Day 35 - Montage

Beautiful day, terrible skiing. Out 9:00 to 12:00; clear and coldish, no wind - temps in the teens; 14 runs, 8,630 vertical; skied the Volkl Mantras and the Atomic Redster D2 3.0 Race GS's; excellent conditions - soft groomers and leftover snowmaking; good crowd, but with all the lifts open the only real line was on Iron Horse during NASTAR; leftover snowmaking on Lightning was still marvelous; skied horribly at NASTAR - 21.47 hcp (Gold); okay after looking at the results it wasn't as bad as I thought, only Nicolae Soare and Steve Rheault beat me - I can live with that; today's picture shows the top of Smoke at noon on my way out, still very nice. #justgivemeagroomer    

Day 34 - Montage

Dreamy. Out 8:45 to 4:15 with a couple of breaks in the car, including an hour for lunch; mostly cloudy, cold and windy - single digits this morning, maybe ten degrees or so this afternoon; 45 runs, 30,390 vertical; skied the Nordica Enforcer 88's; the snowmaking on Lightning was silky smooth and sloughlicious; very few people; Lightning trees starting to come in too. #justgivemeagroomer    

Day 33 - Montage

Beer League Race #3. Out 4:15 to 6:45 with a quick break back at the car to change skis and warm up; clear, cold and windy - temps in the teens, NW wind straight up the race hill; 10 runs; 6,191 vertical; skied the Fischer RC4 GS Cheater 18's and the Atomic Redster G9 RS's; snowmaking on Lightning and Boomer, otherwise groomers; skied ok; beat all the women;

7 91 Martin Burns 29.33 (7)

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 32 - Montage

Out 8:40 to 2:45 with a long lunch in the car watching the first run of the Men's Slalom in Schladming; snow to sleet to freeing rain starting at 8:30 this morning; maybe an inch of snow - just enough to cover everything nicely; 32 runs, 22,744 vertical; skied the Atomic Redster D2 3.0 Race GS's and the Line SuperNatural 108's; groomers and leftovers - all with a fresh coating of snow; skied okay; Lightning was excellent again early; skied the new snow along the edges all afternoon; still like the Lines - they're smooth and slinkey; nice to have the #2 GS skis back in the fold with some new bindings after I broke the heel piece on the originals; big winner in today's Fantasy Ski Racer game for the Women's GS in Kronplatz, Italy.



#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 31 - Montage

Out 9:30 to 2:00 with a looong lunch in the car when the Phoebe Snow lift broke down; clear and cold with virtually no wind - temps in the teens all day; 19 runs; 12,448 vertical; skied the Volkl Mantras; groomers with fresh snowmaking on White Lightning; very few people; skied okay; the snowmaking on Lightning was very tasty, unfortunately the Phoebe lift broke down so I only got 10 runs or so; waited in the car till the Long Haul lift came on line then went back out for a few to finish the day; today's pictures are of some of the big piles on the middle section of Fast Track.



#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 30 - Greek Peak

NY Masters Race. Out 8:30 to 1:30 with a couple of breaks in the A-Frame to get warm; 2" new snow overnight; cold and blustery - temps in the teens with come-and-go clouds and wind; 17 runs; 12,846 vertical; skied the Atomic Redster G9 RS's; groomers; skied okay, except for run 4 - I hit a cross rut with too much weight on the inside ski and went down and slid through the B-net into the edge of the brush - first fall of the season; DFL in my class again today.

GS #1: 39 40 M7 Martin Burns 54.94 (45) 54.20 (38) - 1:49.14 (39)

GS #2: 44 40 M7 Martin Burns 58.65 (44)

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 29 - Toggenburg

NYS Masters Race. Out 9:00 to 12:30 with a quick break in the lodge between races; 6" new snow overnight; cold and snowy with a little wind; temps in the teens; 12 runs; 7,200 vertical; skied the 2015 Volkl RaceTiger SL World Cups; powder; skied okay; first run in this morning's pow was very very nice; DFL in class race 1, but with Tomassetti's DNF and Lenda's hike in race 2 I wasn't DFL in class - mission accomplished!

SL #1: 21 21 M7 Martin Burns 48.93 (24) 48.76 (23) - 1:37.69 (21)

SL #2: 19 21 M7 Martin Burns 45.45 (21) 46.32 (20) - 1:31.77 (19) 

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 28 - Montage

Beer League Race #2. Out 4:00 to 6:30 with a quick stop at the car to pick up the GoPro; temps falling to around freezing, no wind and a beautiful sunset; 11 runs; 5,957 vertical; skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheater 19's and the Atomic Redster G9 RS's; frozen, new, uneven snowmaking on the race hill; good crowd, 5+ minute lift line at Phoebe after the race so I left; skied horribly; I did beat all the women, but only because Stacey skied horribly as well; 20.68 NASTAR hcp (Gold); after reviewing the video I think my problem is not accounting for terrain changes - I'm not getting my turns done above the rolls, so I ski straight over the roll, the ground drops away and I can't make the turn till I'm back on the ground which puts me way low and late...

11 91 Martin Burns 28.42 (11)

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 27 - Montage

Out 9:00 to 3:00 with a ½ hour lunch break in the car; 2" snow overnight; thick, dark clouds this morning finally gave way to a little bit of sun around 2:00 - temps rising from a few degrees below freezing to a few degrees above; groomers, leftovers and a tiny bit of snowmaking on Switch; 40 runs, 25,372 vertical; skied the Atomic Redster G9 RS's and the Nordica Enforcer 88's; light crowd - never a line and never rode with anybody; Boomer early and Smoke in the afternoon were nice; skied okay; today's vertical in 6 hours, 6 minutes - this makes the theoretical vertical limit in a day at Montage 50,000 - might try for 40,000 some day this season.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 26 - Montage

Out 8:30 to 2:00 with ¾ hour in the car for lunch; mid-twenties overnight rising to the mid-thirties with a snow shower or two; 31 runs; 19,750 vertical; skied the 2019 Head i.Speed GS Cheater 17's and the Nordica Enforcer 88's; nice, firm groomers gave way too some thickening sugar snow; holiday crowd, but manageable - left when there was a line at Phoebe two runs in a row; skied okay; all the headwalls on North Face were groomed last night; Lightning early and Boomer later were stellar; Long Haul was not running today?

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 25 - Montage

Out for a few before the holiday crowd overruns the place. Out 8:30 to 11:00, no break; some rain overnight ended this morning as a ½" of slush; 17 runs; 10,746 vertical; skied the Nordica Enforcer 88's; skied till there was a line then left; soft and sticky - the leftovers on Lightning and Smoke were excellent; skied okay; low outside shoulder with body forward and well inside the arc and with the ski UP on edge; today's photo reminds us how steep White Lightning really is lest we forget based on the past few days GoPro video shot pointing straight up the hill.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 24 - Montage

Another great weekday. Out 9:00 to 2:45 with a ¾ hour in the car for lunch; overcast with temps right at freezing to start, but a building SW wind started to blow in tonight's rain clouds; 32 runs, 20,504 vertical; skied the Nordica Enforcer 88's; firm groomers and rattley leftovers to start, softened beautifully as the temps rose this afternoon; very few people out; skied okay; figured out that to ski better I need to 1) be more athletic and 2) get low with the skis out from underneath my body → higher edge angles and tighter turn radii.



#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 23 - Montage

Beer League Race #1. Out 4:00 to 9:00 with a couple of quick stops to change skis; temps around 40, no wind; 24 runs; 14,525 vertical; 2019 Head i.Speed GS Cheater 17's, Head i.Speed GS Cheater 17's; good cover, soft snow; good crowd, some ocasional small lift lines; didn't ski very well; a couple of poor choices - ran too early given the soft snow and used the wrong skis; did beat all the women - barely; 17.90 hcp (Gold).

8 91 Martin Burns 27.91 (8)

>#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 22 - Montage

I love skiing weekdays. Out 9:00 to 2:30 with a ½ hour lunch break in the car; not much sun with a high overcast and temps rising through the twenties to just above freezing; 32 runs; 20,216 vertical; skied the 2019 Head i.Speed GS Cheater 17's and the Nordica Enforcer 88's; groomers mostly with some relatively flat, ungroomed chalk on the Lightning and Smoke's headwalls; very few people out today - maybe only a dozen other people skiing the North Face till after 10:30; skied okay; todays video really shows the little bunny hop transition move I'm trying to eliminate.



#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 21 - Montage

Out 9:00 to 2:30 with a ½ hour lunch break in the car; sunny with temps rising through the twenties and the tinyest bit of wind latter in the day; some sweet, talcum powder snowmaking on Boomer and Lightning first thing; 20 runs; 11,659; skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheater 19's and Atomic Redster G9 RS's; light crowd till after noon then 20 minutes+ on Phoebe Snow from the Cannonball side; skied horribly today - could not find a clean arc-to-arc line in the course today; next time I'm going to try my new Head i.Speed GS Cheater 17's when the course is so turny - today's use of a 24m ski was disaster; I was a lot more tired after Race Camp than I thought; 8.40 hcp at NASTAR today, Platinum.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 20 - West Mountain

Mid-Atlantic Masters Race Camp Day 4. Out 10:00 to 2:00 with a ½ hour in the car for lunch; partly sunny with temps in the twenties and no real wind; 13 runs; 6,550 vertical; skied the 2015 Volkl RaceTiger SL World Cups; groomers with patches of fresh snowmaking; no real crowd other than the campers and a bunch of West Moutain Jr Racers; odd morning course - full gates on the left, stubbies on the right, then half way down it switched; full course for the afternoon which was full of cute little tricks; good tip on tactics from John Jacobs, adjust the rise line based on changes in direction of the course not changes in terrain like fall-aways; I didn't ski particularly well today - we'll have to see what the video says. Review of the video proves Coach Lisa's adage, 'The rut trumps all.' Two seperate times in a twenty second video I was bounced well off line after going too straight and slamming into the rut, once in the hairpin and again in the flush.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 19 - West Mountain

Mid-Atlantic Race Cammp Day 3. Out 10:00 to 2:30 with a ½ hour in the car for lunch; sunny with temps in the twenties and little to no wind; 15 runs; 5,800 vertical; skied the 2015 Volkl RaceTiger SL World Cups; groomers; very light crowd; slalom training today; Lisa Ballard lead our group today - very good coach; slalom skiing: 100% of your weight on the downhill ski with the upper body down the fall line at all times with both hands sterum high and forward; drills: make turns lifting inside ski off the ground while keeping the tip on the snow; frame drill - grasp both poles half way up the shaft, then holding them both straight out in front of you, make short, rythmical turns with your body facing straight down the hill keeping a single object down the slope 'framed' within the two poles; hold both poles horizontally out in front of you, make short rythmical turns keeping the poles (and your upper body) level across the hill and square to the direction of travel; fun brush course in the afternoon - left hand flush to right hand flush to diagonal flush to picket fence - it also provided great lesson on looking ahead, spot the top of the first turn after the flush as you enter the flush; additionally 2 stubby courses set over the terrain on the race hill - a good lesson here was SL inspection isn't just about combinations, check out the terrain and make sure to note when to move forward over the knolls; got like 5 runs through both stubby courses - plenty of SL gates today; skied okay generally, but horribly on video.



#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 18 - West Mountain

Mid-Atlantic Race Camp Day 2. Out 10:00 to 2:30 with a ½ hour for lunch in the car; overcast with temps around freezing and little to no wind; 22 runs; 10,324 vertical; skied the Atomic Redster G9 RS's; groomers; basically we free skied while they set the course, then we ran The Wall Drill - they set 3 brushes just outside the ideal line on each turn, 1 at the top, 1 at the apex and 1 at the bottom -the idea is the brushes form a wall keeping you inside on the fast line; 4 timed runs this afternoon; I guess I skied okay, because I beat all the women including Sharon Way and Amy Patterson who beat me soundly on Sunday at Swain.

Trying to put a few thing together today. Eliminate all the extra motion. Up and down motion during transition, rotary motion of the shoulders at the top of the turn and various gyrations of the hands to duck the gate or execute a double pole plant. All these extra motions take time and potentially change balance and/or pressure - that's bad. Through undisciplined free skiing I've fallen in love with countering my shoulders at the very top of the turn. While this locks in the new edge right from the very top of the new turn, when started too early it causes a rotation of the shoulders away from downhill ski of the old turn which occasionally causes my tails to slide out. Because of my low hand position during the turn, the up motion of my hands and body that happens when I double pole plant is causing a couple of issues. First as I come up and get tall my stance tends to narrow. Second the up motion unweights my skis. This loss of pressure takes time to correct and happens just I should be rolling up onto the new edge with forward pressure. This loss of pressure can be accentuated in rolling terrain. So to sum this all up... ... ... Stay low - especially during transition, stay square, stay forward and keep the hands up and forward.

14 30 Martin Burns 32.10 (14) 32.21 (14) 1:04.31 (14)

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 17 - West Mountain

Mid-Atlantic Masters Race Camp Day 1. Out 10:00 to 2:30 with ¾ of an hour in the car for lunch; overcast with temps in the low thirties and no wind; 16 runs; 6,696 vertical; skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheater 19's and the Atomic Redster G9 RS's; groomers; never a liftline, but quite a few people out given the amount of terrain open; in Group 3 of 4 with Carlene and Stu, Andrea and Steven, Allan, and Bastion; had John Pierce as coach today; outside ski pressure drills: statue of liberty, outside pole down/inside pole up, and with hands out and no poles match hands and shoulders to slope; got to run a 30 second GS course 7 times; skied okay; much better with fewer people in camp.



#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 16 - Swain

NYS Masters GS and SL today. Out 9:00 to 2:00 with a ½ hour in the car for lunch; heavy overcast with temps in the lower thirties and no real wind - a little bit of freezing rain on the drive in and the tinyest bit of drizzle around 1 o'clock; 16 runs; 8,230 vertical; skied the Atomic Redster G9 RS's and the 2015 Volkl RaceTiger SL World Cups; loose, wet frozen granular; very few other people on the hill; the soft conditions lead to massive ruts right from the start; despite not skiing particulary well, I did accomplished today's modest goal - don't finish DFL; I even beat someone else in my age group in the SL; drove home into a snowstorm - 3" on the ground when I arrived.

GS   23 27 Martin Burns 51.88 (25) 51.35 (23) - 1:43.23 (23)

SL   18 27 Martin Burns 51.12 (17) 50.69 (18) - 1:41.81 (18)

#justgivemeagroomer