Slides?

campgottagopee wrote

It's always easier to ask forgiveness than permission

Yes. that's always been my M.O.

My second year in Jackson was the year the boundaries were opened. That first year, was the best ski season of my life as far as skiing laps of untouched powder. As long as you were stealth there wasn't really much of a chance of being caught and most patrollers  didn't have a boner to bust people. I bet you could figure out a way to get in and out of there without drawing any attention.

Win win really. Ski area is no longer responsible for the area and for those that can figure out how to ski in there you have your own personal stash.

Or maybe it's too high profile? I wouldn't know.

Yep, the other thing is to do it like you own it. There's a spot around here that is the MECCA for smelting. When they are running (like now) you can literally fill 2 five gallon buckets in about 10 minutes. The place is in the middle of a bunch of camps here on one of the finger lakes, so it's really on private land. We've pulled down in there like or grandparents built the place, filled our buckets, then hauled ass out of there with no one the wiser

Haha! Jedi mind tricks!

I got busted one time for skiing Alta Zero (a closed area under the sublette quad in JXN) by a young patrol guy once I pulled into the lift line. I skied a tech alt line from the standard Waterfall route and did a funky small drop on to a hanging shelf and then a slow sideways grind to the take off of a 30 foot drop, had to drop slowly to hit the flat/check powder landing below the cliff and just before the traverse line with bumps below. It was a fun billy goat line. Anyways, the patroller asked if that was me in A-Zero and I knew at that point not to lie so I said yes with confidence and then I asked him if I was getting clipped, he smiled and said "No, I love watching that shit!" :D

raisingarizona wrote

  "No, I love watching that shit!" :D

LMAO --- right on

JTG4eva! wrote

Do you consider the Slides just another trail, or is it terrain that warrants additional consideration?

It doesn't matter why I think, bud. It's what the general skiing public thinks. And if they see a trail on the map that's open, they consider it to be fair game.

If they shouldn't put themselves on that kind of terrain outside of a resort, what makes you think they should be putting themselves on similar terrain inside of a resort?

And, since that's the case, they don't even consider this. Only people like the people on this board think in the way you're thinking. A tiny amount of Whiteface skiers decide in the morning whether they are going to ski a BC slide or decide to do a resort day that includes the WF slides. Most people get a trail map, see the slides on there, notice they're open, and say: let's try it.

I think it's legit to go in from the road.  Only if you require a lift are you subject to regulation.

I think.  WF guys am I true?

Been there before while hunting. "Wtf are you doing here? This is private property." "Oh I'm tracking a wounded deer"

Harvey wrote

I think it's legit to go in from the road.  Only if you require a lift are you subject to regulation.

I think.  WF guys am I true?

True.  Technically you can't enter back into WF and are supposed to have to hike out but I doubt that ever happens.

Raising Arizona...that's pretty awesome..and Alta Zero is awesome.  Alta Chutes are some of my favorite in bounds lines and Jackson..just steep enough to keep ya on toes, just enough liftline overhead to want to show off...pretty ideal scenario.

JTG4eva! wrote

Let me ask a few questions.  

Would you say this general skiing public should put themselves on, say....the Angel Slide on Wright Peak, or whatever other ADK backcountry slides you think compare to the WF Slides?

If not, is is only because of the risk of avalanche, or are there other ski mountaineering factors that come into play?

I have no problem with that.  There's a reason it's call the wild.  'Cause it's freakin' wild!  If someone doesn't go through the effort of finding out what gear and skills are required, that's up to them.  The question should be re-worded because the "general public" is too damn fat.  If you're saying should the average black diamond, avid skier do that?  I don't have an answer but am not concerned.

JTG4eva! wrote

If they shouldn't put themselves on that kind of terrain outside of a resort, what makes you think they should be putting themselves on similar terrain inside of a resort?

Do you consider the Slides just another trail, or is it terrain that warrants additional consideration?

Provided the guest(s) have sufficient, consistent information ahead of time, I'm fine with it.  Caveat emptor.  

The "sufficient, consistent information" is what a guest relies on the resort to communicate to make an informed decision.  But that's true of all trails based on their conditions, e.g. open/closed, thin cover, avalanche danger, (un)groomed.

Adrider83 wrote

Raising Arizona...that's pretty awesome..and Alta Zero is awesome.  Alta Chutes are some of my favorite in bounds lines and Jackson..just steep enough to keep ya on toes, just enough liftline overhead to want to show off...pretty ideal scenario.

The Sublette Quad is one of the most bad ass chairs in NA imho. Alta Zero was my go to warm up line on powder days for a few years. The Waterfall being my most favorite. I've done a bunch of other options in there as well. The larger cliff directly under the chair is known as Alta Negative, that's a fun double if you hit the small little five footer just before the 40 footer/drawn out rock face below it.

The Waterfall though is the most perfect line imho, the steep turns that finish with what is more often a 20 to 25 foot drop is so much fun. I used to love throwing the rope over my head, rolling into the first turn and then hearing the people on the chair erupt into hoots and hollars. The line got it's name from the skinny ski days when you couldn't ski faster than your slough and the snow would pour over the cliff in a roaring fall when the snow was deep. My first season I was skiing on 215 DH boards so big hop turns were the call and I got to experience the waterfall effect. About half way through that season though I got on what we were calling fat skis then and I started skiing it faster. I've probably skied that line 25, maybe 30 times and ya, the lift over your head, the control work that's done on it, and the aesthetics of the line make it so sweet. The one catch though is that if it did rip on you, you might take someone out below and I had the rug pulled out from my feet one time. I hit the brakes and let it get in front of me. My bud Jay was on the lift above cheering me on "you got it, you got it" but it shook me up pretty good. I think that was the last time I skied in there.

Alta Zero is also where my girlfriend from that time broke her tib/fib right in half. She secretly blamed me for years for that and never told me. She felt like I was pressuring her, maybe I was but I was eager to go myself. The people on the chair didn't help either really, they were expressing that they wanted a show so she just dropped. that was the little straight line skiers right of the waterfall just before Alta 1. That year it had a mandatory 15-20 foot drop entrance, she picked up a bunch of speed and tried to slow down with a turn where she wrapped her leg around a tree.

Wow....quite the background with that area.  

Sublette is sweet..as is Thunder.   Just an all around fun mountain.  

Sorry if we can distract from slides topic... the slides rules too ;)

What are the chances of the slides being open this weekend?

With all the recent snow, could it salvage our chance to ski The Slides this season?

If you weren't such a lil tool bag I'm sure someone very Ninja like would've already had you in there