Thursday, December 9, 2010

First lift served day of the 2010-11 season


And on new sticks! Great first day at Snowbowl today with excellent coverage. One of the better starts to the snow year that they've had in quite sometime. The mountain is 100% open, but only Thurs. - Sunday right now. Cautiously optimistic for a full week opening . The tree shots are filling in with a few lurking logs. Paradise is in as good of shape as ever, no rocks at all and smooth (f0r Snowbowl).

I was on a new pair of skis today that have just made my season that much better, a pair of 188 4FRNT CRJ's. Today's conditions gave me an excellent insight into what to expect for the season....SLARVE! Slarve defined by Shane McConkey: No effort = slarving = piece-of-cake- powder-turns. Or simply put a sliding carve. The CRJ's were fun to ski and very easy. If you wanted to shrub some speed, just throw'em sideway. The groomers were fun too, easily initiating into carves and holding a good edge. Crud was a breeze with not much deflection. The only thing I didn't sample today was much powder, but with the 2" new I did get a feeling for what surfing them will be like. I now have my favorite quiver to date: 1. 186 Dynastar Ledgend Pro's - a bomber superG-like ski that powers through anything; not a lot of float for the powder though. 2. 188 4FRNT CRJ - effortless fun and sure to be a badass powder machine.

The specs and description for anyone that cares:

Pro model with gradual rocker and reverse sidecut at the tip and tail to float. Normal camber and traditional sidecut underfoot. Fun-seeking attitude lives on inside this versatile, powder-hungry stick. [188cm] 130 / 118 / 128 with a 28 meter turn radius


Earlier this week a few of us got out and stretched the legs at Lolo Pass. The Snotel site is showing 24" with is about 80% of normal. Another 2-3 feet will cover up most of the hazards. It's coming though, I can smell it. Some small vertical, sampling some of the shaded aspects on the Granite Pass side. Gloppy melt bombs had dumped into the treed areas but the open shots in the shade were better than expected.

ViVa La NiNa!!!!!

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