Bluehouse Skis

Articles discussing the “soul of skiing” are ubiquitous throughout ski magazines. I think that they sometimes reach too far in analyzing the motives of a skier. Why do we ski? Because its fun.

A recent day of skiing at the “town hill” reaffirmed this for me. There wasn’t much pow, and no sizeable cliffs were dropped. There wasn’t much attitude either.

What there was however, was an overall aura of fun. The limited number of skiers on the hill meant that nobody was skiing solo: it was just one big crew of skiers, popping off of every miniscule bump in the snow and cheering from the double chairlift. It was a celebration of how much fun it is to slide on snow.

The day helped reinforce the idea that skiing isn’t always about the biggest air or rowdiest line. It’s about squeezing as much fun as possible out of your day on the hill. Today I am totally hitting a two-footer and doing a spread eagle. Because it will be fun.

The fluffy stuff is piling up, but SLC-Samurai is right about the immediate threat of underlying dragons.  Gotta be safe out there.  Or just ski groomers.

And let me add that the Districts are pretty sweet on piste and off.

A month ago we were complaining that there wasn't enough snow.  Then we got lots of snow.  Now that snow has created dragons.  Yesterday, Bart and Kris and I got out for a ridgeline tour in the Wasatch to see some of the carnage.  We observed more than 6 different slides that had run since Christmas day.  Some were quite impressive, i.e., they could kill.  Digging a few pits, it was evident that the snow dragons are lurking.

The Wasatch snowpack looks something like this from the ground up: ground, then a 10 inch layer of faceted sugary snow, then solid brittle ice crust, then a 4 inch layer of faceted sugary snow, then 4-6 feet of fine consolidated wind blown powder.  (Visit wowasatch.com for a graphic and pic of the snow pack.)  The good news is that it the snowpack is strengthening and it is increasingly difficult to collapse the overlaying snowpack.  The bad news is that the overlaying snowpack is situated on a layer of popcorn.  If the popcorn collapses then bad things happen, like a 5 foot slab of consolidated powder speeding down the slope.  The really bad news is that the popcorn layer won't go away and will lurk there for there rest of the season.  We call that a snow dragon.  

In circumstances like these, a skiier has several options:

1. sit on the couch, watch spectator sports, eat popcorn, and pray that the dragons go away

2. go to resorts and hope that the controllers have tied down the dragons

3. tiptoe around the backcountry on ridges and meadows and steer clear of the dragons

4. strap on the skinny skate skis and head to the golf course

5. punch the dragons in the face and ski

I guess over the last few days, I've done all of these things.

Here are some pics taken before/as we got lots of snow:

Prototype Mavens (which, by the way, are awesome, even for a 142 pounder)

Bluehouse guys about to drop off Gunsight at Alta

Dan, ripping Gunsight

It's '09... It always seems to take a little while to get used to new year.

This weeks design contest is very broad. Design anything you want, it just has to have the number 9 somewhere, anywhere in your design.

Shipping Info for tShirts 'Yard Sale' and 'Grabs'

The orders for the tShirts 'Yard Sale' and 'Grabs' will be shipped out the first of next week due to the holidays. I hope you all had a few days to hit the slopes as well!

If we really screwed up your Christmas and New Years by this, shoot me an e-mail (avner@bluehouseskis.com).

Thanks for supporting BH... Happy New Year!

The holidays with a young family can busy, so at times you have to be creative to get in a little time on the sticks. This year I planned ahead and scheduled a ski trip to Sun Valley disquised as a family vacation. Everyone was fooled and we had a great time even though it was lift served. Nothing beats watching your 3 year-old experience the rush of skiing for the first time, "Daddy we're flying like a bird".

Anther technique I have mastered for getting more time in on skis is the "transportation ski". No one uses the sticks anymore for getting from one place to another but originally isn't that how it all started. On Sunday I decided to ski home from Church. After quickly changing in the car and straping on the Districts I skinned up the South ridge of the Emigration canyon entrance to the radio towers above Red Butte. From there I followed the ridge line that divides Red Butte and Emigration Canyon East until I got to Freeze Creek and was able to ski the 1500" NE facing "home run" into my back yard. Creamy snow other than the last few hundred feet of mush. I don't recomend this technique if your looking for a high turn to time ratio but it was a nice 3 hour tour and I got to explore some new terrain.

view South from the radio tours

More Holiday skiing in the works....

This mountain is huge.  It is like nothing you have skied before.  With variable terrain from groomed slopes to dangerous cliff areas and dangerously variable weather and snow conditions, you could become lost. You could make a mistake and suffer personal injury or death. Give this mountain the respect it demands. 

A truthful and serious warning, this sign hangs above the entrance to the tram dock at JHMR.  If you're still not convinced of the nasty snowpack conditions right now and the serious danger that comes with skiing both backcountry and in-bounds, read on.

Another in-bounds slide claimed the life of a Wilson man on Saturday at Teton Village.  Here's a blog of a guy that helped with the search. Pretty interesting:
http://photoblog.scrappydog.com/2008/12/jackson-hole-avalance-death-in-snow.html

Headwall also slid yesterday at Jackson, damaging part of the restaurant, and ruining the patrol shack at the bottom. Here's a link to a report.  Crazy!! http://www.tetonat.com/archives/676/headwall-avalanche-at-jackson-hole-mountain-resort/

Please be careful and smart out there!

Atomic Skis USA has recalled Alpine Ski Bindings due to unexpected release resulting in a fall hazard.

The recall affects the heel component of the following Alpine Ski Bindings: Race 310, Race 412, RaceRace 310, RaceRace 412, Xentrix 310, Xentrix 311, Xentrix 412, C310, C311, C412, CR 310, CR 412, R 310, R 412, SX 310, SX 412, Device 311, Device 412, Centro 310, Centro 412, and Dynamic ADX 312, RD10, X412, Centro 412. The recall includes only those bindings manufactured from 1998 through 2002 The year of manufacture can be located on the underside of the heel lever.

For additional information, contact Atomic Ski USA at (888)535-7555 or email consumerserviceUS@atomicsnow.com or visit www.atomicsnow.com

Date: December 9-24, 2008

Location: Snowbird, UT

Featuring: Me (Jake Kirshner), Daimon Bushi, Kyle Wehmanen

Low-Res Vimeo Version:

High-Res Version: http://www.jakecast.com/helmetcast/helmetCast11.m4v (right-click > save target/link as...)

If there was ever a time to be riding rockered skis, this is it!  If you have Mavens mounted, get your ass to UT and shred.  If you don't, it might be time for some after-Christmas shopping...

Cheers,

Jake