Tackling the Transcendent Terrain @ Telluride Ski Resort, CO – Winter 2019 When this ski family descended upon Telluride Ski Resort during the middle of February 2019, we were greeted by an above-normal snowpack, daily fresh snow and ridiculously fun conditions. Almost everyday throughout the week, we received at least a few inches of new snow and combined with cold temperatures it yielded some stellar conditions. Trip Report Casey Cane | May 3, 2019 0 Comments
One Quintessential Day @ Cardrona, New Zealand – 2018 In mid-August 2018, a family from California descended upon a lovely ski field on the South Island of New Zealand. Cardrona, in a nutshell, is a ski resort with impeccable views, cruising piste runs, mammoth terrain parks, steeps, open bowls and so, quite literally, terrain for the entire family. Trip Report Casey Cane | October 19, 2018 0 Comments
Juneuary Jaunt to Mammoth Mountain, CA – One Last Wintery Blast! With our third child arriving into our family around mid-May, life has been a tad busy for family ski trips the month prior and after his entry into planet Earth. However, given the amount of snowfall in the Sierra this season, the two older kids and I still wanted to get in our annual late season trip Mammoth and that day happened to land on June 12th, 2016. After almost two weeks of scorching high altitude temperatures prior to our arrival, my main concern was packing proper sunscreen let alone even a proper ski coat. Well, a few days before our departure, the weather forecast shifted and took the sun completely out of the equation. The day prior displayed ‘sun’…the day after displayed ‘sun.’ But, our day of planned skiing displayed ‘rain & snow’ with a high temperature of 38F. Fast forward to the morning of June 12th, 2016…after a night of thunder and lightning, we awoke to pouring rain in the Village of Mammoth. The older kid is yelling at me that ‘he doesn’t ski in the rain’ and my youngest is only concerned about the promised massive doughnut at the Main Lodge prior to skiing. As we made our way up to the Main Lodge, the rain did not let up and we were soaked by the time we dropped off our gear by Broadway Express. However, Dad was overly optimistic…probably because from McCoy Station and above was showing new snowfall. He studied the animated satellite image and thought to himself ‘I think we may just get a gap in the storm.’ After a hearty breakfast, dad proceeded to walk onto the deck to take a look at the weather and by some sort of miracle, the rain had stopped. Granted, it was still cloudy, but you could see to the top of Broadway and we wouldn’t get soaked ‘trying’ to ski. Casey Cane | June 23, 2016 2 Comments
Sneaker Storm: Darting through Drifts on Donner Summit – 03/28/16 After about a week of warm Spring temperatures and a forecast of around 2 inches of cold snow, the expectation of a great day on Monday the 27th of March was near absolute zero. However, a spinning low pressure over the great state of Nevada decided to take a late trajectory toward Donner Summit and boy was the forecast wrong. […] Casey Cane | April 3, 2016 0 Comments
Thrashing with the Tribe…a week in Telluride! So here we are…another year, another ‘ski week’ in Telluride. With six days of skiing on the docket, the big difference this year is that the kids can actually ski with us! Hell, my 7 year old decided to pick off ‘double blacks’ all over the mountain. Call this dad impressed… Telluride is our staple ski destination outside of California for many reasons. One, and most importantly, there’s great hike-to steep terrain like the Gold Hill Chutes, Mountain Quail and Palmyra. Secondly, they have some amazing beginning and intermediate terrain for the little rippers in your family. Finally, it was a town before a ski resort and that character shines through as you walk down main street. I guess you argue that the views are pretty spectacular, restaurants are amazing, and the sunsets are to die for, but I only have some much time to editorialize. With over 240 inches of snowfall before our visit and spring time temps throughout the week, we couldn’t have asked for more perfect weather to ski bell to bell everyday. Groomers such as Henry’s, Milk Run, Bushwacker and The Plunge had that ‘every so perfect’ Rocky Mountain chalky consistency. Coverage in the steeps was better than years past, and outdoor lunching at Bon Vivant or Giuseppe’s could not have been more sublime. My only dilemma was trying to fit in some dad time lapping Dihedral face and at least one hike up to Palmyra Peak. I managed to bag those lines and a few others but had just as much fun cruising the mountain with the 4 and 7 year old groms. To be honest, it is pretty rewarding to see your kids having a blast on the hill but its even more rewarding when they crash to bed earlier than usual after a big day. Conditions Report Casey Cane | March 2, 2016 2 Comments
Killing Some Time on KT-22 @ Squaw Just over a week ago, I was fortunate to be greeted by a foot of new, no wind, bluebird skies and one chairlift that has some of the best skiing in North America… After dropping off the two kids at Ski School, Dad in full sweaty-powday-freak-out mode, was stressed about missing those crucial first pow runs. Luckily, a delayed opening for the mountain gave me some time to relax…at the end of the KT line. Once the mountain opened, conditions were sublime all over KT-22, including The Nose, The Alternates, The Fingers, and of course, under Olympic Lady. For quality control, I stayed on the North Facing aspects to maximize my half day sans kids. Casey Cane | January 23, 2016 0 Comments
Spring Skiing with the Groms @ Mammoth A few weeks back in the early May, I packed the car full of gear, ipads, coloring books and snacks to take the kids on our annual Spring trip to Mammoth Mountain. In this crazy year of drought, Mammoth was the sole lift-served skiing left in California, so we had to get in those last groomer carves. To get to Mammoth, we took Sonora Pass (Hwy 108) which is an easy drive that provides epic visuals of nature. After a brief snowball fight at the top of the pass and a quick look at Leavitt Falls, we arrived at the Village at Mammoth in just over 5 hours from downtown San Francisco […] Casey Cane | June 11, 2015 0 Comments
Discovering Snow at Donner Pass Resorts – 03/10/14 It was our time to head North. The North Shore of Tahoe to be precise. With a warm storm looming for Monday morning on Donner Pass, it was a perfect opportunity to grab some slushy night skiing turns at Boreal and then shred some Sugar Bowl pow the following morning. Boreal was perfect with warm temps, soft snow, and a glorious sunset. At 7am the next morning, we noticed something strange coming down from the sky…SNOW! By the time the storm was finished, Sugar Bowl received around 6″ at the summit. As I headed to the top of Mt. Lincoln, a thick cloud refused to go away […] Conditions Report Casey Cane | March 12, 2014 0 Comments
Trip Report
Conditions Report
