Chasing Ice

Come join us Earth Day, Tuesday, April 22, for a screening of the 2012 acclaimed documentary, Chasing Ice. The film starts at 6 PM in The 6th Alley Bar and Grill. Arrive early for dinner and drinks. Award winning photographer James Balog deploys revolutionary time-lapse cameras across the brutal Arctic to capture a multi-year record of the world's changing glaciers. Seeing this film needs to be on your "must do" list. You can make a voluntary $5 donation at the door and all proceeds go to "Snowriders International", a grassroots organization promoting winter sports and protection of the environment. Check out their website, www.snowridersinternational.org. For details on the film, go to www.chasingice.com.

Today was another beautiful spring day. Enjoy the view from the Black Mountain Lodge deck after closing this afternoon.

Enduro Success

I took a personal day, so of course, went to The Basin for some skiing and to enjoy watching The Enduro. Great Day. An brief, but productive, early morning snow shower gave the skiers and riders an inch or two of fluff to enjoy the start. From the running LeMans start to 10 hours of power skiing made for a great show. A number of old faces, Ed, Jaime', Juice, and Joey, were on hand rekindling old friendships. The after party and silent auction, with music by High Five, was awesome and, hopefully, we raised a few bucks for the Trevor Giles family. To me, this event is emblematic of the A-Basin spirit. Good, hard skiing and riding, lots of friends, a good cause, ripping music, a good meal, and apres ski - A-Basin style.

In addition to watching The Enduro, Kay and I skied about 10 runs on The North Side, mostly The Spine, The Face, and North Glade. We lucked into some very nice fresh, soft turns in West Turbo. A couple of nice hikes delivered some fun skiing in East Vertical Cornice and Snorkel Nose on The Wall.

A Night In Italy

This past Saturday was our last Moonlight Dinner of the season. While the lift was turning, many people chose to hike up on their accord. With Daylight Savings Time, we were able to enjoy a stunning light show on The East Wall and Black Mountain. Chef Rybak delivered a wonderful Italian dinner for our guests. My favorites were the canneloni, the tiramasu and a bottle of Tuscan red. A nearly full moon guided us down the hill after dinner.

I was able to visit with many of our guests throughout the evening. One woman was so happy to be there she said "It was better than being backstage at Bowie." Wow and thank you. At some point in October, we will release the schedule for next year's dinners. It is hard to get a last minute reservation and all six of this season's dinners sold out weeks, if not months, in advance. It is, however, quite easy to make a reservation early in the ski season. Keep your eye out for next season's schedule. 

A special thank you goes out to Chef Rybak and crew for another great culinary season. I look forward to next year's feasts.

Enduro Wednesday

Wednesday is Enduro day. Come on out and watch your friends grind their way through 10 hours of Pali non-stops. It is a fun and exciting time. While some teams are very competitive with each other, most folks are out there having a great time, striving for personal bests. Top it all off with a great party and fundraiser in The 6th Alley Bar and Grill. All proceeds go to Trevor Giles, a close A-Basin friend paralyzed in a biking accident last summer. Join the fun.

6 Inches News

Just a few days ago I was writing about the first real day of spring. Well, wiinter is back. Today will be sunny with a high of only 25 degrees. Great day to be riding The Basin. Enjoy the sunrise view from the top of Zuma Lift.

Finish With A Bang

Our storm was a little late arriving today. Most of the forecasts showed snow falling by sunrise. It didn't really start snowing until early afternoon. When it did start, however, it started with a roar. We experienced heavy snowfall all afternoon. Just as the storm got rolling I did the North Pole hike and skied West Vertical Cornice. Very good. I spent the last 1 1/2 hours of the ski day on the North Side. As the afternoon progressed, each run was better and deeper. Right now, 6:20 PM, it is snowing heavily at home and I am expecting a big day tomorrow. Monday would be a good day to arrive early. See you then.

Pick Your Forecast

We had another great day of skiing. Early this afternoon I timed some turns in Montezuma with spring conditions that were perfect. I like it when the snow is just barely soft. We have a very promising forecast for snow. It looks like it will start just before dawn tomorrow and snow all day into the evening. We could be looking at 6-12 inches of new snow from the storm. Monday and Tuesday may be clear and we might be right back into the snow by mid week.These photos were taken yesterday morning on Zuma Lift.

Pali Morning

I managed to hop on Pali Lift at 8 AM this morning as the crew was getting the mountain open. It was the start of another stellar spring day. It is hard to imagine a sky much bluer. The corduroy was perfect and the mountains shined. Easy to see why some people call the Top of Pali "The Center of the Universe."