The "75 ski days, 1 million vertical feet" feat

Ski Day#: 22 Date:   12/31/18 YTD totals: 331 Runs/Lift Rides, 340,820  Vertical ft.,  300 miles Area:   49° North   Weather: Low 20's* F, high clouds Snow: Groomed - firm, great for carving. Off-Piste - mostly very crunchy and firm, 2 days old powder. Best thing: Last day of 2018 Daily stats:  9 Runs, 13, 660 Vertical ft, 12 miles

Ski Day#: 21 Date:   12/29/18 YTD totals: 302 Runs/Lift Rides, 327,160  Vertical ft., 288 miles, # of smiles - a shit ton Area:   49° North  Weather: Whiteout on upper 1/2, really bad visibility (completely blind 1st run on upper Peacemaker), superimposed on freezing fog, 31*F. A few good wind gusts near summit. Snow: 6" new Best thing: 2 nice freshie runs down Upper Cy's Glades (only place you could see was in the middle of the trees. Even with 6 ft base depth on summit, still sketchy in the trees (stumps, shorter trees, downed trees). For a 6" new day, it wasn't that great because of the visibility, so I headed home to shovel snow and then go into Spokane to run errands and visit some friends. Daily stats:  5 Runs, 6, 395 Vertical ft,  5.5 miles

Ski Day#: 20 Date:   12/28/18 YTD totals: 207 Runs/Lift Rides, 320,764  Vertical ft., 282 miles, # of smiles - a bunch Area:   49° North  Weather: Mostly blue bird, a little fog on summit for 2 runs, mid 20's *F Snow: Groomers - packed powder. Off-piste - 3 day old pow on fairly soft but often deep rutted surface Best thing: Skiing on all the lifts (Excluding Bunny Hill lifts) and some very nice groomed runs..... FAST! Daily stats:  9 Runs, 14,822 Vertical ft,  12.3 miles

Ski Day#: 19 Date:   12/27/18 YTD Totals:  Vertical ft. skied 305,943 / 196  runs/lift rides /  270  Miles skied Area:   49° North  Weather: Bluebird, chilly mid to upper 20's.  Snow: 2-4" of very light powder. Packed powder groomers. Off-piste was light pow on top of ruts, troughs, etc.  Best thing: Sun and powder. Amazing Nordica Enforcer 93's. Daily stats: 8 runs / 12,779 vertical feet / 9.8 miles

Ski Day#: 18 Date:   12/25/18 Year totals:  Vertical ft. skied 293,164 /# of runs/lift rides 188 / Miles skied: 260 Area:   49° North  Weather:Bluebird, mid to upper 20*F. Snow: Packed powder on groomers,  a couple more powder stashes found Best thing: Enjoying that sun and great groomers on Christmas Day on those magical Volkl Code Speedwall Uvo front side skis Daily stats: 9 runs, 13,336 vertical ft, 12 miles

Ski Day#: 17 Date:   12/24/18 Year totals:  Vertical ft. skied 279, 828 /# of runs/lift rides 179 / Miles skied: 248 Area:   49° North  Weather: Light fog upper 1/3 most of the day, 31*F Snow: Packed powder on groomers, 5 " day old on top of firm off-piste, a few powder stashes found Best thing: Using my new Nordica Enforcer 93 skis on a variety of terrain  Daily stats:   8 runs/13,910 vertical feet/11.5 miles

Ski Day#: 16 Date:   12/23/18 YTD - Vertical ft. skied 265,918 / 237miles skied:  Area:   49° North  Weather: Snowing, upper 20's to 31*F Snow: 4-5" light fluffy PoW!!!!!!!  Still need more coverage in the trees for safety. Best things: First three runs of the day - completely untracked down Last Chance. Met a cool guy/fellow PoWder PiG from Priest River! Skiing several runs today that I haven't skied in 5 years (Blast Face, Crusher, Cy's Glades, Concentrator, and Lower Peacemaker to Mine Shaft).  OiNK!!!!! Daily stats:   8 runs (virtually effortless)/12,823 vertical ft / 9.5 miles

Ski Day#: 15 Date:   12/22/18 YTD - Vertical ft. skied/miles skied: 253,095 ft/ 227 miles Area:   49° North  Weather: High overcast / sunny. Mid 20*F Snow: Very firm off-piste. AM groomed runs very good Best thing: Carving turns on nice AM groomed corduroy  Daily stats:  6 runs/11,022 vertical ft/8.4 miles

Ski Day#: 14 Date:   12/21/18 YTD - Vertical ft. skied/miles skied: 242,072 ft / 219 miles Area:   49° North   Weather: Blue skies!  Snow: Very firm, but some soft/new snow on upper 1/5 of mountain Best thing: Pow turns at very top of mountain (Peacemaker, Sluice Box) Skied at least 2 runs on every chair (1, 4, 5, 6  Daily stats:   9 runs/13,801 vertical ft/11.8 miles

Ski Day#: 13 Date:   12/19/18 YTD - Vertical ft. skied/miles skied: 228,271 ft / 207 miles Area:   49° North   Weather: Blue skies w/ variable fog on upper 1/4th of summit Snow: Very firm, boilerplate Best thing: There were 2 AM groomed runs that were sweet.  Daily stats:   8 runs, 14,316 vertical feet/11.4 miles

Ski Day#: 12 Date:   12/17/18 YTD - Vertical ft. skied/miles skied: 213,955 ft/195 miles Area:   49° North   Weather: Foggy on top, then clear, 31-32*F, mild wind Snow: Very firm, froze up, but some good pow at the very summit for about 10-15 turns Best thing: Peacemaker upper part was sweet pow for 10-15 turns then very crusty/firm. Ringing the bell on Carter's 22nd birthday. Used new Nordica Enforcer 93 w/ Look 12AW bindings for the first time. Daily stats:   8 runs/13,016 vertical feet skied/12.4 miles/22 bell rings                                                           That Bell I took some photos today of a bell that’s hanging on a snag near the summit of Chewelah Peak/49 Degrees North ski area. If you frequent the mountain, I’m certain you already know about it. It’s loosely and collectively fe...

Ski Day#: 11 Date:   12/14/18 YTD - Vertical ft. skied/miles skied:  200,939 ft/182.8 miles Area:   49° North  Weather: Partly sunny, high clouds, 30*F Snow: Storm total 17", dry but wind packed. Tricky to ski in spots where there's been no grooming this year as it was deep, but consolidated from the wind. Best thing: Nice Pow turns on Silver King, perfect everything.  Daily stats:   13,667 vertical feet/8 runs/12.1 miles Gonna warm up next week so, it might be interesting. Will have new skis to try out next week, taking them into the shop at 49*N tomorrow to get bindings mounted.  Excited to try them out. Nordica Enforcer 93 w/ Look 12AW bindings.

Ski Day#:10 Date:   12/11/18 YTD - Vertical ft. skied/miles skied: 187, 272 ft/170.7 miles Area:   49° North  Weather: Snowing, mild whiteout on summit Snow: Light, dry powder, 5-7". Tracks partially filled on next run! Best thing: PoWdEr! Best day of the season! Daily stats:   16,360 vertical ft., 9 runs, 14.1 miles

Ski Day#:9 Date:   12/10/18 Vertical ft YTD: 170,912 (156 miles in distance skied) Area:   49° North Weather: 29*F, Overcast with periods of blue sky at the summit. Some mild, variable whiteouts. Snow: 3-5" new light fluff on top of soft groomed (still not enough  snow to go off-piste). Best thing: Making tracks almost every run, the first three runs were very nice. Daily stats:   13 runs, 21,077 vertical feet, 19.6 miles.

Ski Day#:8 Date:   12/07/18 Vertical ft YTD: 149,835 Area:   49° North Weather: Bluebird, very cold 14*F in AM, 21*F in the sun on top, colder at mid-way (north face). I had to stop because my toes and fingers were so cold. I wore 4 poly layers on top, a pile jacket and lastly a lined shell.  Snow: Firm, dry groomer. Did one run on the sides in deep hoarfrost, which felt like skiing in down feathers Best thing: Skiing 4" deep hoarfrost Daily stats: 10 runs/16,470 vertical ft

Ski Day#:  7 Date:  12/05/18 Vertical ft YTD: 133,365 Area:  Schweitzer Weather:  Bluebird w/ inversion in the valleys below. Cold 21*F, 10-15 MPH wind gusts Snow: Firm groomed, very icy in spots. Much better snow coverage than on 10/23/18 - opening day/last time I skied here. Best thing:  The super-fast chair lifts at Schweitzer versus 49 Degrees North; 16 runs/16,500 vertical ft. in 2.3 hours vs. 4 hrs at 49 to ski 12 runs/20,000 vertical ft. Daily stats: 16 runs/16,583 vertical ft.

Ski Day#:6 Date:  12/04/18 Vertical ft YTD: 116,781 Area:  49° North Weather: Blue skies w/ high, scattered clouds. Low 20*F, chilly Snow: Firm groomed, good carving snow Best thing: Watching high altitude, fast moving, scattered clouds pass over the summit with a blue sky background - mesmerizing. Also, worked on really angulating my skis, keeping skis to the side for carving, trying to get my hip about 6" off the surface when carving a turn. Daily stats:  12 ski runs/20,592 vertical feet

Ski Day#: 5 Date:  12/03/18 Vertical ft YTD: 96,190 Area:  49° North Weather: Mostly cloudy, some blue sky peeking through at times. Low 20's, chilly. Snow: Firm groomer, great carving snow. Still minimal coverage. Silver Ridge/King/Queen only runs open. Best thing: Learning from the lifties that moose have been sighted on the ski hill yesterday and there's a resident cow and calf. Daily stats:  14 runs/24,133 vertical feet

Ski Day#:  4 Date:  12/01/18 Vertical ft YTD:  72,057 Area:  49° North Weather:  Overcast, 28*F'ish, variable fog on top Snow:  Packed powder upper hill. Very skiable, great carving snow. Best thing:  Skiing on chair 5 for the first time in 5 years. Feeling the quads burn on 15 non-stop runs. Daily stats:  15 runs/24,669 vertical feet