Steeps

Will the Jedi Return? Run of the Week: The terrain park at Arapahoe Basin

2007-03-13T15:06:00.000-07:00

I have four stiches in my left forearm, and fortunately, unlike Luke Skywalker in the Empire Strikes Back, my hand wasn't completely lost. I consider this a good thing since a robot couldn't somehow reconstruct it.

Last Sunday (3/11), my personal Darth Vader (similar to one's personal "el guapo") manifested itself when the idea of throwing a helicopter off the final kicker at the A-basin terrain park popped into my head. I had no excuse for not trying it -- it was a gorgeous day, the snow was soft, and I was accompanied by an enchanting snowboarder chick whom I was eager to impress. Plus, once I imagined doing the helicopter (much like once Skywalker knew Vader was his father), I knew I would regret it if I didn't face my fear. Ob-1 and Yoda (aka my better judgment) tried to dissuade me, but I shunned them defiantly.

The last kicker at the A-basin terrain park is 7-10 foot ramp that springboards you up towards the East Wall and into the high altitude atmosphere. There's about a 10-15 gap you have to carry to make it to the steep landing, otherwise you might blow both of your ACLs. I'd hit the kicker twice earlier that day, and on each hit, I barely cleared the gap.

Two years ago I attempted a helicopter off the last kicker, which may have been among the most frightening moments in my life. To catch that much air while spinning is certainly a triple espresso moment. Fortunately I landed without my skis popping off. I think I had so much adrenaline after landing that I could have thrown a small car ... about 3 feet.

Ok ... so what was going through my mind when deciding to face "Vader" was: clear the gap, scariest moment of my life, huge adrenaline rush, my form on the take off, my insurance, a possible dislocated shoulder, blown ACLs, the future of kids, the integrity of my helmut, and I was actually a little hungry, so a burger king chicken sandwich was also swimming around up there. Nevertheless, I wanted to re-live the glory days when I used to not think about these things, save the chicken sandwich. By the way, I'd only attempted one helicopter earlier this year, over-rotated, and crashed. It appeared the force was not strong within me.

You all know where this is going, so I'll spare you the introspective description of what preceded the bout with the ambassador of the dark side (you're welcome). I approached "Vader"
with some aggressive skates and pole plants to get enough speed to clear the gap, second guessed myself, then said "aw f*ck it," crouched down like a gorilla, and popped my meat off this sucker.

The helicopter rotated perfectly, and placed me in an ideal landing position ... except that I was still 10-15 feet above the ground. I knew I had caught WAY more air than before as soon as I hit the jump. When I came around and spotted the landing, I'm pretty sure I screamed, or perhaps yelped, ... primal style. Crashing was somewhere between possibility and certainty. I continued to rotate and fall forward until my skis "touched" (read "slammed") down on the landing, and I immediately double ejected, exploded, and rocketed down the landing slope on my stomach for about 10-15 feet. Glancing ahead, I noticed a family enjoying a Sunday at the Basin, dumbfounded. They'd probably never heard a human scream like that ... except maybe on a roller coaster.

The yard sale behind me was impressive. My skis were about twelve feet away from each other, and I think my poles may have fallen victim to the melee also. I retrieved my skis, pride, and ego, brushed myself off, and boarded the millenium falcon back down to the bottom of the Basin, barely noticing that my left forearm was throbbing.

I pulled up my jacket sleeve when I got to the bottom and noticed a gash on my forearm about a centimeter wide. My arm must have hit the edge of my ski during the calamity. Fortunately the bleeding was minimal. A doctor at the Keystone clinic stitched it up, even though I made the joke that I was a medical malpractice attorney. He told me he sticks such attorneys in the eye with a needle.

"Vader" beckoned me as I passed A-basin on the way home from the clinic. I think I know what my destiny is...

The "Fridge" is stocked. Run of the week: The Imperial Bowl, Breckenridge

2006-12-18T13:12:00.000-08:00

The legend of "Breckenfridge" began nearly two decades ago, as junior racers outfitted with nothing more than spandex and some blue/green wax assaulted the Cimarron trail on Peak 10. The sky was blue, but occassionally distorted by a frozen jetwash that emerged from the 10 mile range and blasted the hill with bitterness. The racers huddled at the 10 mile station warming house, performing exact calculations to assure they'd arrive at the starting gate with no time to spare in the harsh elements. Hot chocolate went down like gatorade. Damn it was cold. Probably -33 degrees with windchill cold.

The legend has grown to such epic proporitions that today, when I suggest to my friends that we go to Breckenridge, they look at me as if I had just uttered a racist slur. "Excuse me? Did you just say ... oh, I can't even repeat it." Basically, going to Breckenridge is not an option unless A) its late March or April, or summer, or B) that's where we're staying for the night and we're too lazy to drive anywhere else. I think they'd rather go to work than go to Breckenridge. Logically, I can't blame them.

Sunday, the legend of Breckenfridge reverberated through the mountains with a cold wind and sub-zero temperatures, and yes, I was there. Reading -7, the temperature guage on my car would have laughed at me as I reached for the door handle if technology had advanced to that point. I laughed right back, thinking the cold would have made it malfunction anyway. The temperature guage also didn't take into account that it snowed about 8-12 inches the day before (and rest assured I was at Keystone collecting icicles in my beard from the face shots).

At 9 am, I was back at peak 10 wearing far more than spandex. Still, the wind penetrated my 346 layers like a needle through soft cotton, especially on the lift at the top of Peak 10. You know those openings in the ear holes on your helmut so that you can hear things ok? Well, those are basically cold wind siphons. Even laying down arcs in perfect corduroy under the Peak 10 chair couldn't take my mind off my frozen tympanic membranes; though it helped.

After several high speed runs intensifying the possibility of hypothermia and frostbite, I shivered my way over to peak 8, taking the never crowded Peak 8 super-connect. From the lift I could see that the Horseshoe Bowl, the steep face looming above peak 8, had slid earlier that day, but appeared to still have a nice runway down the middle. I headed there without hesitation, and braved the blowing ice-wind pounding on the T-bar.

Not feeling my toes, ears, nose, or fingers, I still managed to enjoy the avalanche turf offered in the Horseshoe Bowl. I was skiing on telemark skis, a much less comfortable outfit for me. The snow was so good in the bowl, those able enough laid down fat arcs at 30-40 mph on one of the steepest pitches in the front range. I did my best on the teles, though I did get bounced around in the avalanche debris at the bottom.

Feeling more sure footed with my free heels, I made my way to the Imperial Express. The Imperial Express is the highest lift at the world's coldest ski area, and is also the highest lift in North America. Summiting near 13,000 feet, I felt as if I was starring in a North Face commercial by the time I got off the lift, endorsing gear built for the harshest elements. My conversation on the lift with two tourists from New Orleans was limited to mumbles through my jacket as it guarded my face, and gestures distorted by intense shivering.

The sun was out, though, and the wind, though strong and brutal, blew an inch of new snow into the bowl every 5 minutes. I hiked about 10 feet above the lift to access a better line, barely seeing 2 feet in front of me because of the blowing snow. A tourist passed me on his way down from the nearby summit, saying "f*ck this* with his body language. I looked up to the summit having no envy for the people who were up there.

Before making my descent, I glanced over to the lake chutes and remembered skiing them the previous spring. From the top of the imperial chair, you can hike up an additional 150 feet to the summit of peak 8. From there you can access skiing on both sides, and take in one of the best views available at a ski resort, seeing all of the front range, as well as the mountains surrounding Vail, Copper Mountain, and Leadville. Last spring, I traversed southeast to the lake chutes to discover that they were perhaps the steepest pistes I'd ever skied. Steeper than terrain in Crested Butte, Jackson Hole, Alta, Taos, or even La Grave, France. Sadly, they're not very long.

I then looked down the bowl in front of me to see whirlwinds of blowing snow, and fresh powder with no tracks. I started tentatively, found my rhythm, and began leaving my free-heeled signature in the wind-deposited powder. The bowl boasts a steep pitch slightly more mild than the horseshow bowl, allowing for long sweeping high speed turns, or for quick jump turns in the fall line. Rocks are a problem, but visible.

I arrived to the bottom with my face frozen, my lungs atrophied, and my smile wide. I remembered the cold lift ride up, the numbing of my extremities, the lack of anything warm nearby, and mostly the brutal wind. And without hesitating, I got back on the lift for another run.

Demo Days Equipment Review

2006-11-22T14:36:00.000-08:00

To avoid the early season monotony and crowds, we checked out Colorado Ski and Golf's "Demo Days" at Loveland Basin resort. With a price-tag of $40 which includes lift ticket, a $10 lunch coupon, and unlimited demos of skies, snowboards, telemark skis, goggles, and other accessories, "demo days" was a pretty good deal for skiing all day at uncrowded Loveland.

To put this review in context, I'm 6'1 and about 185 lbs., and generally ski aggressively and fast, and enjoy making race-like turns on groomers. For these reasons, I was primarily interested in a top of the line, all-mountain ski that was fat, but also had some shape, and was relatively stiff. I find skis that are "fat" (wide at tip and tail and also wide underfoot) to be more stable and responsive in almost any condition. I also enjoy skis that have some hourglass shape to them, because its easier to initiate and complete a turn, and the skis are generally more responsive. I also find that stiffer skis respond better when skiing aggressively. I surmised that a ski somewhere in the mid-170s would generally be the right length for me.

I tested 8 different pairs of skies, and took one or two runs on each of them. With the exception of the first run, I skied Spillway to Richard's Run off of chair 1, a fairly steep groomed blue. I aslo took some runs on waterfall, to see how the skies performed in steep bumps and other variable conditions.

For a map of the south side of Loveland Basin Resort, go to http://www.skiloveland.com/map/loveland_SOUTH%20VIEW.htm

Here are the ski models I tried, and my thoughts:

Dynstar Legend Pro / 168: The composition of the ski itself was outstanding; the wood core allowed it to contour the terrain nicely, and the alleged stiff metal mixed in (this is what the rep told me) made it react enthusiastically to strong turns. A really nice ski, however, it lacked shape, and was perhaps too "fat" for my tastes. The review in Skiing magazine mirrored my thoughts, calling the Legend the best in turning stability and hard snow grip, but claiming that testers wanted "more immediate tip purchase the start of the turn."

K2 Apache Recon/ 174 and 181: This ski was the best in high speed turns, period. Lay these puppies over in a high speed turn and they will make you feel like world cup champion Alberto Tomba. A very, very solid ski on groomers. However, this attribute counter-balanced some of the ski's "all-mountain" characteristics. I found it to be a little too "burly" in the bumps and on the steeps. It was a heavy and stiff ski, and didn't lend itself to "quick-feet" in certain situations. The 174 was a better overall length for me, but the 181 could really carve up the mountain. Skiing called this ski "damp" and "sluggish at first," but claimed it "glides through the gnarliest chop with velvety smoothness." Mmmmmmmmm ... velvety smoothness.

Head Monster IM 88 / 172: This was a "fat" ski, and therefore, I didn't like it as much. The liquid metal technology, though, seems to do the trick -- I could really feel the contours of the mountain on these skis, and they turned nicely in all terrain. Too fat and not enough shape, however. Skiing prescribes this model for "aggressive chargers with meaty thighs." No one has ever told me I have meaty thighs. P.S. I bought a pair of the Monster IM 77s for this season, but haven't yet tried 'em. Hopefully my thighs won't have to be too meaty for me to enjoy them.

Fischer Slalom, race stock / 170: I told the guy at Fischer that I was a former racer, expert skier, and he handed me these slalom race stock skis. Not exactly what I was looking for, but I thought I'd try 'em out and relive the glory days. Sure enough, they'd be awesome on an icy slalom course, but they're pretty much too stiff for anything else. It was fun skiing on 'em though, considering my Dynastar Coup Du Mond slalom skis that I skied when I was 13 were 195s. Skiing may have reviewed this ski, but I don't remember the exact model.

Dynstar Legend 8800 / 175: Same review as the Legends, except not quite as good of composition. Just not enough shape to make me want to ski them all the time, but would be great in steeps. I was also dead tired by this point in the day, which could have affected my review. Skiing claims these bad boys "need to be skied fast." Word.

Atomic Sweet Daddy / 175: The Snoop Daddies weren't available, so I took out these "Daddies" which the rep. claimed were "a step below the top of the line." That having been said, I was impressed with these skis. They turned nicely, had a nice degree of stiffness, and handled all terrains pretty well. I'd be very curious to see how the Snoop Daddies perform. "Laiiiiid back" perhaps?

Volkl Mantra / 177: Too fat and too soft for me, but a cool looking ski. I have a friend that skis last years Mantras and digs 'em. A guy on the chair also extolled their virtues. If you want a softer ski that rips through powder in big bowls - I imagine this ski does the job. Testers for Skiing complained it wasn't stable enough at high speed, but otherwise favorably endorsed the ski.

Volkl AC4 / 177: The hands down all around best ski I tried. Stiff and powerful in high speed turns, yet maneuverable and steady in bumps, steeps, and other variables I tried. These skis also had the right amount of shape and girth for my tastes. Not quite as good as the recons in high speed turns, but better all around. Fantastic pair of boards. Skiing echoed my sentiments, calling it the BEST IN TEST and "our hands down favorite of the [one-ski quiver expert] category." Nuff said.

Review: Warren Miller's "Off The Grid"

2006-11-17T13:33:00.000-08:00

Dare I say this movie was "Off the Grid!?!?!?"

I suppose it depends which "grid" you are talking about. If it is the grid containing the normal prices for feature length films, then yes, this movie was "Off the Grid." Admission after service charges, etc. was an appalling $36. For that price, I may as well have just gone skiing.

Overall, however, I enjoyed the movie. Warren Miller movies have progressed and have managed to capture some impressive footage from places around the world. They even got such ski movie juggernauts as Seth Morrison and others to huck their respective meat off cliffs in last year's picture. Quite the step from 20 minutes of people falling off the lift and Warren Miller delivering the usual punchline:

"If you want your ski, go get it."

Despite some of the incredible footage and skiing in this movie, the same drawback of Miller's movies still persist. Rather than feature the top "ski movie" skiers in the industry, Miller's movies seem to focus on skiers with whom the public can more readily identify (I guess). For example, Mike Mannelin, who was featured in the Big Sky segment, appeared in a short scene portraying his stint cleaning a power plant and wearing a metallic suit. Along with the footage came the very expected, "yeah, I decided it was better to be a ski bum instead," or something along those lines. Sweet, Mike. By the way, it looked like your knees were shaking on film, and you managed to botch the landing every time you caught some air. A geriatric Chris Anthony shared the same scene. Someone needs to take the mic out of that guy's hands at the screenings.

Another example is Olympic bronze medalist Toby Dawson. I love Toby Dawson because he's one of the best bump skiers on the planet, and brought home some hardware for the ole' USA. I have a signed poster of him on my wall. Seeing him throw a 720 mute grab on a steep bump course makes me happy. Seeing him doing some intermediate tree skiing -- not as exciting. Then there were the brothers who were fortunate enough to get a heli-skiing segment in Alaska. These guys were decent skiers, but there are better skiers for this segment who may or may not be siblings. According to Miller, though, Alaska has more brotherly love than Philadelphia.

Miller's movies also tend to stray beyond the ski movie boundary. Taking the title of their movie too literally, the "Off the Grid" crew travelled all the way to Japan to film a competitive snowball fight. If you haven't seen the movie, I wouldn't be surprised if you just laughed at that last sentence in amazement. My suggestion would be to cut out a lot of this "fluff," and pair the movie down to an hour. There's no reason a ski movie needs to be a feature length film, and there's especially no need for us to sit through a Chris Anthony intermission. Cut down the time, and the price, and I'm suddenly cheering for Mike Mannelin.

The movie did manage to "stomp some landings" though. Lynsey Dyer appears to be one of the best female skiers on film, and carried the Big Sky scene. Pep Fujas, who's street (or slope) credit is well established in the ski movie industry, dialed some impressive lines in Europe. Although Max Mancini was the victim of Miller's humor ("As usual, Max had to skip finals to meet us in Steamboat" or whatever), he may be the best telemark skier on film. The film also featured a segment at the U.S. freestyle open in Vail, displaying some of the gnarliest slopestyle skiers in the industry, as well as the upcoming prodigies. Some of the stuff these guys did off of huge kickers was, frankly, disgusting.

Some other highlights of the movie included:

1) The ode to Doug Coombs. Anyone who's followed skiing for past decade and a half knows what this guy did for skiing. "Off the Grid" shared some great footage of him, and paid him his due repsect.

2) The world record cliff jump from Jamie Pierre. Granted, not much "skiing" was involved in this stunt, but it was impressive nevertheless.

3) The on-scene ski expose' of the Himalayan resort in Kashmir. While I'm unsure how much charity befell the small village visited by the athletes and crew off-camera, the on-camera footage of these humble people learning how to snowplow was touching. I may have even reached for a kleenex at one point. Dan Treadway also looked like a lime.

4) The scene involving the ski train to Winter Park. Anytime a Colorado skiing experience is featured in a ski film, I'm happy.

5) The re-emergence of Dean Conway. Does anyone else remember this guy and his aggressive jump turns from the mid-nineties (The Hedonist, The Tribe, Fetish, etc.)? Well, he's still doin' 'em in Alaska. Good for Dean.

6) The Jeremy Bloom football segments. I know, I know. This is contrary to one of my criticism's of Warren Miller movies, but I'm a football fan and somewhat of a Jeremy Bloom fan, so I thought that was cool.

So yeah, I was entertained by this movie, and exited with ample "stoke" as well as a fistful of free schwag. I suppose there is a reason that Warren Miller movies sell out ... because everyone is "stoked" for ski season, and this movie certainly fuels the fire. Unfortunately, this fire also burns a hole in your pocket.

"Mind if I drop in?"

2006-11-14T15:19:00.000-08:00

Welcome to steeps.blogspot.com. Current good entries in this blog are 0', and the forecast is for better things to come. "Drop in" whenever you like to hear opinions and accounts on things related, and sometimes unrelated, to skiing.