Frank's Blog » Resort Skiing

Roadtrip 2011: Stevens Pass 2-17-11

Frank — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 00:30:17 +0000

As much as I love the skiing in Crested Butte, sometimes you just gotta get out of town and ski some different terrain. I’ll be spending the next 2-3 weeks up here in Pemberton, BC, but I needed to make a quick stop in Leavenworth, WA to visit my friend Stone Parker along the way. Stone makes amazing rings, and since Brittany and I are in the market for a couple of rings, I crashed at his house to talk shop and get guided around his home area of Stevens Pass while I was at it. First I had to check out the faux Bavarian village of Leavenworth. Nobody told me I was going to run into “Der Radhaus”, as the local ski shop is called, but everything in this town is named in some kind of “Germerican”, as I will choose to call this relative of “Spanglish”. Sort of cool and cheesy at the same time…

In any case, the skiing at Stevens didn’t disappoint. I’d long heard great things about the mountain, and as long as it isn’t raining, as it often does here in WA, Stevens sits solidly in my top ten list for North American Ski Areas. It never hurts to have an awesome guide like Stone, either. Some sampling of the terrain:

One of Stone’s friends:

Self-portrait somewhere in the vicinity:

It was hard enough chasing Stone around without stopping to take photos, so POV will have to suffice. Most of the video was a short hike from the area, although there is plenty of in-bounds terrain that is just as good. They’re just so spoiled here that the thought of skiing something with more than one track is nearly unthinkable.

Stevens Pass 2-17-11 from 14erskiers on Vimeo.

I tried to roll out of Steven’s with plenty of time to make it through the border crossing and arrive in Pemberton at a reasonable hour. Sometimes the border is a piece of cake, sometimes it’s a pain in the butt. Sadly, on this trip I got the latter, with a full search of the truck and accusations that I was moving to Canada. I tried to tell them I would have been taking a lot more skis and my bike as well if I was, but they weren’t buying it. Meanwhile, a storm was brewing in North Vancouver that continued all the way through Whistler. A couple of one-hour delays on the highway and a crazy game of “weave through the stuck cars” eventually got me to Pemberton around 3am- a 12 hour drive that usually takes half that. I snapped one photo during a good part of the drive- I’d have to call this drive one of the worst I’ve ever done:

In the end it was worth it, and we got to ski the beer spines (names will be withheld and made-up on this trip) the next day, but more on that later…

Other PNW/ Pemberton Reports:

Steven’s Pass
No Sleep Spines
O Face
Trandem Trees
Down Days and Thoughts on Snowmobile Skiing
Dope Creek Part 1
Pemberton Icecap
Dope Creek Part 2

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A Festivus For The Rest Of Us

Frank — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 00:21:19 +0000

While much of Colorado has been having a banner early season, Crested Butte has largely been missing out on the big dumps, as the storms keep coming on a dreaded Northwest flow. While our backountry does OK in this situation, the ski area is lucky to have a few inches. Judging by what I’ve seen in the San Juans, I guess it could be much worse. But this week, the tables have turned with my favorite wind direction of all- West, or even W-SW. The result? A huge dump already, with amounts forecasted that are hard to believe. Colorado Powder Forecast is calling for 32-64 inches between now (Saturday Eve.) and Wednesday night (and I don’t even think it’s done yet on Wed.) Of course, that’s in addition to the foot and a half plus we’ve already gotten. But hey, words are just words, unless they’re accompanied by PICS! Happy Festivus!

The crowds are awful!

Brittany:

Frank:

Bury those cars!

A word on coverage: we need every bit of this snow to get things open and in good shape. West Wall opened briefly today, so hopefully that means some other openings in the future. The most likely subjects right now would be West Wall, Horseshoe, Monument, and the High Lift. I don’t know if they’ve run ropes on Headwall and Teocalli Bowl yet, which would be the main limiting factor in terms of getting that terrain open in the near future. Let’s hope they saw this coming…

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Red Mountain, Rossland BC 3.1.10

Frank — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 18:42:56 +0000

After our day in Whitewater, we did the short one hour drive to the town of Rossland. I first visited the area in 2000. After skiing there just a couple of days, I decided to move there the following winter of 2000-2001. That alone should tell you the kind of place Rossland is, and the kind of ski area Red Mountain is. It just felt like home. Of course, that may have to do with the similarities between Crested Butte and Rossland- both have a Paradise chair, both have a Paradise lodge, both have a Rafters bar at the base (Crested Butte has since torn theirs down), both are old mining towns with a ski area 3 miles away. And both places have steep technical skiing rivaling anywhere I’ve been to. On a good day at Red, you’ll find yourself skiing steep glades in 2500′ shots run after run. Red is a workout, for sure.

So it was with great anticipation that I hoped to lead Brittany to some of my favorite runs at the ski area. Sadly, things didn’t quite work out that way.

Rolling into Rossland as the sun sets:

Conditions were unusually clear for the area as we headed up the mountain, although the Columbia river was socked in with fog as it often is.

With 6 or 7 inches of new snow falling two days before our arrival, we had high hopes of some good skiing but instead we found refrozen partially skied up mank. The snow that fell had been really been wet, and a couple of cold nights had really destroyed it. Our first run down steep roots was probably the worst run of our whole trip. We switched over to the South facing groomed runs off the Paradise chair, and mostly skied groomers for the rest of the day. Not what we had in mind, but that’s the way it was. At least we got to check out some of what Red Mountain offers on such a perfect day: Mt. Roberts, and easy sidecountry lap:

Record, more sidecountry:

Old Glory in the background:

The town of Rossland from the ski area:

Town again:

The Microwave face and some of the steep tree skiing such as Cambodia and Needles:

That’s about it. No ski shots, it just wasn’t the day for it. Sadly, our road trip was at an end, and we left Rossland bound for home, making it almost to Missoula, MT, and then the rest of the way back to Crested Butte. While we weren’t blessed with great snow for the most part, we still had a great time exploring some new areas and meeting some great folks along the way.

Other Montana-Canada Road Trip Blog Posts
Road Trip Update
Itinerary
Bridger Bowl
Whitefish
Fernie
Kicking Horse
Roger’s Pass
Revelstoke
Nelson and Whitewater
Red Mountain and Rossland

Revelstoke Mountain Resort 2.26.10

Frank — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 05:21:33 +0000

From Roger’s Pass, Brittany and I made our way down to the town of Revelstoke. Meanwhile our friends Jon and Susan headed our way from Pemberton, so we’d be a foursome for Revelstoke. Revelstoke Mountain Resort (RMR) opened just recently, in December 2007, and boasts North America’s biggest vertical drop at 5,620′. A number of additional lifts and other developments are currently planned which will make RMR North America’s largest ski area.

The current “feel” at RMR is definitely one of a work in progress. Ever been in a half finished house sporting insulation and unfinished subfloors? That’s what RMR feels like right now- a work in progress. The trail layout is really strange, but with more lifts, some of the many traverses currently necessary to navigate the resort may be a thing of the past.

Without a guide, the 4 of us were left finding our own way around in the fog and light snow that was falling. We found some fun areas, but also found some heinous creek gullies funneling us to the other lifts. On to the pics…

Susan and I checking things out:

Brittany at the top of a short hike:

Brittany:

Sweet visibility in the ping pong ball:

Jon:

One thing for sure at RMR is that they had fun naming things, with chairs called The Stoke and The Ripper. But I liked this trial name best of all:

While RMR may boast a lot of vertical, the bottom half of the mountain was thin and icy, and not worth skiing. We had to ski this pitch right under the gondola, which was humorously dangerous and difficult given the icy condition it was in:

Originally, we planned to ski RMR another day, or go sled skiing with Jon and Susan. Avalanche conditions were pretty bad, however, and the ski area wasn’t skiing that well. Perhaps most importantly, Brittany and I had been hitting it pretty hard, always skiing and driving without a single day off. So we adjusted our plans and left Revelstoke a day early so we could hit up some hot springs and ski an unplanned day at Whitewater outside Nelson. Jon and Susan went to check out the sled access skiing and reported back that even approaching low angled slopes would cause them to avalanche on the surface hoar layer that is plaguing the area this season. Meanwhile, Brittany and I were enjoying our sightseeing tour. Our route required a ferry across Arrow Lake:

It was a beautiful day:

We had lunch in the scenic town of New Denver, which sits at the base of some nice looking peaks:

We stopped at the Ainsworth Hot Springs, which were notable for the caves you could walk through.

Eventually, we rolled into the picturesque town of Nelson, more on that later…

Other Montana-Canada Road Trip Blog Posts
Road Trip Update
Itinerary
Bridger Bowl
Whitefish
Fernie
Kicking Horse
Roger’s Pass

TR: Whitefish, MT 2.21.10-2.22.10

Frank — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 04:51:41 +0000

After our excellent day at Bridger Bowl, we got in the car and went straight to Whitefish, a tiring five and a half hour drive after a day of skiing, but necessary to get another day of skiing in. Whitefish is known for being cloudy, but our two days there featured a complete lack of clouds, perfect for checking out the nearby peaks of Glacier National Park.

We had hoped to do a tour in the park, but our friends informed us that conditions were a little thin still. The other thing Whitefish is known for are the tree ghosts that form high on the mountain, and thankfully we were able to experience them.

Looking down the valley from the ski area:

Our guide for the day, Sean, took us on a short tour to the canyon off the back side which still had some powder despite the lack of recent snowfall. Brittany:

Whitefish is a nice little town and we had some nice views that afternoon looking back at the ski area.

On day 2, our friend Ethan joined us along with his RMF posse. We searched out the steep little stashes this mountain has to offer, which somehow had escaped the edges of local skiers. Features like these would get hit pretty quickly at a place like Crested Butte,
but Whitefish doesn’t seem to attract the same type of skiers.

One other thing I should add about Whitefish is the groomers. I’m usually more interested in steep, natural terrain, but whitefish offers up some of the best groomed runs I’ve ever seen. One run in particular was a narrow groomed path weaving through the trees of the Hellroaring basin area, basically a snowcat drivers’ version of boondocking. It’s no wonder Tommy Moe grew up here. We had a great time in Whitefish, but it was time for us to move on. Next up:

Other Montana-Canada Road Trip Blog Posts
Road Trip Update
Itinerary
Bridger Bowl

7 Hours of the Banana

Frank — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 01:35:21 +0000

I thought I should spread the word about this event for anyone who is interested. It is, afterall, a fundraiser.

The banana is the steep chute right under the peak at Crested Butte, as seen here (green line):

Whether as a team or flying solo, the goal is to make as many laps as possible from bell to bell (9 to 4), hence the 7 hours of the banana. I think it’s about 2500′ of vert and it’ll hurt. A lot.

Should be a lot of fun for you enduro types, plus lots of parties and prizes and stuff. The date is Feb 27 and it’s a fundraiser for the adaptive sports center and the Cb ski club.

More info HERE

Top Ten Ski Areas in North America

Frank — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 03:55:33 +0000

Brittany and I are hoping to head up to interior B.C in about a month to do some touring and some lift riding as well. One of the reasons I’m excited about this trip is that we will hopefully visit some of the areas I have not been to, but have wanted to visit for years, such as Fernie, Kicking Horse, and the new Revelstoke resort. I may need to adjust my top ten list once I visit those areas, but for now, of the areas I’ve been to, here’s my top ten list in no particular order:

1: Crested Butte
2: Whistler/ Blackcomb
3: Red Mountain
4: Jackson Hole
5: Snowbird
6: Alta
7: Snowbasin
8: Squaw Valley
9: Bridger Bowl
10: Big Sky/ Moonlight

That’s my list, what’s yours?

Crested Butte Two For Ones are Back

Frank — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 00:07:00 +0000

One of the best deals in skiing is back. Buy at least an 18pack of Coors in Gunnison, ask for the 2for1 voucher, and get two tickets for the price of one at Crested Butte Mountain Resort. Plus you’ve got a bunch of beer to drink The deal has a few weekends, like President’s Day, that are blacked out, so be sure to check things out first. Hopefully some front range skiers will be able to take advantage of this deal next week, when a series of storms are forecast to hit the area. It won’t take a ton of snow to get the steeps open, and the packers have seemingly hit everything on the mountain, so it could get real good, real fast. Fingers are crossed.

Contact a liquor store in Gunnison to make sure the deal is available…
Wet Grocer (970) 641-5054
Gunnison Liquor Store (970) 641-1717
High Mountain Liquor (970) 641-6304

Vail Resorts- Broomfield, CO

Frank — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 18:54:53 +0000

The headquarters of Vail Resorts are located in Broomfield, CO, a suburb of Denver. I kind of find it sad that these ski areas are being run from some office park in a city. Perhaps it is a romantic notion that a ski area should be run by someone local and involved in a community, or perhaps it’s a real problem with today’s resort conglomerates.

When I was younger, my dad pointed out someone in a lift line in Winter Park and said, “That’s Jerry Groswold.” He went on to tell me that Mr. Groswold was the president and CEO of Winter Park, but still made it a point to ski every day Winter Park was running. Legend has it that he never missed a day. So what, you say? Well, if a lift operator reeked of booze and the bathroom was dirty and the hamburger seemed more like a hockey puck, Jerry knew it. Maybe I was just young and impressionable, but I’ve always thought that that is exactly how a ski area should be run.

I wonder how often the president/CEO of Vail Resorts visits Keystone/Breckenridge/Vail/Beaver Creek/Heavenly, and puts himself in the shoes of a customer. Perhaps it doesn’t matter. Or maybe the business of skiing has become so disconnected with plain old skiing that resorts forget what business they’re really in. As the baby boomers keep retiring from skiing, skier visits keep going down- and I’m not sure what ski areas are doing about it. Maybe they should start by skiing themselves, every day, and keeping their headquarters located in the ski areas they run.

Crested Butte Storm

Frank — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 16:17:13 +0000

A few photos from the last few days:

Brittany’s car:

Crested Butte Mountain Resort received roughly three feet out of this storm system. Some new terrain opened, including some of the steeps like West Wall. The base isn’t quite there, but at least it’s on its way now. Patrol should have enough snow to work with and get everything but the “extreme” terrain open once they run boundary ropes.

The backcountry is still unbelievably touchy. Reports indicate that more like 5 or 6 feet fell at places like Irwin. The good news is that the weather this week looks dry and relatively warm, and even the lows aren’t going to be way below zero like they were earlier this month. Hopefully that will really settle things out for a more stable snowpack as we move forward this season.