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When is there too much snow?

tunagod

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I skied at Pico today and the snow was off the charts. Legit 30" of powder with big drifts. Blue trails were rendered useless unless you trekked it. The glades had hidden limbs everywhere. Knowing there wasn't much of a base in the trees you ski them differently than I would I am sure.....I am posing a question to the you guys that chase powder every storm. Is there a sweet spot for snow amounts? Most of you are way beyond my ski level and are laughing at this question, but curious what people think.
 

Tin

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I skied at Pico today and the snow was off the charts. Legit 30" of powder with big drifts. Blue trails were rendered useless unless you trekked it. The glades had hidden limbs everywhere. Knowing there wasn't much of a base in the trees you ski them differently than I would I am sure.....I am posing a question to the you guys that chase powder every storm. Is there a sweet spot for snow amounts? Most of you are way beyond my ski level and are laughing at this question, but curious what people think.


LOL wtf? Time to get some different skis or try a new a new sport. Pico was nuts today. Intermediate trails especially because people who ski in jeans cannot ski powder and stuck to the groomed stuff. The woods were some of the best I've ever skied, except arounf the Outpost, and you could absolutely bomb down anything. Thigh to chest deep.
 
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mlctvt

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did you see the pictures of Tahoe or Mammooth last month when they received 24 to 30 FEET of snow in February? They had to dig the lifts out, maybe that was too much , nah
 

KustyTheKlown

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i'm sad that i've needed to work all week. can't wait to get up this weekend and search out some leftovers in the woods.
 

tunagod

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lol ski in jeans exactly, correct on not having powder skis. Plenty of you are an incredible skier in all conditions no doubt. My guess is you don't ski with kids? You missed my question completely.


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chuckstah

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I ran into a 9 foot storm cycle in Tahoe about 9-10 years ago. It was too much for my group as all the lifts, and most of the roads were closed. Missed skiing 3 days, and had to divert to Heavenly over Kirkwood for another day, and had to walk a good distance to get there. Is it too much snow? No, but it can really f up a trip. The skiing was epic when the lifts finally turned, but you didn't want to be the first one on anything with a runout back to the chair.

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eatskisleep

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Having the right equipment can make a huge difference. Wide powder skis will make it easier to float in deep powder, even on the flatter trails. A tighter ski stance will help too with your legs closer together.

As far as too much? It can happen, but if you are at a place like MRG where it is steep enough, that is a noter story.
 

Bumpsis

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Of course there can be too much snow! It all depends where and your level of experience with really deep snow.
When I lived in W. New York and lake effects snow dumps came to places like Kissing Bridge which was just a low angle ridge ski area, too much powder would essentially stop your downhill progress if you decided to make turn.

Being an eastern skier and not having too many chances to learn how to ski powder, I was faced with "bottomless" powder conditions during a trip to British Columbia. I was out of my "depth", really. Wide, powder skis don't help much if you don't know how to ski it. I've never encountered such conditions and it was intimidating. My quads were not ready for such work and the technique just did not click for me. Falling in such deep stuff was also a bit frightening because it was super tough to get up not having any resistance from your ski poles. This really undermined my confidence, also being aware of tree wells.
I'd like to think that I'm a fairly decent eastern skier, having Tuckerman's descents and number of other challenges out west and in Europe under my belt. Yet, skiing "bottomless" powder without really know how to do this, was rather unnerving. Too much snow? Yes, I'm sure, for a number of us.
 

deadheadskier

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LOL wtf? Time to get some different skis or try a new a new sport. Pico was nuts today. Intermediate trails especially because people who ski in jeans cannot ski powder and stuck to the groomed stuff. The woods were some of the best I've ever skied, except arounf the Outpost, and you could absolutely bomb down anything. Thigh to chest deep.
Was that you I saw cranking Newports and pounding Bud heavies in the lift line?

Don't mind Tin OP. He's a little touched, but only bites small children.

His point on skis is worth considering though. When it's super dry and light snow, a skilled skier can do fine on even the skinniest of skis. When it's heavy snow, using skis below 90 is still really challenging for even the best skiers unless they are in great shape and can power through it. Most still want to be on something 100+ in deep snow.

Next time you find yourself out on a day like today, demo some powder skis, even out your weight distribution over the skis and I think you'll have an eye opening experience. 30" on the East coast is really special. I think Ive had maybe 10 of those days in my 33 years of skiing.

And to answer your question, no, there is never too much snow. Rewind your calendar two weeks and there's your reason why. February started off incredible and it all went away in a hurry at most Northeast mountains.



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bdfreetuna

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If it's too much for you, wait for other people to ski it and enjoy the woods once they're tracked out.

This recent storm snow is so light and dry I don't think there's such a thing as too much.
 

tunagod

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Guys we're drinking pbr's waiting in line at 815. Wish I was still in college. I do appreciate the responses. I am sure tin crushes it in all depths of snow, but for me today was a more difficult day than say 12" of powder a month ago, which is why I asked the question. No denying my level of ability either. Would fat skis make that much of a difference for an average skier?


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sankaty

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I was at Pico today. It's true that the snow was so deep that it could prevent forward progress in flattish sections, even with powder skis and good technique, but they had groomed sections in those places so it was possible to bail out if necessary. Once those sections got slightly tracked, they skied great.

The rest of the mountain was sublime. I did find some submerged obstacles in the trees though. There's that leap of faith moment when charging through a drift where I wonder if it's actually a buried tree limb. Ninety percent of the time it works out great, but that tenth time . . .
 

sankaty

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+1

Wider skis with some rocker are a total game changer in deep snow and trees. 98mm is a good compromise width for eastern powder, but even wider is better if you can manage dedicated powder skis.
 
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prsboogie

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Well ill give you this, it was a hell of a way to jump onto the forum. Welcome and no, never too deep unless you live where it's always deep! Then, well, still no!


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