Day 19 - Blue Mountain

A nice morning on the hill with Uncle Bob.

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Day 18 - Greek Peak

Flurries with a quick, heavy snow squall and temps right at 30°; Chair 1 today - snowmaking and grooming underway on Alchmene under the main chair; plenty of people but no lift lines; Odyssey and Zeus both ungroomed but skiable with the appropriate attitude; Odyssey was in perfect racing condition - firm and ripply; legs are tired after skiing on hard snow all day.

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Day 17 - Greek Peak

A little snow overnight and this morning helped things alot; very windy; first day this season on GS skis - it took a little while but I finally got comfortable with them; any ungroomed, new snow was extremely sticky - had to conserve speed to even make it down Castor this morning; Illiad was good.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 16 - Greek Peak

Turned out surprisingly good today; Dad's favorite Greek Peak run, Castor, was fantastic - as was Illiad.

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Day 15 - Greek Peak

Yesterday it was skiing in the rain, today it was skiing till it rains; out for about 2½ hours; with the warm temps overnight they limited grooming so it took a little time to ski all the skitchy snow into something skiable - Iliad was just starting to get good when it started to rain; stockpiling the whales on Christy's till after the rain.

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Day 14 - Greek Peak

Pretty good day given the on and off rain all morning; out for 3 hours; stayed dry; grooming was a little inconsistent, but it got skied in pretty good by the time I left.

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Day 13 - Greek Peak

Another very nice day - excellent weather, excellent conditions; there were a lot of people out, but all the lifts ran so I was able to run and hide effectively; more great snowmaking - big whales on Christy's and Lower Zeus; skied okay; feeling okay.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 12 - Greek Peak

Another cold morning; more fantastic conditions; my latest Head GS Cheaters are so much better on the groomers than the Bonafides or Kendos; feeling well enough that I'm thinking of stepping up to GS or SL skis.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 11 - Greek Peak

Cold morning after yesterday's snow; stellar conditions again; good sized crowd, but never a lift line; 15 minute delay at opening; Chair 1 ran today, so plenty of Odyssey runs; didn't ski particularly well; poor choice of skis today; took a good 15 minutes before I could get my boots off at the end of the day.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 10 - Hunter Mountain

Pretty good day on the hill; full overcast with very little wind and temps in the twenties; pretty big crowd but never really much of lift line; skied with Radvanyi and Yatsko; plenty of new choices since the last time I was here - White Cloud, Eisenhower and Outlook stood out; the hip was a little wonky on the drive in, but I skied fine and it feels okay as I sit here writing this after driving home; had to drive home directly into the oncoming snow; first time parking at Hunter North - I like this alot - it cuts about 4 minutes off the trip; first +20,000' vert day of the season.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 9 - Greek Peak

Out for a few hours after a doctor's appointment this morning; another stellar day on Odyssey and Trojan; skied with Bill and Jamie; drove home in the rain.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 8 - Greek Peak

Very nice day on the hill after some more rain; a little scratchy to start, but everything (Odyssey, Trojan and Fields) softened beautifully; nobody else out - and I mean nobody; stayed long enough to do 20 runs.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 7 - Greek Peak

Nice day on the hill; plenty open give the recent rain - Trojan opened yesterday and was fun today; Chair 1 ran for a few hours so plenty of Odyssey runs today; extremely firm; skied quite a bit today; first Ski Tracks error this year - paused at lunch and missed tracking my afternoon runs.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 6 - Mt. Snow

First back-to-back days this season; lots of open terrain compared to everywhere else I've skied so far this year; last night's cold firmed up yesterday's rain soaked snow dramatically; not unexpectedly they groomed up quite a few chunks; had to ski slow today - my legs were tired; pretty big crowd; arrived early and got absolutely the best parking spot in Mt. Snow history; I can really feel the firm snow in my hip - nothing to worry about, just part of the recovery process (I hope).

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 5 - Okemo

Out for a couple of hours on my way to Peak Performance to get my Christmas gift (new Nordica Doberman 5 S boots) custom fit; conditions weren't too bad considering all the rain - their existing snowpack soaked up almost all of it and the inital post-rain groom didn't produce too many chuncks; given my short window to ski today I stuck to the main mountain and only got to ski Upper World Cup/Chute/Lower Chief and Upper Jolly Green Giant/Arrow; I'm skiing okay, but my hip is still very weak.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 4 - Hunter Mountain

Got an excellent morning in before the rain; 2 days of warm temps made everything super soft and carvable; stayed till I got wet - ended up leaving right at noon; legs were pretty tired walking to the car after 11 trips up The Flyer and a couple more up the new Broadway Chair (B Chair) but I feel pretty good sitting at home as I write this.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 3 - Greek Peak

Nice morning on the hill; first time this year I felt comfortable with my skiing - getting my boots figured out was a huge help; some more new snow and grooming overnight had the hill in tip top condition; Chair 1 ran basically all morning - so plenty of Odyssey laps - it was great; nice crowd, but no lift lines.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 2 - Greek Peak

Really good start to Greek Peak's season - Karyatis, Fields and Odyssey all blown and groomed; Several others including Illiad and Olympian were open on natural snow only; I did Illiad once but too many rocks for a redo; skied the Blizzard Bonafides; a little breezy with temps in the upper teens and a few snow flurries; the man made on the open trails was firm like Odyssey and a tad bit chunky in spots like Stoic; pretty good crowd after say 11:00 AM but never more than a 1 or 2 minute liftline; excellent lunch at the bar - Fried Chicken sandwich with fries and a few Blue Moon's.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 1 - Hunter Mountain

Pretty good start to the season considering it's been 9 months and a hip replacement revision surgery since I last skied. My hip is very weak but at least it didn't hurt. My feet and lower legs however, did hurt when I encountered any hard snow. Stopped a little earlier than I wanted to because my legs were spent - 8 before lunch and only 3 after.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 45 - Greek Peak

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Day 44 - Montage

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Day 43 - Montage

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Day 42 - Greek Peak

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Day 41 - West Mountain

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Day 40 - West Mountain

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Day 39 - West Mountain

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Day 38 - Montage

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Day 37 - Montage

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Day 36 - Greek Peak

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Day 35 - Greek Peak

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Day 34 - Montage

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Day 33 - Greek Peak

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Day 32 - Greek Peak

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Day 31 - Greek Peak

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Day 30 - Greek Peak

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Day 29 - Montage

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Day 28 - Montage

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Day 27 - Greek Peak

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Day 26 - Greek Peak

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Day 25 - Greek Peak

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Day 24 - Greek Peak

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Day 23 - Hunter Mountain

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Day 22 - Hunter Mountain

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Day 21 - Hunter Mountain

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Day 20 - Hunter Mountain

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Day 19 - Greek Peak

Out 8:40 to 2:00 with lunch at my locker; overcast and warm with light misting most of the day; 18 runs, 14,500 vertical; skied the 2019 Head i.Speed GS Cheater 17's and the Atomic Redster G9 RS's; soft and carvable leftovers after last night's rain.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 18 - Greek Peak

Out 9:45 to 2:00 with lunch in the bar; cloudy and warm with intermittent rain showers; 24 runs; 17,758 vertical; skied the 2019 Head i.Speed GS Cheater 17's; soft and carvable; pretty good sized crowd.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 17 - Greek Peak

Out 9:30 to 2:30 with lunch in the bar; increasing clouds and temps - temps rose into the upper thirties; 23 runs; 18,000 vertical; skied the 2012 Volkl RaceTiger SL World Cups; ever firming groomers; good sized crowd; skiing horribly.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 16 - Greek Peak

$10 Day; huge crowd; one and done.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 15 - Hunter Mountain

Out 9:00 to 1:45 with lunch in the bar; overcast with temps around 30° and some wind; 18 runs; 28,030 vertical; skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheater 17's; frozen chunks, rocks and dirt; nobody else out; snowmaking restarted all over the mountain this morning after yesterday's rain; skiing in new boots requires way too much buckling and unbuckling.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 14 - Greek Peak

Out 8:30 to 2:00 with lunch in the bar; warm, cloudy and windy with the incoming rain storm threating all day; 23 runs; 17,316 vertical; skied the 2019 Head i.Speed GS Cheater 17's; soft snow with lots of dirt; except for the GPSC kids not many people out; suprisingly good today - Odyssey was fun.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 13 - Greek Peak

Out 9:30 to 2:00 with a quick ski change and bite to eat at the car; warm and sunny with temps rising toward 50°; 23 runs; 17,260 vertical; skied the Atomic Redster G9 RS's and the 2019 Head i.Speed GS Cheater 17's; frozen marbles generally, but a few places (Elysian Fields) softened to some creamy goodness in the afternoon sun; nobody else out early, a few more people later.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 12 - Greek Peak

Out 9:30 to 12:00 without a break; partly sunny with temps in the low thirties and very little wind; 14 runs, 18,460 vertical; skied the Atomic Redster G9 RS's; frozen groomers with tons of chunks; nobody else out; 2 days on race skis and in new boots has me thrashed.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 11 - Greek Peak

Out 9:30 to 3:00 with lunch in the car; overcast with temps around freezing and no wind; 24 runs; 18,469 vertical; skied the 2019 Head i.Speed GS Cheater 17's and the Atomic Redster G9 RS's; crunchy groomers; very few people; first day in new boots - Lange World Cup RS ZB's - they're stout.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 10 - Greek Peak

Out 8:30 to 11:00, no break; cloudy and warm, no wind; 13 runs; 9,841 vertical; skied the Blizzard Bonafides; no grooming overnight was an excellent choice - firm but skiable this morning despite the warm temps overnight; Odyssey was good again; skied with a new guy named Ron.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 9 - Greek Peak

Out 12:00 to 3:00 with no break after having a Dr's appt this morning; skies clearing to late afternoon sunshine with temps in the upper forties; 15 runs; 11,302 vertical; skied the Blizzard Bonafides; soft snow; Odyssey was excellent; Elyesian Fields wasn't too bad either.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 8 - Hunter Mountain

Out 9:00 to 2:00 with lunch in the car; cloudy with intermittent flurries, temps around freezing and little to no wind; 24 runs; 31,482 vertical; skied the Blizzard Bonafides; snowmaking on groomers; some people - no liftlines.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 7 - Hunter Mountain

Out 9:00 to 1:45 with lunch in the lodge; overcast with temps around freezing and a little breeze; 25 runs; 31,111 vertical; skied the Blizzard Bonafides; resurfacing in progress after this weekend's rain; nobody else out, except the Tomessettis.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 6 - Greek Peak

Out 9:15 to 11:45; foggy and rainy with temps in the thirties; 15 runs; 11,266 vertical; skied the Blizzard Bonafides; soft man made; Fields-Stoic and Odessey today.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 5 - Hunter Mountain

Out 9:15 to 1:00 with lunch in the lodge; early sunshine dimming to overcast by the time I left; 16 runs; 19,992 vertical; skied the Blizzard Bonafides; soft snowmaking; a few more slopes today; the snowmaking on the pitch of Overlook was stellar.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 4 - Hunter Mountain

Out 9:15 to 1:15 with lunch in the lodge; mostly sunny with a temps rising toward freezing and a little breeze; 15 runs; 23,433 vertical; skied the Volkl Mantras; excellent man made snow - cohesive but soft; very few people especially after lunch.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 3 - Greek Peak

Out 9:15 to 11:15; clear, cool and windy - temps in the thirties; 11 runs; 8,494 vertical; skied the old Blizzard Brahmas; much better snow today - much better grooming today; much better crowd today; skied hard enough to have a little shin bang on my right shin.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 2 - Greek Peak

Out 9:15 to 10:30; skied the old Blizzard Brahmas; just 6 runs; 4,689 vertical; it got crowded real quick, so I left; frozen, thin, variable; different trail rollout this year - Karyatis - Meadows - Plutonic, i.e. the Chicken Trail and not Fields - Stoic.

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Day 1 - Big Snow

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Day 32 - Greek Peak

Out 9:30 to 2:15; 24 runs; 16,912 vertical

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Day 31 - Greek Peak

Out 9:30 to 1:45; 21 runs; 15,697 vertical

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Day 30 - Okemo

Out 9:00 to noon; 14 runs; 9,952 vertical; skied the Blizzard Bonafides and the Atomic Redster G9 RS Revoshocks; NASTAR - 15.12 hcp Platinum

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Day 29 - Mt. Snow

Out 9:00 to 11:30, 9 runs; 9,932 vertical; 3 ft plus overnight - legit!; skied the DPS Alchemist Lotus 124's; powder and lightly groomed deep sonw; delayed openings all over the mountain; North Peak closed all day :( ; lots of front-side trees.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 28 - Greek Peak

Out 9:30 to 1:00; snowing hard - 4"+ by the time I left; 14 runs; 9,597 vertical; skied the DPS Alchemist Lotus 124's; powder.



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Day 27 - Greek Peak

Out 9:30 to 3:00; 26 runs; 19,254 vertical

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Day 26 - Greek Peak

Out 9:30 to 1:30; 22 runs; 15,733 vertical

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Day 25 - Greek Peak

Out 9:30 to 2:15; 25 runs; 18,370 vertical

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Day 24 - Greek Peak

Out 10:00 to 2:00; 18 runs; 13,832 vertical

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Day 23 - Greek Peak

Out 9:45 to 2:30; 24 runs; 18,510 vertical

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Day 22 - Seven Springs

Out 8:30 to 9:30; 9 runs; 5,806 vertical; absolutely horrible - maybe the worst mid-season conditions I've ever skied

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 21 - Greek Peak

Out 9:45 to 2:00; 22 runs; 16,528 vertical

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Day 20 - Greek Peak

Out 9:30 to 2:00 with a quick ski change break in the car for lunch; cloudy with a little wind and temps in the thirties; 22 runs; 17,013 vertical; skied the Head i.SG RD's and the Atomic Redster GS RS Revoshocks; nice groomers; a few people in the PM; highest speed I've recorded in a least 5 years - tucking Odyssey on my SG skis in a suit with some decent light - too bumpy to do a low tuck top-to-bottom - if it was smoother I believe I could get close to 80 mph.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 19 - Greek Peak

Out 9:30 to 2:30 with lunch in the car; heavy overcast with little to no wind and temps in the thirties; 26 runs; 20,312 vertical; skied the Atomic Redster G9 RS's; groomers; very few people; Chair 1 today, so I did all Odyssey runs since I didn't have to push; rode chair 13 too, algthough I didn't get a picture.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 18 - Greek Peak

Out 1:30 to 4:30; cloudy with some broken sunshine poking through now and again, temps around 20°; 13 runs; 10,341 vertical; skied the 2019 Head i.Speed GS Cheater 17's;

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Day 17 - Greek Peak

Out 9:30 to 2:00 with lunch in the car; lightly falling snow with temps in the low twenties - maybe 2" total; 20 runs; 15,820 vertical; skied the Head i.SG RD's and the Atomic Redster G9 RS's; tuck runs on Oddyssey - sort of; only 61.5 mph max.

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Day 16 - Greek Peak

Out 9:30 to 2:30 with a lunch break in the car; light snow, then some very light freezing rain; Atomic Redster G9 RS Revoshocks; 26 runs; 20,373 vertical; all 26 runs today on Odyssey; these skis are very good.

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Day 15 - Greek Peak

Softly falling snow most of the morning - 2" or so; busy, busy, busy; Odyssy was good again; made it to Chair 5 today; lots of good skiers on the hill today; I love the Revoshocks; 19 runs; 14,652 vertical.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 14 - Greek Peak

Happy Birthday Mom! Heavy snow all day - 3"+ when I left; skied the Blizzard Bonafides; busy; Illiad and Odyssy were stellar; 18 runs; 14,091 vertical.

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Day 13 - Greek Peak

out 10:30 to 2:30 with lunch in the car; rain and snow with temps in the low thirties and a tiny bit of wind - an inch of wet sticky snow on top; 16 runs, 12,144 vertical; skied the Atomic Redster G9 RS's; a few people out despite the weather; made it to Chair 4 and Trojan was pretty good; skied with David before lunch; my wax didn't help at all today - I felt like I was actually glued to the ground much of the time.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 12 - Greek Peak

Out 12:30 to 4:45 with a quick dry off break in the car; on and off rain with a tiny bit of wet snow for about 2 minutes - no wind; 20 runs; 15,340 vertical; skied the Volkl RaceTiger SL World Cups; lots of good snow, but plenty of running water; more people out that I would have thought for a rainy Wednesday afternoon; skied okay I guess.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 11 - Hunter Mountain

Out 9:15 to 1:00 with lunch in the bar; more rain overnight - it ended with a light frosting of sticky snow on the very top of the hill - heavy overcast with light flurries and temps around freezing today; 16 runs; 24,065 vertical; nobody else out; the ungroomed runs that were open seemed to have weathered all this warmth and rain better that all the groomers we were doing this week during camp; today GS race was cancelled, dare I say obviously; top-to-bottoms all day, The Cliff-Bleeker St-Eisenhower was fun.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 10 - Hunter Mountain

Mid Atlantic Race Camp Day 4. Out 9:00 to 2:45 with lunch in the cafeteria again; heavy rain overnight, but no rain and cooling temps today - temps might actually get back below freezing tonighyt; 13 runs; 6,360 vertical; skied the Atomic Redster G9 RS's; conditions continue to deteriorate - Hunter races cancelled; nobody else out again; GS in Doug Lewis' group, actually skied okay.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 9 - Hunter Mountain

Only out 9:00 to 11:30 - had to go home and pick up the speed suits I forgot; 5 runs; overcast with temps in the fifties again; 6,240 vertical; skied the Atomic Redster G9 RS's; more wet snow, snirt and running water; nobody else out again - given the weather it's not surprising; GS training in Jim T's group - we replaced Tobi and ? with Peter and Scott.

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Day 8 - Hunter Mountain

Mid-Atlantic Masters Race Camp Day 2. Out 9:00 to 2:30 with lunch in the cafetereia again, warm and rainy with temps in the lower fifties; 13 runs; 7,197 vertical; skied the 2015 Volkl RaceTiger SL World Cups; soft snow, slush, snirt and running water; nobody else out today; SL training again - Lisa D B's group with the same group as yesterday; actually skied okay;

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 7 - Hunter Mountain

Mid-Atlantic Masters Race Camp Day 1. Out 9:00 to 2:30 with lunch in the cafeteria in the main lodge; overcast and warm with temps in the upper forties; 13 runs; 8,416 vertical; skied the 2015 Volkl RaceTigerSL World Cups; slush, snirt and plenty of running water; in John P.'s group with Dave W., Alex, Lisa and Bill Z., Tobi, and Steve; took a little while to get my feet back under me this morning.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 6 - Greek Peak

Out 9:45 to 1:45 with lunch in the bar; clear, relatively cold and still; 19 runs; 14,855 vertical; skied the Volkl Mantra M5's; some good grooming on Karyatis, Meadows and the top ½ of Oddesey; good snowmaking progress; hit a wet gun on the very bottom of Odyssey and took a hard fall - hard enough that my new phone called 911 - seriously.

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Day 5 - Greek Peak

Out 9:30 to 2:00 with a coffee break in the bar; a coating of new snow overnight - overcast with a little wind, a few flurries and temps around 30° today; 20 runs; 15,500 vertical; skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheater 17's; especially nice grooming and snow on the Meadows and the top half of Odyssey; Olympian was even worth a redo; skied okay.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 4 - Greek Peak

Out 12:30 to 4:00; heavy overcast with light flurries and temps around 30°; 18 runs; 14,750 vertical; skied the Nordica Enforcer 88's; good groomering on Fields/Stoic and Keryatis with totally variable snowmaking, etc. on Odyssey;

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 3 - Hunter Mountain

Out 9:00 to 1:30 with lunch in the lodge; sunny with temps rising through the thirties and relatively little wind; 20 runs; 30,416 vertical; skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheater 17's; frozen grooming in spots, but various amount of snowmaking everywhere else; lots of people but very little lift line - significantly fewer people out after lunch; skied with John P. and his daughter Anika; Minya Kona was pretty good - deep, soft snowmaking reserved till almost 11AM; skied okay.

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Day 2 - Hunter Mountain

Out 9:00 to 1:30 with a 45 minute lunch break in the lodge; overcast with the tinyest bit of wind and temps rising through the thirties; 18 runs; 27,971 vertical; skied the Nordica Enforcer 88's; frozen grooming, chunks, sticky snowmaking and plenty of rocks to start, but things got skied in pretty well by 10:00 or so and Hellgate-7th Ave-Kennedy was actually pretty good; plenty of people, but never even a hint of a liftline; surprised how many people I knew - the Tomassetti's, Dale Z., and David W. #3 (not Windhausen or Wadas); skied okay I guess.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 1 - Greek Peak

Day 1, FINALLY! Out 8:15 to 1:30 with a quick coffee break to change into my rain gear - 106 days last season in CO and it didn't rain once - welcome home; 40°, cloudy and windy with a few rain showers from 10 to noon; 23 runs; 17,378 vertical; skied the Blizzard Bonafides; softening grooming with some dirt spots poking through on Stoic; got to the hill early to pick up my pass and was rewarded when they opened 15 minutes early; plenty of old friends - Kris, Doug, David, Mark...

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Day 106 - Vail

Out 8:30 to 2:30 with a lunch break in the Mid-Vail Lodge; cloudy and a little windy up high with temps in the thirties; 22 runs; 29,552 vertical; skied the Nordica Enforcer 88's; groomers and a little natural snow; empty early, but a few people in the afternoon; China Bowl and Blue Sky Basin were closed; almost every groomer I did was excellent: Lodgepole, Avanti, Overeasy (2), Hunky Dory, Slifer Express, Swingsville, Northstar (2), Sourdough, Boomer, Ramshorn... even skier's right through the Golden Peak Terrain Park (2); 'only' skied a couple of nats: Blue Ox, Riva Ridge (non-stop from the top of the Mountaintop Express to Vail Village) and a section of Prima; rode 11 different front-side lifts today - the only one of note that I missed was Gondola One; anything front-side, low was very soft this afternoon.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 105 - Copper

Out 9:00 to 2:30 with coffee at Solitude Station and lunch in the car; 2" more overnight - cloudy and a little warmer today with temps in the teens - still very windy; 20 runs; 29,951 vertical; skied the K2 Mindbender 108 Ti's and the Nordica Enforcer 88's; plenty of groomers, but plenty of 3 day old snow too; USASA finally left so it was basically empty today; first tracks on the lightly covered grooming on High Point-Lower Carefree this AM was extra nice - the Mindbenders were actually humming on the fresh, baby soft snow; it was neat skiing directly with the 30 mph wind down High Point on both the first run and last runs; loved skiing the Enforcers this afternoon.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 104 - Copper

Out 9:00 to 2:00 with coffee in Solitude Station and lunch in the car; 2" overnight - cold and snowy with a lot of wind - temps in the single digits all day; 17 runs; 27,215 vertical; skied the K2 Mindbender 108 Ti's; groomers mostly; once again nobody else out except the USASA kids; rode the bubble a lot to keep out of the wind; Andy's - Oh No - Rosi's was very good again; thought the leg was better till I tried to ski - despite today's vertical I skied very, very causiously.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 103 - Copper

Out 9:00 to 12:15 with a coffee break in Solitude Station; 2" overnight; full on winter today - cold and snowing hard with the wind just starting to build when I left - temps steady around 15°; 11 runs; 14,436 vertical; skied the Blizzard Bonafides; nobody other than the last of the USASA kids out today and they were all clustered around Woodward, so no big deal; took the time to ride Lumberjact and Kokomo - both for the first time this season; missed yesterday with a mysterious left leg ailment that suddenly developed on Sunday and just as suddenly disappeared yesterday evening - it was a little tender today, so I stuckd almost exclusively to low angle groomers - feels fine as I write this, so my plan is to go a little harder tomorrow.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 102 - Arapahoe Basin

Out 9:00 to 1:00 with lunch in the Black Mountain Lodge; sunny, warm and a little windy - temps rising into the thirties; 15 runs; 16,999 vertical; skied the Nordica Enforcer 88's; groomers mostly and a little bit of old snow; fair number of people out, but never more that a few people in the liftline; did 3 down Beavers and 2 down Pali; Pali Face is steep; skier's right on the bottom half of Loafer was great - steep, groomed, super firm and very rolly; a little tired in the soft snow this afternoon so I just bagged it.

      ↑ The East Wall from the top of Pali

      ↑ Breck and Keystone from the top of Beavers

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 101 - Beaver Creek

Out 9:00 to 2:30 with lunch in the Spruce Saddle Lodge; plenty of sunshine and wind with temps in the low thirties; 21 runs; 33,194 vertical; skied the Blizzard Bonafides; all sorts of groomers - frozen firm first thing to mushy at the bottom by the end of the day; very few people; covered lots of ground; liked Larkspur, Cabin Fever and President Ford's: great view of the Gore Range today.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 100 - Copper

Out 9:30 to 3:00 with lunch at JJ's; cold and very windy - temps rising through the teens - with the windy we had a mix of everything: sun, clouds, snow showers,... ; 19 runs; 35,141 vertical; skied the 2019 Head i.Speed GS Cheater 17's; groomers; nobody other that USASA on the hill today; took my second fall of the season - got caught in a pocket of deep snow coming down onto Andy's from West Encore; Andy's-Oh No-Rosi's was very, very good; I like these skis;

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 99 - Copper

Out 9:00 to 2:15 with lunch at JJ's; 2" overnight - very windy with snow - maybe another 2" today; 15 runs; 27,189 vertical; skied the Blizzard Bonafides; groomers and various other things covered by a little new snow; nobody else out other than the USANA National Championship competitors; top and back of the mountain closed all day due to wind; American Flyer and Super Bee closed too after lunch - American Eagle, Alpine and Resolution the only chairs open when I left; American Flyer first thing and the very top of Coppertone were very sweet; sunk my poles in all the way to the grips on Far East.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 98 - Vail

Out 8:30 to 1:30 with coffee at Two Elks; clear and sunny with temps in the thirties and a little wind that kicked up around noon; groomers mostly and a little day old; 19 runs; 27,939 vertical; skied the Blizzard Bonafides; plenty of people by noon - almost empty at opening bell; took the blue groomer tour of the Back Bowls - made it all the way back to Blue Sky Basin - it's just over 10 miles as the bird flies from the bottom of 19-Eagle Bahn to the top of 39-Pete's; Red Zinger was spectacular - perfect, sun backed softness - I did 2; beautiful view of the Gore Range today from the frontside, but's that not the picture.

      ↑ Looking towards Beaver Creek

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 97 - Copper

Out 9:00 to 1:45 with a coffee break at Solitude Station; 2" overnight - light snow with temps in the twenties and no wind to start then afer coffee the wind kicked up giving way to plenty of afternoon sunshine and temps around freezing; 16 runs; 23,165 vertical; skied the Blizzard Bonafides; baby soft groomers with a couple inches of fluff on top (Copperfield) to frozen coral lurking just below the surface of the new snow (Cornice Chute); virtually nobody else on the hill - skied untracked all day; passed 2,000,000 vertical today; Copperfield first thing was heaven; did several things for the first time: Boardwalk, Park Place, Spaulding Glades, Enchanted Forest from the first gate on Lilly G and Cache Glades; after reviewing Google Maps and today's Ski Tracks I actually did the trees just beyond Looking Glass not Cache Glades.

      ↑ Crystal Peak from somewhere in Spaulding Glade

      ↑ Lunch Rock

                          ↑ 14 turns on the top pitch of The Moz



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Day 96 - Keystone

Out 8:30 to 11:30 without a break; clear skies and a little bit of wind with temps rising through the twenties; 11 runs, 17,444 vertical; skied the 2019 Head i.Speed GS Cheater 17's; groomer; virtually empty today; Team Summit Masters - NASTAR type GS all the way down Richtor; last Team Summit training day of the year, so probably my last Keystone day as well; skied poorly again - turning in early at the top of the turn on every right footer on the steep.

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Day 95 - Copper

Out 9:00 to 12:30 with coffee at Solitude Station; 4" overnight - snowy and windy with temps in the twenties; 12 runs; 17,217 vertical; powder that felt a lot like dust on crust; very few people again today; skied like crap.

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Day 94 - Copper

Out 9:00 to 1:00 with an early lunch at JJ's; light snow with temps right around freezing; 14 runs; 27,188 vertical; skied the 2019 Head i.Speed GS Cheater 17's; groomers with just a dusting of new snow to soften things the tinyest of bits; absolutely nobody else out - rode single all day except once on Super Bee and once on Excelerator; Collage was a dream - groomed flat and frozen solid with a tiny bit of new snow.

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Day 93 - Breckenridge

Uncle Bob Day 5. Out 9:30 to 1:00 with a coffee break in the Adirondack chairs out on the deck at the base of Peak 7; 8 runs; 9,982 vertical; skied the Blizzard Bonafides; quickly softening groomers; not too many people - small to no liftlines; we made the effort and reached Peak 6; Bob's last day - he absolutely killed it this week.

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Day 92 - Vail

Uncle Bob Day 4. Out 8:30 to 12:15 with a coffee break in the lodge at Mid-Vail; sunny and warm with a little wind - after a below freezing start temps rebounded quickly into the low fifties; 11 runs; 11,703 vertical; skied the Blizzard Bonafides; the first frozen, truly crunchy groomers of the year to start, then steadily softening snow as the day wore on; to my utter surprise the crowd was very reasonable - believe it or not there were virtually no liftlines; finally got to ski a full day with Bob - we had a blast.

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Day 91 - Keystone

Uncle Bob Day 3. Out 8:30 to 12:00, no break; sunny, warm and little windy - temps rising into the low forties; 10 runs, 15,838 vertical; skied the 2015 Volkl RaceTiger SL World Cups; groomer; very few people - absolutely no liftlines other than opening bell; Team Summit Masters - 6 runs through a 40 gate SL course on Richtor; skied poorly; today's pic is of Matt Fox our coach.

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Day 90 - Keystone

Uncle Bob Day 2. Out 8:30 to noon, no break; sunny and warm with a little wind - temps rising through the twenties into the mid-thirties; 10 runs; 15,838 vertical; skied the 2015 Volkl RaceTiger SL World Cups; groomer; dropped Uncle Bob at Breck while I did Keystone - made him ride the bus home; Team Summit Masters - 15 gate GS course on Richtor; actually skied pretty well; didn't look at the schedule and got to the hill ready to train SL when we were actually doing GS.

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Day 89 - Keystone

Uncle Bob Day 1. Out 8:30 to 2:30 with lunch in the Mountain House Base Lodge; sunny and windy with temps rising through the teens and twenties toward freezing; 13 runs; 21,897 vertical; skied the Atomic Redster G9 RS's and Blizzard Bonafides; pretty good crowd, just no real liftlines; Team Summit Masters - 15 gate GS on Richtor set by David S. not Matt; skied my best run of the season the first time through the course, then just so-so.

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