Kirkwood 2005-06
Gnaring up the Kirkwood Cirque – 05/01/06
Date:
May 1st, 2006 – The day after the lifts stopped runnin’
Weather & Temp:
Around 50 F in the parking lot at 9:15 am, pretty firm snow all the way to the top, but already too soft when we reached the summit.
Partcipants:
666, Basom, Kush, and Lou
Gameplan:
Skin up buckboard and then boot up to the top of the cirque above the patrol shack. Ski the lookers right face from the summit. Its the stuff that would never, ever, ever, ever, ever, let you ski on a normal day
Music: Seba & Paradox – ‘Fire like this’
So quiet, you could hear a pin drop…
Skinning up icy moguls doesn’t really work…
RunnelMan Face…behind the Wall:
Summit approach…
The line (Camera getting funky do to the the direct sunlight)
Certain death line…..
Basom goes first…since he’s the virgin of the group.
Links up some pretty turns…
We got there probably an hour too late…
It was already getting pretty wet-slidey..
Lou drops in…
Funny thing about Lou is that he was the only other person at Kirkwood with our same idea…
…and he didn’t know that we were going to be there
…and better yet, is that he’s a damn fine skier!
Kush finds a pitch with less sloppy snow…
Not bad considering he leaves tomorrow…
Got to get one more run in at Kirkwood!!!!!
Lou is fond of the runnels….
And so are the wet slides…..
Shot of Carnells from the top…our original plan was to hit that next, but WAY too warm to do so safely,
Kush…turn and burn
Basom gets funky…
….to the Rasta Stevie str8line
Lou has to head back to the Bay…so he ditches us for some smooth corn…
We hiked back up to Thundle Saddle and skied Hells…..Basom finds some untracked slush…
and it was smooooooooth…..
Kush looks for a straightline that looks lame on film……but he almost punched through the landing
Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
RooooooooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaRRRRRRRR RRRR!
666 on a spine….LAME!
Our line: Looker’s right from the summit!
Kirkwood is now CLOSED?????
Huge rock slide on Carson Pass, with 50 engineers scratching their head on what to do…
Longer the Better – A Long Board Day production – 04/30/06
Date:
April 30th, 2006 – Kirkwood’s lift-served closing day of the 05-06 season.
Weather & Temp:
Absolutely gorgeous californian sunshine, no wind, and temps ranging from 40-60 F.
Members of Dork Club:
666, AKA, Arty50, Basom, Brooks, Kush, Spats, Lph, Zippy, Zippy’s boarder buddy shralping it on skis, Casey of Moment Skis, Emma, Nuthon and crew, Tyrone Shoelaces, Divegirl, Legoskier, Dave P, lhs, ninjabirdman & roomie, and many others.
Our Rides:
666 – 212 K2 SG Race
AKA – 205 Salomon SG Race
Arty50 – 210 K2 TNC COMP
Brooks – Normal skis, could not find “BigFoots”
Basom – 211 Salomon DH Race
Kush – 222 RD ValdezXtreme’s
Spats – 210 Volkl pink old school GS
Lph – 250 speed skis (I wish)…he could’ve handled them
lhs – Jackson transplant on Iggies of course
Zippy – 205 Atomic ARC racing
Tyrone – 215 Blizzard Women’s DH
Casey – 200 (?) Olin Mark IV twin-tips
Nuthon – Size of mullet = 11. Parking crew massive, 80′s snowboard extrordinaire.
*Feel free to correct my estimates*
Synopsis:
Short skis suck and long skis truck. From rails to steeps, its apparent that the only difference between yesterday and today’s technology is speed and stability off-piste. Oh, and those old school graphics are the way to go…hint, hint, ski company manufacturers. Seriously, how radical would a 200 cm K2 Fat ski with the original 1980 graphics and sandwich construction look underfoot? I’ve already filed a patent on the idea.
Cameramen:
666, Arty50, Lph, Spats, & Emma (reasons why they are absent from most of this fantastic TR)
Music (right click, save target as)
http://www.mrhaste.com/mixes/haste_80s_mix_part_2.mp3
DJ Haste – UK DJ, Wicked 80’s mix
O M G!
Basom – performing his stretching technique "while skiing"
Kush and Ty feeling the burn of REAL SKIS
Now that’s an outfit!
ninjabirdman’s roomie, he’s sure looking hot… right?
Nuthon bringing in the steeze, with his handsome brother up ahead…sickness!
AKA with Arty50 eyeing the rear….Bartles & Jaymes in full effect:
No comment….
WTF was the cameraman thinking? So core on Long Board Day.
AKA – "I’m drunk…..LETS DO THIS"
The views were amazing…
Batman looking for Robin under Little Jims…
Zippy above Oops…
Basom’s Briko’s GO HUGE!
"Quiet guys…..I’m about to rule this"
Can’t touch him on DH Boards….
Ty and his Blizzards take a flight onto some Oops hardpack…
Zippy does an on the run base-grind in the fingers…
"Dry-dock or go home, bitches"
Zippy finds Robert Downey Jr….
Ty displays a "splitzer"….
Batman over Gotham City…
The only fuzzy pic and its a backflip by Zippy…
Basom tests his wardrobe…
Kush loses his shit…literally
Kush is racking up the miles today…but then again, he has a cape.
S rail = slay3D on Atomic Arcs…
Zippy crosses it up on the 1/4 pipe…
Basom charges like Schmidt off the Wall
Zippy on an exposed ridge…
An airs a 20 footer onto traverse tracks…stuck it clean.
Spats getting EXTREME!!!!
AKA – God he’s cute…hopefully he say yes when I ask him to the prom.
Kush on Upper Cham..
Ty doing the same…
Batman cruisin’ the slopes…
Miss 1970 enjoys the corn…
Time for some bumps…yes….BUMPS!
AKA looking for his El Camino…
Ty showing what he did on the East Coast…
Brooks…er…I mean Goose looks for a wingman on LookOut Janek…
God I love this pic…concentration is KEY!
Zippy’s buddy loves T3H Bump5!
Basom still rippin’….farts.
Zippy and Casey go tandem…so cute.
Gorgeous Crew…
Casey "Rollin’ on his Olins"….
Spats….yes….that’s him alright
Zippy performing a new move called the "Helicopter"
Casey getting CRAZZZZZZZZZY!
Zippy decides to roll Patrolmens on less than ideal conditions…and equipment:
Snow looks……….good?
Nice…now get into mogul man mode…
Basom Upper Chaming it…
Oh hell yes!!!!!!!
Perfect form as usual…I wouldn’t expect anything less…
Now we’re getting serious…On our last run, Spats wants to lose his virginity to Heart Chute…
…on ancient equipment
…onto frozen traverse tracks….
But guess what? He stuck it! Super sick….nice one Spats!
I think this sums it up nicely…
BYE BYE KIRKWOOD
Moon Crescent Couloir & Kooky Kirkwood Carnage – 04/29/06
Date:
April 29th, 2006 – Moon Crescent Couloir, Round Top Peak, Carson Pass, CA & runs with the kooks at Kirkwood.
Part I – Moon Crescent:
Weather & Temp:
HOT AS BALLS!
Partcipants:
666, Basom, and Tyrone Shoelaces on the moon. Met up with Kush, Aka, Arty50, Lph, DaveP @ Kirkwood
Gameplan:
Start at Carson Pass (elevation ~8250 ft.) and skin up to Round Top Peak (elevation 10,381 ft.) run back to the car, drive to Kirkwood, eat a hot dog, grab a beer, and take a few runs.
Music: (right click, save target as)
Digital Nation – Night Train
Basom applying his duct tape skins to his boards….
The target…Round Top Peak…
Almost time to ditch the skins…
Booting up wasn’t so bad…
Basom didn’t like it, he said "It tired him"
View behind the summit….
Lake Tahoe….I think
More vistas…Blue Lakes and surroundings
The pitch…
Basom’s line???? Some wetslide activity from the day before
He’s getting really gripped at this point….he wanted to hike around and go to McDonalds…
I told him that we’d hit McDonalds "on the way home"…for a milkshake if he’d just sack up and ski….he did!
Funny, the snow resembled a milkshake..
A boarder got there just before us and did avy control on the face…but it still was sliding out everywhere.
He’s such a photoslave….
and such a great ski model….
that he DIDN’T FALL even once!
Work it, work it, you go girl.
Ty is up to bat, with bases loaded….
He seems to like the "pitch"….
Takes a "cut" on it…
Seems to have a "hold" on it….
The snow decided to throw a change-up, and it started to move on him, but he held it together and scored the winning run.
Now he’s just rounding the bases….
Now if he only could shake that ‘roids’ accusation circulating the tabloids…
The devil guy makes it to the summit….wants to ski an exposed line, on very sketchy snow…
However, he takes a test turn and decides that it is a bad idea…
He turns around a decides to ski an untracked spine instead…
Probably wondering who took these photos, right? We’ll some guys walked up behind us took some pics and emailed them to Ty….thanks guys!
The snow actually had some freshness still left in it…a small crust layer exposed some winter snow underneath.
Definitely a cautious ski….wouldn’t want to fall off the cliff onto hardpack.
Basom cruises down to Winnemucca lake on some stellar smooth corn…
666 with some less intense lines in the background…
666 on the groomer…
I guess he like sidecut on skis….
Ty rallies the lower part down to Winnemucca Lake
…"Take some more turns man, you hiked up that!"
What did you say?
"Cool Tree to Mank" shot
The Result:
PART II – Kirkwood Madness – Day BEFORE long board day!:
We find Kush taking a nap on the plaza…
Arty50 wearing a gorilla suit in 70 F!
…just so he can say that he dropped Upper Cham in it….
Basom going "shirtless" for his fans on Upper Cham…
Ty laughing about the gorilla suit…..he’s a little slow.
But then takes some nice turns down Oops…
Basom links up a double….with the weather starting to change?
OK, so now its officially HAILING!!!!
Don’t believe us?
They closed the lift, we heard thunder, and saw lightning, but we still had 10 people on top of Upper Cham…so core!
666 gets determined…
But he’s afraid the wet snow will just release on him…its about 3:34 pm
Just point it dude…
You’ll be fine…
Told you, you wanker!
Ty tests out his 179 Bros…
Kush pulls a cravasse air…
His older brother goes for some sexy form…
Lph "things" it up over some rocks and sinks into the mank…
Basom attempts the Oops tree slide….
Will it hold?
AMAZING!!! He even cleared Kush! Someone get him a trophy…
AKA finds a fun little line…
Leroy Jenkins sure is proud of you AKA!
LONG BOARD DAY began the next morning…we know what happened there 
And so the snow sliding continues…. – 04/22/06
Here’s another quick photoblog of the surprisingly wicked day on Saturday, the 22nd of April. Pouring rain and lightning led to a torrential hail downpour while driving up through the foothills on Friday evening. The temp was warm…didn’t even consider to be skiing any considerable freshness in the morning. Woke up to mostly bluebird and ready to ride on whatever we found when we got there, whether its rain soaked slush, or dust on crust. In any case, I was able to make the hanging snowfield traverse into the Slash Chute in Thunderbowl. Too bad it was in the fog….
Music: Break – ‘Locked out’
Met up and skied with TJ Burk, Corky, Mrs. Corky (I presume), Dwanis, Kush, Shugs, Pimpin Frog, Sis de 666, Stu, Eb and friend. Here’s how the day panned out:
We notice that the Wall is turning before 9 am, a guy in an orange coat is a few chairs up, its bluebird, and NOBODY IS AROUND!
Super crowded…
It turns out that it snowed about 4-6" the night before and buffed everything out. The spring snow underneath didn’t even have a chance to freeze, so it skied much deeper. Kush screamin’ down his first run down the Wall…
666′s view of his first lap….
Shugs makes a run for it…..
Pimpin’ Frog loves the PoWd3R!
Shugs show’s the skiers how its done…
Lap #2….super tracked out:
Pimpin’ Frog tries to emulate DARON RALVES!!!!!
GO DARON RALVES, DARON RALVES, DARON RALVES!!!!!!!!!!
Corky lines it up….
Hey Kush…those don’t look like Powder8′s
Such a waste….you could have made soooooo many more turns…
Pimpin’ Frog LAYS a completely untracked face next to Waterfall…
Kush doubles-it-up in a "somewhat filled-in" Waterfall area…(but I prefer the bombhole in the upper looker’s left corner)
So we use the "only at Kirkwood" phase too much. But hey, old school TAB being sold by the Patrol? Now that’s ghetto steeze.
We ventured over to West Shore to give a tour to Corky, Dwanis, etc. I kind of wanted to hit California Chutes, shown below….
But this dude made it priority #1 on this day and beat us to it…
Not too bad if you ask me…can’t really blame his milkage:
Corky REPRAZENT in West Shore…snow balls were falling all over this face…
Kush graces us for a few turns….
Mrs. Corky enjoying the consistent pitch…
Can you believe the layer of icing on this thing?
Kush on a roll-over in the "bottom of 4 BC"…
At this point the snow was starting to turn to SUPER MANK. Therefore, we decided to take Corky and Dwanis out to some untracked in Thunder Bowl. Of course, the weather and FOG immediately moves in as we reach the summit. On the summit we meet Eb and friend, loving the vertigo as much as us. Kush makes an attempt of V-tree when the light gets…..IDEAL???
I decided to ski a first descent for myself…looker’s upper right-hand corner, there is a patch of snow above the exposure. I skied the patch in the worst snow imaginable….Hollow Slush that hasn’t been touched all year….not to mention the cloud that I was skiing it in.
Made it back into the chute…
Corky orders a 7-up Slurpee for the ride down…
Pimpin Frog and I decide to lap another Oops run before we take off. A quick lap through Patrolmens in a blizzard, down through Oops and over to the big rock on Dan’s cliffs, we call it a day.
I really cannot believe it still is snowing up there. Only one week left of lift-served access, and it continues to pile up.
Here’s a shot of the Spur when we left.
EL FIN
‘Ghost Ride yo Whip’ to Kirkwood – 04/09/06
Date: April 8th – 9th, 2006
Location: Kirkwood inbounds, and Kirkwood out-of-bounds.
Players: Mrs. 666, 666, Sis666, Shugs, Slim, Pimpin’ Frog, Brooks, Kush, and others.
Synopsis: Its still snowing….Powder and packed-powder inbounds on Saturday, access gates opened on Sunday…
Weather moved in, and it started to snow all over again when we left.
Shugs and Pimpin’ Frog straight chillin’ before the big weekend:
Music: Murs- Transitions Az A Ridah
Saturday morning – Ghost ridin’ into the parking lot…
After some boot & binding issues, we head over to the Wall, some of us hit Sisters, some hit Heart, and then Kush finds a new line skier’s right of Once is Enough….dubbed Twice as Nice.
View from the top:
Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwww!
Zoomed up….
Shugs Ghost Rides his Board under Sisters…
Heart Bowl…yes….Bowl:
Brooks in Lower Cirque….yes…that is blue sky in the background:
….The Backside of 99 Steps looking toward Bear Valley…
Mrs. 666 cruises down some velvety pow…
Kush tries to schmear…T R I E S !!!!!
Sister of 666 takes some steep turns by Tremans….
Kush finds an air by Tremans…
One Day Kush…One Day
I finally hit Patrollman’s on this day…albeit into a mogul field….
…seconds after Mrs. 666 skis Upper Cham for the first time….
Slim rolls into a late day Upper Cham Bowl…
Day 2: The real Ghost commences
Lakeshore looking toward Westshore…
Shugs and Pimpin Frog performing the GHOST RIDE!!!!!
We run over to Thunder Bowl to find Craig Gabriel and TeleRob following us to the summit. I tell them to roll the chute…when we met up at the bottom, they had no regrets. Mr. Gabriel on the ridge to the Chute:
Slim rides the untracked below the summit…
Doesn’t look too bad…
The sun pops out for about 5 mins and Mrs. 666 grabs some POWDER!
The woman in the pink pants steals some untracked…
Ghost ridin’ the pow pow…
….and she continues to slay the untracked…
APRIL POW!
Her husband makes an appearance in the V-tree area…
…he likes V-tree….
to make right hand steep turns..,
to ollie some rocks…
into the open bowl…Ghost Riding his Skis’
Mrs. 666 takes some more turns…
Slim makes an appearance….
Mr. Slim skiing pow without his Spatulas…WTF?
My V-tree line…thank god we had sun for the run….
…because it didn’t last long:
We make the long traverse over to the Spur in a wind storm turned blizzard. 666 tests the snowpack…
…just not enough tracks for his liking…
Mrs. 666 tests the snow quality…
it looks H O R R I D !
S L I M…
More pow for the Mrs….
…and some more…this is getting old:
…really old and boring…
666 finds a steep pitch…
…he loves to emulate Scott Schmidt
…and find str8lines
…found one…
Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
We roll to our condo…but we can’t get in…
Now this is ski-in, ski-out accomodations….
Oh…look…its snowing down to 5000 feet! What a shocker!
Mmmmmmmmmmm…..BeeeeeeeF:
Back Home!
My trip to Lake Tahoe for skiing – 04/02/06
Dates: March 30th-April 2nd, 2006
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.
A Kiwi makes a Tahoe photoblog – 03/31/06
Woody from NZ was on the mainland. 
He brought his D-SLR. 
I was not allowed to post…he threatened my life. 
Via international SMS, permission was granted at the end of July 06. 
Date: Sometime in late March.
Locations: Alpine Ghettos, and a place called Kirkwood.
Players: 666, Mrs. 666, Charles Anderson, and Woody.
Conditions: Flatlight pow at Alpine to sunny pow at Kirkwood.
Music: Skream – Blipstream
Alpine Dreadows….about 8 inches new but skied like 12. 666 in Sherwood Cliffs:
666 near Promised Land…
Young Kiwi Charlie, he’s such a tweaker…
Charlie in Sherwood Cliffs looking for a tree…but missed it.
666 in yes, you guessed it…Sherwood Cliffs:
666 Alpine OB off of Scott chair…
Kirkwood – Sunny Powduuuurrrr day. 666 in Palisades:
Mrs. 666 gets some….
Is it me or is that a smile?
666 in lower Palisades. I wonder what this face looked like 5 mins later?
Mrs. 666 admiring her tracks…
Freshly-groomed-tip-drag steeze….
YAY to middle of Summer Alpine Meadows TR’s!!!!
Dorkwood – 03/26/06
All the Dorks were there….and I guess everyone else left their camera at home???????
Music: Devo – ‘Beautiful World’
Kush, AKA, Shugs, Mrs. 666, Slim, Pimpin’ Frog, Tyrone Shoelaces, Arty50, Greydon Clark, Mrs. Greydon Clark, StoneyWall, Mrs. StoneyWall, Zippy, Walter Sobchak, Mrs. Walter Sobchak, old mate Woody from NZ making his first turns at Kirkwood……and hell, even Huckwheat made an appearance.
- Dorkfest all around…
- Just a stellar day, buffed-out slopes, no moguls, no wind, and perfect temps!
- BACKCOUNTRY GATES NOT OPEN!@#$#%&!
- My Canon said farewell on this day…this is all I got out of my long last powershot.
10th Chair on the WALL….
Slim on Upper Cham:
Woody on Lower Cirque…
Greydon Clark on Oops…
Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh….
Tyrone when asked whether he was thinking about hitting Hospital Air again:
Woody again in Lower Cirque:
Shugs after hitting untracked slush in Palisades:
L A T E R
Kirkwood, Bluebird…No Wind….Kalifornyeah! – 03/08/06
Date: Wednesday, March 8th, 2006
Location: Kirkwood, Earth, Milky Way Galaxy, Sector 666
TR creation location: Asbury Park, New Jersey…editing @ Starbucks in Red Bank.
Players: Supu, 666, Pentium, JasonM, Lou, Kush…with rumors of AKA y Brooks.
Synopsis: Worst Day-trip commute EVER!
Music: Chemical Brothers – ‘It doesn’t matter’
With a break in this year’s Seattlish weather pattern, we decided to roll an infrequent day-trip from SF to KW. First text rolls in around 4:27 am from Supu that says he’s on his way to my leased garage spot. Soon thereafter, we pick up Pentium in Russian Hill, then mute grab JasonM near USF, so we can be officially on our way by 5:15 am. JasonM and Supu insist that I take the "back way" to which I’m a complete virgin (JONG). We make it to Antioch in record time, and then venture over to HWY 160….and that’s when we noticed helicopters flying overhead…head-on collision thirty cars ahead which means HWY 160 is now closed. Obviously, this is not a good sign when you’re on a desolate Delta two-lane highway, and especially on your way to a bluebird pow-day. So, quick decision was made to back-track to Hwy 4 to Stockton….through Brentwood and Oakley……where we hit every single red light on the road.
…but we saw this guy who posts on TGR….however, he only has 7 actual posts:
At around 9:30 am we finally make it to Carson Spur…
Its BLUEBIRD, no wind, and a storm approaching. The last couple of days produced another 30 inches or so. After cases of dynamite blown up on the Spur…..nothing slid. With fingers crossed, we were sure the BC gates would be open today as a gift for our 4 hour commute. NOPE. In which case we couldn’t hit this lame area…
First lap in the Outer Palisades…two skiers, one camera. JasonM providing the spray, Supu with da steeze:
Supu….horribly ill which is why he needed to take a sick day….
Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh……lucky shot…..half-a second before this, the camera was in my pocket….
666 in Pali…
The Wall and Once…
JasonM in High Eagle/Lower Cirque…
666 – Kodak…
Over to Tremans – Supu lines it up….
LEROY JENKINNNNNNNNNNSSSSSSSSSS…….
JasonM over Danger Cliffs….finds some glacier underneath:
666 in Danger Cliff area as well….
JMetzler finds another rockband to roll-off of below Danger…
Again, JasonM racking up the FF miles in Thunder Saddle….
666 – lower Thunder Saddle…
Supu looking for his keys…
JasonM milks the steep face down Sisters…
Kush airs into….well….a wall in Sisters…
Kush goes INSANO STRAIGHT AIR out of Sisters…
666 – tucked spread….enough said:
Kush….some fresh…
JasonM….finds some as well.
Marv Albert says……….
Photosluttage by none other than….
Kush rolls off some glacier to air on Dan’s Cliffs:
Lou rolls off some pow in Wagon Wheel….
Kush decides to get hecka-crazy….
and somehow lands on his feet…
Supu gets some late-in-the-day powpow in Lower Cirque…
Kush follows my lead skier’s left of Kodak…
….AND THEN….on HWY 24 approaching Oakland, we learn about ALL LANES BLOCKED on 101 South-bound. Which means the cars on the Bay Bridge have nowhere to go. Therefore, a gorgeous detour across the Richmond bridge, to the Golden Gate Bridge was on order…..YESSSSSSSS…and that was hour 5 on the way home.
All in all, 9 hours of driving, 5 hours of skiing. As for myself, a redeye flight to Jersey as a member of a wedding party. Why waste time sleeping?
Now just imagine the pics if our intended laps on West Shore, Thunder Bowl, and Carson Spur actually occurred…oh the horror!
Big Jims Express Leaving the Station – 03/05/06
THE TRAIN IS NOW DEPARTING….
Supu’s cell-phone comedic sickness and report can be found here…
http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/s…ad.php?t=48169
Date: March 04, 2006
Location: The usual spot
Players: 666, Tyrone, SuPu, Capt. Ron, Shugs, Slim, Mrs. Slim, hop, Kush, AKA, Brooks, Arty50, Zippy, Jrosen32, Moment Skis Krew, Pentium, Splat, SteveR, Runethechamp….and others I’m probably forgetting.
Well, 7 feet of new snow in a couple days. Sessioned all the usual areas…everything is getting buried. Zippy and Jrosen32 let some dude get first tracks down Patrollman’s…"I’ve got dibs"….who beatered down the thing, in an emabarrassing disgrace. In return, Jrosen32 and Zippy wiz by Mr. Extreme….who’s face is now tomato red. Also in order, early Upper Cham to Heart Chute runs made the "to do" list. However, we didn’t take many pow pics due to the fact of the Saturday Effect (POW = Schralped in a couple runs.) Soon thereafter, Ty and I roll over to Kodak…and watch three dudes roll off skier’s right into flat avy-debris, searching for equipment and telling us to forget about it, so we roll skier’s left into buttery pow. Backside lap into Thunder Saddle to Danger Cliffs, but sadly they are now considered buried and boring.
**Just FYI, there are still some serious, nasty, blue-glacial ice on some pitches around the mountain from the earlier rain storms. I’ve never really seen anything like it at Kirkwood….completely unedgable, and very dangerous when skiing skiing pow, especially when it sneaks up on you. Be VERY CAUTIOUS on Norm’s Nose, Oops, and skier’s left of Waterfall.
Now, let’s see some pics….
Music: Dkay & DJ Lee – ‘New Day Rising’
Friday.…its snowing in the South Bay….its going to be a good day tomorrow:
Rolling into Hope Valley…the outside temp is scorchin’:
Carson Pass – looking caked…
Shugs decides to hit Upper Cham for the first time…
666 – off the skier’s right side of Upper Cham….
There’s still ice on some steep pitches….and here’s a patch…
666 gets a call from Zippy…"get over to the Heart now!!!!"….OK
Just a little choke to clear…
Runethechamp let’s them run out of the Heart…scrapes a little rock…
Slim’s says "I’m not going around"….first turn…
And finds his way just fine…good on ya’ Slim!
***no pic but at this point a dude loses a shoe after the choke up top and it gets spit out of the bottom air. With the crowd yelling "Better Off Dead" quotes, the dude points it on one ski…and sticks the landing!!! FKNA…
Hop shows the uncanny ability of the Pontoons…
666 on Kodak:
***The aircraft is now departing****
We get a call from AKA saying that we need to meet at the top of Big Jims. The rumor mill says that Kush has hit it already and is looking for seconds. Tyrone and I roll up and it just looks too perfect, and before we can even put a pole strap on, Kush says "Fuck it, dropping…"
Kush from another camera’s POV;
666 skates for speed…but barely gets enough to roll off at his "ideal speed."
666 on Jims…
Emulation of a cat being thrown out of an office building ensues, but hits the landing with no impact at all….
Now for Mr. Tyrone….aka Watch HowCleanICanDoThis….
CAW CAW!
After the huck session, we split apart….hop, Kush, AKA and company roll into a tiny straightline immediate skier’s left of Upper Cham…
AKA hardridin’…
…"I’m not going to loose my LINES…I’m just not damnit"
After one Newcastle….Zippy and I decide it would be super sexy to jump into Lake Tahoe to cool off. Unfortunately…we had to run through about a foot of powder, then break through some ice by the shore (which doesn’t cut your feet does it?,) jump in, and then repeat back to the house. Dumb. Wait….really dumb.
Date: March 5th, 2006
Where: Kirkwood Wind Tunnel
Winds are K I C K I N’…they have 6 and 10 open at limited speeds and for good measure. We were planning on hitting the BC today, but with these winds, we knew it would be a "NO GO." Oh well….can’t really control the weather
Zippy’s buddy on top of Chair 5….
Mrs. 666 under the Sisters….windbuffed pow.
Once is Enough and Hospital Air in the distance.
Hop gets caught using technology….BUSTED!
Supu at Bubs…..
Currently pouring rain in SF as I type….will this TR continue???????
Permatographer’s Presidential Tahoe Weekend Tour – 02/20/06
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:
http://tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=47201
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
Wicked East Winds from the East – 01/22/06
January 22, 2006 – WINDY DAY
Today: WIND
Open: Not much at all
Why?: WIND
Started on 5, then to 11, two runs on 6, three runs on 11….
KIRKWOOD = SNOW RAPED!!!!!!!!!!!!
2 runs on Chair 6 and "you’re fired!"
Looking at Norm’s Nose…blowing away
Those aren’t clouds……
Warriors of the Weekend Wasteland – 01/21/06
January 21, 2006….falls on a weekend…..so we decided to ski some steep pow in West Shore, Fingers, Temple of Doom, Thunder Bowl, and others..
Absolutely splendid skiing…just take a seat, listen to the tunes, and scroll…..
Music: DJ Shadow – Mongrel…Meets his Maker
Tallac – early AM….I think I can see Gimpy & Buddy on the ridge:
Steven’s Peak….
Elephant’s Back – itchin’ to be skied:
The Spur:
Jrosen32 maching in Wagon Wheel:
SteveR making the day trip to roll into Fingers with speed:
Jrosen32 in Eagle Bowl…
Xterraman getting first tracks down West Shore….
Skimoore looking for a lost contact lens:
Jrosen32 carving down West Shore proper:
…ditto:
Skimoore follows suit down to Emigrant Lake:
SteveR aka Xterraman aka KW BC Jong….finding a field of marshmellow:
Skimoore doubling-up on the ice cliffs:
Jrosen32 on his weekly flight:
*ADDED Video courtesy of Skimoore:
Weekly Flight – bottom OB of Chair 4
*GNAR ALERT * Thunderbowl
Some guy who said he posted on the Teton site:
Sierra Nevada Mountain Range…well, some of it anyway:
RedJacketMan looking for the Ice Cliff in TB:
Found it…after sliding on hidden blue ice to 20 footer to stuckage to straightline out into the lake:
Ty on upper TB:
”
View from skier’s left of V-tree: SLASH CHUTE
View into "let’s see if it goes this early in the year" chute:
Skier’s left is blue ice, skier’s right is about 90 cm wide….time to down-climb in ski boots:
Skis on….Cue Leroy Jenkins…"Let’s Do this"…killer pow turns and no exit except for a 20 footer to less than stellar landing between to rock walls….schweet Napolean….
I made it out…my weekend has been stoked! Here’s the line looking from the bottom:
Some more pics courtesy of Skimoore’s Sony T1:
Pipeline, rocky gnar point in the background – Kirkwood BC
West Shore proper untouched – aka the Wide Chute far skier’s right. I really love this pic…..
Skier666 – obviously noticing the camera
M O N S T E R (Clack) D U M P going for BIG AIR in Palisades on Saturday:
“I had a Kirkwood Dream…” – 01/15/06
…I think I’m quoting words from MLK, on the day that memorializes his and 666′s first day on this earth, January 15th.
Words have been said before about this day….on with what you internet nerds want:
SATURDAY – ARTY and I ride Chair 6 all day…battery dies, cellphone shots were tried, screw it…we’ll just ride
Bluebird as all hell:
Skier’s left of Rabbits – filled in almost every run:
SUNDAY – AKA "The Day"
Carson Pass smokin’:
GNaRL:
Shugs – first run under Chamois
Milkin’ it:
Hmmmm….this looks fluffy:
Its a family affair….Sister666 ditchin’ the board for skis:
Mrs. 666 getting after it:
Mrs. 666 past Rabbits:
….so fresh and …..so fresh:
Casey of M O M E N T….in Eagle Bowl:
Jrosen32 off of Kodak…..
…..with Brother Zippy in tow:
Skimoore makes an appearance through the trees:
The new M O M E N T protos – 160/136/150……..in a 185cm!!!!!!!
Vista….mmmmmm
Zippy chargin’
Skimoore slayin…………..
Casey dropping into the Upper Chamoix straightline:
…with some speed….
Now its Jrosen32′s turn….
Quiver view:
And then MF DOOM…….
or is it Dr. Octagon?
….can’t tell, he’s going hella too fast….
170 FAT Kingswoods/193 Sanouks/185 HOLY SHIT THESE ARE HUGE
Zippy stuck skiing in the wrong direction….
….with some speed…good on ya’
Mrs. 666 tries skiing unswitch….
Casey – in the moment
…deja vu?
Mrs. 666 dropping into Wagon Wheel:
Yehawwwwwwwww!
Zippy – across from the Cave
The Mother of All Kirkwood TR’s – 01/08/06
Below you will find a monster photo blog of one of the most enjoyable weekends at a little place called Kirkwood….
Music: Alec Empire – Terror Alert: High
The Outlaws: Hop, Kush, Ty, Pimpin Frog, Su Pu, Mrs. 666, Shugs, Brooks, Zippy, Jrosen32, AKA, a glimpse of Clack, myself, and others
The Locations: Thunder Bowl, West Shore, Eagle, Hells, Upper Cham (pics and/or video TBA), Skier’s left of Ski School, Opposite side of TeH Cave, Oops EP, Funnel, Norm’s, and the Top of the Wall just to name a few.
So grab a beer 
, turn on the beats 
, and check out this uber fun fest:
The Prior Weekend:::::
It was a snowy drive on 88 near Caples Lake….
It snowed…
Mrs. 666 gets some of the pow pow….
Then it snowed…
And started to snow….harder…
SATURDAY:::::
Zippy off the side of Kodak:
Hop cowboying over the rocks off the WALL:
Hop airing off the side of Kodak…he’s just amazing:
Then Jrosen32 overtakes Mr. Hop’s leap of faith:
Jrosen32 slicing some of the fresh pow under the Cirque:
Jrosen32 with a straightline air in skier’s left of Oops EP (Dan’s Cliffs):
Zippy and Kush1 discussing the many options:
Zippy decides to create a line:
….and sticks it clean with his personalized Moment Skis:
Kush1 tests out his 2010 model Pistols:
= 
SuPu decides to test some of the chalky stuff off Wagon Wheel:
….so he decided to test some more:
AKA and I manipulate everyone to hike up to Thunder Bowl:
….to ski this boring face:
….with some RADgnAR pitches to hit later in the year:
It looked like this before we dropped in….mmmmm, mmmmmm, BBQ Sauce?
Jrosen32 preaching to his inner peace:
…..while rockin’ out to some EL-P beats:
….hits forward on his Ipod to his "Hell Awaits" tunes while skiing past V-Tree:
Zippy on the summit – DFA Holiday mix in tow:
Eyeing his line choice:
OK, I’ll air this rock on the left and then straightline the whole god-damn thing:
Yep…why not?
puuuuurty view at Mach 12:
Kush1 taking his first turns down Thunder Bowl:
SUNDAY:::
Mrs. 666 showing that the Gotamas can carve just fine on Sentinel:
Pimpin’ Frog going for an office-chair air off Wagon Wheel…INSANE!
Rollin’ Hard, Rollin’ Deep, EAGLE BOWL FOR LIFE…well at least on sunny mornings:
Zippy and I hit this air into a perfect windbuffed landing:
Zippy over the trees in lower Eagle:
And now for a quick hike into West Shore….a closeup of Cali-Chutes:
….looking down West Shore Chute propa’:
Jrosen32 enjoying the most consistent pitch at Kirkwood…er near Kirkwood:
…with one of these:
…another one….
…and decides to MILK IT:
With the younger sibling in tow…
..he decides to "dress to impress"…
with only one turn….
…and another:
…to test out his Moment Skis at Mach 234:
West Shore area…that gloppy snow did wonders up here. There’s more coverage in this thing now, than all of last year:
C’mom, your computer speakers can handle it:
More Alec Empire….this time ‘Night of violence’ from the Futurist album
As we roll next to the bottom of Chair 4′s infamous ice/pillow cliffs (temple of doom), Zippy zones in on his line:
…well executed mate!
Now for the shot of the weekend, the older brother steps it up!!!
Zippy airing out of Hells:
….3-2-1 dropping:
…oh is that a rock in the landing?
Some random dude in a hoodie points it after Zippy:
Hop….doing some….er…..maneuver under the Cirque:
Zippy then lines up a double off of Norm’s Nose…1….
y dos….
Jrosen32 testing out his edges….lower Norm’s:
…they held:
Mrs. 666 slays the chute above Ski School:
…am I a lucky man or what?
The Kush show commences to the skier’s left of ski school:
C’mon dude, just point it…it god damn perfect:
Seriously dude, point it!
I told you it was easy….
Kush rolls off the ice-knoll on the opposite side of the CaV3:
Historic town of Jackson…with Mt. Diablo in the background.
There you have it, two days of skiing with a super solid crew, a new Canon SD450 on continuous shot, and a very tired TR producer…..
Calm before the storm – 12/17/05
Basically 95% of the mountain skis just the same as 2 weeks ago…the snow hasn’t changed in all the north facing slopes. Packed powder to windbuffed pow and pockets of untracked in the most remote areas.
Slim, Ty, Steve R, and Mrs. Slim rallied bell to bell. It started to snow pretty moderately when we left.
Music: Maas – Eurostar
Slim in the Fingers…
Ty in Sisters…nice snow
Ty finding some fresh on direct skier’s right of Waterfall:
Slim about to take a knee to the face….missed the shot sorry 
Ty on the same line…skiers left of Waterfall:
Da DC Terrain Park….madness!
Ty on the skier’s left face of Oops…..butter!
Some more shots, taken by Jason M…..666 in the rocky face of Fingers:
Fingers’ Fingers….
El Fin…..
TR of Frenzied Furor – KW 12/11/05
At around 11am on 12/10 my cellphone rings….its Charlie and his mate Beanie….two rippin’ Kiwi skiers that just landed at SFO from Auckland, NZ. Charlie in his usual style likes to give no warning to his arrival into the States, but somehow always arrives on a Friday when he knows I’ll be driving up to Tahoe. A quick tour around SF, across the GG Bridge, some Anchor Steam, and we’re off!
Music: Total Science – Defcom 69
Hey look, its two Kiwis!!!!!!!!!! Someone please throw them a pie….
All the usual soldiers were present this weekend. Mrs. 666, Shugs, AKA, Lph, Divegirl, Vets, Zippy, Jrosen32, Tyrone, Su-Pu, hell even Clack, plus others I’m probably forgetting.
The opened the whole mountain plus the BC gates on Saturday, so the game was on to hit up whatever you desired. Most of the crew was sessioning Thunder Saddle for some freshies, and skier’s right of Danger Cliffs seemed to be the "fun spot."
Zippy "Acid Drop" in Thunder Saddle:
Charlie taking his first turns…er….air in the Northern Hemisphere:
Jrosen32 (Zippy’s older brother) airing over the drydockage:
Some opening day of the backside visuals:
Nice day…too bad we rarely ski this pitch:
Two jetlagged mates from down-under, enjoying the California Sun:
Jrosen32 hitting this hip in T-Saddle:
Zippy doing what he does best….
…and again…smooooooooooooth:
Clack, Charlie, Beanie, and myself decided to roll to the Spur….some wind-effected snow up top, buttery goodness all the way to the exit….
…here is the exit…with Clack eyeing where to land flat:
…he so E X T R E M E!
Clack collapsed next to some nachos and pints of Sierra, while Charlie and I rallied to hit Upper Cham and the area across from the Cave.
Damn Fine day.
Sunday…Sunday…Sunday
Eagle Bowl seemed to the "most fun" run of the day due to the Ultra High Traverse under the Cirque. North facing pow and hits galore. The park off of 5 had some super solid tables, and the groomers were silky smooth pretty much all day.
Zippy in Oops:
Mrs. 666 ripping the chowder under the Sisters…
Jrosen32 on lower Sisters…he’s got a nice jacket!
Eagle Bowl air tuckage by Jrosen32:
He then decided to hit a double off of Jims…
**Correction, Jason M followed his lead (without the blur by the photoguy)
…but that just leaves one more run for the cameraman
Bottom Line – Mrs. 666 really stepped it up today. She rallied with us all day….with her fingers on 911 as usual.
Jrosen32 was a BEAST! Can I get a CAW for this JONG!??!
Kirkwood Opening Weekend N3RdBLOg – 12/04/05
….the season is upon us
Music: Doc Scott – Drumz 95 (Nasty Habits Remix)
Saturday December 3rd, 2005 – Oh yes.
The whole frontside is now open, top to bottom left to right. The classic Kirkwood Cement layed down a nice protective sheet over the volcanic croppings to allow many lines to be had. Better yet was the light-fluffy foot of pow on top of it. The temps remained cool and crisp allowing the snow quality to remain peeeeeerrrrrrrrrfffffffffeeeeeeeeeecccccccttttt! They opened the Palisades, Chair 10, and Eagle Bowl. Naturally, it was impossible to take pics of the pow runs…remember there are "no friends" on runs like those 
….here are the pics in order of how the day panned out. 
Mr. Shoelaces and a blue coat eyeing some rocks for some base-durability research on the latest Bro Model:
Su-Pu rockin’ the Iggies in a tight spot:
….Now he’s showing off:
We need more boarders on this site….here’s Shugs getting his legs warm for the upcoming season:
AKA…hardridin’ indeed:
Haskins with a new maneuver: "air into a couple multiple avi-crowns"
Random boarder chargin’ off the side of Jim’s:
Now over to Eagle Bowl, where Zippy finds an air before the traverse…
…the traverse to this….
Zippy, skier’s left of Kodak (very top of photo)…I wonder you made those previous tracks?….Teh Sony G33K?
Sunday, December 4th, 2005 – Still cold, still bluebird, still powder to be found, still lines to ride, still an awesome opening weekend.
Early runs in Eagle Bowl, 3 days after the storm, with Pimpin’ Frog leading the charge:
Shugs airs some pillowzzzzzzzz…
A view of "Oops"….Teh BEST run at Kirkwood! ME LikEy.
So Su-pu and I decide to run deep into Palisades for a couple runs. Su-pu plays photo-slut for first tracks.
…he was collecting samples to bring back to the lab:
…I hated him at this point:
…and here I thought that maybe he was lying about collecting samples.
They finally opened the Wagon Wheel ridge off of 6, tons of options from the top…
Where Zippy decides to commit into a minefield…to scrap off all the cushion for yours truely
I had fun this weekend….
…no really….
we all did
The K-factor really does exitst – 12/02/05
WOW….CAW….FINALLY, WE HAVE SNOW!
Music: Breakage – ‘Ask Me’
Half of Kirkwood was warm hot sticky dirt just a week ago.
I have no idea how much snow they got last night but it was measured with a yardstick. Dave Schwartz on the weather channel wasn’t really calling for a bluebird day…but I’ll take it.
Chair 5 was frozen, and Chair 6 wasn’t going to open for at least two hours, so I waited with Lou to take one mellow untracked pow run under chair 6, to wait in line with Lph, and AKA for second chair.
Second Chair!!!
Doesn’t look too bad….
Someone had first tracks the whole way down this
AKA, on Jims….
AKA, thank yewwwwwwww!
Lou’s turn – He’s committed now…
…gets a faceshot in the compression
We then ventured out passed Rabbit’ Runs, and I guess nobody else thought it would be any good considering these are my tracks from the previous runs.
Belly of Oops now killed….
Traversing out into Wagon Wheel….Lou decided to rock down this…
Just below the Notch, Patrol set off this beauty
Nice crown…
And debris all the way down to the drain…
Walter and I decided to blaze trail and get some cold smoke down here…
