Day 25 - Sugarbush

Skis:	Rossignol Avenger 76 Ti
Weather:	32-40°, Overcast with a brief sprinkle, then significant clearing
Runs:	20+
Trails:	Spring Fling, Ripcord, Organgrinder, et. al.
Comments:	On the hill at 8:00, skied till 3:30; Skied with Jon and Maria; Most of the main slopes at Sugarbush had decent cover, but in general they need some snow - bad! I was hugely impressed with the lodge improvements they've made since I was here last - K could take a lesson from what they've done here. Holiday crownds showed up after coffee prompting Jon to modify the 10 by 10 refrain to, "10 by 10 and 12 by 12."; Turns out Maria is a 25 year old gym rat with skiing skills and some serious endurance. After a day of non-stop blacks - I'm spent. TOD: Ripcord

Day 24 - Killington

Skis:	Atomic Race GS 12
Weather:	24°, Overcast with seemingly high humidity
Runs:	17
Trails:	Header, Caper, Upper Bunny Buster, Killink, Lower East Fall, Spillway, Superstar, Upper Bittersweet, Lower High Road, Cruise Control, Lower Bittersweet, High Traverse, Cascade
Comments:	On the hill at 8:00, skied alone and left at 11:30; Another outstanding day; Had 10 o'clock coffee with Susan and Jay; TOD: Superstar, it may have been as smooth and sweet as I've ever seen it.

Day 23 - Killington

Skis:	Rossignol Avenger 76 Ti
Weather:	13-18°, Sunny and Moderately Windy
Runs:	14
Trails:	Lower Great Northern, Swirl, Header, Caper, Lower Chute, Killink, Lower East Fall, Reason, Upper East Fall, Lower Rime, High Traverse, Cascade, Spillway
Comments:	On the hill at 8:00, skied alone and left at 11:30; Conditions after yesterday's snow were, as you'd expect, excellent; The crowd was very manageable today, I don't think I waited in a single lift line; TOD: Skier's left on Reason, groomed soft pack with 2" of fairly consistent new wind blown snow

Day 22 - Killington

Skis:	K2 Apache Xplorer
Weather:	14° Snow, 12-14" of new snow overnight
Runs:	5
Trails:	Upper Chute, Great Bear, Lower Caper, Frolic, Vagabond, Lower Chute, Bunny Buster, Mouse Trap, MTS, Upper Conclusion, Interceptor, Highline
Comments:	Tom and I caught first chair for a foot of new snow! For some unknown reason, access to Low Rider, Northstar, Patsy's, and Vagabond was roped for the first run, so we "settled" for first tracks on Great Bear. I ducked the rope and poached the bottom nailing a rock in the process - literally embedding pieces of granite in my ski, but I think it was well worth it. When we got back to the top for our second run ski patrol was dropping the rope at the top of Northstar. Since quite a few people had already poached Northstar, we took Frolic over to Vagabond for another run of first tracks. How many times do you get two first track runs on a really nice powder day? We left at the first hint of a lift line, besides Tom has skied my butt off theses past few days and I got tired real quick. I took my second and third falls of the season today. One on the top of Mouse Trap when I skied face first into a 4 foot drift - I had sweated up my googles by that time and couldn't see a god damn thing. The second on Interceptor when I turned across the hill directly into the side of a huge rock that was buried in the snow and just fell over. Oddity of the Day? When we arrived they were plowing Bay 3 at KBL with a snow cat. TOD: ... ... ... everything

Those skis are 186cm's, they're supposed to stand 2" above my head!

Day 21 - Killington

Skis:	Rossignol Avenger 76 Ti
Weather:	9-15°, Overcast with High Humidity, Snow in the forcast
Runs:	16
Trails:	Header, Caper, Lower Chute, Upper Bunny Buster, Mouse Trap, Killink, Lower East Fall, Spillway, High Traverse, Cascade, Rime, Cascade Runout, Superstar, Bittersweet
Comments:	On the hill at 8:00, first chair, skied with Tom again and we left at 11:30; Another nice day on the mountain, the snow conditions remain relatively soft and cutable; Very few people on the hill until after coffee break; TOD: Bittersweet, especially skier's right on Lower Bittersweet, nice smooth soft pack groomed into a 3/8 ths pipe that really allowed you to arc some serious turns effortlessly.

Tom on top of the snow ramp in the Vale

Day 20 - Killington

Skis:	Rossignol Avenger 76 Ti
Weather:	6-18°, Mostly Sunny
Runs:	24
Trails:	Lower Great Northern, Header, Caper, Lower Chute, Upper Bunny Buster, Mouse Trap, Lower Bunny Buster, Superstar, Bittersweet, High Road, Needles Eye, Cruise Control, Mouse Run, Highline, Killink, Lower East Fall, Spillway, High Traverse, Cascade, Reason, Upper East Fall; Bear Trax, Launch Pad, Skylark, Gateway, Skywalker, Bear Claw, Skyburst
Comments:	Merry Christmas! On the hill at 8:00, skied with Tom, we left at 1:15; An outstanding day; I bought new skis for Christmas - Rossignol Avenger 76 Ti's - medium stiff, mid-fats with a 14.2m radius; I like them, they turn and carve nicely, they just prefer turning to going straight or exceptionally fast; 14 runs by coffee at 10:00 - impressive; Nobody on the hill until after coffee, then just mildly crowded; Everything skied exceptionally well today, the only thing I didn't like was Skylark - a little crowded by the time we got to it and it was a little skitchy; TOD: Superstar - slot groomed to perfection.

Day 19 - Killington

Skis:	Atomic Race GS 12
Weather:	15-22°, Sunny
Runs:	16
Trails:	Upper Bunny Buster, Mouse Trap, Lower Chute, Upper Chute, Middle Chute, Lower Bbunny Buster, Upper Great Northern, Cascade, Cascade Runout, Superstar, Bittersweet, Uppler Skylark, Lower High Road, Panic Button, Needles Eye, Cruise Control, Snowshed, Caper, Mouse Run, Highline, Gateway, Skywalker, Bear Trax, Bear Claw, Wildfire, Skyburst,
Comments:	On the hill at 8:00, first chair, skied alone till 12:00; Overall things on the hill are in pretty good shape; They're starting to groom sofe of the expert terrain - sort of. I guess they'll work at smoothing out their grooming over time; The Viper Pit was aptly named today - no grooming, with a henious ice whale at the top surrounded by big slip and slam bumps, although things did soften up futher down; Was all over the mountain today - 9 different lifts: 2 gondolas; 4 high-speed quads, and only 3 fixed grip quads; Canyon Quad closed today, :( TOD: Bear Claw under the guns

Day 18 - Killington

Skis:	Atomic Race GS 12
Weather:	10-20°, Sunny
Runs:	14
Trails:	Lower Great Northern, Header, Caper, Upper Chute, Mouse Trap, Lower Chute, Killink, Lower East Fall, Reason, Upper East Fall, Rime, Rime, Upper Double Dipper, Spillway, Cascade Runout, Upper and Middle Superstar, Upper High Road, Lower Skylark, Bittersweet, Upper Skylark, Mouse Run, Lower Bunny Buster
Comments:	On the hill at 8:00, skied with Tom and left at 11:30; The hill was busy, but not overly crowded; Skied my GS skis really fast today! Although the mountain is in good shape, some new snow would help things alot; Didn't get to Needles Eye again today, the quad is still down and I didn't want to ride the Skyship; TOD: East Fall - it was an ice skating rink, but I enjoyed it none the less.

Day 17 - Killington

Skis:	Atomic Race GS 12 and K2 Apache Xplorer
Weather:	15°, Light Snow
Runs:	15
Trails:	Lower Great Northern, Header, Caper, Upper Chute, Mouse Trap, Lower Bunny Buster, Superstar, Lower Chute, Upper Bunny Buster
Comments:	On the hill at 9:00, skied by myself and left at 12:15; Many many more people on the hill today; They had a failed launch at Needles Eye today - apparently some type of lift problem; I need to ski my GS skis more - I can slide them just as easily as all the others, but they'll rip if I ask them to; As I was driving home today I noticed that Pico opened today; TOD: Lower Superstar under the guns

First tracks on Header

Day 16 - Killington

Skis:	Volkl Racetiger SL
Weather:	9°, Light Snow, 1" New Snow
Runs:	18
Trails:	Chute, Bunny Buster, Mouse Trap, Superstar, Upper High Road, Skylark, Bittersweet, Learn To Ski, Lower Yodeler, Snowshed, Header, Caper, Upper Great Northern, Rime, Reason, East Fall, Spillway, Cascade Runout, Mouse Run, Highline
Comments:	On the hill at 9:00, skied alone and left at 12:30; Another excellent day; A little natural snow, a little snowmaking, and a little grooming every day have made conditions around the mountain really nice; I skied fast and hard today - about 80% effort; Tomorrow should be a great GS ski day - we'll see; There were some really good snowboarders in the Mouse Run park today, two guys doing twisting back flips off consecutive hits - impressive! If it was open today I skied it - I believe I only missed, Highlander, FIS, Middle Great Northern, Rigde Run, and Lower Great Northern, nothing of significance; TOD: Everything

First tracks on Upper Chute

Day 15 - Killington

Skis:	Volkl Racetiger SL
Weather:	2°, Overcast
Runs:	14
Trail list:	Upper Bunny Buster, Mouse Trap, Lower Bunny Buster, Upper Great Northern, Rime, Reason, Upper Double Dipper, Lower Ridge Run, Lower East Fall, Spillway, Cascade Runout, Learn to Ski, Lower Yodeler, Snowshed, Header, Timberline, Caper, Lower Great Northern
Comments:	On the hill at 9:00, skied till 12:00; Skied alone; Another nice day; Everything groomed was relatively soft and cutable; First Ski Bum Race today; No TOD today, everything was pretty similar.

Day 14 - Killington

Skis:	K2 Apache Xplorer
Weather:	9°, Light Snow then Clearing, 6" New Snow
Runs:	13
Trails:	Upper Bunny Buster, Middle and Lower Chute, Mouse Run, Mouse Trap, Lower Bunny Buster, Upper Great Northern, Lower East Fall, Reason, Lower Rime, Upper Double Dipper, Middle Great Northern, Highline, Learn To Ski, Lower Yodeler, Snowshed, Highlander, Upper and Middle Superstar, Lower Skylark, Upper Chute, Lower Great Northern, Header, Caper
Comments:	On the hill at 9:00, skied till 12:00; Skied alone; All the new snow helped the mountain alot, things look real good; Another really nice day; First run on Upper Bunny Buster revealed a really wierd snow condition. Overnight the wind was blowing directly down the slope, this produced a continuous series of snow waves. Each wave was a ridge of new snow blown into a long ridge all the way across the hill. Each wave was then followed by 25-30 feet of wind blown corduroy frozen solid. Interesting, but not what I was expecting on a pow day. TOD: Snowshed, deep snow on skier's right. That down-slope wind on Bunny was blowing direct across Snowshed depositing all the snow on the leaward side of the snow making ridge down the middle

Day 13 - Killington

Skis:	Rossignol 9S
Weather:	34°, Rain and Snow Mix
Runs:	18
Trails:	Upper Bunny Buster, Mouse Trap, Lower Bunny Buster, Upper Great Northern, Upper East Fall, Rime, Reason, Lower East Fall, Spillway, Cascade Runout, Upper Double Dipper
Comments:	Happy Birthday Sue! On the hill at 8:00, skied till 12:15; Skied alone - literally alone, very very few other people on the hill today; Another unexpectedly nice day; Lots of rain overnight, but things held up nicely; Anything groomed overnight was outstanding, everything else was just real good; First run on Upper Bunny Buster was so nice, I did it three times via the poma; Snowmaking pipe under going maintenance at the top of Upper East Fall and down in the Canyon; I've forgotten how versitile my Rossi 9S's are - I had a ton of fun on them today; TOD: Upper Double Dipper

Day 12 - Killington

Skis:	K2 Apache Xplorer
Weather:	30°, 3" Snow, then Mixed Precipiation
Runs:	15
Trails:	Lower Great Northern, Header, Caper, Upper Chute, Mouse Trap, Lower Chute, Lower Bunny Buster, Upper and Middle Superstar, Upper High Road, Lower Skylark, Upper Skylark, Lower Bittersweet, Upper Bittersweet, Learn To Ski POD, Lower Yodeler, Highlander, Mouse Run, Upper Bunny Buster, Middle Great Northern
Comments:	On the hill at 8:00, skied till 12:00; Skied with Tom, we made the first few with Susan and Jay; Unexpectedly spectacular today, new snow on groomed packed powder when the weather report called for rain; We're still expecting tons of rain this afternoon and evening, but today was truly a gift; Taking the day off yesterday helped a lot, I felt much stronger today; TOD: Lower Yodeler, yes Yodeler

Tom's First Rule of Snowmaking, "Dress for rain."

Day 11 - Killington

Skis:	Atomic Race GS 12
Weather:	2-9°, Cloudy
Runs:	15
Trails:	Upper Chute, Mouse Trap, Lower Bunny Buster, Superstar, Upper High Road, Lower Bittersweet, Skylark, Killink, Rime, Reason, East Fall, Spillway, Cascade Runout, Lower Great Northern, Easy Street, Caper
Comments:	On the hill at 9:00, skied till 12:00; The mountain is in really nice shape, everything that was groomed today was devine, maybe it was just the skis; Today's run count reflects a lot of high-speed lift rides; TOD: Skylark

Day 10 - Killington

Skis:	Atomic Race GS 12 and K2 Apache Xplorer
Weather:	9°, Mostly Sunny
Runs:	12
Trails:	Upper Chute, Middle Chute, Lower Bunny Buster, Upper Superstar, Middle Superstar, Upper High Road, Lower Skylark, Lower Bittersweet, Killink, Middle Great Northern, Mouse Trap
Comments:	On the hill at 9:00, skied till 11:45, quick 10 minute break at 10:15 to dry out and change skis; Another great day; My first run on Superstar was incredible - tons of silky smooth man-made snow - I love skiing along with the slough your turns kick off on the steeps; The whales on Middle Superstar are really impressive!; TOD: Upper and Middle Superstar, first thing under the guns of course

Day 9 - Killington

Skis:	Volkl Racetiger SL
Weather:	9-15°, Clear - Except for the K Cloud, 4-6" New Snow
Runs:	12
Trails:	Upper Chute, Mouse Trap, Lower Chute, Middle Great Northern, Lower Bunny Buster, Upper Skylark, Lower Skylark, Lower Bittersweet, Lower Great Northern, Caper
Comments:	On the hill at 9:00 - first chair - left at 12:00; Pow!; A little colder today; I seem to select skis based on yesterday's conditions - yesterday's conditions were wind blown corduroy so I brought my Volkl's, they were OK, but the K2's would have been soooo much better today; Excellent Day; TOD: Mouse Trap first thing - 6-10" of Light Powder

First tracks on Mouse Trap - skier's left

Day 8 - Killington

Skis:	K2 Apache Xplorer
Weather:	15°, Overcast, Windy, Intermitent Snow, 3-4" New Snow
Runs:	11
Trails:	Upper Bunny Buster, Mouse Trap, Lower Chute, Mouse Run, Highline, Upper Great Northern, FIS, Lower Rime, Lower East Fall, Spillway, Cascade Runout, Upper Chute, Middle Chute, Middle Great Northern, Lower Bunny Buster, Lower Great Northern
Comments:	On the hill at 9:00 - first chair - skied till 12:00; 3" or so of new snow last night, but unlike yesterday it all blew into the trees; It was so windy that they didn't run the Northridge Triple or the Superstar Quad, although I did see the Quad turning on my way out of the parking lot, but no one was loading; With all the wind they did some really stupid snowmaking on Mouse Run, they pointed the guns parallel with the ground making 10-12 long narrow two foot high ridges of ice rather than snow...; TOD: Left side of Mouse Trap first run, 3 or 4 inches of blown in snow.

Day 7 - Killington

Skis:	K2 Apache Xplorer
Weather:	15°, 2-4" New Snow
Runs:	10
Trails:	Upper Bunny Buster, Mouse Trap, Lower Chute, Upper Chute, Middle Chute, Mouse Run, Lower Bunny Buster, Upper Great Northern, Lower Rime, Upper Rime, Lower East Fall
Comments:	On the hill at 9:00 - first chair - skied till 12:00; Super light new snow - continued all day; Despite all my worry about my hip, yesterday's fall twisted my left ankle and today it's awful sore; I took a long, early break today because of my ankle; Except for all the program groups skiing up in the Glades on a few closed trails, very few people here today; TOD: First Run on Lower Chute - 2-3" of super light powder on top of groomed corduroy

Day 6 - Killington

Skis:	K2 Apache Xplorer
Weather:	22°, Overcast with Flurries
Runs:	12
Trails:	Upper Bunny Buster, Mouse Trap, Lower Bunny Buster, Upper Great Northern, Upper East Fall, Lower East Fall, Rime, Upper Double Dipper Middle Great Northern, Highline, Mouse Run, Upper Skylark, Middle High Road, Lower Bittersweet, Lower Skylark, Chute, Lower Great Northern
Comments:	On the hill at 8:00 - skied till 12:00; Skied with Tom; Slow start - Tom had binding and google problems; Skied lots of snowmaking on Highline and Lower Skylark; I took my first fall of the season, crossed my left ski under my right in the soft stuff on Highline; TOD: Lower Skylark under the guns

Day 5 - Killington

Skis:	K2 Apache Xplorer
Weather:	25°, Overcast
Runs:	13
Trails:	Upper Bunny Buster, Mouse Trap, Lower Chute, Lower Bunny Buster, Upper Great Northern, Upper East Fall, Lower East Fall, Upper Double Dipper, Lower Rime, Upper Rime, Spillway, Upper Chute Middle Chute, Middle Great Northern, Lower Northern
Comments:	On the hill at 8:00, skied till 12:00; Some good snow despite all the rain this week; Suprisingly crowded; Met Susan and Jay at coffee and made a few runs with them before they bailed; I skied at a significantly reduced effort level today - last week's skiing make my hip hurt this week in a way I'm not sure is too good - I tooled around at about 33% today - I plan on continuing this for at least a month or so, then we'll see where I'm at; TOD: Mouse Trap under the guns first thing

Day 4 - Killington

Skis:	Volkl Racetiger SL
Weather:	26°, Sunny
Runs:	13
Trails:	Upper Bunny Buster, Mouse Trap, Lower Chute, Lower Bunny Buster, Upper Chute, Middle Chute, Mouse Run, Middle Great Northern, Lower Great Northern, Capter, Killink, Upper Double Dipper, Upper East Fall, Lower East Fall, Lower Rime, Upper Rime
Comments:	On the hill at 8:00; skied with Tom today; Lots of good snow making; Good visibility; Good day; TOD: Mouse Trap under the guns

Day 3 - Killington

Skis:	Volkl Racetiger SL
Weather:	28°, Cloudy with Flurries
Runs:	13
Trails:	Upper Chute, Middle Chute, Lower Chute, Upper Bunny Buster, Mouse Trap, Lower Bunny Buster, Mouse Run, Middle Great Northern, Lower Bunny Buster, Caper, Upper Great Northern, Upper East Fall, Rime, Lower East Fall, Upper Double Dipper
Comments:	On the hill at 8:00; skied by myself till 10:00, then coffee and a few runs with Susan, Jay, and Jenn; Joel bailed with a cold after coffee and Jamie bailed with new boot problems; a little more open today; TOD: Rime

Day 2 - Killington

Skis:	Volkl Racetiger SL
Weather:	30°, Cloudy and Windy
Runs:	13
Trails:	Upper Bunny Buster, Mouse Tray, Lower Chute, Upper Chute, Middle Chute, Lower Bunny Buster, Upper Great Northern, Upper East Fall, Rime, Upper Double Dipper, Middle Great Northern
Comments:	Hard freezing rain overnight; 1/2" of solid ice on the Northridge chair; Skied by myself today; everthing was rock hard and scraped to shit; maxed out at 66% effort today; TOD: Nothing worthy of TOD today

Day 1 - Killington

Skis:	Volkl Racetiger SL
Weather:	25°, Overcast
Runs:	17
Trails:	Upper Great Northern, Upper East Fall, Rime, Upper Double Dipper, Middle Great Northern, Mouse Trap, Lower Bunny Buster, Mouse Run, Upper Bunny Buster
Comments:	Thanksgiving day; skied with Tom; arrived at 7:45 but lifts didn't open till 9:00; firm and variable; tons of loose rocks; not a stitch of snow other than the man made on the slopes; lots of familiar faces – Kevin and Judy, Jay and Susan, White River Bruce…; The new hip feels pretty good - left leg is tired, but no pain; maxed out at 85% effort; TOD: Mouse Trap

The First Ski Season For the Rest of My Life

With my retirement pending, our CEO has extended me an extremely generous offer to finish my career on a flexible, work at home basis that should allow me to ski just about every day this season. So, with my new hip in tow, I bought a Killington pass and rented a place. Let's go skiing!

Tom

Mt. Sunapee, NH - March 2009

The Lineup