What Surprised You The Most?

[highpeaksdrifter]

What surprised you the most at Whiteface this season?

For me it was Blazer’s Bluff being skiable. I just never thought there would be enough snow to cover all those rocks. I’m glad I was wrong cause it’s a fun little trail.

[tjf67]

The Slides surprised me the most. With the precautions they put in place last year I thought for sure they would be open.
Dissapointing very very dissapointing.
THey listen to the patrolers about the conditions in there a little to much. These are the same people that are all pissed off about being open till 4:30 cause they have to work. They dont want to go in there so they poo poo on my parade.


Other than that great short year.

[Tsavolion]

What surprised you the most at Whiteface this season?

For me it was Blazer’s Bluff being skiable. I just never thought there would be enough snow to cover all those rocks. I’m glad I was wrong cause it’s a fun little trail.

that FHW never once beat Phin and I to the mountain despite the amount of times he was taunted.

[Skier 4 Life]

How 'bout the fact that we had such great conditions after MLK weekend up to now, especially after havin' such a tough start to the season? Kudos to the mountain staff for makin' this one of the best seasons in recent memory! :D

[freeheelwilly]

that FHW never once beat Phin and I to the mountain despite the amount of times he was taunted.

Are your pants actually on fire right now? Just curious.

[Phineas]

could not believe how deep slide 3 was on Saturday and was blown away when we got her again on Sunday and it was nipple deep down 3!

Best slide days ever! 8)

[freeheelwilly]

heh,heh He said "nipple"

Heh, heh, heh

http://btjdesign.com/emoticons/16.gif

[Tsavolion]

that FHW never once beat Phin and I to the mountain despite the amount of times he was taunted.

Are your pants actually on fire right now? Just curious.


http://upload7.postimage.org/418604/smackwithtrout.gif (http://upload7.postimage.org/418604/photo_hosting.html)

[Face4Me]

How 'bout the fact that we had such great conditions after MLK weekend up to now, especially after havin' such a tough start to the season? Kudos to the mountain staff for makin' this one of the best seasons in recent memory! :D
Agreed! ... Weekend of Jan 6/7 was one of the most pathetic things I've ever seen ... Things REALLY turned around after that!!!

[snowman]

most surprised by how quick the season changed on Valentine's Day. Then it was great. Also surprised by the amount of bump left on the mountain after that. Lot o fun. I can't remeber it being as bumped up last year. Really too bad the World Cup Freestyle was cancelled.
Hate to see the snow go. Not that it is over yet, but I will be a year older next year when I do it again!

[AdironRider]

The prolonged length of no thaw we had after MLK weekend.

[NPN]

The Slides surprised me the most. With the precautions they put in place last year I thought for sure they would be open.
Dissapointing very very dissapointing.
THey listen to the patrolers about the conditions in there a little to much. These are the same people that are all pissed off about being open till 4:30 cause they have to work. They dont want to go in there so they poo poo on my parade.


Other than that great short year.

Posts like this!

Who do you think you are dissing the ski patrol?

I'm lucky enough to get to know what these people do personally.

So, until you have to drag some nasty excuse for a body out of some tree well, or worse, shut your cyber mouth about something as insignificant as whether, or not you get to get into the Slides.

If you had half a brain, you would understand why they never opened after the ridiculous start to this season.

[highpeaksdrifter]

The Slides surprised me the most. With the precautions they put in place last year I thought for sure they would be open.
Dissapointing very very dissapointing.
THey listen to the patrolers about the conditions in there a little to much. These are the same people that are all pissed off about being open till 4:30 cause they have to work. They dont want to go in there so they poo poo on my parade.


Other than that great short year.

Posts like this!

Who do you think you are dissing the ski patrol?

I'm lucky enough to get to know what these people do personally.

So, until you have to drag some nasty excuse for a body out of some tree well, or worse, shut your cyber mouth about something as insignificant as whether, or not you get to get into the Slides.

If you had half a brain, you would understand why they never opened after the ridiculous start to this season.

NPN, it seems to me that a wordsmith such as yourself could have crafted your post so that you could get your point across without being insulting. How about shooting for that in the future?

Posts like these only cause hard feelings, flame wars, and locked threads.

Have fun in Utah.

[freeheelwilly]

Posts like these only cause hard feelings, flame wars, and locked threads.

:lol: :lol: That's exactly what I was looking forward to after reading his post! Holy Moley that was an overreaction! Most excellent! After TJ reads it we can all look forward to a little of this:

http://btjdesign.com/emoticons/cannon.gif

some of this:

http://btjdesign.com/emoticons/flamethrow.gif

and lots of this:


http://btjdesign.com/emoticons/Itchy-Scratchy.gif

[tjf67]

The Slides surprised me the most. With the precautions they put in place last year I thought for sure they would be open.
Dissapointing very very dissapointing.
THey listen to the patrolers about the conditions in there a little to much. These are the same people that are all pissed off about being open till 4:30 cause they have to work. They dont want to go in there so they poo poo on my parade.


Other than that great short year.

Posts like this!

Who do you think you are dissing the ski patrol?

I'm lucky enough to get to know what these people do personally.

So, until you have to drag some nasty excuse for a body out of some tree well, or worse, shut your cyber mouth about something as insignificant as whether, or not you get to get into the Slides.

If you had half a brain, you would understand why they never opened after the ridiculous start to this season.


being only a half a brainer i dont understand. When I was in there I was in snow up to my yummy yummy nipples. It was fine and could have been enjoyed by all. Ski Patrol signed up for the job and unfortunatley there are parts of every job that are not enjoyed, however it is there job. you keep on gulping there man juice NPN and we will never be in there.

[joyparkway]

What surprised me the most this season was TJ referring to his nipples as "yummy yummy."

[Denison]

I always surprized seeing parking lots full by 10 am and half-empty mountain. Where do all those people go...?

What surprised me the most this season was TJ referring to his nipples as "yummy yummy."

TMI-TMI-TMI-TMI
Keep it in the BR no one want to hear that!!!!!!!!!

[AdironRider]

Seriously NPN, ski patrollers are already full enough about themselves as it is. They signed up for the job, and they have it pretty good, so I dont give a crap about what they have to do. Slides were skiable this year, patrol pussed out.

[highpeaksdrifter]

TMI-TMI-TMI-TMI


Hmmmm...that's a real brain teaser. Did you ever write for Jumble?

[highpeaksdrifter]

Seriously NPN, ski patrollers are already full enough about themselves as it is. They signed up for the job, and they have it pretty good, so I dont give a crap about what they have to do. Slides were skiable this year, patrol pussed out.

They're the hardest workers on the mountain and they do it for low pay (full timers). You can't run a ski area without them. You are either very young, know very little about mountain operations or both. Your pussed out take is way off base. :roll:

[AdironRider]

I understand the work they put in, and believe you me, Id be grateful as hell if they showed up with a sled when I really needed it. But your telling me those full timers would give up the job? Nah, Im not buying that. There are plenty of people ready and willing to take their spot, myself included. If the job was really as bad as your making it sound they would either be paid more or have less people looking for work in the area. Given that those facets dont exist, I have little sympathy for the "hardships" of a ski patroller.

[tjf67]

I like a lot of the patrolers. They do have hard job however it is a job and with the good comes the bad.

[highpeaksdrifter]

But your telling me those full timers would give up the job? Nah, Im not buying that. There are plenty of people ready and willing to take their spot, myself included. If the job was really as bad as your making it sound they would either be paid more or have less people looking for work in the area. Given that those facets dont exist, I have little sympathy for the "hardships" of a ski patroller.

I know of full time patrollers who have given up the job because they couldn't afford to live on what they make. It's not just at WF, it's the case everywhere.

If you want the job get your EMT cert. and apply.

A patroller once told me this joke.

Q. What's the difference between a pinic table and a ski patrol job?
A. The pinic table can support a family of 4.

I have nothing but respect for the life style choice they've made. It sure isn't about the money, it's because they love what they do.

[AdironRider]

I fully plan on getting my EMT cert to try and score a gig out west, not sure how well that will work out, but its worth a shot.

I can understand how you couldnt support a family on a patrollers wages, but they know what theyre getting into ahead of time. They love the job, and sacrifice money willingly to get the gig that they have. Lets be honest here, if you could do it, can you think of many other professions that allow you to do what we all love most to do? Maybe if your a pro freeskier or something, but in the real world, it doesnt get any better. That being the case, I dont get why some people get way offended and feel the need to defend the statement that patrollers have it so bad. They made the choice in their profession, there shouldnt be this notion that its so tough and hard in some sort of way to legitimize what they do.

[NPN]

The Slides surprised me the most. With the precautions they put in place last year I thought for sure they would be open.
Dissapointing very very dissapointing.
THey listen to the patrolers about the conditions in there a little to much. These are the same people that are all pissed off about being open till 4:30 cause they have to work. They dont want to go in there so they poo poo on my parade.


Other than that great short year.

Posts like this!

Who do you think you are dissing the ski patrol?

I'm lucky enough to get to know what these people do personally.

So, until you have to drag some nasty excuse for a body out of some tree well, or worse, shut your cyber mouth about something as insignificant as whether, or not you get to get into the Slides.

If you had half a brain, you would understand why they never opened after the ridiculous start to this season.

NPN, it seems to me that a wordsmith such as yourself could have crafted your post so that you could get your point across without being insulting. How about shooting for that in the future?

Posts like these only cause hard feelings, flame wars, and locked threads.

Have fun in Utah.

Agreed.

Sadly, I made the mistake of reading the forums after finding out that I won't be heading to Utah after all, and some of that upset unfortunately ended up in the post. So, as it's too late to delete, I'll ask all to do a mental edit, and respond only to the core comments.

[highpeaksdrifter]

But your telling me those full timers would give up the job? Nah, Im not buying that. There are plenty of people ready and willing to take their spot, myself included. If the job was really as bad as your making it sound they would either be paid more or have less people looking for work in the area. .


I dont get why some people get way offended and feel the need to defend the statement that patrollers have it so bad. They made the choice in their profession, there shouldnt be this notion that its so tough and hard in some sort of way to legitimize what they do.

If you want to rant about something I didn't write go ahead, but I never said they have it hard.

You aren't buying that full timers would give up their job. I wrote I know of some that did and why, which was they needed to make more money. Lot's of people do that in all sorts of professions.

You keep saying hardships. I've said that they are hard working and a vidal part of a ski areas ability to operate. I think the job they do should get more respect then "pussing out".

I don't know why the Slides weren't open this season and neither do you, but I'm guessing it was for saftey reasons not what you suggested.

[jackstraw]

i though ghosty's post stated their (patrol) position perfectly. don't hate the patrol, they're just doing their job and sometimes they have to make unpopular decisions. it's also not fair to generalize when speaking about a group of people. some patrolers have power issues but most that i have met and know are good guys just doing their job.

adronrider - western patrol is hard work, especially as a rookie! a lot of shoveling the pads (on lift poles) out on powder days (over and over...it snows a lot!) while everyone else is rippin' by you getting faceshots. i personally wouldn't want that job, not enough time to free ski. dropping bombs would be cool though.

[Jack the Ripper]

What surprised you the most at Whiteface this season?

For me it was Blazer’s Bluff being skiable. I just never thought there would be enough snow to cover all those rocks. I’m glad I was wrong cause it’s a fun little trail.

that FHW never once beat Phin and I to the mountain despite the amount of times he was taunted.

Wrong. :shock: The weekend I stayed at bigg willy's he got up to drive with me to the hill on Sunday morning. We skied Mountain Run in the best condition it's ever been in IMO. U two didn't show until like NOON that day. :twisted:

[Jack the Ripper]

Seriously NPN, ski patrollers are already full enough about themselves as it is. They signed up for the job, and they have it pretty good, so I dont give a crap about what they have to do. Slides were skiable this year, patrol pussed out.

:shock: :shock:

They should have maybe been opened that nipple weekend and maybe a few days around there but other than that ski patrol made a good call. Walk a mile in their shoes before running your mouth. :twisted:

[tjf67]

i though ghosty's post stated their (patrol) position perfectly. don't hate the patrol, they're just doing their job and sometimes they have to make unpopular decisions. it's also not fair to generalize when speaking about a group of people. some patrolers have power issues but most that i have met and know are good guys just doing their job.

adronrider - western patrol is hard work, especially as a rookie! a lot of shoveling the pads (on lift poles) out on powder days (over and over...it snows a lot!) while everyone else is rippin' by you getting faceshots. i personally wouldn't want that job, not enough time to free ski. dropping bombs would be cool though.

Oh the good old days. Pops in law got u under his thumb now. Now go take care of his little girl before he fires you.

[Phineas]

Oh the good old days. Pops in law got u under his thumb now. Now go take care of his little girl before he fires you.[/quote]

spank-a-roo on you JakieBoy!

[sleestak]

What surprised me the most this season was TJ referring to his nipples as "yummy yummy."

its beyond bizzare to say the very least.

I picked up a pair of Nordica Enforcers at the end of the year at the right price. I can't believe how these babies skied!!!! Floated right over that mushy shit and carved up the hard stuff like my Atomic B11's. Can't put them in the rack of the gondi. They're 135 tip/ 99 under foot/ 125 tail. Super light with the BD Freeride bindings. After S4L and I got lost in the woods at Vail this is the only binding I will use out west. Gets you out the flats you come across. Can't wait to ski them in Tahoe.

[Faceplant]

Surprised how much better it is than Connector. Safer and more fun.

Re: ski patrol. Sure, some are better than others but they are kinda like volunteer firemen: Dogooders that quietly go through a lot of training to do a (mostly) thankless job for little or nothing. Because somebody has to! During a lot of big (and little) most volunteers got vouchers, lunch and sometimes a gift but the patrol doesn't even get the box lunch.
What keeps them going is beyond me.

[sleestak]

Surprised how much better it is than Connector. Safer and more fun.

Re: ski patrol. Sure, some are better than others but they are kinda like volunteer firemen: Dogooders that quietly go through a lot of training to do a (mostly) thankless job for little or nothing. Because somebody has to! During a lot of big (and little) most volunteers got vouchers, lunch and sometimes a gift but the patrol doesn't even get the box lunch.
What keeps them going is beyond me.

ski patrol does get paid, so you cant really compare to someone who is volunteering. they choose to be ski patrolers because they obviously love the ski and be on the mountain. they are ski bums. if they werent ski patrolers, they would be working in another low paying job in a ski community. thats pretty much the only jobs that allow you to ski everyday. i dont think its a thankless job either. there are a lot iof really cool ski patrolers--there are also a lot of tools too. same as anywhere--thats society.

i dont see how johns bypass is safer than connector. i used connector this year more than johns bypass just because johns bypass isnt accessed by my "regular route" to get from little wface to summit chair.

[AdironRider]

Johns bypass is sweet midweek when noones there and you can fly off the left side of that last rollover.

[tjf67]

Is an accident waiting to happen. You come into that trail and the contour pushes you into the middle which is aways icey with intermitant bumps. You go over the rollers and it very hard to control your speed. I consider myself a decent skier and still have problems in there controling myself. I myself duck the connector rope a lot just because I do not feel in control on the bypass.
It has relieved the cluster that it was designed to do.

[AdironRider]

I dont have any problems really, but I suppose on crowded days it could get a little dicey in there.