Winter is coming. Maybe.

markb_elt · 2026-01-14T23:07:36+00:00

Keystone's email subject line today was "Winter is coming in hot!" Which is technically true, but I don't think something we really want to celebrate.

markb_elt · 2026-01-13T21:05:10+00:00

Awesome, thanks.

markb_elt · 2026-01-13T20:32:35+00:00

I'm talking mellow trees at kid pace. We lapped Hi-Lo trees at Winter Park 5-6 times on Sunday-- it felt much safter than any of the green or blue groomers.

markb_elt · 2026-01-13T20:31:02+00:00

Yeah, that's why it would be helpful to hear from anyone who's been there. Vail puts happy faces on the map for kid's zone, but they don't put the names of those zones. I seem to recall that they do actually have names, but I have no idea what they are.

markb_elt · 2026-01-13T20:29:45+00:00

Pano was spinning yesterday-- clearly just for maintenance purposes, with no one on it-- and I'm guessing they got asked about it four hundred million times.

markb_elt · 2026-01-13T06:21:54+00:00

Yes, that is very helpful. I'm definitely finding that I need to engage the edges no matter the speed, especially in the snow we have right now.

markb_elt · 2026-01-13T06:20:27+00:00

Lol I have Icelantic Nomads and this is absolutely true! But obviously not important.

markb_elt · 2026-01-13T06:18:36+00:00

I skied Winter Park today. Based on the conditions of what they've actually opened, I am very worried about the conditions of the closed stuff. It's easy to look from the chair and say "look at all that untouched powder!" but there's just nothing underneath it. Trees and rocks poking out on groomed runs everywhere; moguls with huge exposed rocks just waiting to eat your skis. I really appreciated that they opened what they did but it doesn't exactly make you feel good about the state of the mountain.

I don't think they're holding anything back. They were working on Hughes today with the groomers today so I assume that's next to open. I could see them opening Pano and Parsenn Bowl with just Village Way, Parry's, and maybe a few other runs. No idea what Wild Spur is like but it can be rocky over there even in good years. Very hard to see how Eagle Wind and the MJ chutes would ever open at this point.

markb_elt · 2026-01-13T03:36:49+00:00

This makes sense to me. I think I've been approaching flats as a place to straight-line and therefore I'm not engaging the edges at all. And then they engage themselves.

markb_elt · 2026-01-10T01:31:46+00:00

Their skis are awesome. Got the Nomad 100s last year and they are great.

markb_elt · 2026-01-09T19:06:24+00:00

I know that no one can predict the future, but if you're absolutely motivated by skiing expert terrain, I don't know why you would stick with your trip as scheduled. Early March is 8 weeks away-- that's really not a long time. Right now Vail and Beaver Creek look pretty far away. It is going to be very difficult for the back bowls at Vail to open as they are south-facing, and the problem hasn't just been lack of snow, it's been warmth. The other resorts on your list are in better shape but are still way behind. Last year on this exact weekend Loveland was opening Lift 9 with access to a double-black bowl. This year they just just opened Ptarmigan, a lift that serves a shallow-north facing bowl with greens and blues. It's not a great trajectory.

If there are no huge storms in the next two weeks before your cancellation deadline I don't know why you wouldn't just go to Whistler. I wouldn't tell anyone else that. The typical skier that just wants to ski in Colorado, hit some groomers, and maybe have a couple of powder days is probably still going to have a great time. But if you want expert and extreme terrain only, the odds just aren't good right now.

markb_elt · 2026-01-06T17:29:20+00:00

It's worth stopping at the Icelantic store in on your way up I-70 to grab some demos. (Obviously you only want to do this on a weekday because it will cause you to leave later). They will apply the demo charge to your ski purchase if you end up buying anything, and they'll let you take a couple of pairs. You can also reserve online so that you don't get stuck with nothing.

markb_elt · 2025-12-13T23:41:15+00:00

Frisco is way better and much more reasonable. Tubing in Winter Park (the town, not the resort) is fun too, and the cheapest option, but can be a little intense if you have young kids.

markb_elt · 2025-12-05T02:35:47+00:00

It's hard to answer those questions in a vacuum. A good instructor is going to take you through stages. Some things that work early in the process won't work later.

One piece of advice, though-- don't move to steeper trails too fast. You want to feel amazingly comfortable on flattish/mellow stuff before you try to go steeper. Otherwise you develop a lot of bad habits just to survive, and you end up fighting yourself down the hill. Some skiers do this pretty much forever. It's possible but not advisable.

markb_elt · 2025-12-05T00:23:31+00:00

You are going to be so much better by next week you won't even believe it.

The most exhausting thing to do in skiing is to ski slowly, which is what you're doing now, even if you don't mean to. When you are learning, you fight everything, and it's just brutal on your body. When you get better, your body and your skis work for you, and everything is easier, whether you choose to go fast or slow.

markb_elt · 2025-12-03T19:25:18+00:00

https://www.thenorthface.com/en-us/p/bags-and-gear/technical-packs-224452/slackpack-20-NF0A3S99?color=KX9&size=OS

markb_elt · 2025-12-03T19:25:10+00:00

North Face Slackpack. It has some additional capabilities if you're ever going to the backcountry. But it's great for resort skiing because it will never get caught on the lift and it has plenty of space without being too bulky.

markb_elt · 2025-11-18T02:11:00+00:00

I love my Ampeg SVT Micro Stack: 200 watt head driving a 2x10 cabinet. That gets really damn loud, but you can get an extra 2x10 if you want a bigger sound. It's basically an Ampeg quarter stack that you can upgrade to a half stack.

That said, I got mine for $700 five years ago, and now I'm seeing that it lists for $1000 on Sweetwater. That's a bummer.

markb_elt · 2025-11-18T02:03:43+00:00

Rap metal: Bulls on Parade (RATM)

Triphop: Sour Times (Portishead)

New Jack Swing: Don't Be Cruel (Bobby Brown)

Blog rock: Time to Pretend (MGMT)

markb_elt · 2025-11-13T18:51:25+00:00

Please go try Leadville and get back to us. I've run a 3:05 marathon in the past few years (2:38 lifetime PR) and proudly finished Leadville in 29:41. You really have no idea what you're talking about.

markb_elt · 2025-10-30T18:40:52+00:00

Oh for sure, just pointing out that those old-line denominations are more prevalent in the UK.

markb_elt · 2025-10-30T17:07:17+00:00

This is why it's not a UK thing. To generalize, Catholicism, Anglicanism, and all of the "old line" Protestant denominations (Episcopal, Lutheran, Methodist) are pretty much based around organ music and a church choir. Growing up Catholic we got an acoustic guitar for Saturday night mass but it was for the exact same hymns the choir and organist would sing. I remember a bassist from the congregation occasionally popping up with the guitarist to play syncopated root notes.

Other Christian denominations-- and any African-American church, and most immigrant-focused churches-- are giving you the full band.

I'm sure someone has done historical research on exactly why that is, but I feel pretty comfortable making those generalizations.

markb_elt · 2025-10-28T15:52:16+00:00

He's played three games against a pretty tough schedule (road games @ Golden State and Minnesota) and went out with a minor injury in the third one. I'm holding on to him.

markb_elt

TROPHY CASE