texasdago

Oh please please please... “We will absolutely abide by the burn ban, as we have done throughout the season, even as the cold has set in at Stack,” a Facebook post from the student bonfire page said. https://www.kbtx.com/2024/11/20/burn-bans-could-delay-student-bonfire-2024-official-call-be-made-nov-26/

Just going to point out that our gif options for the search term Kentucky are largely lame. This one is nice, though.

Meanwhile at Mt Bachelor...

All depends. Last time we went we stayed here... button lift took you up to a run to ski down to a gondola. Go price out slopeside in Taos or Breckenrdige and then compare to something like https://www.anova-hotel.com/public/ F'ing Google is removing ski lifts and runs from Google Maps. Seriously pisses me off.

Sorry... one more thing. Going off piste? A guide is pretty important in Europe. You can also go with a group which won't cost much at all. Going into glacial terrain? Mandatory guide. Example of off-piste pricing on Serre Chevalier (specifically Monetier) for one person in a group going freeriding. Yes, that is daily pricing. Includes safety equipment. Insurance is usually extra but it is cheap. This may be going further afield.

I'm a cheapo that flies coach and buys what I can with miles so I'm not sure. Here is where you should invest: - Private guides - Private lessons Definitely cheaper than in the US. Instruction in Europe is excellent and the French are great! Can recommend ski schools/guides in a few locations. Big fan of APeak in Montgenevre. ESF usually very solid. Most of the guides/instructors you will meet in Europe are former racers and exceptional skiers with amazing track records. In Italy I once had an instructor who was leading an expedition to the Himalayas. Have had former European Cup racers, etc. Quality is very high.

Spring break is great because they don't have school holidays then and the snow is in great shape in many places. Avoid February? When. A V O I D F E B R U A R Y!!! School holidays. Also, January can be hit/miss especially in Italy where they have the settimana bianca (white week) when a lot of people holiday. March? Man... I'm telling that the longest lift line I can remember was about 7 minutes and it felt like an eternity since you can often run laps. The exceptions were the Grands Montets cable car to the top in whiteout conditions and the Cresta Youla cable car in Courmayeur on a bluebird powder day.

OK... next one before running off to another call Milano you have multiple options in about a 2 - 2 1/2 hour drive. First Valle D'Aosta which has big vert off piste paradises in the Monte Rosa area, you have Cervinia (the Italian side of the Matterhorn/Zermatt), Pila (smaller resort with some nice runs), Courmayeur and La Thuile. The one time we stayed in Courmayeur, we used that as our base but bought a skipass that allowed for La Thuile and Pila. Courmayeur is the better town to stay in. Great views of Mont Blanc on the Italian side. Great guides there. Cervinia is big vertical, lots of above treeline, high alpine, can have issues with wind. Never been but heard town is a bit charmless. There are other options within 3 hours of Milano but we'll leave it at that. Turin you can reach the Via Lattea ski network that covers both Italy and France. Something like 400 runs. We stayed in Montgenevre one year and really liked it as a base. Nice skiing in Montgenevre, easy access to Italy... quick drive to Sestriere which has nice bombable WC and Olympic runs and is snowsure. Sestriere is not the prettiest of towns but I did like the skiing there. Can recommend an instructor/guide. 25 minutes from Montgenevre you get to Serre Chevalier which is where we are going next. Big vertical of 4,000+ feet, tons of tree skiing, snow sure, 50+ lifts with some proper towns including Briancon which is a cool historic town. Skied it one day when we went to Montgenevre and I vowed to go back. Enough for now

It all depends how far you want to drive... here are some of your airport options, depending on your preferred airline and how much driving you can tolerate when you land. I can tolerate 3 1/2 hours or rather that's the furthest I've done upon landing. Anyway, here's what I know based on experience and where I've been. Geneva - you have quite a few resorts in France within 1 1/2 hour of Geneva like Megeve/St. Gervais, Flaine, Avoriaz, La Clusaz, Chamonix, etc. If you are planning on going more towards spring break, go for something snowsure. Chamonix Valley kicks ass for many reasons but it is somewhat spread out. No problem if you have a car and you don't mind chasing snow. From Geneva the Portes de Soleil network covers France and Switzerland. Les Diablerets in Switzerland is also reasonable from Geneva. You can also go further to Verbier, Zermatt, Crans-Montana or Saas-Fee. Also, from Chamonix you can drive through the Mont Blanc tunnel to Courmayeur in Italy. I can only speak to skiing near Chamonix (Les Grands Montets, La Tour/Vallorcine, St. Gervais and Courmayeur). Each one is different. Depends what you want. Saas-Fee was great in Switzerland but, man, get ready for $urpri$e$ on some costs. Saas-Fee is snowsure. Les Grands Montets usually us but the big cable car may not be up and running this season which is a massive downer. When it runs, you get glacier skiing and a 6,600 foot vertical drop. ESF Argentiere has exceptional instructors. Guides in Chamonix are world class. Munich - lots of options in Austria. We have used Munich to go to Obergurgl and Solden but there are many options that are closer. Both Obergurgl and Solder and snowsure. Obergurgl is more quaint, good vertical drop, lots of options. Good ski school. Amazing views. Solden is nice and big, bigger vertical drop, has glacier skiing but the town is a bit cheesier. Bottom runs can get mushy towards the end of day in spring. Conference call... to be updated later.

That's what I'm saying. I see a lot of people talking about whether the team is prepared, but my reference is more to the fact thad those of us who are fans are looking forward to it, but kind of don't give two shits about it either. That is, yes, it's important but my life does not revolve around it where they literally have talked about it all season long. My desire is winning to get to the SEC Championship game and for them to wallow in their misery. But damn my identity is not based on this game and we are getting a reminder of what it was like having them in the same conference.

I don't know, but I'm curious what y'all think of this... I feel like most longhorns I know see the game with the Aggies as just a means to finish out the season strong and go to the playoffs. It's another game. It's an important game and it is a game for bragging rights but it's not something I'm obsessing about. It's not like we're talking about it that much other than to say we hope to shut up. As for aggy... Is this all they've thought about all season? Like seriously, non-stop obsession. Damn I forgot how annoying they were.

Te rri ble

Oh, it will absolutely be a day game then. Perfect. Make it an 11 AM kickoff so there's no way for them to use it save for their Aggy Jugend rally the night before.

I've never skied opening day anywhere but always see long ass lines. That said, Red River does not seem to be the kind of mountain that can support long lines. Where are people coming from? Its not like the I-70 mountains. Whatever... turns are turns and holidays in the mountains are awesome!

Looks cold enough to be making snow on top of existing natural snow. I think another round is coming maybe next week? Taos has started the bootpacking process on their runs to get them ready for more snow.

Yeah, I'll have to think about it. I'm such a creature of habit on that drive that I almost always take the same exact path

Well that sounds like it will be pleasant. I'll be taking the Austin > Winters > Lubbock > Clovis > Ft Sumner > Santa Rosa > Taos route. I'm sure anything uphill will suck, not to mention the crosswinds on the way to Clines Corners.

Planning on taking mine up to Taos... haven't gone further than 3-4 hours in the FJ. Going to be interesting. Its a 2007 with less than 110,000 miles so as long as it gets a clean bill of health, I guess its fine. Mileage sucks, though.

Good time to enjoy FEMA while you can

Finally hit up the Leroy & Lewis brick and mortar on Friday night. I really liked the food truck so its weird to go to the new location. Anyway, not too crowded on a Friday evening and I opted for one of their New School BBQ Sandwiches. We'll see what happens now with the star. Might get awfully busy. I do miss the truck.

I would avoid the I-70 resorts during peak season. Crested Butte will not be as busy... they seem to have a decent start snowwise and if you don't care about the more extreme skiing on the T-Bars, coverage should be pretty good. If you do like steeps, the T-Bars may not be running yet. One never knows. They could get dumped on. CB is my favorite CO resort, easily. If you really want to go to the I-70 resorts, I would maybe hit up Copper Mountain. Great mountain, well laid out. Village is meh but if you're jsut going skiing for a few days it might be better. Other option is Purgatory because Durango is cool. Lift pass should not be as expensive as Vail or Breck (will be packed). Keystone will also be jam packed full of families. Honestly, chase the snow... NM is highest risk, Wolf Creek lowest risk but small but I've never skied it and if you like exploring the mountain, you can probably have a good time. Again, can't speak from experience but, dude, they have 10 lift spinning right now.

I currently have a Dakine backpack that I use for my skis... definitely makes a big difference when bootpacking. Used it on Willy's Staircase at A-Basin and it made a soul sucking climb a little less awful. Maybe I'll just go ahead and get a shovel and probe and rent the transceiver when I need it. Last time I went offpiste with a guide in France, the transceiver was included with the guide so that might be the best option with using equipment they know well and then I can get my own later.