Jealous! you will have to give a full report! Wish I could go. I'm downtown in a meeting...you can guess that it is not too exciting since I'm on the internet.
So, I got back down the hill, and dropped off the tax forms that still needed to go back to the accountant. Called DH: I'm down the hill safely, just dropped off the tax stuff, and was going to stop and get dog food on the way home.
How was it, he asked.
It was spectacular, I answered.
Just so-so, huh? he responded. We went around for a while -- he didn't want to hear about how much fun it was, and I was making sure he did!
No pictures -- but plenty of fun!
Dloveski -- MANY more tracks than your pictures show.
On the way up, I decided to make today a demo day -- my True Luvs don't play well with fluffy, powder snow, AND DH was down at the office instead of on the hill with me, making this a PERFECT opportunity to experiment with new toys. (besides, I'd promised to stay on the front side, which is convenient to the rental shop!)
Blue sky, slightly heavy powder, perfect temperature, NO lines at the lift (or in the shop) DH says I have to be SURE to tell you, no lines! There were a lot of people, for a Monday, but no lines.
I started the day with K2's Tough Luv, 153. I liked these stepping into them. First run was Showcase -- blue, generally a good warm-up run. It had been groomed this morning, and the powder was well pushed around already when I got there a little after noon. Not too lumpy, but not real flat either. Those Tough Luvs were PERFECT in this situation! The ONLY time I felt any instability was when I decided to zoom into a leftover patch of powder -- y'know how that goes, you're zipping along, and suddenly you're not zipping anymore!
I took them to Lando's Mojo -- black, no grooming, trees, FUN! It's been a while since there's been much powder here, so the first run was pretty much, let's see, how does this powder stuff work again? This was the only ski I took into this run twice -- second time was much better, though I'm not real adept in this snow yet. When I'm skiing with DH, it's better if my True Luvs and I stay on groomed runss: he doesn't get cranky with me as long as I can ski top to bottom quickly!
I took them up one more time, and skied Sour Dough on them -- again, it's blue, more challenging than Showcase. This one hadn't been groomed, so the piles were bigger. They were NO problem, and I was having LOTS of fun with these skis. Didn't really want to, but I had promised myself I'd try a few today, so I took them back and got a pair of Rossi's -- the B83, in a 160.
I took them down Showcase -- this run was fun -- fast, they liked this. They tossed me around more than I was hoping, when we went through the lumps (this run had been smoothed out more since last I'd been through) I thought they'd be pretty good on groomers.
Now for Lando's -- It didn't take much to know that this wasn't the ski I was looking for. I was having trouble turning it, and felt really out of control. Lots of struggling on this run. We weren't going to have another off trail run together.
I took one last run, on Sour Dough -- this one is handy, kind of takes one right back to the rental shop -- and was probably even less enchanted by this ski. Sour Dough was lumpy, remember, and I know, I could have skied around the lumps, but the whole point was to see how they handled the stuff that my True Luvs didn't like. This was maybe even worse than my ungroomed powder experience with them, so back they went.
Back in the rental shop, ski dude asks what I'd like to try next. So, we talked about what I'd skied, where I'd been, and what I liked and didn't like about each. He looked at what he had, thought a bit, and it appeared I'd skied the best choices he had available. There was still Lotta Luv, and I've tried them and like them, but I thought they'd be fun to compare to the Tough Luvs.
Did I mention there were no lift lines? When I got off the lift with the Lotta's, I felt HOME. We blasted through the snow on Showcase -- still some lumps, but mostly flattened out by now. GREAT carving on this soft, groomed run.
I was getting tired, physically, after skiing yesterday and now in this much more challenging snow today, but I took them down Lando's too. I THINK the Tough Luvs might have been a bit better here, but the Lottas were awfully good! Hard to judge -- I was remembering powder skills on the Tough Luvs, and getting tired on the Lottas. Both of these were a whole lot more fun in this snow than the Rossi's had been. I did not take the Lotta's down this run again, cuz I'd promised to be careful, and thought I'd be safer playing on easier terrain.
Then, sun still shining through the clouds that were beginning to gather, soft, fluffy flakes started to fall -- SO pretty!
I took the Lottas on six runs. (remember, I didn't have to wait in line, ever!) Every time I went down, I'd think this needs to be my last run for the day, but then I'd get close to the chair, and say, oh, just one more. We were happy together wherever we went.
I almost asked the liftie to turn me away if I showed up at the chair again. Then I realized, I was at the top of the lift, and I was about to make run number 13. It was the one I had decided HAD to be the last. But I can't stop with 13 runs, so when I got to the bottom, instead of going back to the rental shop to turn them in, I went up the bunny lift -- Coach. The snow is so deep this year, that this chair nearly scrapes the snow when you get to the top! This one's just a 150' rise, and I took the more challenging side slowly -- lots of rookies on it.
When I took them back, the guys asked, which did I like better, the Lottas or the Tough Luvs, and I told them it was hard to choose, I might need to try them again on Thursday -- DH is planning to take the day off. I sure hope I can talk him into playing with skis too! He'd love it!
The day, a delightful surprise, and both skis had me smiling, even at my most challenged. The Lotta's might be more versatile, a little better on groomed runs. Hard to say at this point. I almost took the Tough Luv out for another couple of runs on groomers, but I really did need to stop!
Kano
