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Poll How many days did you ski in the 2016-17 season?

How many ski days do you have in the 2016-17 season?

  • 0-5

    Votes: 1 0.9%
  • 6-15

    Votes: 8 7.2%
  • 16-25

    Votes: 12 10.8%
  • 26-40

    Votes: 28 25.2%
  • 41-60

    Votes: 28 25.2%
  • 61-75

    Votes: 15 13.5%
  • 76-90

    Votes: 4 3.6%
  • 91-100

    Votes: 4 3.6%
  • 101-125

    Votes: 7 6.3%
  • 126 plus

    Votes: 4 3.6%

  • Total voters
    111

Matt Smith

In the parking lot (formerly "At the base lodge")
Skier
Joined
May 31, 2017
Posts
8
I got in 34 days. It was on day 34 that I tore my ACL, LCL, and MCL that ended my season early. Really sucked since I took my daughter to Copper for the USASA nationals and couldn't ski. Being from Pennsylvania and sitting around watching everyone else ski on a real mountain was a bummer.
 

MountainMonster

~0~
Skier
Joined
Dec 11, 2016
Posts
2,111
back pain has me paused at 131 right now, however, Mammoth offers a couple more months.... I shall return !
 

James

Out There
Instructor
Joined
Dec 2, 2015
Posts
24,442
Not all days are created equal, but I think putting a definition on what a ski day is and is not just turns it into a competition
It was a competition from the get go for some. People can turn anything into a competition. Like eating, standby for hot dogs next week, or exercising - like iron man comps.
 

TonyC

Contact me at bestsnow.net
Pass Pulled
Joined
Dec 14, 2015
Posts
678
Location
Glendale, CA
Sure there is... how much of it constitutes a "Ski Day"?

That's the grey area I was referring to, in mentioning counting vertical.
Vertical is not a device to estimate number of ski days. It stands on its own as a measure of a ski season, generally a better one than number of days IMHO. But only a few of us count it at the seasonal level, the main reason it's most useful for an individual to compare current to past seasons.
 
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Chris Walker

Ullr Is Lord
Skier
Joined
Dec 8, 2015
Posts
739
Location
Denver
There's no gray area regarding vertical, but you need a watch or an app unless you're a nutcase counting chairs as I had to before 1995. Vertical has the virtue of implicitly recognizing short days vs. long days, breaks, etc.


That's why I mentioned the caveats above. Skiers tend to ski by their preferences. For both the groomer skier and the bump aficionado, their better days will tend to have more vertical. So vertical is a good measure for the individual to compare days and particularly seasons to one another. Vertical is not a good way to compare the bumper to the piste-basher.

Well, this is where the grey area comes in for me. I personally enjoy lots of different kinds of skiing over the course of a year. Most of my big vertical days are early season when not much interesting terrain is open and I lap groomers all day. Very fun and I enjoy it a lot. But my most memorable days tend to be the ones where there was lots of fresh snow and I took the time to hike out to some really tricky terrain. More fun but far less vertical.
 

Pete in Idaho

Out on the slopes
Skier
Joined
Nov 20, 2015
Posts
1,132
Location
St. Maries - Northern Idaho
I have only counted days one year and skied 92 days. Probably around 50-60 this year but Quality counts too. Does one really epic powder day for No. Idaho count as 3 days on Sierra cement or the ice of the East ?????

Quality.
FullSizeRender_1.jpg
FullSizeRender_1.jpg
 

Chris Walker

Ullr Is Lord
Skier
Joined
Dec 8, 2015
Posts
739
Location
Denver
The next three days (June 30th, July 1st and 2nd) I'll be skiing the Hintertuxer Glacier. Is it still the 2016-2017 season?

Hmm, now this is an interesting question. Are you not letting the season die, or getting an early start on next year? Does it depend on your frame of mind? I think in the southern hemisphere, their ski seasons only have one year. So if it's 2017 its the 2017 season down there. So if you want to be symmetrical, I'd say June 30th is the 2016-2017 season, but the next 2 days are the start of the 2017-2018 season. I think that's also where the USSA draws the line between "official" seasons. However, since New Years' isn't really the middle of the ski season but closer to the beginning, that division leaves more "off-season" in the beginning than the end. So, if we count the northern hemisphere ski season "proper" as November through April, the cut-off point would be the end of July. But if some areas in California and/or Oregon are still going after July 31st, even then it will have to be considered the 2016-2017 season there since they've been operating continuously, but I assume Hintertuxer goes all year round so that brings in the ambiguity. Huh. I don't know. I just wish I were skiing the next 3 days.
 

TonyC

Contact me at bestsnow.net
Pass Pulled
Joined
Dec 14, 2015
Posts
678
Location
Glendale, CA
Very fun and I enjoy it a lot. But my most memorable days tend to be the ones where there was lots of fresh snow and I took the time to hike out to some really tricky terrain. More fun but far less vertical.
That's why I estimate powder vertical separately and consider the sum of total vertical and powder vertical the best crude estimate of overall ski quality. If I list my top 20 ski days by (vertical + powder vertical), 14 of them have a heavy powder component including 7 of the top 8, which seems reasonable. At the seasonal level a year like 2016-17 with a high number of days will tend to rise to the top even if the powder component is modest.
The next three days (June 30th, July 1st and 2nd) I'll be skiing the Hintertuxer Glacier. Is it still the 2016-2017 season?
To me the question is "Are you skiing on last year's snow or the early snow of a new season?" So I choose a cutoff of Sept. 30/Oct. 1. This also has the advantage of putting any Southern Hemisphere trips (I've had 8 of them) within one season, which for me tends to be closer to the end of the old northern season than the beginning of the new one. For backcountry, earn-your-turns types, I'd guess the most reasonable old snow/new snow cutoff date is around Sept. 15.

In fairness to Chiezz, I realize that unlike North America, high elevations in the Alps can get significant new snow in the summer. So maybe my definition is not as clear cut over there as it is here.
 
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Mikebike

Booting up
Skier
Joined
Nov 20, 2015
Posts
7
Location
Florida - Pow Mow
I skied 58 days of the 60 I was in Utah..... the mountain being closed was the reason the 2 were missed. So pretty much 6 hours of skiing per day for 58 days. Being that I live in FL and only ski while in Utah for the couple months I am addicted and do not tire of it. All but one was at Powder Mtn and 1 at snowbasin (pow mow road was closed).

I find the body seems to respond well and once I am past day 4 & 5 -- I just feel stronger all winter. Of course I did have a sore face this past winter from all the smiling and face shots.:snow::snow::drool::snow::snow:
 

dbostedo

Asst. Gathermeister
Moderator
Contributor
SkiTalk Supporter
Joined
Feb 9, 2016
Posts
18,095
Location
75% Virginia, 25% Colorado
To me the question is "Are you skiing on last year's snow or the early snow of a new season?" So I choose a cutoff of Sept. 30/Oct. 1.

I've always thought that the end of summer on September 21st was a good day to call the start to the new northern hemisphere season.
 

UGASkiDawg

AKA David
SkiTalk Tester
Joined
Nov 12, 2015
Posts
1,760
Location
CO
I couldn't give possibly care less, how much non untracked powder vertical anyone has piled up. Skiing is skiing but unless your racing it's not a competition (not meaning to diss our freestyle brethren.,..just a turn of phrase.
 

blackke17

I'd rather be at Alta
Skier
Joined
Apr 25, 2017
Posts
987
Location
South Side
Big winter in Little Cottownwood canyon where i racked up most of my all time high 52 days - some of those January days are the ones you dream of all summer- can easily say it was my best season ever . can we fast forward to December?
 

karlo

Out on the slopes
Inactive
Joined
May 11, 2017
Posts
2,708
Location
NJ
I don't count. But, last season, I sent a huge number of days, relative to available days, instructing kids at skier level 3-4 (and 5?). Surprisingly, I don't think that resulted in any loss of ability on my part. The experience did affect what I focused on in my own skiing, which was what I was feeling, physically and emotionally. I wanted to better impart on the kids what to feel for.
 

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