Pictures, pictures and pictures!

[Rodbelan]

What the F**k is a Bloomsky camera? Sounds like one of your invention...

[Johnny]

You sir and Bloomsky cams are ruining skiing...
I have a much better technology, it's called a living room window...

[Bri7]

This is a bloomsky Rod... My bloomsky installed on the top of mont Alta. A Bloomsky is a weather station that captures HD photos and stitches them into time lapse videos a the end of the day. It also has numerous sensors (wind, temperature, humidity, precipitation etc...) that gives you real time conditions on the mountain.

http://map.bloomsky.com/weather-station ... apnJSnnJem

You bring a good point of view Johnny. But I think that philosophically I have it the other way around. A bloomsky on the slopes of mount Sutton would benifit the social interest of the skiers community but of course, this could also interfer with some local skiers self interest.

Donating to charity and volunteering, for example giving some time and money to a non profit backcountry resort like mont Alta, is somehow against my self interest; i’m loosing money and wasting some of my precious time. But on the other hand, the entire skier community will benefit from it.

The cool thing about social interest is that it can also eventually end up bringing you self-interest. Let say you install a bloomsky in Sutton. Rod will probably be jealous and he will do the same at Mont Sainte-Anne for the social interest of the community. This way, ater a ice storm in Sutton we might end up skiing deep powder in Ste-Anne and fufill our self interest after taking a look at Rod’s bllomsky.

Of course, as we discussed before, we could also install those webcam all over the place and charge big bucks to those puffy jackets

[frickus]

I skied farther than I should have, got lost at one point and fell down a lot. All told, it was a great day...

[Johnny]

Nice shot Frickus! If CO was not so expensive...

Nothing to do with self-interest Bri7, quite the opposite. It's a matter of preserving Mother Nature's precious gift from being spoilled heartlessly by rich city dwellers like yourself. You come here in the morning to spoil our mountains and drive back to your big cities in the afternoon to make more money. It's for the sake of nature and environment, not mine. I'm against webcams no matter where they are located...

"Backcountry resorts" are just the most stupid thing. Call it what you want, but they have nothing to do with backcountry or off-piste skiing. They are just large pre-cut geriatric slopes for week-end tourists trying to do like they do on TV... Insured backcountry "resorts" are lame... But they are the hip thing to do, what can I do...?

Social interest my ass... BS... Come on... Wanna do some real good? Stop spoiling decades-old and nicely preserved natural BC spots and spreading them around. Stop driving 4h to go ski. Stop encouraging people to burn gas to go ski. Stop promoting exotic BC places and stupid backcountry "Resorts". Stop being sponsored by publicly listed corporations like Black Diamond... Stop encouraging global warming and made in China crap.. Stop installing WiFi webcams in nature.

Wanna do some real good? Organize local ski swaps, teach the kids how to fix their own clothes, promote urban skiing in your own town. Promote backyard skiing and XC ski in local forests. Encourage people to buy stuff from smaller or family owned companies. Promote ecologically responsible and environmentally friendly skiing.... Bla bla bla...

[Johnny]

Speaking of charity and volunteering, there is something you are doing incredibly well Bri7. Wow, this new, version 3 of the TITS™ NTN toes is just awesome...! A huge improvement over the previous versions. I'm impressed... A beautiful, puuuuuurfect piece of fine craftsmanship... WOW, just WOW! (You should start making skis and bindings for the social interest of the skiers community instead of cutting down trees and installing webcams... )

Thaaaaaaaaaaanks! I owe you one... (4 actually...)

[Bri7]

They are just large pre-cut geriatric slopes for week-end tourists trying to do like they do on TV...

Geriatric slopes You should serioulsy come spend a week this winter before judging too quickly. I think you are being a bit tough on Mont Alta... Alta did not choose to become a backcountry resort (ok maybe the term backcountry ressort is missleading here). It used to be a nice quiet place with a double chair. A minimalist ski resort like you don’t see very often. No snowmaking, no grooming, just old school skiing.

The local community of Val David and the surrounding gathered in 2014 to save the mountain that was sitting stall for the last 2 years. We worked on the lift, on the building on the trails, etc... We did managed to open the place but it did not turn out as planned. A fire destroyed everything 3 weeks after the re-openning. Of course, the place was not insure. We are just trying to keep this place alive and bring some local cohesion to a small laurentian city. Nobody is driving 4 hours to ski Alta (well I hope). You would be surprise to see how many one piece from the late 80’s and rear entry boots are skiing Mont Alta. Of course, i’d be lying if i told you that there was no black diamond skis and puffy jackets. Hey by the way, the webcam is solar powered Please to be so hard on Alta. The former owner taugh me a few things on welding and fabricating. It has probably something to do with my craftmanship skill used in the fabrication of the TITS 3 which by the way survied the 4 hours drive from my place to your place

[fisheater]

I don't have snow or any ski photos to share yet this season, but I thought I would share a photo that could give an idea of the power of king salmon. I try to get out and fish for kings in my canoe when they stage near shore in Lake Michigan and in the harbors and drowned river mouths. The kings were well fed this year due to two successive lame winters (yes, I would take the snow). The photo is a lure a hen salmon destroyed. Not only was the rear hook almost ripped from the lure, but the front hook was almost ripped free from the split ring.
Hopefully soon the Great Lakes will be offering up lake effect. I know I am ready.

[Johnny]

Bri7, I was not talking about Mont Alta specifically... But more about the general trend of the last 15 years here in QC to destroy WHOLE mountain sides just for the sake of social interest of the skiers community. I am sorry, but cutting 10 or 15 trails on a virgin mountain side in the name of the Backcountry skiing trend is just totally wrong. It might be the latest fashion, well, that makes one more reason for me to hate it, even though I know you personally dedicate all your free time to promote this kind of trendy geriatric stuff...

My humble opinion is that if you need chainsaws to ski down a hill, you should leave that mountain the fuck alone and just go ski the fuck elsewhere. Or just learn how to ski tight trees like a man. Geriatric chainsaw-cut trails will never be neither backcountry skiing nor off-piste skiing. I call it Glamcountry skiing... Or backcountry skiing for the upper class... Either learn to ski trees or move out west, but please, don't hurt these poor old defenseless mountains...

First ♦♦ runs of the season here... Still not a single track... It's such a lonely world here... Just the way I love it. Thank God for keeping Montrealers at bay... No, that is not BC skiing yet... Just skiing in man-made trails or closed / abandoned resorts...

[Bri7]

You have some nice stuff going on down south Johnny!

I wish we had that kind of coverage up north. For the moment I have to reply on the basics, the elder man highway of the Laurentians. And before you point it out Johnny, I know those skis are made in china