New Member Introductions Thread

[missleah26]

Hey!

Hey all, I just posted about a trip up to Bretton Woods on 1/10/09 and promised that I'd introduce myself over here, so here goes!

My name's Leah, as you may have guessed, and I'm originally from Wakefield, MA. I live in Reading now, which is just the town next door, but it's all good.

I started off snowboarding when I was around 7, I think, back when there was no kids' stuff on the market. The board my brother and I shared was taller than I was, and my dad had to duct tape foam bath blocks into the bindings to keep our feet in. I was never really any good at boarding, so I decided to switch to skiing when I was in middle school. Took a few lessons, got to be decent enough for my taste, and was able to ski with friends easily. Then I got bored again and switched back to snowboarding senior year in high school. Let my dad teach me how to board (again), then stopped trying to learn after I cut open his knee with my brand-new (and thus sharp-edged) board. That's what he got for kneeling on the trail facing the top of the mountain and refusing to move as I was coming straight at him on my heel side. Went a few more years boarding but never getting comfortable or anywhere near decent, so I switched back to skiing. Again. It's been 3 years now and I'm not going back ever again, I promise.

So based on this long-winded story of how I started skiing, you might imagine that I'm not very good at it. And you're right: I'm not that good, but I'm good enough for what I like to ride-- long cruisers with a few steep spots and great views. My boyfriend would rather I follow him straight to the top then straight back down again, hitting as many moguls as possible along the way, but that's just not how I roll. I love skiing, but I love skiing my own way, thankyouverymuch!

So that sums me up: indecisive sorta-newbie who just wants to cruise. And write long-winded intro posts... sorry! haha
Cheers! :beer:

 

[Schneehund]

Second Season Newbie

Hello all,

As is the custom in for these types of things, I'm in central New York, the general Syracuse area to be a little more specific, and I'm just starting my second season on the slopes. It doesn't sound like much experience but I was out a lot last season and I plan to be out even more this season. I've found something that I'm passionate about and so now I'm becoming a little obsessive about it.

If there's anything else you'd like to know, feel free to ask. :beer:

 

[bvibert]

Welcome missleah26 and Schneehund! Thanks for the intros.

missleah26, that's quite the back and forth intro to the sport(s). Where do you normally ski?

schneehund, do you ski or board (or both?)? Glad to hear that you caught the bug!

 

[Schneehund]

schneehund, do you ski or board (or both?)? Glad to hear that you caught the bug!

I ski. I haven't even tried boarding yet. I'm actually kind of eager to get out this morning but it seems that there's nothing open close by where I can get a few hours in. Bummer. :sad:

 

[missleah26]

I generally ski wherever I can. I do a lot of the Ski Market bus trips, so I get in a good variety. My favorite's Sunday River, though I ski Waterville Valley a bunch since it's not too far.

 

[St. Bear]

Hello all.

I just joined the forums, and posted a question on the Skiing & Snowboarding thread, though I should introduce myself.

I grew up in NH and skied periodically throughout my childhood. Not hardcore, but fairly regularly. I stopped skiing in high school, and didn't pick it back up until last year (about a 10 year gap). Unfortunately, I now live in NJ and have to call Mountain Creek my home mountain. Luckily, all of my family is still in NH, so I'm able to make it up there quite often throughout the season.

I would say I'm an intermediate-advanced skier. One thing I've found is that there's a drastic difference between regions. For Mountain Creek, I'm definitely an advanced skier, and even the double black diamond trail doesn't faze me. However, when I travel up north (especially to a place like Wildcat), I'm humbled and struggle with some of the blues.

I joined the forum to hopefully get a better idea of where to go when I travel up north. Hopefully some of the reviews will help me find the best snow this year.

 

[Glenn]

Welcome aboard!

 

[Live4Snow]

Good morning fellow skiers!

I'd like to introduce myself. My name is Jason & I've been skiing for about 4 years. I just found your site last week and would love to join in. I live in upstate New York with my wife & infant son. I skied about 35 times last year, but I'm still in the single digits for 08/09. My favorite run is Showcase at Gore Mountain in North Creek.

 

[bvibert]

Welcome Live4Snow!

 

[J.Spin]

Hi, my name is Jay and I’ve been registered and browsing on the AlpineZone forums for a while, but haven’t posted anything. I’ve been posting to SkiVT-L for about 14 years and to the First Tracks!! forums for a few less than that, but I figured I’d post my material here as well since it seems like there is a lot of activity and people might enjoy it. I’ve also noticed that some of the First Tracks people seem to spend a lot of time over here.

I grew up in the Chittenden County/Burlington area of Vermont, skiing a lot in the Green Mountains. From 2001-2006 our family lived in the city of Hamilton in the Bitterroot Valley of Montana and skied there, and then in 2006 we moved back to Vermont and now live in Waterbury. We have two young boys (ages 5 and 3) that we like to ski with and they are often mentioned in my trip reports.

Although we are down in the valley (elevation 495’) our house is right along the Green Mountain spine so we get in on a lot of the upslope snow that makes the Northern Greens such a snowy place. I collect snowfall/precipitation data at the house and make updates on that when I can; it’s not exactly what the mountains are receiving since we’re at a much lower elevation, but the weather down here does provide a pretty good idea of what is going on up above us. We’re just a few miles below the Bolton Valley Ski Resort, so we usually have some idea of what is going on in the general area. Whatever we get for snow down here, one can be almost certain they got at least that much up on the hill, and it’s typically more due to their elevation.

My full trip reports are often pretty detailed, as they are meant to cover a number of angles, such as keeping family and friends updated, recounting weather and snow conditions, discussing the skiing etc. Since it often takes a while to put together the more in depth reports, they are not very timely with regard to keeping people updated on the snow conditions around here, so I also make quick reports on the weather and ski conditions to SkiVT-L as well as First Tracks. I have a running thread on the First Tracks Eastern Forum where I quickly add my weather observations. If that’s something that would be useful for the folks here, I can add those in the weather area or somewhere else that would be appropriate.

J.Spin

 

[Beetlenut]

Welcome J.Spin. I have read some of your back country reports over on the First Tracks forum. The weather thread would be most welcome!

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Welcome J-Spin..remember me..I'm Doug who used to post on the Ski Vermont way back in the day...anyway I remember skiing with you and your crew at Sugarbush about a decade ago..I enjoy your daily backyard snowfall observations...

 

[J.Spin]

Welcome J-Spin..remember me..I'm Doug who used to post on the Ski Vermont way back in the day...anyway I remember skiing with you and your crew at Sugarbush about a decade ago..I enjoy your daily backyard snowfall observations...

Hi Doug, I definitely knew you were an active participant here; I've been directed to AlpineZone a couple of times already from other forums to check out your exciting posts. It's always nice to find familiar folks at the various websites! It should be fun to put up some of my reports at AlpineZone, although I was just checking out the trip report area and there appears to be a 10 image maximum, so I may have to select just certain reports to post here or omit certain images for some of the longer ones.

-J

 

[dmj]

Just joined forum

Hi, I just joined the forum. I have been lurking for a year now. My wife and I started skiing last season after 14 years off from it. After 3 trips we went out and bought jackets, ski pants, etc (we were borrowing from friends before that). After 2 more trips we bought boots, skis, poles etc. Just booked Stowe and sugarbush for the last week in January. I'm hoping conditions improve by then. We have a baby and will only be able to go on 2-3 trips a season until the baby is able to ski

 

[Greg]

Welcome to AZ, dmj!

 

[billski]

Hi, I just joined the forum. I have been lurking for a year now. My wife and I started skiing last season after 14 years off from it. After 3 trips we went out and bought jackets, ski pants, etc (we were borrowing from friends before that). After 2 more trips we bought boots, skis, poles etc. Just booked Stowe and sugarbush for the last week in January. I'm hoping conditions improve by then. We have a baby and will only be able to go on 2-3 trips a season until the baby is able to ski

Wow, heavy duty up-ramping! Grab the vigor and enthusiasm as long as you can. Sooner or later you'll start feeling weary after getting spit up on in the middle of the night several times. And I ain't talking about your wife!
So you went out on a limb and booked trips eh? Well, you'd better start burning sacrifices to Ullr now, just to guarantee conditions.
Welcome!

 

[octopus]

hello

joined up a while ago, like this site for east info. i now reside in watertown, ma and i'm always looking for cheaper ways to go snowboard.just recently got back into it big time

josh

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

hello

joined up a while ago, like this site for east info. i now reside in watertown, ma and i'm always looking for cheaper ways to go snowboard.just recently got back into it big time

josh

Hi Josh..Welcome to AlpineZone!!!

 

[deadheadskier]

Good friend of mine signed up today. Please harass the hell of danaxxmiller :lol:

 

[2knees]

Good friend of mine signed up today. Please harass the hell of danaxxmiller :lol:

i'm on the job bro.