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Face it, end of the season probably means tossing your skis or snowboard into a corner in the basement, garage, or shed and “fawgetaboutit.”
Until November or December. Then you beat off the horde of spiders and pull out something with a grey, fuzzy, ashen-colored base, rust-caked edges, and mold and mildew spreading across once vibrant graphics. …more
Dropped in to Okemo yesterday morning with my daughter, Elise, and her boyfriend, Andrew, to start our week on the best footing possible. Elise is moving to Oregon, so we wanted a day slope side together before that happens at weeks end. …more
I hit Stratton for a mid-week day of play yesterday, and I can say conditions are good to great, and improving on a day-to-day basis.
While an occasional patch of glacier ice was seen poking through the surface cover, they were few and far between, and only on the steepest of pitches that traditionally get scraped off. …more
A group of skiers and riders from Avie’s Ski / Sport made their way to Mount Snow on Super Bowl Sunday. It was indeed a Super Sunday on the slopes.
Cloud free skies, temperatures moving into the mid to upper 30s, and a zephyr of a breeze made for incredible conditions. Fast and firm in the morning, soft in the afternoon and even a bit buttery on the south facing trails late in the day. It was beyond picture perfect. …more
A previous post took you through the ins and outs of “system skis“. You may want to check out that post as the knowledge will come in handy as you ponder the question “What kind of ski might be best for me?” Read on to find out. …more
While many Tuesday morning were breathlessly waiting to see if a woodchuck would see it’s shadow, a few Avie’s staff were up at Stratton taking part in an “On Snow Demo.” This event allows ski and snowboard retailers an opportunity to test new and existing gear to see how it handles. Sometimes it’s an all new model, and sometimes a tweak of an existing model. Either way, it’s an awful lot of fun, but it really is work. The purpose of that work is of course to be able to help Avie’s Ski / Sport customers select the gear best suited to their needs and desires. And it sure is a lot easier to do that if we’ve had a chance to try the gear out first-hand. …more
Today I had the pleasure of visiting Yawgoo Valley Ski area in nearby Exeter, Rhode Island; a somewhat unrefined—by today’s “ski resort” standards—but true local gem in the realm of local skiing. …more
We started a series of posts intending to discuss the various makes and styles of skis we have at Avie’s Ski / Sport, and pairing them up with boots (see Blizzard system skis). But after posting it, it seemed there would be too much repetition. So we decided to morph it all into an occasional “Gear Knowledge” series that will cover, eventually, all areas of the sport. Here goes.
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I stopped off at Okemo on my way back south from Killington this morning for a half day on the slopes. I have to report that it was a perfect morning. Sunny, about 15°F but with little to no wind, so it was actually pleasant. The people were sparse, also pleasant, until about the time I got off the slopes, though it was never near what I would call busy. …more
I made way up to Killington to meet with the good folks from Blizzard and Fischer, and try out some of the new skis on tap for the 2017 season. The other reason for making my way to Killington was to ski. That’s something I am really sick of NOT doing this season. Conditions plus life seemed to have been working in a way that negates all my attempts to ski. …more