Snowboarding/Skiing Catch-all

This is considered a black run at our little 580 ft vertical hill.
You can pause it and get an angle on the trees as I pass the camera.
Probably an easy blue run at locations like the ones upthread.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/72xleqvsqa...

Not sure if that link will work. File is 6MB
My shoulders rotate too much, and I tip to the inside of the turn.
This is from mid-last season. I've worked all of this season on fixing those.

Cool. I've actually never had a ski lesson in my life, my folks just put me on skis when I was 5 and pushed me down the hill, so I pretty much learned on my own. I'd like to think I'm pretty good, but I really should take a lesson sometime so I can learn what I may be doing wrong and correct it.

I should also probably move to Colorado...

Serengeti wrote:

Cool. I've actually never had a ski lesson in my life, my folks just put me on skis when I was 5 and pushed me down the hill, so I pretty much learned on my own. I'd like to think I'm pretty good, but I really should take a lesson sometime so I can learn what I may be doing wrong and correct it.

I should also probably move to Colorado...

I took a lesson when I was out in fernie, it's amazing how much one small pointer completely changes your life. It's not that anyone is skiing wrong, just doing things a certaion way makes things so much easier. Also with someone else watching you they can point out small adjustments to things you didn't even realize you were doing.

I have a tendency to stand a bit too upright, focusing on that made my life tons easier.

Minute 4 gave me a good WTF. Then they topped it at the chairlift.

Scoping that, and closing that much terrain would have taken a lot of time and effort.

Got my epic pass for this season! Bring on the snow!

Can anyone recommend a mountain in the NY area? We don't mind traveling a few hours. I'm Looking to setup a trip for my wife, daughter and I. We're all beginners and will need lessons.

Depending on where you're coming from, Pico is popular with many New Yorkers, and it's a fantastic mountain for beginners (and experts!). 2 hours from Albany.

My goggles are getting a bit old and need to be replaced. Thinking about going with swappable lenses this time around to better handle changing conditions. Anyone have any recommendations/advice?

Edit: Ordered a pair of Smith I/O X goggles with the photochromic lenses which shift from 20-50% VLT as the light conditions change. Should be real nice.

It was 70 degrees in Northern Virginia this weekend, gross!

Finally cold enough that the local hill is getting a dusting of natural snow, plus they've been able to crank up the snowmaking. Now it just needs to stay cold.

The kids didn't join ski club at school this year, but I did get a lift ticket pass so I can take them a couple of times once the mountain's open.

We got our first snowboard in of the season this past weekend. Stayed on good greens to warm back up and try a few small jumps. Going out again this weekend in southern PA.

Just got back from another week in Fernie, BC. God I love that place so damn much. A touch below freezing and sunny the first part of the week, then on Thursday we got a footof nice, light powder from top to bottom. Locals said it was in the top two days of the season and probably also in the top two days of my skiing life. Fresh tracks through the trees on Curry Bowl just can't be beat.

The view:
IMAGE(https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xtp1/v/t1.0-0/p526x296/12647398_10100417237040904_7526908473702883352_n.jpg?oh=38a00214c34aa01bb619e3ac91378006&oe=573B9808)

The wife:
IMAGE(https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xla1/v/t1.0-9/12670579_10100417172320604_7351536268132436182_n.jpg?oh=a043529e1e35d265813ea77d9acf7b1a&oe=572A7DF6)

So I bought myself a snowboard this season just to give it a try. Definitely a much different experience than I'm used to, but I'm enjoying it as I feel that I can get some value out of the small local hills on the board whereas there's not much more I can learn on skis without actually traveling to the mountains.

So last night on my 6th time ever on the snowboard I completed a successful front flip to tail butter!

It was completely epic, and completely unintentional! I was zipping along pretty fast and caught something I didn't see with the front of the board which flipped me into the air. Somehow I got a full forward rotation and landed on the tail of my board and managed to butter for about 4 seconds before I finally fell down. Dude behind me stopped and complimented me on my wicked awesome trick. I didn't tell him it was a wild fluke

Damn I wish I had that on film though!

Probably looked a lot like this, except with arms flailing everywhere and a fair bit more screaming

IMAGE(http://cdn.coresites.factorymedia.com/whitelines_new/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/frontflipknuckle.jpg)

I don't even... Why would he think that had the slightest possibility of working?

Year round skiing coming to one of my local hills. Can't wait to try it out!

I just got back from a 3 day trip to the Snowy Mountains down under. I am by no means an accomplished snowboarder, having chalked up 8 days of riding after this trip, but it was good to hit up more parts of the mountain and get a lot more proficient with linking turns.

Kids are also picking up skiing at a surprising rate and my wife also made some good progress with snowboarding.

I also spent a day snowboarding with my brother who is usually a skiier. It was funny watching someone who tears up black runs mostly leaf his way down green runs, although in fairness he'd only had 1.5 days snowboarding before this.

Can't wait for December as we're planning a trip to the northern hemisphere to chase the snow.

Bfgp wrote:

I also spent a day snowboarding with my brother who is usually a skiier. It was funny watching someone who tears up black runs mostly leaf his way down green runs, although in fairness he'd only had 1.5 days snowboarding before this.

I'm that guy who skis anything and everything, but just picked up my first snowboard last year. I definitely prefer my skis in the mountains where there's a ton of cool terrain to explore, but the local hill is a bit underwhelming on the skis. The snowboard makes the local hill a bunch of fun again as I can learn and try new things in an environment I know, and feel like I'm making progress.

Once I master the snowboard, then I'll move on to accroski!

I think learning both gives a huge advantage in both learning speed and making tame terrain fun again. Plus my brother gets to play catch up to late starters like myself and wife whereas he'd fall asleep on skis following us around.

You have some wicked speeds and that's in mph, my mind is boggled at the thought of going anywhere near that fast. I thought my bro and his friends were insane doing a similar pace night skiing and racing in the US.

Tree runs, hiking for unmarked trails and night racing are things beyond belief for me.

So, in 4 days one of our local ski hills opens the first year-round ski and snowboard run in the US. Something called Neveplast from Italy. Cannot wait to give it a try!

Not the first: http://www.liberty.edu/snowflex/.

It's small, but it's year-round. I've never been on it, though.

Serengeti wrote:

So, in 4 days one of our local ski hills opens the first year-round ski and snowboard run in the US. Something called Neveplast from Italy. Cannot wait to give it a try!

So I tried it out last weekend.

I could ski it fairly well, though it really doesn't feel like snow. It's also very loud.

I was warned to run my skis through the provided water after each lap to prevent the base from overheating - they said they'd had some issues with damage already that day. It was 68 degrees out - I wonder how bases are going to fare in the summer?

Tried out my snowboard and could not get turns to feel smooth. Probably mostly an issue with my lack of snowboarding skill more than anything.

The snowboard did let me "try out" falling on it, and it's not pleasant at all! The surface is quite hard really. I had a few bruises afterwards. Short sleeves or shorts are a very bad idea.

The final note is that there is lubrication for the surface. My falls ended up transferring some of that lubrication to my clothes, which was then transferred to the seats of my car, requiring some time spent soaping and cleaning the seats when I got home.

Overall I would rate the experience as "ok, I suppose". It's just not the same as snow and the little annoyances just kind of make it something I'm not interested in doing again really.

Serengeti wrote:

Overall I would rate the experience as "ok, I suppose". It's just not the same as snow and the little annoyances just kind of make it something I'm not interested in doing again really.

That's a shame. I think the one at Liberty has a light flow of water running down the surface, like a waterpark slide. Makes falls hurt a little less, but you still want water proof clothing if you don't want to get soaking wet.

So with a newborn in the house, the wife and I are sticking to the east this season. We're aiming to spend 5 days at Jay Peak in March with grandma along for childcare. Anyone been there?

We're looking at some of the on-mountain lodging but the website is less then descriptive. We're looking for a 2 bedroom unit with a kitchen and laundry. We think the Timberline Cottages seem reasonable and affordable but how far are they from the lifts?

Any other suggestions would be great. We'd like to be as convenient to a base as possible (ski in/out would be awesome)) in case we need to get back quick for kid emergencies.

Winter 2017-2018 Arise thread of the dead.

Just spent a weekend out at Indian Head and Blackjack in MI with our Ski/Snowboard club. Was so nice to get out there and see so much untouched powder. We boarded as much as we could in 48 hours. We are all exhausted and sad to leave but looking forward to hitting Steamboat Springs and Winter Park in mid February.

My wife and I found a couple we know who make these type of trips too easy to agree to do. We all get along well and snowboard so it's a blast.

Bought the wife a set of Step On boots and bindings for her birthday. She's only had a chance to ride them a couple times so far, but she says they're a game changer. The fact that she can drop her boot into her bindings and have it lock, without bending down, while she's exiting the lift, is just awesome. For the long cat tracks, it's super easy for her to pop one foot out to skate along, and drop her boot back in without slowing down. These things are most definitely the future of snowboarding!

Here's a random review video I found that does a good job of showing them off.

Her boots and bindings were $620 plus tax - she opted for the more expensive, firm boots. That sounds like a lot of money, but you can easily spend much more than that on good traditional boots and bindings.

The only downside at this point is they only sell them as a bundle package, and she has a few different boards for different uses and would like to order just the bindings for all of them. For now, we'll just have to swap the bindings over whenever she needs to swap boards.

PS. You didn't hear it from me, but as a skier, not having to wait for her to strap in at the top of every lift is so worth the price!

I have been hearing those are great. Looking forward to them going mainstream in time. Just got back from Colorado and had a great time boarding out there for 4 days, all with boarders so we all were strapping in at the top but I wouldn't mind a better method. My wife has the quick up back flipup bindings. I'd like those at least. I had to buy new boots out there and they are nice but due to limited selection I didn't get a boa setup like I used to have and wanted but it has sectional quick tightening. We'll see if I keep them or sell them. Either way I look forward to a better fitting boot now that I know I am not an 11 but a size 10.

I used to have step-ins back when I boarded - absolutely loved them. So nice to just clip in on the lift and go. Especially at my local area where a few unloads were really steep and narrow.

My old boots I found were a lot stiffer too - all the support had the be built into the boot. I liked that, fit my style. Much more into carving and steeps than tricks.

This was also two decades ago - sure the equipment has gotten better since.