 Poster: A snowHead
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....and 6 days of decent powder skiing. Have we been unlucky?
We skied 70 days last winter in Austria (over 6 trips) and have managed 59 days skiing so far this year, including 25 consecutive days in Summit County, Colorado. We are in Keystone at the moment and tomorrow will mark day 25 (& the final day) of our current trip. We've had great conditions but, alas, only a couple of days when we've had (wait for it..) 3 or 4" of powder. So much for the legendary Colorado snow... 
Nevertheless, we've had a great trip. We've skied Keystone, Beaver Creek, Vail, Breckenridge and Arapahoe Basin.
Europe has a lot to learn. Too much grooming in Europe IMHO and a free for all in lift queues.
We were told today, by a local, that this year has seen a snow drought in Colorado and unseasonably warm temperatures. Still very good by our standards!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Yes you have been. Very very unlucky.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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129 days skiing? I should stop moaning immediately if I were you! 
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| Charliegolf wrote: |
| 129 days skiing? I should stop moaning immediately if I were you! |
Indeed.
I have had a grand total of 75 days skiing in the mountains in my life (plus a few more days worth on dry slopes/fridges).
And that is spread over 20 years, limited to a maximum of 1 trip per year, with several years in the middle when finances were against (kids going through university then).
I be jealous of anybody who can get in 129 days in two years.
[EDIT]
Actually 81 days skiing, I had missed one trip in my calculations.
Last edited by You need to Login to know who's really who. on Thu 10-03-16 13:37; edited 2 times in total
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@Bergmeister, you have been unlucky IMO.
This year has been such a bad season (in Austria, and apart from the Arlberg, which is in its own bubble) I've mostly only been skiing on weekends, and still have 5 proper (30cm+) powder days. Could have had another 3 maybe during weekdays, but that would have been expensive as I didn't buy a Montafon season pass this year.
Last season was below average in Austria too, but I had more than double the amount of good powder days compared to this season. Where were you and when?
Is Colorado snow legendary? I thought it was legendary for long cold dry spells that breed huge faceted crystals, terrifyingly touchy snowpacks and big remotely-triggered slabs, great terrain in April when the snow stabilises, and the odd really cold blower pow day. It's too continental for really regular snowfall, isn't it?
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| alex_heney wrote: |
I be jealous of anybody who can get in 129 days in two years. |
Anyone can do that - including you. It does involve a fair amount of sacrifice though!
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Sacrifice= Food and clothing; and selling various children for organ harvesting! (Though, now I think of it, I just had a week in 3V for £624 HB!)
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| clarky999 wrote: |
| alex_heney wrote: |
I be jealous of anybody who can get in 129 days in two years. |
Anyone can do that - including you. It does involve a fair amount of sacrifice though! |
In my case, the first sacrifice would be my marriage
Even if we won many millions on the lottery I couldn't do 65 days a year while keeping that intact, as my wife has no interest whatsoever in skiing, or even taking a holiday in winter mountains.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| Charliegolf wrote: |
| Sacrifice= Food and clothing; and selling various children for organ harvesting! (Though, now I think of it, I just had a week in 3V for £624 HB!) |
If I wasn't married, I could afford (and get the leave for) 6 weeks a year while keeping my current job. But that is still only around half the above amount using standard trips where you only get to ski 6-6.5 days per one week trip.
Of course, if I wasn't married, I could always move to somewhere like Austria, assuming I could get a job there (which I probably would).
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| alex_heney wrote: |
| Charliegolf wrote: |
| Sacrifice= Food and clothing; and selling various children for organ harvesting! (Though, now I think of it, I just had a week in 3V for £624 HB!) |
If I wasn't married, I could afford (and get the leave for) 6 weeks a year while keeping my current job. But that is still only around half the above amount using standard trips where you only get to ski 6-6.5 days per one week trip.
Of course, if I wasn't married, I could always move to somewhere like Austria, assuming I could get a job there (which I probably would). |
This goes pretty much exactly for me too, in fact there's more demand for people in my field (and at much higher salaries) in Switzerland than the UK. I often tell my wife that it's a good job I really love her, but even with the alternative being a Swiss salary an hour from the mountains, she's always going to win. Just.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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@Bergmeister,
Yes, unlucky. Last year (which was a dry year in Chamonix) out of 80 ski days I managed about 6 or 7 of real power. So few, and spread out I had no idea what to do when I ended up in the soft stuff.
This year out of 37 days (a torn knee meniscus and some filthy weather causing quite a break) I have managed 10/15 in belting powder. The worst of which was better than the best last year. 30 years climbing has taught me that stacking up mediocre or poor days is all part of earning the good ones.
Stick with it; my best day last year was 30 April when, following days of rain and filth, my son and I had a whole day of 18 inches of powder on the grands Montets with empty lifts and glaciers. Then the heavens opened and we came home.
What a lottery
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Depends on how you define powder..........
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You know it makes sense.
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A season is approx 100 days give or take. Depending on how you define it (boot high, waisted deep, stiff) in my experience over 12 seasons you get between 6 and 12 powder days in Chamonix so about ten percent. So 6 in 129 is not great but not totally unusual. One of the reasons I think skiers struggle in powder is even seasonaires don't get that much experience in it.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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You can find powder practically the whole winter if you know where to look. Obviously not Chamonix though.
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Poster: A snowHead
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@davidof, shhh!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@Charliegolf,
I'm not moaning - honest! After being stuck with school hols skiing for 24 years we really appreciate our new found freedom and genuinely love each day in the mountains, despite what the weather throws at us.
Just saying, however, that (based on the law of averages alone) I would gave hoped for a bit more powder skiing than we have had. By powder skiing I mean more than a couple of inches of freshies.
The 2 epic days we had last season were in Berwang at the end of January (more than knee deep), with great powder before that in Damuls in mid Jan. This year we had great powder in See at the end of January.
@clarky999,
Last season we skied in 33 resorts, using the Tirol Snowcard. Glacier skiing from October to December, then a 3 week trip in January (Oetztal, Paznauntal, Venet, Fiss/Serfaus, Kaunertal & Berwang). In March we skied at Alpbach, Zillertal and Ost Tirol, then in April and May did more glacier skiing. A great season, nevertheless.
In November 2015 we had a week skiing, split between Stubai and Hintertux. Then in January this year we had a 3 week trip to Oetztal and Paznauntal, followed by our Feb trip to Colorado.
We are heading to Austria again at the end of March for 10 days - nothing booked yet, other than the flight. Here's hoping!
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@Bergmeister, I know, and having taken up skiing in 2015 aged 58, my wife and I plan a season as soon as she retires. We're hooked!
CG
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| Bergmeister wrote: |
....and 6 days of decent powder skiing. Have we been unlucky?
We skied 70 days last winter in Austria (over 6 trips) and have managed 59 days skiing so far this year, including 25 consecutive days in Summit County, Colorado. We are in Keystone at the moment and tomorrow will mark day 25 (& the final day) of our current trip. We've had great conditions but, alas, only a couple of days when we've had (wait for it..) 3 or 4" of powder. So much for the legendary Colorado snow... |
Based on those locations, you should have seen around 10-30 powdays above 15cm of fresho.
Just 6 days is, indeed, unlucky.
But not entirely unexpected.
The reality is, the European Alps does not get much snow. And the Alps continue to melt, heatup and dry, due to global warming.
It is only going to get harder to find Alps pow in the future.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Bergmeister wrote: |
| Europe has a lot to learn. Too much grooming in Europe IMHO |
Eh? Care to elaborate...?
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@davidof, even chamonix but you need to put in the effort.
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@shiva_71,
Colorado leaves a reasonable number of runs unpisted, with bumps being allowed to build up for those of us who like to ski 'em. In most resorts there are dozens of bump runs.
In comparison, Europe offers the odd bump run.
It's no wonder Europe breeds speed demons who can't handle anything but perfectly groomed pistes...
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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I think it's all about quality not quantity, though being out for the whole season one does have that luxury.
I don't actually keep a diary, though I do upload my more interesting days to Strava, but we might go for 5 days or so without going up the hill if the conditions are dire. I've actually been known to be out cycling when the OffPiste Bash are doing their thing here 
As for powder days again I don't keep track but I very rarely bother to go out if there's not the chance of scoring some untracked, though I do include spring snow in that mix which I enjoy almost as much as powder.
Oh and I probably do more touring than lift assisted in a season so that might explain a little to the above.
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| Bergmeister wrote: |
@shiva_71,
Colorado leaves a reasonable number of runs unpisted, with bumps being allowed to build up for those of us who like to ski 'em. In most resorts there are dozens of bump runs.
In comparison, Europe offers the odd bump run.
It's no wonder Europe breeds speed demons who can't handle anything but perfectly groomed pistes... |
I see...well, now i know why all US forums/trip/gear review sites constantly bleat on about bumps all the time!
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FAQ
We have been really lucky most years having some powder days every time we travel. This year has probably been the worst.
