Day 21 - Copper

Out 9:00 to 2:00 with a coffee break at Solitude Station; sunny and warm with no wind, 20° in the parking lot this AM and 43° when I left; 25 runs; 43,602 vertical; skied the Atomic D2 3.0 Race GS's; groomers; not much of a crowd; Men's NorAm SG today on the Speed Center track; great views from the chair of World Cuppers training GS on West Encore included Petra Vhlova and Lucas Braathen.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 20 - Copper

Well that was alot better. Out 9:00 to 12:15 with no break; sunny with temps in the thirties and no wind; 14 runs; 26,921 vertical; skied the 2019 Head i.Speed GS Cheater 17's; groomers; busy, but no lift lines; skied a little better today; Super Bee stopped for >15 minutes, so I rode the bus back to Center Village and left; this place is still one of the most sceanic resorts around; so glad the holiday crowd is gone - last week was way worse than I was expecting; passed 400,000.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 19 - Copper

Happy Thanksgiving! Only out 9:00 to 10:45; clear and cold with no wind, -1° this morning in the parking lot 14° when I left; 7 runs; 12,815 vertical; skied the Nordica Enforcer 88's; firm groomers; huge crowd again; skied horribly today; 10.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 18 - Breckenridge

Only out 8:30 to 10:00; 4" overnight - relatively calm and snowing hard this morning with temps in the twenties - maybe another 1" fell while I was out; 5 runs; 6,514 vertical; skied the 2019 Head i.Speed GS Cheater 17's; a tiny bit of untracked powder, but mainly lots of loose snow over the grooming - very few slick spots; pretty big crowd right from the get go at 8:30 and it only increased from there - I left as soon as the main chutes for both lifts were full (maybe a 4 or 5 minute wait); the Rocky Mountain Quad was open with 2 new runs: Duke's and Northstar; I overdressed causing me to sweat into my goggles making me effectively blind all morning except first run.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 17 - Keystone

Out 8:45 to 11:00; clear and cool with little to no wind and temps rising toward freezing; 7 runs; 14,217 vertical; skied the Nordica Enforcer 88's; super firm groomers; big crowd - I left when the line at the Summit Quad grew to more than a minute or two; when I left at 11:00 the line for lift tickets at River Run went out the maze, up the sidewalk and all the way across the foot bridge; didn't ski particularly well today.

Peak 1 from the end of my driveway

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 16 - Copper

Well that was a bust. Huge crowd for Copper's Opening Day, so I did 1 run and left. Out 9:00 to 9:30; clear and cool; 1 run; 1,482 vertical; typical first day, uneven grooming; huge crowd; snowmaking in progress for the Dew Tour.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 15 - Breckenridge

Out 8:30 to 2:00 with a quick coffee break in the Vista Haus; sunny with a little wind to start, then around noon the wind picked up and the clouds blew in; 26 runs; 33,836 vertical; real nice groom job overnight; skied the brand spanking new Blizzard Bonafides; not too many people, only a lift line when the lift stopped; a couple of impressive switch skiers out this morning, one was a young girl carving with pop switch at 35+ mph - impressive; an even bigger group of Ski Patrol today practicing lift evac and rescue; the new skis worked great - rock solid hold - plenty of pop - predictable and well behaved - at 183cm a little short for pure carving, but should be plenty manuverable off piste.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 14 - Breckenridge

Out 8:30 to 2:15 with a ½ hour coffee break in the Vista Haus; brilliant sunshine with temps in the teens to start then rising into the thirties - some wind later in the day; 24 runs; 29,958 vertical; skied the Nordica Enforcer 88's; much firmer today; fairly large crowd; 20+ Ski Patrol out today - toboggen training slowed the lift all day; passed 300,000; 15.

   Peak 6 and the top of the Kensho lift

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 13 - Breckenridge

Out 8:15 to 2:15 with a ½ hour coffee break; 4" overnight - a cloudy and windy start cleared nicely with plenty of afternoon sunshine and temps rising through the twenties; 23 runs; 30,475 vertical; skied the Nordica Enforcer 88's; they left 4 O'clock ungroomed, but a groomed Springmeier was the choice today; some people, but only a liftline when the chair stopped; first avalanche bombs of the season - first slide too; these skis are fantastic; the old man would have loved today.

Peak 8 and the tops of the T-bar and Imperial

Bald Mountain shrouded in clouds

Keystone and the Contentiental Divide beyond

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 12 - Keystone

out 9:00 to a little after 1:00 with no break; warm with temps in the forties and lots of hazy sunshine and wind; 16 runs; 31,764 vertical; skied the Nordica Enforcer 88's; groomed that quickly softened with a few icey patches thrown-in for good luck; pretty light crowd; 5th persn up Montezuma this morning; massive headwind across the top flat made things a little slower today; left my mask in the car, so I couldn't go in for lunch as I was planning or I might have got my first 40,000+ day of the year.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 11 - Keystone

Out 9:00 to 2:15 with a ½ hour lunch at the Summit Haus; sunny and warm with a little bit of wind later in the day and temps rising toward 50°; 19 runs; 34,853 vertical; skied the Blizzard Brahma #2's; groomers; some people, but no lift lines; getting the routine down - walked up and loaded the Summit 4 at the very end of the 9:00 Rush this morning; 10th person up Montezuma this morning; first time I've been in the lodge this season; skiing okay; feeling okay; passed 200,000 today.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 10 - Keystone

Out 7:30 to 10:30 with no break; 2" overnight - cloudy and very windy today with temps in the twenties; 11 runs; 20,249 vertical; skied the Line SuperNatural 108's; groomers; light crowd at the early start for Fresh Tracks at Keystone, but a real big crowd at 10:30 at the Summit Quad when the Gondi shut down for wind, so I left; Vail and Breck opened today, but it didn't seem to help with the crowd here much; looking forward to Breck next week.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 9 - Keystone

Out 9:00 to 11:15; 4" overnight, cold and blustery today with a little bit of snow and temps in the twenties; 7 runs; 14,229 vertical; skied the Line SuperNatural 108's; soft to start, but scraped to shit after only about an hour; Veteran's Day crowd - tons of people and I mean a lot, a whole lot; these are really nice skis; 20.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 8 - Keystone

Out 9:00 to 1:00 with no breaks; maybe an inch of snow overnight - mostly cloudy and windy with a stray flurry or two today with temps in the twenties; 16 runs, 30,504 vertical; skied the Nordica Enforcer 88's; groomed, but much softer than yesterday - not sure but they may have made a little snow on the open trail overnigh; fairly light crowd - never a real lift line; those skis needed waxed badly.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 7 - Keystone

Out 9:00 to 1:00 with no breaks again today; warm and sunny with a high overcast building all day - they were turning off the last of the snowmaking on my first ride up the chair; 18 runs, 31,176 vertical; skied the Nordica Enforcer 88's; 3f again; not near as many people as yesterday - other than opening bell never a lift line of more that 10 people; skiing okay; feeling okay; rode the Montezuma 6 with new friend Mike again today; got bored and rode the magic carpet and chair on the Bunny Slope; passed 100,000 today.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 6 - Keystone

Out 9:00 to 1:00 no breaks; warm and sunny with increasing wind and overcast - temps through the thirties; 14 runs; 31,606 vertical; skied the Fischer RC4 GS Cheater 18's; 3f; lots of people - small line a couple of times; top to bottom today - 2.8 miles in about 6 ½ minutes; skiing okay.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 5 - Keystone

Out 9:00 to 11:30; clear, calm and sunny with temps in the mid-thirties; 9 runs; 15,003 vertical; skied the Fischer RC4 GS Cheater 18's; conditions starting to firm to East Coast standards - totally 3f; big crowd; didn't like the Fischers near as well as the Brahmas on virtually identical conditions; found out today that they open at 8:30 on Friday's; I packed the suncreen in my boot bag back at home, when I opened the lid in the parking lot this AM it very quickly oozed out about 10% of the bottle.

Breck from Keystone

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 4 - Keystone

Out 9:00 to 11:15; clear and sunny with temps rising past freezing and little to no wind; 9 runs; 15,003 vertical; skied the Blizzard Brahma #2's; mid-winter, 3F; lots of people out, but never much of a lift line; lapped the Montezuma 6 with new friend Mike; the countdown is on - 25.

Peaks 1 thru 4 - I'm somewhere below that narrow avalache chute on the far right

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 3 - Keystone

Out 9:15 to 10:30; a dusting of snow overnight, cloudy today with temps just below freezing and virtually no wind; 5 runs; 8,254 vertical; skied the Blizzard Brahma #2's; the one open trail was groomed flat and it was a bit firmer than yesterday, but not icy at all; big crowd today right from the get go - that's why I left so early.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 2 - Keystone

Well, I finally made it out for day 2. I was supposed to go back to Big Snow in September, but they had a fire and are closed till at least the new year. Then after a looooong drive out here over the weekend, I overslept and didn't have enough time to go out yesterday. So anyway, on to today's report:

On the hill 9:15 to 11:00; 3" of snow overnight with flurries today and temps around freezing with the tinyest bit of wind; 6 runs; 10,002 vertical; skied the Blizzard Brahma #2's; last night's snow was groomed in just before opening, so conditions were nice and soft and smooth; good cover on the one slope that was open - even after things got skied in, I never saw a rock; a pretty good crowd by the time I left, but never a lift line; started out a little slowly - most everybody passing me - and built up to a respectable pace by the time I left; left my phone in the car, so no Ski Tracks;

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 1 - Big Snow

Met Uncle Bob on site for my earliest start to a ski season ever. On the "hill" for first chair, albeit at 1:00 PM; skied for about 90 minutes; Skied the 2019 Head i.Speed GS Cheater 17's; the snow sucked, I was cold and I brought totally the wrong skis - but I'm still coming back in a couple of weeks.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Home This Season

Frisco, CO

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 60 - Killington

Weekend trip with Radvanyi. Out 9:00 to 2:30 with lunch at the car; sunny and warm; 20 runs; 22,207 vertical; skied the Line SuperNatural 108's;

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 59 - Montage

Out 8:45 to 12:15 with a quick pee break back at the car; clear, cold and windy, 15° in the parking lot this AM; 27 runs; 18,036 verical; skied the 2019 Head i.Speed GS Cheater 17's; groomers with a nice, even, thin coating of snowmaking on the steeps; decent crowd, but no real lift lines; skied the first hour and a half with David Wadas; skied ok; the snowmaking on Boomer was dreamy - they did a nice groom job, then put the fan guns on oscillate; snowmaking on Lightning was good too, they just didn't groom first.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 58 - Montage

Beer League Week #8 - Finals. Out 4:00 to 6:15 with a quick break back at the car to change skis; cloudy and windy with temps around thirty; 12 runs; 7,458 vertical; skied the Atomic Redster D2 3.0 Race GS's and the Atomic Redster G9 RS's; frozen groomers; not much of a crowd other than all the racers; skied okay; our team (The Ski Shack) took 1st place for the season, I ended up in 7th overall for the season.

8 91 MARTIN BURNS    26.80 (7) 26.60 (8) - 53.40 (8)

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 57 - Montage

40,000 at the 'Tage! Out 8:50 to 6:15 with a couple of ½ hour breaks in the car; clear, cold and windy to start, then a nice afternoon as the wind died and temps rose into the mid-twenties; 61 runs; 40,358 vertical; skied the Fischer RC4 GS Cheater 18's, the Atomic Redster D2 3.0 Race GS's and the Noridca Enforcer 88's; frozen groomers or snowmaking; standard mid-week, Montage crowd - nobody till 11:00, then a few people till about 2:30, then nobody again till after 5:00 - never a lift line; snowmaking on Smoke - nice early, very wet later on; White Lightning was a firm, crunchy groomer - fantastic on some of my GS skis, so I did it 49 times... I kid you not; took my 3rd fall of the season on Smoke very late in the day. #justgivemeagroomer    

Day 56 - Montage

Lazy 9:30 start trying to wait out the rain, out till 2:45 with lunch in the car; overnight rain ended by 10:30, then temps falling into the mid-thirties as the wind picked up and the cloud cover lifted; very nice early - groomers and soft leftovers with no traffic; it got mushy in the afternoon as traffic picked up; skied the Nordica Enforcer 88's; 36 runs; 23,914 vertical; me and one other lady until the rain stopped, then pretty normal Monday crowd albeit a little late arriving; skied okay; Smoke early was really good - groomed top and bottom and the pitch of soft, relatively smooth leftovers; as the day wore on and things got mushier, the pitch on White Lightning really came into it's own - cornilicious.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 55 - Montage

Out 8:30 to 11:00, no break; < 1" of wet snow overnight ended as an hour of drizzle and mist this morning; skied the Blizzard Brahma #2's; 17 runs; 11,111 vertical; soft groomers; left as soon as there was even the hint of a crowd; poached the Ski Team's GS on Smoke twice and the NASTAR course once; skied okay.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 54 - Montage

out 9:00 to 2:00, no break; sunny and warm with a high overcast by the afternoon; 34 runs; 23,624 vertical; skied the Volkl Mantras; groomers; parking lot was crowded, but with Long Haul running there was never even a hint of a line; Smoke was very, very good; skied okay.



#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 53 - Montage

Beer League Week 7. Out 3:00 to 6:00 with a quick break at the car to change skis; clear, warm and windy - temps falling into the mid-thirties; 11 runs; 6,541 vertical; skied the Atomic Redster D2 3.0 Race GS's and the Fischer RC4 GS Cheater 18's; frozen groomers in North Face - mushy groomers up top; not too many people; didn't ski particularly well, but didn't ski horribly either.

8 91 MARTIN BURNS  28.58 (10) 27.70 (7) 56.28 (8)

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 52 - Kite Hill

Total fail - way too warm.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 51 - Montage

out 9:00 to 12:15, no break; overcast with temps right at freezing - snow showers left a thick coating of sticky, wet snow; 23 runs; 15,692 vertical; skied the Blizzard Brahma #2's and the Fischer RC4 GS Cheater 18's; groomers; not much of a crowd - no lift line at all; skied with David W. till about 11:00, then finished off by myself; skied okay; Boomer excellent again - Smoke excellent as well; the Fischers skied very well the past two days.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 50 - Montage

Out 9:00 to 2:45 with a long lunch break in the car; snow all day - first flakes at 9:00 with snow starting in earnest at 10:00 and then letting up significantly by 1:00 - 3"+ total; 33 runs; 22,503 vertical; skied the Fischer RC4 GS Cheater 18's and the Nordica Enforcer 88's; groomers with new snow; pretty busy for a Monday, but no lift lines; Boomer was exceptional today - groomed perfection kept soft with the new falling snow; didn't ski particularly well. #justgivemeagroomer    

Day 49 - Kite Hill

Earn your turns Day 2. After a more or less failed attempt at skiing at my house after the 2+ foot snowstorm in December, I thought I'd try it again in a little more favorable set of conditions - 4" of new snow on top of an old layer of firm snow covering the entire field. I made two runs on my Volkl Katanas. I forgot my phone so instead of Ski Tracks I used Google Earth to determine each run of 75 vertical feet was about 875 feet long. I didn't want to have a heart attack so I stopped after just two runs. #justgivemeagroomer    

Day 48 - Montage

Beer League Race #6. Out 3:15 to 6:30 with a quick break in the car to change skis; snowing with temps in the low twenties - 3" so far today; 14 runs; 8,275 vertical; skied the Atomic Redster D2 3.0 Race GS's and the Atomic Redster G9 RS's; groomers with some small piles of new snow; pretty good crowd, but with Long Haul running, no real lift lines anywhere; skied horribly again... ... ...; 6-7m offset on such a flat hill sucks regards of distance; 20.51 hcp - Gold.

7 91 MARTIN BURNS  29.97 (8) 29.56 (8) - 59.53 (7)

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 47 - Montage

So ends our streak of winter weather. Out 8:45 to 2:30 with a ½ hour lunch break in the car; lots of rain overnight, intermittent fog today with a heavy overcast and temps in upper thirties; 35 runs; 23,642 vertical; skied the Blizzard Brahma #2's; super soft, rain soaked leftovers and some mushy groomers on the upper mountain - actually pretty nice; absolutely nobody else out till well after noon; skied till about 10:00 with Dave Wadas; lots of runs skied very well: skier's left on Boomer, all the groomers up top and the soft bumps on Lightning; had a nice day. #justgivemeagroomer    

Day 46 - Montage

Mental health day after a terrible weekend of racing in NY. Out 9:15 to 3:15 with an looooooong lunch in the car watching Shiff win the Alpine Combined World Championship Gold; freezing rain with temps in the low twenties on the drive in, then a little on and off freezing rain during the day; 29 runs; 20,157 vertical; skied the Nordica Enforcer 88's; groomers; skied a few runs early with David and Joe - by the time I arrvied they already looked like glazed donuts; skied okay.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 45 - West Mountain

Mid-Atlantic Master SL. Out 8:30 to 11:00 with a quick warm up break in the car before my only race run; coating of snow overnight with cloudy skies and temps in the twenties; 6 runs, 5,112 vertical; skied both pair of Volkl RaceTiger SL World Cups; groomers; holiday crowd; skied horribly again; DNF'ed first run and just left.

- 51 Burns, Martin M7 DNF DNS -

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 44 - West Mountain

Mid-Atlantic Masters GS. Out 8:30 to 2:00 with a couple of warm up breaks in the car; clear, clod and relatively calm again; +5° today in the parking lot; 11 runs; 12,326 vertical; skied the Atomic REdster D2 3.0 Race GS's and the Atomic Redster G9 RS's; groomers; holiday crowd, but not horrible; what was horrible was my skiing - again.

55 51 Burns, Martin M7 1:22.72 (57) 1:18.78 (56) 2:41.50 (55)

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 43 - West Mountain

Mid-Atlantic Masters SG Doubleheader. Out 8:30 to 3:00 with a couple of warmup breaks in the car; clear, cold and calm; -5° this morning, probable around 10° today; increasing clouds all day; 11 runs; 12,336 vertical; skied the Head i.SG RD's; groomers; not much of a crowd; skied horribly.

SG #1: 38 51 Martin Burns M7 1:29:22 (38)

SG #2: 38 51 Martin Burns M7 1:28:89 (38)

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 42 - Montage

Beer League Race #5. Out 3:45 to 6:15 - just long enough for a few warmup runs and my race runs; temps in the twenties with an intermittent wind; 12 runs; 6,000 vertical; skied the Atomic Redster D2 3.0 Race GS's; not too crowded; didn't ski particularly well;

7 91 MARTIN BURNS  27.66 (8) 27.79 (7) - 55.45 (7)

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 41 - Montage

Out 8:45 to 2:30 with a ¾ hour lunch break in the car; more snow with temps in the twenties - 3" total, 2" fell this morning after opening; 27 runs; 18,938 vertical; skied the Volkl Mantras; new snow on soft groomers - very nice; not many people out; skied untracked snow all morning; skied the afternoon with Ana searching the side of the runs on the upper mountain looking for freshies; skied okay. #justgivemeagroomer    

Day 40 - Montage

SG practice - race Friday. Out 9:00 to 2:30 with a ¾ hour lunch break in the car; clear, cold and calm; -5° down by the river at Rummerfield on the drive in this morning, 9° in the parking lot at opening bell and probable 20° or so when I left; groomers; 33 runs; 22,663 vertical; skied the Head i.SG RD's; light crowd, but I left when it start to build; skied okay; the hill is in excellent shape; several tuck runs down Boomer this morning; forgot my poles, ugh - I went to rent a pair and they just gave me a set.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 39 - Montage

Mid-Atlantic GS/SL Double Header. Out 8:30 to 4:30 with a quick lunch in the car; sunny and windy with temps in the twenties; 21 runs, 12,339 vertical; skied the Atomic Redster D2 3.0 Race GS's, the Atomic Redster G9 RS's and the 2015 Volkl RaceTiger SL World Cups; huge crowd/long lines; skied horribly in the GS, okay in the SL; 3 women beat me today - both races; 3rd in class in the GS, 2nd in class in the SL.

GS: 29  51  Burns, Martin  Tri-State  M7    43.69 (28)    43.93 (30)  1:27.62 (29)
SL: 17  51  Burns, Martin  Tri-State  M7  1:02.97 (19)  1:03.28 (22)  2:06.25 (17)

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 38 - Montage

Beer League Race #4. Out 4:00 to 8:30 with a quick stop at the car to change skis after the race; sunny and warm with temps quickly falling into the upper twenties as the sun went down; 19 runs, 10,930 verical; skied the Atomic Redster D2 3.0's, the Atomic Redster G9 RS's and the Nordica Enforcer 88's; soft groomers with the steeps on North Face starting to firm and/or bump; skied okay; could have pulled a really nice result tonight, but I got late and dropped all kinds of time in the bottom half of the Red course and still was only .03 seconds slower than my time in the Blue.

5 91 Martin Burns 27.49 (5)

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 37 - Montage

Wow. Out 8:45 to noon without a break; another foot or more of new snow since I quit yesterday at 3:00, more than half of that fell after last night's close at 9:00; still snowing hard with temps in the twenties - another 2" or so this morning; 16 runs, 10,024 vertical; skied the DPS Lotus Alchemist 124's; powder, powder and more powder; crowd didn't start to build till I left at noon; skied ok; dinged the edge of my new skis pretty good on a rock in the trees above the start shack on Switch; freshies all morning; the new pow skis work really well - excellent float, not too heavy despite their size; epic day.



#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 36 - Montage

Out 9:00 to 3:00 with a long lunch in the car; 3" new snow overnight; light snow all day with temps in the twenties - maybe 2" more today; 24 runs; 18,307 vertical; skied the Volkl Katana; powder; not too big of a crowd for a powder day; skied with Radvanyi and Company this afternoon; destroyed my skis - first in the trees beside Lightning, then following Chris in the trees off Fast Track; first tracks on Boomer, Smoke, Lightning Woods, Highball and Main Street; covered the entire trial map today, including some trails (Easy Street) for the first time ever. #justgivemeagroomer    

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)

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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.

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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?

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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.

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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.



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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)

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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.



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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.

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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.

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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.



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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)

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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.



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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)

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