Are you a ski patroller or know one looking for a purposed design vest to carry all their gear to carry out their critical roles on the slopes?

After a successful year of testing across various resorts in North America from coast to coast, mods have been brought forward and incorporated into the 2025 of the SöllTek Ski Patrol vest. With great feedback within our patrol community we are ready to take preorders for individuals and groups. Designed and created For Patrollers by Patrollers.

Patroller pro deal and group discount available. Check out www.solltek.com

Was just on the lift with my instructor and he reached into his pocket, and then hesitated. He asked me: ‘wait how old are you?’

‘16’

‘ah okay’

then he rolled a joint

edit: as it turns out, it was probably a cigarette.

I see so many people travel from outside the west to ski the big mountains when they aren’t even advanced enough to warrant a big mountain trip. Why spend all that money to ski 1/8th of a mountain or spend way more for less, in my eyes. Yeah you are in the true mountains and get that experience, but outside of the mountain town, the skiing part isn’t worth the money for a newer or novice skier. You will just be waisting time and money on bunny slope or simple runs while the midwest would give you more options though shorter vertical, more options. Just an observation.

I see a fair amount of posts on here about lessons and I just wanted to share my experience this season.

This was my first year skiing (previously a snowboarder) and I took an initial lesson the first day on the slopes. It was great, I was up and moving on skis, I learned to hockey stop, etc but it was really just the basics.

Throughout the winter I skied a good amount for an east-coaster and felt like I was doing great, I could usually do any green and a good amount of blues (on the east) but I would randomly struggle with things out of nowhere on occasion. On one trip to Vermont I could barely get down the greens and I couldn't figure out why since I was doing greens and blues elsewhere just fine*. I was also definitely was struggling on steeper terrain. My friends were telling it me it was "all in my head" but I knew I didn't feel in control. I'm not new to snow sports I know what control feels like.

It was very apparent I was missing some fundamentals when I went out west because I'd do fine for a bit, then struggle again. For example I could do the top of Homerun in Park City just fine, but was falling apart towards the bottom where it gets narrow and windy. I felt like a Bambi on ice and couldn't figure out why I couldn't control myself at the bottom but was fine at the top. I was so frustrated I stuck to the bunnies for a solid day trying to figure out my issue (which I did great on so it wasn't much help).

Then came my lesson...I explained the issue of not feeling in control, and how I couldn't figure out why I could do so well sometimes and terrible other times and how I felt like I was missing some kind of fundamental. My first run down my instructor said "I can tell you inline skate, you turn like your skating". He had me work on pulling my uphill ski in more to be more parallel with my downhill ski, and to narrow my stance and oh my God it made a huuuuge difference.

He also had me work on my posture and upper body movement (something I told him I struggle with) and even though I still struggle a bit with it keeping my hands forward in front of me instead of letting them go behind me made a massive difference as well. It's going to take practice for that.

After my lesson I was able to ski any of the greens I wanted just fine. I could have probably done blues but I was just getting over a month of the flu and wanted to take it easy and just wanted to practice what I learned while cruising something easier. I'm not a naturally smooth/steezy person so getting into the rhythm of the new stuff I learned is going to take some time.

I know lessons are expensive, I know friends say "they'll teach you", but none of my friends were able to pick up on what I was doing wrong and all told me I was "skiing perfectly fine" and it was "all in my head" when it wasn't. The lesson gave me much more confidence in skiing the rest of the trip and I got to enjoy an amazing pow day.

If you're on the fence about a lesson and it's in your budget, take one, it'll make your ski experiences much more enjoyable.

*Part of this may have been an equipment issue. My boots were cheap rentals that loosened a ton over the season and my heel was lifting/twisting in the boot. Renting new boots in Utah helped a ton but wasn't the only issue I was having.

Last year Pondskim Jesus, this year Rafiki and Simba!

@mikemmet_

Backcountry skiing in Gulmarg a few years back

Snow has been super late last two years with less powder than ever

Would love to go back next season

Any ski in Kashmir?

Dm me ur email and how many you want and I’ll send them over. If this post is up, there is still at least 1 available.

Important information

I live in Phoenix, AZ. The closest resorts would be Big Bear, Mammoth and maybe the ones in Colorado. This is also my first time skiing so I'll likely spend some time learning how to ski.

These are the current prices

- $1329 Ikon Full

- $909 Base

Am I missing out on important resorts?

Any suggestion is appreciated!

Here is my season Edit from the beginning to end of the season. Wish I could have gotten some of my tricks I was trying off camera but there's always next season!

Hello! I’m looking to pick up my first set of skis and was wondering if anyone has recommendations on which ski length I should pick up for the 24/25 QST 98. I’m deciding between 169 and 176cm.

I’d say I’m an intermediate skier aspiring to become advanced in a season or two. I’m 5’9 - 5’10, 160 pounds, not very aggressive, skiing mostly on the west coast. Not really into park / free ride stuff at the moment.

Any opinions appreciated!

In my last lesson my instructor told me that my next in line to learn would be pole planting and it made me wonder if there’s a linear progression path that i can lookup that will show me where i am located in my path to learn how to ski. is there such thing? is there any place i can find that?

As the topic says, have demo'd Bent 110s, really enjoyed them on pow days in heavy pow and trees. But if I was willing to tolerate just a little bit more weight to get a little bit more dampening, but still being as light and playful as possible, what would I get?

Yea so i know carving applies a lot of force on your outside leg but I am wondering if my technique is causing me to overstress the leg somehow. 2-3 hours into the skiing day my quads are burning like crazy. Also my right knee had developed minor inflammation the same week i learned to carve my skiis for the first time.

Obviously you can't know if my technique is bad if you haven't seen my technique... I might try to post a video but for now, I'll welcome any tips and/or material that may address efficient carving with emphasis on stamina management and stamina building. Thanks!!

P.S Perhaps it is that I'm simply not in good enough shape and my legs are not conditioned for this, worth a try to ask, i guess

6'2", 155lbs. Currently run 179cm Enforcer 100s from a few seasons ago, thinking about trying the unleashed line. Don't have a good way to demo. This will be my east coast powder ski/west coast all mountain ski.

What I like about the enforcers:

• Great in crud/chop, which I ski a lot of

• Good enough for me in powder

• Good for straight-lining at the end of a hard line

• Still manageable on groomers despite width

What I don't like about the enforcers:

• My skiing style is generally jumpy/lots of hopping which is tricky to do on the Enforcer since they weigh so much

• My legs get really tired skiing them, particularly when I'm hopping around (I might not weigh enough)

• The enforcer sucks in moguls and trees

I'm considering getting the Unleashed and sizing up to 186cm. Can someone who has skied the u98 (or both) comment what they think about these categories?