Afriski, Lesotho, July 10, 2024

[Patrick]

I try to avoid them, but last Dec. 5 at Mt. High with basically two runs of 700 vertical and a 300 vertical beginner area below that was surprisingly pleasant. The keys are low marginal cost, convenience plus lack of crowds, a combination easier to arrange in retirement. I am likely to repeat this exercise at Mt. High to renew my senior pass.

Everyone knows why we went to Afriski. Jimmy Petterson sent me an ISHA article from 2020 which speculated that at that time only "several dozen" people had skied 7 continents. The article by Charlie Sanders, ski journalist and former NASJA president, recounts the history of both climbing and skiing 7 continents, culminating with Kit DesLauriers being the first person to ski the seven summits in 2006. Charlie Sanders' Antarctica trip was with Doug Stoup's Ice Axe Expeditions in 2016, and his son Jackson skied his 7th continent at age 19.

Pretty sure Rodo and Jari are at a solid 6 with crazy number of ski areas and countries skied in, but 7 is pretty special.

 

[Tony Crocker]

Jari

Jari Arkko commented on my Facebook post. In 2011 he skied 6 continents in 12 months. Not all of these exotic places can be skied on the cheap. He should consider an Ice Axe Antarctic trip.

Greg was right about https://tiffindell.co.za/ this year. Pic from mid-June:

 

[jamesdeluxe]

This is pretty inspired and especially useful for people who don't wear helmets:

 

[Sbooker]

Here as good as anywhere.

Late-season snowstorms in South Africa cause 2 deaths from hypothermia

Unseasonably late snowstorms battered coastal areas of South Africa over the weekend, killing two people and forcing the closure of some of the country’s major highways

abcnews.go.com

Quite a late season storm.

 

[Tony Crocker]

Afriski closed at the end of August. The recent storm was 20-30cm, not enough to reopen. Only source of info is the Facebook page. September posts are all promoting spring/summer activities. One interesting post touts that one weekend per month they will run the T-bar to tow mountain bikes uphill.

From the headline I expected the freak snowstorm would be in the Western Cape, so surprised that it hit KwaZulu-Natal and Free State. It's very likely that the Fouriesburg and Moolsmanhoek areas where we stayed got some snow.