Day 38 - Killington

I took a few days off with all the rain and ice over the weekend. Out 10:45 to 4:15 with a long, leisurely lunch at the condo; windy with a growing cloud layer and temps around 30°; 18 runs; 19,250 vertical ;skied the Volkl Mantras; thick granular, chunks, and tons of ice with quite a few rocks thrown in just for good measure; lots of people but no real lift line; the rather large, irregularly shaped, snow making bumps on Cascade were replete with big patches of ice - if you can't tell it got the better of me this afternoon.

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Day 37 - Killington

Out 12:15 to 2:00; 7 runs; 7,650 vertical; skied the 2015 Volkl RaceTiger SL World Cups; some people, but only rode the chair with another person once.

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Day 36 - Killington

Out 1:15 to 2:45 with a break at the ski club; 12 runs; 12,000 vertical; skied the 2015 Volkl RaceTiger SL World Cups

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Day 35 - Killington

Merry Christmas. Out 8:30 to 3:15 with a coffee break in the ski club bldg. and a luxuriously long lunch at the condo; bluebird skies with a little nip in the air - temps rising to nearly twenty with a little wind up high; 20 runs; 22,500 vertical; skied the Fischer RC4 GS Cheater 18's; firm and flat - several seemingly useless snow making setups; plenty of people especially later.

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Day 34 - Killington

Received my first Christmas present today when the Sunrise chair opened, ski-in/ski-out is finally here! Out 11:30 to 2:45 with a coffee break down at Snowshed; clouds building into a constant light snow with temps around 20°; 18 runs; 20,300 vertical; skied the Fischer RC4 GS Cheater 18's; crunchy, frozen groomers with plenty of chunks and rocks and even a little snowmaking thrown in; plenty of people, but never much of a lift line; Skyeship Base opened today too.



View of my condo, the tunnel on Sun Dog and Bear Mtn through the woods from the Sunrise Triple chair

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Day 33 - Killington

Successfully waited out today's rainstorm. Out 2:30 to 4:00; rain with temps around 50° and less wind than I think was predicted - it rained hard all then day stopped for an hour around 3:00; rain soaked ice and various forms of wet and/or soft snow and running water; lots of dirt and rocks exposed today; 10 runs; 11,140 vertical; skied the Blizzard Brahma #2's; nobody else out; Sunrise lift scheduled to run tomorrow - I hope all the rain doesn't change that plan.

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Day 32 - Killington

Bluebird. Out 9:10 to 3:00 with a KSC coffee break and lunch at the Peak Lodge; sunny with temps rising through the thirties and a building wind; 25 runs; 30,309 vertical; skied the Volkl Mantras; 3f mostly, however did do some low angle woods on Ramshead; lots of people out enjoying the weather; Timberline was something new today that was very good; Bear Claw-Anti-venom was a delight again this AM; these skis are fine - they carve well and easily pave any bumps or piles into submission, it's just they're heavy and wide which makes them feel a bit sluggish.

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Day 31 - Killington

Ski Bum #2. Out 9:10 to 2:00 with a couple of breaks in the ski club building; clear, cold and windy to start, but temps did eventually rise well into the twenties; 16 runs; 18,520 vertical; skied the 2012 Volkl RaceTiger SL World Cups and the Atomic D2 3.0 Race GS's; 3f; got to the Canyon this afternoon for 4 runs on Cascade; did pretty well in today's race - only got beat by 1 girl.

17 151 MARTIN BURNS 23.50 (17) SM5 (2)

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Day 30 - Killington

Out 9:15 to 1:00 with coffee in the Ski Club Building; cold and windy with another thick dusting of snow overnight - 10° to 15° with winds gusting to 40 mph+; 14 runs; 16,500 vertical; skied the Volkl Mantras; crunchy groomers with pockets of wind blown snow; nobody here today; wimped out and did 13 of my 14 runs in The Bubble; Mantras skied well today - they held nicely on anything firm and smoothed out all the bumps.

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Day 29 - Killington

Out 9:15 to 1:45 with a coffee break in the KSC building; mostly in the cloud with temps around freezing, light snow falling and a steadily increasing breeze - just enough snow overnight and this AM to turn everything bright white again; 20 runs; 24,388 vertical; skied the Blizzard Brahma #2's; good and bad on the hill today, the good: the soft rolling groomer that was Upper Bear Claw/Middle and Lower Wildfire - the bad: the rocks on Bittersweet again and the chunks on Skyelark; missed the Canyon today - lapped Snowdon in The Bubble to keep warm instead.

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Day 28 - Killington

Out 9:00 to 3:00 with coffee and lunch breaks; temps right at freezing with an in and out K Cloud and a tiny bit of wind; 27 runs; 34,250 vertical; skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheater 17's; groomers and other stuff; skied with Chris - I love skiing with somebody who can keep up and/or even lead; still love these skis; did Double Dipper, NorthStar, and Ovation sans the bottom pitch; Bear Cub and Sun Dog opened today, but still no Sunrise Chair.

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Day 27 - Killington

Out 9:00 to 12:45 with a coffee break in the ski club building; sun and clouds with temps rising into the twenties and the tinyest bit of wind; 19 runs; 23,000 vertical; skied the Blizzard Brahma #2's; mostly groomers with a selection of other stuff; did Vertigo sans the headwall and NorthStar; snow guns on Sun Dog right outside the condo at 6:00AM this morning.

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Day 26 - Killington

First Ski Bum Race. Out 9:00 to 1:45 with a few equipment and warmup breaks in the KSC building; temps in the teens with some wind and a persistent K Cloud up high; 15 runs; 18,000 vertical; zoomer groomers - 3f; just skied ok today - still got beat by 3 girls; still waiting for ski-in/ski-out - maybe this weekend?

22 151 MARTIN BURNS 27.34 (22) SM5 (3)

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Day 25 - Killington

Out 9:00 to 1:45 with a couple of warm up breaks in the KSC building; clear and cold this AM with a little wind - temps rising into the twenties this PM; 20 runs; 22,050 vertical; skied the Atomic D2 3.0 Race GS's; flat, firm and fast - 3f; way too many rocks on Bittersweet and Middle Chute.

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Day 24 - Killington

Out 9:00 to 12:45 with a coffee break in the KSC building; 20° and mostly sunny with a little wind up high; 18 runs; 21,260 vertical; skied the 2012 Volkl RaceTiger SL World Cups and the Head iSpeed GS Cheater 19's; nice carvable groomers with some real crunchy granular on most of the steeps; started at Bear this AM; hopefully ski-in/ski-out by Wednesday; skied all over today - Bear, Needle's, Skye, Canyon, and Snowdon; rode the new Snowdon Six Express for the first time today - very comfortable, but not so fast?

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Day 23 - Killington

Cameo for Chris and Aaron. Out 8:00 to 10:45 with a KBL coffee break; clear and cold with very little wind - +3°in the Vale this AM; skied the Blizzard Brahma #2's; 8 runs, 8,500 vertical; groomers; the Snowdon Six Express debuted today - I was going to take a ride, but skied by the huge line directly to the car instead; made the first three with Susan and Jay; made the last three with Chris and Aaron.

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Day 22 - Killington

Almost a powder day. Out 9:15 to 2:45 with a long lunch in the ski club building; 4" overnight - cold and blustery all day; 25 runs, 20,000 vertical; skied the Blizzard Brahma #2's; powder and packed powder - but we slipped a course on Upper Double Dipper and ran gates; GS and SL - keep the upper body tall and forward, don't collapse the upper body especially at the bottom of the turn; made several free runs today to check out the mountain - did Escapade, Panic Eye, Bittersweet, Cascade; Doug T. characterized my skiing as elegant.

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Day 21 - Killington

Race Camp race on Highline. Out 9:00 to 2:45 with a long lunch at the ski club building; cold and blustery with significant snow showers; 15 runs; 10,000 vertical; skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheater 19's and the Fischer RC4 GS Cheater 18's; firm and flat; the Heads worked significantly better than the Fischers on the steep, icy pitch on Highline.

Run 1       Run 2       Total
22.93 (3) 23.23 (3) 46.16 (3)

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Day 20 - Killington

Race Camp Day 3. Cloudy with flurries and temps rising into the twenties and very little wind; 15 runs, 10,000 vertical; skied the Fischer RC4 GS Cheater 18's; firm and crunchy; PM session was 4 runs on the Ski Bum course on Highline.

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Day 19 - Killington

Race Camp Day 2. Out 9:45 to 2:45 with lunch in the Ski Club Building; broken sun and clouds with temps in the teens and a diminishing wind; 15 runs; 10,000 vertical; skied the Fischer RC4 GS Cheater 18's; video analysis first thing this AM; great video from yesterday on Mouse Trap;

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Day 18 - Killington

Race Camp Day 1. Out 9:00 to 2:45 with lunch in KBL; temps started just above freezing but were dropping fast by the time I left; windy all day; a little mix of everything in the sky: rain, snow, fog, clouds, sun...; skied the Fischer RC4 GS Cheater 18's; 17 runs; 11,000 vertical; in John Pierce's group with Kathy, Bob, Ken, Tim, Andy, and Dennis - everyone except Dennis was in our group last year; worked balance, specifically fore/aft balance - edge release, pivot-slips; falling leaf; 360's; worked early edging - statue of liberty; worked turn shape - apex drill.

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Day 17 - Killington

5 runs in a downpour. Out 12:15 to 1:15, no break; temps in the mid-to-upper thirties with rain and fog; skied the Blizzard Brahma #2's; 5 runs; 4,000 vertical; frozen, ice covered snow and chairs and cars, and everything; skied with David W.; he had a free lift ticket so I'm sure he just felt obligated to use it, but we had a good time any way.

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