Ski Season is In!

[SkippyLeDoo]

It's that time of the year again! What better a thing to do with a snow covered mountain than slide down it at high velocities? Yes, skiing is the ultimate combination of uncomfortable boots, long, sharpened platforms, pointy sticks, and gravity. I guess snowboarding is cool, too :V

I apologize for my sudden leave of absence, as I was partaking in this TEST-worthy activity at Snowshoe, which happens to be inside of the Greenbank radio deadzone. Unfortunately I have no pictures, but next time I'll take some if you ask nicely :D

Does anyone else here enjoy this sort of reckless self-endangerment?

 

[Flipper]

YES! SKIING! Been skiing since I was 3 years old, and this year actually have boots that might not make me want to amputate my feet. I am READY! But seriously wtf no pictures?

Also I think most people were off doing Turkeyday things, don't worry about being absent :)

 

[SkippyLeDoo]

I'm not an avid skier like my brother, but I'll be able to go a lot more since I'm not in highschool anymore and I've got a season pass; I get the gear my brother doesn't use anymore, which is pretty good.

As for pictures, I wasn't carrying my phone with me, because the only place with service is at the top of the mountain in the village, and my only decent camera is on my phone. I'm planning on getting a go pro once I save some more money up. Star Citizen took a toll on my wallet.

 

[Flipper]

Blah, alright... the nicest place I've been skiing is Steamboat in Colorado, but I was sick the entire time and only really got to ski the first day. That sucked =/

This year I'm hoping to get a lot more in than previous years, albeit at mountains that are somewhat closer than CO.

 

[Loteus]

You know what's nice? Living close to Whistler.

It's basically the North Pole, elves and all.

 

[SkippyLeDoo]

That's beautiful! There's something about the atmosphere of ski resorts that I just love.

Here's a picture of Snowshoe's village. It was actually pretty difficult to find:

At Snowshoe the village lies at the top of the mountain. It's nice that you can ski down directly from the village, and the view when you're chilling out is great. Oh, and in the afternoon, when the sun is nearing the horizon, the snow shines bright gold.

I have to get pictures my next visit. All of the pictures on their website suck.

 

[SeungRyul]

Going to Pyeongchang (host of 2022 olympics or something) over winter break so damn excited

 

[Thrashdog]

For some reason or other, I've never been skiing...

 

[SkippyLeDoo]

At least you get fantastic adventures to magical lands via tornadoes.

 

[LuLu]

Wow. Snowshoe has improved dramatically since I last went.

 

[SkippyLeDoo]

Well, TEST, I've gone skiing again, and this time I have some pictures. I'll just have to get them from my brothers since my phone died out of nowhere.

 

[SkippyLeDoo]

GUYS. PICTURES. HERE.

Yeah, sorry it took me so long to get these up. I don't really have an excuse, but here they are! Gaze upon the glory of Cheat Mountain!

 

[starkestrel]

For some reason or other, I've never been skiing...

I learned to downhill ski in Indiana, of all places. I recollect someone telling me that the artificial slope we were on was a garbage heap outside of the winter months. For graduation, they bused us a couple of hours to a place that had actual, nature-made hillocks. To this day (over thirty-five years later), Kool & the Gang's "Celebrate Good Times" is about skiing for the first-time down a 'mountain' over and over again.

I think I prefer the Indiana version to the California version. I think I'd rather ski down a trash heap on real snow than ski down a real mountain on fake snow. I'm not entirely certain, though.

 

[SkippyLeDoo]

I think I'd rather ski down a trash heap on real snow than ski down a real mountain on fake snow. I'm not entirely certain, though.

No offence, but the comment about snow doesn't really make sense to me. Snow is snow, as long as it's not dirty or icy.

Mountain resorts use fake snow so they only have to rely on the weather to be cold and not rain (which it did at snowshoe today). When it snows, it does help, but the snow machines make sure the snow is thick and skiiable.

 

[Munken]

GUYS. PICTURES. HERE.

Yeah, sorry it took me so long to get these up. I don't really have an excuse, but here they are! Gaze upon the glory of Cheat Mountain!

Wow that really looks fun. I have never went skiing before

 

[SkippyLeDoo]

Wow that really looks fun. I have never went skiing before

I'd definitely recommend giving it a try, though at first you have some trouble staying up. You'll fall a lot but after a short while you will start to get the hang of it. Heck, I've skied for only 4 days this season-- almost as much as I've skied my whole life-- and worked from starting on blue (intermediate to advanced) slopes to black diamond (advanced to expert) slopes.

 

[starkestrel]

No offence, but the comment about snow doesn't really make sense to me. Snow is snow, as long as it's not dirty or icy.

Mountain resorts use fake snow so they only have to rely on the weather to be cold and not rain (which it did at snowshoe today). When it snows, it does help, but the snow machines make sure the snow is thick and skiiable.

Well, I'm not a skiier. I just prefer the aesthetics of not skiing on manmade snow. Doesn't sound right to me.

 

[SkippyLeDoo]

Artificial snow doesn't look any different than real snow, and it's not any different either. Snow machines are basically just oversized mist machines hooked up to fire hoses. Though it does suck to be in the line of fire when you're sitting on a lift, but that's usually early season.

 

[SeungRyul]

I donno, I have tried artificial snow and I think the texture is slightly different from that of natural snow. The way the snow packs is different for me (maybe Im fooling myself here though).

 

[SkippyLeDoo]

I donno, I have tried artificial snow and I think the texture is slightly different from that of natural snow. The way the snow packs is different for me (maybe Im fooling myself here though).

Thinking about it, yeah. Artificial snow tends to be a lot finer and pack harder, but the biggest difference is how the slopes are prepared. What they do is run the machines and let the snow pile up, and then they spread it along the slopes. By itself it could form sheets of ice.

The best times to go skiing are mid-season because more slopes are open and you have a nice, soft layer of natural snow on top. The only problem is when people pizza down powdery slopes, which cuts in and forms bumps that are treacherous, even for me and my older brother.