Well we had one of our best days ever yesterday. It was an insane amount of powder. What I'm posting in order is first hi-res stills, then actions stills from video, then some stuck pics. We went crazy yesterday getting stuck a total of 6 times between us and I rolled my sled twice and my wife rolled hers once and got pinned under! But she was fine, just stuck. It was about 2 feet of fluff followed by 2 feet of the wettest base snow ever, followed by about another 2 feet of icy base. We have another 2 feet on the way, too bad it's Christmas break and everyone is out there. However, we got out early, made first tracks to our spot which was totally untouched, and we just rode it for 3 hours until it looked like it had been groomed. Too bad we filled up the memory card and I forgot my backpack, or there would be better pics. Here we go...

Here are the action stills

And the stuck pics. Getting the sled out of that lower slushy layer was seriously tough. Probably the most difficult digging I've had to do in one day.

Great pics after a day of digging out like that I bet your wore out I would be .

That is my kind of riding thanks for sharing! -Dave

Great pics after a day of digging out like that I bet your wore out I would be .[/b]

Yeah you couldn't just pull the rear end out of the hole because that wet stuff closes in and sets up around it and hardens. Then when you are trying to dig it out you end up packing the snow even denser and it gets harder to dig. I'm seriously sore right now. It was incredible riding though, and looking at the footage I'm surprised I didn't get stuck even more. I only got stuck the two times I rolled it and then once bouncing out of my line and not being able to recover, I never got stuck just from taking a line that my sled didn't have traction for. But in all I was riding fairly conservatively and still got myself in trouble plenty so I can say I tried hard enough for one day.

And even though the picture quality of course stinks, here is the youtube highlight video. Refer back to the stills if you want to know what it actually looked like.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_pxB5HgCDw

w_pxB5HgCDw

Are you NOT WEARING A HELMET??

Skoka

In the last hour, yeah. It was soaked and I was tired and thirsty (forgot backpack, no water) and I made the poor decision to switch to a dry hat when the sun came out. Nothing bad happened but yeah don't do what I did. I started wearing a helmet in snowboarding religiously when nobody but nobody did and it was fully uncool, back in 1996, so I don't need the speech I should be giving it :) If you ever watch those survival shows they talk about making bad decisions when you are worn out and thirsty. About a million things went wrong that day just by the first time I got stuck, and my clothes and helmet were completely sweated through and I had no water because I forgot my backpack at home, so I was getting way dehydrated in that last hour. Taking off my helmet like that could have made a bad situation much worse, but I just wasn't thinking straight. Of course my better half never said anything, thank you for caring anyway:)

No problem.. Bad things happen to good people. I was not lecturing just checking ;)

I am glad you use one and every one should.

I wont go up the street with out one, too much can happen in a split second!

Ride Safe all!!

Skoka

Great pics. Must be a blast to ride in that kind of snow.

No problem.. Bad things happen to good people. I was not lecturing just checking ;)


Skoka[/b]

Yeah but you are right. I had convinced myself that it was relatively safe and it really wasn't. That's a rock quarry we are riding on with nothing but huge rocks ready to crack your skull. Once I realized how dumb that was I got a little mad at myself :) The other thing I need to do is figure out a way to cut back on the sweating when I have to dig out because my clothes were just soaked beyond usability. I use nothing but synthetic high performance fabrics like polypropylene and I don't know what else to do, they still get soaked.

Great pics. Must be a blast to ride in that kind of snow.[/b]

Yeah, despite the digging it was all worth it. That's what happens when you totally go for it. The down side, if you watch the first clip on the youtube notice how you can't really tell the difference between the sky, the falling snow, and the fallen snow. That's really how I ended up rolling my sled both times is I was trying to make a turn and just couldn't see how close to an embankment I was and it just went right over. Clouds and blowing snow with all that powder is pretty intense, but mostly in a good way, it can just be more punishing and easier to make mistakes. Once the sun came out it became much easier to ride fancy and hit the bumps and stuff with confidence because I could actually see them. There will be possibly another 3 feet fallen by the time I get back out on Monday and sun in the forecast. Oh yeah.

I hear you on the sweating...when im riding in the deep stuff I sweat like a pig, especially digging the sled out, sometimes i remove my helmet when im breaking a trail around my parents farmland because i cant breathe with the helmet on...people dont realize how much work snowmobiling can be!

Yeah getting the clothes right is tough. When just cruising on the trails you have to really bundle up but then you get to the freestyle terrain, whatever it may be, and it becomes a very strenuous exercise. Even without digging. Then if you're hitting the trail again you're sweaty and start getting cold despite the extra layers. If it's sunny out you can strip down and dry off but if it's snowy you are just going to get more wet. I keep a full change of clothes in the truck and a partial change in the backpack, plus several extra pairs of gloves and goggles. Of course I forgot my backpack last time but I still had that full change of clothes in the truck and that really saved my day, especially when the sun came out and I was mostly dry and ready to go another round. I'm starting to think maybe I need to double up on my coats and then take off the top one when I'm riding freestyle. Heh, I can't count how many times last week I left my jacket unzipped trying to cool off then I hopped on the sled and got a huge shot of snow down my neck. Ah yeah.

Yeah getting the clothes right is tough. When just cruising on the trails you have to really bundle up but then you get to the freestyle terrain, whatever it may be, and it becomes a very strenuous exercise. Even without digging. Then if you're hitting the trail again you're sweaty and start getting cold despite the extra layers.[/b]

When you are digging take your outer jacket off and lay it on the handle bars rolled up so it stays dry or if it is snowing unzip it take off the helmet and then unzip and vents on your pants as well as any other layers that unzip. I work at a ski area as park crew. We do a ton of digging while setting up rails or shaping jumps or QPs and I almost always remove my outer jacket to stay cool and not sweat. Last night it was -12 and I worked with my outer jacket unzipped fully and just my second layer with my pant vents fully open as well. Theres no getting warm again when you work out side and have already sweat through your clothes and you have another 3 hours in your shift to go. when we are just waiting around for something to do I usually wear my regular jacket then my work coat on top of that and then another shirt under that and then a base layer so I have lots of layers to shed then add back on.

This is good advice. I have done a lot of park riding over the years but never been on park crew :) I think one of the important hidden points here is just remembering to prepare for the extra exertion and taking steps to preempt the accumulation of sweat.

Yeah I remember snowboarding now...vaguely...crowds, lines, ugh. It did have its moments though...

Yeah I remember snowboarding now...vaguely...crowds, lines, ugh. It did have its moments though...
[/quote]

Same reason I gave up skiing

Great vid got to love that deep stuff.

Great vid got to love that deep stuff.[/b]
what resort were those pics from? If our jumps like that our cat driver would be hitting the highway. hehe. If you are ever out in the Denver area come visit Echo Mountain. I have not once seen a line there in two years. lift ride is just the right amount of time that it keeps everyone spread out on the hill. Echo Mountain (http://echomt.com/)

what resort were those pics from? If our jumps like that our cat driver would be hitting the highway. hehe. If you are ever out in the Denver area come visit Echo Mountain. I have not once seen a line there in two years. lift ride is just the right amount of time that it keeps everyone spread out on the hill. Echo Mountain (http://echomt.com/)[/b]

That table was in the baby park, but it was really icy out so we were warming up there. We stopped shooting snowboarding a few years ago when we got bored with it, that was the only semi-recent park shots I had laying around. Most of the pics are of my wife because she had a winning freestyle career going there for a while, but now there's no real money in boarding except for the ultra elite riders and it's all about who you know. My strength was racing but I did a ton of park and pipe just for fun and helping my wife train. I used to ride boards 4 to 5 days a week November through June weather permitting for about 8 years straight...heh...my knees are more into my current 1 to 2 days boarding and 1 to 2 days snowmobiling per week schedule. We can't afford to travel since we only work just enough to support our riding habits so I won't be going to Denver any time soon, I'll just have to take your word for it. :)