Vail out of bounds?
- Thread starter jjibs1219
- Start date
jib-unit00
Active member
vail pass has a good maount..not to steep tho
Subjekt
Active member
if you go up the blue sky lift that goes along lovers leap, go straight off the lift, and follow the path through the woods and along the ridge that goes to the right if u are facing up the lift you just rode there is some pretty sick lines. i dont know what its called, ive only been to vail twice, im from ny
jib-unit00
Active member
there are some sick cornices by vail pass..and lots of room to make BC bootas
radoripper
Member
Do not go to East Vail unless you go with someone who knows the area! It has a very fragile snowpack and you can get in a lot of trouble if you don't know where you are going (as in 100 foot mandatory airs). It is an area skied by locals that have an intimate knowledge of the terrain and are equiped with a beacon, shovel, and probe and know how to use them. And any local there will not want to take you back there with them. It is waaaay too much responsibility. Stick to the inbounds stuff, there is a lot of good terrain on the mountain.
1080bio
Active member
the snowpack on east vail cutes is definatly not that bad right now as of a few weeks ago they were almost like a ski trail the were geting so skied up. but snowpack is not really your problem if your no a local its that if you take the wrong cute your fucked because as said befoer there are som big ass manditory drops that your not good enough to hit.
True, you should be familiar with backcountry skiing to go back there. I have skied there many times, 3 to 4 runs a day solo. There is so much traffic back there that it makes it as stable as the ski area. if you do go, ski with another skier and have proper gear, shovel, probe, becon.
The main thing back there is to not ski in any gullies. If you get caught in a slide in one of those then you will be dead. Since 6 inches of snow will fill into many feet of snow.
None the less its easy to find. just look for all the tracks in East Vail, and ride up the poma out of China bowl, 23 I think. Thats all you need to know really, except how to use a becon and rescue some body.
The main thing back there is to not ski in any gullies. If you get caught in a slide in one of those then you will be dead. Since 6 inches of snow will fill into many feet of snow.
None the less its easy to find. just look for all the tracks in East Vail, and ride up the poma out of China bowl, 23 I think. Thats all you need to know really, except how to use a becon and rescue some body.
The snowpack is relatively safe (if not windblown) since we've had no snow really. Once we get some snow expect it to spike, theres some nasty surface hoar goin on combined with a crazy layer. If you don't know the area, don't go ob at Vail, you could easily get in trouble. However, skiers left in blue sky basin will be all right, theres a fun 15-30 footer and some pillow lines back there. You will not likely get lost, buried, or cliffed out there. Off the main lift go skiers left and look for the gate, traverse, huck, repeat.
Basically with EV all you have to do is go down, You would only get cliffed out if you were making more of an effort as in walikng father than needed. But you should not go out there without some one if you don;t know anything about it. The worst that couldhappen to you is hitting a tree.
Ski with your pack and gear. When you see someone who looks like they are going to by the type of skier that would ski there ask if you can follow them, or wait around the top of the china bowl t bar, since thats where the hike is and ask people if you can cruise with them. If I was in town i would take you on a run and show you the goods, but I'm not, sorry.
Ski with your pack and gear. When you see someone who looks like they are going to by the type of skier that would ski there ask if you can follow them, or wait around the top of the china bowl t bar, since thats where the hike is and ask people if you can cruise with them. If I was in town i would take you on a run and show you the goods, but I'm not, sorry.
You say you should be familiar of BC skiing to go back there....but you advice fails to touch on the main parts of safe BC travel.
You are at least suggesting the use of proper avie gear, but suggesting that East Vail gets enough skier traffic to have a similar snowpack to inbounds is retarded. Look at the huge avalanche right outside The Canyons last year. It was in a very very highly skied area, but that didnt prevent the huge avie that killed a number of people a few hundred feet from the ropeline.
Skiing alone back there, even if you are an expirenced BC skier skiing familiar terrain , is stupid as well. Avie gear does a great job when your by yourself.
at least it saves the SAR guys from having to probe for your body.
Saying all you need to know is where to ski and how to perform an avie rescue is also fucking retarded.
Rescue is for when you fuck up. What you need to know if avie avoidance. Gullies, while very dangerous terrain traps, are not just the main thing you need to avoid. Avies dont occur only in gullies and even small avies can kill you.
I will never understand how someone could justify skiing some of the most accessible avalanche prone terrain in the US by themself. Even if they have knowledge of the terrain and snowpack and know how to interpret avie danger, not just dig out a body, people make mistakes and pockets of instability always exist. It seems strange that you suggest skiing back there with a partner when you dont do it yourself. East Vail isn't the spot you should be testing you luck. Even if you are confident enough to ski BC alone, why risk your life?
Telling people that they will be fine if they can get ontop of a slope and perform a rescue following an avie is also seriously irresponsible.
Why people feel it is ok to give avie advice when the advice they give is crap is beyond me. Skiing with a partner with proper gear who is capable of performing an avie rescue in no way means you should be travelling in the BC. 1/3 of people who die in avies are killed by trama. Rescue is going to be very effective then.....
Safe travel is so much more than carrying a beacon. If you want to travel in the BC take a class and educate yourself. if you don't know what your doing, meaning the knowledge to avoid avalanches and interpret avie danger AND use a beacon + perform first aid, dont ski the BC.
East Vail is very avie prone terrain. If you know what your doing, it is the best place to be skiing in Vail. If not...stay inbounds. There is lots of fun stuff in the area, just get creative.
You are at least suggesting the use of proper avie gear, but suggesting that East Vail gets enough skier traffic to have a similar snowpack to inbounds is retarded. Look at the huge avalanche right outside The Canyons last year. It was in a very very highly skied area, but that didnt prevent the huge avie that killed a number of people a few hundred feet from the ropeline.
Skiing alone back there, even if you are an expirenced BC skier skiing familiar terrain , is stupid as well. Avie gear does a great job when your by yourself.
at least it saves the SAR guys from having to probe for your body.
Saying all you need to know is where to ski and how to perform an avie rescue is also fucking retarded.
Rescue is for when you fuck up. What you need to know if avie avoidance. Gullies, while very dangerous terrain traps, are not just the main thing you need to avoid. Avies dont occur only in gullies and even small avies can kill you.
I will never understand how someone could justify skiing some of the most accessible avalanche prone terrain in the US by themself. Even if they have knowledge of the terrain and snowpack and know how to interpret avie danger, not just dig out a body, people make mistakes and pockets of instability always exist. It seems strange that you suggest skiing back there with a partner when you dont do it yourself. East Vail isn't the spot you should be testing you luck. Even if you are confident enough to ski BC alone, why risk your life?
Telling people that they will be fine if they can get ontop of a slope and perform a rescue following an avie is also seriously irresponsible.
Why people feel it is ok to give avie advice when the advice they give is crap is beyond me. Skiing with a partner with proper gear who is capable of performing an avie rescue in no way means you should be travelling in the BC. 1/3 of people who die in avies are killed by trama. Rescue is going to be very effective then.....
Safe travel is so much more than carrying a beacon. If you want to travel in the BC take a class and educate yourself. if you don't know what your doing, meaning the knowledge to avoid avalanches and interpret avie danger AND use a beacon + perform first aid, dont ski the BC.
East Vail is very avie prone terrain. If you know what your doing, it is the best place to be skiing in Vail. If not...stay inbounds. There is lots of fun stuff in the area, just get creative.
redpointist
Member
Does ski patrol bitch at you for going back there?
I know when I was skiing at alta, me and my brother went out of the resort bounds by about 20 feet because we saw a nice face over there, and about 4 ski patrolers jumped our ass 30 seconds later. It wasnt like were were skiing an avalance prone area, they were just pissed about the "principle of the thing". Dicks.
I know when I was skiing at alta, me and my brother went out of the resort bounds by about 20 feet because we saw a nice face over there, and about 4 ski patrolers jumped our ass 30 seconds later. It wasnt like were were skiing an avalance prone area, they were just pissed about the "principle of the thing". Dicks.