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Eejit posted:I would disagree. Backcountry hazards increase exponentially in the winter. And access to avy education is gatekept by expensive courses with limited availability. Finding a spot that YOU know is safe vs that people have told you is safe is a giant barrier to entry. I did not feel comfortable putting a toe outside the boundary until I met knowledgeable folks and only really feel comfortable determining low risk terrain is safe to ride after several years of experience as well as education. Yeah, I don't think we're talking about the same thing? I'm not talking about low risk terrain. I'm talking about touring on sub-25º slopes that are not in or near a slide path. Stuff that — while technically not zero because it's not flat — has a vanishingly small likelihood of sliding. It's for cardio and being in the mountains. I'm not sure what to tell you. There's a fair number of those options at least in the Front Range, Sawatch, Tenmile, and Gore ranges. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ *Just to be clear: I’m not advocating for novices to yeet themselves into the backcountry. Being an advanced resort skier, having general backcountry experience, and (ideally) having some level of avalanche awareness — for example having read Tremper's book — are table stakes for venturing into the backcountry in winter. (NB: I also consider the resort before opening and after close each day to be "backcountry"). And folks venturing into avalanche terrain should have additional training. waffle enthusiast fucked around with this message at 06:57 on Jul 14, 2023 |
# ? Jul 14, 2023 06:47 |
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# ? Jun 7, 2024 01:37 |
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Eejit posted:Yeah Aspen is on public land and has a $60 season/$10 day uphill pass. They "justify" it as maintaining the facilities, snowcats, etc. I guarantee you it's an insurance thing, the $60/$10 passes can't possibly sell enough to make any material difference to Skico's bottom line. Let's say they sell 500-1000 of each per season which is probably way more than they actually sell, that's an extra 30-70k per season. That's what one person spends on Veuve at Cloud 9.
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# ? Jul 14, 2023 14:20 |
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I’d have to agree with Eejit. I feel like the only truly safe places to uphill for exercise in the North San Juan Murder Zone are the XC areas and groomed resort runs.
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# ? Jul 14, 2023 15:12 |
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Eejit posted:Maybe haha. And maybe this is my sales pitch to SkiCo next season! There’s a non profit here in Maine that organizes free tours for anyone at a couple New England resorts. They do it once or twice a week, aimed at beginners but open to anyone for a casual weekend morning climb. They’ve done days for specific groups too, like women or people of color. Not the same as what you’re describing but they regularly seem to turn out dozens of people so maybe I’m underestimating the demand for something like this. No question that AT is intimidating to beginners for all kinds of reasons and there are people who want to try it or do more of it.
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# ? Jul 14, 2023 15:26 |
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waffle enthusiast posted:Yeah, I don't think we're talking about the same thing? I'm not talking about low risk terrain. I'm talking about touring on sub-25º slopes that are not in or near a slide path. Stuff that — while technically not zero because it's not flat — has a vanishingly small likelihood of sliding. It's for cardio and being in the mountains. Yeah of course, I'm just saying in bounds uphilling has a place. I realized I came off a little aggro. And I do envy the zones you mentioned for the plethora of safe tours.
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# ? Jul 14, 2023 16:11 |
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Eejit posted:Yeah of course, I'm just saying in bounds uphilling has a place. I realized I came off a little aggro. And I do envy the zones you mentioned for the plethora of safe tours. Totally agree. And I think if you live near a resort, it’s also tough to overstate the value of ease of access. I’m used to having to drive at least an hour for anything, in or out. So it’s easy for me to be like “pffft just wake up crazy early and drive really far to do this thing you have access to next door.”
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# ? Jul 14, 2023 17:19 |
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I hate in bounds skinning. So I will do anything I can to avoid it. I will agree that the front range and summit/Vail zones have a decent number of places with literally nothing to ever worry about. Other parts of the state, not as much.
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# ? Jul 15, 2023 04:24 |
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We have nice touring tracks that keep people skinning away from the pistes. I like em. It also means I'm totally happy to go out on my own or in the evening or whatever as the risk is pretty low.
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# ? Jul 15, 2023 09:00 |
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Steve French posted:Mammoth still has plenty of snow, y’all. This was Thursday. Someone on the gondola was saying they were thinking of closing at the end of the month which I hope is not true!
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# ? Jul 16, 2023 01:27 |
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Skied my last day of the season on Saturday. Went up to the Indian Peaks and skied Queen's Way on Apache Peak. We got about 1900 vertical feet. Fun to make the turns but snow quality has deteriorated. Lots of dirt, runnels, sun cups, etc. Plus I haven't skied in a month or so, so making turns was quite tiring! Took a bit of work to get to the snow too - 3 miles of biking, 4 miles of hiking each way.
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# ? Jul 17, 2023 15:36 |
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3 miles on the bike plus a 4 mile hike, that's a hell of an approach!
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# ? Jul 17, 2023 16:35 |
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bawfuls posted:3 miles on the bike plus a 4 mile hike, that's a hell of an approach! Yeah the juice:squeeze ratio is not favorable currently. Rough to carry skis + boots past lakes that are quick skates earlier in the season and to miss out on all the approach skinning / deproach skiing pitches.
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# ? Jul 17, 2023 17:03 |
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Having to carry boots on an approach really kills my range, probably a sign I’m just out of shape. I forgot to post it a week back but we did the lazy way over 4th of July weekend with some e-bikes on the approach and I really liked how that worked out, will have to refine it and use more in future Sierra springs. bawfuls fucked around with this message at 18:37 on Jul 17, 2023 |
# ? Jul 17, 2023 18:24 |
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Just got invited to a Jackson Hole trip next year for 4-5 days. I was last there 8 years ago and haven’t skied since pre-covid. I was just looking into it, and it appears lift tickets are $215 a day now?? Last time I was there I think we paid about $100. Seems like it would almost be worth just getting an Ikon pass for $1200 and just really committing to booking a few days some other places over the year, or maybe getting the mountain collective for $600 and doing 2 days at Jackson, 2 days at Targhee and 2 days at Big Sky. Shits crazy now.
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# ? Jul 23, 2023 16:00 |
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You have correctly deduced Alterra’s pass strategy. Things are priced that way in order to get you to reach that exact conclusion.
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# ? Jul 23, 2023 17:11 |
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bawfuls posted:You have correctly deduced Alterra’s pass strategy. Things are priced that way in order to get you to reach that exact conclusion.
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# ? Jul 24, 2023 03:33 |
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I hate how everyone says "I've got an Ikon" nowadays like it's a status symbol. I hear it a lot in passing in LA, so of course I'm biased, but still.
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# ? Jul 24, 2023 03:57 |
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Master_Odin posted:I'm not sure how much influence Alterra has at Jackson given it's privately owned. Their season pass is also like $500 more expensive than an Alterra pass as well.
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# ? Jul 24, 2023 04:54 |
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This is off season in most of the world and since I tried and liked touring last season, I am considering getting a pair of boots for next season. The problem is I have no idea how to size them. I have a pair of boots from Salomon (S Pro Alpha 130) that fits well, can I get a pair of Salomon MTN summit pro in the same size and be allright ? do they account for the need for increased volume when building different shells ? Or should I get a size up ? When I tried touring, the rental guys said we should size a bit up but when going down i like my boots to be super snug.
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# ? Jul 26, 2023 07:50 |
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It is a bit preference but 90%+ of the time is going up. When you are striding your foot elongates and can cause your toes to hit the front of the boot which you really do not want. Think about walking in your snug boots with the buckles undone and how that feels. Personally I think sizing up usually makes sense. You really need to try on boots in person though.
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# ? Jul 26, 2023 17:28 |
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Definitely do not want to be walking too much in the snug boots. Might be better off buying a entry boots from a shop in season than poorly fit high end boots off season online yes.
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# ? Jul 26, 2023 19:37 |
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Yeah gently caress buying touring boots online. Even worse idea than buying downhill boots. If you're touring, you already hate money so at least do it right and get some boots that really work for you with the support of a shop to help fit, mold, and punch the things into submission.
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# ? Jul 26, 2023 20:27 |
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Since WHERE MY HAT IS AT asked about it in the mtb thread, Moment just released their 23/24 model lineup, and here's the Deathwish Tour 104 https://www.momentskis.com/collections/23-24/products/deathwish-104
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# ? Jul 28, 2023 18:03 |
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Wrong link, should be this: https://www.momentskis.com/collections/23-24/products/deathwish-tour-104. Interesting that they dropped them early, those look amazing! 3.5kg for the 184cm is more than I was expecting but I'm definitely still going to buy them.
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# ? Jul 28, 2023 18:36 |
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Lift tickets at Jackson Hole just went up for next year. $242 per day “on sale” at 5% off for the days my friend was thinking of going.
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# ? Aug 1, 2023 17:33 |
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Wonder if the ticket price increases are at all related to the just announced sale of JH to two board members (and their families), one of who was a former CEO of Citigroup.
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# ? Aug 4, 2023 00:17 |
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Snow was mushy in valle nevado today which is funny because I think when I hit mammoth last week it was nicer. The Andes are wild tho and I’ll take skiing over not skiing no matter the conditions. A+ would rec doing laps with endless bowls of raw fish to power your turns
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# ? Aug 14, 2023 01:21 |
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This Angry Snowboarder persona, how worthwhile is his advice/opinion? He seems to get flooded with boards from various manufacturers for testing, I guess for a reason. But given how he seems to have it out for a majority fraction of other snowboarder Youtubers, makes him come over like a try-hard.
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# ? Aug 14, 2023 12:11 |
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He is not as bad as some reviewers like The Good Ride. But he is a former snowboard shop employee who is in his cranky aging rider stage. Take his reviews with a grain of salt like any others and appreciate that he doesn't get all that much time on each board and that he definitely has his biases.
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# ? Aug 14, 2023 15:24 |
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Combat Pretzel posted:This Angry Snowboarder persona, how worthwhile is his advice/opinion? He seems to get flooded with boards from various manufacturers for testing, I guess for a reason. But given how he seems to have it out for a majority fraction of other snowboarder Youtubers, makes him come over like a try-hard. He is kind of whatever. I think most reviewers have an agenda in the snowboard world. I don't bother with any of them honestly.
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# ? Aug 14, 2023 18:43 |
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I’m signed up for the Blister Summit next winter; if anyone else is going or thinking about going let me know!
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# ? Aug 14, 2023 23:23 |
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Combat Pretzel posted:This Angry Snowboarder persona, how worthwhile is his advice/opinion? He seems to get flooded with boards from various manufacturers for testing, I guess for a reason. But given how he seems to have it out for a majority fraction of other snowboarder Youtubers, makes him come over like a try-hard. Personally I listen to him more than other snowboard reviews because he'll tell you if he hated a board or bindings and won't just hype something because a company sends him free stuff. I have no idea how good of a rider he is but when he gets on 100+ boards a year and takes the time to break the reviews down into many different categories it's been real helpful in figuring out what I want to ride.
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# ? Aug 15, 2023 02:39 |
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Pick stuff based off top sheet graphics, duh.
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# ? Aug 15, 2023 04:19 |
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Moey posted:Pick stuff based off top sheet graphics, duh. The one true way
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# ? Aug 15, 2023 10:23 |
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Moey posted:Pick stuff based off top sheet graphics, duh.
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# ? Aug 15, 2023 11:01 |
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I pick brands based on what data-mining ads on instagram are giving away if you register all your information.
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# ? Aug 15, 2023 15:37 |
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Big snow coming to valle nevado
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# ? Aug 16, 2023 21:25 |
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I bought some Burton Step Ons + Photon boots on a whim during the annual Burton sale a few weeks ago. I’m still within the 30 day return window - I’m leaning toward keeping them but does anyone have any positive or negative feedback to share on Step Ons and/or Photons?
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# ? Aug 20, 2023 16:53 |
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Burton's Step-Ons are pretty polarizing. So you'll get opinions from both extremes. They work for me (the Genesis w/ non-soft Photons). IMO they're a bit more direct than my previous Malavitas (which I however ran with Rulers). The only thing I'm not thrilled about is that Burton considers swapping the toe hooks black magic and therefore requires you to send the bindings in, instead of selling you spares. Altho I hear support has been coaxed into sending them out anyway to some people. That said, from all reports of them breaking, it seems if they survive the first day or two, they'll likely won't break at all (i.e. most causes being manufacturing defects).
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# ? Aug 20, 2023 17:03 |
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# ? Jun 7, 2024 01:37 |
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Speaking of new fangled (snowboard) bindings, anyone use or have opinions on the Nidecker Supermatics? I need new boots & bindings and they seem pretty neat, plus I dont need to lock in to any sort of boot type to use.
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# ? Aug 20, 2023 22:41 |