Kirkwood 2004-05
Walling up to the Buckboard – 06/12/05
6:00 am wake-up with the weathermen calling for clear skies, warm temps, and NO WIND, I figured an early start was a must. Well, it turned out that I probably could have gave it at least another hour, but the "freeze cycle" is on.
Music: LTJ Bukem – ‘Atlantis’
There is snow top to bottom, so you can start skinning right away. There are a couple of patches of dirt around the bottom of Chair 5, and others here and there but its basically all white.
Basically, I was planning to hit the Cirque for a run and then skin over to the top of Oops off of Chair 6 but I ran into one problem.
Since I have dental floss for skins on my Gotamas, the early morning bulletproof proved to be a little difficult for the ascent up the steeper sections of Buckboard. So about a 3rd of the way up, my left ski slips into my left pole….and *snap*, my pole is about 1/4th shorter. After a tender moment of "you have got to be kidding me"…I decided to make the most out of this (most likely one run deal) and get the most sustained vertical as possible. The pole was just long enough to allow me to push up the steeper sections….thank god for that.
Kirkwood – June 12th, 2005 at 7:00am, still some lingering patches around.
About the level of the top of Chair 11, decided to give up skinning and just boot it…..why did I leave my crampons in the car…why?
Shooting gallery shot….of the "corn cycle" doing its magic.
After searching the liftshack and around the ski patrol hut to "borrow" a pole, with no avail I might add, I then hiked up to looker’s left of the top of the chair to get some extra vert and to ski down along the ridge.
Ok, so the bowl looked money. The sun was on it and it really didn’t feel like the middle of June at all.
I skied my usual line off the skier’s left off the top of the Wall ridge and then rallied down to Waterfall chute. The snow from last week, made the surface smooth for the first 9 turns or so all the way to the top of Waterfall. Stoked for sure.
First 3 turns….or maybe 7 but who’s counting?
Next 3 turns…..smooth as Michael Jackson’s pickup lines…wait he was found not guilty…my bad.
Top of Waterfall…
View from Below…
So I then cut hard skier’s right back to Buckboard to ski the skier’s left side (in the sun) and super-g mogul skied the mini-suncups all the way back to the car…(parked at Cornice)
In a perfect world they’d run the Wall chair until July 4th….but since it only takes an hour or so to reach the top, its only about 48 minutes longer to walk up instead. 
Aerial Photoblog of NV to CA – 6/12/05
June 12th, 2005 – Pics go East to West.
I was lucky enough to get a lift back to the Bay Area last weekend, and got some cool shots of clear day from the East (Lake Tahoe, NV) to the West (Pebble Beach, CA)…pretty much a straight mellow southwest shot from South Lake to Pebble Beach.
I thought the pics showed a good representation of the microclimates/terrain from Tahoe to the Bay. Not to mention the amount of snow still up in the hills from South Lake looking towards the southern Sierras. The only pics I didn’t get were of the ocean, but I threw an old one of Santa Cruz and Pebble Beach from last year…
Music: Calyx – Morphology
Lake Tahoe, CA & NV:
Echo Lakes & Desolation Wilderness:
Desolation Wilderness part II:
Looking to the South flying over Luther Pass:
Chair 10 – "the wall" at Kirkwood….I was getting pretty bounced around at this point, so many of my photos came out blurry.
Chair 6 – "Cornice"……I think this pic is tight…
Over the Sierra foothills, Placerville area aka "Gold Country"
Northern San Joaquin Valley
Diablo Range:
Mt. Hamilton at 4,200 feet is the highest mountain in the backround also part of the Diablo Range:
…and beginning into Silicon Valley:
OLDER PICS but continuing to the WEST…courtesy of Nzphotoslave aka Miles Holden:
Somewhere near Santa Cruz, I guess:
and Pebble Beach….pretty sure but I don’t play golf, so I could be wrong
El Fin….Enjoy
The Circling Winds of the Forbidden Kirkwood Cirque – 5/20/05
Date: 5/20/05
Location: Kirkwood Cirque..so forbidden, so permanently closed during the season.
Synopsis: Skier666, Greydon Clark and Tyrone Shoelaces skip work and attempt to ski the forbidden Cirque of Kirkwood. Three would try, but only one would succeed. The recent hurricane—complete with 50 degree temperatures, several inches of rain, and 90 mph winds—delivered exquisite conditions. Thankfully, the sustained winds lessened to 50 mph and were only gusting to 85 mph. Visibility was unlimited. I think I glimpsed the Pacific Ocean in the distance.
Digital Images and inspiration: Skier666. Letters and spelling, Greydon Clark.
Music: Westbam and Africa Bambaataa – ‘Agharta’
5AM Departure and blue bird.
Spring break crowds suck. We forgot our passes, so we dicided to skin instead of waiting in line.
Jokers lining up for 10@10. Where is Clack? WTF?
Tyrone and Gaydar skinning up the world famous Buckboard
Tyrone and Greydon avoiding sliders on The Wall….yep, its mank.
Freaky, The Wall without moguls. Only dirt skiing in May?
Gaydar Clark playing in the hurricane.
FUPA 666 enjoying the 80 mph gusts of wind at the top of The Wall.
Tyrone and Greydon Clark braving the gales and searching for the fresh.
So we arrive at the top and the wind is…well, rippin’. Greydon and Tyrone play in the wind as the 666 gets a little chilly. 666 eyes the "lift shack" for some warmth….hoping Greydon and Tyrone join him, but without their clothes. Tyrone hoping for a ride down the hill.
666 phoning Cohee, "Where the fuck is the sun?"
At Kookwood, the Kustomer is king.
C’mon, we love gapers….but this is a little severe, don’t you think.
666 scoping new lines….from the very top of the Wall chair, the very top. Press "square button", then "X" and you can slide the whole fucking thing. Tanner?
The higher you get, the higher you get. Heshers blazin’ at 9800’.
666 rallies to the top of the cirque…in the Tropical Storm Shitkicker. He takes a turn off the top (actually in looker’s right of Carnels but it ends in a 200 ft cliff, but its foggy, he decides to hike out and continue down the ridge…because he felt uncomfortable. Is this Carnel’s? Hope it goes, ’cause 666 is flying solo and shit cliffs out. He made it.
666 picks wisely, boot deep mank @ 45 degrees.
The Crique, 5/20/05…666 skied the wide chute from the top on looker’s right. Greydon and Tyrone skied the bump line off of Eagle Bowl.
Kookwood, 5/20/05….lifts aren’t spinnin, but the Kooks are skinnin’
Tallac, 5/20/05…of course, its sunny now….but not at you know where
PS: Greydon and 666 attempted to ski Red Lake Peak, from Hope Valley. Greydon guides the dynamic duo to the top of the wrong ridge and the mission is aborted. They skied West Virginian mud and slush back to the car.
DUST ON MUSK – Kirkwood – 04/24/05
Hell no! It was a little firm in spots, but overall, the conditions were tits. A nice, mostly unfrozen, snow-pack underneath with about 4 inches of new snow. Blower in spots made it yet another non-spring like day. Of course it snowed off and on for both days. Although the very bottom “slushed out” a little, most of the mountain was sickter…at least I thought so. 
After Long Board morning, we soon changed clothes and headed to Thunder Bowl, the Spur, skied Norms, Waterfall, Oops a couple times, and then called it a day.
MUSIC: Chemical Brothers – ‘Let Forever Be’
Thunder bowl – I’m the spec on the top of the pic….above “slash chute”
Middle of Slash Chute – Smally and I hit it up from the skier’s right entrance. Not to straightline it, but to actually make some turns. 90 % winter snow prevailed, and I liked it.
The one in the middle…
Only if it was 5,000 ft of more vert…
Carson Spur – Smally keeping it real
Greydon – knee down and locked.
Dave – figuring out how to link turns and manage wet slough in the “mank”
Smally – Upper Cham, about to bend an edge…”.sorry mate, should have told you about those rocks”
Rolling into Lower Cham…
Smally rolling off the top of the wall…
…creating a nice waterfall…
Zippy left of Ski School area off of 6…
Zippy straight-runnin’ down Oops EP…
And at the bottom….a buddy with a b-day party with a keg of Fat Tire and food. Can’t really refuse that, now can you.
…..foooooooood…..
Winter is back already?
Long Board Day, Sickness Awaits – 04/23/05
Just to get to Long Board day was a mission. Leaving the Bay was a nightmare…but we did get to see a Z71 pickup that needed new front brakes.
"Yoda says eat a healthy breakfast before skiing on 222′s"
Greydon, Geoff Small, my cousin Dave, and myself rocked everyone’s world on Saturday morning. Walter showed up later, and clocked 90 mph down Sentinel. We strapped on our best attire, jock staps, and rocked Motley Crue’s (*EDIT) “Girls, Girls, Girls” in the parking lot before we clicked into the big daddy’s.
666 – Ummm yeah, the pants. The Pants fucking ruled! So tight and yet so stylish…made me feel like Tom Selleck!
Wait a second, time to call my broker:
"Sell 50,000 shares of Obermeyer"
Dave – A non-tgr cousin….can’t you tell he’s related?
Greydon was rockin’ some Blizzard 210+ DH Boards mounted 3 Pin stylee….exact model I forget.
666 was on some 222 RD ValdezExtremes.
Dave was getting laid on some 217 RD’s
Mr. Small scored with all the ladies rocking the 210 Longoni.
Walter rinsed it on a pair of Blizzard 215’s
Lovers – 666 and Greydon, we made love in a station wagon just before this pic was taken:
We rolled off cornices, did some laps on 6, then 10.
666….extreme skiing!!! Its the hottest thing right now:
Greydon trying to flex the DH’s:
Rinsed………Blizzard style
A quick run to the car, and we then grab the baggy pants, fat skis, and a hoodie to ski’4′real. Next year, we need more than 5 people…. 
Afternoon…non-LBD steeze:
http://www.slaythegnar.com/2005/04/dust-on-musk-kirkwood-042405/
Sidecountry Wife to Old Oakleys Strife – 04/17/05
March 14, 2005
Kirkwood – Amador and Alpine County – California
1) Load the car…check!
2) Forget Mrs. 666′s jacket…check!
3) Mrs. 666 hits up West Shore and Thunder Bowl KW BC for the first time….PRICELESS!!
MUSIC: Rymetyme & Trace – ‘Move Vip’
The snow on Sunday was, according to Greydon Clark….MANKAAAAAY. 
In and out sunshine in the morning to complete flat-light in the afternoon coupled with a "minimal breeze" 
created a glorious skiing experience.
It was slush pretty much everywhere from the first groomer. However, the Wall groomer early on had to be the iciest thing I have ever "attempted" to carve on….so Mrs. 666 and I decide to hit up West Shore. 
By the time we approached to top of chair 4, the wind was howlin’. Blowing your skis off your shoulders and the skin off your face while we hiked up to the top of Fawn Ridge.
Mrs. 666 a little nervous dropping into West Shore, but KILLED it all the way to the lake…if it wasn’t for the pesky wind, we would have lapped this all day.
Thunder Bowl was really wet…surprising since its mostly north facing down the gut from the summit. Also, lots of wet-slide clumps were showing up. If we were there any later, it probably would have been better to be at the bar drinking a Fat Tire.
Mrs. 666 hit up TB from the very top down the main section, and I hit up skier’s right of V-tree. I was setting off some massive wet slide slough, enough where I had to stop and let it run by.
Mrs. 666 – "I’m going to air that cliff, and then straightline to the bottom"
Thunder Bowl…we waited for about 10 minutes for the sun to come out…this was as good as it got.
For the ultimate last run, we decided hit up the OB past Palisades. This had to be some of the slowest snow ever! You could basically straightline from the top and still be going 2 mph….albeit with your quads literally popping out of your ski pants. 
Big ups go to Mrs. 666 throwing down the gauntlet on Sunday…she really rinsed it proper 
, and boy am I proud.
Reports say it snowed a couple inches last night and was around 19 F on the upper elevations….did I hear anyone say "Dust on Crust?" 
OLD OAKLEY SEARCH – SPRING 2005
After searching the web, scouring forums, a fellow soldier sent me a pair of these bad boys for the price of ZERO. Yep. The only requirement was to take pics of me actually wearing them in public or on the hill…..DONE!
Look what I got in the mail:
OMG….they CAME!!!
What year is it? Yep, the year AWESOME!
Definitely going to rinse these out…
Kirkwood done PROPA’ (Slash Chute Express) – 04/10/05
I should rename this as the Zippy thread…you’ll see why later
Slim, Mrs Slim, and I leave TuPac’s neighborhood 7-Eleven at around 5:29 am….the roads are open. With a large "mountain roast", the Andre-the- Giant of cinamon rolls, Slim and I arguing about DIN settings, 3 hours of caffine-induced drum and bass, and snow down to 3,000 feet, we make it to Kirkwood at 8:41 am. Super stoked was Mrs. Slim who was about to "cap our asses" for our shear annoyance and bickering.
As expected….the lemmings are out. Leaping from their meth-labs of the central valley to hit, quite possibly, one of the last full-winter days. Cohee is claiming 20 inches new on top of 18 the day before with a 3,000 ft snow level. We immediately roll to Upper Cham, and then head to 10 to get some fresh pow. In line, we see Rune, Arty, and others. The rest of the day we see glimpses of Red_Pants, and LPH. On 10 we roll into Once is enough…BORING! Why? Because its so filled in, its ridiculous. Pretty much the only thing left on the mountain is big drop at the top of the ridges. All the lower rocks/lines are completely buried.
Slim, myself, and Zippy (non-TGR G33K) spent the day hitting Upper Cham (about 6 times), Thunder Saddle, high Eagle, Kodak, and Oops. Big props to Bass Master Slim for taking photos when my camera died.
Music: Skream – I
Zippy ollies all of Upper Cham:
He barely cleared it….
666:
Zippy’s buddy relaxing on top:
Sickter’:
666:
Zippy airing into the "now completely buried" Oops:
From Slim’s angle:
Zippy into Wagon Wheel – "buried funnel area"
Zippy airing next to Waterfall…super stylieeeeeeeeee
…end of day one transmission…
Day two…with Mrs. 666 threatening divorce if we’re not back home by 6 pm, Slim and I rally and are skiing down Zach’s at 8:40 am. We meet up Lou. Yes, the guy who spent 3 hours looking for his Explosiv, gave up, then was found by patrol.
The Sanouks will carve contrary to popular belief:
The Wall – “so filled in right now”
Slim (taking the photo), Zippy, myself, Lou, and Pat at the top of Thunder Bowl:
Zippy rocking out to George Michael:
Some fluffy goodness…..Thunder bowl style:
Lou goes first…testing the stability:
Zippy and I roll over the skinny chute in dead center of the gnar…Both of us have never skied it, especially never straight-lined it. We were able to get into it pretty easily. There was a nice choke then about two feet wide the whole way down. Zippy was so amped to b-line this one, he went first:
The point where we let it run….you can see Slim way down there on the left.
Zippy:
666:
The run out:
The line, is dead center in that chute…I have no idea what it’s called, but it was fucking rad:
We then hiked over to the Spur….and found this:
Pat did this…after complaining how tired he was from hiking, we gave him first tracks. Some profanities filled the air…he forgot about the hiking.
And Lou did this….
And then got some of this…
Zippy….true to form:
666 getting ready to smear:
Zippy airing from a spine into “lower Spur cliffs”:
Landing into pooooooooowder:
666 deciding to let it run…
The area…with bombholes:
View of the Spur from the road:
A Kirkwood front porch:
A killer day filled with new lines…and an enormously long TR:
END OF TR……THANK GOD!
Thunderbowl THUNDA’ – 04/02/05
Location: Kirkwood, California, USA, North America
Synopsis: By Runethechamp….
After a late start from the Bay Area Saturday morning, my friend Steve and I rolled in to Kirkwood about 9:20 or so. We didn’t really have any expectations to the the day except for maybe some groomers and some good Extreme comp watching. Since we arrived late we parked at the Timber Creek parking lot and took Chair 7 to get over to Chair 6. At the top of 6, skier666 caught up with us and promtly asked if we wanted to go to Thunder Bowl. After some thinking we figured out why the hell not and joined him for the hike. This was Steve’s first trip out there and I had my only TB trip 5 years ago, so I was excited to see if it looked anything like I remembered. 666 ran ahead, and knowing his skills and typical exposed lines I stopped at a relatively easy entrance while 666 scoped out his line. When 666 showed me where he wanted to ski, I didn’t want anything to do with it, it was just too nasty.
Music: LOXY & J DUB – TWISTED 3RD MIND (KEATON & HIVE REMIX)
Some new snow for the morning….
Filled in nicely…
Greydon getting some…
Supu….
Supu yet again…
Off to Thunderbowl…weather is nicer. Yippie!
Captain Ron goes for some turns…
Nice….
Oh yeah….
Looking good…
666 went up for V-tree…
Some nice options though…
Vertical mode…slash chute on lookers right…
What about Slash Chute? Hmmmm
Runethechamp – "But knowing that 666 is one of the best extreme skiers in the world, I had to trust him. If he said he was going in, I’d shoot. While everybody at the extreme comp was having a cup of coffee, 666 launches his first turns of the trip to Thunder Bowl:"
Weeeee….
Whoa….
Ahhhhhh….
Oooooooh….
Another left turn…
And almost done….
Options in Thunderbowl? HAHAHAHAHAHA
Over to the extreme comp….
Extreme in Franks…
Airtime…
Nice tuck….
BYE BYE
The minimalist TR – 03/26/05
Synopsis of Saturday….Too warm. The snow was already consolidating on the first run….and that was a groomer
Basically, sticky-mashed-sierra-cement…and mostly flat light. We hit up Palisades at around noon and could basically straight-line the whole thing it was sooooooooo slow.
Halfpipe and park was too slow
Was it worth it…damn right. Some good stuff was had in Oops (including a nice kicker between Oops and Olympic), Kodak area, and in between Thunder Saddle and Vista.
Here’s a shot of the top of the Wall….Its been a while since I’ve seen the whole thing almost covered.
Zippy…big cornice b/t TS and Vista
Zippy’s acid drop further down the run…while listening to the new "LCD Soundsystem album…."
North Facing was Grrrreat at Da’ Wood – 03/12/05
With all the hot temps, I expected severe crap up there…but Kirkwood once again shined with the high elevation. Skied bell-to bell on Saturday, north facing was great, and the other aspects smoothed out nicely by 1:00 pm. The superpipe was better on Sunday. The top half of all the groomers were pretty much mid-winter hard packed powder…ie the Wall and Sentinel were magical for a groomer nerd like myself. 
Music: Dbridge – Twillight
I wanted to head out to California chutes off the backside to ski some gnarish line to make my weekend feel complete…so I hit the sliver on lookers right of the main chute…
Looking south off the top of Cali-chutes….looks fun to me
I really hate chutes…
Why did KW put in an ice-rink to not use it as an ice-rink??????
Checking Out Carson Spur – 02/27/05
I’ve never skied that close to 88, but Pete and Josh showed me the ropes. A some nice north-facing steep pow gullies. There’s numerous cliffs and things to hurl off…but I was on a scoping mission. Some shots of the moon crescent couloir at the end.
Music: Sepultura – Arise’
You can see Hwy 88 at the bottom…
Pete throwing some spray…
Some wicked steep pow…
The options…..
Moon Crescent..what is this peak called? It’s not Rount Top is it?
Wow, its looking filled in right?
Thunder Bowl, Kirkwood BC – 02/26/05
I FINALLY GOT SOME BURL
…In Thunderbowl. Pete the snowboarder, Josh and Zippy, and myself headed over there on a glorious bluebird day. I wanted to get some nice pics to know what exactly is out here. I’m sick of writing so here are the pics.
Music: Slayer – Raining Blood
Kirkwood, Saturday…
Wall, Vista, then Califonia Chutes ridges respectively…
Early Thunder Bowl entrance…
Just below that entrance…
Top of Thunder Bowl…
The Paul Ruff cliffs…I skied the line lookers right of the V tree, then cut over before the cliff-out
The snow was gooooooood….
Josh going down…scrapping some gnarl..
I love this face…
and I want to ski that chute…
View from the bottom..
Heavenry to Kookwood – 01/22/05
Went to Heavenry last friday and took some pics of Killebrew for you all. Not too many pics out there so I thought I’d help out a bit. I can honestly say that I really like skiing Gate B. Its consistently steep, lots of granite boulders everywhere (similiar to Granite Chief at Squaw) making millions of different lines to choose from, north facing, and high elevation. It also has great views of the Minden valley which astonishingly still had snow-cover. I’m pretty sure some people on this board skied all the way to Gardnerville last week and it still looked good to go…with 5,000 vert or so.
It was probably in the upper 50′s on friday above the fog, and my brother-in-law and I still found some winter snow laying around up there. Even some untouched fresh in some of the technical boulder lines.
Music: – Klute – Acid Rain
January 22nd, 2005 – Kirkwood
Yes…crowded. I roll there with my dad, etc at 8:35 am and the lot by 6 was already full. Why?, because they extended the "$20" pay lot proper. Oh well, I guess I can’t blame them. So we parked past Red Cliffs which I haven’t done in years.
Super sick groomers off of 6 all morning, then roll to 10 & 11 to hit up some more. Lunch. Then the backside to hit west shore with Arty and my brother in law who decided that "he has kids and he shouldn’t ski that" so he hiked back out into Fawn Ridge. I skied the chute skiers left of West Shore proper, the one that rolls to the right. I have no idea why I didn’t take a photo. It was crunchy mush on skiers left and powder on skiers right with some crevasse-like holes where buried rocks warmed up the snow.
Finally, took a run on Oops which was getting close to bulletproof and bumpy. Then did the usual roll to the half-pipe where I meet Mr. Steeze himself, Punani and the ever friendly SkiDawg. The pipe was about a 6.3 on a 10 point scale. Icy but with some nice vert. Definitely more of a "superpipe" than the last few years.
Perfect weather, bluebird, NO WIND, and warm. The snow held up well on the north aspects and so did the Fat Tire in the sun at the Off the Wall Bar.
South Shore Storm Super Pics – 01/12/05
With road issues standard from the last couple of days…we made it. Arty, Hop (who seems to haved moved to Tahoe), Nick (Non WWW), and of course Hardrider, and myself in appearance.
The roads went from dry to pow to dry to flat light to sun from South Lake to Kirkwood. About 6 inches new which felt more like a foot. Flat light and *surprise* some strong gusts on the ridges, we bombed some fast smooth pow on chair 6 and then got 3rd chair on the wall….fast pow and some 15-20 fters, we ski the wall for the rest of the day, find some nice lines and pow on Norm's Nose until we were trapped on the wall chair for about 15 minutes in a winter hurricane….and dumping snow. This is where Hop stated "by far the most fun I've had all day." After lowering our body temps by 50 F we bagged it….here's for tomorrow.
Music: APPARAT – ‘ARCADIA’
Here's some pics…..and yes, Hop became photo-slut today.
Hop making a "Tele-turn":
Hop airing in Oops:
Check out his sponsors:
Warmth:
Hop's only trick:
Hardrider in the pow:
Hop diggin' in:
Hardrider trying to find the chute:
Best friends:
So it hasn’t snowed this much, this fast in 88 years…so I figure you guys want to see what it looks like. These pics are from Heavenly on the 11th, and Kirkwood on the 12th.
11th – 2 1/2 feet of dry pow and some sun poking through but Carson Pass closed all day, so all of us roll to the Heave. Gimpy, Mrs. Gimpy, Hardrider, 666, Arty, Geoff, hop (of course), and HASKINS.
We roll into the trees off of the tram….nice foot and half of fluff. Then rolled into Motts for a couple hours…skiing lines over the granite boulders off of Ernies. Hop and I hit every line possible, most I’ve never skied before. Killebrew didn’t open but it would have been epic if it did. We then skied firebreak straight into Harrah’s….first time for me, and one of the longest consistent run I’ve skied in Tahoe….erie with the burned trees but the untracked made up for that. I split up with the group, hit Maggies bowl to far skier’s left of Gunbarrel and skied OB all the way to the parking lot…untracked fluffy goodness at lake level…not an everyday occurrence.
Lph’s road:
Best friends:
Unknown Lake:
This guy taking a leak:
Carson Valley, Nevada:
My first run in Motts….super cold, light, fluffy, steep tree skiing…mmmmm
Hop and his roommate from San Fran:
Motts East facing:
Some of Motts North facing:
Powder:
Dude in red jacket:
Nevada proper:
Hop….hopping over granite…still in Motts. This section was so good, I can’t even begin to explain. All these granite rocks air into steep trees, so you need to be on your game…its hard to judge the angle in here due to the north facing shade, but its schweet!
Hop in another line from above:
Hop in yet another different line:
HASKINS..Motts:
Firebreak….with condensation on the lens:
So now the total bluebird day. Its basically the first clear day in weeks….at Kirkwood. People came out in the masses, half of the Bay skipped work and rolled up. At about 1 am, Greydon Clark, Chill Winston, Su Pu, and Monster Dump roll up to my crib like crack addicts needing a fix. Dump and I stay up and play some Japanese Dreamcast Shooters. Chill and Mr. Clark bail at like 5 am to hit Waterhouse. It was cool this morning too…driving on the icerink to KW, my car read -14 F at Hope Valley….roll into the lot and its already packed at 8:39 am.
Here are the pics that go with Pu’s TR in the other thread.
The night before…playing this:
Mt. Tallac looking guuuuuuud:
Stuff off of Echo:
Carson Spur KW OB…loaded:
Monster Dump and Su Pu….jittery:
Palisades:
Back of Desolution Wilderness…I think:
Upper Cham…first run:
Mr. Dump ready to roll:
….pointing it…
Su Pu doing the same thing….
Buttery smoothness off of the Wall:
Wall:
Su Pu in Eagle Bowl:
Cirque span:
Cirque left:
Cirque right:
Hop and HASKINS lining up Kodak:
Hop….
HASKINS…
Monster Dump digging into Vista:
….then disappearing on Vista…
View of Southern Sierras:
Monster Dump standing in front of California Chute, KW OB:
..then airing in lower Thunder Saddle:
Thunder Bowl, KW OB…..looker’s right:
…looker’s left:
Monster Dump pressing the envelope:
Su Pu in Norm’s Nose:
….EL FIN….
5/5 Dancing John B’s
We are now skiing in 2005! – 01/02/05
I skied KW 12/23-12/25 on the hardpack…in the sun…it entertained me greatly.
12/26-12/30 In Chicago with the in-laws, played with my 2.5 year old nieces, roamed Michigan Ave and went to some sick restaurants.
Tried to get into Reno a day earlier…on 12/29…all flights to Reno from Chicago and/or Dallas (American Airlines)…booked…sold out.
On the 30th, calling Tim Cohee, Caltrans, NevadaTrans 
, American Airlines all day….the storm has fucking hit…So naturally I new I'd be screwed. Remarkably, we left O'hare at 9:30 pm or so and landed in Reno in 3 feet of snow at around 11:00 pm. With my luck I thought we'd slide off the runway into a gas truck…but we survived. At 1:00 am, we got our bags. At 1:15 am, I dug out my car from the top level of the parking garage….I wish I had pics of this. A quick 2 hour drive to South Lake in the snow…I arrive at my house at 3:15 am.
Music: Distance – Nomad
I skied the last 2 days…here are the pics.
New Years day going to Kirkwood….solo…and….you know how I felt:
My first run of 2005…after skiing Oops of course. Chamoix/Sentinel were closed at this time.
The next run I meet up with some dudes and I show them a huck off of Oops, 2 runs later….its bomhole central….this is where I hook up with Follow Me, Kush, Arty, Walter, hop…etc…etc…they all ended up on this cliff. Hop was charging it like a bat out of hell, Kush reaching to get more air, and Follow Me trying to land it switch…I think 
Kush looking ready to……land:
My buddy Zippy showing some form:
I soon left and then the opened Sentinel…go figure…Zippy launced Little Jims…..I went home and drank some Pedialite.
01/02/2005….Another snowy day….good times….rolled up with Mrs. 666, and Shugs. Hit 10 for a while, got first tracks on Eagle Bowl, launched skier's left of Kodak….all untouched.
Figured we'd get more skiing in off of 10 and 6 so we bagged the Saddle loop.
Heart Chute…the wind really killed this…
Shugs on Sisters's left wall:
Shugs on Jims:
Upper Chamoix….
I came really close to hitting it, my plan was to monster ollie the rocks and then superG it our to the left but kept having a vision of losing it into the rocks below while making the high speed turn…sorry but I'm lame. Its hard to see but there is a shark sticking out right in between the landing and the rocks at the bottom.
Xmas Eve Oops Update – 12/24/04
Date: Kirkwood – 12/23/04
All I know is that I was super excited to finally make some turns…after 4 days of work and 6 days of class to make 10 days straight of hell…I needed to ride and was super stoked to roll out to the backside, hit Thunder Saddle, etc…just roam around being that I wasn’t expecting super sick conditions.
So, ummmmmm, yeah…..it was a tad windy. I knew it was a little wierd when I saw a few cars rolling with skis on the racks going in the opposite direction to Kirkwood on 88. So only 5 was open for about 2 hours….then 11 opened. Groomed runs were fine…a little firm but on chair 5 they made snow, so it was quite nice early on. We cruised into Waterfall and had to straightline it because there was a 2 foot deep snowboard-boardslide down the gut….not wide enough to make turns in , not even close. So you had to go straight and haul-ass into to icy-off-piste on the verge of death….Fun? yes, but only after my skis stayed on my feet.
…it was cold, probably because of the wind.
The wind howled ALL DAY. NONSTOP.
Just as we were to leave, they opened Chair 6…at 1:45 pm. At this time though, the sun has already left this part of the mountain….sweet. The UPHILL wind pretty much blew all the fresh-groomed off of Sentinel and Zachs up into the stratosphere.
But guess what…mid-winter protected snow in skiers right of Chamois, and all the way down Oops…pretty much the same as 2 weeks ago (the last day I skied.)
Should you go? Yes, if you want to rock groomers. If its windy? Toss-up. Only if 6 is open…but just to ski you know where.
Music: Calyx & Teebee – ‘Follow the Leader’
The weekend before….chair 6….
Outer Palisades….
Greydon slashing…
I think you guys can put 2 and 2 together:
Date: Kirkwood – 12/24/04
So the NWS is calling for a couple huge storms next week…so this report will look lame when looking back a week from now.
Since our next door neighbor has unsecured Wireless, I’m posting some pics just for shitz and giggles.
Today was entertaining and a good time. NO WIND. Blueskies and perfect temps (hoodie weather), and fast morning groomers made me happy.
All the groomed runs were very nice…Sentinel being the best. They tried to groom the Wall….more like skiing groomed concrete for the first hundred feet. Went to the backside, just cause, so I could hit Thunder Saddle. Very icy back there. Thunder Saddle was OK, not bulletproof, but not really worth it either.
The wind halfpipe down to waterfall was super smooth…Oops was great, basically the same since 2 weeks ago.
Skied a few lines off the top of Jims…
Here are the pics:
Snow? We still need it! – 12/12/04
11/20/04
Last Friday Arty50 scared all of us and said it was the mountain was extremely firm. Shugs, Kwdskier, and the 666 ventured anyway. The only problem with his report…he forgot to mention that he did not ski off-piste. This one of those rare occasions where it was better off piste than on the groomers (on a very firm pack day.)
The groomers were more packed powderish on the north facing runs like Buckboard, and Lower Zachs….with very firm to concrete on any run that gets sun. My camera broke on Saturday so I have no pics of the snow-sand storm blowing uphill like a bat out of hell on the top of Chair 6 on Sunday. Zach's, Monte's, Sentinel, and Look out Janek were beyond firm boarderline Ice Rink. But this is how you become a better skier right? If you can only ski weekends, you're there no matter what, and you'll have fun despite the funky conditions.
Music: Breakage – Bring Back (Remix)
Yes, I tested the Pro Bros or the Bro Pros….
Oops…..looking a little sketch if you catch a tip. The wind blew some great snow in here and was literally 6 inches of fresh…just don't fall.
All the north facing stuff off of Chair 6 was good. Below Jims and Ski School, skiers right to Chamoix, the rest of Oops, and even skiers right of Olympic had some great snow. Vets, my brother and I were even able to find a couple ten footers with smooth landings.
666 – Ski School Chute…riding the Kingswood mini
666
The Wall. Well most of it was wind scoured but if you venture towards the sisters, all the protected north facing aspects were great….more like packed-packed powder. The top of the ridge line that funnels all the way to Waterfall had a buttery smooth bank to crank some killer carve-cut backs.
Sunday, its was cold…..and windy as a mother. They made some snow on Chair 5 on Lower Zachs that created a super smooth surface.
Rinsed out proper
>12/12/04
So it was a packed-packed powder day…
Bluebird…no wind, not super cold (surprising), and some packed snow.
Picked up a free DC beanie and some Krispie Kremes at the bottom and was ready to roll.
Early morning groomers were scary fast…with Sentinel leading the charge of the best snow.
The terrain park off of 5 was kickin’ pretty hard. Consists of tables including in order of hits…..a small , 2 medium, and one medium-plus…..and a wall bonk-re-entry. Down the other run a crapful of rails….of every type.
Wind scoured in spots on the unprotected aspects but great mid-winter snow in all protected north facing aspects. Of course Oops was the highlight for me…just super sick quality of snow in there, all the way to Oops Extendend. Soft powder snow could be found in the trees and below some small cliffs. On the upper mountain, any landing off a drop was super firm, wind-packed snow. My shins are still throbbing.
Hooked up with Greydon Clark (He and I rode bell to bell today), Kellie, Hardrider, and Su Pu and hit every open aspect from the right and left off of 6….to the Top of the wall and everything below…
Railing fast runs, small to medium airs, and super carves galore.
Just a great day in the sun..on a fun mountain.
Sorry for all the words but I’m whoring the free wi-fi up here in Tahoe, here are some pics…it was too fast of a day to take any action shots.
I think you know who that is….
Early morning steep groomers off of 6:
Chair 10:
Krew:
The diving south coastal storm that was supposed to hit…and now its not:
What a storm!!!
It dumped HUGE last night but even better it snowed 90 feet in 67 minutes…that’s got to be a record.
Another bluebird day…the weathermen hung themselves this morning…I could hear the screams all the way from The Weather Channel’s headquaters.
Same conditions as yesterday….EXACTLY.
Tried to get some action shots, but I screwed most of them up….
*note to self*…after attempt to blow up White Trash Electronics (Best Buy to most Americans)…hopefully they will give me back my other camera.
Hardrider….he finally pulled the stick out of his ass and started to charge:
Hardrider….I wish I had photos of all his flat landings with audio:
Kellie on skier’s right of Chamoix:
And this dude won a free snowboard…funny how the guy with the leather pants on snowlerblades gets the last laugh:
…Hardrider had a crush on him…
12/12/04
So everyone on the west coast knows that we’ve had some warm temps on the tail-end of the last storm. Me, Mrs. 666, with meetings with Greydon Clark, and Monster Dump rallied all over the Wood to find some entertainment.
We roll into the ever-shrinking space called the parking lot and see that the temp is reading 45 F..ummmmm…at 9:00 am.
First off, all the groomers were mid-winter packed powder except for the last few hundred feet of the mountain….so that was enjoyable and most surprising since I was expecting death-granular.
We soon ventured off over to the Wall where the snow wasn’t half bad….the temps never dipped below freezing which was good because the snow could still be pushed around in the shade. The steep turns off the top are finally skiable again. However, venturing deeper into the gnar, glazed-untracked met us with might and Mrs. 666 came close to signing the divorce papers right then and there….so we move on.
However, truth being said, I could still break through the crust and winter snow was buried underneath, so the more people that skied it, the better it got….I was treating it as more of a "protective layer."
Rolled over to 6 for most of the day as Monster Dump and I rolled into Ski School chute a couple times. I hit the gnar off of Oops with vigor because it of the glazed-untracked I was so much learning to love. Mrs. 666 and her new Gotamas seemed to like the north facing snow of lower Chamoix, and into lower Oops…so of course, I’m not going to argue with that.
At the end of the day Monster Dump, Mrs. 666 and I enjoyed a nice brewski in the sun on the patio…so yeah…it was worth it…and a good time.
…I wish I took more action shots…but I would have screwed those up anyway.
Ski resorts are open – 12/12/04
So everyone on the west coast knows that we’ve had some warm temps on the tail-end of the last storm. Me, Mrs. 666, with meetings with Greydon Clark, and Monster Dump rallied all over the Wood to find some entertainment.
We roll into the ever-shrinking space called the parking lot and see that the temp is reading 45 F..ummmmm…at 9:00 am.
First off, all the groomers were mid-winter packed powder except for the last few hundred feet of the mountain….so that was enjoyable and most surprising since I was expecting death-granular.
We soon ventured off over to the Wall where the snow wasn’t half bad….the temps never dipped below freezing which was good because the snow could still be pushed around in the shade. The steep turns off the top are finally skiable again. However, venturing deeper into the gnar, glazed-untracked met us with might and Mrs. 666 came close to signing the divorce papers right then and there….so we move on.
However, truth being said, I could still break through the crust and winter snow was buried underneath, so the more people that skied it, the better it got….I was treating it as more of a "protective layer."
Rolled over to 6 for most of the day as Monster Dump and I rolled into Ski School chute a couple times. I hit the gnar off of Oops with vigor because it of the glazed-untracked I was so much learning to love. Mrs. 666 and her new Gotamas seemed to like the north facing snow of lower Chamoix, and into lower Oops…so of course, I’m not going to argue with that.
At the end of the day Monster Dump, Mrs. 666 and I enjoyed a nice brewski in the sun on the patio…so yeah…it was worth it…and a good time.
…I wish I took more action shots…but I would have screwed those up anyway.
Some Various Kirkwood Shots – 12/11/04
OK…found some various pics of Kirkwood for your viewing pleasure. They may be from early 2004 or late 2004 due to all the early season snow we had from Halloween onward.
Music:DJ Marky & XRS – Smooth
666 on Eraser Face…..buried:
666 on Upper Chamois….buried:
On the backside….some of the BC lines off of Chair 4…..West Shore proper:
One of my buddies rippin’ down the main west shore chute:
California Chutes:
Pipeline…the line down the middle:
Navigating a New Season on Halloween? – 11/06/04
October 2004 – Kirkwood
Let's just say it was good even if it was December. We got like 6th chair when they opened Chair 6 for the first time for this season. Powder everywhere for the first two runs. People were hucking next to Jim's, and I got first tracks in Oops, basically skied every aspect off of Chair 6.
The backcounty access was OPEN so we hiked out way past Sentinel bowl a couple times to get fresh tracks. The Wall wasn't running but you could hike towards that way via Chair 6. This was probably good because people don't like to hike, and the snow was virtually untouched for the two days….Greydon Clark, Mrs. 666, and I had some good turns in there on Sunday. Also skied Upper Chamoix twice….which is absolutely ridiculous for October!!!!!!!!!!!
Left my camera in Tahoe so my personal pics will be posted by next weekend.
Here are some posted on the TGR boards:
Music: Amit – Pirates
Skier666:
Arty50 in Outer Palisades KW backcountry….ummm October?:
Skier666 droppin' a huge 4 foot air:
Skier666 looking to land off of Oops:
Tyrone Shoelaces smearin' the OB pow-pow:
….by the way, these shots are from OCTOBER!
More pics that my friends took of me when I was not aware……
Coming in for a landing off of the meat of Oops:
Some pow after the cliff:
OCTOBER BITCHES!!!!
More pics from OCTOBER:
Thunderbowl in background:
Spats:
Spats:
Vets:
Upper Chamoix….skied:
Upper Oops:
Arty50:
The Wall:
Mr. Greydon Clark:
666 in Oops:
ALL IMAGES ABOVE ARE FROM OCTOBER!!
We were all expecting a carbon copy of last Saturday but with over a foot of fresh waiting for us in the morning. However, the wind really scoured the mountain before we got there so the conditions were definitely variable….great in some, and horrendous in others…did someone say Norm’s Nose?
666
A tad breezy up on the ridges……an understatement:
…which creates the bottomless:
But found some untracked tree-pow in OB past Palisades:
Steve:
Kellie:
Kellie getting some air:
skimoore:
Lookers right of the fingers, Kellie deciding her line:
Some sick bump lines off the Wall:
Lower Cirque…..Zippy throwin down a peppered flat light double:
