Xmas Eve Oops Update – 12/24/04

Date: Kirkwood – 12/23/04

All I know is that I was super excited to finally make some turns…after 4 days of work and 6 days of class to make 10 days straight of hell…I needed to ride and was super stoked to roll out to the backside, hit Thunder Saddle, etc…just roam around being that I wasn’t expecting super sick conditions.

So, ummmmmm, yeah…..it was a tad windy. I knew it was a little wierd when I saw a few cars rolling with skis on the racks going in the opposite direction to Kirkwood on 88. So only 5 was open for about 2 hours….then 11 opened. Groomed runs were fine…a little firm but on chair 5 they made snow, so it was quite nice early on. We cruised into Waterfall and had to straightline it because there was a 2 foot deep snowboard-boardslide down the gut….not wide enough to make turns in , not even close. So you had to go straight and haul-ass into to icy-off-piste on the verge of death….Fun? yes, but only after my skis stayed on my feet.

…it was cold, probably because of the wind.

The wind howled ALL DAY. NONSTOP.

Just as we were to leave, they opened Chair 6…at 1:45 pm. At this time though, the sun has already left this part of the mountain….sweet. The UPHILL wind pretty much blew all the fresh-groomed off of Sentinel and Zachs up into the stratosphere.

But guess what…mid-winter protected snow in skiers right of Chamois, and all the way down Oops…pretty much the same as 2 weeks ago (the last day I skied.)

Should you go? Yes, if you want to rock groomers. If its windy? Toss-up. Only if 6 is open…but just to ski you know where.

Music: Calyx & Teebee – ‘Follow the Leader’

The weekend before….chair 6….

Outer Palisades….

Greydon slashing…

I think you guys can put 2 and 2 together:

Date: Kirkwood – 12/24/04

So the NWS is calling for a couple huge storms next week…so this report will look lame when looking back a week from now.

Since our next door neighbor has unsecured Wireless, I’m posting some pics just for shitz and giggles.

Today was entertaining and a good time. NO WIND. Blueskies and perfect temps (hoodie weather), and fast morning groomers made me happy.

All the groomed runs were very nice…Sentinel being the best. They tried to groom the Wall….more like skiing groomed concrete for the first hundred feet. Went to the backside, just cause, so I could hit Thunder Saddle. Very icy back there. Thunder Saddle was OK, not bulletproof, but not really worth it either.

The wind halfpipe down to waterfall was super smooth…Oops was great, basically the same since 2 weeks ago.

Skied a few lines off the top of Jims…

Here are the pics: