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paedde

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Reisebericht Snow Safari USA Februar - März 2005
« am: 31.03.2005, 00:27 Uhr »
Trip Report US Snow Safari 4th February to 23rd of March 2005

California, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexiko

Day 1 Flight

Travel from Zurich to San Francisco

Day 2 Sight seeing San Francisco

Mild spring weather made this day very special. For sure one day I have to come back and spend some time here.  

Day 3  Travel

Travel from San Francisco to Heavenly.

Day 4 Skiing Heavenly 1st Day

What a nice surprise. 5 to 10cm of new snow over night. To our own surprise the new snow made a big difference to what locals mentioned to be spring like skiing the day before. Nice and dry wind blown powder. For sure not the amount of new snow to call it a powder day but still good enough to get us exited. We found untracked powder all day long. No lines at all (it’s Monday but on weekends this resort will be very busy probably just like Whistler) and the weather improved as well. It was quite windy on top of the mountain but not really cold.

Heavenly is for sure not the resort for very steep skiing but I have to say that this is probably one of the best resorts for high speed tree skiing. The wide open trees are everywhere. I think there’s no single run where you can’t go into the trees on both sides. On the very left side (Mott and Killebrew Canyon) you can find some steep stuff and this could keep you busy for some hours. We are not talking about endless vertical and the only chair to bring you back to the start of the double blacks is rather slow.

Let’s forget once about real steep tree skiing like at Red Mountain for sure this resort is great and on a powder day it will be like a dream for tree skiing fans. Some more expert terrain would be great.

Tomorrow Heavenly again and after this probably one day at Kirkwood. We are not going to Mammoth Mountain as planned and instead spend more time at other resort at North Lake Tahoe.

Forecast is calling for nice and warm weather for the next few days. Snow is expected for Sunday and Monday.

Day 5 Skiing Heavenly 2nd Day

Blue sky and temperatures around -5 Celsius.

I spend the morning on the California side mainly on the Ski Express and the Skiways Glades. Still nice tracked and untracked powder on the upper half of the run. Tracked and soft packed powder on the lower part. By around lunch time I was bored and decided to try again the Nevada side. First into the Milky Way Bowl and towards Gate A of the Killebrew Canyon. I definitely shouldn’t have spent the morning on the other side. This Canyon is great. Steep and some very steep cliffs. Jumping into boot deep powder and untracked or light tracked powder all the way down. I had to do it again and again. Each time you have to use the Mott Canyon and the Dipper Express Chair to get there again. The only negative thing about this canyon is the long traverse into the canyon and even worse the way out. No hiking but for snowboarders who don’t like the traversing it’s not a good idea to go there. For me it was the best skiing at Heavenly.

Tomorrow we (Today Dani had to recover from a cold) are going to Kirkwood.

Ticket 63$

Day 6 Skiing Kirkwood

What a perfect day.

Once again we had blue sky and mild temperatures. After about a 45min drive from Heavenly we arrived at Kirkwood. Almost no cars in the parking lot made it very promising.

Cornice Express which is the only high speed chair serves quite a lot of black and double black runs. Wagon Trial Chair is a very long and slow chair which brings you to the top of the resort. 11 min on this chair is a nightmare but you get a lot of vertical and some challenging stuff especially on the right side of the chair. The “Wall” and runs L, M and N are great fun.

Now the best part: We had powder stashes and tracked powder all day. Only some south facing runs had hard packed snow but other then that great snow conditions throughout.

This resort is definitely worth a day or two. After a nice dump you will find powder for days especially during weekdays. According to locals it gets very busy on weekends but is deserted on weekdays. We never had to wait a single chair all day long. According to Dani (he fall in love with the resort) it’s a snowboarder paradise due to the non existing traversing. Right away into the double blacks from the top of the chairs.

Discounted Ticket 50$ good value!

Tomorrow no skiing. Travel, shopping, hang-over and washing day. Moving towards North Lake Tahoe.

Friday forecast change again from snow to a sunny day and snow is expected not before mid next week.

Day 7 No skiing

It’s just over an hour drive from Heavenly to Tahoe City. We tried to get accommodation at Squaw Valley and all the way to Tahoe City but it was usually fully booked for the weekend or very $$$. Finally we started to ask for accommodation in Tahoe City and again everything fully booked. After some time we stopped to ask for a Condo or Studio. We got a standard hotel room at Travelodge and even this costs us 100$ weekdays and 150$ on the weekend. By fare too expensive for what you get. Tomorrow we will try to get something starting on Sunday and for the following few days.

Day 8 Skiing Alpine Meadows

Once again we got mild temperatures just around freezing and partly cloudy sky. First we went up Summit Six chair a real high speed chair which brings you right from the bottom to the top of the resort. Nice steep stuff to the right of the chair and even better everything to the left. During the whole day we skied more or less the whole resort for sure not each run but still a lot. We had all kind of conditions all day long. In the morning nicely groomed runs with soft and hard packed snow. Off piste was mainly hard packed, icy and only occasionally we found some soft stuff or even a few powder turns in the trees. I think we got about 15 powder turns each – as you can see we are in desperate need of a powder fix. After lunch this changed to the good. The mild temperatures combined with the sunshine changed to early spring like conditions. Not exactly what we are here for but it could be worse.

Highly recommended:

Hidden Knolls
Sherwood Cliffs (one pice added)
High Yellow Face
Scott Chute

We didn’t try Sun Bowl but for sure with new snow this bowl is a must.

To our surprise they don’t have as much snow like Heavenly or Kirkwood. Off piste you had to be carefully especially in the cliff areas. I have to apologize to my poor skis. They had a very bad experience with a hidden rock and a ski doctor will have to fix this. It happened at the Sherwood Cliffs and Dani could no resist to take a pic while I had to hike back to get my ski. Should I add this pic – will see.

39$ for a full day pass (weekdays) is definitely a good deal. No lines all day.

After skiing we stopped at the Marina Lodge in Tahoe City and as easy as it can be we got a one bedroom studio with fire place and full kitchen for Sunday and the following 3 nights for about 160$/night.

Tomorrow will be a very busy day at any resort. Most probably we are going to ski Squaw Valley as they have to most lifts. Forecast is calling for light snow on Monday and more for Tuesday and Wednesday. PLEASE LET IT HAPPEN.

Day 9 Skiing Squaw Valley USA

8 outta 10

What a sweet surprise. Official report announced 2-4 inches of new snow.
As always we got blue sky and mild temperatures with quite strong wind on top.

We started at KT-22 and found nice and dry powder on top. Due to the strong wind we found everything between 5 and 25cm. The lower part of the mountain wasn’t too good and you could feel all the dead cookies. From there we made our way step by step to the very right of the resort. Some nice soft tree skiing along Solitude and Granite Chief. By lunchtime it became a little bit busy (according to some locals) and we had to wait up to 5min on the Granit Chief and about 2min on Solitude. They have no idea what busy means in Europe.

From the top of Solitude we skied all the way down to the base. Nice and soft on the top, some dead cookies in the middle and spring snow on the lower part of the mountain but still excellent skiing throughout.

After a short lunch break we decided to try the left side of the KT-22. To our surprise this side was deserted. Can you imagine a high speed six chair almost empty from top to bottom? That’s what we got all afternoon (again on a very busy day). Tree skiing along the Far East Express and even better along the Red Dog chair was a blast. Nice soft powder tracked and untracked occasionally boot deep on the upper half of the mountain and variable rather wet powder on the lower part with some dead cookies.

It was a perfect day. 8 out of 10 and only more new snow could change this to 9 out of 10.

Summary: Awesome, amazing, steep, huge, lots of fast lifts, almost no lines even on a busy weekend, après ski at the base and much more.

The only negative point: Expensive 62$ for a day pass.

Tomorrow Sugar Bowl (Tipp: buy a discounted ticket at McDonalds or Safeway for 49$ if you ski on the weekend or holidays without this it cost you 59$ - weekdays it’s 44$)

Day 10 Skiing Sugar Bowl

We arrived at Sugar Bowl after about a 35min drive from Tahoe City. It’s an easy drive which could be difficult after heavy snowfall. Temperatures are around freezing, light snow and strong wind.

With some fog on top and heavy wind the day didn’t promises too much. About 2-5cm of new snow, some wind blown powder stashes on the groomed runs and even better some nice powder turns in the trees change our impression right away. For sure there are a lot of areas with a hard crust under the new snow but if you choice your runs very carefully you will find the less sun affected areas quite soon. The weather improved for a while and we could enjoy the powder. We didn’t even have to share it with too many others. A so called busy day at Sugar Bowl means lines up to 3min. On a weekday you are probably the only one.  

It started to snow around lunch time. Quite wet at the base and not too bad on top. We almost decided to call it a day at 1pm but luckily we went to the top of Disney Express and from there to the run called Sugar Bowl. What a blast. Nice new wind blown snow on the upper half of the mountain and amazing powder in the trees. We had to do it 3 more times. Even the lifty at the base of Disney could hardly believe in our report.

This resort is not as big as Squaw but definitely it is worth a day. According to a local it is always windy during bad weather and most of the resort could be closed. What I really like about this resort is the lift system. With 4 high speed chairs you can ski the whole resort without spending a minute on one of the old and slow chairs. The Mt. Lincoln Express is even equipped with a safety bar including leg rest. European standard in the USA.

It’s 10pm and raining in Tahoe City. Up to 30cm in the forecast until tomorrow hopefully it won’t be the so called “Sierra Cement”.

Forecast: Snow all week but with remaining mild temperatures.

Day 11 Skiing Mt. Rose

A perfect day! 8 outta 10 again.

This resort got my attention after somebody mentioned it in this forum.

For some reason I got the feeling that the newly opened chutes are a must for the lovers of really steep runs.

The official snow report mentioned only 2 to 6cm of new snow. After a 35min drive we arrived at the base. Right away it looked very promising. Today is Valentines day and they offered a 2 for 1 lift tickets for couples. Nothing easier then that because they don’t care a about same sex couples and that’s why I had to convince Dani to be my partner for the day. (You don’t have to prove anything)  And yes we got the 2 tickets for only 52$. By the way they have a 2 for 1 every Tuesday and several other discounted days or long weekends.

First we had two warm-up runs on the groomed which by the way has to be some of the best grooming I have seen for quite some time. Like a carpet from top to bottom. After this we had to try the double black diamonds. You should use one of the 8 gates to access the really challenging stuff. Hard to believe but we found 10 to 20 and sometimes even 25cm of nice powder. From top to bottom 600m vertical in powder. Not that I would call it a powder day but still a perfect day of skiing. We had to do it again an again. After 6 times and a short lunch break at the main lodge (food and drinks are much cheaper then at the other major resorts) we had a go at Wild Card. From the top of Blazing Zephyr you have to follow High Traverse and from there a short 5min hike. Stunning view and awesome tree skiing in up to boot deep untracked powder at 2pm! We had to do it again but first down Nightmare and again untracked powder. We kept on going in powder till 3:30pm.

This has been the best skiing so far. Steep, deep and cheap. 2 new 6 person high speed chairs and only one slow quad you have to use all day long.

I definitely fall in love with this resort (not with Dani – that was just to get the 2for1 tickets)

More snow in the forecast but not really a lot. However depending on tomorrows report we may spend another day at Mt. Rose instead of Northstar (locals call it Flat-star)

I almost forgot to write about the non existing lines. According to a lifty it can be busy on the weekend but during the week not at all. We never had to wait a single chair all day long

Day 12 Skiing Northstar

I think I have to split this report into two parts.

Part 1 Skiing Northstar “The Backside”

We spend all morning on the backside and “Flat-Star” is definitely the right name for this resort. Boring flat and easy skiing. With the exception of one or two runs all the black runs are not more then blue runs at most other resorts. At least the chairs are high speed. Except of about 5min waiting at the base gondola we never had to wait a second. Although you get a different impression at the base. Mild temperatures and probably some rain created cement like snow in the trees. Nothing to enjoy at all.


Part 2 Skiing Northstar “Lookout Mountain”

It started to snow around 1pm. After an extended lunch break we had to try this part of the mountain to get an impression of the black runs on this side. What a surprise. The black runs are steeper then on the backside and about 2-4cm of new snow improved the tree skiing. Each run became better and better. By 3pm we had up to 10cm of new snow and together with the old wet cement it made it more and more enjoyable. We just couldn’t stop skiing and we worked hard to get as many runs a possible. They close this part of the mountain at 3:45 but we had still time enough to go back to the top of Mt. Pluto. Another run down to the bottom of Comstock Express and we got the last chair at 3:59 back to the top again. Nice and soft tree skiing on the upper part, rather wet on the middle part and spring like wet snow for the last part down to the village.

We discussed for quite some time if we would come back to ski this mountain again. 61$ (64 on weekends) is a lot of money and only a real powder day would make it worth to come back. In this case I would probably ski all day at the Lookout Mountain. On a weekend I would not recommend it at all. If somebody likes cursing on easy blue and green runs this is the right resort for you. From top to bottom it takes quite some time and the grooming is excellent.

During our extended lunch break we had the pleasure to meet Cynthia (lovemuchmylife) from webshots.com. She once added a comment on one of my albums and since then we keep in touch. Cynthia I hope you like the Swiss Chocolate and thank you very much for your gift.

Day 13 Powder Skiing Heavenly

1st real powder day and it was awesome almost like in heaven.

At 7am we checked all the snow reports. North Lake Tahoe resorts reported 1 to 4inches of snow while the South Lake Tahoe resorts had 8 to 12inches. Heaving no idea about the road conditions we decided to drive to Heavenly. After just 55min on rather slippery roads we arrived at 8:50 at the base of the California side. 2nd tram up the mountain and right away towards Sky Express. What a blast. Boot deep powder all the way down along the Sky Express. 2nd 3rd and 4th run again in the same area. Around 10:30 they opened the Canyons. Not at all as good as expected and tracked within minutes. We therefore spend quite some time in the trees of Comet and Dipper Express. Light tracked and untracked powder all the time. From there back to the Sky Express. What a change within a few hours. Mild temperatures and humid air changed the powder into spring like afternoon powder or as the locals say into Sierra Cement. From there to Powderbowl Express and all the way down to the base. Regardless of the wet powder we could not resist to stay in the trees right to the base. Hard work but it was worth it.

6.5h in powder without any break makes it even difficult to write this report but I’m doing it with a smile on my face.  

An easy hour driving back to Tahoe City. Our bodies are starting to complain about the permanent skiing and I think tomorrows travel to Salt Lake City will be a chance to recover a little bit.

Day 14 Travel from Tahoe City to Salt Lake City and Eden Utah

An easy but long drive. A total of 575miles to SLC on the excellent I-80. Only 7,5h driving time (83miles/h instead of the allowed 75)

We had perfect travel weather with sunshine almost all the way. This trip could be a nightmare during adverse weather conditions.

Instead of staying in SLC we decided to drive to Snowbasin. Unfortunately there is no accommodation on the mountain and we had to drive towards Odgen. In Eden we found a nice one bedroom Studio for reasonable 110$ per night and discounted tickets for 49$.

Snow is the forecast for the next few days.

Day 15 Skiing Snowbasin Utah

One day is not enough

An easy 23min drive from Eden to Snowbasin. Quite a few cars in the parking area already at 9am and probably a few hundred by lunchtime. Nevertheless we never had to wait a second.

First we went to the very left side of the resort and had a warm up on a groomed runs. This is definitely grooming to perfection!! Some more runs on the left side of Strawberry Express all off piste and part of it in the trees. Some powder stashes and occasionally untracked powder fields. After this we went to the very right side of the resort and found tracked and untracked powder for the rest of the day. Some very challenging steep areas and many double blacks in the trees.

Yes this resort is great and if I have the time I’ll be back for another day in March.

Day 16 Traveling from SLC to Jackson Hole

After we pick up Steve (I skied with him last year in Canada) at the Airport we had to drive about 5.5h to Jackson. Variable road conditions made it kind of difficult for driving but not too bad at all. President’s weekend made it quite hard to find accommodation. Really cheap motels are not a problem at all.  

Day 17 Skiing Jackson Hole  

A powder day – or at least kind of a powder day.

Official report 10cm but it was more then that.

We arrived at the base at 8:15am. Lifts open at 9am but already 120 mainly skiers where waiting for the Tram. By 9:25 we finally made our first powder turns of the day. Nice and dry powder but the old icy crust did confirm every single turn.

Steve who knows the resort very well showed us the whole mountain. For the first two hours we had untracked powder and after this tracked und untracked powder for the rest of the day. As it is Sunday it tracks fast and in additions it is President’s weekend. Due to the mild temperatures we got some sierra cement at the base after lunchtime.  

The Tram is a real pain and the rest of the lift system needs an update as well. Not enough high speed stairs and 65$ are not the deal of the day. During the whole day there was a line for the Tram. Once we decided to wait for it and spend 45min to get on the top.  On all other chairs we had to wait up to 10min.

Yes, Jackson is a great mountain but I would never come back on a busy weekend. According to Steve the locals are crazy on a powder day. Although the lifts open at 9am they start to line up 6am. For sure only on a real powder day but still that’s kinda crazy.

Day 18 Skiing Grand Targhee

A real powder day!

Official report 10cm but again it was more – much more then that.

We had to drive 80min from Jackson on very slippery roads. Just on time for the opening (53$ for a ticket) we went right to the top. Fog and very poor visibility (locals call the mountain Grand Foggy) made the first part rather difficult but as soon as we got to the trees it was like a dream. Boot deep light powder all the way down.

For the first two hours untracked and after these lots of untracked and light tracked powder for the rest of the day. Occasionally a face shot and knee deep powder. It was snowing (hard at times) until 2pm. This is a great mountain especially considering the non existing lines on Presidents day. Never more then 2min usually right to the chair. Two high speed chairs and only one slow double chair give you access to the whole mountain.

For sure it’s not a mountain to keep experts busy for a long time but I would definitely recommend it for a day or two especially on a powder day if you like to have powder which last longer then at Jackson Hole.

Day 19 Skiing Jackson Hole Day 2  

Great mountain, great snow, great terrain and some powder

For once it was a little bit colder but still nothing to worry about.

First a warm up run along the tram. Tracked powder with some powder stashes on the upper mountain and variable conditions on the lower mountain let us some hope for a few real powder turns in Cody Bowl. What a nice surprise after just a few minutes hiking. Boot deep powder again and again. Sometimes we could even find an untouched powder field. It was so good that we had to do it again. Too bad that about 20 pics from this part of the day are useless due to some camera trouble.

Once again the tram has been a real pain. 30min the 1st time, 40min the 2nd time and 30min again on the 3rd time. It was still busy on the mountain but only the tram had real waiting time.

This mountain will keep you busy for some days. Unfortunately most of the terrain is facing south. If this mountain could be turned by 90 degrease it would probably be the best mountain in the US or even North America.

We had a great time but now it’s about time for SLC.

Day 20 Travel from Jackson Hole to Salt Lake City  

An easy 5.5h drive unfortunately a lot of fog but still not to bad. To find accommodation once again was not too easy. Motels are ok but Condos are booked for the weekend. After several phone calls we could find a 3 bedroom condo but rather expensive.  

Tomorrow skiing Snowbird, then one day at Alta and again one day at Snowbird on Saturday.

Day 21 Skiing Snowbird 1st Day

This mountain rocks!!

Great mountain, great terrain, challenging very steep chutes, awesome tree skiing and even more important some powder after 4 days without new snow.

Steve (he skied the mountain several times during the last few years) was our private guide today. A 9am we meet two friends of Steve and went up to the top of the mountain. First a few warm up runs in Mineral Basin followed by off piste skiing all day long. Usually without any hiking or at least less then 5min we had untracked, tracked and packed powder all day long. What a nice surprise go get powder turns after such a long time without new snow.

This mountain is a must for any Utah skiing vacation. If you like to ski the groomed runs you are going to like it but if you like steep challenging and sometimes extremely steep stuff this is the place to be. There’s an easy way to describe the whole mountain: The perfect combination of Kicking Horse and Red Mountain.

At 2pm we made a long traverse in the forest (sorry I’m absolutely not allowed to tell you where it was) and from there we could ski all the way down in light tracked and untracked powder. We had to do it again and this time we found a very steep area with virgin snow boot and knee deep. What a blast.

Tomorrow Alta

Day 22 Skiing Alta    

Not as good as yesterday

Once again a great mountain which will keep you busy.

We had tracked and mainly packed powder all day. Some powder turns as well but never as good as yesterday. Alta is almost as good as Snowbird but if I have to choice between the two I definitely go for Snowbird. Funny thing are the chairs with no footrest and no even a safety bar. Not unusually for a slow chair but strange for a high speed quad. They even have two high speed triple chairs.

It was a busy day and we had to wait at the chairs up to 10min -about 4min average.

There are some very steep runs all over the mountain and thanks to Steve we didn’t need a map at all. No matter what you like there’s something for everyone. Again a combination of Kicking Horse and Red Mountain with a touch of Fernie.

Just in case you don’t know: Alta is for skiers only – snowboarding is not allow.

Tomorrow we are going back to Snowbird and thanks to two local friends of Steve I hope to know this mountain even better afterwards. More about these very special friends in my next report.

Day 23 Skiing Snowbird 2nd Day

Once again a great day

After 2 warm up runs on the groomed top to bottom we meet Ron. Ron is a real local and knows this mountain for many years. Ron is also well known as “Endlessseason” the guy who skied the last 12.5 years at least once every month. http://skistreak.com/

We spend the whole morning in Mineral Basin – nothing to be excited about it but still good skiing considering there’s no new snow for one week. After his we had to go back to the local secret we skied two days ago and this was probably the best decision we could make.

Believe it or not but we had boot deep tracked and untracked powder for the rest of the afternoon. For sure not the hell a lot of vertical but still enough to get us and even Ron exited. Skiing powder one week after the last new snow is almost a miracle considering that it included not more then 5min hiking.

I definitely love this resort and most probably I’m going to be back in about 10days.

Jay and Jordan: Too bad that you had to go home after lunchtime – you missed the powder.

Ron:  Thank you very much for showing us the mountain and I really hope we can do that again.

Dani: For you it was the last day and I’d like to thank you for the great time we spent together. I hope we can do that again in the future.

Tomorrow travel to Crested Butte


Edit Mod:
Wegen Überschreitung der Textlänge wurde dieser Bericht geteilt.

Hier geht es weiter.

Easy Going

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Re: Reisebericht Snow Safari USA Februar - März 2005
« Antwort #1 am: 31.03.2005, 00:56 Uhr »
Hi paedde,

hat ja geklappt mit dem Einfügen  :D

War ja eine sehr extensive Ski-Tour - wenn Du noch weitere Infos und Ergänzungen hast - immer her damit.
Bin gespannt was es mit den Filmaufnahmen auf sich hat.
Gruß Easy


You never gonna fly, if you're afraid to fall

paedde

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Re: Reisebericht Snow Safari USA Februar - März 2005
« Antwort #2 am: 31.03.2005, 01:00 Uhr »
Kurze Filme von der Digicamera wenn es denn Knie tiefen Pulverschnee hatte. Oder anders gesagt, der Teil der Ferien der süchtig macht.

Nur noch 10 Monate bis zum nächsten Mal:  :)




Hier geht es weiter:

Day 24 Travel from SLC to Crested Butte 

Almost 8h of easy driving and we are in Crested Butte. The mountain locks promising.

Nice two bedroom apartment. If you want to save some money go for 10 min walking to the ski hill instead of ski-in ski-out. This will save you about 20-30%

Snow in the forecast but nothing to be excited about.

Day 25 Skiing Crested Butte 1st Day 

Steeeeeep!

Once again a great mountain for everyone. Great grooming (big beginner area) and endless amount of off piste. They have single blacks, double blacks and EX- double blacks which means Expert-double black. The Ex doubles are really some of the best I have seen for a while. (Just like Kicking Horse). The “Extreme Limits” 448 acres are going to keep you busy for days.

I like almost everything about this mountain but:

Several EX-doubles involve hiking and this on over 3000m above sees level!! The base is at 2774m and the peak at 3,707m. A day or two after new snow I wouldn’t mind to hike a lot but one week after it’s not worth it.
The second thing: Don’t bring your new skis!! They have rocks and a lot of it. Only off piste but that’s why we are here for. It’s not too bad right now due to the great base but don’t go off piste to the serious double blacks after only 10cm of new snow. This will probably be the end of your skis.

We had to call it a day after Steve had a very special experience. On a run 40 to 45 degrees he had a free fall all the way down. Luckily no rocks on the way down but a lot of pain in the right knee. Hopefully he will be ok by tomorrow.

Powder: not really only a few turns from time to time.

Day 26 Skiing Crested Butte 2nd Day

-9 Celsius at 8am and partly cloudy. By 9am blue sky. Mostly sunny during the day with a few snow showers at times.

Still very good snow conditions all over the mountain. In urgent need of powder it was the target of the day to find powder without hiking too much and we did – or let’s better say at least a few turns from time to time.

We even found a triple black marked run but it was more like a single black traverse.

Yesterday I forgot to mention the non existing lines. No waiting yesterday and no waiting today. A great resort but I have no idea how it will be on a weekend or on a real powder day.

Tomorrow travel to Taos.

Day 27 Travel from Crested Butte to Taos   

Just under 5h and very easy driving.

The mountain looks promising. Very steep and the trail map shows many double blacks.

Day 28 Skiing Taos 1st Day    

This mountain offers something for everybody although 51% are designed for experts.

I definitely like the sign at the base: http://community.webshots.com/photo/287353611/287359345hbFXzp

A great mountain with no lines all day. Nice partly cloudy weather in the morning changed to light snow by 2pm and by 3pm it snowed hard. By 5pm 5-7cm of light snow on our car – looks good for tomorrow.   

If you like hiking this is the place to be. Without hiking you still get a lot of steep runs and some great tree skiing (rather tight trees). The real good stuff can be accessed by hiking 5 to 90min but don’t worry usually you are fine with up to 25min. The only problem is the altitude. On almost 4000m above see level the thin air makes every move much harder.

Target of the day once again: Powder. And yes we found some not a lot but still enough for some turns from time to time.

It’s now 6pm and it stopped snowing.

Day 29 Skiing Taos 2nd Day    

7.5 outta 10, powder turns and a lot of hiking

What a nice day although we had only 10cm of new snow. It was not really enough snow to call it a powder day but nevertheless it made the skiing very soft and even more fun then yesterday.

After a few runs in the trees where we found 10cm (occasionally boot deep) light stuff we decided to go for the real challenge. Form chair #2 all the way along the ridge to the top of Kachina Peak about 4000m above see level. For fast hikers it will take just under one hour and for us 75 minutes. It’s moderate hiking with a few very short steep sections but really not too bad overall. Just the altitude makes it special. The view for the top is breathtaking and worth to stay there for a while. It was already after 1pm and most of the different ways down already tracked. As always Steve and I activated our powder radar and sure enough we found untracked powder almost all the way down.

It was so good that we almost did it again but first of all it’s a lot of hiking for what you get and second this part of the mountain closes already at lunch time. 

A few more runs in the trees (tracked and untracked) and it was already time for a drink at the base. From there you have a nice few to the black und double black runs where people try to ski runs they should even think of. Every few minute a spectacular scene almost better then a movie.

I should definitely mention once again the endless lines at the chairs. It was so bad that once we had to wait for more then a minute!! For the rest of the day right to the chair.
It was the last day for Steve and that’s why we have to drive to Denver tomorrow. Not sure where Markus and I are going to ski on Sunday.

Day 30 Travel from Taos to Denver   

After some sightseeing in Taos we drove to Denver and decided to stay there for a night. Steve needs to go home tomorrow and Markus and I have to give our knees a rest.

After about 5.5h of easy driving we arrive in Denver. Spring like conditions invited for some sight seeing.

Tomorrow we intend to ski only half a day at A-Basin and take it easy in the morning

Day 31 Travel from Denver to Frisco (closed to Dillon) 

Well our plans changed a little bit. When I called Alamo to extend my rental contract they couldn’t do it because of the stupid Colorado law which allows only max. 30 days of rental. At the airport they couldn’t give us the same great internet rate and especially not the triple upgrade we got in SFO. Thanks to the very nice agent at the counter we go a great deal. We had to book a car over the internet (no easy to find internet access at Denver Airport), come back to Alamo and for only 8$ a day we got again a triple upgrade and could keep the car we had for the last 29days.

By the time we arranged all this it was too late for skiing at any nearby resorts. That didn’t matter at all and it’s even better for our legs. Now we are ready for tomorrow. We are going to ski at least 3 days in this area. A-Basin, Bever Creek and Copper Mountain. If there is no change in the forecast we could even stay longer and add Vail or any other resort.

Day 32 Skiing A-Basin

What a boring day - been there done that

Almost no people all day and sunshine as well. That’s the good news. Now to the bad news: Too windy (heavy at times) and therefore a real bad wind-chill, no new snow and no secrets to be found, only fair to sometimes good coverage off piste (very good on groomed), several double black runs overrated, only slow chairs, the most challenging stuff only by hiking but closed due to not enough snow.

I don’t really know if today’s impression gives me a fair base to rate this resort but I think the vertical is not good enough compared with other resorts and the flat part at mid mountain as well as all the runs on the left side are rather boring. All the black and double black runs along the Pallavicini Chair are ok but most off them are very rocky and/or very short or even closed.

Maybe this sounds a bit harsh and this could be related to the base of only 50” (sorry but I would rather go for a realistic 10-30” at least for the off piste part of the mountain) or we are just spoiled from the last 4 weeks.

Anyway we had some good moments on mainly packed and hard packed snow (icy spots but not too many)

Day 33 Skiing Copper Mountain Day 1

What a great “powder” day

It started to snow around 7am and by 10am we had 5 to 10cm of light snow. By noon it was more like 10 to 15cm and thanks to the heavy wind we even got boot deep powder at times.

How nice it was to sit on a high speed 6 passenger chair which brings you within 8 min almost to the top and 2400’ vertical. This was only the beginning. All major chairs are high speed and this gives you the chance to ski vertical like crazy.

At first we found our fresh tracks along the runs followed by hours of excellent tree skiing. We had fresh tracks all day long and a smile on our face even now as we are already back at our condo. By about 3pm it stopped snowing and we got a few minutes of sunshine.

I’m sure if we had skied the resort yesterday it would probably be a similar report to A-Basin. The old icy crust in the bowls gave us a good idea of how bad it has been. The front side was probably not as bad but still worse then A-Basin.

However we got another “powder” day and some pics are going to show the details.

It’s now 6pm well below freezing and blue sky.

Day 34 Skiing Copper Mountain Day 2

Another amazing day at Copper.

But before we skied Copper again we had different plans.

We were driving towards Beaver Creek but when we arrived there we had to make a U-Turn. There was just no new snow at all. After yesterdays “powder day” at Copper this was not good enough and we decided to drive back.

At 10am we started our day in the back bowls. Not the best skiing with the old crust underneath the wind blown powder but still good enough to keep us there for 2h.

After this Markus decided to go for the groomed runs (he is not into tree skiing yet) and I spend the rest of the day in the trees with light tracked and untracked powder. Isn’t it amazing to find untracked powder on the second day? According to a local it was a busy weekday but I have no idea how he can call it busy. No lines all day. There’s still some powder for tomorrow and new snow in the forecast. We don’t know yet what we are going to do tomorrow.

Day 35 Skiing Vail

Huge, very huuuuuuuge

It’s huge and it’s expensive. Everything is expensive except of Starbucks.

First you have to park your car for 16$ a day followed by a day ticket of 77$. As always it was the goal to get a good impression of the whole resort to make sure we know where to go next time or during a powder day. For once this was not as easy as it used to be.

Everything at this resort remained me on our own resorts back home. After a few minutes in line for the first chair we didn’t really like the whole thing. 77$ and waiting is not what we are used to. How ever this was about the only time we had to wait for more then 3 minutes. Usually right to the chair. If you want to avoid the crews you should spend a lot of time in the so called “Legendary back bowls” and “Blue Sky Basin”. Another deserted area are the runs along Highline chair. Probably because it’s one of the few slow chair. In fact this mountain is a high speed paradise.

Right during our short lunch break it snowed hard and we got 1-2cm of new snow. Before and after this we had a lot of sunshine.

This resort is definitely the biggest I have seen in Canada and the US. We skied hard all day almost never used the same chair twice and never the same run more then once but no way to see all of it. To ski all of it I would recommend a week but only with mid winter snow conditions. Today we could not ski any trees and most of the not groomed runs had variable conditions. Everything between soft packed and icy in one run.

What I would like to know: How long does it take to track this mountain after a big storm? Where’s the real steep stuff?

Overall it is a great mountain but rather too busy and too expensive. I don’t know if there’s any challenging stuff in the trees. The rating of the runs is ok although a little bit overrated at times. Some of the double backs are not more then single blacks.

This report is based on one day at Vail and I’m sure some locals would not really agree. I’ll come back one day and make sure to know more about the mountain and the endless amount of local secrets.

Day 36 Skiing Beaver Creek and Travel to Grand Junction


During the morning hours we had hard packed and icy conditions. Especially the man made areas are more like a glacier. Nevertheless it was not too bad at all just the not groomed stuff had to wait until about lunch time.

Some south facing runs became already slushy by 11am others by around 1pm. Right after lunch I had to discover the tree skiing and it was really good. I definitely liked “Stickline” and had to do it 2 more times. After the first time I met some locals on the chair and they asked how I liked the resort. They did not believe in my report of Stickline and joined me for the next run. It was definitely great fun to ski with some locals and to show them the good stuff after just 4 hours at the resort.

It’s not easy to give an overall rating after just one day. For sure Beaver is much smaller then Vail but for sure it is much better. I don’t think I’ll go back to Vail but Beaver is an option. Only the 77$ for a day ticket are a real pain. Just like Vail it’s a high speed chair paradise and kinda busy even on a weekday.

The very right side of the resort can be good if you like rather flat cursing or tree skiing. For the once who are into double blacks “Grouse Mountain” is a must.

After skiing Markus had to drive to Denver to get his flight to Germany. For the first time in 5 weeks I’m on my own. I drove I-70 West to Grand Junction. What a nice drive during sun set.

Tomorrow I’ll drive to SLC with some sight seeing on the way.

Day 37 Travel from Grand Junction to Salt Lake City

If you ever drive on I-70 towards SLC you should make sure to have enough time to spend some time at Arches National Park. You have to see this before you die. I intended to spend about an hour but at the end I spent 3h there and that’s not enough. If you have time you should spend a whole day.

In SLC I met Chris “Kidporsche”. He is traveling for many weeks. First Japan followed by Europe and now the US. Looks like he got all my powder days in Japan with several meters of snow within 6 weeks. Right now we are both in desperate need of a powder fix.

Day 38 Skiing The Canyons

A sad story!

No new snow for weeks and the warm temperatures affected the area much harder then excepted. Till about lunch time it was rock hard and icy all over the mountain. Just a few spots had some nice grooming with almost good conditions. Off Piste was not at all in our mind after the warm up on the groomed. Unfortunately it was much colder then the day before and the softening took very long. In fact it was just about ok by 1pm but then it became even colder and by 2pm the soft stuff froze again.

The coverage is another issue. All the runs on the left side of Super Condor Express are closed. Not due to the icy conditions but due to the not existing snow. A big part of the mountain is brown and only the man made snow is remaining in acceptable shape. Almost all day it felt like it was the last day of the season. Almost empty place, many runs closed, no hikers, brown areas, man made snow at the base and several other areas etc.

Lots of snow for Taos – what I’m doing here? To bad that Chris is a boarder otherwise we could drive 13h and have 20” by tomorrow.

Day 39 Skiing Park City   

Much better, much colder and much more fun

Official report 4” within the last 24h but it was more like 1” at the base and about 3” on top. Occasionally we could find the 4” in the trees.

Based on the snow report we had to ski Park City. All other resorts reported none or less then that. Both of us didn’t know the resort at all and therefore we switched on our powder radar. It worked! First we spend almost 2h in the area of Thaynes lift followed by over 2h on the left side of Jupiter lift. Untracked almost all day long. Especially the runs like Silver Cliff, 6 Bells, Indicator and Fortune Teller where good fun. Nice powder with a not too bad old crust underneath. Probably due to the slow chairs almost nobody skied this area. The runs are double black, easy to access and no hiking at all. Too bad that they are rather short but who cares after the sad story of yesterday.

After 2pm we quickly tried to get an overview over the whole resort. Some quite good but very short tree skiing to the left of McConkey’s chair. Other areas hard packed, icy or spring like sugar.

I don’t think this resort could keep me busy and it’s not challenging enough but a little bit of powder change this. Still waiting for the big dump. Less then a week to go.

Day 40 Skiing Snowbird   

Good and very good

Although they got no new snow for a long time the snow is in much better shape then expected. The north facing runs are packed and hard packed the south facing runs are hard packed and icy at times.

During the morning we had Ron as our private guide and after lunch Scott joined us and this made it even more interesting. The two guys where arguing about what run could be best for us and which run is more north or north west or what ever – good fun for all of us. Scott kept complaining how bad the traverse was to get about 100m vertical and insisted on trying another run. We had to try it and had about 50m vertical with good snow followed by icy parts for the rest of the run. Who was right and who was wrong we don’t know but the fun factor was good.

Just before lunch I did remember that Scott mentioned that it is possible to ski powder 3 weeks after the last new snow. I had to ask Ron about it and sure enough he showed me (too much traversing for our snowboarder Chris) the local secret. He will check this report to make sure that I’m not going to mention the location. Only just over 10min hiking and no tracks except the one from Ron from last Saturday. Unfortunately no pictures from this nice surprise.

The forecast is changing by the hour and I have no idea what we can expect till the end of the week.

Day 41 Travel to Jackson Hole   

After checking the snow reports this morning there was no other way then driving back to Jackson. 9” on top 7” mid mountain and Grand Targhee got 8”.

There’s not a lot of snow in the forecast for SLC and still more to come for Jackson. I just hope it will be like that.

Traveling was easy as always with very good weather all the way from SLC to Jackson.

Tomorrow depending on the snow report Targhee or Jackson.

Day 42 Skiing Jackson Hole 3rd day

A powder day!! Finally after waiting for a long time.

It wasn’t a perfect start but then it became a real powder day.

At 9am they had the Tram on wind hold and at 10am still closed due to avalanche control. We had two warm up runs at the gondola. Not too bad at all but the old crust or let’s say the old glacier made it rather difficult to call it a powder day. By about 11am the finally opened the Tram. As always we had to wait for two trams but it was worth it. I just couldn’t wait to ski Cody again. Even better we where almost first to go there.

This was the start of a wonderful day. Boot and sometimes knee deep powder from top to about mid mountain and from there still good powder. Only the last 200 vertical with the long traverse back to the base are not what you can call powder but who cares on a day like this and after such a long time without good snow. 2nd only one tram to wait and 3rd time right into the tram. The locals probably had to go back to work. At the end of the day we got the last tram and Chris had to check the conditions for Corbet and the did it. Crazy way into the run but easy after this.

Just before lunch we had some sunshine and before and after light snow heavy at times.

No new snow expected for tomorrow morning but there’s enough work left a Cody for one more day. Probably some more hiking but that’s ok.

The weekend looks good for SLC. Forecast is calling for snow for most of the next week and I have to go home.

Day 43 Skiing Jackson Hole 4th day

Another powder day! But earn your turns!

Once again we had to wait till we got on the 3rd tram. Yesterday Cody’s bowl was so good we had to do it again. First time only with a few minutes hiking. We could still find nice untracked but even more tracked powder. The 2nd time we decided to hike for about 30min. Not very steep but promising. It was absolutely fantastic. Boot to knee deep powder in the trees with some nice jumps and steep sections. It was almost like heliskiing. The second part of the run was again in tracked and untracked powder. It was so good we had to do it again the same way. Some more tracks in the meantime but still like a dream.

Now the only bad part of the story. By the time we came back to the tram after the 3rd run it was almost 4pm and too late to do it again. $55 instead of $67 (watch out in SLC for $12 discount voucher – not available at the resort) but only 3 rides in the tram.

Day 44 Skiing Solitude

Powderday! 8 out 10, great, fantastic, wicked, grouse and excellent.

A few inches over night, about 8” between 6am and 9am and another 7-9” during the day.

When we arrived at the base at 8:30 only 5 cars in the parking lot and by opening at 9am just a few more. Although we didn’t wait at the chair we got the 4th chair. All day long no lines and the resort virtually empty.

At first some of the steep stuff remained closed but step by step the opened more areas and around lunch time we could finally ski Honeycomb Canyon. What a blast. Knee deep powder top to bottom and face shots, I had to stop counting them. We skied the Canyon till they closed it again just before 3pm.

Now the best part of the story. In need of more powder and face shots we went to the Queen Bess trees and found again untracked powder for another hour. Sure enough we got the last chair of the day and skied in boot to knee deep powder back right to the car.

Solitude is for sure not the best resort I ever skied but on a day like this I would highly recommend it especially due to the non-existing lines even on a Sunday.

Tomorrow will be a busy day. Skiing 9am to 1pm at the bird with Chris and Endlessseason, back to the hotel, final packing, drive to the airport, flight from SLC to LA and two hours later from LA to Zurich.

Day 45 Skiing Snowbird and travel to Zurich

The best day in 6 weeks!
With more snow over night it had to be a great day. We waited at the tram already at 8:30 and just made it for the first tram.

Boot to knee deep powder all the way down to Gad Zoom Chair followed by another 4h of great powder. Endless showed us all the local stuff and made sure that I had my best day in 6 week. I really like the bird. It’s just too bad that it tracks so fast unlike Solitude but it is for sure the much better resort.

It was a good idea to stay in SLC and even a better one to ski even today. By 1pm I had to say goodbye to Endless and Chris and had to drive towards the airport to get the flight to LA and from there to Zurich.

Day 46 Back home

With 40 min delay we arrived in Zurich. After an 11.5h flight from LA. Thanks to the late departure and the busy day I was so tired that I could sleep for almost 8h. That’s how it should be.

Day 47 Last day 

Back in reality.

Unpack, review report, check snow reports (for Switzerland and for sure for the US as well), starting to think about going back to work, review pictures…

Once again it has been a great time. The whole trip was kinda similar to the Canada trips although there are a few things I would change for next year or do it again like I did:

-   During spring break and weekends I would make reservations the day before traveling. It’s more difficult to find accommodation during this time compared with Canada. Motels are almost never a problem but condos for 2 or more can be a problem.
-   Travel again with normal and fat skis
-   Not sure about travel time but probably about the same time.


Special thanks to:

-   Mark102 for weather and snow forecasts – great job!!
-   Dani, Steve, Markus and Chris (kidporsche). It has be a lot of fun to travel and ski with you. Hopefully we can do that again.
-   Endlessseason for sharing all the local secrets at Snowbird and for being our local guide for several days.
-   My boss who makes it possible to get all my vacations at once.



Fact and figures

All resorts: Heavenly, Kirkwood, Alpine Meadows, Squaw Valley USA, Sugar Bowl, Mt. Rose, Northstar, Snowbasin, Jackson Hole, Grand Targhee, Snowbird, Alta, Crested Butte, Taos, A-Basin, Copper Mountain, Vail, Beaver Creek, The Canyons, Park City, Solitude


Days of traveling incl. flight   46   
Days of sight seeing   1.5   
Days of skiing   32
# of different resorts   21
# of resorts with 2 days skiing   3    Crested Butte, Taos, Copper Mountain
# of resorts with 3 days skiing   1      Heavenly
# of resorts with 4 days skiing    2      Jackson Hole, Snowbird
# of resorts “been there done that”   4      Northstar, A-Basin, Vail, The Canyons
# of resorts “eventually to do again”   3      Sugar Bowl, Beaver Creek, Park City
# of resorts “to do again – for sure”   13   all others
Days of rather poor skiing   2
Days of good skiing   4
Days of very good to excellent skiing   7
Days of kinda “powder” skiing   11   part of the day/resort and/or not deep enough
Days of real powder skiing   8
Days with rental car   44
Km with rental car   8’710   
Vertical meters (guessing)   175’000

Total pictures    a lot
Total after 1st review   2161
Total after 2nd review    not ready yet
Total for webshots.com   don’t know yet


Total U$ spent   ~ 8’500 (free flight with frequent traveler points)
Total U$ for rental car my part / total   1’308 / 2’330
Total U$ for lift tickets   ~ 2’000
Total U$ for accommodation   ~ 3’500
Total U$ spend for alcohol   no way that I’m gonna tell you that ;-))


Tips:

·   Hotel in SLC: Studio 6 Standard or King Size Room with full kitchen for about $250/week!
·   Car Rental USA: Alamo over the web. No one way charge and depending on rental location no additional driver fee. Best value as far as I know.
·   Jackson Hole: Watch our for $12 vouchers in sport shops in SLC (not available in Jackson)
·   Tickets for SLC resorts: Sport shops, motels and hotels but never at the resort
·   Tickets for Sugar Bowl: Safeway or McDonalds especially for weekends you get $10+ off
·   For I-70 resorts: Stay in Frisco or Dillon but make sure to call Copper Mountain resort. They usually have excellent last minute deals and you can ski any other resort from there.
·   Crested Butte needs a lot of snow to be good.
·   Discounted tickets for I-70 resorts: Stop on the way from Denver e.g. at Idaho Springs Safeway
·   Mt. Rose: Specials almost every weekday – check website
·   Looking for beginner / intermediate and cheap skiing at North Lake Tahoe: Homewood $20-25/day!



Pics:
http://community.webshots.com/album/265445674LRYYSq
http://community.webshots.com/album/287353611opPaIo

More to follow soon and some movies as well.

Jeb

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Re: Reisebericht Snow Safari USA Februar - März 2005
« Antwort #3 am: 03.04.2005, 01:14 Uhr »
Absolute Weltklasse - ich will auch wiedermal zum Boarden in die Rockies, allerdings nicht so lange. Eine oder zwei Wochen genügen mir.

paedde

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    • http://community.webshots.com/user/paedde31
Re: Reisebericht Snow Safari USA Februar - März 2005
« Antwort #4 am: 10.05.2005, 20:02 Uhr »
Zu den ersten 5 Gebieten gibts ab sofort mehr Bilder:

http://community.webshots.com/album/342596033hVeTXd

Fortsetzung folgt...

paedde

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    • http://community.webshots.com/user/paedde31
Re: Reisebericht Snow Safari USA Februar - März 2005
« Antwort #5 am: 31.05.2005, 02:14 Uhr »
Und weiter gehts mit den Bildern

13.-23.2

Northstar
Heavenly
Mt. Rose
Jackson Hole
Grand Targhee

http://community.webshots.com/album/355674467jPTEiJ

Fortsetzung folgt