Whiteface Conditions (2017 - 2018)

Harvey wrote

Hey we mouth breathers deserve our shot too!

Agreed! Was at Sugarbush today but still jealous the Slides went gold. On my WF bucket list

My take is the Slides should never be non Avy gear status on a Saturday unless Patrol sits there and limits access to the numb-nuts GP which they are totally unwilling to do.

Almost immediately there were people that couldn’t handle slide in which is a clear sign they can’t ski well enough to ski the slides the way they were today.  I saw idiots taking thier skis off and trying to post hole up it.  I saw Jerry on rental skis and plenty of cliffed out morons.  One of which broke his arm to the point the bone was thru the skin.  I talked to this guys buddies in the bar and they said he had no business being there.  When someone gets hurt they shut it down though it did reopen.  

It’s now a bump run after today.

I got 4 runs in there plus a ton more on Cloud.  

Before the Slides opened I tried to ski Empire and SVG both of which where roped for unknown reasons probably just not enough staff I’d guess.

It was my best day of the season at WF though.  Only things I could not good were Upper NW and the Snofields which had been blasted by the wind.  

They look like nice bumps.  

I’ll post some vid later....and I’m doing some serious mouth breathing!  It ok Harvey, I didn’t mean to offend.

Yes, unfortunate people who really didn’t belong in there ended up with compound fractures!  And it (briefly) closed the Slides.  Shared summit chair with a couple patrollers at 2:15 and radio traffic was another skier down on Slide 1.  

Sorry Mike....from 9:15 to 10:30 the Slides we’re off the hook good.  You know 4 suffers some if you aren’t in the first handful of skiers.  I’ve got some pretty good #tightright untracked video, too.

My untracked launch off the deep end of of the 2b cliff.....landed waist deep, dead stop.  Gotta work on my technique!

With the recent move away from being an advanced skiers mountain, it is relieving that so many people want to ski The Slides.  2 sled rides in one day out of there is ridiculous.  And the fact that it got so torn up it became a full on bump run.  Problem is that if they don't make it avy gear all the time then they have to be consistent in who is and isn't allowed in there.  And that's difficult to do.

It’s a difficult situation no, no doubt, but I can appreciate the job they are doing!

Congrats on the slide day everyone!!!  Looks like it was Awesome!  Personally I would agree with the group avy gear to get in especially after all the instability blah blah blah...mouth breathers stay out 😉

There is a simple solution
Put a level 3 instructor  at the summit and make questionables  ski a run on Skyward or Cloud with them.  You could do it every 20 mins and if they are not good enough they get some free tips on how to improve.  Slides are open for max 4 hours so it costs the mountain peanuts to keep it safe in there.

Instructors are trained to know what terrain a given skill set can handle so this solves the problem.

Is the Little Whiteface lift down again?  It's closed according to the report.  Any guesses why?

Z wrote

There is a simple solution
Put a level 3 instructor  at the summit and make questionables  ski a run on Skyward or Cloud.....

That’s not simple. That is subjective and would result in bad public relations and increased tension level.

Simple solution is permanent policy beacon only access.  

No judgement call. No hurt feeling. No questions.    

Amend policy to include permanent slide ban for Snoreloco!  

ScottyJack wrote

Simple solution is permanent policy beacon only access. No judgement call. No hurt feeling. No questions.

Similar to Schlasman's at Bridger... I think it's worth the risk of an occasional Bridger style freakout... heck it may even be quite entertaining when a meatheads from North Jersey forget beacons.

This guy...

How about something like this?

ScottyJack wrote

Z wrote

There is a simple solution
Put a level 3 instructor  at the summit and make questionables  ski a run on Skyward or Cloud.....

That’s not simple. That is subjective and would result in bad public relations and increased tension level.

Simple solution is permanent policy beacon only access.  

No judgement call. No hurt feeling. No questions.

Yeah, much better idea -, a $200 toll to get into an area that does not require a beacon.
Will you require a shovel and a probe, too, or just the delusion of an unneeded beacon?

Beacons exist for a reason and you want to confuse the reason for owning a beacon with a permit to go into the slides, whether the beacon is needed or not. This is a bad idea.

I don't think so. Anyone serious enough wanting to ski the slides will get a beacon.
If you have a beacon probability says you can ski.  

ScottyJack wrote

Z wrote

There is a simple solution
Put a level 3 instructor  at the summit and make questionables  ski a run on Skyward or Cloud.....

That’s not simple. That is subjective and would result in bad public relations and increased tension level.

Simple solution is permanent policy beacon only access.  

No judgement call. No hurt feeling. No questions.

I agree That is a much better solution and is used at many places out West.. There also definately needs to be more warning signs as to just how difficult that terrain really is.  If I recall at Jackson Hole before you get off the tram they make an announcement along the lines of that this is going to be more difficult than anything you have skied before.

If you really stop and think about the area above the slides could Avalanche into the slides.  Based on past history that is more exposed and has slid fairly regularly in big snow years.  I didnt like that yesterday afternoon a group of around 20 had hiked 200 Vert above the traverse line.  No way that should be allowed as it increases risk.

I left my beacon on all day regardless of the status and kept carrying my pack with the other gear.  You never know if you might need it.

The wind really blasted the crap out of the upper Mt last night.  I skied Cloudspin early expecting the wind to have blown it in and instead there must have been a strong east wind last night the ruined it until we get more snow or it corns up.  It was wind slab all the way to Niagara.  

The best solution is natural selection. Sounds like there was a little of that this past week.

From before the Golden Shit Show was fully raging.

Slide 4

https://vimeo.com/260648093

Slide 1

https://vimeo.com/260648009

Mike on.....Empire!

https://vimeo.com/260648379