 2006 - 12:22am PT
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Nice Kartch! I been hauled off the slope a couple times. Thanks for doin that.
ADK, I have lived in Pork City and Bend, OR so I know what you mean. In 1996 or so, Bend seemed like a more regulary type Central Oregon town. I am amazed at what "progress" does. Oh well.
And as far as kids with multiple pairs of skiis, that does gripe me! Especially when I pay for them. This year my kid got 4 pairs of brand new skiis, luckily we only had to buy one cuz he got some sponsor stuff goin. Me I buy old skiis from racers but I am hoping from hand me downs from him this next year. But here is what he does on those, racing in the Western Region Junior Olympics to 4th in Super G. Punk is skiing at least 5 days a week this winter. Doin what I wanted to be doin at his age.
His little bro is the Mini World Cup King at Mt. Bachelor.
Me, seems like I spend more time watching than anything...
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ground_up
Trad climber
mt. hood /baja
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Dec 10, 2006 - 12:39am PT
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Old school saying...." Leave no turn unstoned"
Gary..we probably crossed paths somewhere....nice racing shots!
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Wonder
climber
WA
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Dec 10, 2006 - 12:44am PT
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THANK YOU!!
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atchafalaya
Trad climber
California
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Dec 10, 2006 - 01:08am PT
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alta...
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golsen
Social climber
kennewick, wa
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Dec 10, 2006 - 01:40am PT
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thanks groundup.
atch,
I grew up in what used to be the last housing area there at the mouth of the canyon. I remember my Jr. High School principle calling me into his office one winter.
"You have missed a lot of school this winter Mr. Olsen."
"Yeah."
"Why have you missed so much school this winter Mr. Olsen?"
"Cuz I've been skiing."
"And your parents are alright with this?"
"Yep."
"Well, alright then."
I mainly skiied the bird. But Alta brings back two stellar days in particular. One was skiing with this old time Nordie back in about 1980. I think he was on BONNA's with Galibier boots and I was on similar lousy equipment for downhilling. Neither of our skiis had edges and we were up there on a "hard" snow (at least for Alta) day. Just following him taught me a lot. Skiing down Altas runs on Nordie gear on a less than stellar day and watching him parralel on those puppies was great.
The last time I was there (last year) my kid had a race at Snowbird that got snowed out. (shucks darn) We went to Alta and skiied all over the place. Back on Supreme we skiied down to where we had to jump a cliff to keep going. I looked at my son and his eyes were a bit big. I said oh well, we gots to do it, and skiied off. While he kicks my a$$ in a race course I got my fatherly feel good from him later when he said "Your a pretty good free skier." hehe.
Years ago they didnt have the Supreme lift and it was a fun thing to hike up there and get all untracked terrain on our pins. Damn that was fun. It was relatively easy access over to the bowl above Catherine Lake too. Cool.
My sister was the Assistant Mgr at the Lodge at Snowbird when I was in HS. Damn, what a deal. I got free rooms a few times each winter where my bids and I would go raise hell. One time we overdid it and lost our privelages...
Sorry for all the reminiscing....
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golsen
Social climber
kennewick, wa
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Dec 10, 2006 - 01:56am PT
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Sewelly,
I think Kat was tlkin the XCD Comp which was single camber. the XCD GT was Double camber, from what I remember. But I skiied both and it didnt seem to matter much...
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Hootervillian
climber
the Hooterville World-Guardian
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Dec 10, 2006 - 10:25am PT
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can you call yourself a rider until you hotbox at least one gondola?
i don't make the rules......
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Karl Baba
Trad climber
Yosemite, Ca
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Dec 10, 2006 - 10:53am PT
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"Thought most of them started skiing at resorts they seem to see the faults of resort skiing."
I can't afford to ski resorts anymore, but I approve of them for this reason.
Resorts are the gateway drug to the outdoors for kids and the middle class/wealthy. Like visiting Yosemite Valley, skiing in resorts helps get people started on valuing the outdoor experience, and eventually, the environment.
Nature needs ambassadors that aren't "holier than thou."
So do whatever you like.
Peace
Karl
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deuce4
Big Wall climber
the Southwest
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Dec 10, 2006 - 11:09am PT
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I read Downhill Slide on the recommendation of my friend, Roddy MacKenzie, who runs a heli-ski company in northern India. The nub of the book is that many ski area developments are really real estate scams, begun by unscrupulous developers whose ski corporations generally go bankrupt, but not until after the CEO's have personally collected millions in real estate transactions.
We have one such scenario going on right here in Wolf Creek. In this case, Red McCoombs, a billionaire, has managed to take ownership of a small patch of private inholding within Forest Service land, and adjacent to the Wolf Creek Ski Area. The process in which these "land trades" is in itself highly suspect, and generally involves appointed Washington DC politicians putting pressure on the regional Forest Service offices.
Anyway, McCoombs is trying to divide the property up into lots for 10,000 people, and lawsuits abound. Earlier this year, McCoomb's team were gloating how they were going to be able to sue the pants off the nearby Wolf Creek Ski Area and take ownership of it. Wolf Creek Ski is one of the very few family owned ski areas left on the planet, and the owner's family are well-loved for all the contributions they make to the community. McCoombs lawsuits are frivilous, but forces Wolf Creek Ski to spend their limited resources on legal defense.
In a nutshell, the impact of the ski area as it is now, is quite minimal (no lodging there, just a ski shop and a buffet style restaurant). But once this land developer builds his condos, the impact of the region will be quite another story. After reading Downhill Slide, it becomes readily apparent that it is not the ski area developers per se, but the real estate developers, though sometimes these are the same people.
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doc bs
Social climber
Northwest
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Dec 10, 2006 - 12:14pm PT
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bc and lift skiing - completely different sports and each a complete blast - its ridiculous to compare lift skiing to a climbing gym - you must be in mind-set to work hard and ski less when in bc.
the link below is to a TR for a day trip to Nisqually Chutes on Mt Rainier - check out video - cant get that at a ski resort.
In WA - bc is easy to access and lift skiing isnt very comercialized - BTW the bc ski season was at its prime in June and ended in August this year!
http://www.turns-all-year.com/skiing_snowboarding/trip_reports/index.php?topic=4036.0
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d-know
Trad climber
electric lady land
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Dec 10, 2006 - 12:40pm PT
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duece 4 hit the nail on the head.
as an installer of ariel ropeway transport systems
i have the oppurtunity to live and work
in ski towns all over the u.s.
i have not read the book that was mentioned,
but have seen 1st hand what was described.
in many places ski lifts are inticement to
the real estate that has got to be sold.
a six million dollar high speed detatchable chair lift is
chump change when you can sell a 1/4 acre lot
for a millon bucks and condos for 1 and a half.
of course ther are still the little mom n' pop areas,
but they're struggling. i say support these kind of areas
if you intend to be a lift assisted skier.
i have fairly wide and free access to ski lifts
and learned to slide using them, but now prefer to
earn my turns.
don't forget the snow butter.
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atchafalaya
Trad climber
California
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Dec 10, 2006 - 12:41pm PT
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"You might wanna take 'em with ya to CA. . . never know when you might want a skinny, well made, reliable metal edged touring ski - cause, DooHood, they just don't make 'em like that anymore"
I started skiing bc on the xcd gt's, 218's. Burn those things, and stop torturing yourself.
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atchafalaya
Trad climber
California
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Dec 10, 2006 - 01:26pm PT
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yea, I would probably hold onto em too. But would never grab em if I thought I was gonna make turns. They worked on the flats...
Golsen, thanks for the Alta memories. I have nothing but good ones from the wasatch myself. I grew up in Texas, and during undergrad in Az, one of my friends said "your from Texas, your never gonna be a skier". I immediately dropped out of school, and drove to SLC. I didnt know anyone, so just parked at the Peruvian, and started going door to door looking for work. Got hired at the last day lodge. Lived out of my truck for a winter. Alta is incredible, and I am heading back in february hoping for fat tuesday... Now I am reminiscing.
Some of my favorite memories... getting up early and beating the heli for first tracks. interlodge. Getting first tracks in the baldy chutes under a full moon. Skiing suicide chute on my 21st birthday. Hiking the apron. Fresh tracks on devils castle.
All this was stated in my first post on this thread. "Alta..."
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