Introduce yourself thread
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Advancedtelemikey op 19 November 2013 · 20:14Hi all,
I thought it might be a good idea to have a sticky ([mention="/profile/1"]@admin[/mention]) where we can introduce ourselves. Not only so messages are a little more personal but also so we might be able to hook up or for when we're looking for local info, we know who to ask.
Good idea? -
Advancedtelemikey op 19 November 2013 · 20:23Might as well go first then...
I'm a dutch, male tele-skier.
Approx 40yo, been skiing since I was 3years old.
I get about 4 - 8 long weekends (4 -5 days per trip) and a full week in every season. So somewhere between 20 - 40days a season.
Love freeride, not into jibbing. Do find the occasional tour for turns fun but am not a die hard weight weenie.
Have car, will drive & chase snow.
I have a preference for skiing in Austria, Switzerland and Germany mainly because reading the avy forecast in french is not my strongest point. My italian sucks even more...
Always interested to meet up with new people. You don't have to telemark but I do like to ski with people who have a clue avy wise. -
ExpertLuca op 21 November 2013 · 12:11Hi everybody!
i'm Luca, 22 years old. I'm a skier and my "amusement" park is Monte Rosa - Monte bianco.
I love freeriding and i'm in some extreme skiing too.
I usually ski from mid novemer to mid july, every week end of course when conditions are to sick to miss! So I just really ski a lot.
I usually ski with my friends but if anyone is coming to my area i can give some advice and show some nice runs too!
Usually in march i ski with some german friends whom i knew three years ago in gressoney; they saw me shredding a pretty gnarly line and it was love at first sight.
I'm not a guide but maybe after university... who knows??
Well I'm also looking for some sponsors because keeping chasing powder is becoming way too expensive for my pockets... so if you have any hints it will be appreciated!
Don't miss my blog on wepowder if you wanna know more about me!
See you in the Alps
Luca Zattoni
www.lucazattoni.com -
Advanced49 op 21 November 2013 · 13:02I've seen your Lyskamm Northface adventure: great work!
Maybe we could meet this winter: I'll be in Alagna for 3 months this season, January-April. First time for me to have so much time to ski. Would be nice if you could show me around a bit 😃
I am a 37 yo Dutch freerider in transition from "between the pistes" to "backside". Hope to be a bit of a backsider at the end of the season. -
ExpertLuca op 21 November 2013 · 13:19[mention="/profile/8654"][mention="/profile/8654"]@Luca[/mention][/mention]
I've seen your Lyskamm Northface adventure: great work!
Maybe we could meet this winter: I'll be in Alagna for 3 months this season, January-April. First time for me to have so much time to ski. Would be nice if you could show me around a bit 😃 49 op 21 Nov 2013 1:02 PM
@49
Hi! Yes i will show you around for sure! You'll be working in Alagna? i have some friends in Alagna who are really really good skiers, they live there; I'll introduce you to them as well so when i'm not in gressoney you can ski with them!
thanks for reading my lyskamm's post, yes it has been a great adventure!!
if you have fb add me there so we can write messages and star to know each other!
https://www.facebook.com/Zatter
or just send me an email zattluca@me.com
Bye! -
Advanced
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TouristChaletRafalt op 21 November 2013 · 16:01My name is Ross and I am a Canadian skier who grew up in the Rockies. I now run a 4 bedroom B&B in St Anton am Alrberg, Austria called www.chaletrafalt.com. My wife and I host people from all over the world but are most excited when we get keen riders in house. We have hosted Salomon Freeski TV and Sherpas Cinema over the last couple of seasons. I blog on that site regularily if anyone needs current info from the area check it out or get in touch with me on here! Go winter go! Bring on that Nordstau! -
ExpertLuca op 21 November 2013 · 16:46[mention="/profile/8654"][mention="/profile/8654"]@Luca[/mention][/mention]
I have added you at facebook, my name is roland.
I am in Alagna just for skiing & fun, it is like a snow-battical. Pls introduce me to your friends there, it would be great to have local connections already before arrival!
ciao. 49 op 21 Nov 2013 2:33 PM
@49
Yeah don't worry I will tell them that you're coming. their are in alagna for skiing and fun too!! 😉 -
ExpertChester_Tartsnatcher op 21 November 2013 · 18:15HeyHelloBonjornos!
Chester Tartsnatcher here, bearer of time beaten bones and toque extraordinare. Known elsewhere by similarly stupid names (one of which has initials BH).
I don't facebook and generally think the principle of living your life online is stupid. But I love skiing.
I'm an aging ski fiend with family residing aux Etats-Unis but not fitting here so well. Current pow grounds include the Seattle area (Alpental and Crystal) and the San Juans in Colorado (Silverton and Telluride).
Spent some time around les Alpes du Sud (La Grave, Serre Che, Milky Way, Maurienne) and Alagna/Gressoney) 20 years ago and am now raising a brace of kids who are just getting old enough so I can head back to the motherland of skiing.
I tend to target the less well know places and avoided Val d'Isere,Cham, Verbs, St. Anton, etc so far(OK, I confess to Val Thorens/3 Vallees). Had a really great time blasting around Amatt and Disentis 2 years ago. I should be back for a 2 week blaze at the end of January.
All the mad love, Vive Le GONG and my apologies about my idiotic countrymen. -
Touristyugi op 21 November 2013 · 19:06Hi, my name is Yugi and I am a pinhead.
I live near and play in the Pennine Alps. Mostly. -
Advancedtelemikey op 21 November 2013 · 22:55Hey Yugi, how are you man?! Long time no hear. Still SUP-ing or is the season over already?
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Beginnerbuttofly op 22 November 2013 · 01:04Hey all,
Josh here. I am a snowboarder/splitboarder who loves to shred the steep and deep. I transplanted myself from Burlington, Vermont to Lausanne, Switzerland this summer.
For the past 8 years I was living in Vermont mostly touring/riding in the vicinity of Mount Mansfield (Stowe pass holder) and other Northern VT peaks with occasional forrays to the White Mountains and ADKs. I spent one season in CO (near Vail) and have taken several other trips to various spots around North America, but am completely new to the Alps.
I am looking to meet as many folks as possible in these parts who share my passion for sliding on snow + have the knowledge/brains to do so safely. I'll admit that my avy knowledge is not as great as I'd like it to be (not nearly as much of a concern in VT as it is here), but I have taken an avy 1 class in the US and am always eager to learn.
Cheers! -
AdvancedKlasRydstrand op 22 November 2013 · 16:10Good initiative @telemikey! I am Klas from Sweden. I've been skiing offpist in the alps the last five years. I usually get around 30 days on skis every year and try to keep fit by doing a'lot of mountain biking during summer months. These days I ski mainly with my girlfriend who is on the same level as myself. We've been to Engelberg, Serre Chevalier, Chamonix and Val d'Isère a few times the last years. The first trip for this season is two weeks in Alagna/Monterosa during Christmas and New Years.
I've been annoying @meteomorris to get some advice on how the conditions are in Monterosa around New Years but since the last snowfalls we feel slightly more convinced that we've made the right decision. Me and my girlfriend have both been to Monterosa before but we probably want to hire a guide or get local expertise some other way during our stay. Any advice is of course welcome! We are always interested in riding good snow, it doesn't have to be steep or challenging. I hope I can help anyone out with some advice, Engelberg is probably the resort I know the best.
Last by not least, the service provided by wepowder is fantastic and I think we should all extend a huge thank you to the kind people providing us with these forecasts and knwowledge! -
Touristmeteomorris op 22 November 2013 · 16:21Welcome all!
@KlasRydstrand, LOL... you weren't annoying me. And thank you for the compliments.
@buttofly, so you are form the Ice Coast. Welcome to the magical powder of the Alps. Feel free to ask us questions. We love to share powder.
@yugi, sounds like you live in one of the most beautiful pockets of the Alps.
@Chester_Tartsnatcher don't hesitate to ask me some questions about the hidden gems in the Alps. There are a lot of them and with the current base layer it might become a good winter.
@ChaletRafalt, feel free to keep us posted or even post some of your blogs on our site. Just contact me in case you want to. We would love to.
@Telemikey good initiative. Hopefully will shred some lines with you this winter
@49 @Luca, looking forward to your posts from the monte rosa area.
Keep your posts coming. It motivates us to bring even better forecasts. -
Advancedfreerdr op 22 November 2013 · 18:05Hello fellow friends of the fine freeriding.
I am Florian from Switzerland, grew up in the Engadin, am living in Luzern now.
Until three years ago, I used to snowboard. But I have become seriously addicted to off-piste-skiing the last few years, riding many different resorts (Hochybrig, Engelberg, Hasliberg, Haldigrat, Davos, St. Moritz, Scuol). Thanks to morris I had a couple of awesome powder-days last season. I also like to skin to more remote places, if the descent is worth it. This Season I own a Zentralschweizer-Season-Pass for the first time and I am excited about it. End of January I quit work for a few months and will have plenty of time to search some pow. In December I am going to absolve an avalanche course, my last one was almost ten years ago.
Since I don’t know the Central-Switzerland-Resorts so well yet, I would be thankfull for advice and delighted to ride some time with some of the cracks here. -
ExpertChester_Tartsnatcher op 22 November 2013 · 18:16So meteomorris, how would you like to convey the identities and locales of the hidden gems?
On MontaRosa Ski guides, I mostly highly recommend Sergio Gabbio out of Alagna who has been guiding around MR for a while. If there's powder he'll find it. If the pow is thin, he can blow your mind with a tour around the MonteRosa from Alagna to Zermatt, then Cervinia, then Champoluc then Gressoney then back to Alagna, all in one day if heli assisted. http://www.montagnadiluce.it/eng.htm
sergio.gabbio@libero.it .
I'm not a crack and really my experience is limited, but Engleberg in Central Schweiz is a large resort with huge skiing potential and big vertical. Both Disentis and Andermatt are smaller, more intimate towns with wonderful skiing. -
ExpertLuca op 22 November 2013 · 19:59For the Monte Rosa area I will post tomorrow some fresh pics of the last storm. 150cm of freshies!
stay tuned! -
ExpertLuca op 22 November 2013 · 20:04Almost forgot! For those who are coming in Monte Rosa Kaestle has this program; i think maybe it could be interesting if you would like to so some heliskiing
http://www.kaestle-ski.com/en/kaestle-experience/kaestle-adventure-tou...
they also organize trips to Courmayeur - Chamonix (wildest territory, a little bit more difficult and dangerous but it's really worth the risks!)
http://www.kaestle-ski.com/en/kaestle-experience/kaestle-adventure-tou...
3395635629 this is the number of Matteo Boffi a friend of mine and also a guide. He is one of the top freeriders in monte rosa area, he also participated in writing "polvere rosa" the free ride and extreme skiing book of the monte rosa area. -
Advancedtelemikey op 22 November 2013 · 22:30Good to see this thread is getting some action!
@Chester_Tartsnatcher (cool nick btw): what do you mean with "how would you like to convey the identities and locales of the hidden gems"?
@Buttofly: do you know Jay (Ripzalot) and Gregor (Down skis) as they are fellow Americans also in your area? Cool guys, solid skiers, lots of fun.
Hope to catch some of you guys/ gals this coming season. -
AdvancedKlasRydstrand op 22 November 2013 · 22:51Thanks @Luca for that information, we will absolutely look in to that. Looking forward to those photos...
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Beginnerbuttofly op 22 November 2013 · 22:51Hey Telemikey, yeah I've met up with Ripzalot already, and am definitely planning to get out with those guys this winter.
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ExpertChester_Tartsnatcher op 23 November 2013 · 18:30Good to see this thread is getting some action!
@Chester_Tartsnatcher (cool nick btw): what do you mean with "how would you like to convey the identities and locales of the hidden gems"?
Meteomorrise referenced hidden gems. Perhaps it's st00pid of me, but I thought I'd try to let morris decide how he wanted to tell me in case he want these gems to remain hidden.
[mention="/profile/25932"][mention="/profile/25932"]@Buttofly[/mention][/mention]: do you know Jay (Ripzalot) and Gregor (Down skis) as they are fellow Americans also in your area? Cool guys, solid skiers, lots of fun.
Hope to catch some of you guys/ gals this coming season. telemikey op 22 Nov 2013 10:30 PM
I know Ripz via TGR and common friends. -
ExpertLuca op 24 November 2013 · 17:08In the end i didn't go to Gressoney... too much windy. i went to rothwald (simplon pass) where i found more than a meter of powder!
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Touristmeteomorris op 24 November 2013 · 18:41@Chester_Tartsnatcher The hidden gems aren't hard to find. Go to: http://wepowder.com/playgrounds mark 'secret' in the checkbox under type of area and there you go. The info text is translated by google though ;(
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ExpertChester_Tartsnatcher op 24 November 2013 · 23:24But...but....doesn't that just make them "gems"?
😉
I can easily add to the NAm jewel box with:
Turner Mountain by Libby MT and
Montana Snow Bowl (MSB) near Missoula or
Discovery Basin between Phillipsburg and Anaconda MT.
MSB gets some local college traffic, but both Discovery and Turner are well enough off the beaten track so powder is likely.
In far NE Oregon, near La Grande and Baker City there's a small ski area called
Anthony Lakes that sees little traffic and a lot of snow.
Yeah Anthony Lakes has only a 300 m (1000 foot) vertical served by a chairlift, but the backside into Crawfish Basin is over 700 meters and served by a cheap snowcat. Plus another hour away from Anthony Lakes are the Wallowas with spectacular touring and guaranteed powder in an untamed area. -
TouristJPVallone op 25 November 2013 · 13:50Hey all, I'm Joe Vallone. Been in La Grave for 13- or 14 seasons and living here year round now. I like skiing 😉
Nice to meet you all and if anyone needs a guide in La Grave or surrounding areas I know one.
Cheers,
Joey -
Touristmeteomorris op 25 November 2013 · 13:53@JPVallone welcome!!! I will include your details on our la Grave page.
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AdvancedN13L op 25 November 2013 · 14:31Hi to All! I'm Luca , 43 male , telemarker from Prali. Part of Praliskiarea and Nuova 13 laghi staff . Nice to meet you all! -
ExpertChester_Tartsnatcher op 25 November 2013 · 17:42Hey all, I'm Joe Vallone. Been in La Grave for 13- or 14 seasons and living here year round now. I like skiing 😉
Nice to meet you all and if JPVallone op 25 Nov 2013 1:50 PM
Say hi to Pelle from the old Zappa fiend he knew back in the Ventelon/Ashurst days. I'll be back around 2014 if all goes as planned. -
Advancedtelemikey op 25 November 2013 · 19:12HI nuova13laghi (complicated nick by the way...): I've never skied in Prali yet and love to meet new (to me) telemark skiers. Hope we can meet up sometime this season!