Thunderbowl Turmoil, Whispering Westshore, and Getting Ghetto at Alpine – 04/01/07

Kirkwood, CA & Alpine Ghettos, CA…soon to be something else??????

Skiers, side-steppers, and drinkers:

666, Zippy, SQ99, dookey67, Corky, Mrs. Corky, Arty50, Slim, Mrs. 666 (on the reserve list)….and everyone else in Supu’s Xtreme thread:

http://tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=81688

CLIMATE: (temps in F)

Super cold…around 50 F at 8:00am

SYNOPSIS:

SQ99 IS IN TOWN!! YAY! YIPPIE!

So he finally bit the bullet and flew out here. Arty acted as his chauffer, while I acted as the Thunder Bowl/West Shore/Ghettos guide. However, the bad news is that only a hint of winter snow was holding onto Thunder Bowl for SQ99’s ski vacation. Everywhere else, including north facing aspects is now TOAST. I’d be rather surprised if you find winter snow anywhere, including up high. The weather for his ski holiday was mostly bluebird, slight cloud, and with a slight wind.

The big dilema was deciding on whether to watch the extreme show in the cirque, or ride. Well, since I haven’t skied since my wife’s injury, and SQ99 has never been to these parts, I decided that skiing was in order. Even though I really wanted to cheer on Ty, I’m sure he’ll now befriend this handsome fellow. However, SQ99 did get to watch the superfinals, as I rallied to pick up the Mrs to see Blades of Glory….a mighty fine motion picture I might add.

MUSIC: Alec Empire – New World Order….turn it up!

Dorkwood was day one:

A quick morning draw….

Leads to Zippy relaxing at the summit of Chunder Bowl….

The Line. V-tree proper. Sad to see the lack of coverage this time of year.

Zippy rips a line down the exposed face…

and then decides to FEEL the snow for stability…

Can you find him?

Steep and not deep….

Winter snow = woot!

A little air never hurts…

He’s the commi on rockets in this protected pocket…

666 makes one last turn on V-tree…he wanted to huck the whole thing, but I told him the landing may hurt. Thankfully, he refused.

Pocket gaming…

Its actually a natural piste run….

Ok, its Squirrel’s turn. To be fair, he didn’t want to ski this. He had no idea where he was, and I kept yelling profanities about how he should just straightline it.

I think the rodent did an adequate job….

Here is a pic of SQ99 skiing. Ever seen him do that?

Captain xmas wishing it was December, admired SQ99’s skillz….

Next, we roll to the Wall so we can get over to West Shore. Zippy decides to pre-release above the death-tracks under the top of the Wall, and perform a "face-plant maneuver."

Sadly, his shoulder dislocated, and while he popped it back in, right now, he looks like this…..

While Supu and other drank to dehydration….

SQ99 and I ran up to Westshore proper. Here, SQ99 gets scenic….

The snow was kinda Smoooooooooooooooth!

I think he liked it. Well, he likes skiing suncups in September, so I think he’s enjoying himself…

Now into the "ankle breaking zone."

Squirrel gets aggressive at Alpine Skiing….

666 takes the more direct route…with some heavenly snow.

JMetzler airs it out in the Sisters area….

The mothership stopped by for coffee…

and we flew out for an early showing of…

Mrs. 666 gets hella extreme and bruises a couple ribs in the shower…

She takes some pain killers, and has a few cocktails….she’s fine. At Lph’s with that dude who hit Hospital Air….I think the fame has totally got to him.

Ghetto Cam at Alpine:

SQ99 and Arty had WAY too much fun the night before to meet me at Alpine at 9:00am, so I had to session the ghettos solo. Armed with some mint Gotamas tuned and stapled by Basom, and a cell phone that takes photos, I attack the mountain….

Estelle Bowl….the ridge closed before 11 am. This is what you missed SQ99!