Author Topic: 23/24 Ski Season (and other dumb outdoor winter recreational pursuits)  (Read 5021 times)

Sanitary Stache

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Re: 23/24 Ski Season (and other dumb outdoor winter recreational pursuits)
« Reply #100 on: March 07, 2024, 01:46:25 PM »
Next season's passes to my local mountain are supposed to go on sale next week.  I am expecting to pay $1,667 to get passes for the 5 of us.
Though we could buy the kids passes and then get up to 32 (total) Sunday half day tickets for the same amount. And it would be pretty significant for us to get in 16 ski days each.

Though what I really want to do is quit my full time job and be a ski instructor.  Which would get us the passes as a perk.

Glenstache

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Re: 23/24 Ski Season (and other dumb outdoor winter recreational pursuits)
« Reply #101 on: March 07, 2024, 03:55:05 PM »
Next season's passes to my local mountain are supposed to go on sale next week.  I am expecting to pay $1,667 to get passes for the 5 of us.
Though we could buy the kids passes and then get up to 32 (total) Sunday half day tickets for the same amount. And it would be pretty significant for us to get in 16 ski days each.

Though what I really want to do is quit my full time job and be a ski instructor.  Which would get us the passes as a perk.
I've got some friends who've done it part time and enjoyed it. There is often a requirement for a certain number of shifts to get the discount pass though.

Telecaster

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Re: 23/24 Ski Season (and other dumb outdoor winter recreational pursuits)
« Reply #102 on: March 07, 2024, 04:17:22 PM »
Crystal was good on Sunday @Telecaster. Let me know if you want a mustachian midweek ski partner sometime. I'm only 35 min from Snoq pass or 1.5 hrs from Crystal.

I'd love it!  I'm out of commission for about a week and half but after that if there is still skiing I'm in. 

Indy Pass is opening sales to the general public tomorrow, FYI

Ikon pass is going on sale March 14.   Crystal Mountain is going to be unlimited this year.   

Sanitary Stache

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Re: 23/24 Ski Season (and other dumb outdoor winter recreational pursuits)
« Reply #103 on: March 08, 2024, 04:34:18 AM »
Next season's passes to my local mountain are supposed to go on sale next week.  I am expecting to pay $1,667 to get passes for the 5 of us.
Though we could buy the kids passes and then get up to 32 (total) Sunday half day tickets for the same amount. And it would be pretty significant for us to get in 16 ski days each.

Though what I really want to do is quit my full time job and be a ski instructor.  Which would get us the passes as a perk.
I've got some friends who've done it part time and enjoyed it. There is often a requirement for a certain number of shifts to get the discount pass though.


My first lesson in saving money included me taking a weekend job as a ski instructor at the mountain I had already bought a pass to. I had to work 40 hours before they refunded my pass purchase. But it got me $1,000 that I was as able to save.

FINate

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Re: 23/24 Ski Season (and other dumb outdoor winter recreational pursuits)
« Reply #104 on: March 13, 2024, 04:34:17 PM »
Well... I've been a complete ski bum the last week or so :) Conditions have been great, no big storms, but consistently getting a few inches at a time. We are now above average for the year, should make for some good spring skiing. Who's ready for corn snow?!

In other news, I spend a couple of days demoing two skis: The Salomon QST 106 and QST Blank. Both great skis. If I were frequently skiing bottomless powder in wide open bowls the Blank would win hands down. Love the float on powder, got snowboarding feels. But man, it's alotta ski. Carves okay for its width (112), but heavy and a handful in quick turns. The 106 makes a lot more sense for my application, feels great in powder but still nimble in the bumps/trees. Surprisingly good carver for how slarvy it is. I could see it becoming my daily driver for all but the firmest days.

Telecaster

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Re: 23/24 Ski Season (and other dumb outdoor winter recreational pursuits)
« Reply #105 on: March 13, 2024, 05:25:29 PM »
I just bought a set of QST 92s.   Got an amazing deal from the local shop.   I haven’t been on them yet.   Maybe Friday if things align.   

Retire-Canada

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Re: 23/24 Ski Season (and other dumb outdoor winter recreational pursuits)
« Reply #106 on: March 13, 2024, 05:40:19 PM »
I was up snowboarding Monday and today. Monday was storming with lots of fresh snow. Today was blue bird skies and great groomer carving on the menu. I bought my seasons pass for next year. We've got 3.5 weeks left this season so I am just knocking off as many more days as I can.

FINate

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Re: 23/24 Ski Season (and other dumb outdoor winter recreational pursuits)
« Reply #107 on: March 13, 2024, 09:16:15 PM »
I just bought a set of QST 92s.   Got an amazing deal from the local shop.   I haven’t been on them yet.   Maybe Friday if things align.

'Tis the season for ski deals. The 92 looks like a great narrow off-piste ski.

One of the... uh... bad things about demoing new skis is realizing just how dead my current skis feel in comparison. They didn't always feel this way. Like all skis they slowly lost their energy. I get in around 40 days per year, typically 20k vertical feet/day. Just finishing my fourth season on these (one ski quiver) so that's more than 3 million vertical feet. So yeah, this might be why they don't have the pop they once did. I've also noticed they don't carve as well, which could be from loss of camber. Thinking I'll get the QST 106 for powder and chopped up leftovers, and then add a ~90mm all mountain carver for firm days.

Retire-Canada

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Re: 23/24 Ski Season (and other dumb outdoor winter recreational pursuits)
« Reply #108 on: March 13, 2024, 09:29:38 PM »
Ski/snowboards, boots, bindings all wear out. Skis/board and boots can look fine and actually be terrible when you are using them.

I try and buy my snowboard gear in the offseason. The deals just get better and better between now and the fall, but stock of 2023/24 clearance gear drops as it gets sold. So you have to decide how long you are willing to wait for the next price drop without missing out on whatever you are aiming to buy.

Sanitary Stache

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Re: 23/24 Ski Season (and other dumb outdoor winter recreational pursuits)
« Reply #109 on: March 14, 2024, 03:53:33 AM »
I just got next seasons passes for the family. $1,700 for four of us (the fifth still skis free but he gets a pass too).

I picked mine up and skied yesterday. Our season got a boost this past weekend and there was cover on the blacks.

I realized my skis (163/88) can’t handle big turns in firm snow, so I stuck to the edges and the bumps.

 I once had Line prophet 100s in 177 length. That was when I was the best skier I’ll ever be. This thought sent me on a search for a contemporary equivalent and I think I now want the Whitedot Carbonlite R.98 in 176. On sale for $674. I have never paid that much for just planks.

Glenstache

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Re: 23/24 Ski Season (and other dumb outdoor winter recreational pursuits)
« Reply #110 on: March 14, 2024, 07:11:57 PM »
I just bought a set of QST 92s.   Got an amazing deal from the local shop.   I haven’t been on them yet.   Maybe Friday if things align.
My QST 92s are my daily drivers. Such great skis.
 I'll be up at central on Friday afternoon if you want to grab a couple of laps.

Telecaster

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Re: 23/24 Ski Season (and other dumb outdoor winter recreational pursuits)
« Reply #111 on: March 14, 2024, 07:26:19 PM »
'Tis the season for ski deals. The 92 looks like a great narrow off-piste ski.

One of the... uh... bad things about demoing new skis is realizing just how dead my current skis feel in comparison. They didn't always feel this way. Like all skis they slowly lost their energy. I get in around 40 days per year, typically 20k vertical feet/day. Just finishing my fourth season on these (one ski quiver) so that's more than 3 million vertical feet. So yeah, this might be why they don't have the pop they once did. I've also noticed they don't carve as well, which could be from loss of camber. Thinking I'll get the QST 106 for powder and chopped up leftovers, and then add a ~90mm all mountain carver for firm days.

Three million is a lot of vertical, I don't care how you slice it.   Kind of envious. 

My old skis are/were Volkl AC 3, which are 78 mm, and were considered a mid-fat at the time.   Now they are impossibly skinny.   Great ski!  Edges like a mo'fo',  stable at high speed, easy to turn.   The thing that prompted my ski purchase was my boots were shot and my bindings were way out of indemnification.   So new boots and bindings, but no new bindings fit my current skis, so I needed new skis...I really hate the industry in that aspect.  I'd like to keep my old skis for rock skies or something, but I guess they go to the landfill. 







FINate

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Re: 23/24 Ski Season (and other dumb outdoor winter recreational pursuits)
« Reply #112 on: March 14, 2024, 08:24:44 PM »
Three million is a lot of vertical, I don't care how you slice it.   Kind of envious. 

My old skis are/were Volkl AC 3, which are 78 mm, and were considered a mid-fat at the time.   Now they are impossibly skinny.   Great ski!  Edges like a mo'fo',  stable at high speed, easy to turn.   The thing that prompted my ski purchase was my boots were shot and my bindings were way out of indemnification.   So new boots and bindings, but no new bindings fit my current skis, so I needed new skis...I really hate the industry in that aspect.  I'd like to keep my old skis for rock skies or something, but I guess they go to the landfill.

Being FIRE and 30 minutes from the resort makes it easy. And this includes a couple of seasons going through cancer, major surgery to remove most of my liver (with enough recovery time to safely ski), and being on chemo last season. Then another somewhat major patch-up surgery in Dec. The doctors were surprised (in a good way) that I'm on the slopes at all, and they've encouraged me to stay active.

I'm an athletic 6'6" 240#, so likely harder on my equipment than most. I guess the good thing about semi-retiring my current pair after just 4 seasons is the ability to use them as rock skis.

Ski industry trends are funny. For a while it was ridiculously fat skis, then who can make the heaviest crud buster. At some point I expect skinny will make a comeback. It's like keeping clothes long enough that they come back in style. I do think a well rounded 95mm all mountain ski is fantastic out west in most situations. I progressed a lot on my Ripsticks and have loved their quickness and flickability, yet by testing other skis realize I've progressed to a point where something a bit heavier and damp works better for me now. Not quite two-sheets-of-metal damp, especially for trees/bumps/off-piste. Feels like the QST line does a pretty decent job of being damp enough without loosing too much agility.
« Last Edit: March 14, 2024, 08:32:25 PM by FINate »

nereo

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Re: 23/24 Ski Season (and other dumb outdoor winter recreational pursuits)
« Reply #113 on: March 15, 2024, 04:10:07 AM »
Three million is a lot of vertical, I don't care how you slice it.   Kind of envious. 

My old skis are/were Volkl AC 3, which are 78 mm, and were considered a mid-fat at the time.   Now they are impossibly skinny.   Great ski!  Edges like a mo'fo',  stable at high speed, easy to turn.   The thing that prompted my ski purchase was my boots were shot and my bindings were way out of indemnification.   So new boots and bindings, but no new bindings fit my current skis, so I needed new skis...I really hate the industry in that aspect.  I'd like to keep my old skis for rock skies or something, but I guess they go to the landfill.

Being FIRE and 30 minutes from the resort makes it easy. And this includes a couple of seasons going through cancer, major surgery to remove most of my liver (with enough recovery time to safely ski), and being on chemo last season. Then another somewhat major patch-up surgery in Dec. The doctors were surprised (in a good way) that I'm on the slopes at all, and they've encouraged me to stay active.

I'm an athletic 6'6" 240#, so likely harder on my equipment than most. I guess the good thing about semi-retiring my current pair after just 4 seasons is the ability to use them as rock skis.

Ski industry trends are funny. For a while it was ridiculously fat skis, then who can make the heaviest crud buster. At some point I expect skinny will make a comeback. It's like keeping clothes long enough that they come back in style. I do think a well rounded 95mm all mountain ski is fantastic out west in most situations. I progressed a lot on my Ripsticks and have loved their quickness and flickability, yet by testing other skis realize I've progressed to a point where something a bit heavier and damp works better for me now. Not quite two-sheets-of-metal damp, especially for trees/bumps/off-piste. Feels like the QST line does a pretty decent job of being damp enough without loosing too much agility.

Sounds like you and I aren’t far apart in terms of build.  I’m also experiencing the industry shifts in ski design - last great pair of sticks I bought were Rossi’s 82 titano avenger - 182cm (not the more bendy basalt version). Heavy stiff ski that I loved, but now are delaminating after 8 seasons of pretty heavy use (probably ~200 days of skiing). The skis were the widest I considered but now they seem skinny compared to most all mountain offerings.

Askel

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Re: 23/24 Ski Season (and other dumb outdoor winter recreational pursuits)
« Reply #114 on: March 15, 2024, 05:11:37 AM »
Be happy you never hitched your wagon to the nordic norm 75mm standard. 

https://www.powder.com/gear-locker/a-telemark-crossroads

We're all hoarding that shit like insane preppers stocking MREs. 

At least there's still tons of it for sale cheap on ebay. 

P.S. My ski season was an absolute bust. Worst (least amount of snow) winter in the ~30 years I've lived here. Never even got to use one of my season passes. The hill was only open for like one weekend. 

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Re: 23/24 Ski Season (and other dumb outdoor winter recreational pursuits)
« Reply #115 on: March 15, 2024, 06:28:51 AM »


P.S. My ski season was an absolute bust. Worst (least amount of snow) winter in the ~30 years I've lived here. Never even got to use one of my season passes. The hill was only open for like one weekend.

Where are you located?  We've had a very substandard winter here in Maine -- for most of the winter you had to travel several hours to the white mountains (NH/VT) or Quebec for decent runs. That just couldn't happen this year with our young daughter.

Askel

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Re: 23/24 Ski Season (and other dumb outdoor winter recreational pursuits)
« Reply #116 on: March 15, 2024, 07:16:49 AM »
Way northern Michigan (the Keweenaw). 

It's apparently bad enough we've declared it a disaster. 

https://www.mlive.com/public-interest/2024/03/disaster-aid-available-to-michigan-businesses-struggling-with-warm-winter.html

FINate

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Re: 23/24 Ski Season (and other dumb outdoor winter recreational pursuits)
« Reply #117 on: March 16, 2024, 12:54:56 PM »
Welp, I did it. Pulled the trigger on buying the QST 106. REI happened to have the size I was looking for on sale. With the discount + REI dividend + CC rewards my cost was $30. Need to add bindings, but still not bad.

Telecaster

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Re: 23/24 Ski Season (and other dumb outdoor winter recreational pursuits)
« Reply #118 on: March 16, 2024, 08:46:46 PM »
Head a great session ripping it up with @Glenstache on Friday!   Classic spring bluebird day.   Snow was soft-ish but in a forgiving, good way.   We did a bunch of laps until my legs turned into Jello-O and I had to call it day.  Got a good test of the QST 92s (I liked them!).  Fun times. 

Glenstache

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Re: 23/24 Ski Season (and other dumb outdoor winter recreational pursuits)
« Reply #119 on: March 17, 2024, 04:43:36 PM »
Head a great session ripping it up with @Glenstache on Friday!   Classic spring bluebird day.   Snow was soft-ish but in a forgiving, good way.   We did a bunch of laps until my legs turned into Jello-O and I had to call it day.  Got a good test of the QST 92s (I liked them!).  Fun times.
Indeed! Currently working g in day 3 in a row. Started the day with a helping of bluebird fresh corduroy

Retire-Canada

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Re: 23/24 Ski Season (and other dumb outdoor winter recreational pursuits)
« Reply #120 on: March 20, 2024, 06:19:18 PM »
I got up to the ski hill Monday and today. The snow is melting fast. It's mashed potatoes everywhere. As long as the rocks are not poking through that's fine, but not sure how much longer we've got.

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Re: 23/24 Ski Season (and other dumb outdoor winter recreational pursuits)
« Reply #121 on: March 21, 2024, 08:22:48 PM »
My QST 106s arrived this week. Got 40% off bindings at a local ski shop, so happy about that.

Went out with the family today for some slushy spring conditions. I love these skis. Powerful enough to push through soft bumps at speed, but still very playful and easy to release the tail. Easy to pivot and slash off-piste. More snow in the forecast this week, looking forward to getting better acquainted in the days ahead.

Our local resort is having a demo day this Saturday so I'm going to try several ~90mm skis. Pretty sure I'll mostly be on the 106, but interested in a front side carver for the firmest snow days.

Sanitary Stache

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Re: 23/24 Ski Season (and other dumb outdoor winter recreational pursuits)
« Reply #122 on: March 22, 2024, 12:30:35 PM »
I skied today with DW.  Everyone was saying conditions were good and the weather was beautiful.  We skied three hours, got so soft bumps, skied the trees and hit some fast groomers.  A good ski day and looking at a storm day with the kids tomorrow and then hoping for blue bird on Sunday with the kids.  So far their season has been 50% skiing in the rain. So I have high hopes for a good experience skiing in fresh snow.

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Re: 23/24 Ski Season (and other dumb outdoor winter recreational pursuits)
« Reply #123 on: March 26, 2024, 05:14:06 PM »
I realize this thread is about winter recreation and it's now spring... But spring is a magical season in Boise -- the snow is soft and the mountain biking trails are tacky. We keep getting system after system in the mountains. Nothing major, just a few inches at a time, but it adds up. Many people have been traveling or doing spring break stuff, so few are on the slopes. Which means I can ski freshies all morning, followed by mountain biking in the afternoon.

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Re: 23/24 Ski Season (and other dumb outdoor winter recreational pursuits)
« Reply #124 on: March 26, 2024, 06:28:04 PM »
Super crowded here with all the spring breakers... Plus new snow. And more to come this weekend. Still low 20s at night but sunny and warmer (and slushy) late in the day. I hate crowds and slush so will be my last week before I head out of town for a couple of months. I think Mammoth and Tahoe will be open until early July this year. Bathing suit skiing!