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Nobody is going in there from the bottom. There is a mesh fence at the top. What I noticed in particular was that metal drum with striped pole above it perhaps 15 feet high. That will presumably tell patrol where the fumarole is if it gets buried as in 2006. In 2006 the area cleared by the...

We were on second chair so that Castle run we could ski anywhere, but it was just a bit too steep for the amount of new snow with a frozen granular subsurface. I thought it might be a true low angle powder day, of which our one backside run was the best example. But those West Bowl runs...

I started my 5 week road trip driving to Mammoth Sunday, arriving just in time for start of the Super Bowl. On the way I noticed bizarre evidence of the strange winter we are having. This section of the 14 freeway near Palmdale will bloom poppies, typically in April, of wet years. The Antelope...

I knew Tuesday would be strictly groomers, and one would think given Heavenly's reputation in the ski world that Vail would do its best there. I think overall they did, as groomers above 9,000 feet were intensely reconditioned to packed powder. The catch is that you need a fairly deep base to...

I take the position that anyone who has to get on airplane and pay for lodging can afford to consider guided skiing under the right circumstances. I was solo with Piste to Powder in the Arlberg in 2013 and 2 of the 4 days in Val d’Isere in 2018. It is less easy now to get into a guided group...

I read that Ontario is deep and rarely freezes. Erie is shallow and one would think frozen over by now on a year like this.

The Euro Zone only requires 3 months left on your passport. We investigated because we are going there in both March and July, and my renewal date is December. I will have more time to turn that around after August.

in other threads we have been noting that costs to premier US West ski resorts are getting more out of whack with Europe every year lately. Stuart is even making this point on his stormski.com podcasts. I wonder if and when enough East Coast skiers figure this out and move the needle on...

This trip belongs in the conversation with ours in Val d’Isere in 2018. :drool: And it’s Exhibit A of the value of hiring guides in the Alps, especially on powder days.

Today he did the World War I circuit with the two bus rides. Completely, not requiring the end of day taxi we needed!

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...

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.

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...

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...

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...

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...