Squaw Valley USA
Springing into Slush Season @ Squaw & Kirkwood – 04/21/12
Slush Skiing? OH MY!
Dates:
April 20th – 21st 2012
Location: Two resorts in California….(click pics for larger sizes)
Squaw Valley Int’l playground…
Kirkwood ski area….
Weather: How does PERFECT sound?
Riders: Skier666, SQ99, and Girlski
Cameradude: Skier666
POV VIDEO – Springing into slush season @SquawValley & @KirkwoodMtn – 04/21/12
Music: Goth Trad – ‘New Epoch’
Synopsis:
After about a month off to obtain a Real Estate license, I embarked on a 2 day journey up to the legendary Sierra Range. On my spiritual journey I uncovered a police search for a loose gunman on a closed I-80, bluebird skies, no lift-lines, hot temps, a deterioration snow pack, cold beer, and wicked good time skiing. The snow was slushy yet strangely entertaining. Truth be told it was some of the most fun I had all season.
I met SQ99 and Girlski for a reunion of sorts. Due to the highway closure, our time together was cut short but felt like the old times skiing up in the PNW. We gave SQ99 a hard time, as usual, Girlski and I talked about law school, and WE HAD FUN SKIING….perfect day I’d say! After dropping off SQ99 at the Reno airport, I rallied down to South Lake to catch some sleep to awake early and hit up some perfect Kirkwood corn-slush. It was fun.
JAVA PORN:
Peets New Guinea Korona
Red Bull Zero…
GAME START!:
It started to rain in the Bay….but I knew I wasn’t going East to the snow…
because of this…
…but the forces high above knew I’d pass on my first attempt…yippie!
While it snowed in Tahoe, I ran to Mexico…
Punta Minta to be exact…
The fountains were nice…
The sunsets were….meh
On my return, and after a work week, it was finally time to get in the car and head to some bluebird fun….
And what are the chances that I get held up going to Squaw before Sacramento due to a gunman on the loose? I mean, really? However, I was quoted in the article and I do have a story to tell…heh.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl…BA681O72HS.DTL
It was 7:05am. Almost to Sacramento. And STOP. No westbound traffic. No eastbound traffic. Hmmmmm…….
When I saw this, I knew I had to get out of here….
‘Let me through, I need to meet SQ99 up at Squaw!"
After a 6.5 hour drive that should have been 3 hours, I finally made it to KT-22 at 12:45pm…ugh.
Headed straight to Olympic Lady….
Then to Chute 75 which was skiing ‘oh so nicely.’
We headed over to the Nose…
And went to my usual zones…
It was actually quite nice….
Squaw’s upper mountain looked great, but I just couldn’t leave the vert of KT!
The alternates were up next….
Looking to the South toward Alpine….
There’s something quite nice about skiing around the Fingers with nobody on the chair….
AND NO MOGULS IN THE RUN-OUT!!!!!
SQ99 wanted another lap in Chute 75, so I happily joined him…
Always good to ski with old friends….
WHy not a lap in the Rock Garden?????
And then follow it by a lap near Olympic Lady…hell, we’re the only people on KT!!!!
Time for the Chamois…its getting a little wet at the base:
Why not go wine tasting after skiing @ Truckee River Winery?
That night, I fell asleep to these…
KIRKWOOD DAY
The morning was spectacular….
If only I could remember the name of this lake…
And to think I took this with my cellphone…heh
Mt. Tallac looking a little Spring-like…
THE CIRQUE!!!!
Caples Lake and West Shore etc….
Round Top to Sisters….
The WALL!!!!!!!!!
Obligatory early morning groomer shot…
The snow was pretty soft from the get go, so I headed over to the Ski School zone…
And found a nice little air…
Over to Chair 10. With the warm temps, there was one line I figured would be good…
Yep, Once is Enough…
Then over to Waterfall…
A couple laps off the top didn’t hurt….
Upper Chamoix looked a bit thin yet EXTREME…I passed.
The untracked corduroy wasn’t too shabby as an alternate…
Back to 10, I did a couple laps in Norm’s Nose…
Then a lap down the Sisters…
One last lap on 6, I went above Ski School….
And was pleasantly entertained…
In a few short hours, my vehicle hit this temperature in Walnut Creek….
The next day I was buying this..
Thank Yew California!
Following the Northstar and Squallying to Da’ Wood – 02/20/12
It actually snowed…a bit
Date:
February 12th – 20th, 2012
Locations: A few of them…all in the TAHOE REGION OMG!
The big, the bad….NORTHSTAR!
The tame, the lame…SQUAW VALLEY USA!
And Introducing KIRKWOOD…(also known as VAILWOOD)
Weather: Flat-light, some sun, some clouds, some snow…
Riders: Skier666, S.P.C , DaveP & Kelly, SSD, MildBill, Sean from SF, JMetzler, Jrosen32, dblatto, and Slim
Cameramen: Skier666 and S.P.C
POV VIDEO – Squallying over to Da’ Wood – 02/20/12
Music: Need for Mirrors featuring DRS – D.F.T.F
Synopsis:
We are still under 100 inches of total snowfall (as of the last day in this report), but there’s still skiing to be had if you look hard enough. With a planned trip to North Lake Tahoe before Valentine’s Day, and as luck would have it, a fairly decent storm dropped close to a foot of blower over Squaw Valley on the morning of February 13th. Fast forward to President’s weekend and Kirkwood was skiing quite nicely in and out of bounds. Pray for snow. 
Its seems to be working….
Sunday, February 12th, 2012:
The morning was filled with another warm walk to Fort Point with the kids…
With uber dry roads the wife and I were on the slopes at Northstar for a late afternoon shred session in around 3 hours…
Squaw from the Backside at Northstar…
Skiing was horrendous, so we grabbed a few cocktails at the new lodge…and took in the views of the upcoming storm…
The storm dropped around 7 inches that night…
…but once the groomers were skied off, there’s not much else to do due to the low snowpack…
After looking at Squaw…I headed there to meet up with Obscure Reference
Parking lot was nice and full so I expected moguls everywhere by now (11:30am)
Headwall not looking bad at all…hmmm
So…we take a lap in the Slot
…and below we didn’t find moguls
…but we did find patches of this:
On Siberia, Obscure had an idea…’how about we ask Patrol if the Palisades will open?’
Sure enough, Patrol turned the sign after we asked…heh
Hmmm…how will that debris be down there…it didn’t snow THAT much…
So we headed for first tracks down National…
Obscure had to leave after a few Granite laps down Corkscrew, so I decided to lap KT for the rest of the day. (hint: see video above)
The next morning I lapped groomers at Northstar before heading back to SF…it was quite nice.
Time to wash the car…in the gorgeous California sunshine!
A few days later, the boy and I headed up to Tahoe South for the holiday weekend…
Saturday February 18th, 2012:
Stevens Peak on the way to Kirkwood…
MildBill races down Ski School…
Jrosen32 makes an appearance in Main Street…
This is what it looked like….
JMetzler gets in on the action…
Looking pretty good right?
That’s right! Variable POW POW!
Boulevard still has some crap in the middle and I really don’t want to down-climb…
SSD just freaking RAILS a shitty snow turn…
Getting so god damn deep….
OH SNAP!
MildBill makes a turn near a forest….
dblatto gets hella crazy in a sepia turn…
Sean from SF finds a deep spot near Temple of Doom…
And then pulls some steepness in a wide angle style in Ski School…
S.P.C escapes rather quickly while I almost fall off this thing trying to capture the shot…
On Oops EP (Dan Cliffs), 666 goes for it…
On Oops LP, S.P.C finds wintery snow…
The next morning , the little guy and I slay chair 7 & 9 prior to ski school…
Then his papa skis an exposed line on Norms…
With dblatto, DaveP & Kelly, and Sean from SF in tow, we headed up here…
Nice day on Mars…
This shot screams war zone, not ski field….
Ah, even without snow, the Sierra is pretty….
Where is that guy going?
Don’t worry, he’s been there before….
Looks worse than what it really is…I guess
Yep, that’s the problem area for my 192cm Jag Sharks…
Ugh….almost there…
Sean from SF arrives from around the corner in a stoked fashion…
Dblatto makes a turn on some epic snow…
…and yet again, goes sepia on us…
Down to Emigrant Lake looks great…but its not.
Vista was good though…damn good.
Day 3 and we are having a blast!
MildBill and I have a line picked out, can you find it?
Frosty morning with a massive 1” of overnight snowfall…
He starts his descent…
Gathers his bearings…
Makes a turn near a wall…
another turn on snow….and he’s out! Yippie!
Super steep, not deep…
Slim sessions all that overnight fresh….
Emigrant glacier bank…
Lap 2….MildBill gets nutso….
…and makes a TURN!
He’s familiar with these next steps…
But a couple cooks scraped the landing a bit…
Yep, right there…
Fun line…
Slim found a deep patch on lap 2….
Back on Vista, MildBIll turns on the turbos…
And then I go into father spy mode at Timber Creek…
Yep, they are in the Ditch of Doom, or Terror, or whatever it is….heh
Hey, slow down mate!
And a nice sunset after a sweet weekend of skiing…
…and 5 feet of blower is expected in the next 48 hours at time of posting
Aggro April Alpinin’ @ Squaw to Junior June Slayage @ Donner – 06/12/11
SPRING in CALIFORNIA!
Date:
April 8th, 2011 – June 12th, 2011
Location: SF, San Diego, Squaw and Donner Ski Ranch…California
Weather: Mixed…sun, rain, snow, cold right through this TR
Riders:
Skier666, Unpossible, Abominable Snowman, and little 6’er
Cameraman:
666, Unpossible, & Abominable Snowman
POV VIDEO – Aggro April Alpinin’ @ Squaw to Junior June Slayage @ Donner
Aggro April Alpinin’ @ Squaw to Junior June Slayage @ Donner – 06/12/11 from skier666 on Vimeo.
Music: LOL – ‘Trophy Wife’
Synopsis:
Even as the 6’er family needed to take a VACAY from the mountains while we patiently waited for the arrival of our next ball of terror, the storms kept coming. No, not warm storms, Alaskan low-pressure-popcorn-cloud storms wouldn’t stop. So what does a family do? That’s right…go to San Diego where its just as warm as SF!
Soon thereafter, the 6’er lucks out on a rippin’ last day at Squaw in mid-April. But of course, this skier could not avoid the endless news coverage of the record snowfall. Week after week it continued to snow. The bonus? Well, a longer ski season of course!
After the arrival of a healthy baby girl, father and son decided to rip up the last front side day of Donner Ski Ranch. Perfect day after a stressful 2 months!
Java Porn: Diet Rock Star and PB&J treat
April 8th, 2011…Ahhhh, Springtime!:
Are we skiing or is it the San Diego Zoo?
Two caged animals….
Coronado birdlife….
A hotel and beach near Mexico…
Full of gold…
Time to take the 2 year olds to a Padres Game…we lasted about 17mins.
While watching cartoons with a full house of crazy kids, I noticed this…
Time to get extreme at the rental…
Great crisp weather….yes I believe it was snowing down to 1000ft just up North.
Red bucket…
One tip…a small ‘rental’ speed boat is a little sketchy on the Bay at 4pm…
Back in SF, S.P.C and I go see Breakage and Goth Trad mix up some darkne55…
April 16th, 2011
Tunnels mean skiing!
There she is….!
Mmmm….winterized groomers.
Here’s an area at Squaw that requires hiking…a real backcountry experience.
Looking super smooth to me…
Mars…
Southern Pride…
Chimney…
…with a hole on the exit
So smoooooooooth!
Unpossible makes an appearance…
Time for Silverado laps!
We ventured into the newest gate in Silvy, although the highest traverse was off-limits, there is some nice consistent pitches and granite to leap off out there….
Making the most out of the new zone…
Coverage is….good!
Time to slay some sketchy snow…
Definitely better in the sun…
Fun can be had…
Weeeeeeeeee!
Time to play in and around the Nose…
Always a good call….
And then traverse into the Fingers…
No moguls in outrun = awesome day!
Back on the Palisades….6’er lines up on Main Chute
Through the magic of technology, this is what it looked like…..
Will he make it?
Don’t fall in bro….
Such a ‘daredevil’….
Time for a break…
Skiing in wetsuits, the new rage…
After some sugar and alcohol…..
6’er gets some courage….
A familiar line….
And then a little base grinding in Rock Garden….
And we are back!
The Death of April:
At least the Farmer’s Market has a view…
The kids take us for a spin on their 747…
Easter happens….
Snow continues at Squaw the week our child is born in the 3rd week of May…
Baby is almost here….and this is Sugar Bowl!
Palisades looking buffed out….
Our Amazon order for a baby girl came as scheduled….and no sales tax!
We took our new boat to the beach…
Had a warm beach day in Stinson….
Post-baby and back to work…yippie for me!
Ooooooooh….
Rooftop party in NobHill?
A little run…
Wow is that a ‘JUNUARY’ STORM from AK?
Snow returns to Tahoe….Kirkwood…
Fingers….in June?
June 12th, 2011:
Unpossible, 666, and little 6’er head to Donner Ski Ranch!
I think we’ll have cell coverage….
A view of a lake called Donner…
Sugar Bowl looking DEEP!
Team Extreme!
Time to SLAY!
‘I can do this’
All to ourselves….
Yep, a Piston Bully! ROAR!
Chair 2? No problem.
After spending $5 from his piggy bank to ride for the day, he mandated speed runs….
‘That’s right, ring me up for 3, yes 3 Drinks!’
Chair 2 in the afternoon…not bad for June 12th.
‘Dig in those edges!!!!!’
Yup, I killed that run….
This one is for the fans…
Donner, thanks for being open!
First Place!
What’s the brown stuff? Is Summer actually arriving?????
HMMMMMMMMMM….
Mountainous Month of Memoirs – (01/23/11 thru 02/28/11)
Yep, it has been SNOWING…
(the infamous Spur shot of 2011)
Date:
January 23rd – February 28th, 2011
Locations: Kirkwood, Northstar, Squaw, Mt. Tam, Stinson Beach, Academy of Sciences, Pacific Crest Snowcats, Oahu, Lanai, and some more Kirkwood.
Weather: January thaw to 3 meter mega storms to sunny Hawaii
Riders:
Skier666, lil’ 666, MildBill, Steven S Dallas, Dblatto, SPC, Unpossible, Jrosen32, Tyrome Shoelaces, Dhelihiker, powdork, lph, arty50, DaveP, SuPu, JMetzler, Mach Looney, Slim, etc
Cameramen:
666, Steven S Dallas, Powdork, JMetzler, and others
POV VIDEO – How about two…
Sir, Can I have some Broken Arrow over ice? Thank Yewww! – 01/29/11 from skier666 on Vimeo.
AND….
Stormin’ the Boredom of a Californian Skier – 02/26/11 from skier666 on Vimeo.
Music: Nu:tone – ‘Broken’
Synopsis:
Here comes another major photoblog to make my cameras feel useful. From the epic heat to epic cold snowfalls, to teaching your kid how to ski, to roaming the Hawaiian Islands, to skiing pow with your friends, to roaming Redwoods at the Pacific Ocean.
Java Porn: A coffee pic from a good mate in NZ…
January 23rd, 2011:
What better way to spend a Sunday than taking your kid on his first chairlift session on a sunny Kirkwood day…
Oh yeah, first time on Chair 9 baby!
We’re both pretty stoked…
‘Dad, I want to go in there!’….’Ummm, son, its frozen solid’….’I don’t care.’
‘Yep, that’s right, I fucking killed chairs 7 & 9, and no, I didn’t ski in these sweats, keep walking….’
When will California fix these damn levees?
January 29th, 2011:
Next, we headed up to Squaw and Northstar…as luck would have it, it ended up snowing a foot or so after the heat wave….
I can do this…
Faster please….
Mom, bearing child, takes some turns with BOTH kids….
I’ll showcase my skis right over here…
This thing is lame…
Time for Papa’s break…
January 30th, 2011:
Squallywood…after the great warm January of 2011
Pow over bulletproof…
666 tries out his new coat…
Unpossible follows my lead in Broken Arrow….
He doesn’t look that bad for Bay Area motherboard expert…
Broken Arrow’s pow being broken…
February 1st-7th, 2011:
Took a commercial airline to Hawaii. Oahu to be exact. This is how to travel with kids…
Here’s some shots above Lani Kai beach…
So artsy….
My wife is too fast for me….
Scenic.
Such an ugly beach…
I fell down in there….only suffered a broken brain.
Don’t tell him that those are knock-off Ray Ban’s.
When then spent a few days soaking in the sun on Lane Meyer’s home island, Lanai. Here’s a sunset.
February 13th, 2011:
Back in the Bay, the wife and I go for a hike near SF…
Yes, I fell off that ladder…
Stoner water pics….
Mossy….
I call this one ‘Tree Bark’…
Fallen tree pine needle stoke…
Finally made it out of the forest, but a storm is brewing….
February 16th – 21st:
It begins….
Very close to snow in San Francisco…
Dblatto said it was snowing in Napa…here’s proof:
Yep, California for ya’…
SSD sends some pics from Tahoe….BEFORE:
AFTER:
The Roads got dicey…
But roads were open…
My car really wanted to drive on the groomer, so we left early…
Definitely winter at Kirkwood…
Arty50 makes a turn…
SuPu, well, he’s got some shit stuck on his face….
Dblatto skiing aggressively…
DaveP goes for huck neck…
Mach Looney? Hard to tell….but its still cool.
Just a little bit of snow…
I left my car over there. No wait, over there….
Hard to take pics on a powder day, so here are some POV stills to prove it was good…
The snow flew around…
Dhelihiker takes his first leap in Upper Cham…
666 goes next…
Dhelihiker on Oops EP area…
666 follows behind…
Near lower Cham…all filled in…
Powdork takes some shots of us, Here’s me flailing yet sticking the 90 footer….yippie.
Dhelihiker’s knee felt better…
666 over the Waterfall Cave…
Dhelihiker liked that idea…
Powdork gets a high line score…
Lph makes a powder turn in lower Cirque…
Ahhhhhh, all praise Caltrans for the shuttle over the Spur!
After being shuttled through to Silver Lake over the Spur, this guy couldn’t find his keys…gosh.
Pleasant surroundings…
Avoiding traffic, 666 took three major bridges to get home…
The next morning, it was chilly but crisp…
Kinda weird to see snow when you wake up in SF….
We then headed to the Academy of Sciences in GG Park, this cheetah’s meal was interrupted by my son banging on the window…
Real Penguins! Woot!
Jellyfish steeze….
February 24th – February 27th, 2011:
666 takes a nap after the long drive to Crystal Bay from SF with DaveP…
We awoke to find out it barely snowed in the 4 hours that we were asleep…
Driving around Truckee was fun..
Yay, time to go skiing…
With all these jokers? Ugh….
Due to safe snow travel techniques, it was hard to take pics, so here are some POV stills…
Weeeeeeeeee!
Lots of snow even for 120mm underfoot…
But still deep…
The next morning, the storm cleared…
Tallac looked orgasmic…
The Cirque looked even better…
But then it got a tad windy…
666 on Waterfall…
666 in Waterfall…
Tyrone is still jumping off things…
Dblatto does the same….
While I’m finding untracked…
S.P.C tries to out jump the rest…
…but I still found powder…
So then I jumped a few things…
And S.P.C followed suit…
Dblatto finds a late day pow stash…
I head home to take snowplow pictures…
And sunny pics of Mt. Diablo…
While MildBill gets EXTREME in Temple of Doom…
And sorts his line in the Fin Zone…
….
That was a long one…
Schussing the Subtle Slopes of Squaw – 01/03/11
SQUAW VALLEY USA OMG!
Date:
January 3rd, 2011
Location: Squaw Valley of California near Nevada
Weather:
Partly sunny until making a left into Squaw Valley where we found a nice fog/mist layer encompassing most of the mountain. We were greeted to a few laps of sun but mostly flat-light for the day.
Skis:
Moment Belafonte…why not?
Riders:
Skier666, Obscure Reference, and Obscure’s buddy Adam…
Cameramen:
666, Obscure
POV VIDEO – Subtle Slopes…
Schussing the Subtle Slopes at Squaw – 01/03/11 from skier666 on Vimeo.
Music: Sub Focus – ‘Could this be Real’
Synopsis:
Massive storm hit the region while I was away in the midwest. I decided to use my Squaw Pass, and skied more fogged-over moguls than powder but all in all a great day skiing with some bros.
Java Porn: Standard brew pickup via automobile…
Extremely Squaw Valley below:
I can tell today is going to be DEEP!
HWY 89 is open from the ghetto shore, time to take some pretty pictures…
Around Emerald Bay….
There she is….
Time to she what good ol’ Lake Tahoe is up to…
From California looking into Nevada…
Funny, my boat was there in September…did someone untie it?
Finally at Squaw but looks like the Fingers are getting frostbitten…
Time for the Obscure and 666 show milking as much as humanly possible…
Getting corked in corkscrew…
Bottle is now dry….
Back in Silverado, we jump off stuff…
Out of focus to FLAT!
The sun graciously appeared for our broken arrow lap…
Oh, such a tease..8 mins later, you couldn’t see the Gold Coast lift…
Took a long walk to get some heavy fresh…
Adam gets some powdery snow…
So does the 6′er…
666 is in there somewhere…
Adam told me that he loved skiing…
Obscure charges HARD…even when there is no apparent reason.
666 desperately tries for a faceshot…
Here he just wants you to see his face…
Adam finds a little slice of heaven…
Obscure follows his lead…
Over to the Nose…conditions get…variable….
Haha, this guy is ridiculously handsome….
And a final lap in Rockgarden….
Good Day!
Foreclosure Upon Winter By Summer, in CA – 05/31/10
TR: Foreclosure Upon Winter By Summer, in CA – 05/31/10
RIDICULOUS 2010!
(Below: Kirkwood ‘The Wall’ – Monday May 31st, 2010)
Date:
May 28-31st, 2010
Location: Obscure Reference gets a few early morning KT-22 pow turns in at Squaw, then we hit another backcountry trip to Hall of the Gods above Fallen Leaf Lake. Finally, Slim and I visit a ski ghost town called Kirkwood.
Squaw Valley USA of California Sierra Nevada Mountain Range
Hallzzzzz……………
Kirkwood, CA (Yes, this pic is from two days ago….)
Weather: Sunny. 55F. Some cloud on Monday.
Skiers:
Skier666, Obscure Reference, Slim, mogul5480….
Cameramen:
666, Obscure Reference, & Slim
POV VIDEO – Not too bad for almost June….
Foreclosure Upon Winter By Summer, in CA – 05/31/10 from skier666 on Vimeo.
Music: Moderat – "Rusty Nails"
Synopsis:
It snowed Thursday night and dropped up to 18 inches of snow in places. A few soldiers managed to get out on the hills Friday morning to session the rare hi-quality powder. By Friday afternoon, most Tahoe slopes were quickly approaching the Spring texture. Saturday, a 4:30am wake-up call leads us to the Hall of the Gods to ski some classic chutes. Finally, after relaxing on Sunday, it was time for Slim and I to take a Spur and a Wall lap at Kirkwood.
Java Porn: 7-Eleven….American as apple pie
How about getting down to business…:
The weather was busy mid-week…according the visible satellite image:
The Infrared shows trajectory towards Tahoe….
Radar shows precipitation…
Maycember in the Bay….
Meanwhile, Obscure sends me an image from Tahoe…
Friday morning, Obscure decides to hike up KT at Squaw….looks shitty to me.
His buddy gets attacked by powwwwwder….
Almost June on West Face????
The storm starts to deteriorate as I make my way to the mountains…
Above Strawberry, Winter shows his glory…
Saturday morning, Obscure begins his day of skiing…
Yes, around that massive rock is Disneyland….
As usual, Slim was in a bad mood….he hates skiing.
Why we love ‘Da Hallz’….
At this point the sun finally warms up my bald head…
‘Almost there buddy!’
I believe that these are a series of high mountain lakes…
Obscure wanted this shot…
…so we did it twice…
Is that powder?
January or almost June?
Got plans to hike into Desolation Wildness in your favorite flip-flops? Think again.
Sunnyside up toward Echo Peak…
O M F G!
Obscure’s line choice….too many tracks for me.
Obscure begins his descent…
I like this one…
Watch for the slough…
Slim skiing…
Snow getting variable…
Obscure went ice skating…
Foreclosure is happening…
Main Halls….left zone schralped the day prior
Obscure is ready….
Oh Boy…
Boring…
Yuck….its only almost June…
666 was there…
Much better conditions this time around…
Time to open it up…
A turn….
Aggressive….
Alpine….
Skiing!
My favorite photo…
Meh…
P-O-W-D-E-R!
Turn by a rock….
666 eyes the lakes….
Weeeee!
Fun!
Carvelicious!
This is a waterfall falling near a lake…
Ok, now just make a left turn around that island….
Its 8pm….Hall of the Gods just to the left of Tallac…
One too many? I’m starting to see things on the Lake….
Its Monday, time to ski Kirkwood…but first a view of Red Lake.
Moon Crescent….
I think there’s still snow at Kirkwood…
Slim makes an early morning hike….
Yep, he’s a 9 foot tall scary human being…
‘Wall’ – May 31st, 2010…
Slim ate a highlighter for breakfast…
This guy?
Slim on the Spur…
Slim on lower Spur…
666 on upper Spur…
666 on lower Spur…
….contimued…
Time to run up the Wall…
Made it….
Top of the skier’s left Cirque?
Too soft and too dangerous at 10am…
….and meanwhile in New Zealand (photo: Miles Holden)
BYE BYE
Skiing the Snow & Sun of Squawstar – 4/13/10
It snowed yet again in California….
Date:
April 10th – 13th, 2010
Locations: Northstar and Squaw, CA
Northstar…
Squaw Valley USA of California…
Weather:You name it, we got it!
Skiers: Skier666, Jrosen32, zIPPY, Derek
Cameramen: Skier666, zIPPY, & Adominable Snowman
POV VIDEO
Zippy’s video, little blown-out but be patient, kinda entertaining…
666’s video…its horrible as usual
Music: Kid Cudi vs. Crookers "Day ‘n’ Night"
Synopsis:
Squaw is always fun….and so can Northstar with a foot of pow!
Shall we Begin?:
April 10th, 2010
Loaded up the car and headed East…
The family and I spend the first night at Squaw, where the little guy learns to love Squaw’s grooming flight…
…Yes, I want some apple juice, a donut, and my monkey blanket, now!
April 11th, 2010
Hey dad, what the hell is that thing…?
Son, this is Squaw, they have lifts going in the strangest places…sit here and study this board…
OMG, first in line for TRAM!!!!
First Squaw Tram ride stoke!
Made it to Links…so crazy steep!
Skier666 getting some on the awesomo crust from Sat…
He loves the Olympic Lady….
Time for beer with Abominable Snowman and his lady…
April 12th, 2010
We attempted some turns near the Ritz, but pretty much failed due to ill-fitting boots…
Yes, I am actually skiing Northstar….N O R T H S T A R!
Nice winter day…in Spring…
Even the animals came out looking for food but were confused with all the new snow…
It accumulated behind the condo…
The Mrs. finally got a decent pow day since her devastating ankle injury in 2003…
…and I think she had some fun…
I even caused an avalanche at Northstar…yep, an avalanche, believe it!
She was making some great turns in the trees…
Meanwhile, later that day, we decided to ride to Northstar Gondi for FUN!
Mesmerizing…
…but not as cool as this room we found at the Ritz!!!!
April 13th, 2010
Got about 6" of new on crust. Made for some good skiing, we have proof:
That’s not going to last long…
Random shots of Squaw sweetness…
Chimney Sweep super filled-in, but we decided to lap Silvy instead…
This brave individual wanted to send it in Silverado…
Unfortunately, he landed on rocks below. Don’t know if he was lost or what, but we hope he’s okay. By the next run, he was gone so I think Ski Patrol was able to help him out.
Jrosen32 getting some freshies right before the mank tried to take his knee…
zIPPY liking what Silverado has to offer…
Top of Silverado fun…
I wanted to hit this for sometime now…so smooth!
Almost as fun as Space Mountain!
Some skier’s on next years most funnest skis. I promise. So much fun on pretty much everything, since we skied every kind of snow that day.
…..Zippin’ zippy on lower hanging gardens
Derek gettin’ steazed….
Skier666 almost took the sled down after tweeking his pinky finger, but instead he skied it….
The top look of the straightline under the Tram. Good times, check the POV…
Trying to find some thing interesting off Broken Arrow….
Back to KT…where are all the people?
A fellow ripper enjoying the fingers as well….
We then moved on to the skier’s left of the fingers. You can guess that I know exactly what everything is NOT called at Squaw. TOTAL JONG!
Derek enjoying….
Rock Garden fun times….
Neck deep…
And finally, we moved to the dirty Dog to get some fun spines…
At 2pm it was basically untracked…
I heart SQUAW and of course, Zippy!
Thank
YEW!
Slaying Spring Dragons on Winter’s Tail – 03/21/10
Date:
March 19-21st, 2010
Location: Squaw, Sierra at Tahoe backcountry, & Kirkwood sidecountry
Weather: Summer conditions Friday through Saturday with more springlike temps on Sunday.
Skiers & the splitboarder:
666, Slim, Zippy, MildBill, Squaw Kid & Bcrider
Camerawomen:
666, Zippy, Dblatto with one iPhone shot & Bcrider
POV VIDEO – POV inlcudes every type of snow imaginable, including winter snow in 60F temps.
Music: Instra:mental – No Future (Skream Remix)
Synopsis:
After some decent storms 2 weeks ago, the weather decided to warm up and hit close to 60F in the mountains. Squaw was pretty frozen, except for the usual sunny areas, but we seemed to find some winter snow in the backcountry of Sierra (Sayles Canyon) and Kirkwood (Thunderbowl & Spur). Bottom line, it was a damn fine weekend given the conditions.
Coffee Influence:
Non-fat Iced Latte mastered by Lola
Round One!: Squaw Valley World Resort
First a little waxing session by our Tahoe dog, Skittles (he’s on Facebook btw)
Extreme driving….
Zippy hits up the Olympic Lady groomers….
666 follows suit…
Zippy eats some Funnel….
Shirley Chutes….
Squaw’s highest point….
Maybe we should descend….
Sunny steeps…
Zippy finds a line…as usual…
Zippy makes his first turn 1000 feet below….
Zippy searches for rad silver in Silverado…
666 follows suit…
Squaw kid met us for a few laps…
Snow snakes exist in Broken Arrow….
Zippy finds a slot…
666 gets sloppy seconds….
Beer exists here…
West Shore wonders…
Scenic South Shore…
Zippy and I end the night with a romantic dinner and some grappa…
Sierra Ski Ranch:
So, we’re going to skin from where?
Bcrider starts by skinning through a mossy forest…
The evil clearing…
What are these things?
The first zone (keyhole) just up ahead…..
Bcrider is ready for slayage with no other humans around…
He drops in…
Bcrider rides…
666 takes a turn…
And found some nice winter snow…
666 enjoys the descent…
Bcrider slays pow….
…and then makes a turn…
…and finally, discovers a frozen field of furor…
666 finds a winter zone…
Time to head to the next area…
Uphill it is….
Meanwhile in the Kirkwood sidecountry, MildBill descends down CA Chute…
WE MADE IT!
I think this zone will do…
666 heads downhill…
And finds a chute…
CORN…
HARVEST!
Bcrider plays pinball…
…scored well…
…and earned an extra credit!
Smooooooooth snow….
Pillows of corn…
666 gets one more turn….
After a long slug, Bcrider appears out of the forest…
And hits a groomer!
The sixer is pooped after his tasty beer…
KIRKWOOD KIRKWODD KIRKWOOD!
That’s right race stock GS boards were the call for most of the day….
MildBill lurches into Ski School…
MildBill forced us…er Slim….to ski Thunderbowl….
It was winterized!
Slim enjoyed himself….
dAfter a quick skin to Martin Point, our zone came into view…
California…
MildBill down the gut of the Spur…
A house attacked by El Nino….
Another successful day….
Time for an incredibly late lunch at 88 Burger…
MildBill sat down and broke this house…
Bye
B
Y
E
Sensational Steep Skiing in Sunny Tahoe, California (KW, SQUAW, BC) – 02/16/10
Date:
February 11th-16th, 2010
Location: CALIFORNIA – a well run state
Weather: GLORIOUS SUNSHINE……and a few clouds.
Skiers:
Skier666, Zippy, Frush, CS, Jrosen32, Zippys buddy in a yellow coat
Photo Journalists:
666 and Zippy (with a brand new camera!!!!!)
POV VIDEO – View from my helmet on Thursday and Friday at Kirkwood.
Music: Jubei & Tyrone – ‘Tremor’
Synopsis:
Ski Kirkwood for 4 days straight, one with the little guy, a day at SQUAW VALLEY EARTH, and end with a ski tour with Zippy up the Moon Crescent off of Roundtop.
FIGHT!:
The storms never materialized over South San Francisco….
…but Carson Pass was showing nipple deep of new
Heavenly’s ‘Gunbarrel’
Groomers were immaculate….
How about some slackcountry?
The Frush came to pick up his season pass…
…and to hit the Diagonal Chute (which I believe is Broadway)
We decide to go BEYOND THE GATES!!!!!
Yep…on our way to CALI CHUTES…
The Frush gets some….well….fresh.
Temple of Doom meets Frush…
This guy had my scent…
DAY DOS!
…OMG…CS!
Zippy found some cold smoke in the lower Cirque…
Off to West Shore….
Zippy takes the first turn…
666 takes the second….
CS takes the 3rd…
Zippy takes the 4th…
CS had a good time…
Our little playground…
Zippy in the ice fall of Doomland..
666 searches for ice for his Dewars…
666 in Hells……
Zippy in Hells as wells’….
666 gets aggressive…
Zippy is an eagle…
666 follows his turd tracks….
Heh….same run…just lower on the mountain…
‘Once’ a day for Zippy…
Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
Here, we found out that CS telemarks….if only we knew….
Zippy takes off above Ski School…
666 airs opposite of the CAVE….
ANOTHER DAY OF SUNSHINE!
The next day….JROSEN32 skiing….somewhere
Again…turnin’ back time indeed….
After daily boot alterations, Mrs.666 slays the groomers…..
First day on proper boots and bindings, the little guy gets pumped with his favorite drink….
His schmear is coming along….not bad for 19 months.
YAY….SQUAW!!!!!
Maybe it should be called ‘Heavenly?’
An aerial tramway goes over this….just like Europe!
Did it freeze last night? ‘Nope.’ Then let’s ski KT first thing….why not? Zippy entertains…
His brother gets creative…
Jrosen32 looking hella xTreme on the Palisades….
And so he airs over ‘Extra’…..
…little bro follows older bro….
A lap of Granite Chief….yeah…really….what? You can’t tell?
Silverado? Why not?
Light Towers? Horrid snow….
Zippy’s buddy airs onto firm in Chronic II….
Zippy does the same…
Zippy picking the Nose….
…finds what he was looking for…
THE FINAL DAY!
Token ‘we’re going backcountry skiing’ shot….
I think you can guess….
Binding POV…its the future
Zippy listening to hip hop….
Zippy listening to trance…
Zippy listening to metal…
666 listening to dnb….yep…I won.
Summit reached…we’re so rad.
Looking to the South…
…and to the Northern view of the Pacific Ocean…
Did I mention that the snow was horrendous on the way up?
