Day 73 - Killington

Got to the hill at 8:30 and suprise, the Snodown Quad was running and people skiing??? Turns out they did an early start as an employee appreciation day; 10" of cement since Tuesday nignht, 5 last night; skied the Rossignol Experience 98's again today; 30° and cloudy; nice morning - in no particular order did Patsy's, Great Bear, Mouse-Mouse-Bunny, Mouse-Chute-Mouse, Mouse-Conclusion-Highline, Julio, Ovation, and Skyhawk-Skylark; saw CM out again today - nice GS turns down Lower Chute, low and forward and dynamic.

Day 72 - Mad River Glen

On the hill at 9:00 and skied until 1:30; 30° with low overcast; skied the Rossignol Experience 98's; Paradise was closed, but otherwise I skied everything else off the single; the snow was pretty thin - they need some more snow; got stuck in The Chutes again - if you're trying to get to Fall Line by cutting under the chair, make sure to keep going left!

Day 71 - Killington

On the hill early at 7:50 - Snowdon Quad loading early to accomodate the VARA U16 Girls SL; skied till 11:45; 2" new snow overnight; 28°, overcast with on and off light snow; skied the Rossignol Experience 98's; first tracks all the way down Chute and again on Mouse Trap-Lower Bunny; the Canyon was pretty good - even did Big Dipper Glade over the cliff band; appropriately enough finished with 3 runs down Conclusion; these skis are really good in the crud.

Day 70 - Killington

On the hill from 8:00 till 10:15 - 12 runs; skied the Atomic D2 Race GS #1's; 25°' with low clouds - top half of the Canyon was white-on-white in the cloud layer; decent crowd starting to build when I left; nice morning, despite not being able to see real well.

Day 69 - Killington

Groomer Paradise this morning! On the hill from 8:00 till 11:30 with a very quick KBL Coffee Break; Skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheaters before coffee and the K2 Apache Xplorer's after; Perfectly sunny, 20° and no wind at 8:00, 28° and light overcast when I left; The Canyon was stellar - all four groomed to perfection with nobody else on the hill till after coffee; 11 runs by 10:00 this morning; I finally did the Canyon in "14 chairs"!; Take a look at today's Ski Tracks Summary - I did the 70+ mph without even tucking!

Day 68 - Killington

Cold and windy today - 5° at Snowdon at 8:00 and only 9° at 11:30 when I left; selected the totally wrong skis today - I used the Atomic D2 Race GS #2's, when almost anything else would have been a better choice; the wind made conditions a little inconsistent - one turn was on wind blown hard pack the next in a pile of fresh, the next on what ever... ...; my left knee feels pretty good and my hip is only a little 'gimpy'.

Day 67 - Killington

On the hill from 8:00 until 12:15 with a quick coffee break in KBL; Epic morning - 5" of fluff overnight with very little wind so there was a good consistent layer of pow to enjoy; Started at Superstar and moved on to the Canyon before coffee, then on to Snowdon and Ramshead before calling it a day; K-1 had mechanical problems and didn't start running until around 10:30, so from 9:00 to 10:00 I was basically all by myself in the Canyon riding the Quad; Skied the Volkl Katana's; Tons of freshies this morning - 1st and 3rd shots at Lower Skylark, 5th or 6th shot at Lower East Fall, 1st shot at Upper Double Dipper, 1st and 3rd shots at Escapade, and 1st shot at The Light; Skied lots of stuff for the first time this year including, The Cathedral, Patsy's, Low Rider, The Throne, and The Light; After coffee the wind started to pick up and it started to snow again.

Day 66 - Belleayre

On the hill from 8:30 till 11:00; skied the Volkl RaceTiger SL WorldCup's; ASRA SL - DNF; hooked the 4th gate first run and high-sided over on to my right hip very hard - my hip is still pretty swollen as I write this on Monday - thank god it wasn't the other way around and I didn't land on my hip replacement.

Day 65 - Killington

On the hill from 8:00 to 12:00; skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheaters; overcast and 25° with intermittent light snow; great conditions today - soft groomers galore; per the recent routine, I spent a good portion of my day in the Canyon; reality check this morning - I was cruising out the bottom of the funnel on Dip Dip and Kevin Ture blows by at like 50; good holiday weekend crowd, but I stuck it out till 12:00; finally had a chance to catch up with Susan and Jay this morning!

Day 64 - Cannon

On the hill from 9:00 to 1:30 with just a very quick coffee break; skied the Volkl RaceTiger SL World Cup's; beautiful day - 25° with in and out sun and very little wind; the hill was in excellent shape - lots of perfectly groomed trails; skied all of the top of the mountain and most of the ravine, but only skied the front side down to the tram once; easily the best day I've ever skied at Cannon; they did a nice job remodeling their lodge since the last time I was here - they got rid of the bar that was right in the middle of the cafeteria area.

Day 63 - Burke Mountain

On the hill from 9:00 till 1:30 with a quick lunch break at 11:30; skied the Rossignol Avenger 76 Ti's; the new high speed lift is a nice addition - round trips every 10 minutes; other than the race hill conditions were a little sketchy; poached 5 BMA kiddie slalom runs - 35 gates long on the bottom third of the race hill.

Day 62 - Killington

On the hill from 9:00 till 1:00; Skied the Atomic D2 Race GS #1's; Ski Bum Race today - DNF; With the Canyon chair running, Double Dipper was good enough for a few laps; Doctor appointment this past Monday to read the MRI on my left knee - torn meniscus requiring arthroscopic surgery. I'm hoping with enough medication I can wait till after the season.

Day 61 - Greek Peak

On the hill from 8:00 till 12:15 with a quick coffee break in the A-frame; skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheaters; beautiful morning - full sun with temps starting out at 15° and rising to about 25°; today's snow was a little inconsistent, yesterday's snowfall was groomed into the existing hardpack leaving a mish mash of hard and soft spots; NASTAR Platinum today!

Day 60 - SNÖ Mountain

Beer League; Skied the Atomic D2 Race GS #1's; Finally beat all the women! Finished 2nd in class M50-59, 8th men's overall, and 8th overall including the women..

RANK	BIB	NAME	BEST RESULT	HANDICAP
8	286	BURNS, MARTIN	30.86	15.97

Day 59 - Killington

On the hill at 9:00 and skied till 1:30 with a KBL coffee break; Skied the Atomic D2 Race GS #1's; Overcast and 18° with on and off light snow; No Ski Bum Race today; Dip Dip was really good - I did like 10; Played 'race the chair' - I'd get off and 15 chairs later get back on, I couldn't get to 14; My knee feels much better today.

Day 58 - Killington

Parked at Snowdon; On the hill at 9:00 and skied till 1:30; Started out on the Atomic D2 Race GS #1's and switched to the Rossignol Experience 98's after coffee; Gorgeous day - perfectly clear, cold, and no wind (6° at 9:00, 15°' at 1:30); Started off with a Bunny-Chute-Chute and a Bunny-Chute-Bunny over to K1, then did Rime and Lower East Fall a couple of times before heading over for a few laps on Superstar; Everything before coffee was deserted, 3f perfection; After coffee I switched skis and headed for the snowmaking on Lower Skylark and Wildfire - very nice; There are some stupid big piles of snow around - maybe some pictures tomorrow; The left knee wasn't too bad today - a little Celebrex this afternoon and I should be good for tomorrow's Ski Bum Race.

Day 57 - Suicide Six

Skied from 9:00 to 1:00 on the Head i.Speed GS Cheaters; Nice day - partly cloudy and warmer with temps around 20°, just a little windy; Not much snowmaking at S6, so it was more like Suicide Four; I did like maybe 30 runs - 6 or 7 minute round trips; Very few people on the hill till the high school kids started showing up at 12:00; As I drove home I stopped at the Skyship base and made a run at K.

Day 56 - Killington

On the hill from 8:00 to 12:00; 15 runs; 2° at Snowdon this morning; 15° when I left; Skied the Rossignol Experience 98's and the Volkl Racetiger SL Cheaters; Despite all the rest my left knee is still a problem; Skied the Canyon today; Cascade under the guns was nice - I did 4.