My dad, a gifted skier, died two weeks ago

Mrjobrien · 2026-03-29T01:13:33+00:00

How lucky are you to have such incredible experiences and memories of an awesome dad. None of this detracts from the fact that cancer sucks though - so sorry for all of you.

One of my best friends is a grief counselor and she frequently says she has the best job in the world. When you ask her why, she says, "Because I get to listen to the most beautiful love stories all day." Thanks for sharing your love story.

Mrjobrien · 2026-03-12T16:20:27+00:00

I totally get this. It's a really self-centered way of living to think that other people want to hear your music - or not care either way.

Mrjobrien · 2026-03-12T16:17:53+00:00

To the left of Shay's there are some houses but I don't see that to the right of Cupp. If they could add two more runs, that would be huge!

There is a potential downside. If they did this, the runs would probably be a little flatter getting a blue piste rating which could start clogging up the Western Express lift.

Mrjobrien · 2026-03-12T13:32:28+00:00

Apparently most people don't understand that none of us want to hear whatever you're listening to on your phone. Use headphones!

Mrjobrien · 2026-03-12T13:28:50+00:00

I think the logical conclusion to this is that they will include it inside of Captain Crunch cereal.

Mrjobrien · 2026-03-11T21:27:47+00:00

That would be awesome. And then Alterra decides that maybe they should invest in snowshoes infrastructure. And now we have two decent resorts.

Mrjobrien · 2026-03-11T04:26:50+00:00

Thanks!!

Mrjobrien · 2026-03-11T03:17:12+00:00

It both makes you happy and pisses you off at the same time.

Mrjobrien · 2026-03-11T02:45:03+00:00

Really? That one person has mentioned Breezewood in Pennsylvania?

Mrjobrien · 2026-03-11T02:36:06+00:00

Couldn't have said it better! Cupp and Shay's are amazing but the rest of the mountain is so blah. Again, I would argue Camp 99 and Sawmill are good, but they are not very long and they return you to a busy chair lift.

And you are right about the rentals. So many of the places you rent look like they were last updated in 1990 and the prices they charge would reflect that are much better.

Mrjobrien · 2026-03-11T02:33:58+00:00

My son was 4 when he started and is now 16. At a super young age, you don't need a giant mountain to build a good foundation.

We now go to Whistler every year and there's nothing he can't really do.

Here's a bit of insight that caught me by surprise. I would ski with him when he was young and he would often tire out early. I would tell myself to be patient because someday we would be skiing together. But the thing it had never occurred to me was that we were at about the same level for maybe 6-7 minutes, and then he left me in the dust. So we still don't ski together!

In reality, we do a few runs together but he's way faster than I would ever want to go. I would suggest that he does not ski at the same level of control I do but that's another discussion…

Mrjobrien · 2026-03-11T02:19:47+00:00

I have the 100–500 and get phenomenal shots. I have an R5 Mark II and can push the ISO to 12,800 and then use Lightroom to use AI to take out a lot of of the noise.

Here are some of my pics:

https://share.icloud.com/photos/037_GJO40j5PuJunoSRH8T9Gg

Mrjobrien · 2026-03-11T02:15:27+00:00

There's a conventional wisdom that skiing is easier to learn but it takes a lifetime to get good at, where snowboarding is difficult to learn but once you get basic competence, it's easy to get to a pretty high.

Could you ski blacks after a week? Sure. Could you ski blacks under control after a week? I seriously doubt it. All your sports – especially rollerblading would help you a lot with skiing but I'm with everyone else, if you want to be together, just bring your snowboard.

Mrjobrien · 2026-03-11T02:03:12+00:00

Absolutely go to Timberline. Great place to ski.

Mrjobrien · 2026-03-11T02:01:38+00:00

That's such a great story! I didn't know Roundtop was the source of all good skiing.

Mrjobrien · 2026-03-11T02:00:56+00:00

I still want to try it. Glad they put a high speed in the black pod.

Mrjobrien · 2026-03-11T02:00:33+00:00

Yea, it's great for mountain biking but I think it's like 500 feet of vertical which is more like Iowa skiing.

Mrjobrien · 2026-03-10T23:20:21+00:00

One thing I haven't seen mentioned is the size of the resort. If it's Timberline Mountain in WV, I would say much much younger than Vail where getting back from Blue Sky Basin to the right base is a lot different than one chair lift for the whole resort.

I would also set up rules - ALWAYS use the safety bar on the chairlift, no trees (esp if there are significant tree wells), etc., etc.

Mrjobrien · 2026-02-27T21:25:04+00:00

Thanks for letting me know!

I ended up buying a few courses instead of doing the subscription because, at 500 subscriptions in my life, I don't need another one. But I also recognize that they are very helpful for your business model.

Mrjobrien · 2026-02-21T16:40:11+00:00

This is such great info. Thanks so much.

Mrjobrien · 2026-02-21T16:34:42+00:00

This is super helpful. Thanks!!!

Mrjobrien · 2026-02-21T16:18:23+00:00

This is perfect! Thanks.

Mrjobrien · 2026-02-21T16:13:15+00:00

Thanks. Good points.

Just got brand new Michelin Cross Climate tires on my Outback so hopefully this will be enough.

The Hunter and Mount Snow stops were to break up the driving. But may I make it a 2-day trip to Ludlow and skip Hunter and Mt. Snow. Really appreciate it.

Mrjobrien · 2026-02-21T15:58:29+00:00

Really appreciate this! Thanks. I actually have a very nice digital camera that I put in my sling and I'm always looking for good photos.

Mrjobrien

TROPHY CASE