I am in disbelief as to how awesome today was. 14″ or so super dry powder last night, yes actual powder on Mt. Hood, and gorgeous sunny skies over Meadows. Face shots all day all over the place. 14k feet of vert in 14 runs; last two runs of the day were Private Reserve and Heather.
Today, Miles and I skiied Alyeska for the first time. Alyeska is a resort about 40 miles south of Anchorage, Alaska. If you’ve ever seen a Warren Miller or Matchstick Productions Film, you probably are aware of Chugach Mountain Guides which operate out of the same area.
The snow is pretty much the best I’ve skiied in my entire life. The mountain received 34 inches on Monday, 30 inches on Tuesday, and then about 6 inches per day since. That is a lot of snow.
We did 25.5k feet of vertical in 20 runs all over the mountain — and had fresh tracks most of the day. Tomorrow, the goal is to ski from 10:30 am to 9 pm and break 40k feet of vertical.
Midweek skiing is fantastic. Nailed 17 runs in just under three hours with Jason and Amanda. Mercury off Shooting Star had some great snow, and Heather was a blast.
Drinking hot cocoa every night until it snows. Come on ski season.
Crashed at Sunnyside Lodge this past weekend and skiied two days at Squaw Mountain with Miles. No fresh snow but the weather couldn’t be beat.
Saturday: 28,500 feet of vertical from 31 runs over 7 hours. Beer and chili fries for lunch. Grilling with Burt Herman and his friends in South Lake.
Sunday: 22,800 feet of vertical from 24 runs over 5.5 hours. Long drive back to San Francisco. Homemade pizza dinner with Hilary Titus and her roommates.
Monday: early morning flight back to NYC just in time to take the lady out dancing for Valentines.
Flying to San Francisco this evening to meet up with Miles and ski Tahoe for the first time. I have my Black Diamond Kilowatts with me. Depending on the snow quality, I may ski them one day and demo a new pair of alpine boots the next. No more nerve damage on the big toes for me.
Ski or die man!
Skiing in Vermont: fucking frigid (single digits farenheit), terrain is more or less the same, double black is a blue with moguls on the West Coast, 20 inch snow base, and the cafeteria doesn’t know what chili fries are. Awesome day of skiing. Working on content analysis now for the Carnival of Journalism while my feet are in a lukewarm bathtub trying to recover from frostbite. Apparently if I don’t regain sensation within a few hours I need to go to the hospital.
Taking Amtrak Empire State 255 with Albert up to Albany to ski tomorrow and Sunday. To our left is the Hudson River with chunks of ice near the shore. Awesome.
Is it possible to carry skis and boots on the subway? Totally.
