SPF- Alert:Blubird Spring Conditions


***
Snowbird
Extended Spring Schedule
Open daily through May 14th and weekends only through May 29th, or maybe even longer… conditions permitting. Click HERE for lift schedule and ticket prices. $200 Late Season Pass Unlimited Tram & Chair Pass for only $200… buy now
05.02.06 Picture:Author: Harry Caston Location: "Tower Three" Snowbird: Matt C.
Marcus Caston enjoying sunshine and soft snow out on the Cirque. Snowbird is still open
Snowbird Mountain Stats Average Annual Snowfall: 500” Vertical Drop: 3,240’ Base Elevation: 7,760’ Top Elevation: 11,000’ Skiable Acres: 2,500’ Terrain: 27% Beginner, 38% Intermediate, 35% Advanced Number of Runs: 89 Lifts: 1 tram, 3 quads, 7 doubles

Snowbird

***
Squaw Valley

NOTICE: Please be aware that all operations are subject to change without notice.
get it while you can,... KT-22 Express Saddle, Road, Moon Dunes Still open


Photo: SVS Corp: The Palisades ( L to right) National chute, The Extra Chute,the Box, // Pony Express inside Chimney


Squaw Valley

***
USSA News

OLYMPIAN JONNA MENDES RETIRING AFTER 10 YEARS ON WORLD CUP
PARK CITY, Utah (May 2) – Two-time Olympian and former World Championships medalist Jonna Mendes (South Lake Tahoe, CA) has announced her retirement after 10 years on the U.S. Ski Team.
Among Mendes’ career accomplishments, she earned the bronze medal in super G at the 2003 World Championships, four U.S. titles (two in downhill, two in giant slalom) and two Junior World Championships silver medals in downhill. “I’ll miss everybody. The friendships are such a great part of this, but after 10 years, I feel it’s time to move on,” Mendes said Tuesday. “I’m looking into taking some college courses and maybe doing some volunteer work or even working for a nonprofit organization. I’ve had some great experiences with the [U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team] Foundation, and that’s really opened my eyes to nonprofits.
“I’m still passionate about skiing but I’d like to immerse myself in something new now and explore different opportunities. I’m excited about what’s next,” she said. Mendes possibly will coach at a Ski Team development camp in June; “I want to give back and I’m looking at staying involved in skiing at some level, and this is a terrific opportunity,” she said.
“It’s always tough when an athlete retires, but especially when it’s someone like Jonna. She had a very good career - that medal at Worlds in St. Moritz was tremendous - and produced some excellent results,” said Women’s Head Coach Patrick Riml. “But beyond that, she was always fun to be with - she’s not shy, for sure, and she was a great teammate, particularly in helping the younger girls coming up because she has such an easy way with people. She’ll be a great ambassador for skiing and we certainly wish her all the best.”
Mendes began skiing at 4 when her family moved to Tahoe. By 13 she was winning regional titles and by 18, Mendes was competing on the World Cup circuit and heading to her first Olympics. During her career she posted 10 top-10 finishes on the World Cup and had four top-20s in five Olympics races and eight top-20s at the four Worlds where she raced.
Of all the stops in her skiing career, Mendes said she favors the race hill at Lake Louise in the Canadian Rockies. It makes sense considering the string of successful breakthroughs she accomplished at Lake Louise: Mendes scored her first World Cup top-30 there before the 1998 Olympics, bagged her first top-20 there early in the 2000 season, broke into the World Cup top-10 during the downhill at Lake Louise in 2000 and 2001 and, after breaking her foot at the end of ’01, came back to the World Cup with a top-10 in the first super G of the 2002 season.
In fact, it was at Lake Louise that Mendes first showed her aptitude for speed: Eighteen years old and ticketed for NorAm action, Mendes told then-Coach Jim Tracy she wanted to go to Europe and race on the World Cup. “Show me something in tomorrow’s race [at Lake Louise],” he told her. Mendes earned her first World Cup points, finishing 26th in a super G and won two NorAm SGs the next day. She got the nod for Europe and two months later, she was in her first Olympics.
US Ski Team

***
Killington
Bar-b-ques are lit, cold drinks are meeting with warm air and more than a few die hards are chasing every last ounce of snow out of the season. Things are good here. The Killington Golf Course opens up on Friday May, 5, I've got a buddy who met up with a couple of brown trout courtesy of his fly rod the other day, and every day I see more and different kinds of bikes on the road. I myself even ventured out of my little cave into the warmth of Spring and chased an evil little white ball around for a few hours yesterday. Good times. Lot's of them. Before we get too deep into warm weather activities (we have all summer for that), it is not only my job, but my distinct pleasure to remind you about tomorrow, May 2... 2006-07 ALL FOR ONE SEASON PASS DEADLINE IS MAY 2, 2006 This is it. Your last chance at the best deal on next year's season pass - as low as $365 plus tax. With access to six resorts all season long - Killington, Pico, Mount Snow, Sunday River, Sugarloaf and Attitash - it's about as good a value as a Drifter could hope to get. In addition, when you renew at the same pass level or higher, you'll receive special added benefits like fewer blackout days or discounts on lift tickets for friends and family. But these prices and exclusive renewal benefits are only available until May 2, 2006. Also, this year we're offering fewer passes than were sold last year and we expect Killington All For One Season Passes at all levels to sell out. Beyond the financials, just consider that a pass to Killington is a pass to: ** The highest lift-serviced skiing and riding in New England, which means the best early and late season conditions. ** 33 lifts and 200 trails, translating into more and better terrain variety. ** The World's Most Extensive Snowmaking System allowing you to ignore the forecast. ** Bear Mountain. Most resorts have a park and pipe, Killington has an entire mountain dedicated to the freeride experience. ** Ramshead Mountain. An entire mountain area and lodge dedicated to the needs of the skiing and riding family.
Killington

***
Pow 8 Championship
-The World Powder 8 Championships
Scoring involved aspects of: Dynamic Skiing, Synchronization, Roundness of Turns, Symmetry and Descent Line. Here’s the full list of cold carve champions:
Men’s Division Bib # Name Country Total Rank 7 Christoph Brugger / Siegfried Gruener Austria 310.50 1 6 Willi Glanznig / Dieter Frank USA 302.50 2 4 Guy Paulsen / Steve Smart Canada 284.00 3 8 Wade Sutton / Guy Hethington Canada 256.50 4
Women’s Division Bib # Name Country Total Rank 12 Nina Oqvist / Shelley Giles USA 306.00 1 20 Romana Hartmann / Michaela Mattig Switzerland 298.50 2 16 Tanya Heller / Klaudia Wolf-Erharter Austria 280.00 3 22 Darcy Martin / Annica Collombin Canada 220.00 4
Masters Division Bib # Name Country Total Rank 24 Scott Strickland / Bill Madsen USA 274.00 1 26 Dominque Godin / Serge Legault USA 264.00 2 23 Tom Truss / Tom Riggins USA 127.00 one run 3 25 Greg Mainis / Dennis Bresnahan USA 121.00 one run 4

***
SPEED SKI RESULTS from earlier in the Month
TAG HEUER XSpeedSki - Nendaz/Verbier/Mt-Fort 2005 FIS World Cup #2 Final Results after 2 Runs TD : MAISON Sylvain ITA Directeur Epreuve : BONVIN Romuald SUI Arbitre : MUNZER Valentine AUT Arbitre-adjoint : PONCIN Marc GBR Juge départ : MORET Jean-Baptiste SUI Piste : Mt-Fort Départ : 3333m Arrivée : 2600m Dénivellé : 733m Homologation : OK Clt Dos Nom et prénom Nation 1.Manche 2.Manche Women 1 1 METSAPELTO Kati FIN 170.78 184.01 2 3 BANFO Elena ITA 169.80 181.85 3 5 SACHS Tracy USA 170.04 181.44 4 4 PIIPPONEN Heini FIN 166.09 156.44 5 2 MOLL Patty SUI 159.09 154.20 Men 1 10 VIITASAARI Jukka FIN 175.37 188.47 2 23 PONCIN Marc GBR 175.22 188.25 3 16 WICKMAN Roger SWE 173.97 187.64 4 17 MAY Phillipe SUI 175.14 187.41 5 30 GEBBIE Chris NZE 174.02 187.22 6 12 GRIMM Allen SWE 173.06 186.73 7 18 GOUMOENS Michel SUI 174.31 186.61 8 22 HEMBEL John USA 174.44 186.49 9 24 GRAF Juerg SUI 172.64 186.35 10 11 VUNDERINK Merijn NED 173.26 186.09 11 19 ANDERSON Ross USA 173.51 186.03 12 31 MUNZER Markus AUT 172.58 185.29 13 28 ENGEL Beat SUI 172.06 184.02 14 27 MICHAUD Laurent SUI 171.99 183.89 15 13 MORET Jonathan SUI 172.70 183.78 16 35 BAUNTON Russell NZE 170.82 183.77 17 15 SCHULTZE Tor SWE 171.37 183.58 18 25 WIRKLER Chris USA 172.46 183.35 19 20 ORIGONE Simone ITA 174.08 183.04 20 26 MAGILL Tim USA 169.99 182.76 21 21 METRAUX Jean-Louis SUI 170.43 181.74 22 36 DUBUIS Sylvain SUI 169.52 179.99 23 29 MORAN Tim USA 170.08 179.72 24 32 JANNERBERG Fredrik SWE 170.73 179.68 25 37 MILTON Michael AUS 168.84 179.10 26 38 CASSANI Manolo ITA 173.38 27 33 DUBUIS Maurice SUI 163.86 162.08

***

Camp of Champions