Thats way too much for me. But then again, I live in Colorado.
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The thrill of skiing fresh snow vs the drive to get there?
- Thread starter focker
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Thats way too much for me. But then again, I live in Colorado.
Obviously my luck ran out yesterday. I've had several 4+ hour trips home due to weather and shrugged them of because the skiing was worth it.
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This is something I've definitely thought about, and I think skiers are unique in that they will suffer quite a bit for what is seemingly a fairly fleeting feeling of happiness. How many of us would complain if they traveled, say, 2 hours, hit the slopes, got 2-5 great runs in, and for some reason, had to call it a day and go home?
9 hours might be hitting that pain/regret threshold, though.
9 hours might be hitting that pain/regret threshold, though.
Serendipity provides powder days often enough so that I don't have to go out of my way to plan for them. No suffering necessary. Ain't it great to be a Colorado native?
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146 miles took 9 hours? Wow, you must have been stopped for a lot of the drive to average less than 20 MPH. Maybe you should have stopped for a movie or nap and then driven home.
7 hours is about my max for ski day driving (could be before, after or a combo of both) it doesn't have to be a powder day, I'm going either way. If I had a more flexible schedule, maybe I'd do more for a powder day.
I averaged 35mph for the first 108 miles. Then stopped for a LONG time. I finally got off at an exit that was right where I was stopped and had to backtrack across the state to find open roads.
Put on the news this morning and there were still cars stranded at the spot where I escaped.
As much as is necessary to get to the powder. 
As much as is necessary to get to the powder.
I think I rather skin up for 1-2 hours to get powder than drive that or twice that to see if I get early enough to get a few good runs.
When I was younger I had an epic day at Hunter and had a 5 - 6 hour return trip and that pushed my limits. This year (at age 71) I had an over 3 hour return trip from Platty did not feel to bad that night but the next day was a little tuff. Now I am willing to wait one day after the storm for the skiing.
I've become pretty spoiled the past 5 seasons, so I won't suffer much. The lack of powder competition at Wolf Creek wrecks you.
I remember sometime in March my first season with Wolf Creek as my home mountain, I woke up, checked the snow report, found *only* 11" came down, wet back to sleep, showed up in the parking lot at noon, skied untracked snow to the bell.
Purgatory gets less snow and more skiers, but it is still pretty easy to find lightly trafficked goods. Not in the same universe as Wolf Creek, but way better than the Front Range. Worse than Monarch, though.
The wildcard is pow skiing under the lights at Hesperus. Only operates 4:00-9:00 on weekdays, so it is awesome to duck out of work and go ski. 50 people is a BUSY night. I guess this is as close as I come to suffering, I took a fall so nasty there a few years back we thought my leg was broken...
I remember sometime in March my first season with Wolf Creek as my home mountain, I woke up, checked the snow report, found *only* 11" came down, wet back to sleep, showed up in the parking lot at noon, skied untracked snow to the bell.
Purgatory gets less snow and more skiers, but it is still pretty easy to find lightly trafficked goods. Not in the same universe as Wolf Creek, but way better than the Front Range. Worse than Monarch, though.
The wildcard is pow skiing under the lights at Hesperus. Only operates 4:00-9:00 on weekdays, so it is awesome to duck out of work and go ski. 50 people is a BUSY night. I guess this is as close as I come to suffering, I took a fall so nasty there a few years back we thought my leg was broken...
It's going to take the next three days to recover from today! Is that suffering enough?
I'd do more....
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If there was some way to know for sure you were going to hit it, maybe I'd suffer quite a bit. At this point the whole powder day vibe can be pretty lame. The chase and race to get after it. Not that into it. The best powder days are the unexpected ones and they come often enough. These predicted Northeasters are always so crowded and often a bust anyway. At this point, I'd rather have first chair with empty perfectly groomed slopes and a blue sky than a powder day and all that goes with it.
I must admit, this mornings snow depth caught me completely off guard. It wasn't until I heard the radio transmissions of our first patrollers at the summit that I took the 100 steps back to my car and pulled out the "big boards" (read long, though but 88 wide). Even so, Not even 130 underfoot floated anyone on top of today's soft goodness. Speed was king!
I’m not into suffering. I try the “luck, experience, planning” combo.
Yesterday, luck was not with me. I had plan to ski the 400’ “bump” 20 minuets from my house after work (work from home). But didn’t count on them closing early due to threat of road closures.
Yesterday, luck was not with me. I had plan to ski the 400’ “bump” 20 minuets from my house after work (work from home). But didn’t count on them closing early due to threat of road closures.
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My vehicles have always had "directional" snow tires, with that direction being north. I would drive in any kind of nasty to weather to get to the mountains but if it was bad when it was time to come home I would usually stay another day or two just to "be safe". 
Typically I have to get up 30 minutes earlier than usual on a pow day. Can be a bit crowded before the lifts open too - that is if Vail can actually get them open on time at all which they often can’t.
Thread Starter
TS
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Thanks for reviving my thread T!
I should add, recent we had a 6" day and then 18 hours later another 6" of light snow fell. This is pretty uncommon in MN. My boys and I got up at 7:00am on Sunday and drove out to the local hill (roads were fine) to find they had groomed 90% of every slope they have. We were pissed.
Then we noticed some thin trees between two runs we've never skied (you can almost never ski the trees locally.) We hit those trees for about 2 hours of some of the funest skiing I've ever done in my life. needless to say, my 12 year old is now a powder and tree skiing lover and is super excited to do it again when we go out west next year.