Skier's Ultimate To Do List

Marc,
Are you talking beneath the Val Thorens or Courchevel tram? I think I preferred the couloirs in Courchevel (not the Grand Couloir which is the only one on the map). Although skiing down the 900m from the top of la Cime-de-Caron (Val Tho) was also very very good. Did you try la Pierre-Lory which is on the backside from Val Tho (not on all the maps)? That was one my favorite runs in that week.
 
Patrick, I was talking of the Val Thorens tram. Alas, we never were able to board the Courchevel tram, for during much of our trip it was down for unscheduled maintenance and off-piste conditions didn't lend themselves to making a hike worthwhile.

We never got to La Pierre-Lory, either. We were staying at Courchevel 1850 (woo-hoo!), and only got over to Val Thorens on day 2. We were only on the ground for 4 days, and as you know, there's a ton of stuff to cover and much that we didn't reach. Every day was 55F with bluebird skies, and anything that wasn't facing due north and high elevation was baked and refrozen crap. We therefore found the best skiing quality in some unexpected places, places where ordinarily the terrain wouldn't attract me.

In fact, regarding the run down Cime-de-Caron, we were assigned a guide for the day whose charge by the tourist office personnel was to show us the full enormity of les Trois-Vallees. We therefore spent the day going from 1850 through Meribel to Val Thorens and back. Honestly, it was as much as my legs could handle, but due to the traveling nature of the day, much of it was spent on interminable cat tracks to get from point A to point B. I had been grumbling about this, looking wistfully at many fine looking runs, and my grumbling only became louder as the morning wore on.

I tell this story only for amusement. I'm no Scott Schmitt by any means, but most ski journalists are decidedly intermediate. Combine this with our guide's usual Courchevel clients -- wealthy, somewhat arrogant folks who seem to stick to the groomers -- and I can understand his growing annoyance with my grumbling.

Finally, by the time we reached the Cime-de-Caron tram, I suspect that my grumbling was starting to really piss him off. I think that he believed that he could shut me up by getting me to back off of a challenge. As we were nearing the top of the tram ride, looking out the uphill window against which our faces were pressed, he turned to me and pointed to the couloir before he asked, "So ... shall we ski that?"

I honestly think that he expected me to say "no", for a sly smile spread across his face as I replied, "Let's go for it!"

The four of us leaned over the edge. One in the group, a former executive from ASC, opted to pass and meet us on the cat track below (honestly, he would've been fine skiing it as he's very talented, but I suspect that the 6-pack of 1-liter water bottles sloshing around in his backpack made him consider otherwise). My buddy from the NY Daily News, our guide, and I all opted to hit it.

Guide Stefan dropped in the primary line, filled with chalky bumps. I had skirted over to the sunny side of the couloir, much steeper than the primary line and filed with spring mashed potatoes, in order to film Stefan and Rich. That's where the great steep shot from 4:07 to 4:27 in the "Coeur de Courchevel" video at http://www.SkiMovies.com came from.

Once they reached the cat track below, it was my turn. By the time I was finished packing the video equipment away, they were all looking back up the hill for my run. I couldn't ski it with his grace, but I suspect that I surprised Stefan when, instead of traversing back over to the primary line before descending, I dropped right below where I was standing. It was challenging to work the steep in the rotten snow, and the convex hill fell away to where I couldn't see the hill below. I later found out that they were yelling to direct me to skier's right, for my chosen line devolved into boulders melting out the rotting snow, but I stayed where I was, threading the rocks to drop back to the cat track. I was thrilled.

After that, Stefan treated me a little bit differently for the rest of the trip. :wink:
 
About the surprises, I looked in my history to spot the few surprises I got during ski days in the last 16 years.

As I was more skiing in the real trails until 1997 (except in few areas of the Laurentians), I didn't got real surprises until that year.

So I got 8 surprises in 292 "official" ski days.

I could say 10000 words about every one of them, but as nobody would read them (lol), this is just the facts.

April 2, 97 : discovering Chevreuil on a off-piste expedition nowhere in particular.

Dec 20, 98 : looking up on my 2nd ride up at Val St-Come, I found just in front of my face the monster Pins Rouges. (I literally cried of surprise)

Jan 29, 2000 : Heard about lines between Maxi and Grande Coulee. By chance, I found Ecureuil on a first shot... this simply changed my life ;) lol

Jan 4, 2001 : Going down Contour, I've seen in the middle some snowcat tracks !!???? I followed the path and when I stopped (to not hike), I miraculously found back Chevreuil. (I thought the icestorm destroyed it or that it was Passe de l'Ours) (here, I cried... and a lot !)

March 4, 2001 : I found that what I discovered 2 months before was just the lower part of Chevreuil... and to find the place I skied the best run of my life 4 years before was probably for me the biggest surprise of my life, overall.

March 4, 2001 : Trying to find the entrance of Chevreuil... I found Porc-Épic on my last run of the day... I didn't know what to think and was becoming mad, so went back 4 days later to understand the place. I found the entrance on march 8, but it's just on april 14 of the same year that I completely understood how Chevreuil was designed !

March 4, 2002 : 1 year later, it was at Alta, in horrible conditions, but I found by chance an incredible brand new trail that affected me so much that Alta became back my #1 best ski area that day, 5 years later...

March 8, 2002 : Massif du Sud, 1 year later again... I knew few trails were not on map... but I wouldn't ever had thought to find a trail like #8 !!

You're certainly right about the incredible lines in Vermont... and for the surprises, with an average of 1 ski surprise by 2 years and only 4 ski areas where I got a real surprise, it's something really rare. For the lines, theoretically, you're right, although practically, it's not the case in QC. Tremblant almost have nothing, same thing for Le Massif. Ste-Anne doesn't look so good for that. Alta (656) and Avila (600) are quite better than them. (although you may remove the "really long" I admit). The longest one at Avila is over ½ mile long and is pretty hairy, but the numerous ones of Alta are less long in general.

About your comments, Patrick. After my university, it will be the tax income period, in april, so that's a month where I won't probably have the time to ski a lot and certainly not to do trips in the west.

May could be better... with Sunshine and Lake Louise still open in the beginning of the month.

Europe simply doesn't interest me at all for now... May be at 35 or 40, it will look more interesting for me... gonna see that.

And for Stowe, 90$ for few trails don't interest me, unless they're more than really, really, really, really interesting. Tremblant's CBC is my 6th best trail and I'd not skied it since 2000 before this year. The only reason why I went there this year is that I got a free lift ticket. I will never encourage a ski area that charge so much for a ski day.

*<I>Contour really likes the trick of Duff on this point !</I>
 
Nice story Marc !!
Those couloirs are one of the things I admit to miss, here, although there is few good ones (that I don't talk a lot here due to bad conditions if too much skiers)
Anyway, it's sure that the ones in west and Europa are incredibly better (Mt Wash too)...
 
snif... Marc, you story has brought a tear to my eye. Just wonderful memories.

Any recommendations for someone who would like to take a one year (or more) sabbatical in the next 10 years from cubical life and spend it outside in Europe (ie. skiing).

I am too old to ski-bum, plus I have a family. My wife and daughters have dual citizenship (Canadian-French). Courchevel 1850 would not be the place, but Chamonix or Bourg St-Maurice could be interesting.
 
Marc, when were you there? What you are describing weather wise (55F & blueskies) sound a lot like what I had. I had this weather for 5.5 days out of 6 from March 16-21.

I know what you mean about traversing, we were in Val Thorens. I made it twice to Courchevel, but skied under that tram only one run. Too much to see and ski. I think that run (the old trail called Emile-Allais), plus the Pierre-Lory, skiing under the ValTho Tram, Mt.Vallon and itinéraire du Lac du Loup (Les Menuires) were my favorites. Not the most extreme, but definitely the must fun - nice, steep and long.
 
Marc: When skiing Trois Vallees does it make sense to stay in Meribel or Mottaret, which are in the central of the 3 valleys? It should cut down the traversing/catwalks to go from one end to the other.
 
About the "To Do" list, this is something not really easy, but I would like : that :

<B>June</B> 14, 2001
<IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/8/2540.jpg" ALT="Big Sky - June 14, 2001">

Today is the 2nd birthday of this 3 foot storm in mid-june in Montana. They just reopened the lifts a single day at Big Sky, but hey... skiing knee deep powder on mid-june... do you imagine that ? <IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/clipart/happy.gif" ALT=":)">

This would really be an ultimate ski thing to do !
 
Mammoth had 1 foot of new snow on June 30, 1982. It had been a big year with 500+ inches, so they were open. I missed that one. The July 4th holiday skiers that year were wearing their winter clothing and skiing packed powder as the usual cold air behind Sierra storms lingered for a few days.

I was there June 19-20 of that season for a more normal summer ski experience, including my first pond skim. This pond formed naturally on hot days in a flat area outside the gondola midstation where the subsurface on the still 10-foot deep base remained solidly frozen. This will not happen in the future because this area was regraded in 1991 to drain into Mammoth's snowmaking reservoir. The reservoir refills naturally each summer with the runoff from the Chair 3 area.
 
Frank!
Stop teasing me with pictures like that!

It hit 25 Celcius yesterday in Toronto, and summer is coming.

I Can't handle the heat!

AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
 
hehe, I agree with you, Jonny !!! but now that I know what is my problem... (this is part of a real scientific publication !)

<I>...Miss Dixon suffers from a syndrome dubbed summer seasonal affective disorder, or reverse SAD. While millions of Americans experience seasonal depression in winter, psychiatrists say a smaller subset of the population has precisely the opposite reaction: They relish the gloomy days of winter but slide into deep depression in spring, just as the rest of the nation is reaching for flip-flops and heading for the beach. The syndrome was first identified by researchers at the National Institute of Mental Health over a decade ago, but it is gaining new attention as a series of recent studies in India, China and Australia shed new light on the pattern.</I>

If you wanna see the summer pass quickly, just come with us in Chic-Choc in july ! lol (hmm, 14h from ±Toronto... you better go Blackcomb <IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/clipart/happy.gif" ALT=":)">)

About the actual weather, it's a little bit cooler at Montreal, but summer is coming here too ! At least, it wasn't a spring with temps over 30 degrees (celsius) every days, like in 2001 and it was quite less gray than 2002.

Well, if Tenney is open for skiing the nights, I must try this into july, me !!!!

Finally, if you don't wanna see pics like that, let me tease you a little bit, with my #2 best pic of the last season, taken in <FONT COLOR="0000ff">Contour</FONT> on march 6. <BR> <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/8/2543.jpg" ALT="I miss you dear Contour">
 
Ottawa - 28c today.
People would want to shot me when I was happy with the late spring snowfall.

Someone I knew only had one sticker on his old car. This was a SWIX bumper sticker (this was in 1986) - Which said: SUMMER STINKS THINK SNOW!!!

I would fun to have one of those sticker, just to see the reaction of people at work.
 
Hahaha, when I went to ski this may and june at La Reserve, my father asked me to send him the pics at his office. So, he sends that to every people he knows just to tease them about snow in summer ! lol

Obviously, we're always the first ones to laugh at the first snow in october and last snow in may. I would really like to have one of those stickers too !!!

On my side : Laval 24c actually

(SS) <BR>Summer sucks
 
I don't think that I can complain about suffering from the summertime blues especially when the highest temperature that we have seen on Long Island this year is 80F. Since May 1st there have only been 11 days with temperatures at or slightly above normal, with 11.06 inches of rain since then. I am starting to forget what heat and humidity feel like!!!! The forcast for the next week is calling for rain almost every day. Even though summer begins at 7pm on Saturday June 21st, at this rate I want to throw in the towel on this years weather and go look for some snow to ski on!!!!. This weather is bad for the people that depend on good summer weather at the beaches and resorts as a source of living. I spent last weekend driving 480 miles to Erie P.A to spend the weekend at Splash Lagoon, a very large Indoor water park as the weather at home was awful with fog and rain. I just hope that this winter weather pattern that we are still in does not turn warm and dry for next winter.
 
I imagine so ! (for Patrick comment)

I admit that this spring was one of the best I've seen : I've skied up to june in QC, there was no big heat temps, there wasn't too much rain here. It was a really "in the normals" spring and if the summer could be like that, it would be nice cause it would pass enough fast. I'm eager to really begin my extreme hiking season. Of course, I like that less than skiing, but I think I prefer to hike on Orford's "Super" than to ski on any beginner trail I've took (except the ones at Mt Glen). Contour is also my #2 best trail for hiking. #1 for ski, #2 for hike... Frankontour 365 days / year. lol

As the last seasons were enough dry here (the St-Lawrence river really miss water, like the great lakes), I really hope that the next winter will be really really really really snowy, just like the 2000-01 season or the ultimate giga super 1996-97 - 7 months winter (and I read somewhere 100" of snowfalls on Tucks in MAY).
 
My wish list includes:

* Canadian Mountain Holidays. I've had a single heli-ski day in New Zealand and snow cat skiing in the Monashees but CMH still remains.

* The B.C. Interior. I spend a week+ in Vancouver every year just before Christmas visiting family. I keep waiting for a good snow year to head inland instead of doing Whistler & Mt. Baker.

* Europe: Les Trois Vallees, The Arlberg, and Verbier. Somehow, I've missed them.

* US: Mammoth, Telluride, Jackson Hole, Taos

I've skied every month of the year. I have been at stinkin' Killington since 1981 so I have October and June days there. I skied Squaw on the 4th of July. I've skied Chile in August and New Zealand and September. I agree that New Zealand is a better place to visit but South America has much better skiing.

Evidence of skiing @ Squaw <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/8/2562.gif" ALT="Evidence of skiing @ Squaw">

Heli-skiing in New Zealand in September <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/8/2563.jpg" ALT="Heli-skiing in New Zealand in September">
 
Wow ! I didn't know that Squaw Valley closed so late, in 1999. This year, I think they still had a ton of snow when they closed on may 26. I wonder why they changed their policy...? T

Thanks for the NZ pic ! The ski begins to look good, there ! I wonder if they'll have a super season like last year (Whakapapa even reopened for summer skiing in december / january)
 
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