IN THE DEEP

While Craig gets 80-100 days on the hill each year, skiing all sorts of conditions with his herd of stags, I relish the rare powderdays like this one... a buttery, foggy Saturday with a few old friends. That means my numbers are considerably lower, but perhaps my appreciation factor is higher. 

Today inspired me to get back into documenting our powderdays in the 'Boat! It was arguably the best day all year (of which I've only had 6 days to Craig's 63, but he agreed!), with over a foot of new snow that mostly fell since the early hours this morning. 

 

The glorious day we've been awaiting has arrived. Starting out with an empty Gondy maze and 8 inches new or more to play in, we made our way to Four Points for first chair. It was blowing sideways at the top though, visibility was nil, and the temp felt surprisingly colder than 14° to all of us.

The snow was a little heavy, but buttery, up to my knees in spots where the fierce overnight winds had blown in drifts, and still shin deep everywhere else. First tracks down Keith's Ridge, Moonlight and Fawn were the best of day, Storm and Daze were blown off down to the hardpack and the peak was invisible in the fog, so we finished off with some lower mountain favorites like Concentration [images], lovely knee deep soft pow stashes all along the right side of that one!



Thankfully it kept snowing all day, so tomorrow promises to be even better... albeit colder. And snow's forecast for several more days- it looks like Mother Nature is cranking up the machine, finally, in preparation for the 97th Winter Carnival next week! So we'll likely be posting more... whew, I know this local's glad winters back!

-See you in the deep!

The girls have dubbed the boys The Bombers for their turnless technique and maching speed. This camp is aggressive this year, maybe it's the conditions, maybe it's a sign of the times; but either way, everyone is going after it like its DerbyDay in the 'Boat, and the ladies are declaring an official Morning with the Maidens tomorrow...


The troop got another 9am start on the hill and although we took a long lunch doing our group photo and dealing with grill issues, it was 4:00 by the time I walked to my car. Lap after lap we did on the sunny side, from wide open groomers to tight funnels, from giggling rollers to the jib park, we hit it all. Blue skies abound made backdrops from heaven on this glorious spring-like day.

Best quote of the day, "I ain't gonna lie to you, I'm whooped!"

You know it's a slim December when the locals are amped up for 8 inches since the mountain closed, 11 in the last 24 hours, but that's what this morning offered as we joined the pack at Storm Peak at 8:52am. It was still snowing lightly at the 5degree summit when we arrived and bombed down Storm Peak; ahh, some of our favorite terrain is finally skiable on December 24th. Merry Christmas!

We continued down Rainbow to freshly-opened Moonlight, littered with piles of new and old snow that hadn't been touched by anyone but Ski Patrol. It was warmer as usual on the "sunny side", so we took a lap up Sundown and tried out 1 Oclock and into the 1230 trees. Also seemingly virgin for the 09-10 season, our all-time favorite stash was in mint condition. Scared of what was underneath still however, we watched our line carefully, but wow; our billows were over my knees, and over Craig's head. Lovely.

Furthermore, the right side of lower high noon was also among the best I've seen it; knee-high powder mounds primed for bombing.

The fog, goggle failure, and ridiculously low temperatures kept our morning short, we've skied our VA visitor to rubber, and the powder just makes it worse. So after another run, we found our way down to Lower Valley View which has been groovy all week but was divine today.




Merry Christmas everyone! See you In The Deep!

This video was taken Monday... when we got about 6 new inches to play on, and a foot in spots. It was my first day up, but Craig's 3rd... it's been a slow December, reminiscent of 2004 perhaps (32" total for the month); but we hope it only means whatever's missing from 2009 will plummet down from the skies in 2010 for an epic January as usual, hopefully a la 1996 style. (216" total for the month! Please note THAT 95-96 season they also only got 34" in December... watch out!)

Not much open until today- Buddys Cyclone Tornado were our only options Monday- but they opened up more terrain with the arrival of all the holiday travelers; we've got some visitors as well so we'll see you up there ~





Stats til 07/08:

Today was no foolin', another deep, epic day in the 'Boat. I had resigned myself to sitting this week out, but after two days of watching Craig come home with that poo-eating grin, I decided I had better make a few turns in this "triple threat" storm myself.

Where Monday and Tuesday were cold, (infamous local Y-Von even told me she was actually SORE from shivering yesterday) today wasn't so bitter once you got off the peak; about 15-25 degrees warmer by the reports.

However you know what that means. The powder was dense. I of course, having missed the cream of yesterday, and riding on a fat board,didn't notice. While they struggled on skis in the Three O'Clock trees, I bombed down Twilight laughing all the way. They also hit the bumps on Lights Out, while I cruised past to Moonlight Trees. I know that's cliche, but yea "it was in the trees today." But it seemed that you had to pick the right treeline with a very steep pitch that hadn't been touched since about noon yesterday to get the full throttle of today's accumulation in your face.

So we continued on in search. I think next to Twilight, my favorite run today was Cyclone, but honestly even Rudy's at 8:38 with 4-5" on a glasslike groomer was scrumptious. Next we headed to Pony, where many had been. But again, if you knew where to look, it was there.

Now I know some of you are now thinking of cherry blossoms, golfing, cycling and camping... but we're still eating it up like frosty white cupcakes here in the hills. Our base is a ridiculous 110+'' and the storms show no signs of relenting soon. We'll be back up tomorrow for more.


See you In The Deep!

Steamboat TV18's and NRC Broadcasting's Eli Campbell injured his knee early this season and has been unable to ski since the start of the year. We ran into Eli and his lady Erin at Creekside one day, and discussed the idea of monoskiing... it gave him something to look forward to... when the doc would clear him for some strapped-in safe snow sliding! That day was finally yesterday, March 29, coincidentally one day after the anniversary of Craig's ski accident.

Eli's a great snow athlete- one look at his Facebook pictures and you can see he has a thirst for adventure in the woods. So with even more powder coming at us this week, we think we've timed this perfectly! Hopefully Eli will take this lesson to the next step and make some turns.

101 Fitting
Fitting the monoski bucket, foot cage, and outriggers to a beginner stance is primary; you should have an expert help line this out for you. Once you've mastered the basics, you can adapt to a more intermediate stance.

101 Control
Even more so than able-bodied skiing, when monoskiing you must start out slow to control the rig. It's a heavy piece of equipment that can hurt someone; so control of the device is of the utmost importance.

Push forward and backwards, lift up, pivot, and get an overall feel for your balance in the bucket and on the outriggers. Then on a flat surface practice getting up some momentum and stopping yourself. Monoski stops are made by pressing down with your arms and shoulders and pivoting one way or the other, as if the outrigger is doing the job, but it's your body is setting the turn in motion. Once you've mastered stopping the rig on a flat surface, move up the bunny slope to begin working on turning.


Eli did great at the base; he took to the rig right away, and was able to find his balance quickly. As a ski racer and athlete, Eli wasn't learning to ski, he was learning to adapt his existing (excellent) skiing skills to this particular equipment. The concepts are mostly the same, so he had a head start; but even his success far succeeded anyone's expectations!


101 Turning
Turning the rig is similar to turning when standing skiing; your head/eyes and thumbs should direct your turns. If you're overturning, you're looking into the next turn too late. [Overturning on a monoski will cause "wash out," where the ski turns back uphill and the bucket slides
out beneath you.] Prevent this by staying ahead of the turn by always looking to the next side once your turn has begun.

Now you're monoskiing!

Eli made some great turns, first twice down Headwall and then Craig took him to Swinger, and as he picked up momentum he seemed to pick it up, by the wide part of the trail, he was bombing away, turning less, and really getting the hang of it!




Thanks for being such a good sport, and thanks to TV18 for putting together the video of yesterday, we can't wait to see it!

We didn't get up early today, and instead watched the snow fall in piles of snowflakes the size of pancakes from our offices until we could take it no more. The 2" and 5° on the 5am report kept building and building, and by the noon report there was a foot. So sometime after lunch we both started putting our gear on for some late day turns and made it to the top by 2.

The wind, snow, and cold were relentless all day apparently; Storm Peak was such a blizzard we couldn't even get across the plain to drop off onto the Face and had to cut across the track to Sideburns, where we dove into thigh-deep powder, blind as bats. You couldn't see your hand in front of your face; even the top of Sundown, which is sometimes milder than Storm, reminded me of Eric Weihenmeyer's ascent up Everest- blowing sideways, bundled mountaineers huddling together deciding which line to take, and visibility nil. Needless to say it was not a day for the camera folks; apologies.

We headed for the favorite stashes as usual, and if there were tracks in 1:30 trees at any point today, they were already covered. Craig buried himself in a treewell, luckily landing upright, because he just plainly couldn't see! Faceshots and fog combined, we were both as blind as Weihenmeyer. By the second lap up Sundown my goggles were toast, and I had to nip into the Patrol shack for a quick clear up.

From there we dropped down Sundown liftline, enticed by skiers below our previous ride, and despite a few screeching halts, Craig bombed those knee deep bumps like a porpoise, getting hoots from the riders above, while I surfed behind to make sure he didn't find another hole to hide in. By the time we hit the bottom of Moonlight we were already spent.

We headed to the top for a frosted-goggle top-to-bottom through the meadow below Storm and the untracked left side of Hurricane. The blizzard was just as bad at the bottom, six inches of fresh lay waiting at the bottom. It's gotta be snowing several inches an hour.

Tomorrow is going to be ridiculous! WOOT!

"See you in the deep" is an understatement.

Another gorgeous day in the Boa, people... a perfect condition kind of day. With 11 new inches today on top of yesterday's foot, and however many before that (how long has it been snowing?), the groomers were covered, the bumps were filled in, and the trees were like butter. The snow was exponentially lighter today than it has been, the temps cooperated, and we're back to our Champagne!

A little wind blown from the dropping jet flow at the top, we ducked into the trees immediately, hitting 3:00, 1:30, and 12:30 right off the bat. A lap through Sunset to Moonlight, cutting into the trees above Moonlight yielded some of the most deep stuff out there.

The place was deserted as well, so seconds and third helpings were a-plenty. Likely the crazy inversion valley fog and clear peak is what kept the peeps at bay; their loss, it was a gorgeous bluebird powder day indeed, you just had to get above the Gondy to see it.

No equipment failure today, just tired bodies from several days of riding in the heavy powder. We had to cash ourselves in at only 10:30, just when the clouds rolled back in for some more dumpage.

What a crazy day.
1. Lifts opened an hour late due to some ice creation making the detachables detach...
We wind up on Gondy much earlier than that but only to take first run down Rudy's and ...
2. Lose a binding. Craig'd been saying that ski felt soft these last few days; last year's demo model Bro with a racing plate and Marker binding. First run, racing plate rips off the back end and renders the Revolution motionless. Skiing down wasn't an option, so we sent the packmule down for the backup, and I made it back in 30 minutes with the ski, a very nice Patroller and his phillips head. We didn't let the late start or groomer ski hold us back. Thanks to cell phones, we met up with Matty and Lang, Craig's Sig-Pi brothers from St Lawrence, for a full day of faceshots.

The temps have stayed around 30, so the snow is heavy, but much softer than we expected. We started in 130 trees; untouched, deep, and controllable. The snow slowed things down a bit, so we sought out the steeper stuff. Rolex was a perfect choice. But then again, so were Sideburns, Sunset and Lights Out, FP Lift Line, Hurricane...

Definitely still stormy up top, the wind was buzzing and the peak snow blown off; visibility was 3-4 chair lengths. Once you got below the cloud coverage though the conditions improved considerably, visibility was endless, and the sun-kissed valley glowed up from below.

Thanks to Lang's visit we had the excuse for Slopeside, so we grabbed some beers and apps- go with the White Out pizza with BBQ chicken if you're there- and made a day of it. We rarely get to do that, so it's a treat when we do. Then we came home and watched the Monocross. Hats off to Andy Cambell for trying his best, and for a quick recovery on that femur... we know how that goes. Of course hats off to Tyler, Sam, and KJ for medalling in that crazy Monocross event!

Storm's supposed to keep hitting us until tomorrow, and taper off through Thursday, temps are also supposed to drop down to 20.

Matty's our guest photographer today, we'll load some foot-o-fresh pics when we get them.

See you in the deep-

Yesterday was a spiritual experience in the backcountry; in a rare location that's skied only 15% of the season by Powdercats, Soda Mountain's "expert terrain" is even most spiritual to them. Facing south, the terrain is often burned to crust by the sun; giving the steeper runs higher slide potential. With careful safety monitoring over the past few days, PC safety manager Eric ok'd us for entry. No monoskier had ever been taken to Soda before. After about 12 new inches last week and sunless skies, the terrain was mint for its inaugural turns of the season. PC Guide Scully was chomping at the bit.

We scored a gorgeous, chilly bluebird day and spent the morning on the south side of Soda until the climbing sun began to cook the top layers. Craig was gifted with the virgin run down Tasty Wave. We followed with The Tube, and finished the south with the Funnel. The Funnels' rocky couloir-like narrow chute gave them the most testing terrain, with rocks to one side and trees to the other. Kent parked me somewhere in the middle to film for Genchi, and I panned them as they all blazed by.

We stopped on the ridgeline for lunch and finished the day with two runs down the backside on the north slope, a wide open glade with scattered trees and a windlip the size of two men that the monos took turns jumping off. Cambell jumped both runs the highest, but blew the bucket off his Praschberger on the second landing, bolts and all.

We had a great group with three monos, Andy Campbell (UK), Lucian Smith (PA), and Craig; two three trackers including Chris Canfield from Breck who skis with poles (I guess that would make him a one-tracker?) and local Courtest Ski Patroller Ron McMorris; and Luanne Burke, a speedy little VI x-racer with her guide Mau Thompson of Adaptive Adventures and previous coach of the US Disabled Ski Team. Not bad for a first year; all these skiers floated through the near-knee deep powder with ease.

We were also lucky enough to have two photographers and a writer from Skiing Magazine, hopefully to push through a feature on the event sometime next winter season (09-10).

But all in thanks to Dave Genchi (SCI), Powdercats Videographer that was injured on Buff Pass in 06, who will be making the video of Legends of the Deep with the goal to expand this day into a world class event for adaptive skiers and riders to show their skills in the powder and gain bragging rights, as these guys did, in the coveted terrain of Routt National Forest. Thanks Dave, this is indeed your brainchild. Hope you're here next time...

Talk about In the Deep . . .

Today was one of those sweet surprises that only locals can truly appreciate for its goodness... there were many factors about today that would have made any visitor or occasional skier an antsy Nancy. The snow report said 5" at 5am and still snowing with minimal 9m/h wind and a balmy 20°. We knew it would make for some strange conditions, and we were right.

Driving up to the hill we could only see the bottom of the mountain, the top was socked in and the clouds were a very dark shade of charcoal. . . STILL snowing. You all know what 3 hours can do to the 5am snow report, and sure enough there was easily 10" in spots, and thick, like freshly churned butter.

We made it to Four Points in time for its opening, BC and Storm weren't running yet and we were antsy to make some turns. We teamed up with Doug Enochs at the lift and skied with Douglas all day. Sunset was barely touched and we carved big down to Duster, making our way slowly down into the Moonlight trees. A ride up Sundown showed the top in full glory- dumping styrofoam-like pellets by the bucketload, and visibility of only 4 chair lengths. It got darker the higher we went, and it was like skiing blind on Keith's Ridge, feeling our way down Sunshine Liftline and through the trees to High Noon. From there we took One O'clock to 1:30 trees, smoothing along this barely touched run like narrow boats on a glassy lake.

After that we did a top of Three O'clock taste over to Pumphouse trees, both with wide open freshies abound, and down Fawn to Southpeak for a taste of a groomed Rolex. There's nothing quite like a just-tilled Rolex with nearly a foot of fresh on top.

This time we traversed the top to Storm, and over to another fresh-till on Cyclone, but both were pretty chewed up by 9:30, so we bombed down Vortex and hit the bottom of the lift line on the right, not a track in sight. LALALA!

Doug suggested Pony, he hadn't been there this year yet, Craig hadn't been there in a couple years, and I was a Pony virgin. Seriously. Here is where we found the mid-morning goods, however, and now that Craig and I are more familiar with some of Dougs favorite Pony spots, we'll surely be back. Thanks Doug! We hit the trees on top of Longhorn to the left above Nash Junction, an untouched glade of goodness that started this neverending run out nicely. We cruised in and out of Longhorn's left side, and found a completely untouched WJW at the bottom. Someone should rename that W-OHHH-W, as it was definitely wow. We dumped back into Drop out and decided it was maybe time for a top-to-bottom... we had some work to do!

Sunday is the start of our annual ski camp for disabled vets and friends, so if we have time to post, we will. Otherwise, we'll see you IN THE DEEP sometime after the 16th's 1st Annual Legends of the Deep Powder Invititational!!

Oh! And we hit the slopes today with the new camera (Canon EOS XSi)... still ironing out the kinks of new technology and settings, but today's pictures came out better than they used to, no question there! Thanks to the Jehn Foundation for that!

Since last I wrote, and despite the all-clear from Dr Sisk, Craig's foot turned a multitude of black and blues while in Myrtle Beach for the holidays, and he finally got the doc to take a second look today... the toe is broken. Unfortunately that meant he had to miss today's foot of freshies, while I made a few turns, broke my toe strap (what's it with TOES?) and tossed myself upside down on 1230's entrance roller. Other than that, it was a glorious day. Although Craig was sincerely missed, I took his favorite turns in his honor with fellow snowboarder Joey Rind. Craig DID get the go-ahead to ski tomorrow despite the toe... yessss!

I met Joey in the Christy line, the Gondy line was around the maze and out to ski school so it was a no brainer to take the lifts up, despite being stopped thrice on Christy. At the top of T-head we made our way to Four Points and started out with fresh tracks down Sunset and into the trees above Moonlight. Easily knee deep in those trees, and glorious on Sunset as well. We made our way up Sundown and did Keith's Ridge to High Noon to One Oclock, all of which virtually untracked. Literally there were 3 tracks on 1:00, so the howling ensued. Despite the line in the Gondy, those 200 peeps spread out far and wide and I saw two people on High Noon and maybe 50 in the Sundown line. EMPTY. That was one of those runs that sparks a "that was so nice, we have to do it twice!"

At the top of Sundown I went to strap in and noticed I'd be missing one... the back toe strap was just simply GONE. Granted, I'd ducktaped it first day this season, but it looked like a good hold. Must have been that tumbler I took off 1:00 to get into those trees... I'm still feeling some vertebrae compression going on, and will prescribe myself a much needed soak later today.

So onward to the repeat run... and beyond that a lap down Storm Peak (FYI, severely windblown) to what Joey calls MiddleBurns and what we call Storm Meadow, into the trees and again up to our knees in untracked goodness. Without a strap and some tired 2-weeks-off legs I made a run for it down Rainbow and got some last tasty pow left side of Rainbow, seemingly up to my thighs but surely I'm mistaken.

A wonderful first day back on the hill in the new year, oh, and it's STILL SNOWING!