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).

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!

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.

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 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!

Just got back from dinner after day 3 of some pretty incredible skiing. I didn’t write last night because, well, I was exhausted. We did nearly 29,000 vertical feet yesterday through some great powder. No incidents or drama of any kind, which is a good thing. Lynn and I carried the guest packs yesterday, which means we were usually in the  back of the pack. This often means you have some tracks to deal with but for the most part we had clear sailing and good snow. The clouds lifted as well so we had some incredible vistas. I’ll post some pictures when I get a chance.

Today was a bit different. Cloudy with a very low ceiling. We had to wait a bit to get out so the fog would lift and give the pilots enough visibility to fly. When we did make it out, we went to Happy Hour Ridge, which I recalled was a bit tame without much pitch. But today Dani, our guide, took us to the steeper part of the area and we had some great skiing. The weather started to close in so we stopped for an early lunch. Then the weather really closed in and we were down for about 3 hours. We had some fun building a fire and trying to stay warm. When the weather finally lifted enough to fly we were only able to get in one run and then had to head home. The last run was at Picadilly. Tough sledding at the top with lots of breakable crust, then some really nice powder for awhile, then a brutal traverse out. Trees, hard snow, the works. But it was fun and we were not nearly as tired as we were last night. I think we probably got between 12k and 14k vertical. We’ve been skiing with a 73 year old guy named Gunther (he’s from Germany) and he is an awesome skiier. A real inspiration for those of us who would like to be doing 3 weeks straight with CMH when we’re over 70 (like me).

We just got back from our first day heli skiing in the Selkirks. As usual, it was a great day. The snow was nice. We did run into a couple of patches of wind consolidated crust but that usually lasted only a few turns. Stability is iffy – we have a layer of ice under the snow and the fresh from the last few days has consolidated to create a slab. So we’re skiing carefully but we have been able to get into some steeper terrain. We had some down time this morning because of fog. We went up and flew around a bit trying to find an opening to go up the canyon. When the pilot couldn’t find a spot we landed and sat in the cabin a bit until the fog lifted.

Devin got sick last night and kept our friends up taking care of him. Poor kid stayed home from school today with a fever and the yuck. We miss them a ton anyways and it’s really a heartbreaker to talk to him when he’s sick. As much fun as we’re having here I’m kind of glad this isn’t a really long vacation. We’ll see him soon.

More tomorrow!

Had a really fun day today in Squaw! The weather is really nice, sunny and not too cold. Last week’s storm left some nice snow, and most runs were skiing very well. Today we hit Granite (Break it Out, Magoo’s, Lower Attic, and the horse trails), Headwall (Slot, North Bowl, Sun Bowl, The Bullet, and Hourglass), KT-22 (Oly Bowl and Red Dog Ridge), and Solitude/Shirley (the bowl skier’s right of the Solitude chair). Bumps are big but with soft snow in the troughs. Magoo’s, being a bit steeper, was a bit scrapier, and the first turn into North Bowl (skier’s far right) was “exciting.” But after that the skiing was just fine. We went skier’s right in Slot as well, and the entrance is speckled with rocks, dips, and other amusements. Hard to pick a best run, but if I had to name a few of the tops they would be North Bowl, Sun Bowl, and Red Dog Ridge. Probably won’t go back to Slot until there’s more snow and Oly Bowl until the sun bakes it a bit more.

Our friends Kris and Dave are up this weekend with their son Robert. Always a blast to have them around. Elena wanted to play with little Robert this morning though, so I didn’t get a chance to slide around with my girl. Kris was nice enough to watch Elena which means I got to ski with Lynn (my favorite ski buddy, sorry Larry you’re up there but…).

We leave Tuesday for heli! Woo hoo!

The snow today was pretty firm – well, downright icy if I have to use the word. This morning Elena and I went up top to slide around and had a great time. She skied from me to her Mom a few times and really enjoyed being off of the bar. So I set her up with the harness and control straps and put the bar away. She loved that too so we may be done with the bar.

Elena and I went to Soupa in the Village. It’s a new restaurant focused on soup and grilled cheese sandwiches (those two foods are naturals together). They offer a selection of 5 or 6 soups, most of them standard comfort food varieties. It was good, not great I’d say. I think if you’re going to just offer soup you should go above and beyond the soups you can get at the grocery store. For example, Lynn makes this soup with kale, sausage, tortellinis, and pepper flakes for some heat. It’s a fantastic soup and it’s really unique. Soupa has tomato, butternut squash, chili, and chicken noodle. Like I say, it was good soup, but if you’re going to specialize then get creative!

After lunch I went out on my own for awhile and later met up with Larry. I started on Oly bowl thinking it might have softened. No such luck. Oly bowl looked so slick I moved down to the throat past Oly bowl and before Tom’s Tumble. That section wasn’t too bad and the gully was surprisingly managable. Then I headed up to Granite where Lynn and Larry had been in the morning and had reported good snow. Sure enough, the cornice area between the two horse trails was quite nice. Did that a couple of times and then hiked into Break It Out. That was also quite nice although the crux is pretty rocky and you need to scout it before you go screaming over the roller. After a few runs there we headed home down a very slick Mountain Run.

We had a great day but we’re looking forward to some more snow!

Went out today early after dropping Devin off at ski team. Larry and I hit Granite right away and headed to Break It Out. We had about 8 inches of fresh on top of a pretty frozen base. So we were bottoming out pretty regularly and skiing was a bit of a struggle. We hit Granite again, this time heading skier’s left into the glades. We broke trail to get away from the tracked out stuff and had a couple of fresh turns and plenty of “dust on crust” experiences. We ended out stay at Granite with a run down Magoo’s. That was pretty good – the snow had blown in there and we didn’t bottom out quite as much.

As we headed over to Headwall Larry started feeling sick so he went on in. Turns out he was really not feeling well at all. I stayed out and headed up Headwall. Over to North Bowl to the chute on far skier’s right. The chute was bumpy and the snow wasn’t reliable, but once through the chute the snow was fantastic. Cut right and down into the trees for more of the same. I tried Sunbowl as well with low expectations. I was pleasantly surprised and the skiing was quite good. I did North Bowl and Sun Bowl a few more times, exiting out on Bullet (nice) and Hourglass (also in good shape).  Lynn did the face and reported that the snow was fine on the steep right side although there’s a wicked rock band to be aware of.

I closed off the morning in Oly Bowl, far right in the depression. Really nice there, and the exit bumps had been scraped off enough that you could stay in the soft snow in the troughs without much problem.

Elena and I went out for some Daddy/daughter time in the afternoon and that was it!