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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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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

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...

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...

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.

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...

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.

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...

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.

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...

Vallee Blanche looks closed for weather when MarzNC was there. While I stand by my view that VB is easily accessible for intermediates with decent fitness, there's no way you want to be there if there is any question about visibility. Presumably the required guide services make that call.

That's the only reason I'm pushing the test now for EMSC, to find out if that will be necessary for his son. I do not know if EMSC's "soft plaque" issue is directly related to lipoprotein(a). From same source above:

From Dec. 26 - Jan. 4 there were 7 days of rain with only one inch of snow in the SoCal ski areas. At the time the big news was the mudslides in Wrightwood, which closed the roads to Mt. High from Dec. 24 - Jan. 9. Deja vu. The February 2001 storm was more favorable to skiers, dumping 7 feet...

Chair 23 was the classic example. All of the older lifts (except 25, allegedly can't handle the extra weight) at Mammoth got them retrofitted in 2021-22, so not that long ago. Maybe part of the notoriety of that VB arete is that it's a descent. When I did the Via Ferrata in Briancon with...

Incident was Jan. 31, chair 17 (quad with bar but no footrest). I read some comments. She never got completely on the chair when loading, so it seems the lift traveled quite a ways before being stopped. Fortunately the girl was not injured, just has a sore hip. Very lucky considering she...