A Ski Story

[Yo Momma]

What's possible when one can let go. I may have posted this story another time but here ya go. Enjoy. It's a moment I'll never forget.



" I had an encounter ... with Divinity. I was hiking side-country solo, not a soul in sight @11k ft when hit by a freakish and sudden snow/thunder/lightning storm. I was inside the clouds, witnessing first hand the proverbial ping pong ball { slang for whiteout }. It was furiously contemplating my destiny. During the hike, the falling snow froze solid into a snapshot with each glorious yet terrifyingly blinding flash. The roar of thunder was deafening. It was as if my bones and teeth shattered with every clap. As I dared to glance around, my eyes momentarily captured the beauty of the tips of my orange fluorescent powder cords as they came loose and danced against the intense dark sky over my shouldered skis. The wind sang furiously around me, caressing me, pushing me as if to say; " You my mortal friend, were not meant to witness this." I trembled in fear, in absolute awe of the fury surrounding me..."Keep moving Mark"... "Movimiento es Vida" ( Movement is Life) became my mantra...

My soul was so utterly devastated by the scene that I surrendered. I wanted to simply go to sleep. Complete calm came over me. It was strangely comforting to hear the snap of my bindings. I was finally ready to become One, with all of it. I surveyed for a moment, accepted my fate and dropped the cornice. Falling... Falling into oblivion, finally submerging into an abyss of powder. I was in a state of adrenaline fueled amnesia as I don't remember the rest of the run. I could feel the electrostatic energy making my skin tingle and crackle all over. My chest heaved as my breaths went into some sort of strange powder induced auto mode. My training had kicked in, as I was barely conscious.

It was magical. It was beautiful. It was terrifying! For me God exists... All the rest of Life since that moment... Gravy..."

 

[Jim Kenney]

Sounds like an "about to meet my maker" kind of moment! I've not experienced anything quite so dramatic, but I have skied in thunder snow a couple times. Each time they cleared the mountain and it was easy for me to get to a lodge.

At the 2017 Ski Talk (Pug Ski) Gathering at Whistler there was a stormy day when I did some tremendous skiing with a group of Ski Talkers led by @Lady_Salina. She kept us mostly in gladed terrain for a couple of hours of outstanding and powdery skiing around the Harmony chair, but each time after unloading off the chair we'd have to ski through a very serious whiteout for about 200-300 vertical feet before visibility improved. The 300 vertical feet of sketchy viz was fortunately on low angle terrain, but in conditions where you couldn't see more than ten feet in front of you and we had to follow each other single file in a snake line until viz improved.

The group that day, Lady S (instructor at W-B) third from left.

No photos from whiteout/survival zone, this is @Chickenmonkey lower on the hill where the visibility improved.

Lady S's brother Ron helped lead the charge that day, @Tony S nearby.

@SKI-3PO same day, @Gary Stolt in background.

 

[KingGrump]

At the 2017 Ski Talk (Pug Ski) Gathering at Whistler there was a stormy day

There was "A" stormy day during the 2017 W/B gathering?
At W/B, everyday was a stormy sunny day.

This is a typical W/B sunny day pic posted by @Lady_Salina

 

[Tom Co.]

My wife and I were skiing at Taos a few years back when a thunderstorm hit. We were riding up chair two, the thunder was booming, and you could see flashes behind the clouds. We were scared shitless. When we got to the top the ski patrol said we are shutting down all the lifts. We skied down to the mid mountain Phoenix Grill and went in for an early lunch. It started snowing as hard as I've ever seen it. After a leisurely lunch, the show was over and they reopen the lifts. The place was empty, everybody had called it a day. That was just fine with us as there was at least 4 inches of new fluff everywhere. The mountain skied fantastic and we had it all to ourselves.

 

[Yo Momma]

That story took place at one of the hike to cornices that form off of the upper parts of Step Bowl when I lived on Rez for two years near Wolf Creek Ski Area. The last point of no return is the hike to, ski patrol shack at the top entry to the Knife Ridge on the left. Step bowl and the "hardcore" hike to the top of Alberta Peak is to the right. After that, you're on your own. Just try not to fall off the back side of that ridge! YIKES!!!

I earned my "White Out" chops in Sierra Nevada in southern Spain when living in Granada. If it wasn't blazing sun, it was an absolute white out. You kinda get used to skiing with the nausea after a while and learn to keep your balance while skiing blind. You also become REALLY good at finding those markers! I wish they had those orange disks on them!!! LOL The real test for my whiteout chops was when I was couchsurfing for 2 1/2 weeks out at GT (Grand Targhee = Grand Fogee nicknamed by the locals). That was CRAZY! I took the guided tour and ended up working w/ the instructor to get another group of visiting instructors, down the mtn. It wasn't my skiing ... It was my attitude. It was so ridiculously blinding that all I could do was laugh!!!! The guide pulled me over to the side and said; "... you seem to be lovin this! Can you help me get these guys down? " I helped, and the mtn guide spent the next four days with me, touring and hiking me around to all the local stashes! What a fun trip! He had to guide me down a lot of that stuff as it was WAY over my head with lots of skull and crossbones signs . I puckered a lot but learned a ton from him! Kudos to my GT Family and that awesome party at the 22 Designs factory.... okay " home garage" at that time!!!!!!!!

 

[KingGrump]

De rigueur ski wear for W/B.

 

[fatbob]

Had the tingle when a strike hit a pylon on the backside chair at Kirkwood. Ski patrol asked a couple of us to help evac some other guests as we knew Thunder Saddle (clue in the name I guess) so we ended up with two old chaps. One was game but the other with hip and knee replacements was a strictly groomers only skier so we ended up sideslipping a pathway for him out through the easiest Saddle route. Had got him almost to the cattrack at the bottom of the cirque when patrol caught up with the final guests so we let them ski him out. Don't think he thanked us but in the circumstances in his situation I maybe wouldn't have either.

 

[Chickenmonkey]

Sounds like an "about to meet my maker" kind of moment! I've not experienced anything quite so dramatic, but I have skied in thunder snow a couple times. Each time they cleared the mountain and it was easy for me to get to a lodge.

At the 2017 Ski Talk (Pug Ski) Gathering at Whistler there was a stormy day when I did some tremendous skiing with a group of Ski Talkers led by @Lady_Salina. She kept us mostly in gladed terrain for a couple of hours of outstanding and powdery skiing around the Harmony chair, but each time after unloading off the chair we'd have to ski through a very serious whiteout for about 200-300 vertical feet before visibility improved. The 300 vertical feet of sketchy viz was fortunately on low angle terrain, but in conditions where you couldn't see more than ten feet in front of you and we had to follow each other single file in a snake line until viz improved.

The group that day, Lady S (instructor at W-B) third from left.

View attachment 183934

No photos from whiteout/survival zone, this is @Chickenmonkey lower on the hill where the visibility improved.
View attachment 183935

Lady S's brother Ron helped lead the charge that day, @Tony S nearby.
View attachment 183936

@SKI-3PO same day, @Gary Stolt in background. View attachment 183945

Super fun day! I was skiing my OG Liberty Sequences that my son now skis in CO.

 

[cragginshred]

First day ever skiing, the year was 1978,. My brother was 14 I was 11 and my sister was 24 and just returned from college and offered to take us to the slopes. She drove a VW bug and it was classic 70's with only an Am radio. We get up the Mt from the central valley of Calif and I could not believe that there was actually blue sky as we exited the fog that blanketed the valley. We get to a couple of miles from China Peak and were driving between two walls of snow and on ice on either side of the road. I'm wide eyed and slack jawed thinking this is pretty exiting when the VW bug hits an edge the spins sideways. We are all holding on for dear life and screaming while careening down the icy highway. Fortunately the bug did not tip and we came to a stop to the exultation of the three of us, when I say 'can we do that again'?