RDM

Couldn't agree more. Give us something tangible that represents winter - anything... snow, ice, sleet, FZR, wind, sub-0F, anything...

Oh my. I have the same Ortovox - someplace - with the strength meter option. It's a must for backcountry. Same for the shovels. Mine were relegated to vehicle duty long ago too. As they say, you measure how much your friends like YOU by the size of THEIR shovels. Used Ramer ski poles with self-arrest grips that can be converted into probe poles. Fortunately never had to use them for probing, but the self arrest feature saved me a couple times. One of the many things I like about the Alps is you don't have to worry about some curmudgeon ski patrol threatening to punch your ticket for skiing off-piste. You can ski just about anyplace you want other than a few off limits forests that are safe zones for avalanche protection. Lots of off-piste options from hut to hut etc. That said, if you get hurt off piste in Europe it is extremely expensive to be rescued. So ski insurance is a good thing. Lots of good memories.

Your reference to back-country caught my eye. What gear did you use for back-country? Do/did you tele-mark or use randonnee gear, or some other setup. I learned to ski on the bumps in Ohio (a whopping 350 feet of vertical), but really got my legs in the Alps during my first tour in Germany in the late 80's. Saved no money but skied my arsh off. Converted to telemark gear in 90 and have never been back on alpine gear since. Lots more tele skiing in the Alps my second tour in Germany in the early/mid 2000's, plus a fair bit of tele skiing in Japan w/backcountry in the most amazing snow I've ever encountered (and they get a LOT of it). Last place I skied in Japan was a decent of Mt. Fuji on tele skis - a memorable experience on an incredible day with unlimited visibility. Haven't skied for 10 plus years, so the tele experience now would be ugly at best now. Only skied Squall Valley out west. As a former Olympic venue I had much higher expectations - it was a big letdown. Good snow quality, but very disappointing terrain. Have heard Jackson is one of the best out west. However, for a relative comparison you can ski more than 2x the vertical of Jackson in Zermatt, Switzerland (over 8500 feet of vertical in one run). If you've never had a chance to ski the Alps, it is highly recommended. Pick the right times to go off season though to avoid the lines. If you go during ski break in the springtime the congestion can be crazy. In general, much more vertical in the Alps than about anyplace out west, but better snow out west.

ROTFLMAO!!! Hysterical. And I thought this was a weather forum. It's actually a comedy site in disguise, albeit a thin disguise at best. You nailed it CAPE!

The game... hum... Let's see - I think I'm busy this afternoon. I've got to... nope, did that already. Maybe I can... naw, that's even more boring than watching the Skins. Hard to imagine what the atmosphere is like in the Skins front office these days. Tickets as low as $4 at the last home game? Hard to contemplate given the futile impossibility of even finding tickets not long ago. Wonder what the stats are for season ticket holders? At one time one of the most prized commodities in sports. Since the value of the Skins as a franchise is still up there, maybe Dan S. will give thought to cashing out and do everyone a favor by doing so. We can only hope.

No kidding on the STJ. Several of those members show it ripping from way off Baja. No lack of moisture in many of those setups.

Fantastic Bob - no doubt you are doing a lot of things the right way beyond being part of the foundation here. That's great. Can only imagine how proud your son is going to be too. Real life learning opportunities like this are too infrequent these days...

Bob, no doubt you were inoculated against having any chance of becoming jipolar a long time ago. Most of us received that immunity at a young age... Sitting at 6.5" here about a mile NW of Vienna. Picking up again....

6-1/4" just NW of Vienna on Lawyers Road. Looks to be some building down around Raleigh. Hope good stuff mentioned by the NWS for this afternoon makes far enough N&W to give us all some more. Wes should be in a prime location for that.

Great second pic of your son. The awe he must feel with what today has in store for him.... I'm nearly 60 years old and still feel the same. Only thing that changes is the way we have fun. Can't wait to get out in my Kubota and do the neighborhood. Typically plow our 450' driveway, 4 more adjacent to us that are longer, about 20 other driveways, a 1/4 mile of street and a mile or so of sidewalk along Lawyers road to Vienna. Hope your little man has a blast today!

If this were to really play out as illustrated on the NAM, suggest it would be a hands down BECS. Can barely read the posts as fast as they are coming in. If the NAM nails this, it will have dethroned king EURO.

24/21 - Nice rise in dp from when I went to bed. Hats off to all those who stayed up so those mere mortal weenie wannabes like me could get some sleep, wake up and quickly read about getting named overnight and new additions to webster's dictionary of meteorology terms "according to Jeb"

A "positive reverse bust" - I think.... hope..... pray... that is a 4 letter word that starts with B and ends in M?

WWA just extended up into lower PA...

27/16. Just went outside with my long time damaged/broken/disjointed finger/weather monitor - the digit started tingling immediately - yup, it's gonna snow.

That was a great storm for us for many reasons. The 18th of Dec is my birthday for one. That aside, it was the best welcome home present our family could have hoped for. We'd just returned to the US that Fall from a few years in Thailand, where I may point out it don't snow... ever! (except inside the snow house at the Dreamworld amusement park). We'd just bought a new house on 30 Nov and moved in the first week of Dec 09. Also bought a small Kubota tractor with a front end loader the week before the storm to go along with my two Gravely walk behinds (our driveway is 500 feet long). The Kubota with loader, a blade on one Gravely and a blower on the other Gravely saved us and the neighbors. What a Dec that was, only to be followed by the back to back fun in Feb 2010. No snow this year for my b-day - darn it.