Your Greatest Day, Snow Edition

[JTG]

Thoughts of an uncertain season ahead, on the heels of a season interrupted, they got me to thinking about seasons gone by.

Or maybe it was the Scotch. Or the home grown. I don’t know.

So, in thinking on days gone by I began to think....’what was my greatest day skiing?’ Seemed like a good idea for a thread!

Call it the best...or greatest...or most significant...day related to skiing or sliding (even it it wasn’t spent on snow) in your life....what day stands out?


PS......I realize how hard that is, to pick A (single) day. So, you CAN share more than one.....but only if the story to go with each is good!

 

[JTG]

I have to say....my greatest day skiing goes way back to a day at Mount Snow almost 35 years ago. The snow wasn’t great, nor were the turns. However, it was a day spent teaching my future wife and her friends to ski. That day on snow changed my life. From sitting by the fireplace that night to raising three beautiful children, my wife and I have been together since that day. THAT was a day.

Of course, there’s gotta be a day related to turns, right? That’s the kind of stuff we really wanna hear on a ski blog. My best day of turns...that would be a day from perhaps my least successful storm chase. Actually, the only trip I’ve ever been skunked. Chasing storms to Tahoe is a dicey proposition. But there I was, post storm at Squaw, just the KT chair, with long lines....but I did have a lesson booked! Long story short....I spent the day with a Squaw local and skier-cross Olympian skiing the shit out of KT. The lesson cut the lines, and we hit up the Fingers and steep, off-map chutes that have been written up by the DesLauriers bothers in ski mags, in addition to the usual KT steeps. That ski experience, replete with beers at Le Chamois and my guide for the day recounting my East Coast billy-goat styling the Fingers....that was a great day of pure turns.

 

[MiSkier]

My best day was April 4th 2018. Nubs Nob in Northern Michigan got 12”-15” of snow and I had thought my ski season was done

Nubs Nob Michigan 4/4/18

Harvey said he would love to see a ski report from a Mi ski area. This is from what was the best day I have ever had. I thought my ski season was over, but when a winter storm warning was issued for Northern Michigan and 12-18" of snow forecasted, my buddy at work and I made a last minute...

nyskiblog.com

 

[Harvey]

I feel like I am influenced by recency. I remember the most recent days most fondly.

I have two greatest days that really stick out. First one for now.

The first has to be Riley at Plattekill. To be there, on those Halls lifts, in a monster blizzard, skiing incredible snow, all day long, no competition, only friends, while the rest of the region was fully shut down. It was amazing.

Plattekill: The Life of Riley

Plattekill was perfectly suited for a storm named Riley.

nyskiblog.com

Woke up to this after going to bed in the rain...

Margaretville

Driving over following @marcski

THE MAN himself: Riley before 1st Chair

@MC2 ...

...goes DEEP

Stacey

Total Harvana

Next day...

@Scottski63

Chris

@marcski

Twist

End of Day 2, full lift and empty trails

 

[ScottySkis]

SlC picked a week where it snows 100 inches in week it was heavenly from 2010. I ski all 4 mountains their amazing memories???????

 

[gefiltephish]

2017 Hut trip with my girlfriend outside of Aspen. Aspen Highlands Spring 2018. Employee-only ski day day after Breck closed, mid-April 2013. Platty opening day last season.

 

[MarzNC]

Didn't ski enough the first two seasons back in middle school at North Country School to have a best day memory. But I remember my first afternoon on skis vividly. Spent two hours doing snowplow turns on straight skis over my head down the lake hill and hiking back up. Loved it! Very sore the next day. Didn't start skiing regularly enough to deal with more than groomers for about 35 years after that.

The run in recent years that is totally unforgettable was at Alta in April 2019. It was the first time I skied Ballroom non-stop for fresh tracks right after the traverse opened. I was sitting next to a patroller on the lift ride up when he got the news on his radio that the roped was being dropped. He told me and the two other guys on the lift. I was a little nervous since I was skiing solo. But seeing the line moving along when I unloaded, I couldn't resist. The last time I'd been at the top of Collins right after the rope drop was in 2008, several years before I was skied well enough to make good powder turns.

I decided to follow a father and two kids who were obviously locals. They dropped in earlier than the powder hounds at the head of the line. What was unusual was that Main Street hadn't been groomed at all. You can see the girl in pink in the first picture. She went first. Fell after a few turns, popped right back up, and continued on. After that I took a deep breath, counted to 3, and went. I'd never skied untracked powder that deep, that fast, for that long. It. Was. A. Blast!

I was considering traversing over to the trees but as I and another skier were approaching someone yelled from up top "DON"T TRAVERSE" so we didn't. I kept right on going until I got to the rise on the trail, being careful to stay in tracks. Then stopped and enjoyed the view for a while.

 

[Benny Profane]

The old pre Olympic Snowbasin on a midweek, two day dump of sweet Utah pow, about two feet. There was maybe a hundred people on the second day at most all day long, maybe seven at the base chair at 9 am. Still had the crystals floating in the air, but, going bluebird. Met a local who showed me around after I offered a peace pipe on first chair. Always wish I got that guy's address so I could send him a Christmas card or two.

 

[Brownski]

I can’t identify one day. The two seasons I was at the mountain full time I got in tons of really good skiing but it all blends together at this point. The same with teaching my kids to kids to ski. I guess I need to head out west again, or to Europe, so that I can differentiate days and trips.

 

[raisingarizona]

I’ve had a lifetime of “best days”. I can’t pick one or two or even 20. It’s been one hell of a ride.

Four Pines, Jackson. 1999.

I have to say though, as far as conditions go I have more fun on the super fast, wind buffed days than the usual choice of mega deep blower pow. That’s fun too but it can ski pretty slow.