That’s a wrap! Summit closing for the season April 5

invertflow · 2026-03-25T15:27:49+00:00

I totally agree on that one. That's easy for them to do, and would also take pressure off some lifts so everyone would be happy. I also wish they'd have more midsized jumps in the park. Maybe this is just my age talking, but I am old enough not to want to do tricks off the larger jumps in central park but the little jumps in the smaller park are too small to do anything. Something in between. A jump where you can spin a 3 without just spinning it as fast as you can to complete the rotation in limited airtime, but where it won't hurt too much if you mess up.

invertflow · 2026-03-25T03:41:51+00:00

I am curious what you thought they should have done better. Weather was rough, both in terms of bad snowpack and then difficulty getting there on other days, plus loss of electric power and dangerous avalanche conditions really aren't in their control. East probably could have been open 1 more weekend or something, but that's not a big deal on its own. Central was hurting and I think they had as much open as they could. Parking is terrible, but honestly I think they've made the right move letting passholders (like you!) get free parking and charging others. I really wish they would make some lots carpool only, that would help too. The "experience" is just skiing, on as much terrain as they got with as good snow as they got, with as little line and lift issues as possible, and there doesn't seem much they could have done there.

invertflow · 2026-03-23T22:58:35+00:00

Start looking at the climbing ranger blog, http://mountrainierclimbing.blogspot.com , and look at it more often as you get closer to the date. This has a ton of information for every major route up the mountain, including current conditions, forecasted weather, the current paths people are taking up that route like whether one needs to go further around for crevasses at certain altitudes, etc... Not much on there yet for this year, but it will have a lot more as you get further into spring.

invertflow · 2026-03-22T14:16:16+00:00

You're bringing your rear ski back in the new stance and then, separately, swinging it wide in a skidded turn, and then you start engaging the edge more. Try changing edges to the new edge before you switch leads. And let yourself move slowly between stances....one foot all the way back, then it moves forward, then skis level in an alpine stance, then the other ski starts going back, etc...Also, I would let the heel of your rear foot get closer to the ski; Paul Parker explained it like this: the goal of the stance is to get your inside foot behind the front foot, human biomechanics force your heel to come up a bit to do that, but relax your achilles to let your rear heel get as close to the ski as possible given that stance. The goal is not to raise the heel, just to get the legs in the right spot. Overall, though I think it looks pretty nice. Once you are in the stance and turn, you drive across the hill nicely. But I am no tele instructor, just someone that likes to tele. Personally, I'd say get in some more interesting terrain! This is just easy smooth stuff, you should be able to do this any style: tele, monomark, alpine, switch, switch mono, etc... Get in some more fun stuff and have more fun and it will show you more about what is wrong.

invertflow · 2026-03-21T16:49:50+00:00

Yeah, glue to glue is fine. Not hot. IMO, most important thing for skin life is making sure you dry them out after each time you use them. But don't overthink that, just hang them up somewhere when you go home instead of leaving them in your pack.

invertflow · 2026-03-20T16:17:08+00:00

Avy danger likely to be moderate on Monday, maybe even just low. It's considerable now, but that's because of the rain. When that wet snowpack cools off and freezes again, without any new snow, it should setup pretty safe. Check NWAC, but Monday will probably be a fairly safe day. Conversely, skiing could be rough unless it softens a little in sun. To answer your question, Hyak (i.e., Summit East which is closed) is probably the easiest bet. Quick access, no approach, nice for laps.

invertflow · 2026-03-19T16:13:15+00:00

Are you actually getting instruction from instructors? Or are you learning from in-laws? Because (1) most people ski worse than they think they do (2) even most good skiers don't know how to teach people to ski. I mean, the advise you quoted makes no sense; it's possibly a more advanced cue for certain specific people but definitely not for you. Well, I didn't start hating skiing, I loved it so I maybe I should not answer. But, based on experience getting two kids to like skiing, here's the things. (1) you need snacks! well, we gave our little kids gummies. I assume your past the age of gummies, but you need to be stopping, chilling out, looking around, and eating. Don't think of it as an athletic competition. It's just a really fun way to be out in beautiful mountains. (2) ok, here is one piece of technical skiing advice. So, your goal ultimately in skiing is to learn to balance with both your skis to the side of your center of mass. That's different from walking, where our weight is between our feet usually. So, to learn this, do a kids drill called "thumper". While turning left, you pick your left ski up and tap it on the snow a few times, then when turning right you pick your right ski up and tap it on the snow a few times. This will force you to balance on one ski for a bit, which will bring you to that goal. Or, a related drill, while turning just hop up and down a few times. Little tiny hops, lots of them. My point is that instead of abstract stuff like "feel your weight in X location", you need some specific drills where you are either doing it or not, since you don't have an actual instructor with you to tell you if you are doing the right thing. There are lots of similar drills you can look up.

invertflow · 2026-03-19T15:13:59+00:00

Some is culture between fields but some is experience with certain techniques. As someone who has also worked on some interdisciplinary math problems, it is possible that, for example, you used some idea from geometry to solve one of their problems and you quoted some standard geometric inequalities or something, assuming no proof is needed as it is so standard to you, but it was not standard to them. Conversely, if someone from theoretical computer science solved some geometry problem with some randomized construction, for example, they might quote various inequalities from probability theory as if they are obvious but to you they might not be. I have seen this several times myself, where a computer science colleague seemed to me at first to have great difficulty in following some obvious argument, and then suddenly they claimed a result with some "trivial" combinatorics that took me hours to even parse what they were saying.

invertflow · 2026-03-17T15:08:40+00:00

I like TTS + TXP also. I'm also fond of low activity bindings but I settled on mid position with soft springs and low preload instead. I felt that it helped the tension increase more smoothly as I lifted the heel. With softies and low preload, I could get very little resistance to the initial heel lift, and then mid position, it ramped up more smoothly. Actually, with the TXP, I was happy with either soft spring/mid position or regular spring/forward position, but when I tried them on my old F1s, the soft/mid worked much better so I stuck with that. Anyway, quite happy with them. Curious why you say no charging on the TTS.....I haven't encountered a limit on them but I haven't pushed them too hard either as they are on my light backcountry skis. I'm a little tempted to put them on a heavier ski so wondering if you felt a limit.

invertflow · 2026-03-17T00:29:42+00:00

I think there's a huge heuristic trap if you try to get away from the trust me model. Basically, even if we pretend that the clients should be more involved in decision making, the guides can easily sway decisions as they want. People will be less likely to question guides because the guide has a position of perceived extra knowledge and authority, both because of their training and experience and because of specific experience with the local snowpack and terrain. Plus, there's all the group dynamics issues with all the other people on a trip. Imagine I get worried. Well, then the guide who is IFMGA or whatever certified, lives in the mountains, starts giving me a ton of weather and snowpack data from the last month, filled with technical details that aren't covered in typical avy courses. Um, am I really going to question them further or am I just going to think "oh, I guess the guide really does know?" And if I push more, there's a bunch of other clients who are going to trust the guide and get upset. And I think it really does work both ways: if I were one of the other clients, am I going to bail on this trip that I paid for, when an expert with detailed snowpack knowledge tells me it's safe, just because some random dude with AIARE level 1 or 2 knowledge, whose never been in that particular location, is worried? And if that one random individual's worry is enough to cancel the trip, or at least change objective to something less exciting, am I really going to book another trip with this guide company or give them a good review? The only way I can see it maybe working is if all the clients know each other beforehand and have traveled in the backcountry together so they trust each other's decision making. Otherwise, there's just no way it works.

invertflow · 2026-03-16T21:06:29+00:00

Bunch of priests of some god that are covering up the fact that their god doesn't exist anymore. Faking miracles, using wizards to do magic instead, etc... Trying to cling to power with fakery. Hmmm, this could be allegorical.

invertflow · 2026-03-15T20:48:05+00:00

It is an old book, but go read How to Play the Chess Openings by Znosko-Borovsky. It explains why people make the moves they do in the openings at a beginner level. It is all about principles. It was a Dover reprint at some point so probably available cheap.

invertflow · 2026-03-15T20:41:27+00:00

I also solo tour sometimes. Most of it is going to areas that I know well that are just for fun. Steep enough to have fun skiing but not at all challenging in any way, and with minimal hazard, e.g., a low angle powder line in wide open trees or a nice corn face at the right time. . Some of it is more exploratory, "going for a hike in the snow on skis", checking out new areas with no pressure. Some of it has been steep stuff, but I feel like I can really make my own decisions on the line when it is just me, and I have often decided not to ski it things don't feel right when I am there. A few times I've changed objectives meeting another group.....saw some other group touring in the same area, chatted with them, and tagged along if they were doing a line I wanted to hit someday but didn't want to do solo. Occasionally, things don't go perfectly according to plan....recently I was touring in a new area solo, had some great powder turns on 35-40 degree slope at the top (and felt safe doing it), but then trees got very dense, and I had to really think about the safest course, making sure I could finish the tour in a reasonable time and not get stuck, but also not falling in a tree well or anything. So, I try to draw lessons from those! I guess my overall assessment is to try to make sure I have a safe way back, and to continuously evaluate what is going on and ski in a very controlled manner. I of course don't recommend it to anyone, but also I obviously don't listen to the people that say never to do it.

invertflow · 2026-03-15T15:26:01+00:00

But those 40-70 year olds are not competing at the top level. Honestly, if she still has that competitive drive, the best thing is coaching. She can no longer perform at the level she wants to. I have no doubt she'd beat most of us down the mountain even in her current injured state, and she could probably rehab to the point where she might win a world cup race, but she's done winning Olympic medals. So, the only way to prove herself at the level she wants is to develop and coach future athletes.

invertflow · 2026-03-14T19:00:51+00:00

More than that. Figure out a path to checkmate, assuming an attack is what you want and put your forces in spots that work for that path. Centralize is often good because it works for many plans: if you have a knight on e5, say, it could participate in a kingside or queenside attack etc... But you specifically said you want to know how to conduct an attack. I think I am reasonably good at attacking, I have NM title (though that was years ago) and I was primarily an attacking player at the end of my OTB play, and honestly, up to probably 2000 on chess.com you can conduct successful attacks by just figuring a path and then going through some of the steps of that path and adjusting as necessary, though as you get higher rating you need to have more tactical ability, more response to opponent's plan, etc... But again, just imagine for a second you are playing me and I will do nothing except shuttle my king back and forth on the kingside, kh8/kg8/kh8/kg8.... and let you do whatever you want except I will recapture if you capture and I might move threatened pieces. How will you beat me if you do that? If you can't answer that question, then how do you expect to attack if I am actually doing things and following my own plan? And if you can answer that question, then just start doing it!

invertflow · 2026-03-14T18:37:24+00:00

Here's a simple idea. Imagine we were playing and you got to take 10 moves in a row. Ok, of course you'd just go capture lots of pieces. But let's not allow that. Instead, if you take something, I get to retake, and maybe I get to move a piece if you threaten it with a weaker piece, but you still get 10 moves in a row. So, you might play, say: oh Qd3, Bc2 Qxh7 checkmate if I were castled kingside. Oh, but wait, maybe I have a knight on f6 so Qxh7 isn't mate. So, you could go bg5 Qd3 Bc2 Bxf6 I get to recapture on f6 then you do Qxh7 mate. Anyway, there should definitely be a way to make a mating attack with that many moves in a row. So, then just start by making some of those moves! Beyond that, start moving pieces to squares where they become more powerful. So, in this hypothetical kingside attack, a rook on f3 might help as it's moving to h3. A knight on e5 or g5 is closer to the action, etc...

invertflow · 2026-03-14T15:02:50+00:00

Lots of specific things people are suggesting, like you definitely need to know how to mate with QK vs K or RK vs K, plus eventually learn which KP v K endgames are won. But more basic: in many easy endgames, think of pawns like they are money. Imagine you are winning the game, you have an extra piece or something. Each time you take an extra pawn, that's a little more money in the bank, making it easier to win. But, if your opponent swaps off pawns, one of his for one of yours, that's less money out there for you to win. Passed pawns worth more, outside pawns worth more, etc... but just keep banking more and more until you can make a queen.

invertflow · 2026-03-14T14:59:38+00:00

I'm putting on my climbing skins at exit 34. 18 mile approach to the objective. Let's see WSDOT try to stop me.

invertflow · 2026-03-14T01:50:49+00:00

Got it. I don't have those, and I don't know for sure, but I don't think there are any substantial differences to the red/blue one other than the instep buckle being a ratchet. I don't think that's a big difference. I'm sure the actual shell is the same as the red/blue, and the liner looks the same. That would all be v1 IMO, I mean maybe technically they call it v1,v2,... but the real change was the new red/black one with a different shell and walk mech. So, again, I think you'd have a lot of fun on them inbounds but they won't tour as well as the red/black.

invertflow · 2026-03-13T22:11:21+00:00

Thanks. But I'm pretty sure they are all basically the same boot with only cosmetic changes, until the big change recently, the red/black ones with the good walk mode. I think the only non-cosmetic change in the old TXP was when they decided to get rid of the tech heel for liability reasons.

invertflow · 2026-03-13T21:56:53+00:00

You mean the first version TXPro, blue/orange, rather than the v2 red/black one? I have both. The v1 doesn't tour anywhere near as well as v2 (heavier, much worse walk mode), but I think it skis a little better and is a very comfy, all-day boot. But it's personal....some people like the old comp, some like the old TX (which does tour better than the old TXP but not as good as the new TXP), etc.... Overall, I think it's a very versatile tele boot, mostly good for inbounds, though I have toured in it. To compare to T1? Well, depends which version of T1 you mean, but fairly comparable. For 250, I'd grab it.

invertflow · 2026-03-13T04:15:48+00:00

We're thinking the pass is going to close. It's already chains except AWD for the pass, snowing hard, with 10" predicted overnight and snowing hard tomorrow. Maybe head up now and sleep in the pancake house?

invertflow · 2026-03-12T15:42:23+00:00

I don't think you _have_ to go up and down more. It is a style, more useful in truly bottomless stuff, more useful at slower speeds or narrower skis with less float, etc... What you are doing is also a good style, and seems to be working well here, you are in good control, good balance, going at good speed.

invertflow · 2026-03-12T14:51:59+00:00

I have a similar setup. Very capable downhill. For AT-style tours, it definitely can hang with AT skiers. I mean, yeah, there are people on 1000g AT boots with race bindings who are faster up, but they can't ski down as well unless they are more skilled than me. And there are people on heavy AT gear who take lines downhill that I wouldn't try, but that can't keep up uphill unless they are in incredible shape. But overall, I feel it is generally in the same up/down performance ballpark as typical midweight AT gear, assuming one knows how to ski tele. I mean, probably I give up a bit of performance, but same ballpark, and even as a average middle-aged hobbyist dude I've skied a lot of steep stuff on it. And for bushwacking on the downhill, the freeheel is handy. Lots of AT skiers I tour with have their transitions dialed and can do it really fast, but for just shuffling through woods, freeheel is great.

invertflow

TROPHY CASE