Latest Ski Conditions

by the READERS

Just came back from a 5 day trip to Crested Butte...... Weather was mostly cloudy with a couple of warm sunny days. Received some light snow on Sunday. Not sure of their base but they have plenty of coverage on the lower level runs. Plenty of Green/Blue runs for the beginner.... and plenty of black diamond runs for the advanced skier's. However, its a exercise in of caution and a mine field of rocks on these runs. But if you're brave enough you can catch some great tree chutes that are a blast. Some of the black diamonds are accessed by riding up a "Poma" or a "platter", an adventure in itself, if you've never done this before. With especially great runs that require quite a bit of hoofing/side stepping up some small trails for about 10 minutes. But you get a great workout and an awesome view. This trails opens up to a large bowl. The top has many rocks but if you drop in this had the best snow on the mountain.

There are 3 separate Nastar courses to practice on. As a member of a San Diego Ski club, we do most of our racing at Mammoth, but took advantage of the Nastar courses and had a lot of fun.

Interestingly, they were having a Veteran's event, with lots of disabled skiers taking advantage of the great snow as well. Its awesome to see these people overcome their disabilities and enjoy the snow with everyone else. They also had Scuba diving gear set up for them and a rock climbing wall for them to try as well. Some of these men were able to climb using only their arms.

On our day off, we rented a car and drove to Ouray to do some Ice Climbing. The weather was incredibly clear, so the valley was stunning. We picked a few climbs in the shade. The ice was still in pretty good condition. Overall we had a great time. If anyone is coming out to California to do some skiing (before the season ends) give me an email & I can possibly help them out. Lik2race@aol.com Tamberly

The skiing at Killington was GREAT! I met a woman names Julie on Saturday at Killington while she was skiing with her boyfriend Mark and again at the Grist Mill. I took her picture on Double Dipper. She lives in Pleasantville, NY and has been skiing since the age of 5. She is a hot skier and cute to boot. This Italian gal is originally from Brooklyn, NY but grew up in Yorktown Heights, NY. She raced on the Yorktown High School ski team and is a stock broker for Morgan Stanley Dean Witter in Rye, NY. Mark owns a computer and network integration company called Performance Connectivity, Inc. in Portchester, NY.

She told me "Skiing is my absolute favorite thing to do and is a great way to relieve stress. Mark enjoys trying to keep up with me. I have been renting a house at Killington for the past 7 years and just bought a condo there in October.
I try to come up as many weekends as possible. It is my favorite mountain on the East coast. I'm also looking forward to playing golf there this summer. This Friday Mark and I are heading to Europe to ski the Swiss and French Alps
for 10 days. We can't wait!" Paul Maraschiello

I have no idea what ski conditions are like on your side of the pond but in Europe we have wall to wall powder in the Alps. So much so that there was a big avalanche in Zell am Zee in Austria yesterday, 11 ski instructors and two snowboarders are missing presumed dead. Lets all spare a thought for these powder hounds and their families.
I might come skiing in the U.S. or Canada in April - possibly Whistler, till then I'll just have to dream...
Take it easy geezer, Charlie

ski conditions at Blacktail Mountain Ski Area, Lakeside Montana. Great spring skiing with mixed conditions, sunny and perfect!! Join in the fun at Blacktail!! Susie G.

Here's the deal, skiied Mount Snow on Sat and Sun. conditions were ideal spring skiing. I'm on the freestyle team and everyone was on Inferno, plenty of big hits including the bottom jump, left over from the X Games. Big Air
ALL day. Plenty of heli's, a few misty's, and much more. Looks like Bear Trap has had it, had to hike up to the top of the trail. MT. Snow says its closing on the April 9th, then its Hello SuperStar for us! VT Bump Skier

I just came back from 3 days of spring skiing in Killington, and it was awesome, but it didn't top my favorite resort,
Steamboat. I think I like the trails at steamboat because they are less interconnected. At some points in Killington the skiing made me feel like I was on a freeway. I definitely get off on the backcountry feel that the
top and backside of steamboat offers.

From talking to some friends about what I like in skiing (large open terrain, glade skiing, uncomplicated trail systems) they told me that I should look at Utah. Do you have any experience with the Alta, Snowbird or Taos resorts, and the Utah Interconnect? Right now I am thinking about setting up shop in Steamboat, but if I can find a place that is more
affordable with more skiable terrain than I might change my mind. Steamboat was pretty remote from any other action, and might get a little stale after a full season. Then again skiing at a top 10 resort should never ever get
dull. Mickey

Skied loon Saturday, great coverage, need more bumps!! Flume was good though, the mountain was in firm condition.

later- CRC

Cool....should be plenty of snow left at Kirkwood
Dave

I found about four or five inches a week ago at Sunday and am now out for 4 weeks under Dr's care. Ruth Fields

Why in the hell would anyone want to ski at Killington? And if I met you at the bar, you'd expect me to buy you a drink. Get real! The best skiing is out here in the Tahoe Basin. It got warm today. Great Spring skiing. Sun was out both Saturday and Sunday. Tom Whalen

Head West for the Best Snow Around. Bruce