Day 61 - Keystone

Out 8:30 to 2:15 with lunch in the car to change skis; 3" new snow overnight - cold, still and foggy this morning - temps in the low single digits all day - on and off fine snow throughout the day; 22 runs; 20,718 vertical; skied the Atomic Redster G9 RS's and the Nordica Enforcer 88's; groomers mostly; very few people; Team Summit Masters - short GS course on I-70; Jackwacker was sublime.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 60 - Copper

Out 9:00 to 3:15 with a coffee break in Solitude Station and lunch in the car; overcast and 14° to start with a little bit of wind - the snow started around noon - 21° with a little over an inch by the time I left; 31 runs; 34,941 vertical; skied the Nordica Enforcer 88's; Soliloquy early was fantastic; Formidable was flat and firm so I did 2; caught the last chair on Three Bears and did Buffalo Stampede - it was excellent; Upper Enchanted Forrest was extremely thin; the top of Bradley's Plunge was horrible; did Union Peak for the first time; first 30k+ day in 6 weeks.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 59 - Copper

Out 9:00 to 2:00 with lunch in the car to change skis; 0° this morning in the lot, maybe 25° when I left - a high overcast all day - plenty of wind too; 25 runs, 26,440 vertical; skied the Atomic Redster G9 RS's and the Nordica Enforcer 88's; groomers and some week old snow; NASTAR 0.58 hcp - Platinum; Six Shooter off Mountain Chief was suprisingly good; on the way home the leeward side of the snow fence along Timber Ridge had caught all sorts of snow - short, but very nice.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 58 - Keystone

Out 8:30 to 12:00 no break; clear and relatively calm with temps rising through the teens; 13 runs; 7,505 vertical; skied the Atomic Redster G9 RS's; groomers; big weekend crowd; Team Summit Masters - short GS on I-70; stay low thru transition - do not pop up at all; didn't ski particularly well today; the list: low centered transition - rollup to forward pressure on outside ski with an active inside leg - diciplined upper body (forward and straight - don't twist) - clean entry (don't twist the lower body or start the turn too early or drift the tips into the fall line or ...) - feet out from under the body as soon as possible at the top - square with head, shoulders and hips in front of the feet out beyond the rise line at the apex - then attack the gate from outside the rise line.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 57 - Keystone

Out 8:30 to a little after 2:00 with lunch in the car; very clear and very cold with a little wind; -7° in the parking lot this morning and -9° when I left; 26 runs; 22,759 vertical; skied the Atomic Redster G9 RS's and the Nordica Enforcer 88's; some good groomers and some very firm ones too; Team Summit Masters - short GS course on I-70; 3 runs through doing the Schlopy Drill and then 10 more full speed; skiing okay; finally got back to North Peak - a few down Starfire and finished with Starfire-Black Hawk; the bottom pitch on Wild Irishman on the way home was treacherous - people walking out the bottom.



#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 56 - Copper

Out 9:00 to 12:00 with lunch in Solitude Station; 2" new snow overnight - snowing lightly with temps in the teens and light winds - maybe another inch today; 11 runs; 14,762 vertical; skied the Nordica Enforcer 88's; powder and packed powder; very few people, even though I left when I skied down to Flyer after lunch and there was a 2 minute line; these skis are awesome.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 55 - Keystone

Out 8:30 to noon with no break; clear, cold and calm; -7° in the lot this morning, 0° at noon; 13 runs; 11,889 vertical; skied the 2015 Volkl RaceTiger SL World Cups; packed powder; very few people today; Team Summit Masters - 10 runs through a 30 gate SL course on I-70; much better hand and body discipline today - it made the combinations much easier, that's huge; after a review of the video, not much change time wise - still around 10 or 11% slower than Matt.



#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 54 - Keystone

Out 8:30 to 11:45 with no break; overnight snow ended by 10 o'clock giving us an inch or so - windy and cold too - temps only in the low teens; 12 runs, 7,067 vertical; skied the 2015 Volkl RaceTiger SL World Cups; super soft packed powder; a few people at Peru at the opening bell, but otherwise empty; Team Summit Masters - SL drills on I-70 lapping the A-51 double; completely revamping my SL skiing... hands up, level and square keeping the upper body directly down the corridor never reaching to cross-block - do not let one hand get in front of the other - and as always, forward.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 53 - Copper

Out 9:00 to 1:30 with a quick warm up break before NASTAR in Solitude Station and lunch in the car to change skis; clear, cold and the tinyest bit of wind up high - 5° in the the lot and only 10° when I left; 22 run; 23,120 vertical; skied the Atomic Redster G9 RS's and the Blizzard Bonafides; groomers, some steeps and some bumps; good crowd, but no real liftlines; NASTAR 5.21 hcp - Platinum; finally got to Spaulding Bowl and Resolution - did Patrol Chute and then Double Zero to Highline; tried getting to Rendevouz from Resolution... you can't - I ended up doing Ute Overlook.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 52 - Keystone

Out 8:30 to 12:00 no break; snowing lightly with temps rising into the twenties and very little wind - maybe 1" by the time I left; 10 runs; 16,642 vertical; skied the 2015 Volkl RaceTiger SL World Cups; groomers; a few people today - small lift line at Montezuma most of the morning; Team Summit Masters - SL training on the NASTAR hill; did 6 runs thruough a 30 gate course;

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 51 - Keystone

Out 8:30 to 12:00 with a 5 minute warm up break in Summit House; clear, cold and calm again - near zero in the lot this morning, 12° when I quit; 11 runs; 18,181 vertical; skied the Atomic Redster G9 RS's; firm groomers; very few people; Team Summit Masters - GS training on the NASTAR hill;

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 50 - Keystone

Out 8:30 to 12:15 with no break; clear, cold and calm - single digit temps in the parking lot only rose a few degrees into the low teens; 10 runs; 17,228 vertical; firm groomers; not too many people, but a small line did develop on Montezuma; Team Summit Masters - GS training on the NASTAR hill; come at the gate from outside the rise line; get your feet out from under your body, the earlier in the turn the better; stay square; running late this morning and rushed right past my prepared GS and all-mountain skis as I got in the car - thank god the Head GS Cheaters were already in there - wrong wax, but they were skis - good news is skis for tomorrow are already done.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 49 - Copper

Out 9:00 to 1:00 with lunch in the car to change skis; single digit temps in the lot this morning - high overcast with some broken sunshine later - temps rising toward thrity with no wind; 22 runs; 23,210 vertical; skied the Atomic Redster GS RS's and the Blizzard Bonafides; groomers and one run down the bumps and trees on Tucker Mtn; very few people today; NASTAR 4.94 hcp - Platinum; went over the back and got to ride the Three Bears Triple for the first time; Western Slope should not be a double black.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 48 - Copper

Out 9:00 to 11:45 without a break; clear and calm with temps rising quickly from the single digits to the mid-twenties; 16 runs, 17,456 vertical; skied the Atomic Redster G9 RS's; groomers; not near as many people as I was anticipating - never a lift line, except Flyer first thing and I went right through in the singles line; NASTAR 11.68 hcp - Platinum.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 47 - Copper

Out 9:00 to 2:30 with lunch in the car; snowing and breezy with temps in the twenties - snow started right at opening bell, maybe 2" when I left; 27 runs; 27,738 vertical; skied the Atomic Redster G9 RS's and the K2 Mindbender 108 Ti's; corduroy first thing, later a little new snow on the groomers and on some crusty old stuff too; not too crowded; NASTAR 22.42 hcp - Gold; skied Indian Ridge, Revenge, Kaboom, and Little Trees off Sierra all non-stop; totally fucked up the K2's - twice!

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 46 - Keystone

More SL training. Out 8:30 to 11:15 with no break; sunny and warm with temps in the twenties and no wind; 8 runs, 12,712 vertical; skied the 2015 Volkl RaceTiger SL World Cups; not enough of a crowd for any lift lines; Team Summit Masters Training - 5 runs through a tough, 40 gate, SL course on Haywood; groomed packed powder down to the course where a late groom made for some chunks.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 45 - Keystone

Out 8:30 to 11:30 with no break; clear with seasonal temps rising into the teens and no wind - really nice ski day; 7 runs; 11,123 vertical; skied the 2015 Volkl RaceTiger SL World Cups; very few people; excellent parking spot today; Team Summit Masters Training - 4 runs through a 35 gate SL course - Haywood is an excellent training hill for SL; skied okay; my left wrist is a little sore from cross blocking.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 44 - Copper

Out 11:00 to 1:00 with no break - I had to wait to get plowed out this morning; 10" overnight, even here in town - 4" more today - heavy snow - windy with blowing snow and temps in the twenties; 7 runs; 8,249 vertial; skied the K2 Mindbender 108 Ti's; powder and packed powder; the skis worked extremely well today; did Ptarmagin, CDL 20, Brennan's, and Mine Dump consecutively, all non-stop; skied Free Fall Glade and I believe for my first time ever - it was nice; put the first real ding in theses skis - not sure where it happened though, that's pretty unusal.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 43 - Keystone

Out 12:00 to 3:30 with no break; 2" overnight, maybe 5 more today; extremely windy with heavy snow and temps around 20°; 10 runs; 15,980 vertical; skied the 2019 Head i.Speed GS Cheater 17's; powder and packed powder; plenty of people on the hill, but no lift lines; afternoon Team Summit Masters training on Haywood - we actually skied gates, it was only a tight, 15 gate GS but it was gates!

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 42 - Copper

Only out for a couple of runs before running some errands; 2" more overnight - blowing snow with temps in the teens; 2 runs; 4,019 vertical; skied the K2 Mindbender 108 Ti's; big crowd; these skis are too GS'y to use in low visibility or in tight terrain - I've got to quit buying this kind of ski; hi mom.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 41 - Copper

Out 9:00 to 12:30 with a quick lunch break at JJ's; 2" overnight - cold and snowy with a little wind, temps in the teens; 9 runs; 15,171 verical; skied the Blizzard Bonafides; big crowd - moderate lift lines at times, other times it was get right on; made a couple of runs with Isadora after lunch; iced goggles today or I would not have gone inside; county wide mask mandate in all indoor settings effective today - I hope we make it through the season.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 40 - Copper

Out 9:00 to 12:00 with a warm-up the hands break in Solitude Station; a little more snow overnight, probably just shy of 2" - overcast, cold and windy with intermittant light snow and temps in the teens; 7 runs; 13,194 vertical; skied the Blizzard Bonafides; packed powder and snowy bumps; good crowd, but only moderate lift lines at Super Bee; 2nd day in a row where my hands got cold immediately, but were fine after I went in and warmed up; feeling much better today.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 39 - Copper

out 9:00 to 12:00 with a get dry, coffee break at Solitude Station; 5" more overnight - overcast and cold with a little wind and snow up high, temps in the teens; 8 runs; 12,869 vertical; skied the K2 Mindbender 108 Ti's; powder and packed powder; big crowd, but the lift lines weren't actually too bad - plenty of lifts up high open now to draw people away from the 3 base areas; skied all sorts of steeps, bumps and trees - here's the list of today's black diamonds: Triple Treat, Formidable, CDL 20, Mine Dump, Slip Not, 17 Glade; felt a little better on the new skis today; still a little sick.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 38 - Copper

Out 9:00 to 10:45; 4" more overnight - cold, cloudy and windy today with temps in the teens; 5 runs; 8,004 vertical; skied my new K2 Mindbender 108 Ti's; powder and packed powder; big crowd; Alpine was open so I skied Triple Treat and worked up a hell of a sweat; couldn't get the feel for the new skis today, maybe having the totally wrong wax had something to do with it - they're really GS'y for such a light ski; left early after I got damp and started to feel a little sick - coughing and chest congestion; I-70 closed in both directions when I tried to leave, east-bound to Frisco opened after about 45 minutes.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 37 - Copper

Out 9:00 to 11:00 with Team Summit Masters; cloudy with intermittant snow and a variably stong winds, temps in the twenties; 7 runs; 8,759 vertical; skied the 2015 Volkl RaceTiger SL World Cups; groomers; big crowd - left as soon as we were done; worked on building pressure into the apex but only after the edge change, then absorbing the rebound through to the end of the turn while staying balanced directly over your feet; even with snow forecast for the next two days, and I can't believe I'm saying this, I'm skipping Friday and skiing on Sat instead - I don't think there will be near as many people out Christmas morning.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 36 - Copper

Out 9:00 to 11:30 with Team Summit Masters; clear and cold with little to no wind and temps rising into the mid-twenties; 6 runs; 12,211 vertical; skied the Atomic D2 3.0 Race GS's; groomers; big crowd, left as soon as we were done; worked on long leg, short leg.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 35 - Copper

Out 9:00 to a little after 11:00; clear and cold with no wind, temps rising toward 20°; 13 runs; 17,884 vertical; skied the Atomic D2 3.0 Race GS's; groomers with a little overhead snowmaking; large, quick arriving crowd - I left as soon as Super B was backed up into the maze; Andy's to Oh No to Rosi's was excellent down to Light's Out; Ptarmigan had the guns running with at least a few hours of last night's snowmaking groomed in perfectly - they even covered the dirt spot they dug up there yesterday with the groomer; Windsong was marvelous again; I still really like these skis.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 34 - Copper

Out 9:00 to 11:30 with no break; clear and cold with virtually no wind, single digits to start around twenty when I left, 13 run; 19,651 vertical; skied the Blizzard Bonafides; groomers mostly, a little snowmaking on the side of Vein Glory; tons of people; skied slowly all morning; skipped skiing on Friday to go get my COVID booster; speaking of the pandemic, with the Omicron variant spreading fast I've reinstituted last year's protocol of not using the lodges or gondolas.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 33 - Copper

Out 9:00 to 3:00 with lunch at JJ's; 2" overnight - partly cloudy, cold and windy with temps in the single digits to start, rising to the mid-twenties in the afternoon; 19 runs, 37,112 vertical; groomers with just enough snow to fill the ridges and then some - sweet, again; lots of people today - small lift line all day on Super B; Team Summit Masters Freeski - skiing fast with aggression - prep for Isadora who is racing a FIS GS at Vail on Monday; first shot at untracked on Andy's to Ore Deal again today - groomers don't get better than that.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 32 - Copper

Out 9:00 to 3:00 with lunch at JJ's; 4" overnight, snow and blowing snow today with temps in the teens and strong winds - several different wind holds today; 14 runs; 26,314 vertical; skied the Volkl Mantra M5's; powder and packed powder; given the snow, not very many people at all; first shot down Andy's to Ore Deal on 4" of untracked snow on top of last night's grooming - sweet; plenty of bumps this morning too - Collage and two untracked on Hallelujah; Team Summit Masters Freeski this afternoon - worked on maximum forward bend in the ankle at the top of the turn, think lightning bolt body position; I enjoyed skiing with Matt and Isadora.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 31 - Copper

Out 9:00 to 1:30 with lunch at JJ's; partly cloudy and warm with strong winds, 37° in the parking lot this AM, mid-forties by the time I left; 17 runs; 38,981 vertical; skied the Head i.SG RD's and the Atomic D2 3.0 Race GS's; fairly light crowd - no liftlines at all; you have to ski the fronts of the SG skis, just like everything else.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 30 - Copper

Out 9:00 to 3:00 with a coffee break in Solitude Station; clear and sunny with a little wind up high, 11° this morning, mid-thirties this afternoon; 26 runs, 52,383 vertical; skied the Atomic Redster G9 RS Revoshocks; groomers; plenty of people, but plenty of lifts and terrain open too so never any liftlines to speak of; probably the most vertical I've ever skied in 1 day.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 29 - Copper

Today marks 1,000 ski days in retirement. Out 9:00 to 12:00 with a warm up break in Solitude Station; 5" overnight - snowy, cold and windy today with temps in the low teens; 8 runs, 11,784 vertical; skied the Blizzard Bonafides; powder and packed powder; huge crowd; Team Summit Masters Freeski - worked on absorbing and extending by linking long turns in the moguls; with all the new snow and mogul runs this week I got very tired again today; dinged my skis pretty good.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 28 - Copper

First real powder day of the year. Out 9:00 to 1:00 with coffee in Solitude Station; 6" overnight; overcast with intermittent snow showers, but very little wind - temps in the twenties; 12 runs, 25,206 vertical; skied the Blizzard Bonafides; powder and packed powder; quite a few people out, but the only real liftlines were at Excelerator; 4th or 5th person down Mine Dump - fresh snow in bumps, nice; also did CDL #20 and Hallelujah, both all bumps; with the deep snow and some mogul runs today my legs got tired pretty quick; Speed Center teardown in progress; starting to feel a tiny bit of pain and stiffness in the right knee.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 27 - Copper

Out 9:00 to 1:30 with a coffee break in Solitude Station; clear and cold to start with a quickly increasing clouds - completely overcast when I left - temps in the teens to start and twenties when I left; 26 runs; 39,189 vertical; skied the Atomic Redster G9 RS Revoshocks' groomers; lots of people but no lines;

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 26 - Copper

Out 9:00 to 2:00 with a coffee break at Solitude Station; 4" new snow overnight - cloudy, cold and blustery with intermittent snow flurries and temps in the twenties; 14 runs; 32,102 vertical; skied the Blizzard Bonafides; a couple inches of fresh on last nights groomers; plenty of people, but never a line at Super Bee; SL on Oredeal for Petra today; Ptarmigan first run was silky smooth; I'm skiing pretty well; Ski Tracks is really starting to piss me off - I've had 4 or 5 days now where the GPS recording gets paused and I've missed huge portions of the day.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 25 - Copper

Out 9:00 to 1:45 with a coffee break in Solitude Station; overcast and colder and a growing breeze from the SW and snow in the forcast - temps rising toward freezing; 16 runs; 28,687 vertical; skied the Atomic D2 3.0 Race GS's; groomers; not many people - no lift lines anywhere today; more Petra today - I got video of this morning's GS, but my phone battery died this afternoon and I missed recording 2 runs off the top of the Speed Track - they took down the B-net on Copperopolis so we could actually see her all the way from the start, across the top flat, down the first pitch and off the big jump at the top; Storm King T-Bar today - had to dodge lots of rocks up there, very little snow; Toyota U.S. Grand Prix practice started today - tons of extremely fast snowboarders on Main Vein on their way to the half pipe today; Dew Tour next weekend so I'm still shutout at the Flyer lot.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 24 - Copper

Out 9:00 to 3:00 with a coffee break in Solitude Station; sunny, warm and still again - just like every other day this week; 14 runs; 29,737 vertical; skied a borrowed pair of 3 year old Atomic Redster S9 FIS's and the Atomic Redster G9 RS's; huge crowd, but just like yesterday nobody riding Super Bee; first day of Team Summit Masters - I wasn't afforded the luxury of being included on the mailing list so I brought GS skis, hence the need to borrow some SL's; I expect that today was the last of my opportunities to watch Petra Vhlova - I doubt she'll be here when I return next week; 5.



#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 23 - Copper

Out 9:00 to 1:45 with a coffee break in Solitude Station; sunny, warm and still - again; below freezing overnight, but it warmed up to lower fifties today; 19 runs; 39,226 vertical; skied the Blizzard Bonafides; groomers; lots of people but nobody was using Super Bee, I walked right on all day?; a Petra GS/SG doubleheader today; shutout at the Flyer Lot this morning - closed because of the Dew Tour; preping these skis last night I notice a couple of gouges from their day 1 at Breck; passed 500,000 today.





#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 22 - Copper

Out 9:00 to 1:30 with a coffee break in Solitude Station; sunny, warm and still - temps in the mid-twenties this morning, near fifty when I left; 18 runs, 36,264 vertical; skied the brand new Atomic G9 Revoshocks; groomers; lots of people, but no lift lines; the new skis worked well - stable and quiet; Women's SG NorAm's on the Speed Center Track with Vhlova training GS on West Encore again; scared myself with a high speed bobble on Main Vein; primo parking spot this morning.

#justgivemeagroomer    

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

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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

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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.

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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;

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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.

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Home This Season

Frisco, CO

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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;

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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.

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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)

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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.

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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.

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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.



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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)

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Day 52 - Kite Hill

Total fail - way too warm.

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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.

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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)

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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.

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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 -

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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)

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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)

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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)

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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.

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