No ACL, no surgery, no problem - My new normal as a Coper

[marzNC]

As I plan trips for the 2024-25 season, here’s a summary of 2023-24 for my continuing story as a successful coper.

I skied 65 days in 2023-24 with more adventure skiing than in recent years, partially because I was more deliberate about ski conditioning during Summer and Fall 2023. Finished with 43 days out west. I opted to not fly to ski in February so skied more at my home hill in northern VA, Massanutten, for a total of 16 days over several long weekends with friends and family. I decided to drive to Michigan for a January ski safari to satisfy my curiosity about midwest skiing. I took advantage of having Ikon and Indy, as well as the chance to ski with a Diva who was attending the annual Midwest Ski Fest at Nub’s Nob of the 70 Plus Ski Club.

2023-24 Skiing Overview (days), driving in Dec-Feb, flying Mar-Apr

Dec: Wolf Creek (7), Vail (2), Beaver Creek (1)
Early Jan: Massanutten (10), Timberline (1)
Mid-Jan: Caberfae (1), Nub’s Nob (1), The Highlands (2), Boyne Mountain (1)
Feb: Massanutten (6)
Early Mar: Grand Targhee (2), Big Sky (6), Bridger (2)
Late Mar: Keystone (1), Breckenridge (1), Crested Butte (5)
Apr: Alta (14), Deer Valley (1), Snowbird (1)

Wolf Creek in December has become the annual early season destination. I drive my RAV4 AWD Prime PHEV from North Carolina to Colorado to meet up with the usual crew. Staying at Alta Lodge in April and meeting up with old friends has been how I've ended my season for about fifteen years.

Notes about Wolf Creek conditions 2023-24:
https://www.theskidiva.com/forums/i...-with-2022-23-season.27093/page-3#post-490590

I got Epic Local for the Crested Butte trip. Once I had my first Epic pass, I thought about how to extend the trips to Colorado to sample more Epic resorts. Enough lifts and terrain open in mid-December for me to get a feel for Vail and Beaver Creek while skiing solo. Having become confident enough to explore any black trails with my primary ski buddy, Bill, we covered every area of Keystone, Breck, and CB in March. The idea was to ride every major lift and ski at least one run in all areas of a resort. The trail maps make a lot more sense after having first-hand experience. CB is small enough that I skied most of the named trails that aren't EX double-black during five ski days. Found several short fun shots in trees between green trails where kids have a great time.

Trip Reports
https://www.theskidiva.com/forums/i...and-targhee-big-sky-bridger-march-2024.28419/
https://www.theskidiva.com/forums/i...2024-spring-skiing-with-a-powder-storm.28560/

 

[marzNC]

For people new to this thread, please read Post #1 from October 2012 about why I started it. I’ve been skiing since the 2012-13 season without an ACL, having made an informed decision to work at being a “coper” instead of opting for ACL reconstruction surgery. The knee injury in June 2012 when I was 56 had nothing to do with skiing. In my case, an MRI showed that the collateral damage to the meniscus and the MCL strain could heal without medical intervention. I did physical therapy for several months. My ortho surgeon agreed with my decision at Month 3 after injury that surgery was not needed.

The silver lining for becoming a coper is that I started taking lessons fairly regularly. Started at my home hill, Massanutten, in northern Virginia. I’ve learned how to get recommendations for very experience instructors, usually PSIA Level 3 with 20+ years of experience. By the time I started doing Taos Ski Weeks in 2018, I'd improved from an adventurous intermediate to an advanced skier. I intend to continue taking lessons for quite a while. What I’ve learned in the last few years has made skiing even more fun, regardless of snow conditions, what region I'm skiing in, or if I’m exploring a resort for the first time.

The past season included several full-day semi-private lessons with friends. I didn’t do a Taos Ski Week but will be heading back to TSV in Feb 2025. I realized that I can integrate info from different instructors in a way that wasn’t possible a few years ago. Reached the stage that having a lesson from an instructor with a different approach is useful, instead of confusing. Especially for more subtle skills appropriate for senior advanced skiers. I keep my skis on the snow and have little interest in steep, narrow chutes with exposed rocks. Deep powder, bumps of any size, or trees with good snow are all of interest. Having better technique means that I have more fun skiing during a snowstorm or low visibility due to clouds or fog. I also have more fun on groomers. In fact, more fun than before because I know drills and skills that I can practice when I feel like it.

For big mountains in the Rockies, I’m now willing to explore double-black (sometimes labeled EX-Extreme) terrain with an instructor. That led to a few “adventure runs” in steep bowls on the upper mountain at Crested Butte (off the T-bars) that I never would’ve have imagined enjoying before popping off an ACL a dozen years ago.

2023-24 Semi-Private Lessons, all Full Day with 1-3 advanced ski buddies:
Dec: Wolf Creek (Tue, Thu) - Eric Bloom, powder lessons, 2nd season
Early Mar: Big Sky - not a PSIA instructor, woman with international background, soft bumps
Early Mar: Bridger Bowl - Ric Blevins, fundamental skills, 5th season (first lesson in 2012)
Late Mar: Crested Butte - Jackie B-L, recommended by Eric (taught at CB), powder, bumps

 

[marzNC]

I had a great season in 2024-25 even though I skied groomers more than expected because snow conditions weren’t good off-piste due to unusual rain/freeze/thaw situations in the Rockies during mid-season trips. Total number of ski days was 66, essentially the same as last season. The planned highlight was a ski safari in Idaho, with a late addition of Brian Head. The unexpected highlight was getting to ski for the first time in the European Alps for a few hours in late April. The lessons I had on groomers at Wolf Creek, Taos, and Alta, plus skiing steep groomers at Sun Valley made it easier to enjoy skiing a few hours at Grands Montets in Chamonix as part of a trip with my young adult daughter.

For people new to this thread, please read Post #1 from October 2012 about why I started it. I’ve been skiing since the 2012-13 season without an ACL, having made an informed decision to work at becoming a successful “coper” instead of opting for ACL reconstruction surgery. The knee injury in June 2012 when I was 56 had nothing to do with skiing. I started a Chinese herbal medicine immediately and acupuncture a couple weeks later. In my case, an MRI about a month after injury showed that the collateral damage to the meniscus and the MCL strain could heal without medical intervention. At Month 3, my ortho surgeon agreed with my decision to not schedule surgery. I did physical therapy for several months and began to do more deliberate ski conditioning year round. Instead of buying a custom brace to use for skiing, I started investing money and time in lessons at my home hill and during trips to destination resorts. The silver lining is that lessons and learning how to practice drills in the last dozen years resulted in becoming a solid advanced skier comfortable on a much wider range of terrain and snow conditions.

2024-25 Skiing Overview (days) - 66 total, mostly CO, NM, ID, UT

Dec: Wolf Creek (9), Taos (2)
Early Jan: Massanutten (11), Timberline (1), Canaan Valley (1 hr)
Late Jan: Snowbasin (1), Deer Valley (1), Alta (4 during Diva West)
Feb: Taos (15), Wolf Creek (2)
Mar: Sun Valley (2), Tamarack (3), Brundage (2), Bogus Basin (1), Brian Head (1)
Apr: Alta (11), Snowbird (2 hrs); Grands Montets (1)

Instead of Ikon/MCP, I had multiple 1-location season passes at favorite resorts, plus Indy. The Alta pass provided 50% discounts at Mountain Collective resorts. For some independent mountains, makes a difference that I qualify for senior rates (65+) for season passes and day tickets.

Had fun checking out doing an Idaho ski safari that included Tamarack, Brundage, Bogus Basin for the first time. Finishing up at Brian Head was a bonus since I went to Las Vegas afterwards to join my husband (non-skier for assorted reasons) for a few days. He likes spending about 10 days in Vegas at a timeshare resort near the Strip to see shows. Even though snow conditions in early March weren’t that good, the mountains near Boise and Brian Head are on the list for a return trip at some point.

Trip reports:
Wolf Creek, CO
Alta, UT during Diva West
Taos, NM
Sun Valley, ID
Idaho ski safari: Tamarack, Brundage, Bogus Basin
Brian Head, UT
Alta, UT in April

 

[marzNC]

I’m continuing to invest in semi-private lessons with 1-3 ski buddies. One reason to do more lessons is that most of the PSIA Level 3 instructors I work with are older. A few are over 70 and getting closer to retirement. Often my friend(s) is/are not at the same ability level. I learn a great deal observing an instructor working with someone else.

The summer and fall of 2024 I was doing classes for core strength and basic weight lifting at the local rock climbing gym about 1-2 times a week. It’s something my daughter and I can do together. Didn’t do as many exercises that are more ski specific as I have done a few years, but in general I was stronger than before. Hard to tell the difference on the slopes, but made handling luggage noticeably easier.

Going to work on flexibility this summer/fall. Should be doing more adductor/abductor and hamstrings exercises. Haven't been using the TRX as much as before now that I'm doing fitness classes and more rock climbing during the off-season.

Lesson Summary 2024-25

Dec: Wolf Creek - two lessons with Eric Bloom, including hiking the Ridge
Dec: Taos - with Derek Gordon
Jan: Massanutten - with Walter Jaeger
Jan, during Diva West: Alta - with Arthur Haskell
Feb: Taos Private Ski Week - with Stephanie Stynes
Feb: Wolf Creek - solo with Eric Bloom, powder adventure runs
Apr: Alta - with Arthur Haskell

 

[marzNC]

The last ski day of the season was not part of ski trip planning before the 2024-25 season began. While I planned to figure out a way to experience skiing in the European Alps at some point, it happened sooner than expected. My daughter took a trip to Europe to visit her godmother (American who settled in Basel) in April. In February, I decided to join her for a week when her plan evolved to finish with several days in Chamonix. Skiing was a possibility but not a given since we were there in late season. We brought along ski socks, goggles, shell pants, ski gloves, and base layers for spring skiing in nice weather. We rented Nordica Belle 78 skis at the base. Happily, my rental boots fit quite well.

The weather cooperated so that we not only had blue skies for great views at Grands Montets in the morning, there was even a bit of new snow on the upper mountain the night before. We got 4-hour tickets and stayed on the groomed trails (blue-easiest, red-intermediate). After lunch the upper mountain was in the clouds that rolled in most afternoons that week. We had a very good time. I would go back. From what I’ve heard while Chamonix doesn’t have the best skiing in the Alps, it certainly has plenty of history and apparently more off-piste (bumps, powder) terrain right near groomers.

We stayed in the town of Chamonix. Made use of the train and the ski bus to get to/from Argentière, which is where Grands Montets is located. The ski bus was free for people going skiing. The bus stop was right at the base of the gondola. We had a transit pass from our lodging, which meant the train was free as well. Although we had Eurail passes so could have used those.

Grands Montets mid-mountain, April 25, 2025
Daughter found that the goggles I brought wouldn't fit over her glasses that well but were still useful when the clouds rolled in.


Base of chairlifts: Bochard (left, high-speed), La Herse (right)
We only rode up Bochard after warming up on the blue trail off Tabé. It was good we'd already skied the upper mountain trail before lunch because it was very hard to see getting off at the top after lunch. Had to ski from lollipop to lollipop, which were numbered. Without the new snow, probably wouldn't have done a second run.


Wonderful views!



On mountain raclette for lunch, outdoor seating only


View of the town of Argentière when downloading the gondola

 

[santacruz skier]

I had a great season in 2024-25 even though I skied groomers more than expected because snow conditions weren’t good off-piste due to unusual rain/freeze/thaw situations in the Rockies during mid-season trips. Total number of ski days was 66, essentially the same as last season. The planned highlight was a ski safari in Idaho, with a late addition of Brian Head. The unexpected highlight was getting to ski for the first time in the European Alps for a few hours in late April. The lessons I had on groomers at Wolf Creek, Taos, and Alta, plus skiing steep groomers at Sun Valley made it easier to enjoy skiing a few hours at Grands Montets in Chamonix as part of a trip with my young adult daughter.

For people new to this thread, please read Post #1 from October 2012 about why I started it. I’ve been skiing since the 2012-13 season without an ACL, having made an informed decision to work at becoming a successful “coper” instead of opting for ACL reconstruction surgery. The knee injury in June 2012 when I was 56 had nothing to do with skiing. I started a Chinese herbal medicine immediately and acupuncture a couple weeks later. In my case, an MRI about a month after injury showed that the collateral damage to the meniscus and the MCL strain could heal without medical intervention. At Month 3, my ortho surgeon agreed with my decision to not schedule surgery. I did physical therapy for several months and began to do more deliberate ski conditioning year round. Instead of buying a custom brace to use for skiing, I started investing money and time in lessons at my home hill and during trips to destination resorts. The silver lining is that lessons and learning how to practice drills in the last dozen years resulted in becoming a solid advanced skier comfortable on a much wider range of terrain and snow conditions.

2024-25 Skiing Overview (days) - 66 total, mostly CO, NM, ID, UT

Dec: Wolf Creek (9), Taos (2)
Early Jan: Massanutten (11), Timberline (1), Canaan Valley (1 hr)
Late Jan: Snowbasin (1), Deer Valley (1), Alta (4 during Diva West)
Feb: Taos (15), Wolf Creek (2)
Mar: Sun Valley (2), Tamarack (3), Brundage (2), Bogus Basin (1), Brian Head (1)
Apr: Alta (11), Snowbird (2 hrs); Grands Montets (1)

Instead of Ikon/MCP, I had multiple 1-location season passes at favorite resorts, plus Indy. The Alta pass provided 50% discounts at Mountain Collective resorts. For some independent mountains, makes a difference that I qualify for senior rates (65+) for season passes and day tickets.

Had fun checking out doing an Idaho ski safari that included Tamarack, Brundage, Bogus Basin for the first time. Finishing up at Brian Head was a bonus since I went to Las Vegas afterwards to join my husband (non-skier for assorted reasons) for a few days. He likes spending about 10 days in Vegas at a timeshare resort near the Strip to see shows. Even though snow conditions in early March weren’t that good, the mountains near Boise and Brian Head are on the list for a return trip at some point.

Trip reports:
Wolf Creek, CO
Alta, UT during Diva West
Taos, NM
Sun Valley, ID
Idaho ski safari: Tamarack, Brundage, Bogus Basin
Brian Head, UT
Alta, UT in April

How did you like the grands montet? Skied it in 2014 in middle of winter! No guide! Skied chamonix 2 years in a row staying in different catered chalets, one in Argentiiere and one in Brevent/le flegere

From top of cable car had to walk down 200 steps! Terrifying. The skiing was the easy part

 

[marzNC]

How did you like the grands montet? Skied it in 2014 in middle of winter! No guide! Skied chamonix 2 years in a row staying in different catered chalets, one in Argentiiere and one in Brevent/le flegere

From top of cable car had to walk down 200 steps! Terrifying. The skiing was the easy part

Pretty different having to ride a gondola a long way up before seeing white terrain with skiable slopes. Had seen a quick view from the train the day before. The cable car is being rebuilt. Was hard to imagine what the top terminal area is going to look like.

We stayed in Chamonix at Les Balcons du Savoy, which is at the base of Brevent. It was recommended by an Australian father who had stayed there with his family. Great location. Les Balcons is an "apartment hotel" that is essentially condo units in a building with amenities such as an indoor pool, sauna, game room. Even a parking garage under the building. Breakfast was optional. The walk to the town center where the supermarket and restaurants are was 5-10 minutes.

The view from our balcony


There was a fire in 2018 that messed up the Grands Montets cable car. We saw on-going construction on the mountain and at the base. Took several years to even come up with the plan so construction didn't start until 2024. Target for opening is 2026-27. The price tag may end up close to $200 million!

May 7, 2025

Grand Montets Re-Opening Delays: Tram Fire and Broken Crane

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