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I’m sure Sbooker has seen my 2013 and 2017 Arlberg reports. In 2013 I was with Piste-to-Powder 3 days in their second highest group. We needed guidance far afield to get powder but that did include the bucket list backside of the Valluga. With Liz in 2017 we hired no guides but there was...

This applies to our friends who were with us on the first half of the trip. The husband just retired at the start of 2026 so they are newbie retired travel mode, starting with 3+ weeks in Japan in May. Spain was their second big trip and we were traveling together in a van for the 10 days from...

Agree. What leeward side? Predominant exposure is west which I saw so much wind effect in Sept. 2007. One sheltered steep pitch off Tortola was the only chalky off piste I recall. I’m hoping the spring corn cycle will dominate when I’m there this time, similar to Mt. Bachelor.

This is my point. Of course it’s cool getting off the plane and walking across the tarmac in some remote spot in Africa or the South Pacific. And for the smaller planes used to connect into regional airports in the US Mountain West, sure. But this was a Delta transcontinental flight from a...

Has any else ever returned a car rental to an airport you have never seen before? That was us in Madrid this morning. Google car rental return, follow the map and signs, and we were there easily at 6:55. Then we get in the terminal and find out it’s the domestic Terminal 4. Terminal 1 is a...

In fairness late January is ideal for the Arlberg because exposure does not matter much then. St. Anton is the Jackson Hole of the Alps in both positives and negatives. Since Sbooker is solo and wants to challenge himself, Piste-to-Powder guides would be a good way to do that. They split by 4...

I called. Inca Lodge was available Sept. 16-19 but we want the hotel for the dining room and not primitive shared bathrooms. The schedule must not be for set dates after Sept. 19 because of course I asked if we could start then, but they said full until the 21st. I’m more concerned about...

Yes, that’s why I look at El Niño months not seasons to have more data. I’ll probably send OpenSnow an e-mail when I get home. It’s absolute BS for that map to be forecasting above average precipitation for Utah and Colorado.

Late January Hokkaido I would not worry so much. Bad conditions can occur just as often or even more in Europe or North America in a short time frame and fixed location.

Often in the bad places there’s a lucky hole in the clouds somewhere that a few people see totality. I recall that was true in Cornwall 1999 and I’m glad Fraser was one of the lucky ones. Munich was another place like that in 1999.

Maybe Honshu, I doubt Hokkaido. I’m not able to look it up now but I don’t recall any meaningful correlation of the SnowJapan stats with El Niño.

I see lots of stage 2-4 trees on my SoCal hikes but they may be unsafe to leave standing within a ski area. Stage 4 is very good for powder skiing, have seen some of that cat skiing in Canada at K3 and Chatter Creek. There’s a big swath of side country off the east side of Baldy at Sun Valley...

This sounds like a very worthwhile project that is beyond my software skills. I’m not going to look at details above while on my phone in Spain though. You can track key/vulnerable lifts open/closed? Here’s some more I’d like to see: Summit at Bachelor Red chair at Castle Pali at A-Basin...

Last 2 weeks of January are peak for Japan, and I don’t recall much El Niño impact.

https://www.firsttracksonline.com/boards/threads/unprecedented-april-snowstorm.15329/#post-96645

Delta wanted 102K miles. That’s not acceptable vs. $1100. I would also forgo the 9,000 miles I’ll earn by paying for the flights. Contrast with our flight home from Madrid in 3 days where we are paying 37,600 miles instead of $900. I think sites like Points Guy typically value a FF mile about...

The pics show no indication of stages 4-5 IMHO. But Mt. High didn’t either yet the Bridge Fire damaged that top beginner lift at East and surely contributed to the destructive mudslides a year later.

Is El Colorado by itself really much competition for Valle Nevado + La Parva? I suspect MCP was forced to take the decrepit places farther south in order to get El Colorado. I would say the 22,000 acre claim for Chile's three valleys is a significant exaggeration of usable ski terrain. A lot...

As one with extensive hiking experience in burn areas…..there’s a gradation in effects. 1) Fires can be patchy and some trees survive unscathed. 2) Some trees get scorched and may die but the leaves remain but turned brown. 3) In Altadena some trees were covered in soot but from a distance you...

Cornwall 1999 was clouded out also. South Carolina in 2017 was very low effort and cost from DC. There was an extensive thread on SkiTalk. A few people heeded our exhortations and were glad they made the effort to get into totality. This despite the opposition of the forum admins who were...