Goin' off at the Basin - June 7 and June 8, 2024

Nice. Is it all in the fore/aft balance?

Would be a buzzkill to end your day like this guy:
1717935057677.png
 
Speed. You have to pretty much straight line from the top of the lift.

And you have to take the right line.

You don’t have to lean back, although I’m back slightly.

Buzz kill? I saw people wipeout halfway in. Now that, would be a buzz kill!
 
Nice. A-Basin is special. Great terrain and vibe. Love the smart growth there in recent years. Henceroth and company are good. That blog of his is one of the best of its kind in the business. They have my respect by the way they keep trying to adjust and make the experience as good as it can be for customers. Hope things continue to go well at A-Basin under the new acquisition by Alterra.
 
jimk said:
Nice. A-Basin is special. Great terrain and vibe. Love the smart growth there in recent years. Henceroth and company are good. That blog of his is one of the best of its kind in the business. They have my respect by the way they keep trying to adjust and make the experience as good as it can be for customers. Hope things continue to go well at A-Basin under the new acquisition by Alterra.
Click to expand...
Al's blog is a gem, for sure. I asked Alan about the sale. He said "it hasn't gone through yet". I don't know if this is good or bad. Like I say, Alan is one of the good guys left in the business. He always has time for the customers.

Speaking of customers. He said he'd be happy to take me up to the 13,054 point on the East Wall and ski S1 with me next year. Gawd willing and the creek don't rise, I'm going to take him up on both next season.
jimk said:
Nice. A-Basin is special. Great terrain and vibe. Love the smart growth there in recent years. Henceroth and company are good. That blog of his is one of the best of its kind in the business. They have my respect by the way they keep trying to adjust and make the experience as good as it can be for customers. Hope things continue to go well at A-Basin under the new acquisition by Alterra.
Click to expand...
 
jamesdeluxe said:
Nice. Is it all in the fore/aft balance?
Click to expand...
My first attempt, mid-wipeout in June 1982:
682pond1.jpg

In general skiers lean forward on snow to pressure the skis, which will result in a face plant in a pond. I went back up chair 3 and it dawned on me that water skiers lean back, so that's what I did successfully, that run unfortunately not recorded on the just completed roll of film. Since I've only done this one other time, in 1991, I'll let veterans like spinbackwards comment on what degree you need to lean back in order to keep a tip from hooking into the water. I declined Lake Reveal on June 1, 2020, but got pics of spinbackwards on it.
reveal4-jpg.28494


Overall it looks a lot like June 1, 2020 with similar runs open. Spring must have been cool. A-Basin snowfalls for Feb/Mar/Apr/May were all close to average, and like most of the West Nov/Dec were seriously deficient.
 
Last edited:
Tony Crocker said:
My first attempt, mid-wipeout in June 1982:
View attachment 41429
In general skiers lean forward on snow to pressure the skis, which will result in a face plant in a pond. I went back up chair 3 and it dawned on me that water skiers lean back, so that's what I did successfully, that run unfortunately not recorded on the just completed roll of film. Since I've only done this one other time, in 1991, I'll let veterans like spinbackwards comment on what degree you need to lean back in order to keep a tip from hooking into the water. I declined Lake Reveal on June 1, 2020, but got pics of spinbackwards on it.
reveal4-jpg.28494
Click to expand...
Note in @Tony Crocker 's crossing the Lenawee lift, which was taken out a couple years ago.
If I thought about leaning back at all, it was ever so slight.
In talking with successful crossers I didn't hear much about leaning back. I do recall one person adamently advising against, because it would cause the tails to dip thus slowing you down.
I think it's all about speed.
 
Here's the full video from the June 020 crossing.
June 020 with Tony

Note we skied with masks. And social distanced in the lift line. Days gone by.
IMG_2824.jpeg

Now on this day, I started from stopped. I think, that was because the snow was firmer. Even still, I was surprised to make it as the snowboarder caused me to loose some speed.
I don't think wide skis matter either. Because I think I'm on even skinnier skis.
Edit. Those look like my Peak 84's, which are 84 underfoot. Yesterday I was on my Monster 78's - 78 underfoot.
 
Last edited:
I know at least one person lost their ski yesterday - they fell in the middle, double ejected.
The found one ski, but not the other. I know they tried looking for it. But since they were holding up the show, peer pressure gave way to abandoning the search and rescue effort.
 
I'm sure spinbackwards had dialed in the ideal fore/aft weight balance. But I still say the consequences of too far forward are worse. No question that speed is very important for a successful pond skim. For amateurs like myself, I'm fairly confident that more width and less sidecut are desirable features.

My impression is that Lake Reveal was shallower than the 1982 pond at Mammoth. I was at least waist deep fishing out my skis, so I guess i"m lucky I retrieved them both.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top