Day 120 - Killington

My first June day ever. Out 8:30 to 11:00 with a break back at Chris' truck; warm with a heavy overcast - luckily no wind or rain; 7 runs; 8,393 vertical; skied the Rossignol Experience 98's; huge crowd; drove up last night with Radvanyi; no walking required for the first couple of runs - I brought rock skis so rather than walk, I just skied through all the rocks at the top; well worth the effort getting a June day.

Season Totals:
120 days
1,703 runs
2,001,354 vertical feet skied

14.2 runs/day
16,678 vertical/day

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Day 6 - Killington

Snow overnight. Arrived at 9:00, a tad late for a pseudo-pow day, and waited in the car till 9:20 to let the crowd clear; out 9:30 to 12:30 with a break in KBL to dry out; 4" overnight with another 2" while we skied; 7 runs; 7,000 vertical; skied the Rossignol Experience 98's; the snow was all scraped into piles by the time I got up on the hill; the only thing that skied even half way decent was Upper Rim Run and that was on natural snow only - go figure; today was one of the rare occasions where I wasn't happy with the performance of my skis - other than on URR they pretty much sucked all day.

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Day 11 - Killington

Oh the velvety softness of an inch of snow filling in the grooves of last night's corduroy! Out 9:00 to 1:00 with a half hour break at the ski club building; 15°-20° with a light snow falling and a stiff breeze out of the northwest; 16 runs, 15,000 vertical; started on the Fischer RC4 GS Cheater 18's and quickly changed to the Rossignol Experience 98's; very nice conditions this morning - first run on Chute-Chute-Chute was pure, velvety goodness - Upper Bunny was extremely good as well - although East Fall was groomed, it was a little chunky, scrapey, and inconsistent, it even required a little walking in front of KBL; very few folks out for opening bell, but some people did show up by 11:00 - no lift lines what so ever; skied the last 5 with Dave and Mel; with the soft snow and the early change to a fat ski I took it easy today; the legs were a little more tired at the end of my day than I would have expected after 2 days off.



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Day 10 - Killington

Out 8:00 to 12:00 with an hour break in the car where I watched the World Cup Girls free ski Superstar; 29° cloudy and windy; 10 runs; 11,000 vertical; started on the Fischer RC4 GS Cheater 18's and switched to the Rossignol Experience 98's after break; this morning's corduroy got churned up into a deep granular pretty quickly; I was able successfully to run away from today's huge crowd and never got caught in a lift line; East Fall and the Canyon Quad today; skiing ok; pretty tired this evening as I write this.



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Day 5 - Killington

On the hill from 9:00 until 11:15; the 3½" of new snow that fell overnight ended just in time for 1st chair - 17° with a stiff wind when we stepped off the Gondi - 25° with some sun poking through in the parking lot when I left; 15 runs; 10,000 vertical; skied the Rossignol Experience 98's; large enough crowd today to create a short lift line at the triple (5-20 people) most of the morning; the new snow got chewed-in very quickly; Lower Rime got pretty rough; skied at about 75% all morning - I was a little tired with this being the 5th straight day to start the season; skied OK; other than being a little tired, feeling pretty good physically.



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Day 15 - Killington

Arrived in plenty of time for first chair, but waited till 11:30 to hit the hill to allow the hordes to dissipate a little; 20° snowing and windy with 3"+ overnight and 10" since Saturday; skied the Rossignol Experience 98's; 11 runs; the snow was thoroughly polished by the time I got out; KMS on holiday, but just about every other ski academy on the east coast was out this morning; lift line was very manageable by the time I was out; spent the morning in KBL talking over coffee with Karen, Doug, and Tom; destroyed today's skis skiing T2B on a closed trail - dumb; skiing OK; feeling OK.

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Day 14 - Killington

Out 9:00 to 11:45; temps quickly rising well past 50° with bright sunshine and no wind; skied the Rossignol Experience 98's; 16 runs; morning chunks got hacked and scraped and pushed into some piles by the time I left; lots of people on the hill, but never much of a lift line; the variability in conditions today never made for a good feel; hopefully last time I'll need to use my Killington Express Pass this year.

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Day 12 - Killington

Twenty is plenty. Out 9:00 to 12:00; rain overnight stopped just in time for first chair - temps in the low forties with the hill totally enveloped in the cloud layer - last night's strong wind subsided as well - rain restarted just as I was leaving; skied the Rossignol Experience 98's; 20 runs; no grooming overnight; snow surface today held up well - not exactly firm, but I was expecting total mush; some thin spots poking through on Rime; skiing OK; feeling OK.

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Day 6 - Killington

Out 9:00 to 11:15, no break; 47° in the parking lot; steady rain all morning; skied the Rossignol Experience 98's; 13 runs; a little walking required on Upper Great Northern; coverage remains pretty good on Rime - everything else looks pretty ugly; just KMS and a few diehards out this morning; after skiing today and then driving all the way home, my right knee feels a little funky.

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Day 1 - Killington

Nice start to the ski season. On the Gondi right at 9:00, back in the car for the ride home by noon; carried my ski boots both ways on the stairs; decreasing overcast with temps rising toward 30° and a light wind - a little sun even peaked out as I was leaving; skied the Rossignol Experience 98's; 11 runs; full on snowmaking on Rime continues; conditions were very good for early season - they rolled everything out overnight so it was relatively flat with a soft surface over a pretty firm base; coverage was excellent - by the time I left some small bumps were starting to form, but I didn't find a single thin spot; lots of people on the hill, but never a lift line of more than a couple of minutes; skied OK; skied the last 4 with GIS.


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Day 23 - Stratton

Out for a few runs as I drove by on my way home. On the hill for a little over an hour - took off as soon as a liftline developed; cloudy and windy with temps in the mid-twenties; skied the Rossignol Experience 98's; 6 runs; 6,000 vertical; conditions and coverage were much better than last Friday - frozen granular; surprised there was no new terrain open; way more crowded than I was expecting; used 'day old' skis again today - this time it didn't work out so well - they were absolutely horrible.

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Day 21 - Stratton

All things considered, not too bad. Out 9:15 to 1:00 with a ½ hour lunch break; temps slowly dropping into the low-thirties after another heavy rain overnight; skied the Rossignol Experience 98's; 20 runs; 26,500 vertical; totally variable conditions - firmer, chunked-out crap up high, thick granular in the middle, wet snirt at the bottom; hey, at least they were open; very few other people on the hill today - nice change from the ProJam crowd at K yesterday.

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Day 20 - Killington

Out for a few runs this morning before the next rainstorm. On the hill from 9:00 to 11:45 with a long KBL coffee break; overcast and windy with temps in the mid-thirties and rain imminent; skied the Rossignol Experience 98's; 9 runs; 11,750 vertical; better snow conditions higher on the hill, but overall things look horrible; if we get a serious rain overnight, they're likely to loose Skylark and top-to-bottom on Great Northern; quit early when I went up to Northridge and the chair was closed with mechanical problems; soft snow and a couple days rest had me skiing pretty well today; the picture below was taken a couple of weeks ago during Race Camp.



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Day 19 - Stratton

Out 9:00 to 2:00 with an hour for lunch; cloudy and windy with temps in the upper forties and more rain expected over night; 22 runs; 29,100 vertical; skied the Rossignol Experience 98's; soft snow with thin spots on approach and run-out, but Polar Bear was actually pretty good; just me, the SMS kids, and couple of other folks out today; rather than running gates the SMS kids hauled B-net all day; the right knee felt pretty good today so I skied ok.



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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 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 91 - Boyne Mtn

Ski and drive and drive and drive - arrived Wyalusing!

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Day 88 - Indianhead

Think sidewalk with a tall curb; -5° this morning - good thing it was bright sunshine and no wind; skied the Rossignol Experience 98's; lots of snow here - soft pack everywhere; another ski and drive today.

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Day 77 - Boreal Mtn

Out 9:00 to 2:30 with a long lunch at the car; fifties, sunny, no wind - I'm almost out of sun screen; 30 runs; 15,000 vertical; skied the Rossignol Experience 98's; couldn't pass up another free lift ticket, besides with nobody else skiing here the soft snow doesn't get beat to death by the crowd.



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Day 71 - Park City

Out 9:15 to 3:00 with coffee and lunch breaks; last night's rain on the drive in was 3" wet snow up high this AM, otherwise cloudy with temps in the mid-thirties and no wind; skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheater 17's and the Rossignol Experience 98's; 18 runs; 24,000 vertical; small change of plans: Fri - ski Deer Valley then drive to LV, Sat - Grand Canyon, then Sun - an early ski day at LV Ski Bowl then drive through Death Valley to Mammoth.



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