Every since the beginning of the season, Cole and I have made Thursday our hike day. There is nothing like the feeling of heading out of bounds away from the crowds and hacked up runs into some fresh untracked terrain. There was a pretty good dump on Tue (see previous post), and the winds hammered on Wed. You could see the wind gust tracks in the trees, certain areas were blown clean while others were all white. The feeling was to head in the direction of the all white areas. The first two runs were great, the third was horrid, almost to the point of wanting to call it a day. We didn’t though and went in search of one more gem to ride out on. The slope was pretty mellow, probably around 23-27 degrees but it was open and untracked and the powder was light and fast. I think a lot of skiers and boarders would consider it a bit boring, but on a powderskate it feels like the ultimate play wave and you just don’t want to stop.
I’m still having a bit of trouble with my video editing software but with a little luck sometimes clips come out ready to go so here’s another minute of turns.
I headed back to Tamarack on Sunday to meet up with the boise crew. Jeff had spread the word but was unsure how many would actually make the trek. I was blown away when I finally met up with the SIX of them, that’s kind of a record. It took some driving around to find a place to park and even longer to actually get the snowmobiles started, well to get one of them started. Somehow it was decided that I would get the first ride up with two snowskates, the 152 and 158. It was a short trip up to the mid mountain lodge. The snowmobiles had been busy and much of the terrain was tracked up. There were still lots of turns to be had though on the sides of the runs. The sled dropped me off and returned to shuttle more riders. At the lodge there were a handful of guys with snowmobiles trying to get a plan together to build a jump somewhere. Standing amoungst them with the pow skates was a bit awkward. A couple asked a few questions but none seemed too interested. I grabbed the 158, which I had just set up the night before, and headed up the side of the run for some turns. The 158 is the biggest powderskate on the market and I had only ridden that size one time last year.
The powder was deep and light so in all actuality you probably could have ridden a kayak down the mountain and had fun. I hike three different lines trying to find the best place for all of us to session. The snow was amazing and by the time the others arrived on TWO sleds with more powskates, I was confident that the day would be epic. I had planned on giving a big explanation and a bunch of tips on powderskating but in the end I just handed them the skates and pointed up. I don’t think anyone even fell the first run or the second for that matter. I tried to take some pics but usually was just hooting and hollering every time the blew past. We spent the day making laps and it was perfect. Towards the end of the day I ran into a couple of the guys who were on the jump-building expedition. I asked if they got any good turns in and the guy replied that no, they had spent the day trying to find a spot to build on and it just hadn’t panned out, too bad, there was lots of good powderskating turns to be had.
See what I mean, I’m not very good at getting action shots.
Jeff had brought his Lib 48 and it floated as long as you kept the nose up.
So the last three days delivered around 20” inches of snow to the resort. Last night it got kinda warm so the conditions were light snow under a heavy layer of wet stuff. Headed up first thing in the morning to catch the opening of the triple chair into south bowls. The chair had been closed during the entire storm so all the terrain around it would be untracked. I grabbed the 125 FPS first thinking that the snow had consolidated and I wouldn’t be sinking that much. At first on the steep stuff it seemed like the right choice but about half way down the south bowl where its not as steep and the temps were a bit warmer I had to straight line it just to get out. Back to the lodge for a board change. The 152 has a fat tail that will float pretty much everything but it does take a lot more leverage to carve on groomers. When I do take it out for resort riding its usually after big dumps where I won’t be spending much time on groomers. That’s where the 151 has a big advantage, it can handle groomers and hardpack easily, really easily so riding between stashes is easy and fun. Yesterday’s snow was heavy though and a real work out and the area we were riding was perfect for the 152 and riding was a breeze. Cole had his 151 and on the upper steeper section he was killing it but on the lower section where the snow was much heavier it was a bit harder. Not as tricky as the 125 but still you had to keep your weight forward to keep the tail from sinking. If the tail sank you slowed down and stopped, which meant possibly falling off your board and getting snow all over the grip and basically just wearing you out. Getting back up onto your board in deep powder takes some effort so you wanted to avoid that at all costs. You’ll notice the snow build up on the grip in the pic. Yea, heavy high moisture content snow sticks to it.
I had my leash break for the first time and just happened to be right in front of the patrol. Please remember to always check you equipment and leash for edge cuts and loose knots, a snow laden powder skate weighs a lot and can bust a simple cord! Only use webbing dog leashes or the hard core coil leashes. We don’t want run away skates period. Trust me even if it just goes into the trees you will either loose it or at a minimum have a HUGE hike down the hill.
At this point I should probably call these Shut up and Snowskateretrospective. Yes another SUAS post from the past. All I have from this last one is a little bit of footage. It is so hard to film when there is a really fun course and everybody’s riding. You just want to be a part of it, not documenting it. When this comp was going we didn’t know it would be the last one. SUAS had been going for 6 years with the first one comprised of 4 stops across the U.S.A Krush and Shag were the motivating forces behind the project with the goal to spread the word about snowskates. Each comp was a similar format with all having the “slash for cash” downhill. The Summit stop was always the last of the season and I guess considered the finals for the tour. The course was always amazing and this last years was no exception. The set up was perfect, lots of fun lines all bunched together so you could watch and ride everything. There was a barbecue and tent off to one side with all the food you could eat. Tons of skaters you’ve never met and lots of spectators. The only problem with this course was there wasn’t quite enough speed for some of the better riders to go off. This particular morning started with about 6″ of fresh pow and a blue bird day. The course was pretty icy first thing so most of us hit the powder lines off the left side of the lift. That was a trip, 30+ snowskaters ripping the pow in a huge group. At one point it was Jordan, Spico and me flying down this gully, of course I was in back which made for a great mental picture.
