The End of an Era...We are Shutting Down the Messageboard

The messageboard is now in read-only mode and no new posts or topics can be created. We will leave the messageboard up for historical purposes, but you will not be able to make new posts or comment on existing ones.

We have started a Discord server and hope that you all will join us on there. Technology has changed over the years and maintaining the messageboard has become somewhat of a pain in the butt and Discord offers many features for users, the main one being a very polished mobile app.

We really hope you all will join us on Discord and think you will like the platform. Use the invite link below to join.

https://discord.gg/skisoutheast

Howdy folks, new member here

Introduce yourself to the masses and join in on the fun!
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marzski
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@BamaDave 294992 wrote:An evening at App sounds like fun too.



Yeah I watched a couple of videos of people skiing/riding Oz. They list it as a Blue trail on the trail map, but it sure looks pretty "green" to me. As easily as this kid handled it, I think I can survive it, even with my very green riding skills :p But then again I know video footage can be deceiving and vertical drop never looks as steep onscreen as in real life. When I show my wife video of me kayaking, the rapids always look a LOT tamer onscreen than when I went through them!! :eek: Anyway, Oz looks like a blast and I just need to make sure I go up there when conditions are good and it's open.



Speaking of when conditions are good, I can be pretty flexible about when I go, but I'd like to get SOME idea of when would be a good target to shoot for. Is late January generally pretty good up there, or should I look more into February? Or should I forget about trying to plan more than a week in advance, and just hit the road when the 7 day forecast looks perfect?



David



Yeah, most of Oz is pretty mellow. In fact, need to make sure to keep up speed after the first half to get past a low point. It's probably a blue because it's relatively long. Not the best place for a never-ever who is still figuring out greens.



As happened in the past week, when the next major thaw is going to happen is impossible to predict much more than a week out. Warm weather isn't the issue in Jan-Feb, more a question of whether things freeze up overnight after a warm day. If there is a week of solid snowmaking weather predicted and no rain in the forecast for your planned ski days, go for it.
2023-24: Wolf Creek in Dec, Massanutten in Jan, Feb; GT, Big Sky; Crested Butte; Alta/Snowbird in April.
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@mobile boarder 294996 wrote:Welcome to the board Dave Best thing to do, is wherever you decide to go, is to just have fun. I usually go to Cat or wolf but did make App last year for the first time and it was a

Blast. Planning on Hitting Beech next month on my way to Timberline and since I'm visiting my folks this next weekend I'm going to Cloudmont on fri



Thanks for the welcome mobile boarder! I'm definitely planning to have FUN regardless of where I go. This trip is really just going to be a warm-up for our Utah trip in late March, so as long as I get to spend a couple of days working on my riding skills on halfway decent snow, I'll be happy.



I just looked at the forecast for Chattanooga, and it looks like it's going to be pretty warm and sunny this coming weekend. Of course I know it'll be much colder on top of the mountain, but I think it'll still be well above freezing. What is the snow like up there in those conditions? As I mentioned, I've only been to the Mont once about 17 years ago on a PERFECT weekend, but since then I've never bothered to go back because I got my skiing fix in most years going out west. But since taking up boarding, I'm itchin' for more time on snow! And we own a piece of land up on Lookout Mtn. with a little cabin, so I'll definitely keep my eyes open for a chance to hit Cloudmont.



David
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@marzski 294999 wrote:If there is a week of solid snowmaking weather predicted and no rain in the forecast for your planned ski days, go for it.





Sounds like a good plan!



David
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teledave
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@BamaDave 294992 wrote:When I show my wife video of me kayaking, the rapids always look a LOT tamer onscreen than when I went through them!! :eek:



Where you boating, LRC? I dabble in a bit of kayaking up here in the Smokies myself.
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@BamaDave 295000 wrote:Thanks for the welcome mobile boarder! I'm definitely planning to have FUN regardless of where I go. This trip is really just going to be a warm-up for our Utah trip in late March, so as long as I get to spend a couple of days working on my riding skills on halfway decent snow, I'll be happy.



I just looked at the forecast for Chattanooga, and it looks like it's going to be pretty warm and sunny this coming weekend. Of course I know it'll be much colder on top of the mountain, but I think it'll still be well above freezing. What is the snow like up there in those conditions? As I mentioned, I've only been to the Mont once about 17 years ago on a PERFECT weekend, but since then I've never bothered to go back because I got my skiing fix in most years going out west. But since taking up boarding, I'm itchin' for more time on snow! And we own a piece of land up on Lookout Mtn. with a little cabin, so I'll definitely keep my eyes open for a chance to hit Cloudmont.



David

They are going to start blowing fresh snow prob around midnight if the temps keep dropping and they should be able to continue nightly thru sun or mon. Temps at night are supposed to be in the low 20's with highs during the day of around 42
Days on snow (tbd)
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@teledave 295002 wrote:Where you boating, LRC? I dabble in a bit of kayaking up here in the Smokies myself.



I dabbled in kayaking about 20 years ago (just barely learned to roll) but never did any real whitewater. But this past May I finally got serious and got a playboat and have used it mainly on the Coosa in Wetumpka, but have also taken it on the Locust Fork, the Chattahoochee in Columbus, the Cartecay, the Nantahalla, and the Upper Pigeon. Then in August I bought a creek boat, and I've done the Ocoee Upper and Middle sections with it, but that was with experienced guides showing me every line. I haven't had a chance to do any of the LRC runs yet and I'm not quite ready for the Class IV/V stuff. And I haven't invested in any winter gear yet anyway, so I probably won't do any more kayaking until warmer weather rolls around. My brain just hasn't gotten used to the idea of kayaking in freezing temperatures yet. :o But I do hope to get a drysuit next fall so that I can start hitting the good stuff in colder weather.



Anyway, glad to hear there's another kayaker here, and maybe we can get together sometime next summer and do some Smoky Mt. whitewater!



David
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@mobile boarder 295005 wrote:They are going to start blowing fresh snow prob around midnight if the temps keep dropping and they should be able to continue nightly thru sun or mon. Temps at night are supposed to be in the low 20's with highs during the day of around 42



Hope you have great conditions! I can't go this coming weekend but will try to get up there sometime in the next few weeks. I have several hang gliding buddies on Lookout Mtn. who can give me up-to-the minute condition reports so I'll know when to go. Maybe I'll see you there one of these days.
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teledave
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@BamaDave 295008 wrote:Anyway, glad to hear there's another kayaker here, and maybe we can get together sometime next summer and do some Smoky Mt. whitewater!





A couple of my favorites











Let's hope for another rainy summer.
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Beautiful! Where were those shots taken?



Yeah it was really great that my first summer of kayaking was so incredibly rainy! I just wish I had been experienced enough to take advantage of some of those class IV creeks when they were running WARM. Next summer will probably be dry as a bone.... :rolleyes:



David
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teledave
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1st is on the Little River in the Smokies, a rapid called Eddy Out on the Sinks-Elbow section.

https://www.americanwhitewater.org/cont ... l/id/3230/



2nd is Baby Falls on the Tellico

https://www.americanwhitewater.org/cont ... l/id/1791/



Both rivers have pretty big watersheds and run fairly regularly.
Plans for 2015: To ski more than you
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