First Chair v. Last Chair

[KevinF]

I've had a couple first chairs in my time, as first thing is usually my fave time to ski. Uncrowded runs, good conditions, etc. My most memorable last chair came at Snowmass one time; there were five or six of us literally skiing in tucks into the lift maze as the liftie was stringing the "closed" rope across the entrance. We hopped onto the lift; I was on the last one. My chair reached the unload point, I stood up, and the summit liftie shut it off. My chair didn't make it around the bullwheel until the next morning. :-D You're not going to get much more "last chair" then that!

I've also found myself on the summit of Snowbird after they shut the tram down. That was an awesome last run down.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

The best thing about having first chair is knowing that your entire first run, you won't see another person..you have the whole mountain to yourself..much different than an hour or two later...Not only does the early bird get the worm but they can stay one step ahead of the crowds i working their way around a ski area..

 

[mattchuck2]

Definitely prefer first chair to last chair . . .

Adding to the list of negatives for last chair - You're usually more tired at the end of the day, there's a greater risk of injury, and in the spring time, the mountain has usually turned to glop by then. Always better in the Spring to Ski in the morning and Golf in the afternoon.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

In the spring getting out early is a good thing..so you can get alot of mad steezy frozen cord runs followed by alot of mad steezy corn runs and then mad steezy applesauce runs..and having golf clubs in your car during ski season is bad for stoke!!!!

 

[Johnskiismore]

I'm pointing out the obvious here, but of course first chair after a snowstorm!

 

[mattchuck2]

In the spring getting out early is a good thing..so you can get alot of mad steezy frozen cord runs followed by alot of mad steezy corn runs and then mad steezy applesauce runs..and having golf clubs in your car during ski season is bad for stoke!!!!

No way, I love carrying both. Sometimes I even practice my sand shots in the gloppy snow while having a beer on the deck after a day of skiing (have to use the flourescent balls).

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

No way, I love carrying both. Sometimes I even practice my sand shots in the gloppy snow while having a beer on the deck after a day of skiing (have to use the flourescent balls).

That reminds me of the weather channel special on Barrow Alaska,,,there are some avid golfers who lay artificial turf on the snow to practice during their long winters.

 

[dmc]

I don't rush out unless there's over 10" of fresh...

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

I don't rush out unless there's over 10" of fresh...

jaded:smash:

 

[polski]

It really depends on circumstances.

First chair (or as close as possible to it) absolutely when there's fresh powder, even if it means a 5 a.m. departure on a day trip to a place like MRG (3 hr drive on dry roads) though ideally I can secure lodging and get up there the night before when conditions warrant. (Best yet was renting a house off the Rat last Feb and getting first tracks in a foot of fresh through the woods before 8 a.m., then again on Lower Antelope when the Single started spinning.) Cold is not a deterrent when there's pow to be had.

On first chair days I'm often too pooped to make it to last chair though. Magic on 12/23 was one example and in fact I didn't make first chair either -- it was two days after the storm, and my first day out for the season, so I wasn't in a great hurry. Still plenty of serious quality if not quantity in that case. Yesterday was one exception, where my son and I got first tracks at Sunapee shortly after 8 before the hordes arrived, and despite the crowds I still was able to find some small freshies on last chair eight hours later.

On those epic powder days when I just can't pull myself away I will try to pace myself so I can go bell to bell, hitting the most challenging stuff when I'm in peak form after three or four warmup runs but before the thighs start getting scorched, then taking it way easier in the afternoon but still on the lookout for untracked.

Completely different story in spring. In my book it's not worth leaving before dawn to ski groomed cord before the snow corns up. On my best spring day last April I saw my kids off on the school bus at 8:15 a.m., then drove three hours to MRG and had an afternoon for the record books -- good freeze the night before, bluebird day, mountain 100% open with deep snowpack, and temps climbing into the high 40s for primo corn but the snow never rotted out. Sitting on the deck at 3 p.m. finishing burger and second beer and plotting out my last three chairs, skiing stuff I'd never attempted there before -- life doesn't get much better than that.

 

[hardline]

I don't rush out unless there's over 10" of fresh...

say it again i like sllep

Definitely last chair. Largely because I'm really not a morning person. There's also something triumphant and peaceful about the last chair, knowing you sweated it out longer than everybody else, and a nice reflection on a good day.

Waking up at 4-4:30 on a Saturday is just not for me, though. Plus it's cold in the morning,

your a brother from another mother.
i love comming down long after the mountain has closed. i used to do it all the time at stowe in the spring. we would just sit up at the top hand have a sesh then come down.

 

[polski]

p.s. only now am I noticing HPD stipulated "I’m talking average day, NOT powder day." I'm not ashamed to say I've become something of a snow snob. Unless I'm hooking up with friends/family or it's a trip to the local feeder hill with the kids or something like Midnight Madness at Crotched (fun!) I just can't get motivated to drive long distances and pay considerable $$$ to ski groomers at best or boilerplate at worst. I'm lucky that sometimes my work schedule is flexible enough that I can take weekdays off on short notice and when family circumstances also permit, I'll chase the weather when I can. Barring some major unforeseen change in life circumstances I'm not going to be skiing 100 days a season, but a fairly high percentage of the trips I do take (20+ last winter) will involve powder or primo spring conditions. Again, quality over quantity. If I lived closer to big ski mountains there probably would be more quantity, but I don't, so there isn't.

All that said, if I am out there for an "average day" in winter conditions I'd still lean toward first chair, especially if it's a weekend, to get in as much skiing before crowds and scrape-off.

 

[riverc0il]

last chair is the best on storm days!!!!!..

BUT the original post specified that powder days don't count. Last chair is good only if the storm goes all day during the day and the ski area is empty and it is refilling or still filling in certain lines. On a weekend, even if it nukes, chances are things are not actually refilling because they are getting beaten too much, even late in the day.

 

[dmc]

jaded:smash:

I get out and ski a few days a week... even if it's just for an hour...

Yeah... I'm jaded...

Even out west i'd rather wait for things to soften before I rush out...

 

[skiadikt]

first chair. uncrowded. first dibs on any new snow. great grooming. late in the day everything is usually skied off, light has gotten flat and i'm tired - a recipe for getting hurt so i'm done by 3-ish. exceptions are in the spring when we'll squeeze every last run out or if the snow is piling up.

 

[Geoff]

I usually try to time it so I'm at the lift about 5 minutes after it starts spinning. The obsessive-compulsive people who got there early and were pissing and moaning for them to spin the lift are gone. Boot up in the condo, drive the 2 miles to close-in parking, walk a few hundred feet to the gondola, arrive at the top with that first mass of people gone. Pick a way down with an eastern exposure so I have good light.

Where I ski at freakin' KMart, there are few western exposures so the afternoon light is lousy midwinter. Yesterday was a sunny day with a crystal blue sky. The light got really flat at 3:00 even though I was in the trees where there should have been good contrast.

 

[dmc]

I usually try to time it so I'm at the lift about 5 minutes after it starts spinning. The obsessive-compulsive people who got there early and were pissing and moaning for them to spin the lift are gone.

DING DING DING...

I hate that crap..

At Hunter - I'll wait until first chair on the West Side.. Which opens later

 

[djspookman]

Pre-kiddo I was a first chair/ last chair guy. I'd take a long lunch from 12:30-2, then hit the woods again, refreshed and re-charged! Its got to be really bad for me not to stay till closing..

Now, I am a "ski when I get there guy" My wife and I swap off the kiddo in the lodge for now, so I'll ski 3-4 runs, come in, she'll go out for 3-4 runs.. that's pretty much how our day is so far! Can't wait till next season when the little one will be coming for the ride with us!!!

 

[BackLoafRiver]

I am usually a first chair guy. I love the feeling of having the place almost to yourself. You can grab the best snow, hit up some of the more popular stuff on the mountain and not have to worry too much about conditions. This past Sunday was a great example. It felt like you were skiing alone until almost 11 at Sunday River. (in truth, the day never got crowded)

I used to make it first to last chair but, as stated before, my favorite stuff gets tracked out and slicked up, light goes flat and I tend to do more stupid stuff. I tend to call it in at 3.

 

[davidhowland14]

both. I ski bell to bell every time I go out.