I've actually had a few decent WROD experiences, like when Slutsky-era Hunter used to bomb the hill in December.
You're being argumentative -- you know what I was referring to. I'd love to visit Big Bend.
Afriski, Lesotho, July 10, 2024
- Thread starter Tony Crocker
- Start date
I try to avoid them, but last Dec. 5 at Mt. High with basically two runs of 700 vertical and a 300 vertical beginner area below that was surprisingly pleasant. The keys are low marginal cost, convenience plus lack of crowds, a combination easier to arrange in retirement. I am likely to repeat this exercise at Mt. High to renew my senior pass.
Everyone knows why we went to Afriski. Jimmy Petterson sent me an ISHA article from 2020 which speculated that at that time only "several dozen" people had skied 7 continents. The article by Charlie Sanders, ski journalist and current NASJA president, recounts the history of both climbing and skiing 7 continents, culminating with Kit DesLauriers being the first person to ski the seven summits in 2006. Charlie Sanders' Antarctica trip was with Doug Stoup's Ice Axe Expeditions in 2016, and his son Jackson skied his 7th continent at age 19.
Most avid travelers will want to set foot on Antarctica from an expedition cruise. It did not occur to me before retirement that I could ski on such a trip until I read about the first 2009 Ice Axe cruise and so naturally signed up for the second one in 2011. It was Patrick who brought to my attention that I had one more continent to go. I did not set it as a high travel priority but when Liz wanted to spend the second half of June in Namibia, Afriski became irresistable.
For adventurous skiers the Ice Axe Antarctic trip should be a priority in its own right regardless of how many other continents you have skied. The only deterrent is price, which has more than doubled since 2011. It's hard for me to believe that ChrisC won't do it sometime.
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Patrick
Well-known member
Pretty sure Rodo and Jari are at a solid 6 with crazy number of ski areas and countries skied in, but 7 is pretty special.
Jari Arkko commented on my Facebook post. In 2011 he skied 6 continents in 12 months. Not all of these exotic places can be skied on the cheap. He should consider an Ice Axe Antarctic trip.
Greg was right about https://tiffindell.co.za/ this year. Pic from mid-June:
This is pretty inspired and especially useful for people who don't wear helmets:
Here as good as anywhere.
abcnews.go.com
Quite a late season storm.
Late-season snowstorms in South Africa cause 2 deaths from hypothermia
Unseasonably late snowstorms battered coastal areas of South Africa over the weekend, killing two people and forcing the closure of some of the country’s major highways
abcnews.go.com
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Afriski closed at the end of August. The recent storm was 20-30cm, not enough to reopen. Only source of info is the Facebook page. September posts are all promoting spring/summer activities. One interesting post touts that one weekend per month they will run the T-bar to tow mountain bikes uphill.
From the headline I expected the freak snowstorm would be in the Western Cape, so surprised that it hit KwaZulu-Natal and Free State. It's very likely that the Fouriesburg and Moolsmanhoek areas where we stayed got some snow.
From the headline I expected the freak snowstorm would be in the Western Cape, so surprised that it hit KwaZulu-Natal and Free State. It's very likely that the Fouriesburg and Moolsmanhoek areas where we stayed got some snow.
Looks like they are plowing the road, not grooming a ski run.
Yes, you can see a road guardrail at the start of the video. I believe the big storm was about 3 weeks ago.
A new Pistenbully costs $350K to $500K (the higher-priced ones have features like a winch, as this video from Whistler shows) and a used one is something like $80K to $100K but then you have to expect larger maintenance costs. For a novelty place like Lesotho, I guess it makes sense to use a piece of improvised equipment like that grader, sub-optimum as it is. I'm curious what a highly resourceful indie ski-area owner like Laszlo at Plattekill would recommend for them.
Remember this pic from my 2013 Ischgl visit? 14 new Pistenbullys doing a synchronised early-afternoon refresher groom for the resort's entitled clientele -- and they didn't even bother to close the piste! Imagine the liability exposure they'd be facing in the U.S. allowing skiers to glide so close to these monsters. I recall a few Candide wannabes skiing between them: bonkers.