Day 20 - Killington

Colder this morning - 22° and cloudy with a pretty good breeze in the parking lot at Snowdon. Pulled the Atomic D2 Race GS #2's from the quiver and hit the hill at 9:00 - skied till 1:00 with a coffee break in KBL making 27 runs. Very few people on the hill today. Conditions were smooth and fast. I need to ski the GS skis more often, when the hill is clear and I let them run they feel pretty good. Lots of high speed circuits on Sky-High-Bitter - 57.7, 56.7, 52.1, 53.3, 53.5, 53.9, 52.3, 51.6, 54.5, 54.4, 45.3, 47.6, 48.2, 44,4, and 52.5.

Snowmaking continues on Highline and Snowshed and started today on Superstar.

KSC Masters Training on Saturday, so I'm taking tomorrow off, doing skis, and going to the gym.

Day 19 - Killington

On the hill at 9:00; parked at Snowdon; first tracks in the 1" of new snow that fell on top of last night's courderoy on Bunny-Bunny-Bunny - NICE! Skied the K2 Apache Xplorer's; skied till 1:30 with a coffee break in KBL; made 24 runs. Caught up with Bud Horner, Mike Baldi, and Tom Watson at 12:30 and made a half dozen runs with them on Skylark and Sky-High-Bitter to end my day. Lower Skylark opened today - the snow making whales were fun, but nothing spectacular; all the snow making they've done on Lower East Fall, Highline, and Upper Bittersweet continue to sit there unused... Come on! Let me at it!

Mouse Trap

Day 18 - Killington

First chair at Snowdon this morning; another dusting of snow overnight; 25° and cloudy; skied the Atomic D2 Race GS#2's. Out for just 2 hours; made 14 runs; heading to the gym. Snow conditions remain good for this time of year; in fact Bud Horner and posse came back for seconds all the way from New Jersey.

Ended up making a couple runs with Manford Karlhuber this morning over on Skye Peak. I was charging Sky-High-Bitter at 50+ mph and he kept pulling up behind me in the lift line, so I kept riding the lift with him. He's a fine skier and all, but I think a little old to be cruising Skye-High-Bitter at 50+ on his GS cheaters.

Chris and me - taken yesterday on Ramshead

Day 17 - Killington

Skied with Radvanyi again today; on the hill at 9:00 and skied till 2:00 with a coffee break in KBL; made 24 runs; skied the K2 Apache Xplorer's. A little new snow again overnight; conditions continue to improve - nice surface texture without a lot of rocks coming through. Day 3 of snow making on East Fall, Upper Bittersweet, and Lower Skylark; they should open up soon!

Tucked up under the K Cloud on Skye Peak

Day 16 - Killington

On the hill at 8:00 with Chris Radvanyi; we skied till 2:00 with both a coffee and a lunch break; made 20+ runs. Much colder and windier today; forgot my fleece jacket - that won't happen again! Skied the Volkl RaceTiger SL Cheaters; A little snow overnight and tons of snowmaking had the hill pretty skiable. Fairly large crowd on the hill today, but no real liftline. Skied just about everything that was open today - only missed Cascade Headwall and the Learn To Snowboard Magic Carpet.

Today was Radvanyi's first day of the season after an ACL tear last February. He definitely rehabed effectively - he skied hard and fast all day.

Day 15 - Killington

A really good morning - nice weather and good snow. On the hill right at 8:00, skied for 2¼ hours making 13 runs. Skied the Volkl RaceTiger SL Cheaters. It started to get crowded by the time I left. The boots are feeling pretty good - a few more days and I should be there. Bunny-Bunny-Chute was very good - again. My skiing feels pretty good, but I can't wait to get in some gates to really test things out.

Today should mark the end of a string of gloriously sunny and warm days - 8 or 9 in a row I believe. Cold weather (and snowmaking) return for Sunday and beyond.

Day 14 - Killington

Out at 8:00 to beat the Thanksgiving day crowd; left at 1:00 after 22 runs and a coffee break in KBL. Skied the K2 Apache Xplorer's. The Snowdon and Ramshead Quads opened today, so I'm thankful for the chance to once again park close to the snow. The new boots are starting to get there - my right shin was a little tender at times today, but I guess that's to be expected given all the abuse it's taken over the years. Another in a string of spectacular days - 42° and sunny with very little wind. The snow surface was fantastic as the warm temps really started to soften things up. Got the opportunity to watch Chelsea Marshall railroad track Upper Bunny - the girl can ski.

Day 13 - Killington

Out early for a couple of hours before heading to the gym. Parked on the Access Road right below the Superstar Quad. Made 14 runs - all on Skye-High-Bitter. A little chunky on Lower Bittersweet, but overall the snow was pretty good. Skied the K2 Apache Xplorer's. Dialed thing back a little bit today - no particular reason, just felt like it. Boots are feeling pretty good. After a little more work (grinding) yesterday, I didn't have any 'hot' spots today. However, I still have to unbuckle on the chair.

Day 12 - Killington

Another nice day in the neighborhood! On the hill at 9:00 and skied till almost 1:00 with a coffee break in KBL. Made 20 runs. Started out skiing the Atomic D2 Race GS #2's and switched to the K2 Apache Xplorer's at coffee. A crowd at K-1 at 9:00, but there's enough open terrain that it thinned out almost immediately. Finally made it over to Skye-High-Bitter; conditions were good enough that I might start over there tomorrow. Some rocks starting to get kicked up here and there. Thought my new boots were starting to get broken-in when I made 3 runs without unbuckling. Turns out the top two buckle were unbuckled and I was just skiing like that!

Day 11 - Killington

This has been quite a strech of good weather - another bluebird day with temperatures in the low thirties and little to no wind. On the hill at 9:00; skied till 12:30; coffee in KBL. Skied the Volkl RaceTiger SL Cheaters. Conditions remain stellar - most trails 3F with the occasional soft pack thrown in. Boots are still in break-in mode; I'm unbuckling just about every lift ride. Skied all morning with Doug Tucker. My skiing is far from top-notch, but it's coming along. If I continue going to the gym and losing weight, my skiing should come around.

Learn to Snowboard Area

Day 10 - Killington

On the hill at 1:00 after a morning trip to the gym and some time in front of the work bench doing 3 pair of skis. Skied the Rossignol Avenger 76 Ti's. Still a bit crowded on the slopes when I got there, but no real lift lines to speak of. Skied quite a bit on Snowdon - Upper Bunny was easily trail of the day. I didn't find it till what was supposed to be my last run, so I made a couple of extra circuits via the Poma. Skied about 2 hours and made 11 runs. My boots were not quite as comfortable as on Friday - probably something to do with the scraped off conditions. Back at it for real tomorrow!

Day 9 - Killington

Another nice morning on the hill. Weather and snow conditions were a repeat of the past few days... Skied the Volkl RaceTiger SL World Cups and the new boots. This setup is the real deal, no more sliding my turns. To ski this type of setup effectively I need to get a lot stronger - especially my left side. Skied with Bud, Alex and Tom again.

Day 8 - Killington

Wow! What a great morning of skiing! Upper twenties with no wind and very high, very light clouds. Skied the Rossignol Avenger 76 Ti's. Perfect number of people on the hill given the amount of open terrain - other than the opening rush at K-1, I never had to wait more than 1 minute. Lower Rim Run was easily, I mean easily, the trail of the day. I'm still not sure if they groomed it to make it that smooth or if they blew the snow like that, but it was sweet! Made 19 runs, including 3 top to bottoms. Skied with Bud Horner and Alex Baldi. Bud might have some pretty good video of me skiing.

Day 7 - Killington

Other than a foot of blower pow, it just doesn't get any better than this! Temperatures in the upper twenties, bluebird skies, zero wind, good cover, firm snow, and GS skis. On the hill right at 9:00 and skied till noon - made 20 runs. Skied the Atomic D2 Race GS's - OK, I'm not so sure that I skied them, rather they went and I tried to keep up!

I know the accuracy of the Ski Tracks app is less than perfect, but today's speed graph is down right misleading. If you look at the graph it looks like the speed of most every run is in the twenties with a few surpassing thirty, but the individual run tracks show speeds of 41.6, 44.4, 39.7, 45.1, 43.0, 40.7, 39.5, 44.6, 44.4, 39.3, 43.2, 36.4, 39.4, 37.5, 44.0, 38.5, 34.8, 35.1, and 34.6.

Bought 2 pair of skis yesterday - Head Worldcup Rebels i.Speed's and Rossignol Experience 98 Open's.

Day 6 - Killington

Woke up to a hard rain at 1700', so I went to the gym. It was snowing by the time I finished, so off to the hill. At the top by 10:45, made 15 runs up in the Northridge area in 2½ hours. Skied the Rossignol 9S's - fun enough, but not the right choice given the 2" of new snow thoroughly skied into yesterday's chop. I was expecting much more snow loss than actually occurred so I brought something I wouldn't mind ruining. Skied most of the day with Mike Cahill. The runout to the bottom however did not fair quite so well and was closed. So I had to walk the stairs again. This time in ski boots; not as difficult as I was imagining.

Day 5 - Killington

Spectacular morning on the hill - 65° and sunny with marvelously soft snow. With the warm weather, I wore spring attire and skied the K2 Apache Xplorers. Was out about 2½ hours and made 14 runs per today's Ski Tracks. Feeling pretty good, but not sure how well I'm skiing. Rain forecast overnight, so I might skip tomorrow - maybe I'll just go the gym.

Day 4 - Killington

It was 60° and sunny in the parking lot at 1:00 when I arrived. There was a small line at the K-1 and a 5 or 6 minutes wait up at the Northridge triple. Skied the K2 Apache Xplorers. Big soft bumps on Downdraft Headwall and Mouse Trap and a few thin spots on Middle Great Northern and Lower Bunny Buster, but otherwise some nice soft pack - just starting to get sticky in a few of the flatest, sunniest spots. Tons of kids on snowboards out this afternoon. All the regulars, read that as middle aged skiers, must have high-tailed it off the hill before I got there. Skied about 2½ hours and made 9 or 10 runs, including 5 top to bottoms. Skied just about everything that was open. I think I only missed Reason and Lower Rim Run.

I spent yesterday shopping: picked up a new helment - a grey Giro with a good venting system; Smith IO googles; and some padded, grey leather, Helstra gloves. I also purchased a 9 mountain skier card, good for one day each at Smuggs, Cannon, Gore, Burke, Jay, Titus, Owl's Head, Mad River, and Suicide Six. Between that and my planned race schedule, I might end skiing around 20 different areas this season so stay tuned! I also broke down and took my new boots in for some customization. I should finally be skiing them sometime next week.

Upper Great Northern, Downdraft Headwall, Upper Downdraft, High Traverse, Upper Double Dipper, Upper East Fall, Rime, Middle Great Northern, Middle Chute, Mouse Trap, Lower Bunny Buster.

Day 3 - Killington

A beautiful morning on the hill - 32°, sunny, with very little wind and Rime was nicely groomed. Pretty big crowd right from the start so I only made 8 runs. Skied the Volkl Racetiger SL's again. Still working the kinks out, my right shin was tender this morning, but didn't give me too much trouble on the hill. Top to bottom did not open today, so I had to walk the stairs one last tiime (hopefully).

Day 2 - Killington

A pretty good day. 27° in the parking lot when I arrived, but much colder up top. The cloud layer hovered right around the peak all morning. That combined with the end of snowmaking on Upper Great Northern and Rime made visability much better today. Rime was groomed, so I skied the Volkl RaceTiger SL's - a good choice.
 
Snowmaking continues on Reason/Upper East Fall and Middle Great Northern and was expanded on Middle Chute, Mouse Trap, and Lower Bunny Buster. I predict top to bottom tomorrow despite the warm forcast for the weekend.

Day 1 - Killington

A good start to the season. 10 runs or so up in the Northridge area. Cloudy with temps in the low twenties with a mild breeze (10-15 mph) from the East. Skied on the K2 Apache Xplorers - a good choice for the ungroomed, variable conditions. A fair amount of people on the hill today.

Guns everywhere - I mean everywhere! They're really piling up the snow on Rime. There's 6-8 feet in the middle of the trail under the guns that should end up being 3-4 feet across the width of the slope when they finally groom it all out. Everything that was open (Upper Great Northern, Rime and Reason/Upper East Fall) has plenty of snow, and they're blowing snow on Upper Downdraft, Upper Double Dipper, and Middle Great Northern too. If the weather hold we should be top to bottom soon.