KEYSTONE WAS THE FIRST RESORT TO OPEN YESTERDAY AT 3PM!
Bachelor looks like they could start turning lifts any minute, but they're not scheduled to open for another month.
>>2846711You could always skin up I guess? I know people are already skinning up at Whistler right now.
>>2846735>2026>it's 2025
>>2846737IDK when you draw the line between 24/25 and 25/26 seasons
>>2846741Between December and January
>>2846741When I haven't toured in months (last day of 2025 season for me was April 25th).
>>2846741I got some August/September turns in NZ, and I'm not sure whether to count it as part of 24/25 or 25/26?
>>2846735Definitely wouldn't be the only one, judging by all the tracks I saw on the cams yesterday and the news this morning that some boarder already had to get rescued. Sadly I don't have gear ATM though, just moved back to ski country after a decade away and I'm still financially recovering from buying a house etc. so a full set of full price ski gear AND the $1,500 pass to make it worthwhile isn't really in the cards this year. Might go up and rent once or twice though. What I AM thinking of getting into this year is XC/Nordic since the gear isn't too awful, I need the workout, and there are lots of places to do it free or cheap including basically my own backyard when we get good storms. (Pic rel is in front of my house and that was only a one day late season dump.)
>>2846708Time to learn skiing again.
What are the rules for old season vs new season. I hiked up a mountain last week and need to know if can claim 100 days for 2024-2025 or if im cucked at 99
Bought my first ski suit, need skis, I've never done this shit before Recently moved to the desert but there is a ski spot nearby called PowderhornTips???t. Grand Junction, Colorado
>>2846957Go to a ski swap and buy used
r8 my local ski spot
>>2846957Buy a couple lessons. Seriously. I know they're pricey, but it's really the only way to get off the ground in this sport.>>2846965Powderhorn isn't anything special IMO, but it's a nice local's spot. Guessing that the big boy's mountains closest to you are Crested Butte and Telluride once you really get into it, and they're both gnarly as hell
>>2847023fuckin pumped broI am kind of athletic and thought I might just start with backcountry skiing on grand mesa, I hate spending money for shit lol maybe ride my bicycle up there with some skis on my back or something I am skeptical that I will actually need lessons, I nailed water skiiing first try and I remember the south park skiing episode about french fries and pizza im 120 miles from aspen and yeah telluride and crested butte close too
>>2847063You serious? You've never been skiing before and you're gonna start with backcountry touring? Maybe if you were going in someone's backyard or a golf course you wouldn't need a lesson or experience first. Riding in backcountry powder is dangerous and even very experienced skiiers die out there.
>>2846957ski swaps, search tempest, sendytbqh though you should probably get your first gear from an irl shop b/c you have no idea what you're looking for. at the very least get boot fitted in person.>>2847063>I hate spending money for shit you are picking the wrong hobby thencolorado is a very bad place to try and yolo the backcountry btw
>>2847106>>2847181You guys sound like pussies
>>2847182where avalanches are concerned, you should absolutely be a pussy
>>2847183Shut up woman
>>2847184>Shut u wo->aaaaaaaaaaaaaah
>>2847182I'll be sure to make a thread on here when the avalanche report "beginner retard dies on Grand Mesa" comes out this winter.
>>2846873Where'd ya go, we had some decent spring storms
>>2847063You wont need lessons, i never did, however you will be fucking pathetic for a very long time. It takes hundreds of laps on a chair just to get kinda ok, and thats for hot shit talented skiers such as myself. You will be falling over with your skis running away in oposite directions every kick turn you try to do and it'll be hilarious.
>>2847636>You wont need lessons, i never did, however you will be fucking pathetic for a very long time. It takes hundreds of lapsIt sounds like you needed lessons
>>2847654Why, I figured it out in no time. Unlike OP I had a lift.
>>2847733I mean the tard whos going to learn to ski by touring, not OP...its been a long day.
>>2847636the biggest thing you get out of lessons is a group of other shitters to bomb around the hill with.
>>2847632Broken River, Cragieburn, Mt. Olympus, Mt. Hutt, The Remarkables, Coronet Peak, Treble ConeBroken River and Cragie were definitely my favorites, such awesome little hills <3
>>2847636>>2847654Yeah, you can get better a lot faster and spend way less time falling on your face with lessons.I know very few people who stuck through the beginner phase to actually get good without lessons because falling on your face sucks.
>>2847208Going to Zermatt & Verbier in December. Really worried about falling in a crevasse, since Europeans don't patrol outside of groomed runs.
>>2847182I would compare going Backcountry skiing without experience to skydiving without experience or free solo climbing without experience.The fact that you have no respect for how dangerous that shit actually is more than proof that you're like actually screwed.
>>2847914This really, really depends on where you go.
>>2847915Know where and how to go to mitigate risk is literally the skill we're talking about is literally the skill >>2847182 lacks. Like yeah, skinning up low angle terrain with a good avalanche forecast outside of known avalanche runout zones is safe, but >>2847182 doesn't know that.
also like you can just hike ski resorts nigger
Id really appreciate it if nutless fags stopped offering their opinions>>2847636>>2847654>>2847734>>2847914>lessonsI ride my bicycle 30 miles a day in the highest gear, I am certain I can demand my legs to do the correct things I'm basically a horse>>2847944people like this are utter cancer creating wild scenarios in their headGrand Mesa is a MESA, it's fuckin chill, bro.
>>2848144more than likely he never made anything of his life and he's some hopped up "wilderness" EMT or ski patroller that has to desperately cling to what little knowledge he has
>>2848144This is the hubris of someone who kills themselves in the backcountry just to waste S&R's time. Really peak dunning-kruger that has zero idea how dangerous backcountry snowpack is.
>>2848145Kek>>2848156>hubrisOr your spirit is dogshit
>>2848211Read "Staying Alive in Avalanche Terrain" by Bruce Tremper at least before you think about going out. It's basically the Bible for this stuff. Picrel is from that book and describes the danger of Backcountry skiing pretty concisely.
>>2848241Great read, but it's no substitute for an intro to backcountry course and/or going out with experienced friends.
ANDES TOWER HILLS MAY OPEN TOMORROW SKIING IS IMMINENT IN THE MIDWEST
>>2848242>>2848241I was born with a complete knowledge of the outdoors because I'm not a woman
East Coast resorts are starting to open too after the recent storm cycle <3
>>2846708Doing Powder king a couple times this year hopefully.>>2847913There's zero dangerous features at Zermatt. Unless you're going waaaaay the fuck out into the mountains you're fine, and even if you do the rick fucks doing the helicopter tours will probably be there to rescue you within the hour. It is a sweet fucking hill and being piss drunk in a swiss mountain bunker complex is one of the most fun things a man can do
>>2846711fuckin A, we got totally cucked since this. Basically been around 50 in town when it should be 40 or less, tomorrow might be a record high temp, and the mountains have only gotten an inch or two in the last month. Bachelor was supposed to open on Friday but they've pushed it back now.
Colorado anons report in
How tight are my back-country ski boots supposed to be? I got picrel and i sized them very snug, almost like downhill boots. My toes are right near the tip of the boot, i swear i read you’re supposed to size your boots like that but some people say these boots are hella comfortable and im not there. I figure since its all leather they will break in. Not sure if i should cut my losses and sell them for a larger size
>>2848144> I ride my bicycle 30 miles a day in the highest gearThis just means you don’t know how to ride a bike
>>2846708Why the fuck would they open with 2 hrs of daylight?
>>2853202They have night skiing at Keystone
>>2853202Because tourists and transplants will pay hundreds of dollars to ski even for a short amount of time, and the resort is heavily dependent on that money. Resorts are run like a financial house of cards, so they need all the profit they can get. They do stuff like this to squeeze it out of the customers.
>>2853200those are nordic touring boots. They do not need to be as snug as alpine boots. I have those and they are comfortable. As long as your heel is snug and not lifting out everytime you kick then you should be fine
>>2853213I've never been to a night skiing resort but I guess that makes sense. Back in the 00s I used to play golf at this place that had the back 9 illuminated in the winter. It must be super expensive for a whole ski slope and I've never seen it but its a cool idea.
>>2853224growing up in the upper midwest, every ski area had night skiing- but they were tiny. Its def a different proposition out West but some places do it ie; Keystone
Recommend me a good bib. I bought a cheap one from Academy like 10 years ago and it's served me well but I need to upgrade now that I have lots of disposable income. Any recs? Looking at pic related because I love Columbia stuff
Any of you guys do XC skiing? I wanna try it this year, there's a place near me that does a 2 hour introductory thing.
>>2854096do it, I shill it on here from time to time, I think it's really underrated and overlooked, probably because most people who are into it seem to stick to groomed trails and cruising around where it's pretty much flat. It's like if your whole impression of hiking was trail running, or if biking was just spandex roadies. It's a ridiculously fun way to explore the woods once it starts to click. I would suggest working on downhill techniques a LOT even if that's not the main aspect you care about because it's the hardest thing about XC and takes a lot more deliberate thought than striding imo. You CAN handle hills but if you already do alpine it will feel like your skis don't want to do fuck all what you want them to do and most people ultimately just choose to ride out a hill or bail out, which gets really limiting
>>2851149And continuing from this, the latest Bachelor has ever opened in history is the 15th, now it's the 16th and there's no skiing in sight. There's finally some snow coming through this week but only 6-8", which isn't anywhere near enough to open.
>>2854096where at? out west?
>>2854131I'm in the northeast. Full disclosure, I'm mostly interested in XC/Nordic skiing (same thing?) as a means to access roads which are not plowed or maintained in the winter.
>>2854368>XC/Nordic skiing (same thing?)yes, they are the same thing. Get some touring skiis with metal edges- they are best for non-groomed trails/ FS roads etc...
>>2854368>xc skiing in the northeast grim
>>2853213Is Keystone good? I've been to virtually every other major resort in Colorado but not that one. We're going in January and I've heard mixed reviews. I got roped into to going there because of my sister in law. I wanted to go to Big Sky, Sunbird, or Steamboat. Thanks for reading my blog.
>>2854368>>2854392don't listen to this chud, vermont/NH/maine is like the spiritual home of nordic skiing in north america (at least when I lived over there there were way more cool grampas who seem to actually like nordic for its own sake, versus the west)I also like logging roads and I've had a lot of success using 3-pin bindings with somewhat heavier boots and shorter skis than you would use in a nordic area. Probably want to forget the "ski as tall as your outstretched arm" rule of thumb. People like NNN-BC bindings quite a bit, and they may well be better. But IME, deals on old 3-pin stuff are everywhere you look, meaning you can try lots of skis for shits without spending any real money, and end up with beater pairs for going out with your bros. Plus, boots like picrel (asolo snowfield) pop up fairly cheap on ebay etc. and are basically a nice stitchdown leather hiking boot, which is a lot handier for being in the woods than most NNN boots, although you can get something like that in NNN-BC... again, more money. It's nice to have a boot you can drive in. Lastly, I've seen plastic on NNN stuff break a few times, and I can't even imagine my pinner bindings breaking in a way I couldn't fix.Newer "backcountry" or "XCD" skis like fischer s-bound and madshus panorama supposedly turn much easier because of their dimensions. I'm yet to ski them so I can't comment, but I have actually rented some panoramas to try out this week. Either way, my shortish and widish thrift store trak touring skis are very fun on the logging roads, so don't get too spun around by the G.A.S. heads if you don't want to drop the money. Skills can get you there
Skied at Aspen Snowmass last week.Of the four mountains:>Snowmass was almost completely closed>Buttermilk was almost all open, but icy>Highlands was the best mountain, all the blues were open but most of the blacks were closed>Aspen Mountain/Ajax had surprisingly good conditions on the few runs that were open but 80% of the runs were closedCrazy weather this year and a complete lack of snow. I hope it gets better. Boulder/Denver has been on a 10+ day streak of 60 degree plus days in December, the longest streak ever recorded.
>>2846708For downhill how do I know if my edges are ruined or if I just suck? Skiing east coast "ice" and they don't bite just skid and chatter. I sharpen them myself but that can only do so much because of the nature of only sharpening vertical side. >>2854096This >>2854731And this >>2854109It's like snowshoeing but actually fun. My skis are somewhat wider and shorter than normal xc ski fag gear. Really good for exploring. Try to get off the groomed trail as soon as possible. Breaking trail is worth it for the solitude. Going to/along a lake or river is a good bet for flat terrain. I love skiing on frozen lakes but I'm always scared of falling in, especially with skis making it impossible to swim or get out. I'd like to blend down hill and xc without skins, some special ski for that, but have to do more research, not sure if it's a meme or not.
>>2854870I guess CO is having the same weather we are in OR. Mt. Bachelor is finally opening tomorrow but there's only 19" of base, sounds pretty rough to me.
we got some snow
>>2854957where
>>2854988
>no snow anywhere in summit county anytime soon
>>2854990are you rich or a van nigger
>>2854904Anecdotally, you can duckwalk for a long time up anything about as steep as woods roads ever get. Steeper than that, I have to think the hassle of skins is totally outweighed by how much easier they make it to climb. Some people use "kicker skins," which are part-length ones that you can leave on; a compromise. I haven't had to use skins for XC but I should probably try 'em. Skis branded as "touring" or "backcountry" etc. usually have less camber and more fish scales, which not only help going up but make it easier to turn on the way down, as well as having some drag that keeps your speed down. Just worse on the flats. I would like to mess with oldschool grip waxing because you can play with how your skis are gripping. Old heads also always say they're the fastest once you figure it out
>>2846708If you guys end up at Gunstock in NH come say hi, I'm usually captain of Panorama or Pistol.
>>2854392Breh the adirondacks are an xc mecca
>>2855187According to whomst? Faggy Yankees?
I have a pair of skis that I bought used 5 years ago. They’re kind of shitty but I’m debating on whether to hold on to them or not, because I’m a pretty casual skier and right now I’m more worried about the cost of new skis than performance on the slopes. I know they’re past the point of being guaranteed by the manufacturer or whatever. Will ski shops still wax and inspect my skis, or will they not touch them at all since they’re too old? Is it even safe to be skiing on old skis like that?
>>2855340>Will ski shops still wax and inspect my skisyes.>Is it even safe to be skiing on old skis like that?How old are they? if they are less than 20yrs old you should be fine. the bindings are more of a concern than the skiis if they are old too but the shop should be able to tell you if they are functional.
>>2853202They were racing A Basin to be first to open in the US
>>2855340>>2855343I've been wondering about something similar myself, but mine are more like 12 years old. They've only been out a few times though, I unexpectedly moved to somewhere with no skiing shortly after getting them and only just moved back to a place with mountains and real winter this year. Did some googling and it sounds like the skis themselves should be alright but the bindings are probably due for replacement, which isn't the worst thing because my feet have changed size so I need new boots anyway and the bindings would have to be remounted to fit them.
>>2855549My understanding is that skis can last for 30+ years no problem with proper maintenance/TLC if you're only using them a moderate amount. You should be fine if everything is tuned and waxed properly.
>>2855052>still no snow ever it's really genuinely joever
>>2855056neither, i rent a shitty apartment with roommatesit was fucking great out today, we've had a fantastic last 2 weeks>>2855970brutal
just did some night skiing at mt seymour. surprisingly good snow, actually powdery, but the lines were insane for a thursday
Been nordic skiing and learning downhill at resorts. Had some crazy fun trying to survive a long downhill on nordics and now i want to buy some scaled downhill skis and tech bindings Is this retarded? I live in the northeast so long flat approaches that you can scale like 80% of the time
>>2855760Lmao I beat the shit out of my skis so they constantly need like ptex and shit
>>2855760>skis can last for 30+ yearssure they can last. but a lot has changed in 30yrs and the skiis of today are vastly different than those of 30 yrs ago in terms of design and function.
>>2856928how skinny are the skis you've been downhilling on? If I had my druthers I'd pay ot take my nordic stuff down greens for a day to build skills, which is what the old telemark etc. books all say to do, but IRL people always tend to see this as comically suicidal (and yet when I was learning locked-heel alpine I could go up and eat shit 100,000 times and nobody batted an eye..?)
Anybody ever skied Hokkaido (Japan)?I keep on hearing how it's a bucket list experience, but at the same time I'm seeing stuff about how the mountains aren't very steep
>>2857955I'll be there in two weeks, I'll let you know how it goes. Going to Niseko United, Rusutsu, Kiroro and Teine.
>>2857955I've been to Niseko in the winter but sadly didn't get to ski, I was only in Hokkaido for a few days and it was some kind of holiday where the resorts were closed. Seemed like it'd be pretty great though, the snow was some of the most insane powder I've ever seen, I stuck my arm in a snowbank and it was like cold air.
>>2846708Bruh its snowed twice here in the last 90 days. Winter is over. Global warming and boomers won.
>>2858031Well how was/is it?Colorado is sucking ass, it's 60 degrees right now
>>2847636is this really the case? I have been skiing 2 days in my entire life so far and the first day I got a hang of being able to do skidded turns down the bunny hill in less than an hour. 2nd day I had only fallen once when I hit a ditch filled with powder. I was doing skidded and carved turns when needed albeit probably not in very good form but I wouldn't know. I was renting and finally saved up enough to get a full touring setup since im more of a climber than a skier and for years ive been slogging to and back from my objectives using snowshoes or just postholing to the waist. I was wondering if it was normal to progress that fast because it would be pretty unfortunate to know that im a better skier than climber
>>2860689I just got back last night so here's my blogpost; I got extremely lucky visiting when it was an active weather period of snow every day. I was riding a week or so ago when there were huge dumps (over a foot every night), it's pretty low density snow at Niseko and Rusutsu; Tiene and Kiroro were more dense snow since they're closer to the ocean. The only place I rode that didn't get fresh snow overnight was Kiroro but the groomers and trees were still soft.>NisekoYes it's crowded, full of jerrys and has long lines but after the initial load up in the morning, the gondolas stop having lines. However if you're coming to ski/ride and can actually handle yourself, don't focus on all the in bounds stuff and hike the summit through gate 3. It'll take a gondola, lift and the pizza box to get to the gate entrance, then you hike up about 20 minutes to the summit of Mt. Niseko-Annupuri. Where you see the warming hut and summit marker, if you drop off down to the right (east or north) you can easily make it back to the resort with a 15 minutes hike up a traverse. You get about 1400 feet of vertical ride down until you hit the cat track, you don't want to go past the cat track unless you really know where you're going. Some people were dropping off the west side; a vast majority of people drop north or east off the summit. It did get tracked out by the afternoon but if you know where to go you can keep finding fresh turns. I ended up doing three summit laps a day but they were well worth it; steep open face at the top dropping into mellow well spaced trees at the bottom. The resort reported 30 cm but the summit face was much deeper because it got wind blown from the west; it was closer to thigh deep powder with full on white room powder turns. I stuck to riding Hirafu mostly just to get to the summit gate; then Hananzo to get back from the traverse, Annupuri and Niseko Village weren't that interesting but there are other backcountry gates from Annupuri.
>>2860786If you're going through in-bounds gates, I'd say Strawberry fields was the most fun, good spaced trees you can bomb. Be careful of Waterfall gate, there's a huge ass waterfall in the middle that has killed people. G7 and G11 were the only fun parts of Annupuri and Niseko Village resorts.In regards to the town of Hirafu/Niseko culturally it was a mix between Aussie bros and Vail richfags, didn't feel like Japan at all. The restaurants in Hirafu were pretty mid relative to price (the izakayas and sushi places required reservations) so I'd recommend saving money and just getting food from the Konbinis in Hirafu. I didn't make it to Kutchan for more "local" restaurants because the busses were unreliable shit; basically every rich hotel has private shuttles that run constantly but you'll be lucky to catch the one bus per hour that goes to Kutchan. The free shuttles busses ran about once every forty minutes but if you miss that you're better off walking back to your hostel. The hostel I stayed at at least had a morning shuttle that dropped you off at Grand Hirafu gondola by 8:10 am to get in line.
>>2860787>RusutsuAlso crowded with long lines but is set up like a more traditional resort (versus Niseko where its four separate resorts operating on the same mountain). If you're going to Rusutsu after a big dump; you're going to want to get there early. I took a day shuttle from Hirafu Village that dropped me off at Rusutsu at 9:20, by then the gondola was already running. After finally getting over to Mt. Isola around 10, the main tree runs were almost all the way tracked out. You can still find some softer snow but by 11 it was definitely tracked out. Then I went over to the East Mountain area; its a beginner friendly part of the mountain above all of the hotels/base area, but nobody was riding the trees over there so it had more untracked runs into the afternoon. I didn't notice any lack of steepness besides the lower run-outs.I didn't stay in Rusutsu overnight but if you do you'll probably get on the mountain faster in the morning, however if you have a car you can get there as early as you need to from the Niseko Village as its only about 40 minutes away.
>>2860788>KiroroLess crowded than Rusutsu and Niseko United; I took a reserved shuttle bus up from Otaru and it dropped me off early enough to get in line before the Gondola opened. Smaller resort but much less crowded outside of the main base area. They used to be super strict about tree run access, they would pull your pass if you didn't check in with ski patrol in the morning and show them your beacon, shovel and probe or if you ducked closed ropes. However when I got there they didn't care to see my avy equipment, they told me to download some app and check-in (I did but I wouldn't bother if I was going again), plenty of people were ducking the rope into the "closed" tree run off the summit and nothing happened to them. Here they have a distinction between tree runs and out of bounds, I didn't duck any out of bounds ropes but I believe the in-bounds ropes are just to keep the general population out of the trees. There were a lot of people accessing the backcountry from the summit of Asari peak; they were mostly ski tourers/splitboarders; if I had brought my touring gear and researched the backcountry terrain I would've definitely gone back there; it looked pretty good from the resort. As a whole its a very flat resort, flat at the lower runouts and Asari Panorama is marked as an intermediate on the trail map but it was completely flat all the way down. However if I was going again and could only ride one day it would be Kokusai; the people I talked to prefered it over Kiroro. I stayed in Otaru, it's a small seaside port city that everyone raves about but the seafood restaurants in the main tourist area of downtown were quite overpriced (over 9000 yen for a kaisendon bowl). I got conveyor belt sushi for a fair price and it was pretty good. If I had more time I would've gone to the seafood restaurants in Sankaku market by the train station; they had kaisendon bowls for 4000 yen but all of the restaurants closed by 5 pm.
>>2860789>TeineMost locals of any resort I rode in Hokkaido, it's only 45 minutes from downtown Sapporo (where I stayed) so it was semi-crowded when I rode it on a weekend day. They had the Winter Olympics in 1972 which is kind of cool; you get a good view of the Pacific Ocean and Sapporo on a clear day. I stuck entirely to the Highland Zone lapping the quad lift from the summit. The upper portion was definitely the steepest terrain I rode in Japan; if you go I would go through the backcountry gate at the summit between ski patrol and a cafe, hike 10 minutes to the top of the old ropeway lift and drop in riders left there. I lapped this all day because it wasn't crowded at all, was steep, had great powder and you can easily ride back in-bounds from the trees.Sapporo was fun, saw the snow sculptures in Odori park, went to the beer museum and had an all you can eat Jingisukan dinner with unlimited alcohol for 90 minutes for 6000 yen. In general if you're getting around Hokkaido with your board bags and luggage, I recommend the bus system (Either Hokkaido Resort Liner or the Chuo express busses) over the train. I took the train from Kutchan to Otaru and it took just as long with no under-bus storage for luggage.
>>2846708It seems like the season is nearly over, but I need to find a new hobby. I used to snowboard when I was younger, gonna try skiing since I'm an oldfag now. How fucked of an idea is this?
Do they make XC boots that are comfortable enough to hike in? Would hiking in them ruin the binding? I'm going to a beginners XC class tomorrow to give it a shot for the first time.
im a beginner and fell onto my chest and my airpod case was in my breast pocket and cracked a rib. cannot believe this shit
>>2861623Perfectly fine idea as long as you're not in horrible condition. Resorts often have really good new skiier deals where you get lessons, gear, and lift tickets for less than you'd normally pay for just the tickets, and this time of year you're likely to end up 1 on 1 with the instructor too.
>>2861623Honestly spring corn snow is the best to learn on. Its generally warmer and sunnier so its easier to be outdoors for a longer time. Its also less crowded in spring since people forget that they can go skiing once they get one 60 degree day. Just plan to get on the mountain after noon so the snow will start to soften up.
