rcdude

I think it's time for another one of my trip reviews/reports. However, given the time of year, this one will be a bit different and will not focus on amusement parks. Instead, this is a photo trip report of every ski area I go to this winter. Hopefully by the end of the ski season (around Easter), I'll have covered around ten different ski areas in here. Ski Area Schedule: January 8th, 2011: Las Vegas Ski & Snowboard Resort (below) January 9th, 2011: Brian Head Resort (scroll down) February 12th, 2011: Big Bear Mountain Resorts (Snow Summit even further down, Bear Mountain below that) February 25th-27th, 2011: Mammoth Mountain (Page 2) March 12th-16th, 2011: Cottonwood Canyon Resorts -Brighton Ski Resort (Page 2-below Mammoth) -Alta Ski Area (Page 2-below Brighton) -Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort (Page 2-below Alta) -Solitude Mountain Resort Other areas (specifically So-Cal resorts) may be added depending on snowfall and time allowance. Now, for the first ski trip of the season. January 8th, 2011: Las Vegas Ski & Snowboard Resort I got up at 6:00 in the morning, got dressed, then waited for my dad to get ready. About fifteen minutes later, we got in the car and headed out. We drove out to the I-5 freeway, then onto the CA-55, then onto the CA-91, and then onto the I-15. A little more than an hour after setting out, we were out of the urbanized part of southern California and heading out toward Las Vegas. We passed through Victorville, then through Barstow, then past the site of the old waterpark out in the middle of the desert (of which little remains). Around 9:30, we reached Baker, California, where we stopped for breakfast at an Ihop that used to be a Denny's owned by one of my dad's racing buddies. After breakfast, we continued on, past Buffalo Bill's Resort & Casino, past the Las Vegas strip, past downtown Las Vegas, until we turned off on US-95. We took this road north for around a half-hour or so, then turned off on NV-156. I'd never been up this way before, so I had no clue what it was like. The road ascended up into the mountains, but unlike most mountain roads there was minimal windiness. It passed a number of various snowplay areas, some of which appeared to be quite popular. Finally, the road dead-ended in the parking lot for the Las Vegas Ski & Snowboard Resort. The Las Vegas Ski & Snowboard Resort (from this point referred to as LVSSR) is the only ski area in Nevada outside of Lake Tahoe. Less than an hour from the Las Vegas strip, LVSSR is the only nearby option for winter sports enthusiasts. The ski area is relatively unknown to non-locals, as I have never seen a single advertisement for it, which isn't surprising given the size of the area. LVSSR is very small by ski area standards at only 40 acres. On that terrain, however, the ski area features 4 lifts (1 triple chair, 2 double chairs, and a surface lift) accessing 11 trails and a terrain park. The longest trail at the resort is only 3,000 ft long, which is another indication that the resort isn't very large. It does, however, have a vertical drop of 800 ft. When we got to the ski area, we found that the main lot was full and we had to park in the auxiliary lot a little way down the road. Fortunately, the resort has a shuttle bus to get skiers and snowboarders up to the ski area. Unfortunately, the bus only holds about 25 people. Since it was a crowded Saturday, we had to wait a little bit for the shuttle to come back, as the whole line couldn't fit on at once. Once we got to the ski area, we went and purchased tickets, then headed up to the lifts. LVSSR has a very simple layout, which looks roughly like the letter y. The base lodge is at the intersection of the letter. From the lodge, Chair #1 goes off to the left, and chair #2 goes off to the right. Chair #3 ends at the lodge, and you ski downhill to reach it. Since each chair services unique terrain, I'll talk about the resort one section at a time, going in reverse number order. Chair #3 is an old Hall double chair that was probably built in the 1960s. I would estimate it to be about 900 ft long with a vertical of no more than 200 ft. The lift ends at the lodge level, and you ski down to get to the bottom of it. This lift services the beginner area. I did not ski down here because it is just a beginner run and I didn't want to go down only to wait in the line to ride back up. From what I saw, it looked like a very basic beginner area. Chair #2 is an old Hall double chair as well that is probably about the same age as Char #3. I'm estimating this lift is about 2800 ft long and probably has around 600 ft of vertical. This lift services mostly intermediate terrain, although there is one advanced run off of it. The intermediate runs off of this lift are very good for those tired of the beginner terrain, as they aren't too steep and are relatively wide. However, there are terrain features on some of the runs, so it is important to watch out for snowboarders. Also, be cautious of the black run. It isn't marked and, although not too difficult, it does have a short, but very steep, section that is mostly ungroomed. Due to being a double chair and having a number of less experienced riders, the lift has a long line and frequently stops. I skied this lift a few times, but didn't try every way down. Most runs are visible from the chairlift, so it is easy to decide which way to ski down while you ride up. Chair #1 was where I spent most of my time. It is a CTEC triple chair, and although it was only installed at the ski area a few years ago, it looks like it was originally built in the 1980s. The lift felt like it was about 2400 ft long and probably had around 800 ft of vertical. This chair accesses both intermediate terrain and advanced terrain. Unlike on Chair #2, it is easy to tell which is which here: go left at the top, it is intermediate; go right, advanced. There is a sign warning people who turn right that they are entering advanced terrain. I spent most of my time on this lift and probably ended up skiing almost every possible way down. To be honest, the biggest difference between the intermediate and advanced trails on this lift seemed to be that the intermediate runs were groomed, and the advanced runs weren't. The terrain on this lift is overall steeper than the terrain on Chair #2, but most intermediate skiers could probably handle it. Overall, LVSSR was actually really good for its size. The ski area had a decent variety of terrain and is definitely somewhere I would consider going back to for a half day if I ever find myself in Las Vegas in the winter. The only problem I have with the resort are that it is small, and that the tickets are a bit pricy. This ski area isn't cheap, with a $45 half-day ticket and a $50 all day ticket. It might not sound like that much, but personally I think it is a bit too high for such a small area. I guess there really isn't any competition here (at least, not until that indoor ski area proposed for Vegas actually gets built), so they can charge pretty much whatever they want and people will still come. If this ski area completes their expansion plan, however (which would bring the size up to about 700 acres), it would defintely be somewhere I would want to return to. We only skied for about three hours before heading off due to the relatively small size of LVSSR. Once we left, we drove back to the I-15, then took that out of Nevada, through Arizona, and into Utah. We stopped for dinner at a Wendy's in St. George, then headed up the I-15 to Parowan, where we turned off and drove up to Brian Head. Now, time for pictures. Here are the shots I took of a relatively unknown ski area. Keep in mind that most of these were taken from a lift or base area, so portions of the resort aren't very visible. If you enjoy this, check back in a few days and Brian Head should be up. Here's the Ihop we stopped at for breakfast. It used to be a Denny's that was owned by someone my dad knew. Desperado, the second best coaster in Nevada. I didn't ride it this trip. I didn't even see it run this trip. I don't even know if it operates in the winter. Las Vegas from a distance. I never actually got off the freeway in this area, but I don't mind because I personally don't like Vegas much. This is NV-156. About 15 minutes from this point, you reach the ski area. The view from the parking lot. Note that this is not the ski area. It is just a giant rock. More giant rocks. This part of the mountains is very nice. Although those look almost like ski runs, they aren't. If they were, they would defintely be experts only. Chair #1 ends right at the bottom of them. Chair #1, a CTEC triple chair. I spent most of my time on this lift. This is the main run off this chair. It is named Keno, and is an intermediate run. Looking back down Keno toward the base area. This was taken from about halfway up Chair #1. From this point, the lift gradually gets steeper until it reaches the top terminal and you unload. Chair #2, a Hall double. This is the most popular lift on the mountain. The line for Chair #2. Since each chair seats two people, it looks like it could take a while, but it only took about ten minutes. Chair #2 was a little bit difficult to get to. You could either hike up from the lodge, or come down from Chair #1 with enough speed to go up this hill and around this tower. Riding the lift up. This was only about a quarter of the way up the lift. Another Vegas themed run. This is named The Strip, and is the easiest intermediate trail on Chair #2. Another run. This one is The Line, and is the main terrain park run. A look back down at the base from Chair #2. There's Rabbit Peak, the beginner area. A different angle of the mountain that towers over the parking lot. Snow blowing on top of the ridge. It looks quite cool in person. The lodge is split into two buildings. This building houses the restrooms, food service area, bar, and lockers. The other building has the ticket windows, equipment rentals, ski shop, ski school, and general offices. There's the top of Chair #3. This picture was taken from right where I removed my skis. There's still a bit of a line for Chair #2 less than an hour before closing. One last look up the slope on the way out.

I saw 20 movies that were released in 2010, so it's fairly easy to come up with a top ten. 1. Inception 2. Toy Story 3 3. True Grit 4. The Social Network 5. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 6. Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World 7. Tron: Legacy 8. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader 9. Alice in Wonderland 10. Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps Note that in the above list, 4-6 are all really close, and 8-9 are almost tied. In addition, I really enjoyed the following movies as well: Iron Man 2, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Robin Hood, and The A-Team. These four movies, however, just didn't make the list because there was something that edged it out. Prince of Persia would probably be #11 on the list, but I don't know how I'd rake the others. Undisputed worst movie of 2010: Vampires Suck. I am VERY, VERY, VERY glad I didn't go see this in theaters because, while not the worst movie I have ever seen, it sucked.

It is always interesting to see where other people rank rides I've been on, and how those rankings differ from person to person. Here's my list, which is probably different from many other people's and similar to some others. 1. Terminator Salvation-Six Flags Magic Mountain 2. Thunderhead-Dollywood 3. Roar-Six Flags Discovery Kingdom 4. GhostRider-Knott's Berry Farm 5. The Grizzly-Great America 6. Thunder Road-Carowinds 7. Rebel Yell-Kings Dominion 8. Giant Dipper-Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk 9. Hurler-Carowinds 10. Colossus-Six Flags Magic Mountain 11. Scooby Doo-Kings Dominion 12. Blue Streak-Cedar Point 13. Giant Dipper-Belmont Park 14. Hurler-Kings Dominion 15. Mean Streak-Cedar Point 16. Fairly Odd Coaster-Carowinds 17. The Grizzly-Kings Dominion

I've looked at prices on the SFMM website and I think it is quite easy to justify the $53 ticket price when you figure what all it includes. Parking-$15 Admission (to save money, we'll say you buy a ticket online)-$35 Meals (estimate for two meals in the park)-$26 ERT (since you can't buy ERT, substitute a regular Flash Pass)-$41 Photo (conservatively)-$10 Total-$127 Keep in mind there are other things included (such as the Q&A session) that are difficult to put a price on. I know this is just a rough estimate, but it certainly makes $53 look like a really good value. Even though I'm planning on getting a season pass this year, I'd still attend the event regardless of the price (well, as long as it wasn't over $100 or so).

^Next time I go up there for an extended trip, I will do that. However, due to school and my dad's limited vacation days, we usually will leave on Friday after he gets off work, ski Saturday and Sunday, then drive home. It is cheaper to buy two one-day tickets than that ticket, but it is still $184 each plus lodging costs. Lately, we have sometimes stayed in June Lake and skied one day at June Mountain (which is one of my favorite mid-size ski areas) to save money.

Great pictures! I love Mammoth Mountain. I've been to all of the major ski areas in California and it is definitely the best. I got up here twice last year, and I'll probably be going at least once this year. Unfortunately, it has got rather expensive so I can only afford to go about twice per season. Eight years ago, I was a season pass holder, so twice doesn't seem like much. I'll have to see how I like Utah's ski areas compared to Mammoth, since I'll be going skiing there for the first time this March. Maybe I should do a trip report of all the places I ski at this year, since I've already been to two and could end up with over ten by the end of the season. Once again, great photos!

^Given how that restraint is locked I don't think it's very likely it would come open. I've had three coaster experiences with no restraints. The first was having the lapbar pop open on Jaguar on the second lifthill. This was before the ride had seatbelts added to it, so I was pretty young at the time. Needless to say, that scared me quite a bit, and I refused to ride it again until after the seatbelts were installed (up until that point, it was my favorite coaster). The second was at Adventure City on Tree Top Racers. On one ride, I rode and found the car I was in had a defective seatbelt that wouldn't latch. Therefore, I rode without a seatbelt and just held on tight. I noted the car number and would not ride in that car for the remainder of the day. The third was at Scandia Amusement Park on the Screamer. The ride operator made sure everyone's seat belt was fastened, then hit the dispatch button instead of the lap bar lock button. The train dispatched, and everyone began to yell. Fortunately, the operator realized what had happened quickly and hit the lift stop button, so the train stopped at the bottom of the lift hill. The operator then came out and manually secured everyone, then started the ride back up. Since the ride had a seatbelt, I doubt it would have been too dangerous to ride with the bar up, but it would probably have felt unsafe.

Based on the type of things SFMM has done for WCB in the past, I've been wondering if they'd have Superman open for this year's event. It looks like my prediction was correct. I really can't wait to ride this, as it is the new coaster experience of 2011 I'm looking forward to most (although Green Lantern also looks very interesting). As for the forwards/backwards debate, I would guess that they will probably have both cars backward through the 2011 holiday season, then when the ride goes down for annual maintenance after that point they will turn one around. I highly doubt the old cars will ever run again because they are outdated and probably don't run as well as the new cars. For running both tracks, they showed them running simultaneously in the video, but I wouldn't be surprised if they switched to running one side while the other loads for actual operation.

Unless one of the parks is doing something special for a ride (such as last year's backward Colossus or alternate audio Terminator), all of the ERT lines were next train unless you wanted the front or back, which were usually a two or three train wait. On almost everything they were allowing people to stay on, or switch seats in some cases, on every ride except X2 (where they made you go out the exit gate and back around to the load gates, not leave the station building). Even the special rides were never more than a four train wait when I rode them, and if I remember correctly everything was running two trains if it could (except racing Colossus, which was one train on each track).

This game looks quite interesting. I used to be really good at these in real life, but I wonder how I'll do on this. I've got a place in line (as stated above) so hopefully I'll remember to set my alarm. If I forget or sleep through it, I'll be sure to get back in line when I get up tomorrow.

I really don't have a problem with trim brakes provided that they fall under one of the following two categories: 1. The ride was originally designed to use them. This is often the case on wild mouse coasters or rides with a mid-course brake that is always in use (such as most B&M and Arrow coasters, especially dive machines). 2. The trims aren't excessive. I define excessive as any trim brake that A) brings the train to a stop or near-stop at any point in the middle of the ride, B) slows the train enough for the deceleration to be easily seen from off-ride, or C) Causes the ride to feel as if it could stall. Just because a ride is trimmed doesn't mean I won't ride it. I'm sure that parks have a reason for turning on the trim brakes when they do so, and as long as it isn't excessive I rarely notice much difference on the ride anyway.

After riding a couple more this year, I'm going to say I'd rank them in the order below. 1. Afterburn (CW) 2. Alpengeist (BGW) 3. Raptor (CP) 4. Flight Deck (CGA) 5. Silver Bullet (KBF) 6. Batman The Ride (SFMM) The first four are in my top twenty list, and the other two are on my "must ride when visiting the park" list. For whatever reason, I've never been that big of a fan of Batman, although maybe I'll change my mind after riding three more versions of it next year.

I will wait until I ride again to decide for sure, but if GhostRider has a mid-ride stop it will probably drop significantly in my coaster rankings. This sounds worse than what Griffon does on its mid-course brake. It wouldn't be too bad if the brakes only slowed the train down, but if they stop it that interrupts the pacing of the ride significantly. Hopefully this is only a temporary fix and they will do some retracking of that portion of the ride during the next refurbishment so a stop is no longer necessary, but unfortunately I doubt that is the case.

If you are counting lift to brake time, the Ultimate probably wins. I watched a POV of it and I'm estimating that the total time coasting when both coaster sections are added together is nearly 3 minutes. Including the three lift hills, the total ride time station to station is at least twice as long.

I like coasters with either airtime or inversions, not both in the same ride. However, I've found that my favorite looping rides only have two to five inversions, and six is about my limit for one ride. On the coasters I've been on with seven inversions, I often find myself a bit dizzy after the ride. That being said, if this ride ever appeared at a park near me I would probably ride it once just to see what it was like. I doubt it would be something I'd ride often, however, as I'd probably need a bit of a break afterward. If this goes to a US park, I hope it goes somewhere that doesn't already have a sit-down looping coaster, as it would be too similar to an already existing ride otherwise. Since there are so few parks in the US that can afford an Intamin coaster that don't already have a sit-down looping coaster, I really think this will most likely appear in either Europe or Asia first unless it replaces an already existing ride.

Park Plans: 1. West Coast Bash 2011 2. Bay Area Bash 2011 (if it happens) 3. Visit to SFMM to ride Green Lantern and SEFK (June or July) 4. St. Louis trip, including SFStL and Holiday World (immediately before North East Trip) 5. TPR North East USA Trip Non-Park Plans: 1. Cottonwood Canyons Ski Trip in March 2. Any other ski trips (will probably visit Mammoth Mountain at some point) 3. Finishing my second year of college 4. Midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 5. St. Louis Trip, including the Arch, St. Louis Zoo, City Museum, Busch Brewery tour, and a baseball game.

It looks like you had a good time skiing despite the semi-unfavorable conditions on the first day. Also, the alpine coaster looks like a lot of fun. If I ever go somewhere that has one, I'll be sure to try it.

The weirdest breakdown I have experienced was probably on Scream at Six Flags Magic Mountain. I was on the ride and secured like normal. Once the train was checked, they pressed the dispatch button and the horn sounded like normal. The floor then dropped away like normal, but the train didn't more. It sat there for a minute, then they announced that the ride was experiencing technical difficulties. For whatever reason, the floor never came back up. After about ten minutes, they managed to raise the floor, then unlocked the restraints and made everybody get off and go back behind the gates. They then locked all the restraints and secured the train, then unlocked everything and reboarded the train. The ride then proceeded as normal.

Hard Rock/Freestyle Music Park Disney's increasing reliance on movie-based attractions instead of original rides Cedar Fair as a company

In no particular order: 1. Evolution of coasters, specifically: Mega/Giga coasters, GCI woodies, Intamin woodies, Launched coasters, Eurofighters, and rides that prove coasters don't need to be taller, faster, or longer to be better. 2. Six Flags shifting from extreme thrill parks to more balanced parks. 3. Q-bots. 4. Proslide's innovations for water park attractions, such as the Tornado and Hydromagnetic Rockets. 5. The creation of TPR Trips.

Thanks for catching that. I actually meant Montezooma's Revenge. Invertigo is at CGA, and I forgot to change it when I rewrote the post to split the coasters up by park.

This is a really good question. I think I'll answer it by looking at each category. Coasters: Knott's Berry Farm has more good coasters, but California's Great America probably has more variety. For me, the must ride coasters at Knott's are Xcelerator, Silver Bullet, GhostRider, and Montezooma's Revenge, while the only must ride coasters at CGA are Flight Deck and Invertigo. Both parks also have a couple coasters that just aren't worth the line they usually get. In September, both parks should have short lines, so this shouldn't be a problem. Non-Coaster Rides: I think that California's Great America wins this category. At Knott's, the only good non-coaster rides (if you are looking for thrills) are the Log Ride, La Revolucion, Supreme Scream, Riptide, and Perilous Plunge. CGA has Drop Tower, Survivor: The Ride, Delirium, FireFall, H.M.S. Endeavour, Centrifuge, Flying Eagles, Orbit, and Logger's Run. Both parks also have a number of more generic rides. Time Required: All the coasters plus the rides listed above at Knott's can be done in about 3 hours. For CGA, the coasters and above rides will take about 4. When I visited CGA a couple years ago over the summer, I was able to do all the rides I cared about in the park in about 6 hours, and the waterpark took 2 hours. Knott's can take a full day in the summer, but in late September probably can be done in 8 hours even if you want to ride everything. Overall: I would probably recommend you go to Knott's if you are interested in coasters, but go to CGA if you are interested in the whole park experience. I think CGA is overall a better park, but it really is missing any signature coaster. Knott's has three signature coasters, so it is a better choice if that is what you are interested in.

I've never been snowmobiling, but it looks like a lot of fun. I went and rode an ATV on sand dunes a couple times this past summer, and there were some giant dunes (similar to a sand death hill). I'd imagine riding a snowmobile would be somewhat similar. If there was a TPR winter trip, I would totally be in, and could probably convince my dad to come too. I don't know how feasible it would be to have a trip where everyone signs up to do specific activities on certain days, as I am sure some would not be interested in everything, but that seems like it would work if it could be done. For example, on a week long trip, I'd like to ski two or three days (depending on the resort), and would prefer to ski as opposed to sledding, but wouldn't want to miss out on some activities like snowmobiling or alpine slides/coasters. I'm really enjoying these updates and can't wait to see what else you have planned for this trip.

I didn't know you two were into winter activities. I'll be going to Salt Lake City in March to go skiing, but I'll be visiting the resorts in the Cottonwood Canyons as opposed to Park City. Still, it's nice to see pictures of a place I may one day visit. It sounds like there's a lot of things to do up there, and I hope you have a great time.

This year I got: -6 Movie Soundtracks (HP7, Narnia 3, Batman Begins, and the scores to the 3 Twilight films) -A couple random games (IQ Challenge and Fact or Crap) -Buckyballs magnets -A new wallet -$175 in Itunes credit -$375 in cash -Half of a plane ticket to Newark (for TPR Northeast trip)