White Saturday

Nothing like following Black Friday with White Saturday. The resort said 3", the dept. of transportation said 6", and I said 9". No matter who is right, conditions today were much better than yesterday and completely awesome for the 27th of November.

Nice to test out the powder boards so early in the season. Dylan gets the money shot as I hop the pillow.

As it turns out, the S3s live up to their rating in the pow. It's a whole new ballgame with the fatties. They mow right through the deep stuff and bomb the crud. The technique is different than what I'm accustomed to. A lot less standing on the and a lot more finesse. With the rockers there's also a move called "smearing" where you push out the tails to scrub speed. It works wonders for ripping.

I think I'm gonna like this new ballgame.

Diane and Dylan came up today. They waited to get their passes and Dylan caught up to my on the third ride. Dylan avoids the alligators in the woods.

A little rotation on the kick.

Diane tears it up on Rough Cut.

And shows the smile that comes from snowsports.

Dylan puts the Skate Banana through the stress test.

And rips a grab off the stump at the bottom of Timburr.

Dylan punches through the pow.


Rippin' through the trees.

We're all beat. I'm probably going to be sore tomorrow, but it was a great day for day two. The storms keep coming and the base is already as good as it was most of last season.

I should probably catch up with end-of-term work tomorrow... we'll see.

Black Friday

Black Friday. Opening day...for the second year in a row landed on Black Friday. Steely Dan once wrote a song about Black Friday, but that was about the stock market crash of September 24, 1869. Apparently the panic cause collapse of the gold market. Could have happened today, but the markets are closed so everyone can go spend money at the mall. Here's a sample of they lyrics:

When Black Friday comes
I'll stand down by the door
And catch the grey men when they
Dive from the fourteenth floor

Enough already... you can watch it on youtube.

I would dive from the 14th floor if I was at the mall today...but I went skiing instead. When the going gets rough, the masses go shopping... and the wise go skiing. So, I got wise.

Dylan was on call to work at the board shop, so I went solo. Took all the skis today...two pairs of K2s and the new Rossi S3's.

The good news is the storms last week left us with nearly 4' of base. Not bad for Thanksgiving. If you review the history of this blog, you'll see the last 2 of 3 years the season did not open until December 20th. Last year was El Nino... this year is La Nina. Odds are it will be a good year.

I waited 30 minutes to get my pass and then hopped onto the Twilight lift. T-Dawg (Tyler Giard--Dylan's good buddy) is working at The Pass this year and has the Twilight assignment. We'll be riding him hard all season.

After three laps on Twilight, the EPA opened. I got on the second chair to the top. I had great hopes, what with the fatty S3's and the possibility of bottomless pow.

Alas, it was not to be. The maritime climate of the Pacific Northwest left an ugly crust on top of the snow. The S3's cut through pretty well, but it wasn't ideal.

Speaking of the S3's...

I got the 178s. They are 130mm at the tips and 100mm at the waist...with rocker. I was concerned that they would be too short since they are twin tips, but they ski great. The rockers ski different than any boards I've ever ridden. I bought them for the pow.

Well, actually they were a birthday gift from my parents. I guess they figured since they supported my ski habit for 40-some years, why stop now? I sat on the check for months since my birthday is in August. I waited until the buyers guides came out and then figured out what I could afford. The S3's rated best ski under $750 and got the highest score in the powder category.

More on that later... but thanks for the skis mom and dad!