Storm Skiing Journal

ChrisC

ChrisC

Well-known member
I'm not sure what to say about today's email (below - red), but I think Stuart is agorophobic. ;):)

Some days, I view 'The Storm' as a Guide to the Indy Pass, reviews of Midwest/Northeast vertically challenged molehills, and industry interviews (really, the most interesting aspect of his work).

The Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast​

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Burke, Tenney, Resorts in Chile, Europe Join 2025-26 Indy Pass

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About Pila​
Vertical drop: 3,097 feet | Skiable terrain: 70 km | Average annual snowfall: 28 inches (this is the only number I could find online, though I’m not sure how it could be accurate)​
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My take​

When I run out of European stereotypes to make fun of, I generally turn to Powder Hounds to provide a more accurate resort snapshot. Of Pila, the site says:​
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Pila ski resort in the Valle d'Aosta Italy is a most underrated skiing area. Pila has superb gondola access from the wonderful city of Aosta, ski-in ski-out accommodation plus fabulous snow and terrain.​
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Pila Provided a Powderhounds Plentiful Powder Paradise! That's the 6P tick of approval. The completion of the current 'Pila-Couis project' (which includes two new gondolas replacing several old chairlifts) will see a much-needed renewal of ski lifts & infrastructure at the resort, bringing it into line with other world-class ski areas.​
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All I can really add to that is that Pila is more attractive to me than an average EuroSkiArea because it sits largely below treeline. I get nervous without trees. Something feels off, like entering a library that has no books. What are we supposed to do with this undecorated world? What safe harbor exists in the event of a bear attack? What of the fellow marooned slopewise who needs to construct a fire and log cabin to survive the cold night? What if I meet an angry unemployed lumberjack who threatens to sever my head with his trusty axe should I fail to find him work? You will not have to concern yourself with such things at Pila, a perfectly humane place where trees are plentiful.​

What?! Me: I have spent most of my adult life since I was a teen trying to get away from trees and into the alpine.

And I have heard this before from Americans in Europe. I was skiing in the afternoon at St. Anton after 8" new with a guy from Arizona who typically skied Utah - Alta, Brighton, and Solitude. All he kept saying was, I don't really like Europe because I don't know where to go?! I like defined runs telling me where to ski.
 
ChrisC said:
Me: I have spent most of my adult life since I was a teen trying to get away from trees and into the alpine.
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I spent most of my formative ski years at Mammoth and have the exact opposite view of Stuart and the "guy from Arizona." If a ski area has no wide open and/or high alpine terrain, it strikes me as just missing something. Beaver Creek vs. Vail is Exhibit A of that to me. A common byproduct of a cut trails only ski area is that expert terrain usually defaults to being mogul fields. Are the trees an antidote to this? Not as much as you would think. At many areas the trees are too dense to ski and at some of the others you get moguls in the trees (Revelstoke good example), a combination I often find unpleasant.

The downside of no trees is that there are many bad weather days it's not worth skiing at all. We have recently had an Alaska discussion about this, and thus for Canadian heliskiing I prefer an operator with good terrain in both alpine and trees because you are scheduling so far ahead. And in the Alps Liz and I generally end up skiing about 3/4 of the available days. My worst record there is Andermatt, where I have stayed 6 days but only skied 3 of them. But two of the others I took road trips to Lucerne and Lake Como, another advantage of compact driving distances in Europe. If you get this in South America, you better have a lot of reading material with you.

The great annoyance our our day at Pila in 2018 was that high winds closed the two high Couis lifts. That's probably enough to get us to return sometime.
 
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I like Stuart's stuff because I find the operations side of the ski industry interesting as it evolves. I appreciate that he is visiting as many ski areas/resorts as possible to get a first hand sense. There is no substitute for personal experience.

I'm pretty unusual as a recreational skier with no professional reason to travel for skiing. Ski trips are not always planned to optimize ski conditions and maximize turns on good snow. In the last decade the goal has been to experience a variety of ski areas/resorts in multiple regions. Mixed in with return trips to favorite destinations. Helps that I have a few ski buddies with similar interests willing to drive long distances for skiing.

Tony Crocker said:
Once you get on airplane expense goes up and so does the quality bar to clear.
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Makes perfect sense. I don't expect Aussies to have any interest in planning trips to ski in New England. But have answered questions when someone has another reason to be in Boston or New York City.

While it's not going to happen regularly, I will probably drive for a northeast ski safari again. I've done ski safaris in the northeast, southeast, mid-Atlantic . . . and the midwest. Not for any professional reason, but to satisfy my curiosity about the difference in vibe.
 
MarzNC said:
I appreciate that he is visiting as many ski areas/resorts as possible to get a first hand sense. There is no substitute for personal experience.
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That's the way I look at it too. But I have quality and variety standards. I'm not sure what the point is visiting 50 molehills. If you want to run up the area count at under the radar places, James has the right idea to do that in Europe where those places are still huge and varied by North American standards.

The other part is how much of a "first hand sense" do you get skiing 2 hours at Alpental, then driving to Spokane or trying to ski places as expansive as 49 Degrees North and Mt. Spokane in the same day?
MarzNC said:
Ski trips are not always planned to optimize ski conditions and maximize turns on good snow.
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Here again there need to be minimum standards. If terrain is not open because coverage is inadequate or slopes too dangerous (rain/freeze), are you really experiencing what a ski area has to offer? And when a ski area is partially open you can almost count on the most interesting terrain being what is closed. This is a virtue of road trip skiing. On short notice you can skip the places that are suffering and visit some that are doing better.
I like Stuart's stuff because I find the operations side of the ski industry interesting as it evolves.
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That is the topic where he is today's top ski journalist IMHO.
 
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jamesdeluxe said:
Explain? He doesn't limit himself to the northeast. What else is different?
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Earning turns, high speed lifts, pass math, mega passes, air travel, snow tires, bigger is better. A big one: what constitutes value.

I have a hard time finding similarities. We both love skiing. We genuinely like each other. NYSB has supported him from the very beginning and he appreciates it. We're both overjoyed that Skiology is behind a paywall now.
 
jamesdeluxe said:
Is the Seattle-to-Spokane-to-Seattle sprint his template for destination trips?
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I'm new to following him too. His Northeast molehill trips are definitely multiple areas in one day. If you're going to spend time going that (I wouldn't), at least you're cutting down the number of days devoted to that practice. And I find informative his communicating what makes these areas tick and how they can be successful.

I think the January-March western trips are constrained to 4 days by child care considerations. So that's an incentive to double up. Still, if you're a ski journalist the default should be my minimum standard of trying to "see everything." There are times when weather/conditions do not permit that. For 4-day trips it seems obvious that Seattle should be one, Spokane another, probably Missoula a third.

With his kids he seems constrained to MLK and President's weekend, which is not a great scenario based in NYC. That's why they skied Greek Peak at MLK.
 
jamesdeluxe said:
I haven't been following him. Is the Seattle-to-Spokane-to-Seattle sprint his template for destination trips?
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I've followed Stuart from the beginning of Storm Skiing Journal in 2019. I stay in touch via email. Met him very briefly at the first Snowbound Expo a few years ago when he was an invited speaker.

When Stuart had a full-time job unrelated to Storm Skiing, he didn't have much choice but to pack in as many places as possible in a few days after flying somewhere. Now that he is doing Storm Skiing as his full-time gig, his trips to experience a region/sub-region first hand aren't quite so intense. Of course, now he has to figure out how to pay for travel as a self-employed journalist.

Stuart is a father who wants to spend as much time as practical with his growing kids and wife. He's had a few major medical issues in recent years that most likely changed his worldview somewhat. His wife has technical skills that come into play for the podcasts and e-store.

March 2024
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I’d Like to Tell You About The Time Last Month When I Didn’t Die

A public service announcement from 'The Storm Skiing Journal'
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February 2022
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Here’s How My Ski Season Ended

And how the good people of Maine came to my rescue
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I had read about the season-ender tib-fib fractures. The profile of that season
Twenty-seven days, 34 ski areas, 460 runs, 332,000 vertical feet.
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is quite foreign to me. Stuart has the ambition to ski every lift served area in the USA.

The blocked coronary artery/stent story at age 46 is quite a shocker. I demanded a full battery of cardiac tests in 2023 after I started having to take breaks on demanding ski runs over 10K feet. But I was 70 and they didn't find anything of concern other than keeping me on low dose cholesterol and blood pressure meds.

I knew what to ask for because one of my friends my age had the same blocked artery in 2022 with fewer symptoms than Stuart. The friend has 3 stents and says if you have them you are on blood thinners for life.
 
MarzNC said:
If Peter of Liftblog could do it, so can Stuart eventually. :)
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Most of Pete's visits are during the non-skiing months. However, he is genuinely interested in the lifts themselves, so it makes perfect sense. It really does not matter if his visit is in July or January.

Nonetheless, still a very impressive feat to accomplish while so young.
 
Tony Crocker said:
I'm new to following him too. His Northeast molehill trips are definitely multiple areas in one day. If you're going to spend time going that (I wouldn't), at least you're cutting down the number of days devoted to that practice. And I find informative his communicating what makes these areas tick and how they can be successful.
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I find that completely legitimate. Finishing up business in Pittsburgh in 2010, I skied the following in a single ski day (Saturday) and was able to ski every open trail, ride every lift, and check out the base lodge. In 2010, they were all on one lift ticket and having an exceptional winter:
  • Seven Springs
  • Hidden Valley
No need to spend any more time.

However, I did take a full day at Blue Knob since it has terrain equivalent to the best of New England when proper/exceptional snowfall.

Tony Crocker said:
The other part is how much of a "first hand sense" do you get skiing 2 hours at Alpental, then driving to Spokane or trying to ski places as expansive as 49 Degrees North and Mt. Spokane in the same day?
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This is really ridiculous. Why bother? Alpental is the equivalent of the Northwest's Mad River Glen, except it receives 200-300% more snow, has 8x the terrain, and boasts a sidecountry/backcountry that puts most West Coast mountains to shame.

Did Stuart experience any of that? Hell no. He barely got to the summit of the mountain twice with those constraints.

I would not want to read a single word about his thoughts on Alpental because they are not worth anything. They are not grounded in any real experience of the mountain.


The kicker: Stuart drove to Mount Spokane to ski on the same day? That's 4.5 hours. Not sure what he skied at Mt. Spokane before night-skiing, but I can guess accurately - very little. Its night-skiing area is minimal and a fraction of its 360-degree options from the summit.



Is it journalism or a stunt?

The most ski resorts skied in 24 hours is 23, and was achieved by Kyle Kelly (USA), in Harbor Springs, Michigan, USA, on 26 February 2022.
Kyle chose to attempt this record because he thought it would be fun and achievable. He skied one marked trail at each of the resorts.
 
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