Location: Hall of the Gods above Fallen Leaf Lake, and a visit to Alpine Ghettos, or Meadows, or Shreadows, or Shralpine Mellows…..I give up.
Fun area eh?
Oooooooh, new sign!
Weather: Sunny. 34F at 5am, 64 F at 2pm
Skiers:
Skier666, hop, Obscure Reference, Vets, Dookey67, Unpossible, SchralphMacchio, Corky, Snowranger, The Frush, and many more….
Cameramen:
666, hop, and Obscure Reference
POV VIDEO – Its a little high, but it does the job….
Music: TRG – Broken Heart [Martyn DCM RMX]
Synopsis:
Hop and I are granted a 17:19 hall pass to do some skiing. We depart SF at 8:11pm Friday night, sleep a few hours, ski until 2pm, and arrive back in SF at 5:30pm. We did a dawn patrol on Halls from Fallen Leaf around 6,500 ft to top of Halls around 8,800 ft, and then ran over to Alpine to shred some slush. Good day.
Java Porn: TR created by an Apple flat white…(this new app is great)
TR Begins Now:
Hop’s Maserati is fast….which was good because our alarms were set for 4:30am.
The road is plowed to the trail-head parking lot, thus saving time on the ascent. Lots of snow for Mid-May at 6500 ft.
This is a river of snowmelt….
Here, 666 punches through the snowpack into the black abyss….Obscure is there to poke fun….
Yep, still early…
Hurry up….
Hmmm….does 666 really want to ski that chute?
Obscure should have used pole straps…
Yep, 666 eyes his bulletproof line…
Frozen sketchfest. Helmets on!
We made it. Hop was so excited!
The options….
Proof 666 was there…
Nice view of the Pacific Ocean…
Obscure was really nervous on the ascent, so I comforted him at the summit….
666′s line-choice (see POV vid)
Obscure jumps out of the gate…
Finds perfect fields of corn….
Hop gets viewtastic…
Smooooth…..
Aggressive Alpine Skier….
Hop can Alpine as well….
Did someone say Bode Miller? I sure didn’t.
666 appears out of the dark shadows with sounds of nails on a chalkboard….
Recent east facing wet slide debris…
Hop is still skiing….
Obscure finds a line….
So cute that these guys got along….
Obscure carvin’….
Hop lovin’…..
Hop goes through a forest to earn a few more turns…
…like this…
Mr. Baby Head does the same…
Obscure finds a groomer…
666 wants to ski to the car….
Obscure descends as far as possible…
‘Hurry up, we need to head to the Ghettos!’
Headed towards Fallen Leaf from trailhead….
View of the area where we had a fun play date…
Refreshing….
Summer season is approaching fast….
So are the chemtrails….
We made it to Alpine. It is rather warm, snow rather soft. Decked out in Kiwi gear for my Southern Hemisphere entrepreneurs.
Kingswoods on Keyhole? Why not?
Looking South….
Hop back on some rockered K2′s based on Seth Morrison’s needs…
Some guy on a snowboard was dressed and drunk as a Dodger….
This is a tree with a view…
Hop still managed to have a good time…
OMG, no comment….
Dookey67 finds a nice pitch….
Hop goes hella’ tele-mode….
Corky slayin’….
Vets made an appearance….
666 on Pete’s Peril….
Hop and I brought some gear for one day of skiing….
Heh….to think now THIS place is closed!
Where can we get food on the way home? Hmmmm….
Success! Back to winter in SF (truth be told, it was colder in SF than Tahoe on this day)
The day after shredding the Illinois Gnar, I was back in Tahoe ready to schralp some more interesting Tahoe terrain. Stellar conditions with pow refreshments each day up until the night of Jan 1st, where sadly, a light mist glazed over much of the High Sierras.
Powder Anyone?:
United Airlines gave me a free copy of this kick-ass periodical…OMG, really? TAHOE????? I WANT TO SKI THERE!!!!!!
Because of the latest issue of SKI, I grabbed our cat and we rallied deep into HWY 50….
Hmmmm, what kind of Moment will we be in today?
New snow, clouds breaking….could be fun….
Tallac….a South Lake BC Ski Field……
This weird device was eating snow….so I took a photo.
Securing the last actual non-paying spot in the 6 lot, we noticed the snow looking quite tasty at 7800 ft.
The Frog and I decide on breaking trail to outer Palisades….
The Frog likes that idea….especially when his older cousin breaks trail….
Here, the Frog pimps’ out a powder field…
He’s on holiday from studying Nuclear Physics at CU-Boulder, a university located just north of where Coors is brewed…
Here the Frog takes a crap photo of 666….
HA….this is actually at 7890 ft……right above the car….
Another Pali lap? Why not?
666 in Lower Cirque following Zippy’s lead….
Where’s the tracks? Its like…..11:30am?
The backside opens and is fun….and fast….
Kush preparing for a straight shot into a forest of trees…..
Let’s just say our first run was light and fresh….
Again, Lower Cirque…totally tracked.
This rock got into Zippy’s way…
…and another….
…and another….actually all from the same Thunder Saddle lap….Kirkwood is so FUN!!!!!
‘Once’ is looking a little thin……
Sisters looks to be the win….
Supu agrees…
ANOTHER DAY!
The Frog and I warm up our breakfast….
Really? It snowed again? Carbon copy of yesterday? Oh my!
Frog knows where to go….Palisades….top to bottom fresh.
S.P.C has marvelous turn initiation….
Supu is in there somewhere….
Zippy…..in the air…airing over some obstacles…
Tyrone…takes flight near Oops EP….
666 follows suit….
Zippy down in lower Sisters….early season gnar…
…finds an exit…
…’arms out, knees tucked’…check
Jrosen32 on the side of Chamoix….
Zippy in the Fingers….giving them the finger….
Zippy finds yet another air in Lower Cirque…
Jrosen32 straightlinin’……
Tyrone ties his shoelaces in the powder…
Supu loving Thunder Saddle at 3pm….
Pimpin’ Frog pimps out his last turn of the day…
The little man gets his 2nd day on his strap-on boards…still hates it.
This is preferred…..
That night….
2010201020102010!
Frog and I head to KW, get one run on Oops and Oops EP…it was good. 666 in Oops EP…
Screw it, Frog and I are thirsty!!!!
Caffeinated, we decide to clean out the garage…full of 4th of July paraphernalia…
Off to Slim’s for a fail race-stock mount….
Day 2 of 2010!
As I head in the direction of Alpine Ghettos, an island appears….
…F R O S T Y!
…C R U S T Y!
…ERIE!
After hitting some groomers with The Dad, Turx & Cinders….I started my solo tour….off of Scott chair and chute with rocks in the middle….
Estelle Face is always my favorite spot for techy turns, so I took a couple laps. The snow was breakable crust and weirdly enjoyable…
Good times….
Off to High Yellow to Sherwood Cliffs lap….untracked yet crusty….
On my final Estelle lap, a fellow soldier drops in…
On the final lap, The Dad and I take the Most Epic Condo Lap EVER!!!! Lesson learned….rain sometimes cannot penetrate the forest making the snow better than expected.
Schralpine Ghettos, Lake Tahoe, Northern California, USA
Weather:
Bluebird, no wind, 66 F in the parking lot at 2pm…enough said.
Survivors:
666, Slim, & Ian (buddy of a buddy)
People who used cameras during this trip to Alpine Meadows:
666 & Slim
DnB Music: Dom & Roland ‘Imagination’
Synopsis: Classic Sierra Spring Skiing
Rallied grommers from 8:50 am to around 10 am. Met up with Slim, and hiked over to Estelle Bowl, which then closed. Headed over to High Traverse, and hiked into the OB, which then closed. Had some $2 Beers at the Ice Bar, then to find some winter snow hidden in the Sherwood Cliff gnar. Thereafter, the rest of the day was spent lapping Scott Chair in all its Springtime glory.
Shugs flew up to take some spy cell-phone shots prior to our arrival…
This may be Lake Tahoe…
Holmes’ Wood…
Bare Valley…
That deep valley south of Kookwood…
Back on land…AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
West Shore represent…WEST SIDE!
Alpine still gots ze snow…
A rare telemark skier sighting at the Ghettos…
Slim drops into Estelle Face…
666 follows suit…
Dodging bullets…
Slim makes a getaway…
Straightline to safety….
Parking lot carves rule!
Damn gangstas killed that tree!
Surely, they wouldn’t find us in the backside OB eh?
That damn lake again…
At 11:15am its pretty mushy…..
Still damn fun though…
Ice Bar break…beers n dogz, cheap as chips.
Slim on his second twelve pack….
666, uh, getting his protein…
Over to Scott’s hidden chute. Here, I bet Slim $1 that I’d find winter snow even in these temps…
I won.
Then Slim found out for himself…
My blind date, Ian, shreds the upper Scott OB on some race-stock GS boards…
Its no Chamonix, but falling wouldn’t be ideal…
Ian…skiin’ the same line from another view…that’s right…2 CAMERAS!@#^%$W^&!
Fun line, fun times…
666 is up…he hates having fun.
That’s why he skied the roll-over…heh
Scott Chair rulez…lots of terrain to hide from gunfire.
Slim drops into the upper OB…
666 into the same line…
I know…seriously…WE HAD TWO CAMERAS!!!!
Evidence of an utter massive cliff drop…
Slim was sticking everything on this day…I’m so proud.
So FUN!!!!!
No, no, no Thank You!
Had to swing by Squaw to pick up some new Moment Tahoes from their SkiEO, so I took a rare photo of Squaw’s infamous Bailey’s Beach terrain….
That’s it, can’t believe we survived such a sweet day!
So he finally bit the bullet and flew out here. Arty acted as his chauffer, while I acted as the Thunder Bowl/West Shore/Ghettos guide. However, the bad news is that only a hint of winter snow was holding onto Thunder Bowl for SQ99′s ski vacation. Everywhere else, including north facing aspects is now TOAST. I’d be rather surprised if you find winter snow anywhere, including up high. The weather for his ski holiday was mostly bluebird, slight cloud, and with a slight wind.
The big dilema was deciding on whether to watch the extreme show in the cirque, or ride. Well, since I haven’t skied since my wife’s injury, and SQ99 has never been to these parts, I decided that skiing was in order. Even though I really wanted to cheer on Ty, I’m sure he’ll now befriend this handsome fellow. However, SQ99 did get to watch the superfinals, as I rallied to pick up the Mrs to see Blades of Glory….a mighty fine motion picture I might add.
MUSIC: Alec Empire – New World Order….turn it up!
Dorkwood was day one:
A quick morning draw….
Leads to Zippy relaxing at the summit of Chunder Bowl….
The Line. V-tree proper. Sad to see the lack of coverage this time of year.
Zippy rips a line down the exposed face…
and then decides to FEEL the snow for stability…
Can you find him?
Steep and not deep….
Winter snow = woot!
A little air never hurts…
He’s the commi on rockets in this protected pocket…
666 makes one last turn on V-tree…he wanted to huck the whole thing, but I told him the landing may hurt. Thankfully, he refused.
Pocket gaming…
Its actually a natural piste run….
Ok, its Squirrel’s turn. To be fair, he didn’t want to ski this. He had no idea where he was, and I kept yelling profanities about how he should just straightline it.
I think the rodent did an adequate job….
Here is a pic of SQ99 skiing. Ever seen him do that?
Captain xmas wishing it was December, admired SQ99′s skillz….
Next, we roll to the Wall so we can get over to West Shore. Zippy decides to pre-release above the death-tracks under the top of the Wall, and perform a "face-plant maneuver."
Sadly, his shoulder dislocated, and while he popped it back in, right now, he looks like this…..
While Supu and other drank to dehydration….
SQ99 and I ran up to Westshore proper. Here, SQ99 gets scenic….
The snow was kinda Smoooooooooooooooth!
I think he liked it. Well, he likes skiing suncups in September, so I think he’s enjoying himself…
Now into the "ankle breaking zone."
Squirrel gets aggressive at Alpine Skiing….
666 takes the more direct route…with some heavenly snow.
JMetzler airs it out in the Sisters area….
The mothership stopped by for coffee…
and we flew out for an early showing of…
Mrs. 666 gets hella extreme and bruises a couple ribs in the shower…
She takes some pain killers, and has a few cocktails….she’s fine. At Lph’s with that dude who hit Hospital Air….I think the fame has totally got to him.
Ghetto Cam at Alpine:
SQ99 and Arty had WAY too much fun the night before to meet me at Alpine at 9:00am, so I had to session the ghettos solo. Armed with some mint Gotamas tuned and stapled by Basom, and a cell phone that takes photos, I attack the mountain….
Estelle Bowl….the ridge closed before 11 am. This is what you missed SQ99!
Beaver bowl baking in the sun…
Secret Chute off of Scott Chair…little tight at the crux.
And so….they finally show up. Here’s SQ99 on Keyhole not listening to the photographer’s instructions…
Arty50 on the comis looking comfortable…
I just hope he doesn’t try to cut down any trees with those things….
666 performs an "air turn" on the top of Sherwood Cliffs…some winterish snow still left in there.
…he told me that he was "enjoying himself."
Back to the Secret Chute…666 shows SQ99 the "fun spots."
Steep, and a tad deep…
After 666 landed a 15 footer onto ‘glacier ice’ in the lower Promised Land area, Arty decided to perform some 50/50′s on the box instead…..so core!
Squirrel had "fun" in Tahoe..even though the snow was "shit" and "rotten."
The National Weather Service has issued a special weather statement noting that Alpine (at 6900 ft) received 32" of snow. With some free tickets in hand, and the spur guaranteed to being closed in the morning, I headed to the Ghetto with my holmes Zippy as reinforcement. Packin’ heat?….damn straight. 666 riding Kingswoods, and Zippy on his bad-ass Moment ‘Commis,’ nobody would even think about skiing our lines.
Muisic: Dom & Roland – ‘Ritual’
One problem…I had to drive from SF with a 5:00 am departure <ouch>, but seeing this much snow at Blue Canyon (5163 ft), I don’t mind.
Good thing Interstate 80 has been groomed!
…almost there….
Only at Da Ghettos, where you watch the bottom 2/3 of the mountain get slayed via Roundhouse, then watch Scott Chair get tracked up in one run….all while you sit and wait for the Summit666 to open.
Yum Yum…High Beaver – nope won’t open. Maybe worried about wetslides, I don’t know…
So we basically lapped Keyhole to Scott all day…first run down Keyhole:
Zippy likes to air with "that lake" in the background…
..and has an itch on his left ski….
…and finds a double to straightline near Nun’s Cunt….
Ok, so the top of Alpine Bowl chair is now INACCESSIBLE for your traverse to Keyhole:
Wait a minute…WTF?….those tracks look familar…kinda fat:
Can’t be Zippy because his air was about 10 feet…
Er….IT WAS ZIPPY!!!!!! 50-60 footer to stompage in the slough…
Secret Chute off of Scott….
Lower Scott Traverse….Zippy flashes his ice:
…don’t front…
The Mt. Washington Observatory, C A L I F O R N I A!
Even gangstas like iced-over trees with a blue lake in the background…
Alpine’s backside + BC terrain…with Twin Peaks way out there…looks like some unique lines are filled in on looker’s left!
666 in High Yellow…marking his terrain:
666 in the Sherwood Cliffs area….on the lookout for spies:
He spots one deep in the snowpack…
*THIS IS WHERE THE DAY GOT RAD*
Think about cartwheeling down the whole thing…cause I DID!!! Super Fun!
Hiking up neck-deep slough to get your ski is gnardical…especially for a camera that hates warm temps…camera didn’t like me at this point but Zippy did have a cool line.
Locations: Thunderbowl, Carson Spur, Kirkwood, Alpine Ghettos, Chamois, and many Starbucks.
Players: 666, Mrs. 666, Woody of nzski.com ad fame, Charlie – little kid from NZ, Basom (WTF?), Zippy, Greydon Clark, and others.
Gameplan: To show some KW BC gnar to Basom & Woody…and ski fresh mid-winter conditions for four days.
Synopsis: Long hikes on Thursday at KW, pretty chill and relaxed. Hit Alpine on a buffed-out, killer day with runs to ourselves. Skied pow and wind-buff the following days at KW.
Music: Amit – ‘Lost Voices’
Day 1: Thunder Bowl to Carson Spur
Not a bad day for Basom’s first day to Kirkwood eh? Patrol actually opened the gates on this day…one of the few days to do so during the last month.
Too many tracks, too many problems….Woody’s line:
Looking to the West…
Basom gives it a go…
…and he’s riding 7SK’s!
…he now LOVES the V-tree line….
Woody gives it a go…testing the water content of the snowpack:
Just like the snow in New Zealand…
….at Coronet Peak?
No, he says its a little better in California…
Way better he says…thus, he approves and is STOKED!
I decided to hit the chute…bulletproof at the top/crux, and heaven on the way out:
Our lines: Woody on the lookers left, Basom in the middle, and 666 on the right:
Zoomed out…now for setting the boot pack back to the Palisades….yay!
We then hiked over to the north facing bowl just passed Martin Point…its the spot that they do the cat skiing….Here, instant best friends try to make powder 8′s:
Now on the Spur, Woody makes some long radius turns in beautiful flat-light…
He complained that he didn’t see any other tracks…
Basom loves Kirkwood….I’m sure he told everyone at Squaw about how many people we ran into on this day
Those darn life decisions….
Basom has a little fun….and GOES HUGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Woody attacks the opposite steep face…with the Kingswoods as his weapon of choice
666 decides to ollie the glacier chunks….
I land and look up. We start yelling to the dude up there, er Basom, that he needs to grow some balls and become Leroy Jenkins and launch something.
Only if my shitty backup Sony camera had the balls to take clear photos…
Nice…..I guess those Spatula thingys are good for something.
One last lap into the outer Palisades to get more untracked at 4 pm….Basom likes Kirkwood….or no he doesn’t.
Day 2: Alpine Ghettos
With High Beaver, Estelle, etc closed, we lapped High Yellow to Sherwood Cliffs to Scott Chair, and repeat. We ran into Irul&ublo on the chair but he was on his own gameplan…or that my kiwi mates smelled like crap.
Woody on High Yellow….peeeeeerrrrrrrrrfffffectly smooth.
Lower Sherwood…and no hat as usual.
Charlie airing into the secret chute off of Scott…
Charlie on High Yellow…hours later…
Charlie airs it out by Sherwood Cliffs…
Woody’s kiwi style lunch…MMMMMMMMMMM.
Top of Keyhole…..
666 in a Sherwood spine…
Airing it out….
Another POV of the secret chute off of Scott Chair..
Sherwood again…so good, it was ridiculous
OB above Scott Chair…VERY WINDLOADED!!!! * Always do the poletap *
Nice looking ridge though right?
Are these the Alpine Meadows? We carved out an entrance…Woody dropped in first:
Charlie was next…..I decided to roll skier’s left, and then the whole cornice broke off, which then sloughed out the whole face. Firm layer underneath provided an edgeable surface, therefore, I was able to stay on my feet.
…and then it started to snow in the ghetto…
Time to show Woody Squaw Valley International Ski Resort USA…he so stoked!
I think he was more stoked on the pitchers of Fat Tire…
After getting two coffees for $10 at Squaw, we barely made it around Emerald Bay on HWY 89 before they shut it down.
DAY 3: Kirkwood – Land of some decent snow
666 in outer Palisades…
Mrs. 666 says its worth sleeping in the car for this:
I think she’s having fun?
Woody underneath the Sisters…..
The picture of TORMENT!
West Shore is looking pretty filled in….
So is Pipeline….now if they would only open the access gates.
The Dunes above the Cirque…
Day 4: Kirkwood Mountain Resort
Lower Cirque, basically untouched due to the contest the previous day. We lapped it ALL DAY! Zippy gathers some speed…
Mrs. 666 and Zippy’s buddy go tandem….pretty cool.
Mrs. 666 in the same area…the wind kept filling it for us…so nice.
Zippy listens to some Bush…
Woody’s blind-air before Upper Cham…
Zippy drops into Upper Chamois…
An Eagle is spotted in Eagle Bowl…looks like the Zippy species.
Zippy’s buddy doubles in Waterfall area….
Zippy airs over the Waterfall….
The weather moved back in, and Woody hits up some wind-blown in Lower Cirque/Eagle Bowl entrance…
To pick a little Norm’s Nose….
Time to leave…Thanks CalTrans!
Oh California…..from an arctic oasis to a wine-lover’s dream.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…….
Gotta love the special drink…or is it dinner? Only in the U S A.
Day 1 – Squaw Valley USA International Home of the 1960 Winter Olympics Ski Resort
Mr. Lane Meyer invited us up from the Bay to stay in Truckee on Friday night. With a possible DJ gig at the house, I load up some crucial dnb vinyl and grab Slim to brave the holiday traffic. As most of the NorCal contingency is aware, Friday night was one of the worst commutes in a long while. For us, 6 hours to Truckee, normally 3 hour drive, but when its dumping at Auburn (elevation 1,000 ft) you know its going to be a really fun drive. Hell, even people were skiing in Napa:
Throughout the drive, texts came in strong from Supu, Shugs, and others throughout the night inform us that HWY 88 was closed for the evening due to ice, and HWY 50 closed due to people driving up on their summer slicks. The final text came from Shugs at 5:30 am, stating that he finally arrived in South Lake. That made our 2:30 am arrival into Truckee seem like a heavenly adventure.
After around 3 hours of sleep, we woke up to about a foot and a half of Tahoe’s lightest and driest, cool temps, occasional snow showers, and the occasional bluebird. Most of the steep terrain did have a firm coating of concrete under the blanket of fluff, so it was a day to cruise the pow and have….well….a great time with your intern3t friends. Not many action shots due to the fact that I was following the leader for most of the day.
Players: Slim, Lane Meyer, Basom, Oldtimer, Rob, NZ rider Skea_457, others, and myself.
Music: Konflct – ‘Messiah’
Lane Meyer, Rob, and Oldtimer acting like its cold in sunny California:
The fingers with a fresh coating of ranch dressing:
With Oldtimer acting as the guide, our Squallywood adventure started on KT22 with pow laps near Olympic Lady, which also included actually riding the Oly lift.
We cruised to Headwall in flat-light, and Antarctic temps to hurry back down to the Funitel to warm up and say a quick hello to Huckwheat. Then, over to Broken Arrow to ride some of the classic lines:
Lane Meyer looking for his two dollars….
Slim decides to grab some sierra cement:
Too bad he’s 7 feet tall…
The K12 – Lane skied this on one ski for the last run….but I don’t know why:
Slim in Silverado…
Looker’s right going up Silverado chair…
….and then looker’s left:
We ventured over to Granite Chief for a few runs only to find the Peak closed and Corkscrew shut as well.
Over to Headwall, and we find Squaw’s most handsome skier, Basom. Sorry, no pics….he skis way too fast, or………way too slow….don’t know which.
Needing to eat, drink, give a bluetooth lesson to Basom, and to say hello to some Kiwi Squaw implants, we headed over to Chamois. A couple more laps on Headwall and KT, we then called it a day.
Huge thanks to Lane, Rob, and of course Oldtimer for the tour.
Day 2 – Kirkwood, KaliFornya, United States
While at Squaw the previous day, we heard rumors and received texts by the powder hounds stating the skiing was just plain unbelievable. The storm fizzled out overnight, and only about an inch of new snow was reported. Hoping that the BC gates would read "Access," our day at KW would not disappoint.
Players: Zippy, Jrosen32, Lou, Slim, Arty50, Shugs, buddy of Shugs, and myself.
….and yes, the dogs have been let out…….sorry:
Zippy rides through the white dust in Eagle Bowl:
Zippy…on the spines at the bottom of Eagle:
Zippy near Hells in Thunder Saddle:
Jrosen32 copying his little brother…
Lou gets after it on the lower Cirque:
Arty50….trying to cool off due to the extreme heat from the hot conditions:
Lou screaming in lower Eagle:
Jrosen32 doing some gardening….
Zippy looking tight and doing a mid-air check for base damage….
Lou just can’t get enough…he’s hungry…
For the same thing Arty wants….POWDER!!!!
Up to this point, all the previous pics were shot INBOUNDS, the DAY after THE DAY, on a HOLIDAY WEEKEND.
Now, here’s the permatographer making a rare appearance on the Spur to test stability…at 2:30 pm…..and untouched.
Zippy drops in next….does it even look that good?
Zippy zips by on his 136 mm underfoot Moment skis….
but the lighter than Utah snow, will not even let the massive skis stay afloat…
OK, so back to business….Jrosen32 underneath the first Sentinel:
…and being swallowed by the powder gods:
…But wait….look who’s in the starting gate… L O U!
…and he’s hungry….HUNGRY FOR POWDER!!!!!!!
But the fellow Croat is hungry as well…
Leave some for Slim….Jesus:
No, seriously Arty, maybe Slim wants to ski some fresh…
I give up….
Slim at the 06′ Olympics going for the white medal…
…and he gets it!
Zippy, schralping the middle of the Spur…
Jrosen32 having a good run…
…but Lou thinks his run is better:
Damn, maybe it is…..you decide:
Arty goes for the photoslutting shot across the valley…
…and does a fine job…
Slim wants in on the action…not to be denied:
Jrosen32 lines up a cliff on the bottom of the Spur that we thought was 8 feet….
…it turned out to be more like 20 feet:
Zippy decides to ollie over the ice falls….
…and the Lou angle….
and finally, Permatogapher has a little fun….
I would say that this crowded holiday weekend ski day turned out pretty well, what do you think?
Day 3 – QuirkW0uld, NorCAL, North America – German Snowboard Press Tour
Players: Zippy, Charlie (NZ’s most eligible freeskiing bachelor, two female members of the German snowboarding press, and myself, the tour guide to make sure "everyone has a good time."
The weather consisted of a cool, crisp, bluebird morning with a hint of wind on the ridgetops…about 5 inches new, and the outside temp hit a balmy 0 F enroute to the mountain.
Steven’s Peak off of HWY 88:
Elephant’s back….looking yummy:
Charlie follows my tracks in Eagle Bowl:
…see how light that snow looks…it was soooooooo fast and smooth:
Zippy pulls the double "line of the day" next to Waterfall (directly in the sun)
…he’s committed now….
whatever…..so lame….I don’t even know why I filmed it:
Charlie skiing the blue-ice on lower Eagle…
Zippy trying not to scratch his unique skis….
PLEASE GOD, MAKE THEM OPEN THE GOD DAMN CIRQUE…
German in red getting some fluff in Thunder Saddle…
Permatographer getting the tail end of Zippy on the Hells Ridge:
German in blue getting super nice freshies under the Cirque:
Zippy in lower Sisters…
Schralping it…
I wonder what he’s listening to?
A nice shot of the face behind the wall chair…if we had more time, I would have hiked that thing just to get a photo of one big carve on that face…maybe next time…
German in red on Upper Sisters..
Charlie on a random ridge on Lower Sisters….
Straightlining out…
Kirkwood = so hardcore….
Charlie TRIED to convince the girls he’s not gay…of course, that didn’t work…AGAIN. Top of Palisades looking directly to the West toward Gold Country…
Thunder Bowl – a couple minutes later, we met up with a bloody-nosed border who said he got sloughed off the rock looker’s left of V-tree….if you look closely, you can see that he went big.
For the last run, we decided to take a leisurely walk to the Spur…hell it was good yesterday. The Wall and California Chutes in the background.
A ghostly tree near Martin Point…
Made it to the First Sentinel…the wind created some icy conditions on top of the Spur, so the girls decided to hit the shaded trees skier’s right of Sentinel #1.
Still looks good to me…
As a tour guide, its nice to give your clients the goods….
Charlie and I decide to hit the Spur anyway….a little wind-affected up top:
but buttery goodness the last 2/3 of the way down.
3-2-1 dropping into fresh….
yep…looks fresh…
oh, hell yes….its nice…
super nice….the choke at the end of the Spur is almost filled in. It still has about a 5 foot mandatory air that may freak people out that have a no air policy….just FYI.
A quick ride down Merrill street, and the time is 4:15pm…not a bad way to end the day.
The Permatographer’s Presidential Weekend 2006 TR, I hope you enjoyed it, I know I did
Ok, so I was in London to do some drum’n'bass research until Sunday. No rain the entire time, a heatwave, and Big Ben actually stopped working for only the 4th time in its entire history.
Music:High Contrast – ‘When the lights go Down’
Shot from the London Eye…yes, my first time in London, so I had to.
Dnb research at Fabric with High Contrast on the decks:
After a quick 10 hour flight to SFO from Heathrow, I arrive at my apartment at 6 pm, call Slim, get gas, go to sleep and wake up at 4:30 am, pick Slim up in Oaktown, and head out at 5:15 to arrive at the Ghettos at 7:35 am…no joke. Closing day of Alpine.
Beaver bowl to Keyhole…a lot different in just one week:
And yes….I was desperate and I had to settle skiing with Slim….OMG, how embarrassing:
Still jet-lagged, a couple groomers did the trick:
Estelle Bowl with Slim in the distance:
Slim attacking…..I was afraid he’d scratch his lovely skis:
Estelle face….doesn’t "go" anymore…..but I thought it’d be radical to ski it anyway…
666 in a stupid line…no wonder he can’t pass the CA Bar Exam
It was actually pretty good, not super sloppy yet, and would actually hold an edge:
Suncups’r'us in most of the open bowls:
Slim trying to get away from the Evil Tree:
Slim "raising the roof" under the Sherwood cliffs
So Slim decides to hike up the rocks and get a "killa" view of the chute in Sherwood Cliffs…its definitely melting out, but the snow was great because of its shady, north facing aspect
…you can do it, you’re only on 190′s…
….funny, it almost looks like I’m skiing down whitewater:
Skier’s right of Keyhole…one of the "smoother" sections. At this point we met up with Arty and Darkside, and now have a HUGE group of "4" slaying Alpine Ghettos.
Darkside….looking for the Sith embedded under the corn:
Arty on Upper Keyhole:
Slim staring out into the abyss…wondering why he skis so god damn slow:
And the higher peaks still have a "patch" of snow:
….aren’t most of us "weekend warriors?" Well, this guy definitely must be the president of the club.
A quick detour to San Rafeal to eat some Tacos, and then back across this bridge. It looks familiar, if anyone could help me out with this one, I’d really appreciate it.
This is a tale of two lovers.. One being an alpine skier, the other being a telemarker. The war has been going back and forth for years…"Free the heel, free the soul" to "Lock the heel, ski for real." Well, today my friends, a proposal and an acceptance of sorts finalized between 666 and Greydon Clark. Yes, they are now engaged to become "ski partners."
An absolute GORGEOUS day in the High Sierras of the California with mellow wind and golden sunshine. The date is May 21st, 2005. It started out at 33 F at the base of Alpine Meadows and was 68 F when we departed. It was the first day in a long while to actually "freeze" parts of the mountain. Exquisite corn existed on Estelle bowl early on, and remained in tact on and under Sherwood Cliffs at the end of the alpine adventure.
A couple of rippin’ groomers, then hiking for the rest of the day. The altar – Summit 6 Chair…taking us to the chapel of cornices, exposed faces, corn snow, and open bowls. It was a stellar day skiing bell-to-bell (8am-1pm) and it is now one of the days that Greydon and I will cherish forever.
Music:ed rush & optical – ‘medicine’
Looking into Beaver Bowl, top of Summit 6, and then Keyhole in the distance:
Greydon slaying the smooth-as-butter corn in Estelle….
666 loves the Estelle face and its melting out in a hurry, he dropped in and skied towards skier’s left…
View from below. Thank Mr. Clark for his camera skills of not actually taking a useable photo of 666 skiing the face…
Greydon "freeing the heel" on one of his many left-hand turns…in lower Estelle…
666 at the top of the pic attacking the invisible gates of the smoothest part of the mountain….
For this turn, he decided to break out his Rossi 7SK’s….
Greydon hitting a bank on lower Estelle…so handsome, isn’t he?
Greydon said he drank 10 bottles of Yager the night before, but still….his urinating skills are absolutely remarkable…
My lover, Mr. 3 pins going for a 4 pointer…high skier’s right section of Beaver:
…and below, killing the rain-soaked, melting snow
Then to the 3 Sisters, another left-hand heel lift…WICKED!
Greydon proposed to me right here on High Yellow ridge with a view of the Indian Ocean in the distance…walking away with the "tears of joy"…
Gratuitous Tahoe shot….just gotta:
666 off the top of Keyhole…melting out around the rocks super fast:
Lower Kehole and another left-hand, sickbird, slashing of one of the million left-hand banks by my fiancé:
666 and some more corn-racing steeze….
Mellow snow conditions and a killer day…
….dates and time of the formal ceremony will be announced in due time.
Since this easily could be the last full winter morning, Slim and I decided to blow off work and roll up early to make sure we get the goods.
So my cell phone wakes me up at 3:33 am….get up, grab to-go cups, make latte for Slim, and a super latte for myself. Depart SF apartment at 4:02 am….core ain’t it?
Music:Sepultura – ‘Territory’
Donner….we were chased by cannibals all the way down into Truckee
But not this early…2:30 hrs from Slim’s Oaktown shanty we arrive….at 7:00 am.
Da Ghettos’s Main Lodge…….oh so ghetto
We meet up with Tyrone, Arty, AKA (hardrider), 3pin, Freshies, and later… Darkside. Of course, there’s a line for the ONE lift open. Bombs going off everywhere, and soon Slim, AKA, and myself have already lost the rest of the crew on the first run. A fast straightline down Peter’s Peril with buttery goodness back to the lift. Next, hit up Keyhole, then Low Beaver, then Keyhole/High Yellow/Sherwood Cliffs for the rest to the day. The bitches never open Estelle Bowl, so my favorite steep pitch of the mountain was off limits…oh well.
First lift up….ice-packed granular
Keyhole untouched….soon to be slayed in 5 mins
Keyhole from the top….a nice air right below…fluffy.
Slim…on High Yellow
AKA airing into Sherwood Cliffs to straightline out to the bottom, while nearly clipping a tree.
And again, slaying some “winter snow”
And airing again….in the Sherwoods
APOV…..another point of view via Slim
Hardrider…on the corn snow
666 getting in front of the camera….big ups to Hardrider for lining this up. This is the cliff area just to skier’s left of Sherwood Cliffs.
Slim…searching for Nemo
Nemo chasing Slim
OK, OK, now for the moment of the day…."Hey watch out….a creature!!"
It started attacking her….Slim ran over and killed it
Then the lady turned it into a hat…OMGLOL!
The last chair…with Pete (boarder from KW) hiking in the distance
The black cloud that always follows me…..flat-light….sick! Therefore, I couldn’t get any good mountain shots. But you can get an idea of the snow pack…the parking lot is at the bottom…at 6,800 feet.
So at 1:00 pm the lifts closed…..Slim and I decided to skin up from Lakeview over to the top of Scott Chair.
Because I really wanted to ski this:
….please don’t slide…..
….and…
..it didn’t….maybe next time
The rest of Scott was SUPER MANK, we made it back to the parking lot….and guess what, we were the last car in the lot.
Last night at 10:18 pm, I had a vision. Alpine’s upper-mountain was shut all day yesterday….and hell maybe even the day before….so I figured it would be a splendid time to blow off work to ski bluebird-steep-pow-lines. I text Punani, he can’t go…I go to sleep…
It took me only 2:45 minutes from SF to the Alpine parking lot…but 4 hours to get home.
Skied 9-4…with Estelle first, beautiful pow all the way to the floor…a couple runs later the same lower section was mank.
Hit up Keyhole, OB off the backside, Sherwood cliffs area, Chute area before Promised land, and took the last run down to road for some untracked pow. (I’m a JONG for all the Alpine names…sorry )
cue Too Short…"In the Ghetto"
Estelle Bowl face…skied this 6 times, hit up every possible line…me have fun there
Well, did a day trip captain solo on Friday from SF to the Ghettos. A quick stop in Loin for some coffee, donuts, and my favorite shemale hooker named Randy and I’m off.
It snowed off an on all week with a total of around 20 inches up top. I heard rumors that Summit 6 was on windhold the day before, and it was going to be a bluebird day. The snow was butttery smoth top to bottom in the morning, with all the moguls filled in completely…some pockets of wind scarred ice on the ridges.
Hiked every run, starting with Estelle Bowl of course, then to High Beaver a couple times, to Keyhole, then to High Traverse, back to Sherwood Cliffs, hiked to High Yellow and so on. Sadly, Scott Chair is closed for the season. By 2:00pm however, the new snow was melting and making you ski at a crawl at best. I documented my journey through the wonders of digital photography, and here it is:
Music: John B – Pressure 2004
One of the best chairlifts in the country, the amount of terrain off this chair is ridiculous.
Why I love the Ghettos…view from top of Estelle looking up the ridge all the way to Keyhole in the background..hikers paradise.
Some lake…never seen it before
Estelle Bowl:
The snow was pretty wind loaded in the meat of the face…really grabby with some pockets of windblown to ice. Skied down the middle off the top then cut over to looker's left because I was unsure about the coverage below.
High Beaver….silky smooth!
Keyhole…sooooooooo good on lookers left!
SL off top of Keyhole…there was a nice line skiers left of the main SL with a nice 8 footer ollie into a SL
Sherwood cliffs hidden in the trees is one of those hidden features of the Ghettos….steep and north facing, and pockets of ice!
Blew off work and went to the Ghettos today…Pretty much bluebird with some high clouds. Everything was open except High Traverse, Upper Keyhole, Lakeview Chair and Sherwood. It seems nobody likes to hike there because every line I skied I could only see my tracks.
Music: Raiden – 6 ft Ditch
Woot Skiing!
Idiots:
Did laps: From Summit 6 to High Yellow then to the steep chutes in Sherwood Cliffs (which were trackless) and down to Scott chair. On Scott into the Promised land area including this chute 4 times:
The corner next to Idiots going into Beaver Bowl was really good:
Hiked Estelle Bowl 4 times….super sick! The steep face was holding snow very well. Some ice-crusted powder snow but was nice because you could use it to stop in sketchy spots….the rainy-snow last week provided a good layer covering the rocks. There was some nice cold powder below the Estelle Face.
&
Firm layer underneath provided an edgeable surface, therefore, I was able to stay on my feet.
One being an alpine skier, the other being a telemarker. The war has been going back and forth for years…"Free the heel, free the soul" to "Lock the heel, ski for real." Well, today my friends, a proposal and an acceptance of sorts finalized between 666 and Greydon Clark. Yes, they are now engaged to become "ski partners."
