ICYMI for the End of This Season
Three cheers for spring. It means longer hours to linger in the sunshine, wearing fewer layers, ditching goggles for sunglasses, and also enjoying oodles of end-of-season events and early bird discounts for next season, including new season pass options. Here is a round-up of what to check out before you pack away your skis, snowboards, neck warmers and base layers for golf clubs, tennis rackets, mountain bikes and tank tops, including always good-for-laughs pond skimming contests . Don’t forget the SPF!
In the West
Jackson Hole again features its annual Rendezvous Music Festival the first weekend in April, 5/6 with FREE concerts both downtown in Town Square and at the Teton Village base area, including Country super-star Luke Grimes. You can also download a Spotify playlist. Jackson Hole is scheduled to close for the season on Sunday, April 14 https://www.jacksonhole.com/rendezvous
For the 2024/25 season, all Big Sky single day or multi-day lift tickets purchased from the resort will include Tram access, and the new Twin Tips Pass includes early and late season access. Note that skiers/riders with Ikon, Mountain Collective, and Big Sky Resort passes without tram access will continue to have pay for the tram on a per-ride basis. Pass prices here. https://bigskyresort.com/24-25-season-passes
Also, the resort is offering 35% discounts through April 28 to explore the challenging terrain off the Lone Peak Tram and upper mountain when you book with a Tram Guide.
Snowbasin is offering a year-round Premier Pass that includes summer activities such as gondola rides and mountain biking trails, and no black-out days in any season. It’s relatively inexpensive for what it offers – $1,129 for adults to 64 and $829 for adults 65+ – which includes five days of skiing/riding at sister resort Sun Valley, free public transportation on the UTA Bus system, and multiple discounted Buddy and Family passes. More information here. https://www.snowbasin.com/tickets-passes/season-passes/
The end-of-season Pond Skimming fun at Steamboat is Sunday, April 14, one week before the official closing date on April 21. https://mtn-resorts.com/Steamboat-Springs-Event.php?id=49
In the East
Family-owned and operated Tenney Mountain in New Hampshire has one of the least expensive pass deals anywhere, with no blackout dates and six Buddy Passes included in every purchase. Prices are $399 for ages 19-64, $299 for Veterans/Military and Seniors 65-79, through April 30th. 80+ skis and snowboards FREE. A bonus is that skiing icon and super-nice guy Dan Egan – who grew up nearby and grew up skiing here – is the new GM, and there are chances to ski with him and learn from him. More information here.
https://tenney-mountain.axess.shop/en/Products/Tickets/Category?cID=1
Pennsylvania destinations Blue Mountain Resort in Palmerton and Camelback Resort in Tannersville, now under the same corporate ownership, have a a new joint pass program for skiing, snowboarding and snow tubing. The Peak to Peak Poconos Pass offers unlimited skiing and riding at both for the upcoming 2024/2025 season. Purchase now and it includes the remainder of the current season. Adult prices are $899 through April 3. They are also Ikon Pass members.
Pond skimming at Whiteface is Saturday, April 6. https://whiteface.com/event/pond-skim/
Pond skimming at Stratton is Sunday, April 7. https://www.stratton.com/things-to-do/events
Spring Bash Weekend at Saddleback is April 5-7, with the fan favorite Pond Skimming contest on Sunday the 7th. https://www.saddlebackmaine.com/event/spring-bash-pond-skim/
Mike Roth’s Take on Spring Rituals
In Canada
The resorts of Quebec continue to offer a bargain deal for first-timers through the end of the current season. The Never Ever Days program, for ages 5 and up, is a lesson at a ski resort with a certified instructor, plus full equipment rental for only $29.95 Canadian, which is more like $25 US. The program has helped introduce more than 30,000 already this season. That’s great news for the future, thanks to introducing newbies to the sport we all love. More information here. https://boutique.maneige.ski/en/products/mpf
The annual World Ski & Snowboard Festival at Whistler, April 8-14, is a week full of events and action on and off the slopes. It features ski and snowboard competitions, music, art, photography, filmmaking and exciting nightlife, plus some of the best skiing and après sessions of the season, most of which are FREE and others ticketed. The annual Slush Cup pond skimming event is on the final day. See the full schedule of events here.
ttps://www.whistler.com/events/world-ski-snowboard-festival/
See you on the slopes – if not again this season, fingers crossed for next season.
$6,000 Lifetime Pass Offer From Washington State Ski Area
With Ikon and Epic season passes costing around $1,000, and some walkup day passes hitting $300, a $6,000 Lifetime Pass sounds like a great deal.
That’s what’s being offered by Loup Loup Ski Bowl, a small and fiercely independent ski destination in Okanagan, in central Washington State about 125 miles northeast of Seattle. It’s an innovative effort to create a cash flow to survive changing times and the changing temperatures and snowfall levels they bring.
Currently, the area which locals call simply “The Loup”, sells a season pass for $569 for adults 20-64, $450 for seniors 65-69, and $190 for a 70+ Super Senior.
Clearly, the younger you are, the better a deal it is, since 30 or 40 years of skiing for $6,000 is a better deal than ten. That’s the current break-even point for the lifetime pass, less if pass prices go up for inflation.
Loup Loup also is not hiding the fact that this $6,000 lifetime pass deal will help it survive. This is what you’ll see on the destination website:
https://skitheloup.org/plan-your-visit/passes-tickets/
Win #1 – By purchasing a Lifetime Pass now, you are entitled to skiing at the Loup for the rest of your life and the life of the Loup.
Win #2 – By purchasing a Lifetime Pass now you help ensure that there is a Loup Loup Ski Bowl for you, your family, and the community to enjoy long into the future. The longer the Loup can thrive and survive the more benefit you get from your Lifetime Pass.
Win #3 – By purchasing a Lifetime Pass for you or a loved one you can inflation proof your or their skiing…for life! Think about it, in the 60’s a brand new car was $3,000 …now the average price is nearly $50,000! Skiing unfortunately has suffered the same effects of inflation and it’s very likely to continue. With your purchase, you can side step inflation and help save a small community ski hill at the same time.
And if that still doesn’t tip the scales…forecasters are already predicting a greater than 70% chance of a La Nina cycle by mid summer…so with a little luck and a whole lotta snow dances…this low snow year will just be a distant memory!
Loup Loup is offering only a limited number of passes at this price, so don’t delay if you want one.
Let’s hope The Loup survives. Small, independent areas like this are crucial to the future of the ski/snowboard industry. This is where we and the kids and the grandkids learn to ski, before we move on to larger areas like those on the Ikon, Epic and Mountain Collective passes.
Let’s also keep watch to see if this idea spreads to other small, independent areas like Loup Loup Ski Bowl.
See you on the slopes!
Tuning Skis (Part 2)
Photo 1: Checking the square of the scraper
As a young ski racer, I learned the importance of properly tune skis. Now as an old a recreational skier, I can assure you skiing “tuned” skis makes the sport more enjoyable.
Tuning a pair of skis answers three questions. One, do the bindings work as advertised? Two, are the bottoms flat, not convex or concave? And three, are the edges are sharp from tip to tail.
The bindings are the easiest to check. Simply twist the toe piece left and right. It should turn smoothly. If you feel a grinding feeling, there may be crud inside that has to be flushed out. FYI, if you carry your “naked,” i.e. not in a bag or container, a ski rack on the top of the car, you will have dirt and grit in your bindings.
Photo 2: Looking for concavity-convexness.
Open and close the heel piece. Again, it should move smoothly. If it doesn’t, use a hose to clean both t
he toe and heel pieces. Do not use soap or a degreaser which will clean out the dirt as well as all the lubricants.
And last, know your ski binding DIN number. The industry went to great lengths in the 1970s and early 80s to standardize boot sole shapes and the boot binding interface. Out of that came a chart that considers, your age, ability, and weight to create a binding setting number. You should know it and check and see if it moved.
In an earlier piece about waxing skis, I mentioned a scraper. Photo one shows me checking to make sure that it is square. Why? The scraper is the perfect tool to check to see if you have a concave or convex bottom.
Photo 3: Using the file
To determine if you have a convex bottom, (Photo 2) as you slide the scraper down the ski, you can see daylight along the edges, and the scraper will rock on the P-Tex. In other words, the bottom is higher than the edges. If it is, the ski will swim, even dart to one side when you try to ski with them flat.
If the bottom is concave, with the scraper resting on the edges, you can see a gap between the scraper and the P-Tex. A concave bottom is another bad condition which causes the ski to be hooky when on edge and often hard to turn.
Neither condition is good. To fix either, take your skis to a ski shop that has a bottom grinder that will true up the bottoms. Note, that grinding the bottoms will take off both P-Tex and the steel edges and must be done very carefully. BTW, another reason to wax skis frequently is that it reduces P-Tex wear.
Photo 4: Edge sharpness
Most ski bottoms, even after several seasons are neither concave nor convex, but their edges are dull. First, when you look at the edges, they should be 900 where the edge meets the snow. Often, you will, as you run your fingers gently down the edges, feel burrs or imperfections caused by hitting rocks, bare spots, pieces of wood, etc. Both edges need to be smooth and “sharp.”
Most ski shops have files designed specifically for this task. You simply run them down the ski, from tip to tail to smooth out the edges. (Photo 3). When you are finished, use the back of your thumbnail, and gently draw it across the edge at a 900 angle (Photo 4). The edge should scrape off some nail. Once you are finished filing the edges, wipe them down with a damp cloth to clean off any reside and you are done.
Trust me, if your skis are tuned properly, you’ll notice the difference.
[authors_page role=contributor]