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Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2010 8:18 pm
by swamphox
Life was great. Snow was great. Thursday was snowy. Friday was sunny. Some of my co-workers came up with me. What's not to like?



Snow is insanely deep on some of the runs...piled higher than the snow guns on some parts of upper OMG and Rock Island. The amount of snow has also made Alley Cat a little less steep than normal. No real ice patches to speak of even though it didn't get up to above freezing until right around the time I left friday.



Other random fun things:



-My pants got caught on a bolt or something coming off the lift at the top of Upper OMG. Good thing I wear layers, but sadly my outer shell and flannel pj bottoms were destroyed



-On the way back home on Thursday, I was around Gold City and saw two whistle pigs chase each other up a roadside culvert. they ran into the road and appeared to be fighting kung-fu style in the turn lane up around where the runaway truck ramp was.



-Heavy po-po presence in Mtn City GA, Dillard GA, and Waynesville NC.



-Mad props to cats crew on the grooming and lessons side. I saw a brand new skier (firefighter from walton co) step on skis for the first time on thursday and become comfortable on Alley Cat by the end of the day.



-On the way back friday I stopped at that sweepstakes place on the GA/NC border and ate an entire pizza and 3 diet cokes while I made 45 bucks on the blackjack machine. Gotta love lent:)



Pics to come later.



Enjoy a couple vids in spectacular gogglevision.



This was Thursday....I was loving life







Friday in all it's glory, brought to you by Daft Punk.




Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2010 8:53 pm
by sirtalkmuch
Cat still looks incredible. The coverage right now is just unbelievable. I agree with you about Alley Cat. Friday before last they groomed the big gully on skiers right and took away the last thing that had made that trail even remotely black. I can't complain though. With that base, hopefully I'll be able to ski there on my birthday at the end of the month.

Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2010 8:56 pm
by scuba skier
Too bad they won't get I-40 open til after ski season. I'd like to hit it a couple more times this year. I may have to go across 441 if it's open. That looks too good to miss.

Posted: Tue Mar 02, 2010 9:24 pm
by swamphox
Pics from Thursday:



Early Morning Lift Shot





Your esteemed friend and colleague





Looking up Rock Island from the lift-major snow whales to be found





Alley Cat from the lift-fun and powdery all day!





Looking down upper OMG-another fun run all day. If I had a gripe about those 2 days it was this: They had put up a fence that made it impossible to go from Upper OMG to Alley cat without having to hike 70 yards or so.





Lt Aquilla from the GCFES shreds Upper Snowbird





More of Lt. Aquilla





The Walton Co. FF who first stepped on skis that morning and was lapping Alley Cat by days end





Looking up the mtn. at Lt. Aquilla from Lower OMG





Me and my bad turning form:) I exaggerated this one





I can't keep my tongue in my head when doing anything physical.





My boss...Lt. Schubert, he's been to a bunch of places in Colorado





EPIC!


Posted: Tue Mar 02, 2010 9:37 pm
by swamphox
Pics from Friday. Sunny and wonderful



Worth the three hr drive





Lift shot





Nice view





Living the dream...





Alley Cat again





Upper OMG





Lower Snowbird from the lift





Upper Snowbird and a nice view of the mtns beyond





Looking down Upper OMG....


Posted: Tue Mar 02, 2010 9:41 pm
by sirtalkmuch
Great pictures. I'm kind of glad you can't ski from Upper OMG to Alley Cat because it's a big enough mess just with the people off-loading the triple. Imagine if they added into that people going down the steep bank from Upper OMG. Nightmare. Early season they let you do it, but there were a lot less people.

Posted: Tue Mar 02, 2010 11:22 pm
by skiing rules
been a while since we've seen pics from cat.. looks good

Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2010 12:33 pm
by skipanther
What would skipatrol do if somebody tried to ski down that meadow!

Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2010 4:11 pm
by sirtalkmuch
@skipanther 211668 wrote:What would skipatrol do if somebody tried to ski down that meadow!



I've looked at it pretty thoroughly. You could probably do it without getting caught, but you're probably going to get your ticket pulled. There are lots of tracks out there from people who've poached it. The tough parts are the beginning and end. To get out there, you have to go through a gate at the bend in Upper Snowbird. On either side of this gate is barbed wire so watch out. Once you get to the bottom, you have to go through another gate to get back onto Turkey Trot. This gate is pretty exposed to prying eyes, but the top gate is pretty hidden by the massive base depth and everyone focusing on making that turn. If you hit it, post some pics.



P.S.: There were beautiful ski tracks on the big bald you can see on the mountain next to Cataloochee the last time I was there. I still want to hit that some day.

Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2010 4:38 pm
by SKISC
@swamphox 211367 wrote:

Your esteemed friend and colleague





What is that ghey thing on your head?









Nice pics otherwise.