Hardcore!

[kingslug]

Well after reading most of the trip reports from this weekend I have concluded that northeast skiers have to be some of the most hardore skiers on earth. I was feeling like crap and didn't want to make the drive to ski in sleet and rain on a few trails but a ton of you did just that. You guys will go out in conditions that most others wouldn't get out of bed for. Out west they would laugh at skiing this stuff and a lot of them couldn't if they wanted too. They are too spoiled by the real stuff and most don't even sharpen their skis. I met up with a guy in Solitude a while back and he said he had the worst time a K-Mart. Too much ice. People out west don't believe me when I tell them that if you can ski in the east you can prolly ski anywhere.

 

[Goblin84]

amen!

 

[roark]

One caveat: Powder can be tough for the eastern skier - especially if they're on the usual 67 waist carvers!

 

[klrskiah]

One caveat: Powder can be tough for the eastern skier - especially if they're on the usual 67 waist carvers!

So true... last february at alta, 2 feet of untracked on my volkl 6*'s now that was tough skiing!! But hey they got a 68 waist so i guess that practically makes them pow skis:grin:

 

[kingslug]

One caveat: Powder can be tough for the eastern skier - especially if they're on the usual 67 waist carvers!

You just have to practice, which can be tough here to do. After several years I can do it on my crossmaxes no prob. You just have to get out there . This would be a good year to start...in Colorado. No snow probs there this year.

 

[roark]

You just have to practice, which can be tough here to do. After several years I can do it on my crossmaxes no prob. You just have to get out there . This would be a good year to start...in Colorado. No snow probs there this year.

True, a real expert can ski most anything on many any gear.

And I'm taking my 1st trip to CO in Feb

 

[reefer]

Cheers Kingslug. And you're right about the powder - get out there.....I'm sure most of us who were out there Monday and wrote, know how to ski any type of powder, or should I say "adjust" to any type of powder cause that's why we were out there Monday. I've never been out West but I like to think I can ski their powder after all the "cement" I've skiied in around here over the years. When skiing Wildacat last April after a freak 15" storm only hitting there and Maine, all I heard was "just like out West" all day from people. I was handling it mighty fine! I despise groomed trails! Give me the crud!

 

[SkiDog]

I soo agree and have been using that same statement for most of my skiing life...

If you grew up in the east skiing mostly boilerplate and blue ice...you can tackle ANYTHING the west has to offer....sure powder takes some getting used to....but nothing a "hardcore" easterner can't easily figure out...

M

 

[Mauleflyer]

I lived in Cailifornia for about 4 years. Skiied a lot of Mamouth Mountain, Big Bear and some Tahoe. I'm telling you that people out there have no idea what ice is. I would laugh when some natitive would say that the slopes are getting icy when in fact all it really ever was was granular snow. They would not believe me when I would tell them that back east ice ment the kind of stuff you could ice skate on. We need to be greatful for what ever we got I guess.

 

[tcharron]

So if I move, I won't be such a newb? :-D

 

[kingslug]

The westerners do have us on one big thing though...cliff jumping. Not a good thing to practice on hardpack. Case in point: While waiting for the bus at Snowbird, some kid shows me a video on his small camera. His buddy just jumped off a 240 foot cliff in the backcountry trying to emulate Jamie Piere. He ended up in the hospital but did live through it. Insane, just insane.

 

[snoseek]

I bet a lot of the time good western skiers are from the east. BTW i just got back from a 2 week utah trip, and i can't beleive how few skiers come out on snowy days, everytime it snowed the mountain was real quiet.

 

[Warp Daddy]

DUH after surviving and thriving on eastern fast rocks , slow grass, , tectonic plates of BLUE Ice, death cookies . hardpack, dust on crust , and other assorted conditions what the hell is the problem SKIING --------------------- any powder :blink:

 

[kingslug]

DUH after surviving and thriving on eastern fast rocks , slow grass, , tectonic plates of BLUE Ice, death cookies . hardpack, dust on crust , and other assorted conditions what the hell is the problem SKIING --------------------- any powder :blink:

The problem most people have is DEEP powder. They try to ski it like hardpack because thats what they are used to and that is what kind of muscle memory their bodies have. So they end up wallowing in it. And this is for both easterners and a lot of westerners. Takes a lot of practice, that we don't get here for the most part. But man there's nothing like it.

 

[Warp Daddy]

Been there --Done that and like i said next to this yrs eastern conditions --no problemo

 

[Edd]

I skied Mt Baker in Washington state about 6 years ago with a fair amount of eastern skiing experience and I didn't know what I was in for. That place gets serious powder and it kicked the crap out of me. My buddy from Montana didn't understand what my problem was. Since then I've got the hang of it but that was a humbling day.