Avoid early season skiing?

[ski diva]

Yes, according to this column, which recently appeared in the Denver Post.

What's your feeling here?

Don't go skiing in Colorado — yet​

POSTED: 11/24/2012 12:01:00 AM MST​

By Steve Lipsher

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The ski areas will hate me for saying this, but don't come skiing.​

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The resorts are all about creating buzz this time of year — who opens earliest, how much terrain is available and which mountain has the best snow.​

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But let me just advise you: It's all awful.​

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Uniformly, unqualified awful.​

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Of the few resorts open so far, all are providing no more than one or two top-to-bottom runs, all on machine-made snow, surrounded by treacherously dry terrain — the notorious "white ribbon of death."​

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Exceedingly limited terrain packed with all levels of skiers and snowboarders eager to get the season's first turns are recipes for disaster.​

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Imagine mom or dad teaching junior a beginner's snowplow while so-called "expert" skiers careen down the same slopes at reckless speeds, and for good measure throw in a few headphone-isolated snowboarders seeking any slight bump to launch themselves into who-knows-where trajectories.​

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This time of year, one of the most notorious "inherent dangers" of skiing — something for which the resorts take no legal responsibility — is literally falling off the edge of the trail onto momentum-snapping dry land.​

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The resorts won't disclose their injury statistics — citing proprietary information, rather than public welfare — but my friends on ski patrols all privately acknowledge the disproportionate amount of carnage that results from too many people on too little terrain.​

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Oh, sure, some ski areas might restrict skiing by off-duty employees during peak times, but none of them will turn away paying customers.​

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I've had several friends lose their entire ski seasons to first-day crashes, and if they didn't bother to buy insurance on their season passes, that's a $450 (or more) ski day, plus — ahem — medical expenses.​

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You won't ever hear that kind of unvarnished truth from resort operators, which are interested only in ensuring big-spending holiday travelers that they are, indeed, open for skiing and in generating excitement for the ski season to enhance bookings.​

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Yet while resort operators well know the benefits of good early conditions — sending destination travelers back home with accounts of "epic" powder and unlimited terrain is the best kind of public relations — they don't understand the bad that comes with promising that conditions are "terrific" and "incredible" and "perfect" when demonstrably they are not. (All of those terms actually have been put in use already by overly enthusiastic marketing people at Colorado resorts this season.)​

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Over the years, the ski areas have invested millions into snowmaking systems to ensure some skiing every autumn regardless of natural snowfall, and the snow guns are blowing any time the temperature drops even near freezing.​

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Never mind that snowmaking comes at a significant environmental cost, requiring copious amounts of power and typically draining fish-sustaining streams at a time of year when the flows are the lowest.​

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It takes about 225,000 gallons of water to cover an acre with a skiable 18 inches of snow, according to Michigan-based Snow Machines Inc., and most major resorts have snowmaking on hundreds of acres of their most heavily used trails to form a hardened base for the rest of the season.​

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Snowmaking, however, creates an artificial expectation that here in the Rockies, ski season begins by Thanksgiving, when nature dictates that most commonly it does not.​

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But fueled by some supposed pent-up "demand" by skiers and snowboarders for early season skiing and riding, resorts have entered an arms race of ever-earlier opening dates and guaranteed skiing for the holidays.​

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All this brings to mind a conversation I had years ago with Jerry Groswold, then the chief at Winter Park, in which he lamented that Colorado's ski areas typically rush to open with marginal conditions and then close in April with the deepest snowpack of the year.​

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It's all about managing expectations.​

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Steve Lipsher of Silverthorne worked as a Denver Post reporter and as editor of the Summit Daily News.​

 

[altagirl]

I'd agree with that. We went up and hiked for some turns 2 weeks ago when we had some natural snow, but I haven't been up since the resorts opened. The local mountain bike trails melted off anyway - so hero conditions for mountain biking with tacky dirt (honestly some of the best dirt we'll see all year) or early season conditions and mostly groomers skiing - that's not even a decision for me. I'll go when it snows some more.

And he's right- it's ridiculous that so many people go up for man made early season turns and quit in spring when we still have a massive base and the snow is still coming. I'd rather see less snowmaking out here where we don't actually need it.

 

[Jilly]

Yup!!

 

[RachelV]

Well, it's certainly true that if you're going to travel to ski during this year's early season, you should not go to Colorado. If you're going to drive up and take a few runs and then have some beers on a deck in the sunshine, however, the experience is not bad.

I think this guy is just cranky. People out here are getting pretty cranky with last year's crap season, and now this year getting off to such a bad start.

 

[tinymoose]

When I got run over last year it was early in the season. Everyone was crammed on the few open trails. That definitely makes me rethink getting out there early again this year. If I do go out before the mountains are mostly open, I'll probably make it for just an hour or two early in the morning, hope to beat the crowds.

 

[pinto]

Yes and no. Rachel is right, it's quite pleasant to ski some and hang out in the sun. I have been able to go on weekdays, so it isn't crowded.

But I would not recommend taking a family holiday from another place, for the purpose of skiing, absolutely not. (I am going to Utah tomorrow for skiing, but my husband has business, so it's costing me exactly one $200 plane ticket. I have already paid for the lift tickets.)

I am all for snowmaking, though. Without it last year, we wouldn't have skied at all until mid January, and a completely natural base would have melted out some time in March. This year is starting off even worse.

My dad hit his head last year on the hardpack and ended up having surgery to drain a bleed. His surgeon told us he quit last year because it was too dangerous, he was seeing a ton of head injuries from the conditions. (Part of that is that CO skiers are not used to this stuff ... it was crowded and icy, which I know you brave Easterners can handle, but we are newbs.)

 

[Kimmyt]

I'm not much for the WROD but come November I'm on the resort, skiing whatever is open and getting my legs back. To some extent, you have to ease back into it and skiing limited and non-challenging terrain in early season is the way to do it. Copper opened one run that was ungroomed a few weeks back and lets just say it being early season, my legs got fried way too soon.

If I wasn't a competent skier, though, I might feel differently. I sure as heck wouldn't want to be snowplowing down some of these runs with so many people.

 

[Jilly]

We had lots open at Tremblant for early season, mostly green and blue runs. And as has been said, not great conditions for anyone that doesn't ski well. Main problem was the racer chasers bombing things!

I did see one person being loaded into the sled. I think their season was over!

I wouldn't plan a vacation around this time of year to ski. It's just too much of a gamble for conditions. But being nearby and getting a few hours in is another thing.

 

[MissySki]

If I do go out before the mountains are mostly open, I'll probably make it for just an hour or two early in the morning, hope to beat the crowds.

At Loon anyway, we were able to go from 8am until 10:30 ish before it started getting really crowded. I think the key is definitely getting there when the mountain opens and getting out before the crazies start zooming around.

It's only this year (my 7'th season skiing) that I've really started to feel like I can handle myself in most conditions and was very comfortable from the get go on day 1. Especially right now I am cautious and make sure I see how a run is the first time down so I don't get any nasty surprises at high speeds etc. I definitely saw some people my first day out that probably shouldn't have been out yet, they were on steep super boilerplate runs and kept falling/ sliding down the mountain and eventually had to go sliding down on their butts because they couldn't ski it. It made me nervous to ski near them because they were not able to be in control for the conditions they were on just due to their ability level and I was worried someone was going to come careening at me. Needless to say I'd make a run for it when I could and stayed as far away as possible from those people.

Luckily by my day two, the day after Thanksgiving, the conditions had improved dramatically over just 6 days and though there were still only ~13 runs open, most anyone could handle the conditions themselves, it honestly felt almost as good as real snow (blasphemy I know! lol). DH and I kept exclaiming how good it felt and asking eachother how it could possibly be all fake. Loon is really great at what they do with making snow and maintaining it and I love them for it!

 

[Celestron2000]

Well, it's certainly true that if you're going to travel to ski during this year's early season, you should not go to Colorado. If you're going to drive up and take a few runs and then have some beers on a deck in the sunshine, however, the experience is not bad.

I think this guy is just cranky. People out here are getting pretty cranky with last year's crap season, and now this year getting off to such a bad start.

Yes, that's exactly how it is!

 

[bounceswoosh]

I agree on all points. Yes, the snow is crap. No, you should not buy a plane ticket, get a hotel room, and buy lift tickets. But - I had an excellent lesson on Thanksgiving that gave me lots to work with. It will be hard to focus so tightly on technique once the more interesting terrain is open.

 

[snow addict]

I love early season butI wouldn't buy a plane ticket and take a week off work for it. I am going this Friday and planning to stay for 3 days, I don't expect much to be open but it's snowing this week, and it's supposed to snow on Sunday and Monday too, so two early powder days, plus I need to get ski-fit for two weeks I will be skiing over Christmas and New Year, so the sooner I start skiing the better. And it's nice to be in resort. I actually prefer it when it quiet in the villlage.

 

[pinto]

I'm not much for the WROD but come November I'm on the resort, skiing whatever is open and getting my legs back. To some extent, you have to ease back into it and skiing limited and non-challenging terrain in early season is the way to do it. Copper opened one run that was ungroomed a few weeks back and lets just say it being early season, my legs got fried way too soon.

If I wasn't a competent skier, though, I might feel differently. I sure as heck wouldn't want to be snowplowing down some of these runs with so many people.

Yes, there is a lot to this. It sucks if your first day is a powder day, but you can only make it for 3 runs before your legs are shot. One thing I do early season is try to ski every run top to bottom -- partly to get fitter, and partly because I'm scared to stop in the middle of the WROD!!!

It's much better to be at least a "blue" skier in this situation, because large variations in speed are what is so dangerous. My mother is a good skier, but very very slow, and she has been hit a few times -- harder to be hit when you are going the same speed as or faster than most everyone else.

 

[mahgnillig]

I skipped early season last year and regretted not getting on the snow earlier. Sure, it was crappy manmade snow that turned sticky after about 11am, but at least I would have got my ski legs back earlier and built a bit of stamina. This year I'm starting this week... mid-week of course, as I'm not a a fan of the crowds. At least I will be able to ease into the season a bit better though.

Having said all that, there's no way I would book a ski holiday this early! It does really suck when resorts start closing after heavy dumps of snow in April though. I'm planning on getting a backcountry set-up this year for that very reason... then at least I can hike up!

 

[SkiBam]

Just back again from another great early-season day at Tremblant. I think being able to ski mid-week makes a huge difference, and we were commenting how the vast majority of people out there were very good skiers. I took a beginner friend today and she had an excellent experience; because of all the high-end folk (who were elsewhere), the Nansen (one of the green runs open) was practically empty, with perfect conditions.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Tremblant's snow-making is fabulous. There are at least five or six "real" runs open, and the snow on them is very very good. I'm thinking that modern artificial snow is better than it used to be – but I don't know for sure. Anyway, I'm not complaining at all and am delighted to be able to be out skiing in November.

 

[Christy]

I definitely saw some people my first day out that probably shouldn't have been out yet, they were on steep super boilerplate runs and kept falling/ sliding down the mountain and eventually had to go sliding down on their butts because they couldn't ski it.

On their butts??? Not sideslipping? I've never seen that. Scary.

Even if he is cranky, I think it's good to call out resorts on their marketing bs. I mean, if this is true:

promising that conditions are "terrific" and "incredible" and "perfect" when demonstrably they are not. (All of those terms actually have been put in use already by overly enthusiastic marketing people at Colorado resorts this season.)

...then someone needs to call bs on it. Even if you aren't flying across the country, it's still an investment of time and money.

 

[MaineSkiLady]

On their butts??? Not sideslipping? I've never seen that. Scary.

Ever done any early season skiing in the east? Yep. I expect to see some of this next weekend, for sure. One of our (few) green runs just opened top to bottom (was sections, prior), and there is a particular section that is notorious for this end result. (end=bad pun)

I'm thinking that modern artificial snow is better than it used to be – but I don't know for sure.

The guns are much better now. The low-e guns use less air, have greater output, can function in a wider range of temperatures and humidity. We just scored 300 of them for this season (wow), and everyone is raving. It's definitely better!

 

[Christy]

Ever done any early season skiing in the east? Yep. I expect to see some of this next weekend, for sure.

I've never skied in the east at all! So is butt-sliding popular because it can get so icy you can't even sideslip? It sounds like a really good way to get hurt.

 

[ski diva]

I've never skied in the east at all! So is butt-sliding popular because it can get so icy you can't even sideslip? It sounds like a really good way to get hurt.

This made me laugh. I just imagined large numbers of people butt sliding down the mountain.

And no, it's not something I've ever seen.

 

[MaineSkiLady]

Well, come on out here and watch. A skied-off section can become something akin to marble. With any luck, there is something loose on which to turn in view. But it does take some practice and advance planning. This especially happens on steeper pitches of supposedly easier runs. Skied off by 10:30 a.m. most weekend days.
(vickie will confirm - remember the Ramdown head wall?)

The deadliest is after a thaw-freeze event. Usually, patrol closes anything that hasn't yet been groomed. They do NOT call it "boilerplate" for no good reason!