Ober 1-16 MLK Weekend

[swamphox]

I had a great time. I seriously doubt Ober will ever be this good again on an MLK weekend. The open territory and alpine lift thinned out the crowds enough to where if you were a single, you could lap the quad all day long with no wait. Speaking of the quad, the lifties were kicking people out of line for falling getting on and off the lift, or for simply standing in line and falling for no real reason; their logic being that if you cant get on or off this lift then you dont need to be on it because theres no way down for beginers. Lots of nice people there, met a nice dentist fellow from the netherlands and he and I ended up riding together alot. also met a couple of instructors who were really cool. Snow conditions were good thru out the mtn.



got there early, had rockstar parking so no need for a locke. Also used their ski check, which is free, and lo and behold they werent stolen however I heard a man asking one of the staffers what to do because his rental was stolen. Keep your eyes out.



the weather was overcast and warmed up to 45 or so by 10am, at which point I took off my jacket and skied in my rennie curran jersey. By the end of the day, Mogul ridge's snow had really softened up into large chunks and made turning interesting. Grizzly was a lot of fun. Only complaint was that alpine's lift was pretty slow. However, not having to wait much at the quad, I think I got in 30 laps in my session. Life was good, it was nice to see Ober living up to its potential!





First Tracks top to bottom





first non-patroller on alpine





Grizzly







The view up the mtn at about 830 am or so





One dude behind me after rope drop





And no one in front





Lots of tubers...paying for my snowmaking capacity:)





Never saw Grizzly open til then





Mogul ridge was a joy all day long





Bear from the air





Ober Chute, another run I'd never seen open.





Alpine lift, complete with alpine slide, water slide, and scenic lift





Bear from the Alpine air





Just like your nightmares...





Ski patrol training on alpine





Looking down from the top of Mogul





His shipment of fail would soon arrive. He was at the top of ober chute when I took this....I just had a feeling...





This was 3 laps later, he's now doing the walk of shame down ober chute, he's got a long way to go. NCAA champs? YES! Skiers? Not so much

[Zeus]

I was up there on Sunday, rain and all.



Good weekend at Ober, skiing in the rain > no skiing at all.

[skirt]

good for the lifties. if you can't stand up then you don't need to be going to the top. as for alpine, the night we were there, they were making people ride every other one. liftie said b/c the lift is so old. only rode once so i could check out their new park.

[Zeus]

Still every other chair on Alpine. That lift hasn't been in normal operation in several years, I would imagine its a safety precaution.



Not worth the ride unless you are checking out the park, IMO.

[swamphox]

@skirt 203642 wrote:good for the lifties. if you can't stand up then you don't need to be going to the top. as for alpine, the night we were there, they were making people ride every other one. liftie said b/c the lift is so old. only rode once so i could check out their new park.



Wouldnt it be great if every liftie on earth followed that philosophy?



I think i probably hit Ober on one of it's best days ever, especially given the crowds...I NEVER thought I'd have a no wait day in the lift lines there on MLK....of course being a single rider helped a lot.



It was neat seeing it running at its full potential



Oh...an instructor told me theyd groomed mogul ridge the night before (there was an early conspicuous lack of moguls). He likened the top third to ice skating....

[safeTmanEd]

Great TR! I've seen them keep fallers off the black lift before. One lady fell down 4 times trying to turn the corner so they wouldn't let her on. She dog-cussed the lifty for 5 minutes telling him she paid for a lift tix, she should be able to ski! The lifty said "lady, if I let you go up there you're gonna die"!! She fell twice more trying to get her skis off and then fell on her face walking back up the hill. Some people are truly entertaining! http://www.skinc.com/messageboard/image ... icon12.gif



And aww yes, ober always has the jean-clad skiers! Glad he had sense enough to walk!!!http://www.skinc.com/messageboard/image ... icon10.gif

[Ski Bunny]

Love the vids! Looks like you had a good time. I love the walk of shame pic. Do they let people ride the alpine slide in the winter? I've only been to Ober in the summer.

[swamphox]

@Ski Bunny 204163 wrote:Love the vids! Looks like you had a good time. I love the walk of shame pic. Do they let people ride the alpine slide in the winter? I've only been to Ober in the summer.



they were on MLK wknd...maybe just due to volume of people. when I went up the alpine lift they were attempting to de-ice the slide