It was one of the best days of the year.
It's been a good season. 345 inches. 103% of the average, which is 350, but there's still another week to go.
But not only is that a lot of snow, it came early. And that matters. Especially at Vail, where one-third of the ski area faces south.
Still, Vail's total is not in the league of Utah and California this year. But you've got to know the snow in California is heavy, it's called "Sierra Cement." Utah's got the lightest snow in the world, but the runs are not that long. If you want long runs, come to Colorado, or go to Europe. Or Whistler. The map does not do Whistler justice, Symphony Bowl is larger than many ski areas, and it looks small on the map. But the snow is iffy in Whistler. The altitude is so low that sometimes you get rain. They usually get enough, but if you're looking for the feathery stuff, go to Little or Big Cottonwood Canyons in Utah. The powder in Vail doesn't even come close.
But people live for the powder. And we actually got 8" Friday night/Saturday morning.
I've got no problem with the powder, it's just not my favorite condition. I like corn snow, in the spring.
Vail is vast.
If you drove by Vail you wouldn't even think there was a mountain, it looks like a hill. But what you can't see is the bowls in the back, there's nothing like them in the States. There are seven bowls and they stretch for six miles. And then there's Blue Sky Basin beyond that, with its trees.
Bottom line, there's a lot of terrain at Vail. Used to be the most in the country, before Big Sky bought Moonlight Basin and Park West/The Canyons was merged with Park City. Big Sky is a big place, with some very serious skiing. But it's the rockiest place I've ever been, by far, and some of the altitude is extremely low. This is the same problem with Jackson Hole. The base is 6,311 feet. Which means it can be the middle of winter and you can have slush at the bottom. Or even worse, set up slush. Vail's base is at 8,150. There's even a chair at a lower altitude than that at Snowbird, 7,759, but really most people never come near Baby Thunder. The main Snowbird base, the Plaza, where the tram is, is 8,100 feet. The top is 11,000 feet. The highest point in Vail is 11,570 feet, but that's at Blue Sky Basin. The top of the frontside is 11,250. My point being that Vail is high, and that makes a difference in the snow. Steamboat gets great snow, but the base altitude is 6,900 feet. The bases of Breckenridge, Copper and Keystone are actually higher than Vail, but they don't get as much snow, in the case of Keystone, much less. And Breck is notoriously windy. As for Park City...the base elevation is at 6,900 feet and the top is 10,026. And that makes a difference.
You now understand why Vail is the most popular ski resort in the country. Oh, sometimes Breck gets more visitors, but that's because it's one pass closer to Denver.
But people hate the parent company, Vail Resorts. Because Vail is the Universal Music of skiing. The big kahuna, owning a zillion resorts. And during Covid, they were not fully-staffed. There was stuff to complain about, most coming down to not enough employees, so this year Vail made the minimum wage $20 an hour, and gave 40% off equipment in their company-owned stores. But still, people hate Vail. Because it's the biggest.
It's also essentially the cheapest. For less than a grand, you can ski every day at so many resorts you can't even remember them all, all over the world, from the Rockies to New England to Europe to Australia to Pennsylvania to Wisconsin... You get the idea.
You can go to your local ski area, but your pass for just this one area will cost more and the infrastructure won't be as good. Because it costs a lot of money to make all that snow and groom it.
And yes, the village at Vail is ersatz, it's not a real town, like Aspen or Telluride. But every lift connects, unlike at Aspen's four different mountains, and let's not even talk about the fakokta lift system at Telluride, where you've got to take multiple chairs to get where you want to go, never mind Telluride getting less than 300 inches of snow per year, the average is 217, and Telluride is steep and rocky and you need a lot. So...
We always come for the last week of the season. But having a big birthday this year I decided to arrive ten days before that, as a treat to myself. And my first day on the hill, it was warm instead of cold, the snow had turned. Sometimes spring skiing starts in March. This was an unusual year. Except for a couple of days it's been winter snow all season.
And for three days, the snow was good.
And then...
It got warm. I mean hot. Over fifty degrees.
Charley said he lost a foot and a half of snow at his house in one day.
But it's all about the snow on the hill. And although there's plenty, the problem is at that temperature, the snow gets sticky, unskiable. Wax can help, but only so much. And once the snow snakes come out, I go in.
So it was hit or miss last week. One day I went out too late, so the next I woke up at the crack of dawn and... They'd closed the Back Bowls because of an avalanche. If you know Vail, this sounds ridiculous, avalanches are very rare, but it was so hot that the snow slid and you wouldn't want to be caught in that. And it happened right next to a very popular slope, the Slot. Let me be clear, it slid from Milt's Face to Campbell's, and they're pretty popular themselves. You can see a picture here:
"Vail’s Back Bowls closed Wednesday, Thursday out of wet slide safety precaution - Danger of wet slides considerable":
bit.ly/3GJngNN So I'd gotten up early for no reason.
But still, it was very warm. So I was on the lift at 8:58 AM on Thursday, and you'll never even see me up at that hour in the city. And it was firm for a few runs, then it started to soften up, and then...the clouds came in, and as a result I could ski all day, which was previously impossible, because of the heat and the ultimate stickiness.
And all day is too much. Unlike in the old days, you don't have to fight for your runs. The lifts run two and a half times faster than they used to as a result of detachable technology, as for lines... I'm gonna let you in on a little secret, even at Vail you never really have to wait in a line, as long as you get in the singles line. As for that pic of the crowd at Chair 5 on a powder day... Laugh all you want, but they put in another high speed lift back there this year to take care of the crowds, which are de minimis at most times. As for that pic of the crowd at the gondola, those people were lining up before the lift even opened, that's how much they wanted to ski the powder. And if you line up, you can get maybe one purely untracked run, maybe two, but the good thing is Vail is so vast you can ski crud all day, multiple days. Crud is cut-up powder and...if you have the right equipment, it's a thrill.
You need multiple pairs of skis. I know you're rolling your eyes now, but that's a function of the improvement in equipment. Yes, back in the seventies we'd ski the powder and the crud with 67mm waisted skis, but at Vail no shop even sells boards that narrow. The standard Vail ski is in the nineties.
So my standard ski is a K2 Mindbender at 99mm.
And I've got a pair of Rossi powder skis at 117. But those are really for powder, you can't really ski them on the groomed. And I've got narrower stuff than 99, but this year I also popped for a 108.
So let me be perfectly clear. This year I bought two pairs of skis. Both Mindbenders. At 99mm and 108mm. And installed Look Pivot 15s on them, which are totally metal, and are the standard amongst freestylers... Well, let me just say they retail for $500, and you can buy usable Salomons for just over $200, and most people don't want to pop.
And I've got my Lange RS130 boots. What they call a racing boot. 130 is the stiffness, which is top of the line at the companies. Although the number is not comparable at each and in truth the World Cup racers ski on even stiffer boots, 150s, but...
Langes notoriously had great performance and terrible fit. I've got the bone spurs to prove it.
So I gave up on Langes this century and switched to Nordicas, which are more comfortable. And then I spent one year in Salomons, which are a joke. Sure, they're light, but that's not what you really want. And they were so stiff it was hard to get forward in them and I was going to buy another pair of Nordicas, my third, until Greg Hoffmann, one of the foremost boot experts in the country, who was at Vail until Covid, told me the only boot to buy was the Lange RS130, because of the heel hold, and he didn't even sell it! There are two extensions on each side of the liner that hold you in.
But I was still leaning towards the Nordica, but when I tried both on...there was no contest. Because the Langes have a progressive flex, it's smooth, unlike the Nordica, furthermore they've made advancements and these are the most comfortable and best boots I've had in fifty years, and the performance makes a difference, truly.
As for the K2s... I bought the Mindbender 99s because they hold, and my previous long time brand did not. As for the 108s... They're magic, you're either hip to them, or not.
So like I told you, it snowed. And the race for powder began. But my college buddy John was visiting and... I'll make it simple, he can't ski the powder, he's scared of it, as many are. And it was cold. And we did not go out early. And he was still freaked by the crud, which tired him out, so when he went in at 2 PM...
I got the 108s.
But it turned out most of the runs were skied out. And then it was 3 PM, and I was skiing past the entrance to Sun Down Bowl and I remembered that they'd groomed Ricky's Ridge, so I figured it would be relatively packed out and...
I was wrong.
I'm past the point of no return. And the problem isn't the crud, but that's it's set up, it's become firm. Like I said, Vail is so vast...let's just say the Back Bowls never get completely skied out.
And to be honest, I'm tired. And I know I have to commit, and I'm out in the wilderness alone and...
I do commit. Thank god I was on my 108s.
At the cliff I traversed to the bumps, and I got down, but the entire journey was a mistake.
So I went back to the front and skied until the lifts closed. Once again, pushing it beyond my limit.
Oh, I left out Friday... We got snow so hard and concentrated it was like being hit by BBs. As if God was shooting his gun. Almost everybody went in. I was going to go to the gondola for a respite...but then it lightened up and it was so good I skied until closing, once again too hard.
So if you're following the narrative, I skied very hard for three days straight.
And today?
There's not a cloud in the sky. And stunningly, the snow is still winter! It was a bit firm, but Felice and I went out and were really digging it, but then she was tired and wanted to go in so we took the classic way down, to Bear Tree, and...
The snow had turned.
Let me explain this to you. The slopes are rolled, literally, by snowcats. And if they get no traffic and they soften up...it's like skiing in Carvel, it's absolute heaven.
And most people only ski Bear Tree at the end of the day, so we were skiing Carvel and I was thrilled and Felice went in and I took the gondola to Chair 3 to the top to ski Morningside Ridge in Sun Down Bowl...
And it was too late. It was slushed out. As a result of too much traffic. I did a nonstopper, because I could manage the slush and at points the surface was clean...but this was enough for the Back Bowls. I was tempted to ski Forever, the classic run under Chair 5 in the back, but I knew I really needed my 108s, to run roughshod through the crud, and in truth I was worn out.
So I skied Northstar, in the Northeast Bowl, and I was stunned to find...
It was still firm. I really expected it to be torn up and soft. But it wasn't, but what I really wanted was...
More of that Carvel.
So I took Chair 6 in reverse, to the top of Golden Peak.
At the absolute bottom of Golden Peak is where the beginners learn how to ski.
And on the left side of Golden Peak looking up is where the racers train. And let's be clear, I'm talking Mikaela Shiffrin and Lindsey Vonn.
And to the right of the race course, there's a terrain park, for the snowboarders, although skiers go in there now too.
And to the right of the park is...
Ruder's Run.
I get off Chair 6 and I ski onto Ruder's and...
It's total Carvel, almost no one has skied it, all the way down to the bottom of Chair 6.
Let me see... It'd be like finding your favorite rare record. Like seeing McCartney or the Stones in a club. Then again, there's nothing like it. Because you're alone, and it's the essence of freedom. You're totally in control, but going so fast you're approaching your limit, and you're gliding on a surface so smooth, you feel no resistance. Its heaven.
So I go up and do it again.
There was no rope on the race course, which was rolled, so I skied that too.
And then Ruder's again. And again. And even WhipperSnapper, which is like a roller coaster and used to be groomed regularly but not anymore yet it was today and it was...baked-out and sticky.
So after eating up the runs on Golden Peak, I decide I'm going to ride Chair 6 to the top, not get off at the mid-station, go far beyond Golden Peak, and then take 11 to the other side of the mountain.
But Blue Ox is staring me in the face. They usually groom it twice a week, but it hadn't been groomed at all in the last week and today is the last day for Chair 10, which gives access to the run, and I'm totally tired, believing I should can it, and then...
I go up Chair 10 to Blue Ox and...
It's awful. Firm, with solid crud. Just like Morningside, but even worse, I had to work at it. And I could feel the day in my legs and there's no way out but what a mistake.
And literally the only way out, other than a notorious catwalk that is flat upon which you must walk, is Chair 10. Which is taking me back up to the opposite side of the mountain from where I want to be.
But I ride it and I'm making my way back to Chair 11, to go back to the other side of the mountain and...
It's still firm. I'm shocked. Especially because the bottom is usually one of the first places to bake out.
So I ride up Chair 11 and I'm gonna ski Northwoods. Which I do not prefer, because that's the main way down that side and there's always so much traffic. But not today...
I've got the run to myself, I'm ripping, right over the roll and then there's the fall-away...which most people avoid. A short, extremely steep pitch.
And it was essentially ice and my skis were chattering but I was on the edge and I was loving it.
And on the ride back up 11 I shared the chair with an investment banker, who raises money for medical devices. How does he do it? Well, he worked at Lazard, and he made all these contacts and he only picks five companies out of three hundred fifty a year and when he calls, investors pony up, but... He works from 5 AM to 8 AM. Then 5 PM into the evening. Because in-between... He's got to ski! A hundred days a year. His home base is Miami, but he's rarely there and...
Even though he'd gone to MIT, and had an MBA, he was bitten by the bug, he lived to go skiing.
I know that's hard to understand, but it's a cult. And you know if you're a member.
A week a year is not enough. Two weeks are not enough. All winter long you're fighting to get back to the mountain. You may like to drink, but it's not about après.
And there's not a cloud in the sky. And I'm at 11,000 feet in the Rockies. The vista would blow your mind. And inside, I start to smile.
Because this is who I am.
I mean how can that be? I'm a middle class Jewish suburbanite.
But I got bitten by the bug. I went to a college with a ski area. After two years in Little Cottonwood Canyon after graduation I moved to L.A. and tried to get over it and...
The only way this works is if you don't ski. Because when you do you know if you only skied another couple of weeks in a row you'd be back in the groove, but you're not going to and it's more depressing than fun.
I don't want to tell you how many days I've skied this year. You won't believe it. Never mind the week I was sick back in December, in Vail, when I would have been out on the slopes. Never mind the days coming in Mammoth, which announced it will be open through at least July.
And it's a conundrum. I'm outside, feeling my fullest, and I'm thinking about who I once was.
You're little, at least when I was little, and you spend all your time outside. And then you get old and you're inside. But today I was outside and it was a jolt, was I still the same person I was when I was growing up, the one who lived to play baseball, who went to summer camp, who did not live in front of a computer, did not play video games, was not on my phone, because they all didn't exist?
And this is not an anti-technology screed. The phone has made skiing so much easier, in terms of meeting your friends on the hill and being able to respond to e-mail, i.e. work, but...
There are mountains 14,000 feet high in the distance. And they'll survive you and me. And even though you can probably get signal up there, at least satellite SOS on your iPhone, it's very different from being inside.
You feel alive. It's palpable.
So it was still firm under Chair 4, astoundingly, and I ski over to Chair 2 and...
It's like I'm on drugs. Anointed by God. I was tired when I woke up, I should have gone in two hours before, but I can't, I can't let go of this feeling, of skiing on this snow, of being in the mountains.
And I'm starting to think of the attrition, after all these runs. I'm going to be hurting tomorrow.
But somehow I'm even stronger than I was earlier in the day. And the sun is still shining and then...
I'm afraid of losing the feeling. I'm so high, it's amazing. I want to convey it to you. And it comes to me, this is the last run.
And as I go from the top of the mountain down the hill, it goes from firm to soft. Upper Berries was firm. Middle Columbine was getting soft.
And then I hit the Carvel snow once again.
There was no one to tell. There was no posse. This was an internal feeling, that is hard to communicate.
But I just tried.
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