Scott Lucas’ Blog

I’ve been here in Tahoe since last Wednesday night. We had a great Christmas with Lynn’s mom (Millie) and, of course, Devin and Elena. The snow is really quite good and the coverage is above average for this time of year. Lynn, Millie, and I skied this morning for a couple of hours on Squaw Creek, Red Dog, Shirley Lake, and Solitude. All in all some nice skiing with the best snow on Shirley/Solitude.

Millie got a bit tired so Lynn and I went out on our own. We did a few laps over on Red Dog Ridge (quite good but watch for “unmarked obstacles” at the top), Oly Bowl (really nice), Break It Out (good but there’s a tricky spot about 2/3 of the way down with some finesse required through some rocks), and Tower 16 (nice to the skier’s right).

We picked Devin up from ski team and, after some cajoling from his buddy Charlie, we went out with PK and Cam (and Charlie) to finish off the afternoon in the Belmont park. Devin hit the big jump there. At first I thought he’d wiped out but it turns out he’d done an iron cross to the cheers of the crowd and stuck the landing. Charlie attempted the same trick with more painful results. He was OK but shaken.

I have a new HD helmet cam which I tried out today. Videos are importing into iMovie right now as I type. Looks good so far but we’ll see after I’ve had a chance to look more closely at the footage.

Charlie, Devin, PK, and I ended the day in Sundance. Wish I could ski like PK – he’s awesome and always fun to ski with.

Elena had a fever yesterday but today seemed clear. So tomorrow (Millie’s last day) will likely include some 3-year old skiing (which is, believe me, harder than keeping up with PK in Sundance).

Elena is still singing a happy, hopeful tune:

Rain, rain, come and stay

make it snow

so we can play!

She has some time to kill until December…

Sunday was the last day of the season and we were up to make a few turns and bid farewell to a great season. The snow was really quite good – I think they could ski for another month if they wanted to. Saturday they held the Cushing crossing. Devin and I watched the whole event from the sundeck. Good fun and a great way to end a wonderful season! I hate to see it end! Here’s hoping for an October 2009 powder dump!

Lynn’s mom is in town to help us with the kids while they’re off next week. We’re all heading up to Tahoe tomorrow for some 3-generation skiing! I think it’s extremely cool that we can all ski together. Thinking of taking D over to Alpine since ski team is over. He’s never been! And I haven’t been in a few years. Sad – I love Alpine but it’s just too easy to ski Squaw from the Haus!

Heading up tomorrow for the last mighty mites weekend! Devin’s big air competition is Saturday and the season finale awards ceremony is Sunday. What a great year it’s been! We love the mighties!

Long time since I posted. The season’s moving into Spring, which is a great time of year to ski except for the fact that it ends. Last weekend was incredible and unique. Saturday night we had very heavy snow and on Sunday morning we awoke to hand charges and 2 feet of fresh, light snow. Wow. The skiing was fantastic – I had at least 5 face shots on my first run (down Snag Tree) and that fun continued for most of the morning. Lynn and I had a babysitter for Elena which meant I could ski with my favorite ski buddy. Ben and Jenette were up too so we had a great time.

We picked up Devin at lunch and headed up Funitel which had not been open for too long. We cal Devin a powder-seeking missle and he lived up to that reputation. We pulled him through the flats or dug him out of the snow countless times. I discovered that the easiest way to get him back on his feet in the deep snow was to just lay down next to him and literally pick him up out of the snow. Then Shirley opened up and the three of us hiked over to Break It Out for more untracked. Devin is good. Really good. What huge fun!

We’re staying home this weekend. Work has exhausted both Lynn and I and we’re both hoping to sleep in this weekend. But I confess I’m going to be jonesing for it by Sunday.

It’s a terrible, obscene 4-letter word. But that’s what we’re seeing out the window this morning. We’re heading home…

What a great ski day we had today – Silverado is finally open, and the skiing is very fine. Lynn, Larry, and I went out this morning for a great session. We had a babysitter for Elena today (we’d forgotten she was booked and were surprised when she showed up at the door). So we had a rare opportunity for an all-adult session. We started off in the Funnel, which was in good shape. The rocks in the middle are still not completely covered, but the Elevator Shaft to skier’s left had some nice, chalky, wind-blown/consolidated snow. Then a few laps on Granite. Magoo’s was also in nice shape although I wasn’t happy with how I skied it. Readjusting to bumps after the heli trip I guess. Then a trip over to the Nose and out. I love the terrain in Granite but I have to confess I hate the chair. It’s slow and popular, meaning there’s just too much time spent either in line or in the seat.

From there we headed over to Silverado. We started in gate 3 and worked right a bit. I went over to Bailey’s Cirque while Lynn and Larry stayed a bit more to skier’s left. Bailey’s had a good 4-foot jump to enter where it looks like it slid almost down to the rock. The snow at that point was not great – it was a bit icy since the good stuff was in the avi debris field down below the run. Larry and Lynn had better luck and reported fine chalky snow. Then Larry headed in. He was dealing with the morning after the night before if you know what I mean. I know it’s not nice, but I think other people’s hangovers are just funny. So Lynn and I stuck with Silverado for 3 more runs. We headed over to gate 5 and did Tram Bowl. if you know the runout there, you have two non-cliff options. One to the right through some trees and one to the left that threads the cliffs. We took the left option and the snow was fabulous. So good we did it 2 more times. We started the second lap in Bungee Bowl, which was not in terribly good shape. A bit heavy and choppy (still fun, don’t get me wrong). The Silverado lift is slow and unpopular, so at least there’s no waiting in line like at Granite.

After that we headed over to Headwall. The wind was picking up as we got over there. Our first run was North Bowl, far skier’s right (where it’s steep, of course!). I skied over to see if the small chute right at the nose was working. Too many rocks so I headed back towards Lynn. I got into a tough spot right above a chocolate chip factory but managed to find a semblance of a clear spot to get down. Superb snow right there although I was still a little shaky after the exposure. Then we did Slot-to-Classic. I almost always go far skier’s right in the Slot because the snow’s better there and I like the pitch. That’s often rough to get to and today was no exception. A couple of spooky turns and then all was well. We headed over to Classic to finish off the morning.

Sushi for lunch (I love Mamasake!) and then I went in to get Elena ready to ski. She and I had a wonderful time. We always do! I tried to get her off of the harness but she was having none of it. Oh well, she is skiing with slack in the harness most of the time anyways. We got about 5 runs in and then she was ready for a snack at Wildflower.

Looking forward to tomorrow! There’s a big storm moving in, supposedly a bit warm and very windy. So we’ll see how much skiing gets done tomorrow. Not looking forward to the drive back with holiday traffic and a blizzard.

Lynn is heading up to Tahoe with Devin tomorrow night. I’ll fly up this Friday night to join her. Conditions look great! Squaw has opened Silverado so the coverage must be getting there. Later this month there’s an extreme skiing comp moving through Squaw. They’re going to go down Tram face (yes, the cliff below the first tower on the Tram). I want to watch but I may have to avert my eyes…

Lynn and I made it back home this afternoon at about 12:45. We were both really glad to get home. Once the fun part of a vacation is over, I think the urge to be home is pretty strong. Our last day of skiing was probably the best. We did around 26,000 vertical feet in nearly completely perfect untracked powder. We found some steeps and made a few high landings, which are great for the big, open bowls. I prefer tree skiing, but the feeling you get by going fast in the powder is really unique and best done in an open bowl. Smooth, fast, and fun. We traversed a couple of times through a slide path that had been hit in early January. Pretty sobering – there was a pile of 50 – 100′ trees that had been deposited like a stack of pick-up sticks when the avalanche came to a halt, probably 1.5 to 2 miles from where it started. Large, 2′ diameter trees were simply snapped in half and tossed aside when the slide ripped through. No one was around at the time but the clear power of the slide was apparent. I managed to get a few good minutes of video during the day as we had plenty of sun and we were all moving pretty well.

Can’t wait until next year!