Potpourri w/ a twist of whistla

joegm

New member
random thoughts while still recovering from the epic 17 day bump session in B.C. been back for 5 days... weather was killer, 1 day of snow ( very minimal ) , 1 day of rain, 3 days of fog , 7 blue bird, and 5 partly sunny. most days the temp at the base of the village was about 80 and in the glacier most of the sunny days were around 60 to 65....( or something like 22 or so as frank would say!!!! ) we were able to ski down off the top lift to the top of the solar coaster lift and avoid the bus ride on the way down every day we were there which was amazing.... they did a great job setting up the line down ... it was falling apart fast when we left but to go that late seemed quite the feat. overall camp and the whole things was very good... early on though it was too crowded , went out at the height of all the insanity when the jib camps, the race camps and the freestyle camps are at their peak....next year gonna try and go out mid july and close the place, which i think happened today aug 3rd. smart's mogul camp had sean smith, craig rodman, shelly robertson, ryan johnson (# 6 olympics) and scot belevance ( also #6 in 02 olympics.. they tied ) for coaches at the 4th session. we got some epic days in during smart's off days and the other big name bump camp that's out there ( world mogul ) on their off day towards the end towards the end of july when the fast skiers in tight suits cleared out of town... it was like having your own private bump run for the whole day with a 2 minute t bar ride....i always come out of there with new info but it's getting to the point now where until i start doing the technical things the coaches are telling me to do, i am gonna be in a rut... so i'm looking foreward to a big winter.... going out early also allowed me to see the jib camps first hand live becasue in the past, they are usually wrapped up by the last week of july when i would go out. 2 observations 1) the level of riding and jibbing is approaching an unreal level for the top level skiers.. the things that were being attempted and often times stuck, were incredible.... bump specific wise, the bumpers at the next olympics i would guess will have to have at least one invert jump in the runs in order to contend. the new rule in bump skiing is that you cannot do more than 2 back to back tricks in the same air meaning no triple twisters or quad twisters... if you are gonna do a quad manuver, you have to cut in after the 2nd twister with something else, so you can do 3 twisters in an air, just not three in a row... this is really pushing the young bumpers to get inverted more and you could see them working on it....as hard as this is to fathom, i actually heard a conversation between two canadian team members talking about attempting an air switch ( ie coming into the jump backwards ) ... it would seem the amount of speed dump required to do that would put one so far back in the time that it would be unlikely in a competition.. but i wouldn't rule it out in 2006... the other thing i noticed was that the lines that the top level skiers are skiing are getting more and more direct and zipper like with less knee angle and more up and down... i kind of like the older style with a lot of dynamic movement and knee angle... kind of like frank's countyman jean luc brassard use to ski like... ( jlb also used to attempt , to me, one of the most impressive airs that i think can be done... the double cassock... but that's all condsidered old school now i guess <BR>2) my second observation is that while the level of riding and jibbing appears to be skyrocketing for a certain percentage, there looked to me to be an astounding number of younger skiers ( south of 15 yrs old ) who were in jib camp and who basically sucked in terms of basic ski technique... the mentality of riding rails seems to be the most important thing to a lot of these younger kids who were out there.... it was emphasized to me when seeing some of the jibbers accessing their big booters via the top of the bump runs and while trying to get through the bumps looking like balls in high grass... lost!!!!!! i'm not the biggest fan of racers but one thing you can't argue with, racers are fundamentally sound skiers... certainly more so that some 15 yr old who thinks he is the bomb because he has a pair of tanner hall armada skis on. <BR> but anyways, it was all good as they say up there in canada <BR> yo cancat... yer killing me man... all this great new stuff at cannon your talking about and not one word about a dedicated blue bump run... the same old crap with paulies and zoomer ain't gonna get it done man.. tell nat p. the gm, i am disappointed.
 
WOOOOOHOOOOOOOO Joe, congrats for your end of season. This is quite better than your last day at Loon (I think you may want forget this one... sorry). <BR> <BR>(60-65 = 15-18, in celsius), btw. <BR> <BR>It's fun that you didn't have to take the bus to return to the village. How was high the vertical skiable from the top of glacier to the end of snow ? I read the t-bars are something like 800' at maximum, but it should be quite more until the end of snow. <BR> <BR>Hmm... considering the ski trails, I think I prefer Stéphane Rochon to Jean-Luc Brassard ! lolol. (2 moguls trails at La Réserve and Mt Olympia). Effectively, the cossak is probably already some old school (and I still never tried one... I'm a little bit late). I must say that the snowparks don't really interest me. A little bit in very late season, but I prefer to fly than to make figures in the sky. So it's more some spreads or easy grabs for me (or both), but on long distances (I love jumping over 50' long) The rails simply don't interest me. The competition moguls neither, I must admit. I prefer more the intermediate moguls trails... and the steeper ones, but with normal moguls. Of course, I'm 50% of the time in the woods <IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/clipart/happy.gif" ALT=":)"> <BR> <BR>And for Cannon (and global New Hampshire), I hope they'll let few more trails in moguls this year. I think last year was really poor on this point. You should send an e-mail to the GM of Cannon ;) <BR> <BR>Hey Joe, just 59 days remaining before the targeted opening for Tenney !! let's pray for early cold nights !!! <BR> <BR>1 last thing. You talked of a chute or something like that, that you wanted to try this year, in one of your last messages before to fly out west. Did you take it finally ?
 
Hey, <BR>I'm new to this post but, hey whatever. I can't wait to get back on the skis this summer. Just got back from a trip to Costa Rica when I herd about tenny but now it is to late for a while. Oh well. I was up at Mount Washington this weekend and there is still enough for 8-10 turns in tuckermans. I drove by cannon too, you can see the cut in the new glade really excited to see that. Frank I see alot of your post and it sounds like your from the new england area, where from. <BR>port
 
Welcome here, Salida <IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/clipart/happy.gif" ALT=":)"> <BR> <BR>Yes, for Tenney, it's too late for skiing. Even though this summer was the best for making snow in the last 3 years, it was just too warm to maintain the snow on the ground. At least, they continue the tubing run, but the real question now is : is october 1 for real opening is possible ?? If not, I think that the system wouldn't be super useful for Tenney, but as said a guy on the skivt list, the system could be extremely useful for a place like Killington. You remember the large break near the bottom, last year on superstar, from early may till closure. Think to that... with the snowmagic system, just a little night of snowmaking and the problem would have been solved. <BR> <BR>8-10 turns in Tucks ?????? when that ?, this weekend ? According to the pics of Kmrnskier (on Timefortuckerman.com) of july 26, I thought there was just few turns possible. Personnaly, I didn't come this weekend cause of the weather, but I hope next saturday will be better !! I should almost bring my skis if it's still 8-10 turns <IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/clipart/happy.gif" ALT=":)"> <BR> <BR>And for my location, as you can see in the english errors + words + syntax, I'm not exactly from New England, but from the other side of the borders, near Montreal ! (I speak english "correctly" only for 2-3 years). So I'm closer of the Laurentians (where Tremblant is) than the ski areas in New England, but I ski enough often the ones in the Townships (like Orford). I only skied 5 times in USA (2 Jay Peak, 1 Smuggs, 1 MRG, 1 Burke). This will increase a lot in the next years. <BR> <BR>Let's pray for august snows !!!!! lol
 
You should've gone, Frank. the weather held, and the cool temps actually kept things comfortable. We did the Franconia Range on Saturday (Mts. Lafayette, Lincoln and Little Haystack) and, too sore for anything else, drove up the Mt. Washington Auto Rd and rode the Alpine Slide at Attitash on Sunday. I still can't walk down stairs. <IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/clipart/frown.gif"> I'll get some pix up ASAP, probably tonight.
 
Ya, <BR>It wouldnt be 8-10 long turns but you could probably get 8-10 turns out of it. Hey it is snow in August. I am going out to Colorado and Alaska in the beggining of next week. I may try to get up to th e snowfields above arapahoe basin. Mabye. If I go i will write in and tell you guys what they are like. <BR>Port
 
Salida, for the current CO backcountry situation, see some of Duffy's posts in the western section here. Amazing.
 
Yes, I'm not sure if A-basin still have some snow remaining above the eastwall, cause if yes, Duffy would have skied there in the last weeks. Mt Evans looks to still have snow for a couple of weeks and there is an auto road to the top <IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/clipart/happy.gif" ALT=":)"> <BR> <BR>Marc, it's sad, I will possibly miss the snow, but I would like to have an enough clear view when I go there for the 1st time. It's not like if I was going there for the 32nd time... I wouldn't really care for the weather. Looking to the cam from Wildcat, it looks like there was probably about 0 visibility, this weekend. We didn't see the ravine on the cam for 3 days now. <BR> <BR>If you go to Colorado, your description (and may be pics ?) would be really appreciated !!
 
Frank, that's because for the most part, clouds hung in the valleys <I>between</I> the mountains. visibility on the mountain was fine. my pix will show what I mean.
 
Ok, I'm waiting for them, so <IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/clipart/happy.gif" ALT=":)"> (pics) <BR>I think sunday was better than saturday ? <BR>There was just saturday that it was possible for me to go. <BR> <BR>Anyway, at least I got a great time in the north saturday. <BR> <BR>by the way, now that I think to that : CHAT EVENING THIS WEDNESDAY AT 9PM (EASTERN TIME) AT <A HREF="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/chat2.shtm" TARGET="_top">http://www.firsttracksonline.com/chat2.shtm</A>
 
If I am around, I will try for the chat, sounds good. If i do go up to Mount Evans I will be sure to take some pictures. I have to take care of my grand mother with the family but if i have time to get up to Moutn Evans I will take some pictures. When I was younger I used to live out there so I know some good spots. Some good snow fields. <BR>Port
 
Excellent Salida ! <BR> <BR>For the chat, you're very welcome. The summer attendance is a little bit lower than during winter (a little bit normal), but we always have fun there <IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/clipart/happy.gif" ALT=":)">
 
Cool, <BR>You guys all sounds pretty young, to be able to be on in the morning means you dont have to work. Same with me i have the summers off. Can't wait to go skiing, hopefully it will work out <BR>Port
 
Frank: Actually, Saturday was the better day of the two. <BR> <BR>Salida: Some of us just think that we're younger than we are. After this weekend's hike, my 37 year old body is telling me that I'm not 22 anymore.
 
Me neither Marc... 23 since 3 days. <IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/clipart/happy.gif" ALT=":)"> lol <BR> <BR>Personnaly, I'm off this summer cause I had an university full time term which finished on july 7. As I go back to university in late august, I thought it was a better thing for me to take a break instead of trying hard to find a little job not in my school branch and paid at minimum. (the interesting jobs are taken since may... so...) <BR> <BR>On the other hand, I can tell you that on most of the ski boards, it's quite calm during weekends and very crowded the monday morning when people go back to office ! <BR> <BR>I hope you'll make some nice snowy turns soon ! <BR> <BR>Marc....aaaaaaaahhhhh don't tell me that saturday was good, it's already hard to wait another week before to go..... (not counting the fact they forecast thunderstorms in the ravine for the next 6 days) <IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/clipart/sad.gif" ALT=":("><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/clipart/sad.gif" ALT=":("><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/clipart/sad.gif" ALT=":("><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/clipart/sad.gif" ALT=":("><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/clipart/sad.gif" ALT=":("> <BR> <BR>BTW, Patrick Thorne told me recently that the Tignes glacier still had 1000 METERS of vertical skiable in mid-july. (3280' for the non-metrical users). I admit not to be really impressed by the Europe winter skiing, but in summer, Yes, I am.
 
Joegm's comments on the Whistler camp were similar to some of my son Adam's a year ago. He went to Smart/Douglas' freeride camp. He also noted the wide range of ski abilities. They gave the campers an opportunity to hike up to a chute with a 45+ degree entrance. It's in Adam's video and looks pretty routine for him, but he said there were quite a few yard sales and long slides. <BR> <BR>The basic moves taught in the freeride camp are rail slides and the 360 off a jump. Both are very difficult to learn on skis, and Adam said you won't get anywhere if you don't have fairly strong basic ski skills as a foundation. He can do a rail slide now, but only if the rail is level and not slanted or kinked. And he says he won't do reliable 360's until he gets twin-tip skis to practice lots of 180's first. <BR> <BR>I have told Adam that a lot of top freeskiers have credited race training as a foundation fo skills, and he might have done that if he had gone to college in New England. But neither racing nor parks are his main interest in skiing. Like us old farts he seems to prefer steeps, trees and powder more. <BR> <BR>The Whistler camps are on the north-facing Horstman Glacier. The ski down to Solar Coaster is about 1,000 vertical but faces west and will lose its snow sometime in summer. Adam went to the first camp around June 20 and believes that is best for snow conditions, both on the glacier and for avoiding the end-of-day bus. <BR> <BR>On an unrelated topic I was contacted by a consultant for the "Junkyard Wars" cable TV show, which will be staging a contest for homemade machines' ability to climb snow. The catch is that for scheduling reasons they need to film on October 27. I gave him my expert opinion on both snowmaking reliability and natural snow possibilities (the latter would require a last-minute decision where to go). I did tell him about Tenney's new system, but their first preference is to stay in the West since the show is based here in L.A. and the machines will have to be transported by flatbed truck to wherever the contest is.
 
Thanks for the indications about Blackcomb, Tony. <BR> <BR>The top level snowpark place in Quebec is Val St-Côme in my opinion. Their snowpark is rated only #2 in Quebec, but I never liked the snowparks of Tremblant (#1), although I'd not seen it since april 2000. Back to St-Come, if you stay just 5 minutes in the snowpark, you're sure to see some real extreme figures. Last time I spent 5 minutes there, It was too much for my stomach !! 50% of the jumps of the park are just too big and too long. We sometimes see jumpers pass nearly above the trees beside the trail. In fact, there is always 3-4 snowparks on the mountain. If only they can open the monster "future trail", I think I would only ski at La Reserve, Alta, and VSC ! lol <BR> <BR>Could you explain more about "machines ability to climb snow" ?? I rush to figurate what you mean exactly.
 
I've never seen the TV show, but the consultant said that contestants are given a junkyard full of parts and instructed to build a machine to perform a specific function, in this case the ability to climb a snow-covered slope like a snowcat. <BR> <BR>When I was in Quebec in March I was struck by the similarity of Stoneham to Snow Summit here at home: world-class snowmaking and grooming and a substantial terrain park. Stoneham has better fall lines for skiing groomers but Snow Summit has more terrain devoted to park features. <BR> <BR>From Stoneham the runs at Le Relais, home of the 3 Phils, were visible. One of them was an instuctor at Mike Douglas' camp when Adam was there.
 
Thanks for the details about the weird contest... I wonder if I'll see that one day, living very far from L.A. <BR> <BR>Stoneham... I never skied there, but it looks to absolutely not have the mentality that I like in a ski area. They close 1 month before Ste-Anne while they could open as long (same owners, ok), they didn't change nothing on their website for 3-4 years, the interactive info is deficient and they even groom their double black diamonds sometimes. They installed a quad on a side with only 1 blue trail (what's that joke ?) and a quad on the lower part of a side where there is just 1 double chair and some t-bars to reach the summit (hey, what did they think ?????) <BR> <BR>It's one of the ski areas I'm less interested to, in Quebec and I don't think I'm gonna ski it unless they seriously change their mentality.
 
Joegm, <BR>Just caught your post. Can I go with you next year? Sounds like just what I need to cure my snow fever. (hit the earliest ever this year - mid June!) Anyway, As to Cannon... <BR> <BR>You know the deal. No focused attempt from management to provide a range of bumps means that the cat drivers who don't ski or just want to ski ballrooms are left to their own devices and flatten as much as possible. Building and maintaining bumps to the same standards as the rest of the trails - no ice, no dirt - is very time and snow consuming. In order to get this allocated, and to get management to reign in the "flat cats", the mountain needs to get hit in the head with enough comments to get their attention - similar to the way terrain parks developed. Enough people said "I'm not going there unless..." that the mountains figured they were losing more than it would cost to build stuff. Bumps are not high on their priority list. Cannon thinks that their weakest spot is beginner/lower intermediate terrain and that is what they are focussing on. Bumpers have been pretty silent customers for awhile. We need to become more vocal about what is needed. This means more than letters and comments from 10 people a year. Cannon got more than 10 comments a week last year on how good the grooming was. (Course most of those comments were from people who can't ski bumps cause mountains keep grooming them out...) The key to a change of policy will be to get their attention. Send comments as usual, offer suggestions, tell them the guy who grooms the park has some good ideas and experience with (sorry, couldn't help myself!) but also get anyone else you can find to do the same thing. Volume is king. Then maybe they will set some boundaries for the "flat cats" 1/2 and 1/2 on Rocket, Zoomer and Avalanche, all of Zoomer Liftline, and even a beginner bump field maybe below the pitch on Turnpike but they need to maintain them, not just flatten them when they get rough. That means dusting them with snowmaking when they get icy. Not alot, just overnight would be fine. Leave Upper and Middle Hard totally natural - never touch them - at all - ever. A little reallignment in that area might be nice, I think there's room for a couple more trails without getting to thinned out...(now I'm getting really carried away, sorry!) <BR> <BR>Anyway, keep the pressure on. I'll keep it up from my end!
 
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