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I have friends who skied it that day. A few for the first time. They went with people who could guide them into the areas with minimal exposed rock. All said the snow was good. That day I and Olesya were having a great time skiing Wolf Creek. No worry about exposed rocks. Spring skiing...

Yep, the process for opening Kachina Peak is based on opening it first for hiking only. That way, the snow is settled in by people who know what they are doing. There have been a few steep areas around the mountain that TSV ski patrol "skier packed" the old fashioned way after the latest snow...

I've been at Alta in April a few times when the lifts closed due to thunder. My ski buddy, Bill, was on a lift once when a thunderclap went off.

This photo is Upper Hunziker. Snow was still quite nice this afternoon. There are a few exposed rocks on the backside of some bumps. More towards the middle than on the sides. It's been my favorite run this week. Did Lower Hunziker quite a few times since that doesn't require any uphill...

Here's a picture of Kachina Peak before it was opened for hiking. There are obviously more towers below and above the three I marked with rectangles. The circle is the top of the lift. The least difficult way down is on the other side of the lift. The summit is over 12,000 ft. Even after...

They opened Kachina for hiking yesterday. Didn't open the lift today. Instructors are saying they wouldn't take students there on the first day in any case. Skiable but plenty of rocks in sight. There were plenty of people hiking the Ridge on Saturday and Sunday. Tracks all over. The 17...

The 9 inches of new snow made quite a difference for Taos. The Kachina side was powdery, while the front side was much denser. There was more wind on the front side during the snowstorm. All lifts closed on Feb. 20 by 1:30 because of high winds and no visibility. Getting down from...

The increasing population of local season pass holders for Alta and Snowbird may be far more of a factor than Ikon/Mountain Collective.

For Taos, the most expensive lodging is during the Texas spring break the second week of March. Locals from Albuquerque don't bother to ski, no matter how good the snow is that week. Oklahoma is becoming a market for ski resorts since it's within reasonable driving distance. Any college break...

Still dumping on Wolf Creek as of 3:30pm on Feb. 20. I'll be there next Wednesday. :)

Apparently can have a multi-lake LE from the Finger Lakes. Open water is open water.

I was a bit nervous renewing by mail in early 2025 after deciding to join my daughter for the trip to Chamonix in April, after a stop in Switzerland. Worked great, but per usual waiting for the new passport in the mail was stressful. The email updates I got didn't always make sense as the...

Do Europeans know that it's possible to have handheld scanners for RFID lift access cards? Vail Resorts developed their own RFID system for Epic partially to allow that feature. Axess didn't offer that as an option until relatively recently. Makes a big difference for ski areas that aren't...

From one of the NYSkiBlog regulars . . . January 2023 ANCIENT ART: HOK SKIING IN THE HIGHLANDS https://highland-outdoors.com/hok-skiing-highlands/

LOL, the list for "Beginner-friendly ski resorts Appalachian Mountains" by SkiResortInfo has six resorts: Sunday River, ME Killington, VT Stowe, VT Bolton, VT Whiteface, NY Bromont, QUE Needless to say, Whiteface is not in the Appalachian mountain range. While the Appalachian Trail goes...

I've looked at that website before. The info on OnTheSnow is much better for the USA. Skiresort uses 1-5 star ratings for ski area size, trail variety, lifts. But an evaluation is not necessarily based on actual experience. Fair to stay that the evaluation for small New England ski areas are...

I'd be curious to know how much he knew about the smaller hills before he arrived. Was it just a name on the Indy pass list? Did he look at the website for that mountain? Did he look a written overview on a website such as OnTheSnow? When did he start planning this trip? For context, I've...

Found a marketing video that matches with the idea that the Arete is not that big a deal for someone not afraid of heights when there is enough snow and the wind isn't blowing. The video by an experienced guide also shows the stair climb that is the route to take the train back to Chamonix. He...

Who cares about "stylish"? The reason I've invested in lessons is to be more efficient and have better muscle memory so that I can keep skiing off-piste for another decade or two. Also means I ski longer days because I use less muscle power. At new mountains, I have a lot more freedom to...

From your trip reports in the last five years, there is no way I would describe you as an "intermediate" skier. Based on my own progression in the last decade, I would say "low advanced." In Europe, I would guess that intermediates only ski on-piste. In the N. American Rockies, the term...