Day 9 - Killington

Race Camp Day 1. Out 9:00 to 2:30 with an hour for lunch; sunny and calm with temps in the upper teens to start - a growing overcast, SW wind, and rising temps by 3:00; skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheater 17's; 10 runs; 8,400 vertical; heavy duty resurfacing underway - guns everywhere; in John Pierce's group with Bob, Ken, Tim, and Roger; we worked hard on stance all day; forward pressure drills - straight run with flat skis on pitch, one ski straight run with flat ski on pitch, controlled snowplow to stop on pitch, controlled snowplow arcs on pitch; stance drills - poles out outside pole down while turning, poles out both poles down while turning, go to athletic stance including hands forward and UP.

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Day 8 - Killington

On the hill for a few before the Black Friday crowds arrived - out 8:00 to 10:15 ; overcast and windy with temps in the mid-fifties; skied the new Blizzard Brahmas for the first time today; 12 runs; 14,000 vertical; soft snow everywhere; very few people there until 9:30, then all hell broke loose and there were people swarming everywhere; instead of going back out after coffee, I did 3 pair of skis at KSC instead; started on the Superstar Quad at 8:00 and did 8 laps on Skylark by 9:05; I ended up winning today's Fantasy Ski Racing contest for the FIS World Cup Women's GS at Aspen!



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Day 7 - Killington

First 10 by 10 of the season - Happy Thanksgiving! Out 8:00 to 12:15 with a KSC coffee break; the persistent overcast and stiff breeze made it feel much colder than the mid-thirties temperatures would have lead you to believe; skied the Rossignol Experience 98's; 21 runs 19,000 vertical; lot of new terrain open today, so all sorts of variable snow conditions - Snowdon early was groomed soft-pack, while 1st chair at Skylark was uneven, frozen grooming that chucked out, but got skied in relatively quickly, and the NR area was flat and firm after coffee; there are times when my skiing feels pretty good - I wish I could extend the momentary flashes of brilliance into some seriously good skiing; had to retrieve my phone after dropping it off the Superstar Quad just before coffee.

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Day 6 - Killington

Let the first long holiday weekend of the ski season begin. Out 9:00 to 1:00 with a leisurely KBL coffee break; mostly sunny with light winds and temps rising into the lower thirties; skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheater 17's; 18 runs; 13,750 vertical; pretty good snow conditions today - the groomers in the NR area held up well to the traffic, Upper Downdraft was good enough for a redo, and Great Northern thru Lower Bunny to the bottom had real good coverage; big crowd again today, but with the extra open terrain lift lines never exceeded a couple of minutes; made the first few runs this morning with Doug T.; I used today's skis without an overnight touch up and what do you know, the world didn't end!



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Day 5 - Killington

Horrible PR day for Big K - a huge 9:00 crowd watched as electrical problems on K-1 delayed opening until 11:00 and top-to-bottom skiing continued to elude us despite tons on snow on Lower Bunny. On the hill from 11:00 till 2:00 with no break; 26° with brilliant sunshine at 9:00, but by the time we were able to get out on the hill the clouds rolled in my day ended in a light snow fall and temps in the upper twenties; skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheater 17's; only 11 runs; huge crowd - 5 to 7 to 10 minute lift line all day other than the gondi ride up and first ride on the NRT; pretty good conditions - excellent coverage that held up to the traffic with only a few slick spots developing by the time I left; Lower Ridge Run opened today; skied most of the day with Jon Meyers and his brand new Volkl GS Cheaters - you know me I love new skis, so here's of picture of the recent additions to my quiver; top-to-bottom tomorrow just confirmed on killington.com!



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Day 4 - Killington

Strong winds, soft snow, and low visibility. Out for a couple of hours before this afternoon's rain; 50° and very windy in the K Cloud; skied the Blizzard Brahma #1's; 13 runs; 7,750 vertical; KMS and a fair number of diehards out this morning; GN, Rime, and Reason were groomed and softened up immediately; Upper Double Dipper opened today; still plenty of cover, but last night's warm temps did some damage; surprised I feel so good after a four day stint to open the season; snapped these pictures of today's sunset as I drove out the other end of the rainstorm back home in PA.



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Day 3 - Killington

A really nice ski day. Out 9:15 to 1:15 with a ½ hour lunch break; another perfectly sunny 40° day with no wind; 22 runs; 13,000 vertical; skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheater 17's; relatively light crowd - people on the hill, but no real lift line; last night's snowmaking and grooming has Rime in good shape; my skiing felt better today.



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Day 2 - Killington

A beautiful day with some pretty good skiing. Out 9:45 to 1:15; 40° sunny, no wind; skied the Rossignol Experience 98's; 17 runs; 10,000 vert; cold enough overnight that they made snow; surprisingly good production overnight - lots of soft snow once the guns were turned off and the snow got skied in; Upper Great Northern was open so we only had to walk up the stairs; KMS was out for the first time this morning.



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Day 1 - Killington

All the great fall weather this year made for a very late start to our ski season, but as they say, 'better late than never.' No K pass this year, so I did a long drive and ski today to reduce the number of nights required at the hotel - I'll do the reverse on Thursday when I head home; on the hill from 10:30 to 1:30 with a ½ hour break sitting in the Adirondack chairs at the bottom of the Northridge Triple eating my lunch; had to walk both directions on the stairs today, but with a little luck we should be able to ski down tomorrow; 40° sunny and very little wind; skied the Blizzard Brahma #1's; 15 runs; 8,800 vertical; Rime and Reason/Upper East Fall were both open; good cover on Rime and Reason - enough snow that they groomed; lots of people today - lift line all day, but never longer than a couple of minutes; didn't ski particularly well today, but maybe a little off season conditioning would have helped.



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