Day 105 - Killington

Another unbelievably beautiful day - 55° and brilliant sunshine! Skied all day - OK, just from 9:00 until 3:45; skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheaters and the K2 Apache Xplorer's; 32 runs; 38,500 vert; skied an hour or so with Doug, Nadine, and Rick Svenser; Skylark early was fantastic, after coffee it was Cascade, then Dip Dip; this was like day 5 in a row of flat corn in the Canyon - unbelievable!

Day 104 - Killington

What an unexpectedly beautiful day! Forcast called for warm and rainy, but this morning's overcast gave way to brilliant sunshine and some great skiing. On the hill from 8:00 until 2:00 with just a quick coffee break in KBL; 31 runs; 36,600 vert; skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheaters; fantastic snow up in the Canyon once things softened - soft without being wet at all; skied as long as I could - I'm tired.

Day 98 - Killington

Another spectacular day; on the hill from 8:00 until 12:30 with a quick coffee break in KBL; mid-thirties with a building light haze starting to dim this morning's bright sunshine; 23 runs; they did a really nice job grooming DD for my birthday - I did 10 in a row before coffee; skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheaters; after coffee I went to change skis to one of my mid-fats only to find I only had my race skis in the car - I guess I need to do skis this afternoon; easily one of the best ski days on my birthday ever!

Day 97 - Killington

Another beautiful ski day; 35° and sunny; 23 runs; on the hill from 8:00 until 1:00 with quick KBL coffee break; skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheaters and the K2 Apache Xplorers; another new high speed recorded today - I wanted to make sure I carried from Lower Bunny across KBL to Superstar, not a problem at 75+ mph; nice freeze overnight, so conditions started out firm - perfect conditions for the GS Cheaters; after coffee I switched to the Xplorers hoping that things would soften up; anything with an eastern exposure or lower elevation did soften (East Fall, Highline, Snowdon), but Cascade, Downdraft, and DD stayed much firmer than yesterday.

Day 94 - Killington

Scratch yesterday's skiing well quote; got disgusted and left after DSQ'ing both runs in today's Ski Bum Finals; one bright note - fastest speed of the year recorded in today's Ski Tracks.

Day 89 - Schweitzer

A beautiful day in the Great Northwest; on the from 8:50 until 2:15 with a quick lunch break at 12:00; 30° and sunny, with a couple new inches since yesterday's close; started on a few groomers using the Head i.Speed GS Cheaters, then changed to Rossignol Experience 98's; did tons more trees and steeps to complete most of the trail map; after 7 straight 'big mountain' days, I'm spent; I'd like to come back here again.

Day 88 - Schweitzer

On the hill all day, 8:50 until 4:00; 30 runs; 43,750+ vert; mid-twenties with intermittent heavy snow - 3"-4" new during the day; skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheaters for two hours first thing, then switched to the Rossignol Experience 98's; just a spectacular day - lots of baby soft
groomers and tons of deep, soft trees; while making laps on The Great Escape Express this morning, I skied up to the lift and who do I see? Amy and Mark from Killington; they shut the lift down 10 minutes early when there was thunder embedded in a particularly heavy snow squall;

Near white out at 4:00PM

Day 86 - Whitefish

On the hill from 9:00 until just 11:45 - leaving for Schweitzer; 1" new snow overnight; 32° and overcast with heavy fog/cloud layer right to the bottom of the hill; skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheaters; Some of the stuff they tried to groom last night chunked up immediately when somebody skied it - a few other groomers seemed to freeze up underneath and stayed much nicer, at least by east coast standards.

Technically, you could still see the chair in front of you.

Day 85 - Whitefish

On the hill from 9:00 until 3:00; mid-thirties and mostly sunny; skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheaters in the morning on the groomers and changed to the Rossignol Experience 98's after lunch; 27 runs - 38,700 vertical feet today; really good day;

Day 84 - Whitefish

On the hill at 9:00 and skied until 3:00; 32° with a very high, bright overcast at 9:00; same cloud conditions with a 45° temp at 3:00; skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheaters on the groomers until lunch, then switched to the Rossignol Experience 98's; with the high cloud layer today, I could really see the top of the mountain - impressive; other than some of the larger cliff areas everything here is skiable; skied lots of steep tree stuff on the front and east rims today - a little heavy, but hey that's what I'm here for!

Day 78 - Smuggler's Notch

On the hill at 8:45 and only skied untill 11:00; skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheaters and the K2 Apache Xplorers; 2" new snow; 25° and overcast with the cloud layer at about mid-mountain; they still need additional lift capacity BAD; unless Smugg's ends up on another ski card I purchase or something like that, I probably won't go back.

Day 75 - Killington

On the hill from 8:00 till just 10:00 - big crowd gathering quickly; skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheaters; 25° with intermittant light snow; groomer's paradise this morning; the Canyon was excellent once again.

Day 74 - Killington

On the hill from 09:00 to 11:15; skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheaters; 28° and overcast; gorgeous snow conditions this morning - ¾" new snow over soft-pack groomer heaven - velvety smooth; the Canyon was marv! Weekend type crowd this morning.

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 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 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 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 55 - SNÖ Mountain

Beer League tonight; Clear and cold, 8°; Other than the league racers, very few people on the hill; Skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheaters; DSQ'ed my first run - I was the first racer so there was no track to follow and there was a gate hiding in the dark over to the right at the finish; Finished 1st in class M50-59, 8th men's overall, and 9th overall including women; Nearly killed myself on Smoke this evening - it looked groomed from the top and from the bottom, so I cruised over the headwall right into a mogul field. I didn't fall, but I scared myself to death; Cannonball on the other hand was marvelous.

RANK	BIB	NAME	BEST RESULT	HANDICAP
9	286	BURNS, MARTIN	33.62	19.81

Day 54 - Hunter

Clear, cold, and still; -6° at the top; 8° when I left; Chris and Jordan came up from PA; despite my left knee hurting, we had a nice day; started on the Head i.Speed GS Cheaters and changed to the Rossignol Experience 98's; lots of good snowmaking.

Day 51 - Pico

ASRA GS; Upper twenties, overcast and windy; Skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheaters in Run 1 - big mistake, the course was more or less straight; Changed to the Atomic D2 Race GS #1's for Run 2; I nearly got bounced out of the course near the bottom of Run 2 and ended up way off line; finished 3rd in class M6, 18th men's overall, and 24th overall including the women.

POS	RACER NAME	CLUB	BIB	1ST RUN	2ND RUN	TOTAL	HANDICAP
24	MARTIN A. BURNS	KSC	726	47.31 (32)	47.12 (20)	1:34.43	13.71