Day 92 - Killington

Arrived VT yesterday, so after reacquainting my Brahmas to the tuning bench I made a few this afternoon. Out 2:00 to 4:00; overcast with temps in the twenties; skied the Blizzard Brahma's; snow was very firm.

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Day 86 - Terry Peak

Think Greek Peak with 3 high speed quads; out 9:15 to 12:45 with a coffee break; increasing high clouds with temps around freezing and a fair breeze; 25 runs; 15,000 vertical; started with the Blizzard Brahmas and changed to the Atomic D2 3.0 Race GS's after coffee; although they've had quite a bit of snow, it was pretty firm today; not a big hill, but very high up for something east of the Rockies - 7,200 elevation at the top; snow tomorrow - but of course I'm driving; averaged 62.1 max mph for the 13 runs on the GS skis today; Mystic Deer is only open Fri, Sat, and Sun - oh well.

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Day 85 - Bridger Bowl

Out 9:00 to 12:00 with a coffee break; sunny with temps in the twenties and no wind; skied the Blizzard Brahma's; cool place; drove past Big Sky on the drive into Bozeman - can't wait to ski there.



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Day 78 - Sugar Bowl

Out 9:00 to 12:00 no break; a slight change in today's weather - sunny with temps in the forties, but today there was a little wind; 13 runs; 17,000 vertical; skied the Blizzard Brahmas; no snow here either - 75% open; groomers chunked up right away with skier traffic; similar to Squaw - rocks, trees, cliffs repeat.

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Day 74 - Mammoth Mtn

Out 8:30 to 2:00 with a 2 beer break around noon; sunny, temps in the forties, no wind; 22 runs; 27,500 vertical; skied the Blizzard Brahmas; no snow here - parts of the mountain were not open; at least there was enough snow up high to ski; blew off Deer Valley on Fri and just drove to Las Vegas instead - then drove out and back to the Grand Canyon on Sat - then on Sun I drove all the way up Lee Canyon to the Las Vegas Ski Bowl and actually put one boot on before taking it as a sign to leave when I had to take my ski boot back off because I forgot to change socks.



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Day 72 - Park City

NASTAR - 12.04 Platinum

Out 9:00 to 3:00 with a long lunch after NASTAR; temps in the forties with brilliant sunshine and no wind; 22 runs; 27,500 vertical; skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheater 19's, the 2015 Volkl RaceTiger SL World Cups, and the Blizzard Brahmas; spring conditions;





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Day 68 - Copper Mtn

Out 8:30 to 1:30 with a real quick coffee break; 40°+ and sunny with no wind - ; 18 runs; 22,500 vertical; skied the Blizzard Brahma's; wrong wax; conditions are pretty good despite no recent snow - the groomers were divine, especially early, and the steeps were covered and still relatively soft to my feel; covered most of the mountain today - still need to explore Alpine, Snow King, and some of the bowls; I miss parking close to the lifts - today's pic shows how far away you are at Copper.



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Day 60 - Killington

The snowpocalypse that wasn't. Out 1:30 to 4:00 with a break in KBL to warm up; light snow all morning accumulated to 4 inches and quit immediately when I went out; cold and windy, temps dropping thru the single digits; skied the Blizzard Brahma's; 9 runs; 10,250 vertical; did lots of stuff I hadn't got to all year - Tinman, Low Rider, Conclusion, and Ovation; as you'd expect I was able find a little untracked snow, but I was hoping for so much more; spent all morning doing skis - taking 7 pair on the upcoming trip.

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Day 56 - Killington

Out 9:00 to 1:15 with a quick KBL coffee break and a quick shuttle ride home to switch skis; temps rising into the low twenties with increasing then decreasing clouds and a light breeze; skied the SkiLogic Customs and the Blizzard Brahmas; 23 runs; 23,000 vertical; mostly good snow conditions - groomers were very nice as you'd expect and Superstar was good under the guns despite limited visibility; the only thing that wasn't any good was Devil's Fiddle - very thin with tons of rocks poking through; despite their cool graphics, I'm still not enamored with the SkiLogic Customs; way behind on doing skis - have 5 pairs that need work.

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Day 50 - Killington

A whale of a day. Out 9:00 to 12:15 with a quick KBL coffee break to warm up; clear, cold and still at first chair; high clouds, temps rising into the teens and a building SW wind when I quit; skied the Blizzrd Brahmas; stupid, big whales on Superstar, Outer Limits, Cascade, and Skyelark/Bittersweet; the new, Low-E guns on SS, OL, and Skye-Bitter made a much firmer snow than the older ground guns on Cascade, so I did Cascade 3 times despite having to ride the box.



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Day 39 - Killington

Merry Christmas. Out 8:45 to 2:15 with a KBL coffee break and lunch at the Peak Lodge; last night's heavy rain ended just in time for first chair - overcast and windy with intermittent light flurries and temps in the low thirties; 25 runs; 27,800 vertical; skied the Blizzard Brahmas; no crowd to speak of, but a few people did show up around noon or so - never enough people to create any lift lines; the rain took its toll - Header, Snowshed, and Lower High Road look really bad - tons of 'sink holes' on Cruise, Skyeburst and elsewhere - anything they groomed got pretty heavy by 2:00; practicing 'up and over' - think long, glidey transitions with what feels like a little upper body rotation into the fall line to facilitate 'the over', i.e. the edge change - think of the body moving as an inverted pendulum above the new ski during crossover; lead with the body - keep on or in front of your toes.

Here's a nice Up and Over sequence pulled from Tuesday's video:



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Day 36 - Killington

Out 9:00 to 1:15 with a burger and a beer at the Long Trail Pub in Snowshed; increasing overcast with intermittent light snow and temps in the twenties; 17 runs; 19,100 vertical; skied the Blizzard Brahma's; pretty big crowd on hand after 10:30; lots of hard pack today; did lots of 'new' stuff today - Downdraft, Dip Dip, Skyeburst, Middle O, Old Superstar, and Lower Vertigo; did 2 non-stop Dip Dip's this morning - small to medium bumps, fairly soft snow; my skiing felt pretty good.

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Day 32 - Killington

Volume with Bud and Alex. Tom had to quit after falling. Brahmas. 20 runs. 24,000 vert.

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Day 23 - Killington

Killington Race Camp Day 5. Out 9:00 to 3:00 with an hour for lunch; clear and cool this morning with temps climbing thru the teens into the low twenties and increasing clouds as the day wore on; 21 runs; 17,500 vertical; lots of gates on Bunny in the AM; free skiing as a group in the PM; great snow this morning on Bunny - groomed smooth, but firm and grippy; horrible snow this morning on Superlark - groomed death cookies; Cascade and Highline opened this afternoon; Cascade under the guns was supreme - I did 3; Highline under the guns not so good - only did 1; relearned some things about holding on the ice in a race course - don't be in a hurry to find that 'good position' when you start the turn, any quick or hard movements tend to break the edge loose - light and easy, just like driving on ice; took my first fall of the season today on Bunny in the gates - just got compressed or my tails slide out or both.

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Day 18 - Killington

Sick as a dog, but hit the hill with Radvanyi and Company anyway. Out 8:00 to 12:00 with a Peak Lodge coffee break; overcast and warming into the mid-forties with significant wind; 12 runs; 13,000 vertical; skied the Blizzard Brahma's; conditions were stellar; Northridge and the Canyon got a B+, smooth and firm but softening nicely; Superstar was easily an A, soft and softer without being heavy or sticky at all; pretty big crowd today - nobody seemed to be leaving early; still feeling on top of things skiing wise.

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Day 16 - Killington

Happy Thanksgiving! Out 8:00 to 11:30 with a Peak Lodge coffee break; temps in the low twenties with a low, hanging overcast and little to no wind; 6" more new snow overnight - close to a foot total; 10 runs; 12,600 vertical; skied the Blizzard Brahma's with the soft boots; typical Thanksgiving holiday crowd - tons of people for opening bell, but it emptied out quickly; skied most of the morning with Mike and Tracy - Mike even let me ski his new Volkl Mantras - they're really nice; Ramshead came on line today, but I never made it down there; Skylark-High Road-Lower Bittersweet skied very well today, as did Upper Bunny; on the other hand, Lower East Fall was a total abortion - scrapped or chunky with heavy piles of sugar and chunks everywhere; shuttle service to the East Mountain condo loop started today - based on the shuttle passing by the condo on both my exit and return, the shuttle might actually be a viable option.

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Day 9 - Killington

Not quite the powder day I was hoping for. Out 9:00 to 11:15 without a break; 1" new snow overnight; 29° with freezing rain for first chair, 31° with a little heavier freezing rain when I left; skied the Blizzard Brahma's; 11 runs; 10,000 vertical; the snow was fantastic - Northridge was especially nice, it was buffed out with the new snow on top of last night grooming leaving a velvety soft, smooth surface; skied every open trail segment this morning; covered in ice and soaking wet when I finished; it was nice not having to walk the stairs; K needs to dig out some of the new low-e guns before tonight's hard freeze or they might have to remain in place till spring!

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Day 3 - Killington

Ready to go at 9:00, but K-1 didn't start loading until almost 9:30, walked back up the stairs at 11:30; the car was covered in a layer of slush this morning, but up top it was much colder so there were a couple inches of new snow; snow fell at a good clip all morning; 12 runs; 7,000 vertical; skied the Blizzard Brahma's; no grooming overnight, so the new snow got pushed into the remnants of yesterday's bumps pretty quickly; lots of people out today; for some reason today's variable conditions posed a problem for me with my boots buckled up tight - I ended up with the top two buckles open but still hooked and the Booster strap holding the top of the boot closed - this softened things up considerably and really helped my skiing - I think my new boots will definitely be a little softer than my current Dobi 150's; my legs feel a little tight after skiing today; snowmaking on Upper Great Northern and Upper East Fall when I left; it really felt like winter today!



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Day 2 - Killington

On the hill from 9:15 to 11:45; Brightening overcast with a light breeze; Temps in the lower 40's; Skied the Blizzard Brahma's; 15 runs; 8,800 vertical; Since they groomed lightly overnight we developed a few chunks, but as it softened up they got skied in pretty quickly; A lot more familiar faces today - Bob S, Barb M, Dave M, Mike C ... ... ; Felt a little better on my skis today - concentrated on staying low, angulated, and forward; Still feeling good physically; Forecast is for rain starting this afternoon, changing over to snow with potentially a few inches by morning.

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Day 1 - Killington

On the hill from 11:45 to 1:15; Windy with gradual clearing after early AM rain showers with temps in the upper 40’s ; 11 runs; 6,500 vert; Skied the Blizzard Brahma’s; Had to walk up and down the stairs – first time walking down – it really sucks; Only Rime and Reason are open – only skied Rime; Good cover – cut into small to medium bumps – soft, but not wet; Bigger crowd than I expected – never more than 10 or 15 people in line, but always a few; Felt a little rusty, but it's good to get on the hill again; Legs feel good – right knee feels good – right shin is a little tender; Looking forward to tomorrow

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