Day 60 - Fernie

Out 9:00 to 3:30 with a coffee break and lunch back in the condo; this morning's mostly cloudy skies gave way to a warming and windy overcast this afternoon, 0° this morning, 20° this afternoon; 23 runs; 31,750 vertical; skied the Fischer RC4 GS Cheater 18's; more firm and crunchy groomers; more people today, but still a light crowd - never a lift line; skied ok; feeling better on the seriously steep stuff.



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Day 59 - Fernie

Out 9:00 to 3:30 with a long coffee break and a longer lunch break back at the condo; clear and cold with no wind, -10° this morning; 20 runs; 30,375 vertical; skied the Atomic D2 3.0 Race GS's; last week's rain has everything here locked up firm - mountain ambassadors were recommending sticking to the groomers, so today was all firm and crunchy groomers; nobody else out till it warmed up a little bit in the afternoon; Polar Peak was closed; liked Heartland first thing this morning.



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Day 58 - Kimberley

Powder Day. Out 9:00 to 1:00 with a ½ hour coffee break; 10" overnight - partly cloudy with passing flurries and temps around 10° today; 9 runs; 14,500 vertical; skied the Line Supernatural 108's; powder with some soft groomers; huge crowd for opening bell; skied lots of soft, steep bumps and lots of trees; pretty easy to find small patches of untouched all day.



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Day 57 - Kimberley

Out 9:00 to 11:45 with no break - just never went back out after lunch; 2" overnight up top, rain at the bottom - mostly sunny in the am with dropping temps and a stiff wind; 10 runs; 14,300 vertical; skied the Blizzard Brahma #2's; soft, sticky snow up top, soft rain soaked groomers down low in the sun, and flash frozen, rain soaked groomers down low in the shade; skied some steep soft bumps today.



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Day 56 - Kimberley

Out 9:15 to 3:00 with an hour lunch in the condo; overcast with temps in the twenties and a little wind; 20 runs; 35,100 vertical; skied the Fischer RC4 GS Cheater 18's; firm groomers; ran a 21 gate GS course 5 times this afternoon - great training over the rollers and down the steep pitch at the bottom; skied ok;

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Day 55 - Kimberley

Perfect day for an afternoon nap. Out 9:00 to 11:45 without a break; 10° with clear skies and a little valley fog; 11 runs; 20,000 vertical; skied the Fischer RC4 GS Cheater 18's; firm groomers; the resort basically shut down at 12:15 when the main lift broke down - thank god I was in the condo eating lunch and didn't get stuck on the lift; didn't ski particularly well today; enjoying watching the para alpine racers - yeah, the sit-skiers and the one-leggers are inspirational, but the really impressive skiers are the one-armed Austrians, they're seriously good.



#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 54 - Kimberley

Out 9:00 to 2:30 with a ¾ hour break for a burger and a couple of beers; 2" overnight, overcast with flurries and temps in the low twenties; 20 runs; 31,250 vertical; skied the Blizzard Brahma #2's; this morning's silky carpet gave way to some fairly firm and crunchy afternoon conditions; nice hill - good variety - they even have several runs with trees; Para Alpine World Cup Finals going on here this week - some impressive skiers out on the hill today; stuck mostly to the groomers, however did do one bump run and two day old, dust on crusters.

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Day 53 - Panorama

Really glad I didn't just drive by. Out 9:00 to 2:30 with only a 20 minute coffee break - not bad for my 7th consecutive ski day; overcast with temps around freezing; 23 runs; 38,500 vertical; skied the Blizzard Brahma #2's; perfectly carveable groomers all day; loved Skyline, Roller Coaster; Fritz's, Little Dipper, and Outrider; skied exceptionally well today - strong crossovers while maintaining good forward pressure - high, round and smooth - lots of carving above the fall line - great retraction and extension turn to turn without popping up; great little mid-mountain coffee hut - spectacular views; definitely want to come back some day.



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Day 52 - Kicking Horse

Out 9:00 to 2:30 with a half hour no coffee, coffee break; snowing with temps in the upper twenties; 10 runs, 30,000 vertical; skied the Blizzard Brahma #2's; Wiley Coyote was good again this morning; this hill would benefit from a different lift configuration - with the gondola being the only way to access about ⅔ of the terrain, there's way too much 'skiing out' or 'getting over' or 'you have to do this to get to that'; sufficiently humbled by this mountain.

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Day 51 - Kicking Horse

Out 9:00 to 3:00 with an hour long sojourn for lunch at the Eagle's Eye; relatively clear and not too cold; 12 runs; 32,500 vertical; skied the Fischer RC4 GS Cheater 18's; groomers, groomers, and more groomers; changed back to my old boots and a decent carving ski - man do my feet feel a lot better; did 3 consecutive non-stop, top to bottom runs - 2 off the gondola (3,500 vert) and 1 off Stairway to Heaven chair (3,900 vert) - each run took approximately 8 minutes of skiing; feeling ok; lost Tom again this morning, but found Wiley Coyote.



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Day 50 - Kicking Horse

Out 9:00 to 3:30 with a 3 hour, coffee-lunch-nap break back at the condo; very nice day - mostly clear and relatively warm; 9 runs; 19,000 vertical; skied the SkiLogic Customs; soft groomers with the exception of 1 run through the leftover crude from yesterday off Redemption Ridge; I don't say this often, but I didn't like the way my skis worked today - I could never find the sweet spot on the SkiLogics; getting more accustomed to the big hill here - made 1 top to bottom (3,750 vertical feet) today with only 2 stops; finally cleared enough this afternoon to take some scenery pictures.



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Day 49 - Kicking Horse

10" overnight, but delayed opening because of avalanche danger. Instead of remaining in the humongous Gondola line, we walked over took the Catamount chair and did a few laps on the bottom of the hill. Got first tracks on a groomer with 5" or 6" on top and did some low angle powder bumps then went back to the condo for coffee while the Gondi line hopefully diminishes. We'll head back out shortly. Letting Tommy use my Line Supernatural 108's for the remainder of the week.

Went back out and did a couple off Redemption Ridge and one down Feuz Bowl. Mostly clear and comfortable today with a little snow in the late afternoon. 7 runs, 11,000 vertical, skied the Volkl Katana's. Fell 3 times today.



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Day 48 - Kicking Horse

This is a real skier's mountain - big and steep without many groomers. Out 9:00 to 1:00 with a lunch break at the top; 2" or 3" overnight, with snow all day and temps in the twenties; just 5 runs, 12,500 vertical; skied the SkiLogic Customs; skiing this week with Tom Watson - we got separated when he was going to walk back out the top of Bowl Over; found some good skiing in the glades under the Gondola; skiing here is a humbling experience - glad I'm not here with either of the Chris's, they'd kick my ass.



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Day 47 - Lake Louise

Day 4 on my Big3 3 day lift ticket. Out 9:00 to 10:15 - I had to drive today, so I just left when I skied to the bottom and didn't want to get in either of the lift lines; 10° with overcast skies and no wind - light snow the whole way from Lake Louise to Kicking Horse; 6 runs; 10,000 vertical; skied the Atomic D2 3.0 Race GS's; some firm groomers with a tiny bit of snow on top; caught the very first chair at 9:00 and didn't really see many people till I made the mistake of returning to the bottom; sad that it was snowing lightly for the drive to Kicking Horse - everyone says it's a spectacular drive, but I didn't get to partake.

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Day 46 - Lake Louise

Out 9:00 to 1:00 with a quick coffee break; mostly cloudy with intermittent flurries and temps rising into the teens; 15 runs; 25,000 vertical; skied the Atomic D2 3.0 Race GS's; they've had some snow, but it's obvious they're having a lean snow year; can't get enough of the scenery.



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Day 45 - Sunshine Village

Out 8:30 to 11:30 with a quick coffee break; 6" to 8" overnight - intermittent snow and sunshine with a little wind high up on the western peaks of the resort; 10 runs, 10,000 vertical; skied the Line Supernatural 108's; powder; good morning - got 4 in before it got tracked up at all - left when the crowd started to arrive and really ski it off quickly; rode all but 2 of the main lifts; feeling ok.



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Day 44 - Mount Norquay

Out 9:00 to 12:00 without a break; increasing overcast that ended in some light flurries with temps in the low twenties and no wind; 21 runs; 21,400 vertical; skied the Blizzard Brahma #1's; firm but carvable groomers; basically the only person out till 10:30 or so; funky mountain layout, but there was a marvelous pod of blue groomers at the end of the rainbow; not much snow here either, but it wasn't as firm or crunchy as Nakiska; glad I stuck to my original plan and came here today; didn't get scanned, so my 3 day, Big 3 Pass still has 3 days on it!



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Day 43 - Nakiska

Out 9:00 to 1:15 with a quick coffee break; clearing skies with temps rising into the twenties and some wind up high; 23 runs; 33,000 vertical; skied the Head i.SG RD's; firm, flat, and fast; more people today; skier cross again - fewer kids race training today, SG followed by GS on 1 trail only; finally got to ski my SG skis - first time since I bought them in March '16; talked with a 'local' today and have changed plans just a little - bagging Mt. Norquay, adding a second day at Lake Louise instead.



#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 42 - Nakiska

New definition for 3f - firm, firmer, firmest! Out 9:00 to 1:00 with a coffee break; sunny with temps in the upper twenties and a stiff wind the higher up on the hill you went; 20 runs; 28,640 vertical; skied the Fischer RC4 GS Cheater 18's; firm and crunchy everywhere - not much snow here - lots of closed trails; didn't get to ski many of the Olympic courses - the top of the DH was closed because of no snow, the SL was closed for snow making, and the SG/bottom of the DH was closed for training - that left the GS, it was firm and rolly but overall flatter than I would have expected; Nakiska is now an Alpine Canada training site and man were they out in force - SL on this slope, GS followed by SL on another, and at least 100 athletes competing on the skier cross course; nobody else on the hill today - no lift line; I'll do one more run tomorrow to get to 30,000 vert; it's really beautiful here.



#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 41 - Buck Hill

Buck Hill Invitational today - I think every high school kid in the state was here. Out 9:00 to 12:30 with no break - stayed out while all the kids were inside between runs, then just left when I finally went into the bar and couldn't find an empty seat; 40° and overcast with a little wind; 28 runs; 6,000 vertical; 28 runs; skied the Fischer RC4 GS Cheater 18's; pretty good conditions - it just got chewed up pretty quickly on the main run(s) that all the kids were using as training; I'm going to guess 400 boys and girls racing today - easily the largest ski race I've ever seen in person; met two neat old guys from Indianhead, Bob "Hak" and Tor Bjorn "Bing" while booting up this morning.

Hairpin, Delay, or Through?


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Day 40 - Granite Peak

It's in Wisconsin. Out 10:00 to 2:30 with a long break for a pizza and 3 beers; a cool, slightly overcast morning developed into a warm, sunshiny afternoon; 32 runs 17,500 vertical; skied the Fischer RC4 GS Cheater 18's; used the new boots again today; a nice little hill - 700 or so vertical - lots of run choices - 3 high-speed lifts; everything had a little pitch on top with a long run out - think Camelback, but real wide; they kept the runouts on the lower mountain interesting by building tons of rollers; I'd come back here again.



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Day 39 - Snow Trails

Family Ski Day with the Rauschenbergers. Out 9:30 to 3:00 with a couple of long breaks; clear and cold with no wind; 30 runs; 6,000 vertical; skied the Line Supernatural 108's; excellent conditions; no crowd; skied with Lee, Tami, and Mark; used the new boots again today.

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Day 38 - Seven Springs

Out 9:30 to 12:30 with a ½ hour coffee break in the Tahoe Lodge; cold, windy, and snowing lightly - clearing as I left; 23 runs; 15,000 vertical; skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheater 19's; out by myself today; nice morning alternating laps on Gunner and Giant Steps; conditions were pretty good - Gunner was a little firmer than everything else, but still very doable; feeling ok; skiing ok; new boots again today; probably the last time I'll take the shuttle if I've got a choice - see picture.



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Day 37 - Seven Springs

Family ski day with the DiSaia's. Out 9:15 to 2:00 with a long coffee break at the Tahoe Lodge; clear and cold, temps around 10° or so, with no wind; 15 runs; 10,000 vertical; skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheater 19's; conditions were passable given the heavy rain that preceded yesterday's snow; not much of a crowd for a holiday Sunday; skied with Lee, Tony, Dan, and Ashley; Ashley's pretty good given today was her 5th day on skis; used the new boots again today; other than having the start of a cold, I'm feeling pretty good physically.



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Day 36 - Montage

Beer League. Temps in the mid-fifties with a little bit of wind and an impending monsoon; skied the Fischer RC4 GS Cheater 18's; 4 runs; 2,000 vertical;

28.74 (14)     29.24 (?)     best - 28.74 (14)

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 35 - Mountain Creek

Out 9:00 to 11:45 without a break; clear and cold with no wind - a chilly 15° this morning; 16 runs; 13,000 vertical; skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheater 17's; they made ¼" of snow at the top of the main lift - just enough to hide the rocks and gravel but not enough to prevent me from putting a full length gouge in my right ski when I hit an unseen stone.

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Day 34 - Mountain Creek

Out 9:00 to 1:45 with a quick break for an excellent bowl of clam chowder and a coke; mostly sunny and windy with temps rising through the thirties; 22 runs; 16,000 vertical; skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheater 17's; skied ok - counter, then kink leading with the inside hip; long, long walk to the slopes from the parking lot; the cabriot is the stupidest type of lift ever devised - all of the inconvience of a gondola without the benefits on an enclosed cabin or seats.

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Day 33 - Elk Mountain

Mid-Atlantic Masters SL Race. Out 8:30 to 11:15 with a couple of quick warmup breaks; clear and extremely cold and, thank god, no wind, -11° in the parking lot when I arrived, 5° when I left; skied the 2015 Volkl RaceTiger SL World Cups; 8 runs, 6,900 vertical; firm and grippy snow on Slalom; surprisingly there were a lot more people out on the hill today; after a nice first run, i was very disappointed with my effort in the second - rather than fightng to stay in the course I just skied out after getting the tinyest bit late on the third gate.

59.34 (13)    DNF    -

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Day 32 - Elk Mountain

Inagural Mid-Atlantic GS Race! 'Out' 9:15 to 1:00, although most of that time was spent in the lodge; -5° in the parking lot this morning, 0° when I left, otherwise sunny skies and a little windy; skied the Fischer RC4 GS Cheater 18's; 6 runs; 5,100 vertical; Slalom was groomed flat and the snow in the course held up very well - smooth and grippy with very few chatter marks; very few people out for a Saturday - they only ran one of the lifts in front of the lodge and there was never a liftline; skied ok; feeling ok.

41.32 (25)     41.54 (23)     1:22.86 (22)

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Day 31 - Elk Mountain

Race Training. Out 9:30 to 2:00 with several short warm up breaks; 0° with mostly cloudy skies and a stiff wind; skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheater 19's; 14 runs; 11,900 vertical; the snow was relatively soft and groomed flat; 9 runs through a wide open GS course on the top half of Slalom; despite plenty of traffic the course held up well; high and round worked best given the pitch of the hill; skied my new boots for the first time - I think they're too soft - they also need blown-out for the heel spur on my right foot - I'm using my old boots in tomorrow's GS; today's training was the very first event held by the newly formed Mid Atlanti Masters organization.

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Day 30 - Killington

Out 9:00 to 12:45 with a ½ hour coffee break at KSC; cold and snowy with very little wind; snow started sometime before first light this morning; had 2" or so on the car this AM; snow continued all day; maybe 6" by the time I left; +11° in the parking lot; very little wind, so the snow fell straight down - very pretty; 16 runs; 17,500 vertical; skied the Line Supernatural 108's; a few inches of powder on top of last night's grooming - very nice!; first tracks on Needle's Eye was very floaty; did lots of things for the first time this season - rode the Skye Peak Quad and the Snowdon Triple - skied Vagabond, Conclusion, and Escapade; skiing ok, still feeling ok; finally picked up my new boots today after skiing; so ends part 1 of my Killington season - not sure what's next - I don't have to go home till Tuesday, so I might ski Stratton or Okemo over the weekend and on X-mas.

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Day 29 - Killington

Out 9:00 to 12:45 with a ½ hour coffee break at KSC; clear and cold with a very light wind - +8° in the parking lot this morning, +14° when I left; 20 runs; 20,000 vertical; skied the Fischer RC4 GS Cheater 18's; 3f; not many folks on the hill today, but those that were there congregated around the K-1; skiing ok; amazingly enough, still feeling ok too!



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Day 28 - Killington

Out 9:00 to 12:30 with a ½ hour coffee break at KSC; temps in the mid-to-upper twenties with a plethora of sky and wind conditions - full on snow one minute, clear and calm the next; 19 runs; 21,000 vertical; skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheater 19's; great conditions today - yesterday's soft snow firmed up perfectly after last night's grooming; Bear opened today - Gateway to Bear Trax to Bear Claw to the Bear Mountain Quad - Skyburst and Snowshed Crossover were open too, but not the Skye Peak Quad; Supe/Skyelark was nice to start - Needle's was good too - Upper Chute was exquisite; Lower Bear Claw was the only thing that wasn't top notch - lots of chuncks; still like these skis; skiing ok; still feeling ok; new boots still not ready.

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Day 27 - Killington

Out 9:30 to 12:45 with a ¾ hour coffee break at KSC to dry out; 3" of new snow overnight despite temps rising into the mid-thirties; 35° with a light rain in the parking lot when I arrived; windy with a light snow/sleet mix up top with light rain down low when I got out on the hill; 12 runs; 12,000 vertical; skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheater 19's; soft, soft, soft; everything I skied was pretty good, but Highline was exceptional - good enough in fact that I did five despite having to ride the Slowdon Quad in the rain; skied ok given today's choice of skis didn't quite match conditions; still feeling good physically; a little late for the first time this year after watching Shiffrin win the W GS at Courchevel, France; all the frozen condensation that built up inside the K-1 Gondola cabins over the past few weeks unfroze overnight making for a 'rainy' first ride inside the Gondi this morning.

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Day 26 - Killington

Out 9:00 to 1:15 with a ½ hour coffee break at KSC; light snow accumulating to a couple of inches with temps rising into the mid-twenties, a low overcast, and a little wind; 20 runs; 23,100 vertical; skied the Fischer RC4 GS Cheater 18's; really nice conditions - soft groomers with a packed powder topping; any crowd that showed up today quickly disappeared into all the open terrain - never waited in a lift line; Canyon Quad ran today :) ; skied Needles, Cruise Control, and Timberline for the first time this year today; despite my misgivings, I did middle Downdraft today - was able to miss most of the thin spots until I reached the last little drop off; with all the recent snows everything looks great.



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Day 25 - Killington

Out 9:00 to 1:00 with a ¾ hour coffee break at KSC; clear and cold with a little bit of wind - +5° in the parking lot this morning - +13° with a high overcast when I left; 20 runs; 21,500 vertical; skied the Blizzard Brahma #2's; soft groomers with some firm spots on the steeps; lots of people on the hill; skied pretty well today; still feeling ok physically; looking forward to skiing GS skis next week.

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Day 24 - Killington

Out 9:00 to 12:45 with a ¾ hour coffee break at KSC; clear, cold, and windy - +7° in the parking lot this morning, +13° when I left - a few clouds clearing to brilliant sunshine - not as windy as yesterday, but still pretty breezy; skied the Blizzard Brahma #2's; 17 runs; 17,700 vertical; packed powder and soft groomers; still lots of PSIA, but not much of a crowd otherwise; KMS had both Bunny and Highline closed today; everything was pretty good, but Northridge was really nice; took it easy today; skiing ok; feeling ok.



#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 23 - Killington

Out 9:00 to 11:45 with a ½ hour coffee break at KSC; cold, windy, and snowy - +8° in the parking lot - constant 30 mph head wind on the Ramshead Quad - tons of new snow, 10" on my car this morning - the mountain is reporting 20" since yesterday morning; 7 runs; 7,600 vertical; skied the Line Supernatural 108's; started at Ramshead again today to avoid the Powder Day Crush around KBL; first 4 runs through knee deep, untracked powder on the top ⅓ of Header - very, very nice - lots of hoots and hollars from the chair; great tracks from my first run - 69 turns - left my phone in the car, so no pictures.

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Day 22 - Killington

Out 9:00 to 12:00 with a ½ hour coffee break at KSC; low to mid-twenties with moderate to heavy snow - a solid 3" in the Vale parking lot at 8:30 when I arrived and the heavy snow continued all day; 11 runs; 11,700 vertical; skied the Line Supernatural 108's; powder; deliberately started on Ramshead to avoid the 1st powder day of the year crush around KBL and was rewarded with the 1st and 4th runs down Easy Street - it may have been flat but it was totally untracked - sweet; missed a perfect opportunity to get a picture of my powder 8's directly under the Ramshead Quad when I didn't want pull my camera out of my pocket so I wouldn't get wet; after the velvety goodness of my first two runs, everything else was kind of blah.

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Day 21 - Killington

Out 9:00 to 1:00 with a ½ hour coffee break in the KSC building; temp around 20° with an unexpected light snow that accumulated enough to make any flat spots real sticky and no wind; 18 runs; 19,818 vertical; skied the Blizzard Brahma #2's; firm - last night's corduroy got skied away very quickly despite the light snow; skied Snowshed and Easy Street on Ramshead for the first time this season today; huge group of PSIA's on the hill today - you couldn't turn around without skiing up on another group of them; skiing ok; feeling ok; Nadine was out on the hill today - it was great to see her; totally wrong choice of skis given the conditions on the hill.



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Day 20 - Killington

Out 9:00 to 2:00 with a ½ hour coffee break in the Peak Lodge; temps in the low twenties with a few peeks of sunshine breaking through the cloud layer and no wind; 19 runs; 22,500 vertical; skied the Fischer RC4 GS Cheater 18's - had them ground flat, now all they want do is turn; firm or snowmaking; Cascade opened today - not too bad; had a couple of nice runs on Caper; snowmaking on Mouse Run was worth a second run; liked the firm steeps on Supe and High Line; skied pretty well today; feeling ok; blew off day 5 of Race Camp to ski with Tommy; big crowd today.



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Day 19 - Killington

Race Camp Day 4. Out 9:45 to 3:00 with an hour for lunch; temps in the mid-twenties with a light snow accumulating to 2 or 3"'s; 10 runs; 11,200 vertical; skied the Atomic D2 3.0 Race GS's; basically dust on crust today, but the accumulation of new snow was starting to make a difference by the time I left; did not ski well today;

6    61    -    47.92 (6)    47.03 (6)    1:34.95 (6)

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Day 18 - Killington

Race Camp Day 3. Out 9:00 to 2:30 with an hour for lunch; mid-twenties and windy with a decreasing overcast after last night's heavy rain; 15 runs; 11,100 vertical; skied the Atomic D2 3.0 Race GS's; what a shit show for conditions today - hope tomorrow is better; good afternoon: lots of tucking and 4 full GS runs on Bunny;

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Day 17 - Killington

Race Camp Day 2. Out 9:00 to 2:30 with a ½ hour break watching yesterday's video and an hour for lunch; mid-thirties with an on again off again light rain and a strong southwest wind - raining hard when I left after doing skis; 14 runs - 11 on Bunny via the Poma; 8,500 vertical; skied the Atomic D2 3.0 Race GS's; low, wide, and forward with countered upper body from the very first turn - don't be lazy and let the inside leg a-frame or the inside hand drop; short leg/long leg during transition into the top of the turn to reduce a-frame; fall away strategy: keep the upper body countered all the way around to the real fall line of the turn, not just down the general direction of the slope or coarse; short brush course followed by a short course with full gates this morning; full GS course this afternoon; did 5 runs through the full course this afternoon; Achilles was fine today, but my shins are a little sore this evening - I think that's a good thing; skiing much better today.

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Day 16 - Killington

Race Camp Day 1. Out 9:00 to 3:00 with an hour for lunch; sunny with temps in the low to mid-thirties and little to no wind; skied the Atomic D2 3.0 Race GS's; 19 runs - 10 on the Poma; 11,500 vertical; only really skied Rime and Upper Bunny, so I'm not sure how conditions were other places on the hill; in John Pierce's group with Bob, Ken, Roger, Cathy, Tim, ..., and ...; athletic stance - weight on the balls of the feet - flex ankles, knees, and hips together, not separately - hands up and in-from, visualize pushing open a door with both hands; turning with inside ski off the snow - tip contact ok, tail contact bad; statue of liberty with no poles; good skiing means low, wide, and forward; skied ok; my right Achilles is a little tight this evening; kept my mouth shut all day.

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Day 15 - Killington

What's better than 10 by 10? 15 by 11 on a weekday! Out 9:00 to 1:00 with a ½ hour KBL Coffee break; complete overcast with temps in the low-thirties down low and at or just below freezing up high with a constant cloud layer about mid-mountain and very little wind; 23 runs; 25,150 vertical; skied the Fischer RC4 GS Cheater 18's; lots of different conditions around the mountain - various types of crunchy snow and death cookies on Supe and Skylark - nice, hard packed groomers with an inch of new snow pushed into some small piles in Northridge - consistently firm groomers on Snowdown; did 15 round trips on the Superstar Quad before coffee at 11:00 skiing pretty good; feeling pretty good - not sure how I'll feel tomorrow after today's stout finish to this five day stretch.



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Day 14 - Killington

Out 9:00 to 1:00 with a ½ hour coffee break in the Peak Lodge; mostly sunny with temps rising into the low thirties and a sustained 20 or 30 mph south wind; 18 runs; 16,750 vertical; skied the Fischer RC4 GS Cheater 18's; wind-blown, hard pack was the order of the day; skiing ok; legs are a little tired, but otherwise feeling ok; thinking these skis need much less base bevel - they're currently at 0.7

Lower Cascade



5" of "groomed granite" poking through Rime



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Day 13 - Killington

Out 9:00 to 1:00 with a ½ hour coffee break in the Peak Lodge; mostly sunny with temps in the mid-forties at opening bell, but a front blew in from the northwest leaving temps in the mid-thirties with light snow and a howling northwest wind; 15 runs; 15,660 vertical; skied the Rossignol Avenger 76 Ti's; spectacular conditions today - Upper Chute was gorgeous first thing - smooth and carvable; Lower East Fall was spectacular later - smooth and carable - see the pattern?; skied most of the morning with David and Mel again; skiing ok, feeling ok; these skis are still a lot of fun.



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Day 12 - Killington

Out 9:00 to 12:45 with a 45 minute coffee break in the Peak Lodge; 30° with a high, light overcast to start, 40° with brilliant sunshine and a growing southwest wind when I left; 14 runs; 13,000 vertical; skied the Blizzard Brahma #2's; nice groomers everywhere; no crowd to speak of; skied with David and Mel all day; East Fall was better today - it was even connected to KBL today; skiing ok, feeling ok.



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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.



#justgivemeagroomer    

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.



#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 9 - Killington

Out 8:00 to 12:00 with a ½ hour coffee break in the car; 17°, sunny and a little windy to start - overcast by the time I left; no Ski Tracks today, so the run count and vertical are guestimates; 15 runs; 12,000 vertical; skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheater 17's; excellent conditions today - yesterday's soft snow was groomed flat and setup nicely overnight making everything extremely grippy today; big holiday crowd; skiing better the past couple of days; still feeling good physically; despite being 5 or 6 years old, I still love these skis.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 8 - Killington

On the hill from 9:00 to 12:30 with a ½ hour coffee break in the Peak Lodge; mid-thirties with light rain in the parking lot and snow up top - all snow by the time I left; 16 runs; 13,100 vertical; skied the Fischer RC4 GS Cheater 18's; conditions were good - softer snow down low - temps dropping and conditions firming when I left; big crowd that dissipated pretty quickly as Snowdon came on line today; skied with David and Mel; feeling ok; skiing ok; the Fischer's were a lot of fun again.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 7 - Killington

On the hill from 9:00 to 1:30 with a ½ hour coffee break in the Peak Lodge; sunny with temps rising into the low forties and a stiff wind; skied the Blizzard Brahma #2's; 18 runs; 15,800 vertical; mostly flat and firm with the latest snowmaking spots softening quickly; pretty big crowd - variable line at the triple, so I made quite a few Gondi laps; skied ok; feeling ok; skied with Mark and Barb.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 6 - Killington

On the hill from 9:00 to 12:45 with a ½ hour coffee break in the Peak Lodge; 20° and overcast with a little wind; skied the 2012 Volkl RaceTiger SL World Cups; 21 runs; 15,500 vertical; flat and firm with lots of soft spots under the guns; good crowd, but never a lift line at the triple; more terrain open today - skied High Traverse, Upper Double Dipper, Lower Rim Run and Middle Chute for the first time this year; World Cup prep is coming along nicely - looks almost complete; lots of snowmaking on Snowdon - Upper Bunny, Killink and Upper and Lower Chute - shouldn't be too long till the Snowdon Quad comes online; snowmaking on Lower East Fall too - will probably be a few days before we get to ski it though; splicing the new cable on the Snowdon Triple this morning; skied several runs with Mark B. this morning - we switched skies for 4 or 5 runs - didn't like his Renouns too much, they felt a lot like Tom's old Volkl 5 Stars.



#justgivemeagroomer    

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.



#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 4 - Killington

On the hill from 9:00 till 11:30; 33° with wet snow falling and an inch of slush in the parking lot when I arrived - 29° and snowing hard at the top when I stepped off the Gondi - 2" maybe 3" accumulated in Northridge by the time I quit - 37° and overcast in the parking lot when I left at 2 o'clock after doing some more skis; skied the Blizzard Brahma #2's; 19 runs; 12,200 vertical; conditions where pretty good - the new snow wasn't too wet and it got skied in pretty well without getting pushed into too many piles; good crowd for opening bell, but never a lift line at the triple - after KMS left, Northridge was empty; skied ok; still feeling pretty good physically; Killington got a positive snow control yesterday, so the World Cup is a go!

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 3 - Killington

Out 9:00 to 11:15; 33° and sunny with little to no wind to start, then some clouds moving in by the time I left; 16 runs; 10,425 vertical; skied the Blizzard Brahma #2's; flat and firm with a few rocks skier's right on Lower Rime after an over zealous groom job; nice crowd, but never a lift line up in Northridge; skied ok; feeling pretty good physically; dinged my skis returning to the ski club building; did three more pair of skis at the club before I left.



#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 2 - Killington

On the hill from 9:30 to 11:30; 24° with a thick, low overcast and very little wind; 14 runs; 9,275 vertical; skied the Blizzard Brahma #2's; flat and firm; fairly large crowd that thinned out nicely by 11:00; KMS out on the hill for the first time this year; skiing somewhere between bad and horrible.



#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 1 - Killington

A good start to the ski season. Out 9:00 to 11:00; 22° at the peak, snowing lightly, very little wind, 29° in the parking lot when I left; 12 runs; 8,100 vertical; skied the Blizzard Brahma #1's; groomed flat with good coverage up in Northridge, wet snowmaking on Mouse Trap and Lower Bunny on the way down; the snowmaking assault on Supe and Skyelark continue for the World Cup; skied till my legs started feeling a little shaky.



#justgivemeagroomer    

2017/18 Master Plan

Mon	10/23/2017	Killington, VT
Tue	10/24/2017	Killington, VT
Wed	10/25/2017	Killington, VT
Thu	10/26/2017	Killington, VT
Fri	10/27/2017
Sat	10/28/2017
Sun	10/29/2017
Mon	10/30/2017	Killington, VT
Tue	10/31/2017	Killington, VT
Wed	11/1/2017	Killington, VT
Thu	11/2/2017	Killington, VT
Fri	11/3/2017
Sat	11/4/2017
Sun	11/5/2017
Mon	11/6/2017	Killington, VT
Tue	11/7/2017	Killington, VT
Wed	11/8/2017	Killington, VT
Thu	11/9/2017	Killington, VT
Fri	11/10/2017	Killington, VT
Sat	11/11/2017
Sun	11/12/2017	Stratton, VT
Mon	11/13/2017	Killington, VT
Tue	11/14/2017	Killington, VT
Wed	11/15/2017	Killington, VT
Thu	11/16/2017	Killington, VT
Fri	11/17/2017	Killington, VT
Sat	11/182017
Sun	11/19/2017	Stratton, VT
Mon	11/20/2017	Killington, VT
Tue	11/21/2017	Killington, VT
Wed	11/22/2017	Killington, VT
Thu	11/23/2017	Killington, VT
Fri	11/24/2017	Killington, VT
Sat	11/25/2017
Sun	11/26/2017
Mon	11/27/2017	Killington, VT
Tue	11/28/2017	Killington, VT
Wed	11/29/2017	Killington, VT
Thu	11/30/2017	Killington, VT
Fri	12/1/2017	Killington, VT
Sat	12/2/2017
Sun	12/3/2017	Okemo, VT
Mon	12/4/2017	Killington, VT
Tue	12/5/2017	Killington, VT
Wed	12/6/2017	Killington, VT
Thu	12/7/2017	Killington, VT
Fri	12/8/2017	Killington, VT
Sat	12/9/2017
Sun	12/10/2017	Okemo, VT
Mon	12/11/2017	Killington, VT
Tue	12/12/2017	Killington, VT
Wed	12/13/2017	Killington, VT
Thu	12/14/2017	Killington, VT
Fri	12/15/2017	Killington, VT
Sat	12/16/2017
Sun	12/17/2017	Okemo, VT
Mon	12/18/2017	Killington, VT
Tue	12/19/2017	Killington, VT
Wed	12/20/2017	Killington, VT
Thu	12/21/2017	Killington, VT
Fri	12/22/2017	Killington, VT
Sat	12/23/2017	Okemo, VT
Sun	12/24/2017	Okemo, VT
Mon	12/25/2017
Tue	12/26/2017
Wed	12/27/2017	Greek Peak, NY
Thu	12/28/2017
Fri	12/29/2017
Sat	12/30/2017	Windham, NY
Sun	12/31/2017	Windham, NY
Mon	1/1/2018	Windham, NY
Tue	1/2/2018
Wed	1/3/2018
Thu	1/4/2018	Montage, PA
Fri	1/5/2018
Sat	1/6/2018	Elk Mtn, PA
Sun	1/7/2018	Elk Mtn, PA
Mon	1/8/2018
Tue	1/9/2018	Mountain Creek, NJ
Wed	1/10/2018
Thu	1/11/2018	Montage, PA
Fri	1/12/2018
Sat	1/13/2018
Sun	1/14/2018	Seven Springs, PA
Mon	1/15/2018	Seven Springs, PA
Tue	1/16/2018	Snow Trails, OH
Wed	1/17/2018
Thu	1/18/2018	Granite Peak, WI
Fri	1/19/2018	Buck Hill, MN
Sat	1/20/2018
Sun	1/21/2018
Mon	1/22/2018	Nakiska, AB
Tue	1/23/2018	Nakiska, AB
Wed	1/24/2018	Mt. Norquay, AB
Thu	1/25/2018	Sunshine Village, AB
Fri	1/26/2018	Lake Louise, AB
Sat	1/27/2018
Sun	1/28/2018
Mon	1/29/2018	Kicking Horse, BC
Tue	1/30/2018	Kicking Horse, BC
Wed	1/31/2018	Kicking Horse, BC
Thu	2/1/2018	Kicking Horse, BC
Fri	2/2/2018	Kicking Horse, BC
Sat	2/3/2018	Panorama, BC
Sun	2/4/2018
Mon	2/5/2018	Kimberly, BC
Tue	2/6/2018	Kimberly, BC
Wed	2/7/2018	Kimberly, BC
Thu	2/8/2018	Kimberly, BC
Fri	2/9/2018	Kimberly, BC
Sat	2/10/2018
Sun	2/11/2018
Mon	2/12/2018	Fernie, BC
Tue	2/13/2018	Fernie, BC
Wed	2/14/2018	Fernie, BC
Thu	2/15/2018	Fernie, BC
Fri	2/16/2018	Fernie, BC
Sat	2/17/2018	Whitefish, MT
Sun	2/18/2018
Mon	2/19/2018	Big Sky, MT
Tue	2/20/2018	Big Sky, MT
Wed	2/21/2018	Big Sky, MT
Thu	2/22/2018	Big Sky, MT
Fri	2/23/2018	Big Sky, MT
Sat	2/24/2018
Sun	2/25/2018
Mon	2/26/2018	Solitude, UT
Tue	2/27/2018	Solitude, UT
Wed	2/28/2018	Solitude, UT
Thu	3/1/2018	Solitude, UT
Fri	3/2/2018	Solitude, UT
Sat	3/3/2018
Sun	3/4/2018	Howelsen Hill, CO
Mon	3/5/2018	Steamboat, CO
Tue	3/6/2018	Steamboat, CO
Wed	3/7/2018	Steamboat, CO
Thu	3/8/2018	Steamboat, CO
Fri	3/9/2018	Steamboat, CO
Sat	3/10/2018
Sun	3/11/2018	Granby Ski Ranch, CO
Mon	3/12/2018	Winter Park, CO
Tue	3/13/2018	Winter Park, CO
Wed	3/14/2018	Winter Park, CO
Thu	3/15/2018	Winter Park, CO
Fri	3/16/2018	Winter Park, CO
Sat	3/17/2018
Sun	3/18/2018	Loveland, CO
Mon	3/19/2018	Copper Mtn, CO
Tue	3/20/2018	Copper Mtn, CO
Wed	3/21/2018	Copper Mtn, CO
Thu	3/22/2018	Copper Mtn, CO
Fri	3/23/2018	Copper Mtn, CO
Sat	3/24/2018	Vail, CO
Sun	3/25/2018
Mon	3/26/2018	Crested Butte, CO
Tue	3/27/2018	Crested Butte, CO
Wed	3/28/2018	Crested Butte, CO
Thu	3/29/2018	Crested Butte, CO
Fri	3/30/2018	Crested Butte, CO
Sat	3/31/2018	Monarch, CO
Sun	4/1/2018
Mon	4/2/2018
Tue	4/3/2018
Wed	4/4/2018
Thu	4/5/2018
Fri	4/6/2018
...
Mon	4/16/2018
Tue	4/17/2018	Sugarloaf, ME
Wed	4/18/2018	Sugarloaf, ME
Thu	4/19/2018	Sugarloaf, ME
Fri	4/20/2018	Sugarloaf, ME
Sat	4/21/2018	Sugarloaf, ME
Sun	4/22/2018
Mon	4/23/2018	Killington, VT
Tue	4/24/2018	Killington, VT
Wed	4/25/2018	Killington, VT
Thu	4/26/2018	Killington, VT
Fri	4/27/2018	Killington, VT
Sat	4/28/2018
Sun	4/29/2018
Mon	4/30/2018	Killington, VT
Tue	5/1/2018	Killington, VT
Wed	5/2/2018	Killington, VT
Thu	5/3/2018	Killington, VT
Fri	5/4/2018	Killington, VT

#justgivemeagroomer    

Good News

As you can probably guess given the lack of additional posts since I broke my arm, I never made it to Alaska, British Columbia or Montana. But today - three days short of eight months later - Dr. Rac finally declared my arm 'fully healed' and gave me the green light to resume all activities!

#justgivemeagroomer