steep skiing

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.
Post Tag for Conditions ReportConditions Report
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Ridiculously Remarkable @ The Remarkables (New Zealand part I)

Toward the end of August 2015, a father & son team made the easy journey (if you ride a plane that is) from San Francisco to the Southern Alps of New Zealand. Our plan was to ski the first 4 days between Coronet Peak and The Remarkables and to introduce my son not only to NZ skiing but also to my good ol’ kiwi mates. As with any ski trip, all you can do is hope and pray that the planets will align to provide epic skiing conditions. Luckily, for my son’s first visit, the snow gods granted us superb weather and skiing around the Queenstown area.
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Clamoring for a New Couloir – Sonora Pass, CA

For the duration of the month of May, a continuation of high altitude storms thankfully added to the historically shallow Sierra snowpack. With these storms dropping a foot here, a few inches there, another foot there, I realized the window of opportunity could possibly exist for a certain zone of chutes that I have been eyeing for many years. It’s in an area on Sonora Pass that few frequent as you have to boot directly up a choice of two couloirs, of which, cannot be accessed from above. After a week and a half of road closures among a constant study of the weather, it looked like our chance[…]
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Dreadful Drought You Say? Skiing Lines in May! @ Sonora Pass, CA

Back in mid-May, the ski season refused to die in California despite the existence of an unprecedented drought…so the snow soldiers rolled on!

The mountain highway passes (89, 4, 108, & 120) all opened in April because of the lack of snow. As a frequent ski tourer of said passes, the usual plan of attack is to get there right when they open as snow conditions generally deteriorate […]
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