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Primary exposures are west at Baquiera and north at Grandvilara. Tourmalet exposures are all over the map. Grand Tourmalet is 2.5 hours drive and 150km from Baquiera and just over 2 hours from Toulouse.

Combination of dry enough snow to go waist deep and and enough quantity to avoid bottoming out on the old surface is rare. Japan most likely, then the best Intermountain microclimates in Wasatch, Tetons, Selkirk, Monashees. The ankle deep in Portillo is mostly about wind like Mammoth IMHO.

Mt. Whitney is hiking from 2,600-4,400 meters and about 19km round trip. I am not sure Sbooker has any high altitude hiking experience. He could try something in the Alps in September. You need excellent fitness AND above average altitude adaptation plus sleeping in someplace like Mammoth for...

Patrick’s birthday is June 11 I think. He first skied Mammoth on his 40th birthday.

I knew there was a significant French area Grand Tourmalet which would easily fit on a Toulouse gateway but we did not see it. I’m surprised James did not consider Grandvilara. As for La Molina that’s farther east, smaller and mellower with very slow driving, so I would probably pass on that...

IIRC Kylie isn’t any darker than the average Spaniard or Italian and she has an Aussie passport.

Our trip started in Bilbao, Biarritz and Lourdes. We then spent two nights in Andorra. The drive from Lourdes to Andorra via scenic mountain roads took about 5 hours with a few sightseeing stops. This route took us by Baquiera-Beret ski area, first view approaching it from the west. There is...

Odds on Mammoth are about 30%. But they won’t announce July 4 operation until they have full confidence. But most years I will have a strong idea in March/April. And in many years we will know in February that chances are nil. Yes Timberline is guaranteed to be open. This year was bad and it...

As a baseline, consider that I have skied 516 days in the US Rockies, with 11% of that being in powder by my criteria. How do the Alps trips stack up? My first trips, Feb. 2004 NASJA 6 days Chamonix and Mar. 2008 Extremely Canadian 5 days La Grave had essentially no powder. Jan. 2013 was...

Yes

Sbooker complains that flights to NZ are surprisingly expensive for him. So despite the distances price might not be as different as logic would suggest. Everyone here knows that I hate Facebook as a source of info. I resent that many skiers use FB/Instagram to post ski reports (hello...

TISA. And remember, Chile is the more competently governed country of the South American ski scene.

Considering what we have seen over the past 15 years, people should really make their way to Santiago or Las Lenas this season.

Not entirely true. James pulls the plug when he knows it’s bad. He did this for the Pyrenees where we spent the last 3 days.

This extended discussion only reinforces my view that Telluride is a mediocre at best destination for visiting advanced/low expert skiers. The best terrain requires either: 1) A lung busting hike approaching 13,000 feet, which most visiting flatlanders can't handle, even those with excellent...

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

Typical wind hammered snow like Mt. Bachelor backside, another isolated volcanic peak. Best skied in spring corn.

While the snowpack was deep in January 2018, the most recent storm had rained to 2,000 meters, so like ChrisC we needed to traverse out to the pistes by that elevation.

It’s all modeling; little relevance if it’s windy during storms, which is normal. Portillo and Las Lenas both fall into the category of: “you’re there for the terrain not the powder.” It’s futile to chase powder from the opposite hemisphere. What you hope to get is smooth windbuff or corn...

That Rote Nase tram was reserved for guides and ran once per hour when we were there last March.