Day 81 - Winter Park

A very nice day. Out 9:00 till 2:00 with a ¾ hour lunch break; 8" of fresh, skies cleared around 11:00, temps held steady around 20° or so on the hill, very little wind; skied the Volkl Katanas; probably around 12 runs or so, no idea how much vertical.

I was lucky enough to share my second chair lift ride with Alice, a local women with an ever present smile, who was kind enough to show me tons of untracked trees. I was surprised at the strength of Alice's skiing, given she used purely alpine technique on teli gear. I know, all teli skiers revert to alpine at times, but she pressed it nicely. Just one last thought: I'm not used to following - is that good or bad?

Day 80 - Steamboat

Thank God is started to snow this afternoon... lots of old crud, groomed death cookies, and frozen granular - felt like home; out 8:30 to 2:00; about 35 runs - 20 using the short lift next to NASTAR; unknown vertical; skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheater 19's and the Blizzard Brahma's; 10.33 today at NASTAR - Platinium; even disregarding the snow conditions, I'm not all the impressed with the mountain - expansive, yes but not very much sustained steep; maybe some new snow will help my disposition; taking 13 days off was a huge mistake - I'm tired as hell, but maybe that's just the 17 NASTAR and 2 warm-up course runs talking.

Day 79 - Killington

Powder Day. Out 8:35 to 12:10 with coffee; 11 runs, 12,333 vertical; skied the Volkl Katanas; near blizzard conditions continued all day, 18"-20" so far; knee deep everywhere; first shot at a spectacular waist deep drift skiers left all the way down Mouse Trap; too much snow to ski low angle stuff - wallowed around a while getting out of Caper Woods.

Day 78 - Killington

Volkl SL History Day. Out 9:00 to 1:00 with a coffee break; teens, snow, and wind; started snowing at about 11:00 - 12"+ forecast for this afternoon and evening; 23 runs; 15,400 vertical; skied the P50's, P60's, RaceTigers, and World Cups; the P50's felt similar to the Head Cheater 17's; the P60's and the RaceTigers felt like slalom skis - turny; the World Cups felt great on the flat, but were too stiff for me to keep in front of on any pitch what so ever; the snow was fantastic - soft pack with new snow falling.

Day 77 - Killington

Wednesday Ski Bum Race. On the hill 9:00 to 1:15 with a coffee break; clear, cold, and still; 14 runs; 16,750 vertical; skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheater 19's; Ski Bum Race Result: 27.72 (21) +4.13 behind leader; groomed packed powder everywhere; Downdraft and Dip Dip were groomed and the Quad was running - nice.

Day 76 - Killington

Atomic GS History Day. On the hill 9:00 to 1:00 with a coffee break; 1" new snow, single digit temps, cloudy, a little windy, intermittent light snow; just enough new snow on top of the grooming to completely cover the ridges; skied the Atomic ARC 24's, Atomic 10.22's, Atomic GS-11's, Atomic GS-12's, and Atomic D2 Race GS #2's; 3 runs on each, oldest to newest (ARC 24's to D2's); 16 runs; 17,200 vertical; surprised that each pair felt better than the last; only the ARC 24's felt straight - maybe they just felt long; the snow was velvety soft.

Day 75 - Killington

Powder day - 6" of bone dry, blower pow this morning; out 9:00 to 1:00 with a coffee break; Temps around 10°, cloudy, light winds, heavy snow squall when I left; 12 runs; 13,600 vertical; started with the Blizzard Brahmas, but changed to the K2 Apache Xplorers almost immediately to venture into the nats; did tons of stuff for the first time this season - Patsy's, Low Rider, Lower Great Bear, Northstar, Conclusion, Escapade; Big Dipper Glade; they cleared way too many trees out of Low Rider; 3 falls today - I believe that doubles this year's total.

Day 74 - Killington

KSC Masters Training; out 8:30 to 11:00; 8 GS runs on Bunny; skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheater 19's; beautiful day, 15° Sunny - no wind; the snow is still soft and dry.

Day 73 - Killington

On the hill from 9:00 to 12:30 with a coffee break; cold and windy with a diminishing K-Cloud; 14 runs; 16,425 vertical; skied the Atomic GS-12's - still my favorite skis; packed powder everywhere; Double Rime Fall was soft and smooth.

Day 72 - Killington

Out 9:00 till noon; 6”+ since yesterday, 3” last night; clear and cold, no wind; skied the Volkl Katanas;  6 runs; 8,100 vertical; powder and packed powder everywhere; Vagabond was good; Patsy's was open, but I passed - it looked thin.

Day 71 - Killington

9:00 to 12:00 with a coffee break; 6" new snow - the snow slowed considerably when I left, but started again hard as I got home; skied the Volkl Katanas; 9 runs; 12,100 vertical; lots of people on the hill today.

Day 70 - Killington

Out 9:00 till 12:30 with a KBL coffee break; 17 runs; 19,500 vertical; skied the Blizzard Brahmas; sunny and 20° with a little bit of wind;

Day 69 - Killington

Out 9:00 to 1:00 with a quick coffee break in KBL; skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheater 19's; 21 runs; 27,250 vertical; OL groomed - 7; Supe Groomed - 7; Canyon - 7; conditions down the intersection of Lower Downdraft & Dip Dip were unbelievably difficult today - I only did each one once, then moved on; mid-twenties, overcast with little wind - light snow up high when I left.