Has anyone skied the new terrain at the Beav? I was going to check it out, but I have heard that it is pretty bony in there. Doug? Anyone else? What should I expect, and what is it comprable to?
I hit up the lower chutes last Sunday, it was very boney. My sticks have some serious teeth marks out of them and I almost blew out an edge.
I haven't hittin' them since then, we have had minimal xtra coverage up here so they may be better and tracked a little for some type of base to it. No one really had hit it up when we went so we pretty much dropped to the rocks undernieth.
The terrain is sweet but the coverage isn't quite what it needs to be in order to be fun, safe and managable without damaging your sticks.
Anyone hit it up this weekend? How is it now?
~Stevesie
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"An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind"~Gandhi
Steve, do you have more info on the terrain? What is it like? Are there unfriendly lines in there? If so, are they pretty obvious? I think I will wait for more coverage, but I want to check it out.
With Vail reporting a 25" base and Breck a 35" base (Beaver Creek only reports their season TOTAL of 100+", not settled base), I'd be very wary of skiing of anything called a "chute" this early in the season unless its somewhere that's been getting a lot of windloading AND avalanche control...
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Nothing in the world is more yielding and gentle than water. Yet it has no equal for conquering the resistant and tough. The flexible can overcome the unbending; the soft can overcome the hard. - Lao Tse
however, i'm still curious where the area is at - i'm not a total idiot, so i checked the website briefly, and saw where it was labled, access at the top of cinch....
so now i'm really confused - is this access just like the bald spot? (gate on skier's left from teh lift)????
There is new terrain that is in-bounds that used to be out of bounds. It is not the same as the bald spot access gate. It is off Red Buffalo, a ways down, not far from Ripsaw entrance, I think. It dumps you back into the Rose Bowl area. Steve Z varifies what I have heard, that coverage is sucky back there. I was interested in learning what to expect from someone who has been back there. Once the snow pattern quits pounding Denver, and gives us some love, I'd like to check it out. (You are right Andy, I'm waiting for better conditions too).
Anyhow, it is listed as "extreme terrain" which I think is Vail Resorts label for cliffs and more technical terrain. This new area is the first of this designation at the 'Beav.
I've been skiing in there for 8-10 years....it was previously the "Patrol Chutes". The Ski Patrol had labled (with small red signs) about 6 chutes.
They are steep but very short. You used to access them thru the woods, about 300 yards before the catwalk leading into ripsaw. I have not skied the Beav this year but i'm sure the entrance is right around there. There are plenty of cliffs (10-30ft). All the chutes have clean lines in them, with some being fairly tight. There are multiple small drainages in Stone Creek area that can get ya (small creek crossings) when the snow sucks. Most chutes only have about 10-15 turns in them before you gotta head hard left to the "luge" to get back to Rose Bowl.
I would hope, and think they have improved the trail out...cause its VERY hard on snowboarders to traverse.
The first few chutes have pine trees...then as you progress towards Rose BOwl (north) the runs turn into Aspen trees with downfall and less snow coverage. There always used to be fresh lines in here and Patrol would turn the other cheek if they saw you exiting from here. Now this place will be skied out shortly after a storm. Maybe it'll last for a few years??
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