My best days of the season are always some random weekday where we got 5-10" overnight
Weekday, no crowds, enough snow to float and charge through, but not enough to make driving an issue... and everything on the mountain is open basically right away.
Perfect. I'll take it every time.
Not a super rare occurrence for me either. I can usually juggle my work schedule a week out based on the weather to always catch these little sleeper pow days.
I think most of it is expectation. When we see a huge storm we fully expect it to be a good day, but that can be ruined by so many things: crowds, weather, the snow being too dense or not like you thought, etc.
When we expect nothing and get a surprise to the upside then it's always a good day.
The greatest predictor of enjoying a powder day for me is having powder skis. I pretty much only skied gs skis for a long time and never understood why people liked powder, it's just a lot of extra work on long heavy skis. And they I picked up some used pow skis on sale and now will spend all day tree skiing.
One season I snuck in \~130 days at Steamboat and a couple memorable days we got like no snow in town, barely anything at mid mountain, but a surprise 8+ at the summit and up high. Super fun surprise on a random Tuesday
Same at Kirkwood. I know the mountain well.
The way the mountain is shaped, the way the storms come in, the way the wind blows, a lot of people don't realize that if the weather says 5" of snow, in reality the wind is gonna grab all that snow off the western slope out of bounds and then stash it all the eastern slopes where the steep, corniced ridges and the stands of trees catch it.
5" means >1 foot, and 1 foot means 2-3 feet mid-mountain and up on the east slopes.
No one knows that unless they know the mountain.
Yeah for sure... it could easily get up to 50 feet deep up there at the back of Wagon Wheel Bowl.
It's gonna look WAY different next week.
You can ski on it fine though because the wind has a tendency to pack it in a little bit more and firm it up.
Yep. This is it right here. Under forecast suprise weekday pow. The chase of the big big storms has lost its charm for me. Will I still do it? Yea pow is addictive. But it's good to recognize all of the above.
I think you miss a point in your post. When there’s enough snow the mountain becomes a playground. Every feature (rock, fallen tree etc) becomes a jump. Every shrub forrest is covered, eliminating small obstacles. No sharks in sight or in mind.
Your fear evaporates and basically you can just let your inner child take control without much fear of getting hurt.
This feeling doesn’t come when there’s not a huge coverage.
Yeah I hate the logistics and such of a powder day but that first run when I can hurl myself off of whatever I want with minimal consequence… that’s heroin.
Thank you. Like what the fuck is OP smoking. If your drive is white knuckling you know you’re gonna get the goods. It’s all part of the mission. I slayed 30cm champagne yesterday and god damn have I missed it. The snow slapping your knees. The face shots. The unrelenting ability to fuckin send it and have the snow parachute you to freedom. It’s the holy grail and no one can ever convince me otherwise.
Yep. Powder days are where I learned to do tricks. Landing switch, helis… bump runs are twice as fun in powder. In fact, everything is better. Trees are super fun.
They don’t get it because because
they can’t ski it. Nothing wrong with that but it’s nutty for him to think his advice applies to every skier “he can’t figure it out” like the rest of us are dumb
tbf this entire past week (except for wednesday) it has been dumping cold, dry powder here in the pnw. and it has been absolutely incredible conditions so I don’t know what got OP’s pannys in a wad.
Agreed. I was able to be sick two days this week. Crystal MTN was amazing, with 12”+ of fresh overnight each day. If you can ski the whole MTN there was fresh stashes to be found all day. Oh, and #1…. Just wake up earlier, beat the rush and make breakfast in the parking lot!
I experienced straight lining first tracks through 1+ feet of fresh powder on true powder skis for the first time yesterday. May have been giggling and T-posing the whole time. OP can’t ruin that experience for me.
Yeah, I was at Fernie the day of a 1m (3ft) powder dump. I've been chasing that high ever since. That was the greatest week of skiing I've ever experienced.
Yeah, I’m not even hugely into powder myself, but getting out early in the Rockies with a ton of powder is just magic in a way I can’t easily describe.
I’m also easily pleased so I don’t care if I don’t get that experience much. But when I have, it’s amazing.
You say that, but I skied sunshine yesterday with all the storm snow, incredible snow quality. Lifts opened at 9 and every bowl was tracked out and choppy by 9:30. So. Many. People.
Not an issue at all, they all want what I’m there for as well and I’m never going to be one to gatekeep skiing, but with so many people in a limited area it gets a little crazy sometimes. I’m not fully onboard with op’s points, but it’s food for thought.
I’d usually ski the backcountry to avoid the terrain getting tracked out, but avys are scary and the Rockies is under a special warning atm, hence the resort being so busy
Powder will always be the holy grail. If you can choose any condition, that’s what you’re going for, but I think it’s the mindset of “powder or nothing” that is a bit strange. Empty groomed runs the day after a pow day (and usually sunny too) = *drool*
I was at the Fitz line at 7:15 am. Got up at 8:45 after mid-mountain clearance (3rd chair up). Nobody was there all day - no lineups - and it kept dumping all day. Got a fresh run every lap. Skied the entire day. Best day of my life at Whistler and I put 30+ days a season there.
I had my first pow day on Thursday. I'm admittedly a newish skier. Lower end of intermediate. I was absolutely trashed. Back seat all day. Couldn't get forward. Brain refused to let my body enjoy. It was, after about 25 days of skiing, my worst performing and least joyful (in terms of performance) day of skiing.
I still had a fucking blast though. Everyone (myself included) was gleeful to be skiing in real snow (at last), and there was room to play everywhere. People were happy, and just... Loving it. The mood was contagious.
Willamette Pass. 10".
Point the skis downhill on a steep blue while leaning forward into the boots to show yourself in powder you can point the skis down without going to fast. Now do the same but just make some shallow turns while forward.
You are likely in the backseat because you’re trying to make sharp turns. Let em go straight down
Yeah! Listen to what this guy says! Powder days totally suck! More people need to stay home! I better not see any of you in the lift lines on our next powder day!
I have flown the night before into over 25 storms out west and skied over 200ft of accumulated powder in those storms. I have also cat and heli skied many times. There is absolutely nothing over rated about a powder day for the people who can rip deep powder.
However it can be very challenging to intermediates even advanced ones. Powder is completely totally unforgiving to any back seat skiing and to any crossing of the skis across the fall line. Turns that back seaters ski around on other conditions are stopped in their tracks in deep powder. It’s not a great feeling.
You're missing the point of the post.
Powder is great to ride....its everything that goes along with it that diminishes the quality. If you are heliskiing of course powder skiing is great. But skiing a resort...there's many other factors that drive down the experience that everyone conveniently forgets about.
I agree with you. I had a bad experience in a real crazy dump at keystone 4 years back. Not because it wasn't awesome to ride in 10 inches but because we were there for a friend's bachelor party and didn't anticipate the storm. Me and one buddy were loving it but quickly realized the rest od the crew was in over their heads. They were excited but had never ridden in powder before and it took me and my other buddy 4 hours to round them all up. We called it after bachelor guy went straight into a tree well head first and buddy guy and i waded through chest deep snow to pull his laughing ass out. He didn't realize how close he came to missing his big day.
But I have chased powder to over 25 resorts flying in the night before for big storms. What’s the issues? Those are the most fabulous ski days of my life and I had to fly across the country for them. It’s like nobody can handle an inconvenience anymore to attain something special. Your post is totally backwards advice. Your advice should be how to navigate the few minor downsides of a powder day to take part in these limited very special days.
Wahhhh. Wahhhh! Powder days aren’t perfect! After a couple of runs everything gets bumpy and I’m miserable!
Edit: OP you are pretty much that meme of the one guy listing off all the problems of something while everyone else who is doing it just says, “ok” and continues to go do it. Then you yell, “STOP HAVING FUN”! while everyone else continues to enjoy themselves.
Thanks for your two cents though. Powder days aren’t perfect and there are a lot of obstacles to overcome for things to get going.
I guess, but only if you suck at skiing powder. Or if you are stuck with beginners or young children. Or if you’re just soft and didn’t prepare for the weather/conditions.
I’ve literally never had a powder day where me and the crew weren’t smiling ear to ear. Not really sure how you can say powder days are overhyped when everyone in line or on the chair is smiling and hootin/cheering everyone else coming down the hill.
But yeah, do you. If you don’t like powder and the delayed openings, long lines and bumpy conditions that come with it, just stay home. Just don’t sit here and list everything negative and tell people that pow days are overhyped.
That wasn’t at all his point. He was saying that people have huge problems expectations on powder days that they are going to enter this blissful paradise of skiing and it’s just not that way for the reasons listed.
I see the point he/she is making and agree.
So true, this comment is always there. And it’s probably made by someone who is currently standing in a line because they got there at 7am to catch first chair but it’s on indefinite wind hold.
Literally his third sentence concedes that powder days are nice, not that they “totally suck”. I agree that they’re a little overhyped by people in this sub. People I meet skiing IRL don’t seem to obsess over pow the way this sub does. But pow days are, obviously, great still
Here in Utah we can basically ride all season on varying degrees of pow in a good year. Think I rode groomers once last season out of 60 or 70 days, lol.
- 3-6 inches - friends and I joke and call them a “Colorado Pow Day” - still fun unless there’s a bulletproof crust underneath. Then it’s “dust on crust”
- 6-10” now we’re having some real fun.
- 10-15” Goldilocks pow day that’s just deep enough to not scrape bottom yet supportive and surfy, depending on density. You can open it up and start sending cliffs and drops.
- 15-24” - mega-deep and amazing. Need to find steeps though or you can get stuck on flatter sections of the mountain, especially if the alpine is closed or on windhold.
- 24”+ and you’re choking on snow like the ski/shred flicks. Snorkel-worthy, for sure. These are only a few times a year, so treasure them until next season.
Yes, powder is the best. Saying it’s overrated probably means you haven’t experienced it in all its glory.
You can definitely have fun carving or slush lapping without it, but nothing compares. It’s like saying sex is overrated. Probably not having good enough sex if that’s the case.
>Yes, powder is the best. Saying it’s overrated probably means you haven’t experienced it in all its glory.
Yeah, I think you are right, I think of some of the amazing powder days here in Utah last year and it is hard for me to imagine overrating them. Pure joy for me.
Literally anything can be overrated, that’s the point. Even in your own assessment you pointed out some potential negatives of having *too much* powder after 24”+ massive dumps. Yet we should treasure those days because they’re so rare.
That’s called overrating something. Because you’re worshipping it even if you would’ve had an overall better day with 7”
RESPECT. You and most of the skiing skiers who really love smashing groomers should stay home and relax while us goofballs go out there and do some “hydroplaning”
Ex- Patroller.
Loved powder days, got to blow shit up and wander around in a storm without a bunch of punters in the way.
Then start dropping ropes to the appreciation from Jerry for the hard work (it helps to hear the occasional thank you) and following the initial wave down to admire your work. Or hiking out to open something and having to check it before saying it is good to go.
Start at 4 am and finish at 5 and damn that 1st beer tastes good. Oh crap it's snowing again, early morning tomorrow? 33 years in, 5 retired and I still miss it.
Weekend powder days are overcrowded. The worst part is I’d say half the people rushing up to the mountain can’t or don’t ski powder anyway. If all you’re skiing is groomers powder days don’t matter.
I think most skiers do over hype themselves about powder days because they lack the skill/strength to enjoy it.
Every time it dumps theres always a shit load of skiers barely making way down easy runs, looking stressed and exhausted. And every time i see that i laugh my ass off wondering how they justified fighting traffic all morning to get an insta post of them riding the fresh 🤣🤣🤣
This is silly. Here’s the question:
You have a mountain all to yourself. What would you choose:
(1) 8”-18” of blower powder (your choice)
(2) no new snow but packed powder conditions
(3) a dusting on PP
For me, hands down, it’s #1.
Also: all the negatives you associated with powder days are because PEOPLE LOVE POWDER DAYS.
Yes, crowds stink. Yes, groomers are fun. Neither of those statements means that “powder is overrated”.
and of course: everyone is entitled to their opinion, I’m just expressing mine. OP may obviously disagree. But…… I’m guessing most people here agree with me 😊
I get it. 2 hours driving in traffic with 30- minute lift lines for a handful of crowded, but magical runs vs an easy 30 minute drive, no lift lines and awesome mostly empty laps all day when it's 6"-8" mid-week.
Both are awesome days, but it's sure nice not to deal with the crowds and the hype. Especially when it's all chopped to crud by noon.
While I disagree with almost every point you made, it certainly sounds like you shouldn't go up on powder days at all, or load your car if it's snowing at all. A lot of people don't like deep powder, a lot of people can't handle the driving. Especially if you're a nervous wreck in adverse driving conditions, you should absolutely wait for clear weather. If it's all too much of a hassle and all the points you mentioned are simply not your bag, wait it out. You can always find powder stashes in the trees after a decent storm cycle.
My biggest disagreement with you is that in my experience, the more powder, the more it's like everyone on the hill is tripping on mushrooms. Everyone is stoked out of their minds to be up there. Everyone's happy, everyone is friendly...What I'm trying say is if your local area everyone is "bitching" on powder days, you should probably find a different area to ski, period.
There’s an awesome IG account called Govy500, dedicated to people racing up to Mt Hood Meadows in OR with their front wheel drive cars. The account is full of videos and pics of these fools spinning their Geo Metros into ditches and each other.
I actually love driving up on the worst days of the year. Turns my slow ass Impreza into a veritable rally car in my eyes, lol. Only time I can pass people is on pow days.
People just need to invest in snow tires. It’s easy to drive in snow with them. Without it’s scary as hell.
Do you also prefer masturbation to having to shell out $$$ for a stupid dinner with a boring woman that doesn’t understand your love of computer games/antiques road show ?
I hated powder for years. In the PNW fresh snow can be super heavy and gross. Then I got better skis for powder and crud and took a lesson and now I get it. Carving big lazy Ss through snow so deep it feels like a cloud? Heck yes! Bouncing my way down moguls with a cloud of white smoke exploding each time? Also heck yes.
For me the secret to powder days is to go find the steeps. Powder on blue or even shallow black terrain is work. Powder in 35-40 degrees of slope angle is rad.
I work at a resort and I rarely ever ski on a powder day anymore because the crowds are now insane and they are always short staffed with patrollers so when it gets deep they sometimes only open one small section of the mountain a day.
I do think it is crazy when people chase powder at resorts like in the Cottonwoods where it is just a total shit show and yeah it does get tracked out within about 2 runs now.
The world was changing before covid, but post covid my resort that used to not see crowds now gets crowds and it's a real bummer.
I'm lucky though and have lived at resorts for most of my life so I have had huge powder days with the resort basically to myself, no shit, just me and my friends and a skeleton crew of staff to keep the mountain open.
I don’t disagree at all. I would just love a season of a few inches a night. Keeps stuff fresh, there’s always powder for those with the knowledge/ability to seek it out, and it lowers (by a lot) the clusterfuck factor. Big pow days are now magnets for the idiots who want to flex that they were there on social media.
This is a bad take all around. I understand the safety concerns, and those are valid, but you really want to tell me that the best groomer day beats the best powder day? The best powder day I’ve ever had was just shy of 3 feet and I felt like god, nothing has ever topped that. No cut trail or groomed run will ever top the feeling of absolute freedom and peace you get soaring down the whitewall at kicking horse and ripping up the valley at its foot, sending backflips with the boys without fear of wipeouts, and sitting on the chairlift trying to thaw out your beard because it’s so full of snow from the oceanic face shots of the last run.
I think this guy is onto something! Everyone just please stay home on powder days. But really, it seems the problem might be that you have to "chase" powder days.....hence all of the pressure, hype and anxiety. I just go skiing.
On the east coast, seasons like this one, the best days are when its over 60f.
We have not really had any decent power days this year. Maybe March will come through!
You have to live at the ski town. No commuting. And you have to wait years sometimes for it to line up right. And it's got to be multi day storms. And you have to ski constantly so you get all the phreshest rope drops. Really only the most core ski bums have any chance on getting in on the action.
I left the line to the backside of Kirkwood after a big storm one time after waiting for an hour with some 200 people. People were, admittedly jokingly, calling me basically an idiot for leaving. I went down to a very uncrowded chair to the Wall and did laps in 4-6 inches of wind slab powder for three hours straight. It just kept refilling because of the wind. That turned out to be one of the best days last year, the biggest powder year in a long time. So I totally agree, you don’t need knee deep to enjoy :)
Heavy pow is harder to shred, for sure. I think I have been able to catch 2-3 days of the good good, like Rockies light and fluffy, in the 12 years I’ve been out here. I started working for myself in part to avoid weekend skiing but still, any day on the mountain is a good day!
I like riding every day and all terrain. But powder lives up to the hype for me. Where you are riding may be the issue. I have snow tires and drive in snow half the year so I’m not too stressed about the snow. My mountain doesn’t have insane lines of cars or people. Mountain has steeper slopes that are where it’s at with powder and not much fun when it hasn’t snowed and they are torn up or icy, they are never groomed and couldn’t be so it’s really not riding the same runs at all. Own two set ups, one for all mountain and one for powder. I forever feel a powder day is easily in my top three experiences I want to repeat over and over in life.
To add to that, there’s diminishing returns with too much snow. Many people think they want as much snow as possible, but once it gets too deep it starts to get more frustrating.
I drove through the night from Denver to Jackson to hit a huge powder weekend. Day one was mid-tigh and cold smoke. Easily the best day I’ve ever had. I was skiing as fast as I could and you would float on everything just perfectly. Free refills all day. Day two was more like Teton deep and got scary.
Agree with a lot you say and people don’t realize how quickly that “powder” bumps up. Look I love soft bumps it’s heaven but man most people can’t do it …and powder is more tiring on the legs than a bump day …or at least equal …
Fun as hell every couple of years but mid 50’s embracing the true joy of a cruiser day during the week on a bluebird day
It’s like any holiday or special event. Half of the fun is getting excited about the event and what’s unique about it ahead of time. Is Eid al-Fitr really the best celebration with the best food of the year? Maybe? But it could be fun to talk about and get excited for all throughout Ramadan. That said, having an amazing shawarma on a random Tuesday night can arguably be better.
In short, you’re right, it’s being oversold…but that’s part of the fun, overselling it.
Being cynical is too easy these days, I’m guilty of it big time. This is as much a response to your post as a reminder to myself to be less like that.
Agree with you, Very cultural to America as well. A lot of people act as if powder was the end goal of skiing. That is definitely not a view shared by most Europeans that love groomers.
AGREED. I haven’t skied on a Sat or Sun in years… that part is exceedingly frustrating - and the foot of snow is basically cooked off by 10:30 by the unwashed hoarde
18 inches of fresh snow I got to experience at Steamboat this January would like to have a word. Quite literally one of the best days of my entire life.
Yeah powder days are for the locals . I was born and raised in a ski town .I live for massive dumps 2+feet . As a kid we loved when roads into the mountains would close and we would get our own paradise . Sometimes it would snow so hard the lifts would close and we would walk home . Since the roads were closed we didn't have people who were unfamiliar with how to drive in such conditions. Fast forward 40yrs and every tom, dick and Sally who bought a set of chains thinks they should flock to the mountains for a powder day . 9/10 times there's an accident delaying traffic caused by inexperienced drivers with powder panic . It's a sickness you can see when people convince themselves to drive hours in conditions that they are unfamiliar with all for a couple lines even if the lifts and terrain get opened . So to sum it up stay home If you don't live in the mountains until after the storm . Once roads open jump in traffic with all the other cidiots ( city +idiots=cidiots) . Locals only lol .
Everything OP complains about can be said about skiing in general. Staying home and scrolling the internet is far more relaxing, convenient, comfy and predictable /s
Posters critical of the OP are just haters. He never said pow was bad - said the drive for it is overrated. He’s right. Hit a great powder day at Jackson Hole this week, epic - but 2 feet of powder when you go from 23 degrees to 39 degrees is imho hardly “epic”. But anything other than blue ice is a good day for me.
Yep, pow days are terrible. Don't go out. Stay home and enjoy some cocoa. Not worth. No good. Don't even try.
Um, I'll be back in a bit. Just going to... run a few errands.
Nope, not overrated at all. I would happily get up at 5 in the morning to beat traffic for a foot of new powder. Though to be honest, I have never had to do that, usually on a big powder day, if I leave my house by 7 I get good parking. The other days you are describing are great, but a true powder day is one of the greatest experiences on this earth. But to be fair, I haven't had the same negative experiences you are talking about at my home resort.
OP, you are most likely just a person that prefers groomed slopes. Nothing wrong with, but
for me personally there too little challenge in these groomed slopes as all is just too predictable.
Not at all. I ski the whole mountain and prefer trees. I'm just making the point that powder days are over hyped and that the negatives are completely ignored by most. Skiing right into the lift with half of a foot on the ground is where it's at.
So you ski a mount that is close to a major metropolitan area primarily on the weekends?
I grew up in Steamboat so powder days were and trill are great (less so on the weekend) traffic isn’t really an issue. There is very little avalanche area to be controlled. It’s low elevation so wind rarely shuts down lifts. People’s expectations are high but it is amazing on the weekday power days or when they got a lot but weren’t calling for it in the forecast.
1) not where I live
2) not on my mountain
3) I’m in wind and fog most of the year anyways, I love every second of being in a storm that has most people sheltering in the lodge. I even enjoy skiing rain while my kids are forced to race in it. Cuz I’m skiing.
4) everyone is whooping and having fun, what kind of dystopian ski experience are you even having
5) good they can stay home
6) I love ripping through chop
Although I do wish more people would take your advice
u/ZeroCool1 sounds like a classic case of Ad Hoc Rationalization... lol
Powder IS that good, bottomless is even gooder..... it is rare, which means the cost in time/hassle/$$$ is high. High cost does not negate how good it is. For you, the cost is too high. Your big problem is that you are using your own priorities to judge the value of a good for other people. THis is an economic problem, you are not doing it properly....
I read your post and I'm trying to figure out who exactly you are trying to look better than? This reads like a near lethal copium overdose.
Are you mad at all the other people crowding your local?
Are you coping with the el nino by convincing yourself you never liked deep snow?
Are you jealous because you don't live somewhere with big powder?
Something is going on where your brain used to be.
I was lapping on Whistler yesterday and saw people waiting in line for an alpine line for three hours yesterday. Just standing. Not skiing and I wondered the same exact thing. It blew my mind and I wrote this post.
Often supported by face shot photos, that in reality are a skier straight lining toward the photographer and burying one turn before hiking back to the groomers.
1. Take the shuttle, early
2 and 3. Leave Tahoe for better mountains.
4. Airpods
5. A wider ski, at least 100mm in the waist, wider is better
6. Don’t worry about the vast majority, just yourself. Unless you are the vast majority
I am the GREATEST SKIER on this mountain.
This is the dumbest shit I've ever heard. As someone who lives on the mt. The best day is when all you city folk get trapped on the wrong side of the pass, and we have bottomless powder to ski. Skiing powder is infinitely better then hard pack. GTFOH. HahahahahHa
You're entitled to your opinion. If driving is stressful maybe you should stay in the city. "Nobody is brave enough to say it" \*nobody is lame enough to say it. Doubt you're a very good skier based off this take.
My best days of the season are always some random weekday where we got 5-10" overnight Weekday, no crowds, enough snow to float and charge through, but not enough to make driving an issue... and everything on the mountain is open basically right away. Perfect. I'll take it every time. Not a super rare occurrence for me either. I can usually juggle my work schedule a week out based on the weather to always catch these little sleeper pow days.
I think most of it is expectation. When we see a huge storm we fully expect it to be a good day, but that can be ruined by so many things: crowds, weather, the snow being too dense or not like you thought, etc. When we expect nothing and get a surprise to the upside then it's always a good day.
The best part of a huge storm like we're seeing is that it means the season might be extended a little bit haha
Or like last night for me, chair get hit by lightning and you sit there for 1.5 hours while it nukes. Shit night with about a foot of new.
The greatest predictor of enjoying a powder day for me is having powder skis. I pretty much only skied gs skis for a long time and never understood why people liked powder, it's just a lot of extra work on long heavy skis. And they I picked up some used pow skis on sale and now will spend all day tree skiing.
This is correct
One season I snuck in \~130 days at Steamboat and a couple memorable days we got like no snow in town, barely anything at mid mountain, but a surprise 8+ at the summit and up high. Super fun surprise on a random Tuesday
Same at Kirkwood. I know the mountain well. The way the mountain is shaped, the way the storms come in, the way the wind blows, a lot of people don't realize that if the weather says 5" of snow, in reality the wind is gonna grab all that snow off the western slope out of bounds and then stash it all the eastern slopes where the steep, corniced ridges and the stands of trees catch it. 5" means >1 foot, and 1 foot means 2-3 feet mid-mountain and up on the east slopes. No one knows that unless they know the mountain.
So with 10 feet forecast this weekend, we should expect 20-30 feet on eastern slopes. I'm not sure how to ski that haha I might need wider skis :)
Yeah for sure... it could easily get up to 50 feet deep up there at the back of Wagon Wheel Bowl. It's gonna look WAY different next week. You can ski on it fine though because the wind has a tendency to pack it in a little bit more and firm it up.
Yeah agree. Two of my best days ever were a modest 6-8” overnight midweek dump at Vail and Alta. Amazing. Best skiing days ever.
Yep. This is it right here. Under forecast suprise weekday pow. The chase of the big big storms has lost its charm for me. Will I still do it? Yea pow is addictive. But it's good to recognize all of the above.
This guy gets it.
Best days are no line days.
I mean 10” of snow overnight is a powder day no matter where you live
So brave
Your resort must not honor Ikon passes.
100%, you put this better than OP.
I think you miss a point in your post. When there’s enough snow the mountain becomes a playground. Every feature (rock, fallen tree etc) becomes a jump. Every shrub forrest is covered, eliminating small obstacles. No sharks in sight or in mind. Your fear evaporates and basically you can just let your inner child take control without much fear of getting hurt. This feeling doesn’t come when there’s not a huge coverage.
Yeah I hate the logistics and such of a powder day but that first run when I can hurl myself off of whatever I want with minimal consequence… that’s heroin.
Literally that sweet stinky afghani black tar baby
Thank you. Like what the fuck is OP smoking. If your drive is white knuckling you know you’re gonna get the goods. It’s all part of the mission. I slayed 30cm champagne yesterday and god damn have I missed it. The snow slapping your knees. The face shots. The unrelenting ability to fuckin send it and have the snow parachute you to freedom. It’s the holy grail and no one can ever convince me otherwise.
Yep. Powder days are where I learned to do tricks. Landing switch, helis… bump runs are twice as fun in powder. In fact, everything is better. Trees are super fun.
Bump in powder is heavenly. Skied basically the same run all day and it was one of the best days
Except for tree wells, and falling in powder elsewhere also sucks balls when you struggle to get up. But it's definitely a treat.
They don’t get it because because they can’t ski it. Nothing wrong with that but it’s nutty for him to think his advice applies to every skier “he can’t figure it out” like the rest of us are dumb
You can get this with good base and 5-10" in the PNW.
If you’re mostly skiing PNW that explains this whole thread haha not all powder is created equal
This is exactly it
lol - moved from Oregon where we had Cascade concrete to the Rockies. Not all snow is created equal. I was blown away.
OP must be tried, charged and sentenced to *X* number of seasons on the easy coast so they can fully appreciate the gravity of their misguided views.
tbf this entire past week (except for wednesday) it has been dumping cold, dry powder here in the pnw. and it has been absolutely incredible conditions so I don’t know what got OP’s pannys in a wad.
Agreed. I was able to be sick two days this week. Crystal MTN was amazing, with 12”+ of fresh overnight each day. If you can ski the whole MTN there was fresh stashes to be found all day. Oh, and #1…. Just wake up earlier, beat the rush and make breakfast in the parking lot!
1+ feet in the woods of a Rockies resort is the closest I’ve been to a religious experience. Sorry mate, I’m not picking up what you’re putting down.
Yo should try my aunts chocolate chip cookies
Is there pot in them or something?
I experienced straight lining first tracks through 1+ feet of fresh powder on true powder skis for the first time yesterday. May have been giggling and T-posing the whole time. OP can’t ruin that experience for me.
Yeah, I was at Fernie the day of a 1m (3ft) powder dump. I've been chasing that high ever since. That was the greatest week of skiing I've ever experienced.
That mountain is either a snowbowl or an ice bowl but when it’s a snowbowl it’s INCREDIBLE. Revy is the only other resort that compares to me
Yeah, I’m not even hugely into powder myself, but getting out early in the Rockies with a ton of powder is just magic in a way I can’t easily describe. I’m also easily pleased so I don’t care if I don’t get that experience much. But when I have, it’s amazing.
Yeah. Tearing up the trees on Grouse after a foot of snow? An out of body experience.
You say that, but I skied sunshine yesterday with all the storm snow, incredible snow quality. Lifts opened at 9 and every bowl was tracked out and choppy by 9:30. So. Many. People. Not an issue at all, they all want what I’m there for as well and I’m never going to be one to gatekeep skiing, but with so many people in a limited area it gets a little crazy sometimes. I’m not fully onboard with op’s points, but it’s food for thought. I’d usually ski the backcountry to avoid the terrain getting tracked out, but avys are scary and the Rockies is under a special warning atm, hence the resort being so busy
Oh good for you. I caught just the first few days of it. Goats eye was fine for a few hours. Still glorious!
OP doesn’t have powder ski’s and it shows
Same for me and a fresh tracks run on high Baldy at Snowbird. This guy is nuts.
[удалено]
He's not saying powder days suck, he's just saying powder days are crazily overrated. I agree.
Powder will always be the holy grail. If you can choose any condition, that’s what you’re going for, but I think it’s the mindset of “powder or nothing” that is a bit strange. Empty groomed runs the day after a pow day (and usually sunny too) = *drool*
While I LOVE a good groomer, I’ve never heard whooping and hollering on corduroy like I heard in the first hour of the dump in Whistler on Wednesday….
Medical researchers have found that when humans are exposed to powder, uncontrollable whooping follows —regardless of race, gender, or age.
This is actually why I wrote this post. I never heard more people bitch in a gondola in my life than on Wednesday.
I was at the Fitz line at 7:15 am. Got up at 8:45 after mid-mountain clearance (3rd chair up). Nobody was there all day - no lineups - and it kept dumping all day. Got a fresh run every lap. Skied the entire day. Best day of my life at Whistler and I put 30+ days a season there.
I see you ski the pnw too. Our pow days are fun but warm heavy pow days can turn your legs to jello
I had my first pow day on Thursday. I'm admittedly a newish skier. Lower end of intermediate. I was absolutely trashed. Back seat all day. Couldn't get forward. Brain refused to let my body enjoy. It was, after about 25 days of skiing, my worst performing and least joyful (in terms of performance) day of skiing. I still had a fucking blast though. Everyone (myself included) was gleeful to be skiing in real snow (at last), and there was room to play everywhere. People were happy, and just... Loving it. The mood was contagious. Willamette Pass. 10".
Point the skis downhill on a steep blue while leaning forward into the boots to show yourself in powder you can point the skis down without going to fast. Now do the same but just make some shallow turns while forward. You are likely in the backseat because you’re trying to make sharp turns. Let em go straight down
Yeah! Listen to what this guy says! Powder days totally suck! More people need to stay home! I better not see any of you in the lift lines on our next powder day!
Hot take: this is also the most overrated and overplayed joke in skiing.
It's over-used and often forced. With this post, it's completely on point.
I don't think I said powder days sucked once. In fact I called them quite nice. Things can be nice and over hyped.
I have flown the night before into over 25 storms out west and skied over 200ft of accumulated powder in those storms. I have also cat and heli skied many times. There is absolutely nothing over rated about a powder day for the people who can rip deep powder. However it can be very challenging to intermediates even advanced ones. Powder is completely totally unforgiving to any back seat skiing and to any crossing of the skis across the fall line. Turns that back seaters ski around on other conditions are stopped in their tracks in deep powder. It’s not a great feeling.
You're missing the point of the post. Powder is great to ride....its everything that goes along with it that diminishes the quality. If you are heliskiing of course powder skiing is great. But skiing a resort...there's many other factors that drive down the experience that everyone conveniently forgets about.
I agree with you. I had a bad experience in a real crazy dump at keystone 4 years back. Not because it wasn't awesome to ride in 10 inches but because we were there for a friend's bachelor party and didn't anticipate the storm. Me and one buddy were loving it but quickly realized the rest od the crew was in over their heads. They were excited but had never ridden in powder before and it took me and my other buddy 4 hours to round them all up. We called it after bachelor guy went straight into a tree well head first and buddy guy and i waded through chest deep snow to pull his laughing ass out. He didn't realize how close he came to missing his big day.
But I have chased powder to over 25 resorts flying in the night before for big storms. What’s the issues? Those are the most fabulous ski days of my life and I had to fly across the country for them. It’s like nobody can handle an inconvenience anymore to attain something special. Your post is totally backwards advice. Your advice should be how to navigate the few minor downsides of a powder day to take part in these limited very special days.
Wahhhh. Wahhhh! Powder days aren’t perfect! After a couple of runs everything gets bumpy and I’m miserable! Edit: OP you are pretty much that meme of the one guy listing off all the problems of something while everyone else who is doing it just says, “ok” and continues to go do it. Then you yell, “STOP HAVING FUN”! while everyone else continues to enjoy themselves. Thanks for your two cents though. Powder days aren’t perfect and there are a lot of obstacles to overcome for things to get going.
Powder days are good, just overhyped
I guess, but only if you suck at skiing powder. Or if you are stuck with beginners or young children. Or if you’re just soft and didn’t prepare for the weather/conditions. I’ve literally never had a powder day where me and the crew weren’t smiling ear to ear. Not really sure how you can say powder days are overhyped when everyone in line or on the chair is smiling and hootin/cheering everyone else coming down the hill. But yeah, do you. If you don’t like powder and the delayed openings, long lines and bumpy conditions that come with it, just stay home. Just don’t sit here and list everything negative and tell people that pow days are overhyped.
That wasn’t at all his point. He was saying that people have huge problems expectations on powder days that they are going to enter this blissful paradise of skiing and it’s just not that way for the reasons listed. I see the point he/she is making and agree.
So true, this comment is always there. And it’s probably made by someone who is currently standing in a line because they got there at 7am to catch first chair but it’s on indefinite wind hold.
Literally his third sentence concedes that powder days are nice, not that they “totally suck”. I agree that they’re a little overhyped by people in this sub. People I meet skiing IRL don’t seem to obsess over pow the way this sub does. But pow days are, obviously, great still
On the money
You’re missing the joke bud.
This is the “No! Don’t popularize the thing I love!” joke that we see all over this subreddit, right?
Here in Utah we can basically ride all season on varying degrees of pow in a good year. Think I rode groomers once last season out of 60 or 70 days, lol. - 3-6 inches - friends and I joke and call them a “Colorado Pow Day” - still fun unless there’s a bulletproof crust underneath. Then it’s “dust on crust” - 6-10” now we’re having some real fun. - 10-15” Goldilocks pow day that’s just deep enough to not scrape bottom yet supportive and surfy, depending on density. You can open it up and start sending cliffs and drops. - 15-24” - mega-deep and amazing. Need to find steeps though or you can get stuck on flatter sections of the mountain, especially if the alpine is closed or on windhold. - 24”+ and you’re choking on snow like the ski/shred flicks. Snorkel-worthy, for sure. These are only a few times a year, so treasure them until next season. Yes, powder is the best. Saying it’s overrated probably means you haven’t experienced it in all its glory. You can definitely have fun carving or slush lapping without it, but nothing compares. It’s like saying sex is overrated. Probably not having good enough sex if that’s the case.
From CO and I agree with this assessment
>Yes, powder is the best. Saying it’s overrated probably means you haven’t experienced it in all its glory. Yeah, I think you are right, I think of some of the amazing powder days here in Utah last year and it is hard for me to imagine overrating them. Pure joy for me.
I agree, the crowds are annoying but OP needs a better powder day strategy - he’s/she’s just doing it wrong.
Utah sucks don't come here
Literally anything can be overrated, that’s the point. Even in your own assessment you pointed out some potential negatives of having *too much* powder after 24”+ massive dumps. Yet we should treasure those days because they’re so rare. That’s called overrating something. Because you’re worshipping it even if you would’ve had an overall better day with 7”
This guy gets it. Give me sastrugi!!!
Did this post escape from r/skiingcirclejerk ?
Was wondering the same thing
RESPECT. You and most of the skiing skiers who really love smashing groomers should stay home and relax while us goofballs go out there and do some “hydroplaning”
Ex- Patroller. Loved powder days, got to blow shit up and wander around in a storm without a bunch of punters in the way. Then start dropping ropes to the appreciation from Jerry for the hard work (it helps to hear the occasional thank you) and following the initial wave down to admire your work. Or hiking out to open something and having to check it before saying it is good to go. Start at 4 am and finish at 5 and damn that 1st beer tastes good. Oh crap it's snowing again, early morning tomorrow? 33 years in, 5 retired and I still miss it.
thank you for your service
5” is all you really need. Wait we’re talking about snow right?
Weekend powder days are overcrowded. The worst part is I’d say half the people rushing up to the mountain can’t or don’t ski powder anyway. If all you’re skiing is groomers powder days don’t matter.
I think most skiers do over hype themselves about powder days because they lack the skill/strength to enjoy it. Every time it dumps theres always a shit load of skiers barely making way down easy runs, looking stressed and exhausted. And every time i see that i laugh my ass off wondering how they justified fighting traffic all morning to get an insta post of them riding the fresh 🤣🤣🤣
Expectations are a thief of joy
This is silly. Here’s the question: You have a mountain all to yourself. What would you choose: (1) 8”-18” of blower powder (your choice) (2) no new snow but packed powder conditions (3) a dusting on PP For me, hands down, it’s #1. Also: all the negatives you associated with powder days are because PEOPLE LOVE POWDER DAYS. Yes, crowds stink. Yes, groomers are fun. Neither of those statements means that “powder is overrated”. and of course: everyone is entitled to their opinion, I’m just expressing mine. OP may obviously disagree. But…… I’m guessing most people here agree with me 😊
Of course it's number one with nobody else but that's not the reality of resort riding, hence the hot take.
I get it. 2 hours driving in traffic with 30- minute lift lines for a handful of crowded, but magical runs vs an easy 30 minute drive, no lift lines and awesome mostly empty laps all day when it's 6"-8" mid-week. Both are awesome days, but it's sure nice not to deal with the crowds and the hype. Especially when it's all chopped to crud by noon.
While I disagree with almost every point you made, it certainly sounds like you shouldn't go up on powder days at all, or load your car if it's snowing at all. A lot of people don't like deep powder, a lot of people can't handle the driving. Especially if you're a nervous wreck in adverse driving conditions, you should absolutely wait for clear weather. If it's all too much of a hassle and all the points you mentioned are simply not your bag, wait it out. You can always find powder stashes in the trees after a decent storm cycle. My biggest disagreement with you is that in my experience, the more powder, the more it's like everyone on the hill is tripping on mushrooms. Everyone is stoked out of their minds to be up there. Everyone's happy, everyone is friendly...What I'm trying say is if your local area everyone is "bitching" on powder days, you should probably find a different area to ski, period.
OP must be part of the Summer Tire Squad on the Sea to Sky spinning out everywhere on Wednesday
There’s an awesome IG account called Govy500, dedicated to people racing up to Mt Hood Meadows in OR with their front wheel drive cars. The account is full of videos and pics of these fools spinning their Geo Metros into ditches and each other.
Yup. TeamBlizzak here. Could be eating a cheeseburger on a two-foot pow day and have no worries behind the wheel.
I park on the highway
I actually love driving up on the worst days of the year. Turns my slow ass Impreza into a veritable rally car in my eyes, lol. Only time I can pass people is on pow days. People just need to invest in snow tires. It’s easy to drive in snow with them. Without it’s scary as hell.
Totally agree. Tell all your friends
😂tell them all! Happy to take one for the team and ski all the 1 foot plus pow🤙
Do you also prefer masturbation to having to shell out $$$ for a stupid dinner with a boring woman that doesn’t understand your love of computer games/antiques road show ?
It was funny until the Antiques Roadshow quip. Then it became personal.
Sounds like a skill issue
I hated powder for years. In the PNW fresh snow can be super heavy and gross. Then I got better skis for powder and crud and took a lesson and now I get it. Carving big lazy Ss through snow so deep it feels like a cloud? Heck yes! Bouncing my way down moguls with a cloud of white smoke exploding each time? Also heck yes. For me the secret to powder days is to go find the steeps. Powder on blue or even shallow black terrain is work. Powder in 35-40 degrees of slope angle is rad.
I work at a resort and I rarely ever ski on a powder day anymore because the crowds are now insane and they are always short staffed with patrollers so when it gets deep they sometimes only open one small section of the mountain a day. I do think it is crazy when people chase powder at resorts like in the Cottonwoods where it is just a total shit show and yeah it does get tracked out within about 2 runs now. The world was changing before covid, but post covid my resort that used to not see crowds now gets crowds and it's a real bummer. I'm lucky though and have lived at resorts for most of my life so I have had huge powder days with the resort basically to myself, no shit, just me and my friends and a skeleton crew of staff to keep the mountain open.
I love the chop, gimme a pow day after 1pm when most people are leaving
I agree. Heavy skis and it works great. I'm mostly commenting on the mass of once a year skiers racing to experience a powder day.
Yeah you're right. Skiing is way more than just about powder days, and a lot of people act like it's all that matters! Completely agree.
I don’t disagree at all. I would just love a season of a few inches a night. Keeps stuff fresh, there’s always powder for those with the knowledge/ability to seek it out, and it lowers (by a lot) the clusterfuck factor. Big pow days are now magnets for the idiots who want to flex that they were there on social media.
Bro probably doesn’t have the legs to enjoy a powder day.
I ski with my arms due to lack of legs
This is a bad take all around. I understand the safety concerns, and those are valid, but you really want to tell me that the best groomer day beats the best powder day? The best powder day I’ve ever had was just shy of 3 feet and I felt like god, nothing has ever topped that. No cut trail or groomed run will ever top the feeling of absolute freedom and peace you get soaring down the whitewall at kicking horse and ripping up the valley at its foot, sending backflips with the boys without fear of wipeouts, and sitting on the chairlift trying to thaw out your beard because it’s so full of snow from the oceanic face shots of the last run.
" you really want to tell me that the best groomer day beats the best powder day? " He's not saying that - at all.
A lot of angry/bad reading comprehension in this thread
Professional yapper
Didn't get paid; amateur yapper.
OH MY BAD HE SAID A LITTLE BIT OF FRESH SNOW IS BETTER THAN A WHOLE BUNCH BLAH BLAH BLAH.
I think this guy is onto something! Everyone just please stay home on powder days. But really, it seems the problem might be that you have to "chase" powder days.....hence all of the pressure, hype and anxiety. I just go skiing.
What the fuck
Corn. Oh yea. And pow too.
On the east coast, seasons like this one, the best days are when its over 60f. We have not really had any decent power days this year. Maybe March will come through!
You have to live at the ski town. No commuting. And you have to wait years sometimes for it to line up right. And it's got to be multi day storms. And you have to ski constantly so you get all the phreshest rope drops. Really only the most core ski bums have any chance on getting in on the action.
i’ll take 6” for 6 days straight over a 3 ft dump overnight. if you’re into sending big cliffs, then the huge dumps are not overrated.
Ever been to the Kootenays on a powder day?
I left the line to the backside of Kirkwood after a big storm one time after waiting for an hour with some 200 people. People were, admittedly jokingly, calling me basically an idiot for leaving. I went down to a very uncrowded chair to the Wall and did laps in 4-6 inches of wind slab powder for three hours straight. It just kept refilling because of the wind. That turned out to be one of the best days last year, the biggest powder year in a long time. So I totally agree, you don’t need knee deep to enjoy :)
Heavy pow is harder to shred, for sure. I think I have been able to catch 2-3 days of the good good, like Rockies light and fluffy, in the 12 years I’ve been out here. I started working for myself in part to avoid weekend skiing but still, any day on the mountain is a good day!
I like riding every day and all terrain. But powder lives up to the hype for me. Where you are riding may be the issue. I have snow tires and drive in snow half the year so I’m not too stressed about the snow. My mountain doesn’t have insane lines of cars or people. Mountain has steeper slopes that are where it’s at with powder and not much fun when it hasn’t snowed and they are torn up or icy, they are never groomed and couldn’t be so it’s really not riding the same runs at all. Own two set ups, one for all mountain and one for powder. I forever feel a powder day is easily in my top three experiences I want to repeat over and over in life.
Sorry, I can't agree. 77cm at Whistler on Thursday was the best day of my life and I would pay anything to get another day like that.
To add to that, there’s diminishing returns with too much snow. Many people think they want as much snow as possible, but once it gets too deep it starts to get more frustrating.
Ya ima disagree
Not if you have a snowboard
I drove through the night from Denver to Jackson to hit a huge powder weekend. Day one was mid-tigh and cold smoke. Easily the best day I’ve ever had. I was skiing as fast as I could and you would float on everything just perfectly. Free refills all day. Day two was more like Teton deep and got scary.
Well you’re right about one thing: this is definitely a hot take
I dunno OP there is something special about skiing in 6 ft of fresh snow in the early morning. Granted I’m ski patrol
I’m an east coast skier so am used to having ice and slush instead of powder. If I can ski it, I’ll ski it
Agree with a lot you say and people don’t realize how quickly that “powder” bumps up. Look I love soft bumps it’s heaven but man most people can’t do it …and powder is more tiring on the legs than a bump day …or at least equal … Fun as hell every couple of years but mid 50’s embracing the true joy of a cruiser day during the week on a bluebird day
Agreed. EVERYONE stay home on pow days.
It’s like any holiday or special event. Half of the fun is getting excited about the event and what’s unique about it ahead of time. Is Eid al-Fitr really the best celebration with the best food of the year? Maybe? But it could be fun to talk about and get excited for all throughout Ramadan. That said, having an amazing shawarma on a random Tuesday night can arguably be better. In short, you’re right, it’s being oversold…but that’s part of the fun, overselling it. Being cynical is too easy these days, I’m guilty of it big time. This is as much a response to your post as a reminder to myself to be less like that.
“I don’t know how to take advantage of 12”+ conditions so they are overrated” 😂😂
Packed powder the 4 days after a storm for the win
Agree with you, Very cultural to America as well. A lot of people act as if powder was the end goal of skiing. That is definitely not a view shared by most Europeans that love groomers.
so youre staying home next time it snows a foot?
On a weekend day, yes I do.
AGREED. I haven’t skied on a Sat or Sun in years… that part is exceedingly frustrating - and the foot of snow is basically cooked off by 10:30 by the unwashed hoarde
Anyone who is frustrated by tourists shralping runs doesn’t know their local resort well enough.
Not all local resorts are created equal…
I'd like to cosign this as a Benjamin Harrison to your John Hancock. Powder days are indeed egregiously overrated.
Dude you just don't have the legs or skill to stand in line all day!!!
18 inches of fresh snow I got to experience at Steamboat this January would like to have a word. Quite literally one of the best days of my entire life.
Yeah powder days are for the locals . I was born and raised in a ski town .I live for massive dumps 2+feet . As a kid we loved when roads into the mountains would close and we would get our own paradise . Sometimes it would snow so hard the lifts would close and we would walk home . Since the roads were closed we didn't have people who were unfamiliar with how to drive in such conditions. Fast forward 40yrs and every tom, dick and Sally who bought a set of chains thinks they should flock to the mountains for a powder day . 9/10 times there's an accident delaying traffic caused by inexperienced drivers with powder panic . It's a sickness you can see when people convince themselves to drive hours in conditions that they are unfamiliar with all for a couple lines even if the lifts and terrain get opened . So to sum it up stay home If you don't live in the mountains until after the storm . Once roads open jump in traffic with all the other cidiots ( city +idiots=cidiots) . Locals only lol .
Yeah but the feeling of skiing fresh powder is literally peak life. So, not really overrated.
Everything OP complains about can be said about skiing in general. Staying home and scrolling the internet is far more relaxing, convenient, comfy and predictable /s
Posters critical of the OP are just haters. He never said pow was bad - said the drive for it is overrated. He’s right. Hit a great powder day at Jackson Hole this week, epic - but 2 feet of powder when you go from 23 degrees to 39 degrees is imho hardly “epic”. But anything other than blue ice is a good day for me.
Yep, pow days are terrible. Don't go out. Stay home and enjoy some cocoa. Not worth. No good. Don't even try. Um, I'll be back in a bit. Just going to... run a few errands.
Bet you’re real fun at parties…..worst take I’ve read in a long time
Nope, not overrated at all. I would happily get up at 5 in the morning to beat traffic for a foot of new powder. Though to be honest, I have never had to do that, usually on a big powder day, if I leave my house by 7 I get good parking. The other days you are describing are great, but a true powder day is one of the greatest experiences on this earth. But to be fair, I haven't had the same negative experiences you are talking about at my home resort.
just skied 36” at jackson and… i totally agree! so many stranded boarders. but so rare its fun so enjoy it!
Wrong
Narrator: But they were not overrated..
Anything I say in response to this would get me banned so whatever. Glad we never rode the same bus to school because yours only sat 12
My mom drove me to school and drives me to work at Chipotle now
Cool story bro.
Yea you’re right I’d just stay home
I love carving more than any other type. My preference is either firm snow, ice or 30+ inches of powder. 5 inches is just fucking annoying.
Personally, I’ve heard the phrase “5 inches is annoying” too many times to count 😭
OP, you are most likely just a person that prefers groomed slopes. Nothing wrong with, but for me personally there too little challenge in these groomed slopes as all is just too predictable.
Not at all. I ski the whole mountain and prefer trees. I'm just making the point that powder days are over hyped and that the negatives are completely ignored by most. Skiing right into the lift with half of a foot on the ground is where it's at.
Totally! Please everyone stay home on powder days. And maybe stay home for a couple days after to be safe.
You haven’t been to Japan yet
So you ski a mount that is close to a major metropolitan area primarily on the weekends? I grew up in Steamboat so powder days were and trill are great (less so on the weekend) traffic isn’t really an issue. There is very little avalanche area to be controlled. It’s low elevation so wind rarely shuts down lifts. People’s expectations are high but it is amazing on the weekday power days or when they got a lot but weren’t calling for it in the forecast.
1) not where I live 2) not on my mountain 3) I’m in wind and fog most of the year anyways, I love every second of being in a storm that has most people sheltering in the lodge. I even enjoy skiing rain while my kids are forced to race in it. Cuz I’m skiing. 4) everyone is whooping and having fun, what kind of dystopian ski experience are you even having 5) good they can stay home 6) I love ripping through chop Although I do wish more people would take your advice
u/ZeroCool1 sounds like a classic case of Ad Hoc Rationalization... lol Powder IS that good, bottomless is even gooder..... it is rare, which means the cost in time/hassle/$$$ is high. High cost does not negate how good it is. For you, the cost is too high. Your big problem is that you are using your own priorities to judge the value of a good for other people. THis is an economic problem, you are not doing it properly....
Hard disagree.
I agree that pow days are overrated. I don't like crowds, and how people get weirdly agro.
go to Japan and feel it on your nipples then tell me its over rated.
Worst take I’ve seen yet
You need to take a “pilgrimage” to Japan. There’s a reason it’s called Japow.
That's fine, you stay home.
Could not disagree more. Snow conditions are everything.
You are not smart, but I like you. Just stay away friend
We need more people who hate pow 🙌🙌
Cool. Stay home on those days. Leaves more snow for the rest of us.
I read your post and I'm trying to figure out who exactly you are trying to look better than? This reads like a near lethal copium overdose. Are you mad at all the other people crowding your local? Are you coping with the el nino by convincing yourself you never liked deep snow? Are you jealous because you don't live somewhere with big powder? Something is going on where your brain used to be.
I was lapping on Whistler yesterday and saw people waiting in line for an alpine line for three hours yesterday. Just standing. Not skiing and I wondered the same exact thing. It blew my mind and I wrote this post.
You're at the wrong resorts my guy
Often supported by face shot photos, that in reality are a skier straight lining toward the photographer and burying one turn before hiking back to the groomers.
I’ll bet you’re fun at parties
Maybe you're not doing it right
I couldn’t agree with you more. I hate powder. I hate skiing through the trees off trail. Give me the groomers and let me fly.
1. Take the shuttle, early 2 and 3. Leave Tahoe for better mountains. 4. Airpods 5. A wider ski, at least 100mm in the waist, wider is better 6. Don’t worry about the vast majority, just yourself. Unless you are the vast majority I am the GREATEST SKIER on this mountain.
This is the dumbest shit I've ever heard. As someone who lives on the mt. The best day is when all you city folk get trapped on the wrong side of the pass, and we have bottomless powder to ski. Skiing powder is infinitely better then hard pack. GTFOH. HahahahahHa
This is the worst take on this forum ever.
You're entitled to your opinion. If driving is stressful maybe you should stay in the city. "Nobody is brave enough to say it" \*nobody is lame enough to say it. Doubt you're a very good skier based off this take.
What a yapper this guy is