I snuck away for a few days a while back during one of my short Internet hiatuses.... I don't post everything on the web..... ;)

You may not post everything, but you posted enough on buying the gear and wanting to go. So when you mention "using" a product, but no mention have actually gone.... Leaves me up to my own imagination - Sidney trying to board on a little hill on his parents property in Oklahoma. It did make for a good laugh. :D

I actually did play around here after the snow over Xmas.... Snow wasn't deep enough, and the heel edge caught way too much.... Plus it was like 10* with a 20-30mph north wind, so I didn't try for long....

If I had the farm equip you did. :) How about scraping up the snow and make a little practice hill. Boo hoo on the temps. Get used to it. :) I'll try and dig up the clips from some old ski films. A couple of young guys built a "huge" ski jump on their N.D. farm. :D Good stuff.

EDIT: Maybe it was Nebraska. I can't think of the film.

Wind was blowing the snow as fast as I coulda moved it... Plus my skill level means a jump just would have given me a place to splatter....

I said hill. ;) Jump comes later. Seriously, those who have not quite enough snow, but have the equipment to move it around, do and get creative.

Drove up yesterday and just woke up in cabin @ Heavenly. It was too dark to see last night but right now it's snowing and it looks beautiful coming down through the pines outside my window.

I'm definitely going to stretch and just take it easy today, it's been a loooong time since I skied. Renting the latest equipment. As for snowboarding, I'd actually love to try it but probably not this trip. I'm just going to concentrate on getting ski legs back. I'd be a beginner boarder and I'm an expert skier, or should I say, "was". ;)

Snowboarding really appeals to me in powder. It looks like it would be great in steep and deep, with the added benefit of much softer crashes. I think that 3+ feet of fresh powder would be just right. The snow outside now is just a dusting, pretty but I hope it dumps while we're here.

Pics later if I don't die on the mountain.

So jealous. Went up to Sunrise over the other weekend here in AZ. Not bad snow. We got 7 inches the day before and 54" base. Not bad for AZ. Got a good day of sunny riding in.

Make sure you take pics at the top of the blacks and post for us haters. ;)

Actually Dennis with the new larger boards,, there's more "soft" to ski's than boards,, (from a square inch on the snow perspective"

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I'll be chaperoning the exchange students ski trip to Mt Holly (local to us) on 2/2/2013. Our Norwegian exchange student is looking forward to it! I haven't snow skied since 1980, so I will be in the lodge, keeping warm and taking pictures!

I agree. I gave up on skiing and started snowboarding in my mid-thirties. The first few times falling it was instant. You had no time to react. Once past the learning curve there was no looking back. I used to wear knee pads but I gave that up I just wear a helmet now.
Eighteen years later I'm still boarding a couple of times a year. I may head west later this year.

'nuff said.....


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First day of skiing was yesterday and it went well. We got some snow in the am and conditions were good. We rented equipment and it was ok but I think I'm going to try some other skis today. I like to ski fairly fast and the skis weren't really up to it.

Considering that I had not skied in close to 30 years, I was a little surprised that I did so well. Yes, I got winded and my legs started going out after a few hours but I'm 53 and don't exercise much + we were at 10k altitude and I live at sea level, so I was a actually surprised. It's 7:30 am now and my legs aren't hurting, so back out I'm going.

We skied blue trails only, my buddy is an intermediate skier, (maybe advanced intermediate), and he's also in his 50s. I would have had a real challenge on a black or double black with those rental skis and my skiing muscles rusty for decades.

Heavenly is incredibly beautiful and pictures will be coming but no wifi in cabin so I'm posting from iPhone. Yesterday was overcast/snowing and very flat light, it's supposed to get sunny in coming days so the "money shot" from top of mountain showing lake will happen. CA. is just so off-the-charts in beauty and selection, I still cannot believe it after all these years. You've never seen so many cameras out in your life, the view of the lake and surrounding mountains is incredible and I've been a lot of places.

Ate at top of Harrah's last night, fancy steak joint and quite good. The food and other incidentals are great up here but definitely not cheap. Vail owns Heavenly now so everything is first class but you pay for it. $10 for a hotdog at restaurant/lodge on mountain.

cool!! skiing is much easier for me than snowboarding. i tried the board..but my head didnt like that long arch of travel when i fell while sliding the toe side of the board and flipping backwards.,. ouch. concussion city!!

learning to ski was much easier..and the yard sale after a good crash is funny..

This is from our October dump, and was probably 1st track in North Tahoe.

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California is off to a great start .. we may have another season like 2010-11.

Anyone in the vicinity of Heavenly should also spend a day at Kirkwood. It's 1000 higher, with probably a bit better snowboarding terrain.

Still want to learn to snowboard. It really looks fun. I sat next to a guy on chairlift yesterday who was a local and does both, skis/boards. He said that snowboarding was easy but you have to surrender to one bad day of learning, you'll fall a lot on first day. "The second day, you're an expert", is how he put it. I'd probably take a lesson.

Give boarding a try and you won't regret it. As your lift buddy described, the learning curve is much easier for snowboarding. I skied exclusively until my early twenties and never had a desire to snowboard until the (2) snowboard instructors at the ski school I taught quit. Our director had everyone get boots and a board from the rental shop the next morning and told us to have at it. That first day was terrible--ate lots of snow and had some hard slams, but managed to learn to stop, turn right and left. The next day things got better and by the end of the week I was carving my turns. Me and another instructor stuck with it and were teaching boarding the following week. I was amazed at the progress that many students showed--they all got better faster than with skiing.

I still prefer skiing, but boarding definately has it's place and is nice for a change up and in certain conditions.

My advice:

Wear wrist guards and a helmet
learn to fall on your forearms
Be prepared to be on the snow alot
take a lesson
have fun--it is quite the experience.

I'm jealous as hell. I've only been skiing once and it was 11 years ago but I loved it. Once the youngest kid gets a little older (currently 2) we'll start doing family trips to CO.