Snow time

[icelanticskier]

moving water is just so much more dynamic than it's frozen sibling that just sits there.

While I won't get into the subjective preference, I would agree with icelantic that if you are an avid surfer and skier, it's more crucial to live near the surf. Unless you're a total powder snob the snow builds through the season and can be counted upon in many places for quite a while once it's there. With surf, you have a clean slate every day, so if it's good you have to hit it now.

tony definitely get's it. one of the many reasons i chose seacoast nh over other locales in ne or out west as a 100+ day a year skier that scores lot's of pow, is because i live 15 minutes from some great surf breaks that i can surf on my way to work or home from and in less than 2 hours can score epic powder/corn turns high in the prezzies all winter/spring with no crowds and world class terrain. if it weren't for the white's, i wouldn't be such a devoted skier out here. for me, all of the resort skiing WROD, groomers, bumps, glades is all preparation for the presidential range. vermont get's lots of snow and has cute terrain, but the real deal skiing 8 months of the year is an easy day trip from the surf where i chose to live as when it gets good and the wind is right, you drop everything and get on it.

i must say though, if this 20 inches falls in the wasatch and is followed by cold pattern with more snow (hoping for somewhat typical 6 week pattern here), i may be giving craig a call for a couch to camp on. 1st/2nd week of november would be ideal. 9 days of early pre-resort skinning and skiing would be a perfect warm up for the season. hope you guys get dumped on!

rog

 

[Marc_C]

i must say though, if this 20 inches falls in the wasatch and is followed by cold pattern with more snow (hoping for somewhat typical 6 week pattern here), i may be giving craig a call for a couch to camp on. 1st/2nd week of november would be ideal. 9 days of early pre-resort skinning and skiing would be a perfect warm up for the season. hope you guys get dumped on!

It may happen, but it's kinda early, the ground is obviously still summer-warm, and we usually have a bit more warm weather in October. It's also a little early for that typical winter 4-6 week pattern to kick in, so it's still a crap shoot. We've had early seasons were there was no snow prior to T-giving and we've had other years where Snowbird opened on Nov 5 with over 80% of their terrain open, including Mineral Basin.

I hope so, but not placing any bets on it at the moment.
But it may well be really good later this week for the skinners!

 

[Patrick]

having been a surfer longer than anything else that i do, but have skied some good frozen water in my time, i'd say that an epic snow day pales in comparison to an epic surf day. moving water is just so much more dynamic than it's frozen sibling that just sits there.

Not going to argue here, not a surfer, but I can easily imagine why it can be real fun. So I'm totally cool with the above statement, as long as it isn't about golf. :stir:

 

[rfarren]

Golf in Ireland was fun, plus there were some amazing views from the course, as it was on these huge cliffs overlooking the sea. I had a great time, but not as good a time I have during a powder day, or for that matter just a normal fun ski day.

 

[salida]

It aint going to be slop!

 

[ski-the-face]

Skiing vs. Surfing
I have had the dilemma of choosing between these two all my life and I'm frequently asked by friends on which one I like better.

For me it's like this, the perfect powder run is, for me, equal to the perfect wave. The perfect turn is equal to the perfect cutback. I can't choose one. I just know they both give me that tingling feeling in the pit of my stomach.

This is the reason i live so equal distance to both.

 

[flyover]

Our local surfers and whitewater kayakers are all in a tizzy right now.

From today's forecast for Duluth:

NEARSHORE MARINE FORECAST
.FRIDAY...NE WIND 30 TO 35 KT WITH GUSTS TO 40 KT OR HIGHER. A
CHANCE OF RAIN IN THE MORNING...THEN RAIN IN THE AFTERNOON. WAVES
12 TO 16 FT.
.FRIDAY NIGHT...NE WIND TO 30 KT WITH GUSTS TO 35 KT BECOMING N 20
TO 30 LATE. A CHANCE OF RAIN. WAVES 12 TO 16 FT.
.SATURDAY...N WIND 10 TO 15 KT DECREASING TO 5 TO 10 KT IN THE
AFTERNOON. RAIN LIKELY. WAVES 7 TO 9 FT.

I've kayak surfed the big lake now and again after a creek run in the spring or fall, but 12 to 16 feet is entirely out of my league.

No snow around these parts yet, although my car was covered in ice on Wednesday morning.

 

[Tony Crocker]

I've kayak surfed

I lived in Newport Beach my first 2 years of college. In September 1975 there was a massive south swell from a Baja hurricane so I went to Corona Del Mar after work to see it. There were a few top notch surfers out in the 12-15 foot surf but the most skilled person there was a kayaker. There was also a small motorboat just beyond the normal surf line with a couple of specators. There was a freak wave that was so big ~20 feet that it started to break beyond the end of the jetty entrances to Newport Harbor. The kayaker got there and started to catch the wave but had to bail out because he was about to land on the motorboat. The boat gunned the gas and and barely escaped being swamped by the wave.