Spring Skiing at Loon with bvibert: April 10, 2005

[thetrailboss]

Date(s) Skied: Sunday, April 10, 2005

Resort or Ski Area: Loon Mountain

Conditions: Spring sweetness!!! (Corn, soft snow, bumps, etc).

Trip Report: I had been looking forward to spring skiing and I could not turn down the opportunity to ski with fellow AZer bvibert at a great mountain.

On the way up, we spoke via phone and considered hitting Waterville, but after our conversation, we both were at a consensus to keep our plans to hit Loon. Despite getting back home rather late on Saturday night from Phantom of the Opera, I still had the energy to get up (a bit later than normal) and get on the road mainly because the thoughts of soft bumps, incredible sunshine , and lunch at Camp III :P .

I pulled into the parking lot to find the place DEAD. I did two warm up runs on Northstar and Rumrunner, both of which had been flash frozen, before meeting up with bvibert for a nice warm up down Blue Ox, which was soft and sweet. From here it was off to North Peak and Walking Boss, which was sweet with some soft bumps.

Both of us were a bit tired, so we opted for some nice runs off of the Gondola, which made for some nice long laps with little or no wait in line. Off of the top we hit Flying Fox, Picked Rock, Upper Speakeasy, and Bear Claw, all of which were nice, before heading to lunch at Camp III.

We hit Camp III at about noon and found a great crowd enjoying the sun and a great view of North Peak . We both enjoyed great burgers before heading back out for some more runs off of the Gondola.

The observation deck afforded some great views (see the album) and nice conversation with two gentlemen who may be joining us here in AZ soon .

We finished up on Rumrunner with some great photo ops.

At this point, bvibert met his wife and headed home while I headed back up for more skiing skiing on the tougher bump runs including Upper Angel Street, Flume, Walking Boss, and one more run down the liftline of the East Basin Double, which was getting ready to close for the season.

I made it to the West Basin just shy of four and quite tired, a bit sunburnt, and with one of the biggest smiles in the world. It was hard leaving...the snow was deep, the cover was great (better than Cannon and edge-to-edge), the crowds thin, and the folks friendly. What a difference from my last visit in January!!

Thanks again to bvibert for a great day!!

HERE are the rest of my pics from the day

[bvibert]

Awesome TR, I was hoping you would post one! I was too lazy to look up the trail names and try to remember where we skied. I'll try to get my pics uploaded later today...

[thetrailboss]

Originally Posted by bvibert

Awesome TR, I was hoping you would post one! I was too lazy to look up the trail names and try to remember where we skied. I'll try to get my pics uploaded later today...

Feel free to add your own thoughts though.

You are a great skier...throw you on some good sticks and give you a few more days and you'll be ripping!

[bvibert]

Originally Posted by thetrailboss

Feel free to add your own thoughts though.

I will, trying to get some work done around here for once, its not going too well though

Originally Posted by thetrailboss

You are a great skier...throw you on some good sticks and give you a few more days and you'll be ripping!

Aw thanks... I think you're right about the skis though, it would have been nice to have skis that didn't bounce of the little soft piles of corn all over the place

[thetrailboss]

Originally Posted by bvibert

Aw thanks... I think you're right about the skis though, it would have been nice to have skis that didn't bounce of the little soft piles of corn all over the place

Yeah, as we discussed, try some Fischers or Heads and you'll appreciate their power and ability to rip throw spring crud. If you're a power skier, good skis to try

[bvibert]

I added my pictures to the Gallery

Thetrailboss covered it pretty well in his TR, all I can add is that I had an awesome day! I couldn't believe how nice the weather ended up being.

[Charlie Schuessler]

Good to see you guys had a good day at Loon...were Big Dipper & Triple Trouble closed?

[Bob R]

Originally Posted by bvibert

Awesome TR, I was hoping you would post one! I was too lazy to look up the trail names and try to remember where we skied. I'll try to get my pics uploaded later today...

Set your goals low and don't achieve them. I always let TB write the reports. Glad you guys had fun. Can't wait for Sat there myself.

[Greg]

Originally Posted by Charlie Schuessler

Good to see you guys had a good day at Loon...were Big Dipper & Triple Trouble closed?

From this pic in trailboss's album, it looks like Dipper was open, but TT was roped:

[thetrailboss]

Originally Posted by Greg

From this pic in trailboss's album, it looks like Dipper was open, but TT was roped:

Yes, Dipper was open (thanks for giving me the name there...I was squinting as I read the trail sign to figure out what it said ) and Triple Trouble was closed .