Lucky for Chile!

Meanwhile, in the US:

I had some conversations in a Skiing Forum last week and I got the idea that I should figure out how many mountains I could get to without a plane.

So for the last 6 days I've researched 412 ski areas in North America. (Mostly in the US) and came up with this handy little spreadsheet.

I've made it so anyone with a link can leave a comment, so if you see I've made a mistake, feel free to correct me. Or if you think you have a better way of getting somehwhere, would love to hear about it.

Results: There are around 87 ski areas I could walk out my front door and never sit in a personal vehicle to arrive at, which is pretty awesome. Most are out west or in the North East. There are 29 more resorts with a mostly complete transportation network, and I'd have to use taxi services pretty sparingly.

Shuttle/Transit: Yes - pretty much means you can get from Amtrak/greyhound station to the ski area with regularly scheduled transit/shuttle options

Yes-Partial: Pretty much depends on day of the week, or peak season whether its yes or partial.

Partial - you can get from the transit station to the ski area with minimal hired travel options. Some are transit gets you close and you have to figure out the last two miles, some are the resort area has ample local transit, but no connection to the Amtrak/Greyhound station.

No - I found no viable option of getting to the ski area without being required to hire a private vehicle for significant portions of travel between the station and the ski area.

Methodology for this spreadsheet:

I started with this Wikipedia article.

I then located each ski hill using a combination of google maps and openskimap.

I then calculated the closest Amtrak and greyhound bus station. Not all Amtrak stations are strictly the closest physical station. Some list the station with the fastest greyhound connection.

Pretty much exclusively Wyoming and Montana have this issue.

I then used google maps to check for public transit between the relevant transit stations and the ski area. I also checked the ski resort websites for getting here/shuttle information.

I used this map for Amtrak stations. And used this page for greyhound stations.

Problems: I'm sure I'm missing some ski areas from the list, I have already added a few the wiki article missed. I'm sure there's tons of Canadian resorts I could update for, I just don't know a whole lot about their trains or bussing, and I don't have a passport, so the priority for me is low.

I'm also sure some Amtrak stations are incorrect because the map I was using is somewhat out of date. And it doesn't list all Amtrak stations. I refined my system as I went, so the later in the alphabet the state, the more accurate the Amtrak station.

When I started I had planned to list the owners of every ski area, but that turned out to be time consuming information to dig up. So I stopped doing that. For the most part I don't care beyond the big 4 corps.

Things I will probably end up doing. I'll probably end up filling in every ski areas average closing/opening dates, and finish updating average snowfall amounts from on the snow

Interesting Factoids:

I found 4 mountains that advertise you can rent them for a day. Certainly cheaper than I'd expect, not affordable, but certainly less than expected.

Steeplechase has an interesting season pass partner program.

Badger Pass is operated by the same company that provides Amtrak with concessions, and yet Amtrak does not return the favor with transportation. I call bullshit.

Took a day off work for skiing with one of my kiddos. It was so nice having the entire hill to ourselves. I don't ever want to ski on a busy Saturday again.

Skied a bit at Muggenbrunn a few weeks ago, a very small ski area in the black forest.

This storm is looking pretty good.

I would love to be out this weekend at Perfect North but I have family obligations that noone will cancel until there's snow on the ground. Which will be too late for me to safely drive down.

WV is looking to have a great snow event as well.

Video here,

Went to Perfect North yesterday, it was very slushy. As you can see, I was pretty intimidated by the slope, but I feel like I did a decent job, the turn shape was okay.

The form could use some work, and I could definitely do it with less time spent traversing. Heading to Timberline again this weekend to get a few more days in.

It's gorgeous. That's all.

12 days of the next 17, it's going to be so warm snow will continue to melt overnight. I'm honestly afraid my local ski hill will close in January.

I'll start.

Today the Count is 1. Hoping to hit 15.

Did 9 runs in 4 hrs before my thigh gave out.

I already feel more confident and sure versus last year. Terrain that was moderately difficult last season felt easy. What a difference an off season makes.

Ski season should be less than a month away in my part of the world. It can't get here soon enough.

It's finally started to cool off in inland southern California, which has got me itching to see it start snowing in the mountains!

Embrace love, not hate

Anybody knows a company or shoemaker who could make me fully rigid cross-country boots with a totally unusual profile?

Unlike downhill ski boots, XC boots are flexible: they're designed to let you push off with your toes. The problem is, I don't have any.

So without doing anything, the front of my boots isn't supported at all: I have trouble controlling my skis, the boots fold and bite on my tender bits at each step and eventually collapse completely in short order, ruining a new pair of boots in a matter of miles.

Currently, my solution is the shortest boots I could find that fit me with stiffening steel bars bolted under the soles:

They work okay for classic XC skiing and they're usable for a bit of skating, but they're not ideal:

• I have to use Rottefella bindings that grab the boots with two thin "hooks" instead of a full-width attachment so they can straddle the bars under my shoes. They work fine when they're new but they quickly develop play. I hate the design of Rottefella bindings but I have to use them with my modified boots.

• When skating, even with the stiffening bars, the boots are simply too floppy and I have difficulty controlling the skis and skiing efficiently.

• The boots are too long, and since I have less force and almost no pushoff, they're very tiring.

For me, the ideal XC boot would be a fully-rigid downhill-style boot with a NNN binding, very short and very wide at the front (think size 11 boots in width, size 7 in length and squared off at the front).

I could conceivably modify DH boots to adapt NNN attachments, but they wouldn't fit me right if they were regular profile boots anyway.

So I'm looking for a ski boot maker who could take acrylic resin prints of my feet (I have those) and build custom-fitting boots around them, either fully rigid custom XC boots or custom DH boot that I could modify myself for XC. Like carbon fiber boots or something. Money is not too much of an object: the kids have been out of the house for quite some time 🙂

Anybody knows someone who might be able to help me?

From the article, “Kari Medig captures skiing like nobody else”.

You may remember me from last year posting about my first day skiing, well no worries, I'm here to stay.

So far I've skied 9 days this season. 5 days at Perfect North 4 days at Caberfea

At the end of last season I bought brand new boots and some used skis, they've been great. They've almost paid for themselves in saved rental savings alone.

I've made some serious gains this season in skills. I can now carve on purpose and hockey stop.

Went to Michigan New Years week, the only week without snow, and skied in some real awful conditions. Didnt ski Saturday or Sunday because it was raining, went Monday for some real Mashed Potato snow, tuesday got cold and it firmed up, wednesday was Dust on crust, which turned into a surprise 7" overnight into excellent conditions for Thursday, because with the humidity, Wednesday night was finally cold enough for making snow. But like always, a bunch of days in a row skiing is always a big level up.

I've now hit all intermediate terrain at Perfect North, and I hit Canyon at Caberfea. I'm hoping to do a trip to West Virginia in February and do my first real Mountains. I'm still working on my angulation, and getting my body downhill. Pole plants really help with it, but the steeper the terrain the harder it is to make myself do it lol.

I think I'll spend the rest of this season building my confidence, and maybe tackle some Black Diamonds when I get more comfortable with the steeper terrain.

My Vantage 75c's are starting to chatter on me, at higher speeds. Will likely take it in for a tune soon and see if that solves the issue or if I need new skis. Im looking at the Maverick 86c or 88Ti. I'm hoping to cut weight this off season, but right now I'm 5' 11" and 260 pounds. Waiting until the ski swap next fall may be the correct option.

Anyways, thanks for reading my rant about this season. What have been up to this season?

For those unfamiliar, if you are going up hill on skis and you are making switchbacks up the hill, when you want to turn around you need to do a very awkward turn that humbles everyone.

The big mountains had bad avalanche forecasts so we picked a route in the foothills and had a great tour. The snow was a little thin at spots but mostly it was bouncy and un-tracked. After some lunch we did the middle section again. 1400m total ascent.

I'm going to Caberfea Peaks in Michigan, December 27th to January 3rd.

My local hill of Perfect North probably won't be open before then, the forecast looks awful.