Wtf 2012

[west carven]

howdy all
big mtn groomers did a pretty good job today considering how much snow
they had to push around. chair 2 was really good and slalom was near prefect.
they were some soft spots and had to be careful not to bury the nose.
up high the grooming was not so good cause of the amount of pow. if it
doesn't snow tonight should be pretty good tomorrow. snow was kinda wet
and with the sun out it got kinda warm and tonight should be clear and cold,
tomorrow should be nice firm groomers. great carving day...
rode my 165amt from 9 till 1...

[Allee]

John - watched vid, seethed with jealousy. Looked AWESOME. Shame you weren't around on the long weekend - I could have done with a zzen master tree riding lesson.

[johnasmo]

John - watched vid, seethed with jealousy. Looked AWESOME. Shame you weren't around on the long weekend - I could have done with a zzen master tree riding lesson.

The whole 12 minutes, of solo cam? Only a true boarder would do that. It's more compelling to watch someone's riding. Did you see last year's "tree riding" video, when I found a buddy who liked the tree riding too? http://youtu.be/fIL7YZVXuRY

I was talking to someone on the lift today, about how much ride-able terrain we have here if you're comfortable tree riding. I had to point out that we differentiate between tree riding and glade riding. Glade riding is just off-piste riding -- tree riding is sticks in your face, blind corners and dead ends, moguls with attitude. Life is not all groomers and corduroy.

[west carven]

howdy all
a little cloudy just above the big and light fog rolls in and out all day.
yesterday was a little warm and the snow was a little wet and with cooler
temps last night and no new snow it sets up for perfect groomers.
had the 186pr2 ready last week and knew today was the day, light crowds
and perfect groomers. chair 2 was amazing in the morning it was icy firm
and did not get bumped up too much, stayed good all day. took a bunch
of runs to get comfortable on the 186 then pushed really hard and had
a blast. forcast is more pow wed/thu/fri. i think i need a better pow board
set-up.
rode my 186pr2 from 9 till 4...

[west carven]

howdy all
leap day and i had work but it was slow at work so they cut me loose at noon.
got on snow about 1pm and it was foggy from top of chair 2. it was snowing
all morning then stopped around 2pm there was about 2 to 3 inches of pow
over groom and was bumped up when i got there. the groom was still
underneath and if on edge you could still carve it. as usual the fog lifts at 4pm.
forcast is more pow next few days.
rode my 165amt from 1 till 4...

[Allee]

The whole 12 minutes, of solo cam? Only a true boarder would do that. It's more compelling to watch someone's riding. Did you see last year's "tree riding" video, when I found a buddy who liked the tree riding too? http://youtu.be/fIL7YZVXuRY

I was trying to work out where you were, after having ridden a bunch more of the hill on the long weekend. I did recognize some stuff from the vid. It was that foggy last time I had no clue where I was half the time, until I got to the lift. I didn't know Whitefish had that many lifts either!

[west carven]

howdy all
i was hoping that it wouldn't snow, but it did, four plus inches off groom
and a few inches over groom. there was a light drizzle in the early morning
and thought it was going to be a wet one, but it stopped and was a nice day.
i was a little late this morning and missed chair 2, got on chair 1 and the
basin was already opened. first few runs in the basin was fun, but there was
a thin crust up high and snow was heavy. there was some deep pow from
the past few days and there was some good pow runs. rode till 3:30 then
brewfest to support the snow bus, called it a day at 5pm.
rode my amp5 softies from 9:30 till 3:30...

[west carven]

howdy all
the few people i talked to today all said pretty much the same thing, that
it was a weird day. yesterday got really warm and it set-up really icy firm.
it was supposed to get warm but it didn't, stayed cool and softend up only
a little, there was some carvable spots and mostly ice sheets down low.
foggy up high in the morning then lifts off the mountain with really high winds.
lots of tree bits falling on the runs. not very many people on the hill.
forcast is cool temps, high winds and a little snow.
rode my 171stubby from 9 till 4...

[west carven]

howdy all
well, another challenging day, about two inches new over icy firm groom
down low and up high four plus inches of light fluffy pow. fog, snow, sun,
fog, snow, sun, snowed hard when it did and accumulated to a couple inches.
as the new snow got skied in it got better for carving, huge soft piles that
was easy to push around and cut thru. the snow underneath that was
groomed started to ball up when scraped up and the new snow helped to
cover it up alittle so it wasn't so bad. not the best conditions, but still
had a ton of fun and made whole day of it. made some nice tight turns
and had a blast. had a weird elevator drop feeling early in the day.
rode my 165amt from 9 till 4...

[west carven]

howdy all
had to work but got cut loose about noon. was a beautiful bluebird morning
and very chilly. as i got on the hill at 1pm it looked like 9am, the snow was
buffed out smooth cause it was icy firm and fast. thought the sun would
soften up the snow but it was cold and clouds started to roll in. i think it
would have been a good carving day, but i was on my 161yonex and found
that its too stiff for me. i could carve it here and there, but its just too much
work. forcast is a warm up by the weekend.
rode my 161yonex from 1 till 4...

[west carven]

howdy all
took the day off today cause yesterday went flyfishing and didn't want to
miss a carving day. heard today was better than yesterday anyways.
forgot about the time change and was an hour late. snow was polished ice
and was hard to dig in. high overcast in the morning with good vis than
started to snow about 1:30 and got a little wet and very foggy so went
and had lunch about 2pm did a few more runs and it was really foggy
then called it a day. not the best day, just worked on some vertical.
rode my 165amt from 10 till 3...

[west carven]

howdy all
started bluebird morning with a very thin haze then slowly some clouds
move in at the end of the day. about less than an inch of new over groom.
a little better than yesterday, bottom of toni matt still bulletproof, top part
and bench run, carveable. cooler temps than expected kept things dry.
it was sunny around 2pm and the lower part was just getting soft, had
lunch than got overcast and windy than snow started to firm up again.
not the best day, but still got'er done and had some fun.
rode my 171stubby from 9 till 4...

[west carven]

howdy all
started calm, cool and a few inches new. the three inches new really
helped soften the polished ice. early on was good, some creamy pow
over groom then things got bumped up, but still soft and could still
carve it if on edge. then just before noon the very high winds start up.
then the winds calms down about 2pm and the bottom just starts to
soften up, had lunch then the snow piles started to firm up. called it
at 3pm, was a fun day cause it was carveable and riding in the wind
made it an interesting day. stayed cool and wasn't wet.
rode my 165amt from 9 till 3...

[west carven]

howdy all
worked till 11:45am then up to the big. got on snow after 1pm. runs looked
like opening bell, buffed out smooth and cold enough to keep the snow just
right, the new snow from yesterday really helped. did my laps on toni matt
and the snow just got better and better, could have gone a few more hours
after closing. wish i had the whole day, snow conditions was falling apart, but
today was one of the better days. made some nice tight turns and had a ton
of fun, felt good. clouds were above the big and started to lightly snow.
rode my 171stubby from 1 till 4...

[Allee]

Sounds like you've got some decent carving left at least ... only a couple more weeks there, I guess. It just keeps snowing here - we're all getting sick of powder.

Enjoy! and enjoy your trip home.

[kinpa]

we're all getting sick of powder.

huh?

..........

[west carven]

howdy all
brought the wrong board and struggled with it, made a few runs then left
early. snowed all day and dumped hard, just around freezing and was very
wet. snow wasn't all that great, thursday and friday was warm and rainy,
i don't think it even froze up. couldn't carve too hard as the snow would
give out. got soaked after couple hours and called it. it got a little cooler
and snowed in town an inch plus. wasn't my day, kinda wussed out, not
feeling it.
rode my 159xeena x11 from 9 till 11...

[west carven]

howdy all
somebody pinch me!... it was a carvers dream day. wow! i was thinking
it's spring skiing from now on, but the colder temps and some new snow
made it feel like it was mid winter and the groomers were really good.
calling it "hero cords" today, great late season snow. high overcast in the
morning then by 11:30 starts to snow with some high winds then things
calm down by 3pm then starts to clear by 4pm. got an inch plus of new
snow. really pushed hard all day making tight turns and had a blast. i'm
so happy to have had this day, having not too many good carving days.
rode my 165amt from 9 till 4...

[west carven]

howdy all
funny day today, icy groom with an inch plus of fine wind blown snow
that got washboarded here and there. it just started to dump in the
early morning and it dumped all day and the wind was blowing hard.
the early morning on eds was really good groomers then on to toni
matt and as the day went by the snow kept piling up and by the end
of the day there was four inches plus of good dry snow. it was clear
in the morning then slowly the fog creeps down then by 3pm its down
to the village and starts to get humid and starts to stick to the goggles.
snow was light enough that you could carve thru it or cruise on it and
surf it. again, did not expect it to be so good this late in the season.
we are in storm conditions for a few more days and more pow to come.
rode my 165amt from 9 till 3:30...

[west carven]

howdy all
work till 12pm then up to the big. really foggy and not too many people,
lightly snowing and not too cut-up. found some good untracked stuff here
and there, some wind blown pow was knee high and good snow. did a
hellroaring run and a bunch down the face. another fun pow day. it was
dumping hard as i was going down to town and home.
rode my amp5 from 1 till 4...

[west carven]

howdy all
a vid from skiwhitefish.com from 03-20-12 in the early morning on ed's run.
first up is angry rick in orange helmut then me, just a few turns...

[west carven]

howdy all
work till 12pm then up to the big. vis was good and not too many people,
very wet hard pack, more like wet cement, very dangerous conditions.
even the backside was getting firm. off piste there was a lot of creamy pow
and should have brought the softies. groomers were bumped up when i got
there and the snow was set up hard. just took it easy and made a few runs,
mostly on the backside. it was warm and the snow is very wet and tomorrow
should be super hard pack. next few days more warm then a little cool down.
worst day on the hill.
rode my 165amt from 1:30 till 3:30...

[west carven]

howdy all
started the day that looked like it would be sunny, but a super high thin
overcast builds up which helped keep things slightly cooler. not to bad
carving conditions, a bit uneven in the grooming, yesterdays wet cement
made it hard to get an even surface. went for a break about 11am and
the top of the big got a little slushy from the warm temps. went down
to chair 2 and it was a little better, i think there was a slight inversion.
there was a kids race that took most of eds run and a pretty crowded
weekend, called it early. forcast for tomorrow is 54 degrees in town.
rode my 165amt from 9 till 1...

[west carven]

howdy all
took the day off from work to ride and i'm glad i did. did not snow last night
and groomers were good on top and icy bulletproof on the bottom. little cloudy
in the morning then sunshine in the afternoon and it got really warm. it was
spring slush by the end of the day. groomers on top was pretty good for this
time of the season with the warm temps and all. challenging day riding the
sticky spring slush, but still kinda fun. after lunch took off my mid layer and
still felt warm. everyone enjoying the sun and having a beer on the patio up
at the summit house, hellroaring chalet and the baselodge. spring skiing at
its finest, what a great day!.
rode my 165amt from 9 till 3:30...

[west carven]

howdy all
knew it would be icy in the morning after yesterdays slush. slid around
and started in the backside for a few runs. looked like it was going to be
sunny early on, but as i got on the mountain clouds were rolling in. the
sun was trying to shine about 11am for an hour or so and the snow started
to get soft. by 2pm clouds roll in from the south and brings some snow up
high and rain in the village. i got wet around 3pm and called it. good carving
from 11am till 2pm then carving sticky spring slush till 3pm. good fun day.
rode my fp157 from 9 till 3...

[west carven]

howdy all
again, icy after yesterdays slush, bulletproof till 11am then softened up
with the sun. the sun was out in the morning, but it was a little cooler
so it took awhile. it was getting slushy then clouds builds about noon
and got cooler around 2pm and started to firm up just a bit by 3pm.
kinda crowded with people who dont know the mountain and stops
wherever in the middle of the runs, kinda frustrating day. forcast for
the next few days is rain/snow, snow by the weekend as the front
passes and the cooler air behind from the north. today is day 60 for me.
rode my fp157 from 9 till 4...

[west carven]

howdy all
thought we were in storm mode so thinking it might rain, get up to the
big and it was getting dark then as the mountain opened starts to clear
and the sun came out. a few inches of wet pow over groom, pretty warm
and as the day progressed with the sun out it got warm fast. it was hot
by noon and runs were sticky spring slush. called it early. it got up to
58 degrees in town, it was a beautiful sunny spring day. then some
thunder showers about 8pm. good spring boarding.
rode my fp157 from 9 till 1...

[west carven]

howdy all
last night was cooler and no new snow, saturday was really warm and
got really slushy, sunday little cooler and iced up hard, today with cooler
temps groomers were icy firm yet carveable, barely. sun tried to come
out about 10am and soften up a little, sun was in and out all day and
just started to get sticky at noon then more clouds then got a little firm.
by noon the bottom half starts to break down and gets spring slush. got
good about 2pm when its soft enough to sink in the slush and hold an edge
my last two runs of the season on toni matt i could push it and felt good.
today is day 62 and my last day on the hill, not the best season, but there
were some good days. the season got a late start and conditions was
always changing from warm to cool and never got sub zero. some good
powder days, but mostly wet-n-heavy. hope you all have a fun summer,
see you all next year... 1,731,389 vertical feet in 62 days...
ranked 19 out of 7000 plus season pass holders...
rode my 165amt from 9 till 3:30...

pics from march 19, 2012

[johnasmo]

Fabulous closing day at Whitefish Mountain Resort. One of the resort photo dudes finally set up someplace worthy of good carving shots, Ptarmigan Bowl. This is a video of stills, but at least I get to be in it this way. I'm the one doing the dredman impersonation in the fashionable Burton one piece. Watch in full 1080 HD to see what a Canon 5D with a big ass $2000 L series lens can do.

[jp1]

johnasmo, SWEET as usual ! Always look forward to your video's and pics ......... Thanks for taking the time to allow others to enjoy & Awesome riding !