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  1. Tony Crocker

    Project 101: USA Road Trip

    My impression is that three or four star lodging convenient to lifts in Europe is far less expensive that in Colorado or Big Sky. We will be in Big Sky a couple of nights early March and there is nothing on hotels.com or booking.com under $700/night. Fortunately we found an Airbnb for about...
  2. Tony Crocker

    Project 101: USA Road Trip

    My understanding is that Austria subsidizes the most, then Italy, France some and Switzerland not at all. I thought James said that’s the reason so many more surface lifts in Switzerland.
  3. Tony Crocker

    Northeastern U.S. Weather & Conditions

    As far as East vs. West weather is concerned: The West has much more precipitation volatility. The East has much more temperature volatility. Do any of you easterners recall a winter where it has been bone dry for as long as a month? I doubt it. The bad years are the warm ones where it rains...
  4. Tony Crocker

    Northeastern U.S. Weather & Conditions

    I know I'm :beating-a-dead-horse: here, but 1976-77 is the ultimate answer to Harvey's question. Eastern totals: Mt. Washington 496 inches Killington 346 (record high) Mansfield Stake 279 but JSpin explained that big dumps there were substantially underreported The highest western total was...
  5. Tony Crocker

    Project 101: USA Road Trip

    skiresort.info is an excellent resource for: 1) A comprehensive list of ski resorts, even obscure ones in exotic locations. 2) The site for each resort nearly always includes a trail map. It never occurred to me to consider their star ratings. ratings operate on the wrong premise. The best...
  6. Tony Crocker

    Europe 2025/26

    I remember doing that some of the time in 2004. The guide in 2004 put me in the front of our line for that descent. There were 24 people on that trip. Vallee Blanche was not part of the original plan but some of us considered it a bucket list item so our travel escort arrange it last minute...
  7. Tony Crocker

    Mammoth, Feb. 2-4, and 9, 2026

    99% of the snow up there was chalky and had not been through a melt freeze. I'm not saying 100% because larger rocks can get warmer and melt/freeze adjacent snow. Some of the chalk was stiffer and had no loose snow, and those runs were rarely skied, especially if there were exposed rocks...
  8. Tony Crocker

    Mammoth, Feb. 2-4, and 9, 2026

    My slide was on Wednesday. I did not take a picture of the Drop Outs, but Mammoth Snowman posted this one from Wednesday. Drop Out 2 is at upper center. If you fall above that you will hit something. And I can attest that you will be moving fast in current conditions when you do. I was...
  9. Tony Crocker

    Mammoth, Feb. 2-4, and 9, 2026

    Thursday rated to be a bit firmer to start the day with a colder overnight freeze, plus we were there for opening bell, untouched Stump Alley on our first ride up. Accordingly I took out the Stockli AX80 at 173cm. Liz was a bit more focused at this event because her Blizzard Sambas are 11...
  10. Tony Crocker

    Mammoth, Feb. 2-4, and 9, 2026

    With Liz's departure for Africa today and my 5 week road trip starting tomorrow, the past few days home have been hectic. I had not been to the industry demo since 2022, so my prior registration info online had been lost. We went to the credential pickup event at Eagle Lodge Monday evening and...
  11. Tony Crocker

    Europe 2025/26

    Odds are strong we will spend at least part of our late March trip in that direction, sbooker and Kylie too I'd guess. One itinerary would be to continue on to Alpe d'Huez, return via the Maurienne. A detour south to Vars - Risoul might be worth considering in a season like this one. The...
  12. Tony Crocker

    Where are you going this season (25/26)?

    From what we read, there has been some mighty fine skiing in the Northeast this season.
  13. Tony Crocker

    Europe 2025/26

    That seems strange in view of the vast majority of tours being on the Classic Route. That's where you will be going (max 8 skiers per guide) unless you specifically request an Envers du Plan alternative (max 4 skiers per guide). Kylie will be fine. The hard parts are on foot, fitness related...
  14. Tony Crocker

    Is Mt. Waterman Circling the Drain?

    We are generally well informed but still a small group. It's the no mention on Waterman website, FB or Wikipedia that surprised me. The Angeles Crest is very popular for scenic drives and hiking access in the summer. It would astound me if it were abandoned. But I was surprised when the...
  15. Tony Crocker

    Europe 2025/26

    I have only skied with Jimk at Snowbird a couple of times during recent Iron Blosam weeks. That's why I was pushing for him and his son to ski some Verbier off-piste. Jimk could handle that at least as well as I did in 2024.
  16. Tony Crocker

    Europe 2025/26

    Exposed alpine terrain can be quite variable season to season based upon the sequence of early season storms and especially their wind direction and intensity. I see this variability nearly every year at Mammoth. So perhaps this season that ridge descent has set up steeper than average...
  17. Tony Crocker

    Western North America Conditions 2025/26

    Yesterday snowtrekker posted screenshots and video link of extensive damage at Mt. Waterman from the Christmas storms. I'm surprised no one else has commented yet, so I'm posting the link above to that thread.
  18. Tony Crocker

    Europe 2025/26

    Bootpacks in general are set by average size male skiers, which is fortunate for me. This I do not recall either time I was there. I firmly believe than Jimk had more challenging conditions that I saw due to being so early in the season in terms of snowpack. Jimk: This I do not recall...
  19. Tony Crocker

    Project 101: USA Road Trip

    Today was the last day of the Project101 trip, ending at Mountain Creek, home base for our Iron Blosam New Jersey contingent. Complete trip list is in post #2. He has a great pic comparing verticals of the Manhattan skyline to some of the ski areas he visited.
  20. Tony Crocker

    Europe 2025/26

    All the other pictures I've seen are people stacked in line walking down that ridge. I guess it was late enough in the day nobody was just starting. I did notice a few people at far distance. Yes easier on the knees. When hiking I usually take the steep way up and the gradual way down if I...
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