Pictures, pictures and pictures!

[fisheater]

Connyro, it is easy to see from the photo just how steep the little mountains can be. It has been too many years since I have skied your area. The last time was St. Patrick's / Mardis Gras at Bohemia. I had no idea, I had just been following the weather late season, and they had a dump. All kinds of scenery you would not expect in the winter.
The hiking link is really cool, it will take me some time before it really makes sense to me. As far as heading back your way, it may not even be next season.
My new ski partner is my son. He is 14, but I started him late. The 2009 crash hit me hard, it is really only the past couple of years that I have been taking him out. He is just getting his ski legs under him. This winter I was downhill skiing with him in the Anses Combats and leathers, so we both had fun on the same hill. He also has a pair of Alpina Discovery 68's for trail skiing. My northern trips are father/ son trips. Men's rules things, drink as much pop as you want, but your Mom isn't here if you have a tummy ache, stay up as late as you want, but we're out the door at a set time, and if you're tired you can sleep in the truck, hope you don't get cold. Some people might think it's hard, but he enjoys being treated like a man, and he uses pretty good judgment. Well, he does mix equal parts oatmeal and brown sugar.
It sure would be cool to tour in your area. I had fun just mt. biking trails in the Marquette / Big Bay area. To be able to ski some of that terrain when it is filled in would be awesome.

[rongon]

Mount Marcy, NY, Sunday April 9







7.5 miles and 3300 ft up to get in maybe 10 or 15 good turns. It ain't Utah, that's fer sher.
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[Cannatonic]

What about Haystack? Doesn't it have more ski lines? I thought one side of Marcy had a bowl on it? Guess not.

[rongon]

I've never been up Haystack. That's one to hike this summer to see what's going on up there.

The whole west side of Marcy was pebble-grained bulletproof ice, so was off-limits (for skiers with any sanity). The leeward side was OK, but the snow wasn't quite deep enough to smooth out all obstacles. There were some turns to be had, just not those long, western-style runs. Half the fun (and a lot of the work) is surviving the long, narrow, twisty trail ski back down.

I saw some good FB posts from Sunday up high on Mt Mansfield...

[fisheater]

It looks pretty cool up there Rongon. Too bad you couldn't get more turns in, but it is pretty cool still seeing winter from where I am. I ski some steep narrow single track, I can think of a couple of hills where I yell from the top a couple times, " when I come around the bend I am going to be going really fast, please yell or stand to the side!" Probably not the safest technique, but there are not any turns in a well worn bridle trail, but there is a Daytona style high bank at the bottom! I think I would need to take my skis off, maybe use crampons if I was in the mountains.
What skis did you take on your Marcy adventure, Annums? The photos were really neat, you were able to capture the scene. What kind of camera are you using? Someday I would like to get a nice camera, so I pay a little attention to stuff like that.

[Woodserson]

Altai KOM's on top of the ROCKPILE!

Big Melt today! Very little skiable snow above treeline that wasn't the usual established/historical snowfields, ravines, etc. Tricky snow, some brilliant amazing corn, and some very slow freshly warmed snow, and giant snowmelt rivers undermining everything and ending winter. BOOOOO

[Cannatonic]

good job Woods, 4000 vertical, where did you come down? I hid inside the house yesterday with the windows closed to keep the hot air out! Today's avy report was a little more optimistic on the snowpack:

>>>Our snowpack is really deep right now despite the recent warm weather. Copious amounts of snow with few periods of thaw this winter have set us up for a great spring ski season, though todays warm and wet conditions are probably a good reason to pass on any invitation to ski or ride in steep terrain.

[Woodserson]

good job Woods, 4000 vertical, where did you come down? I hid inside the house yesterday with the windows closed to keep the hot air out! Today's avy report was a little more optimistic on the snowpack:

>>>Our snowpack is really deep right now despite the recent warm weather. Copious amounts of snow with few periods of thaw this winter have set us up for a great spring ski season, though todays warm and wet conditions are probably a good reason to pass on any invitation to ski or ride in steep terrain.

We went up and down the cog. We stayed out of the ravines due to undermining snowmelt and were aiming for the snowfields. However, it started to look ominous weather-wise and we bailed before we went down. I blame our late start. Not the greatest skiing but SKIING! Yeah, man!

[1EyedJack]

into the abyss - skiing in the clouds
crater lake np (wizard island in the background)


144 inches and still snowing

[rongon]

It looks pretty cool up there Rongon. Too bad you couldn't get more turns in, but it is pretty cool still seeing winter from where I am. I ski some steep narrow single track, I can think of a couple of hills where I yell from the top a couple times, " when I come around the bend I am going to be going really fast, please yell or stand to the side!" Probably not the safest technique, but there are not any turns in a well worn bridle trail, but there is a Daytona style high bank at the bottom! I think I would need to take my skis off, maybe use crampons if I was in the mountains.
What skis did you take on your Marcy adventure, Annums? The photos were really neat, you were able to capture the scene. What kind of camera are you using? Someday I would like to get a nice camera, so I pay a little attention to stuff like that.

Hey fisheater! My comments in the post sounded kind of down, but really, it was a great day out. As for turns, it was quality over quantity. I just thank my lucky stars every time I'm able to get in some turns on natural snow in a glorious place like that. The bluebird day, mild temperature and low wind were the icing on the cake.

The upper reaches of the hiking trail and the ski bypass trail are always a blast. Usually the trail skiing is better than on the summit, just not this time. Still, always wild and crazy.

My skis were Voile Vector BC, Voile SB X2, boots were my trusty old Crispi CXP. That setup can do just about anything, I swear.

My camera is a Canon Powershot A2500. Just a cheap digital camera, but I've had good luck with Canon.
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