Day 98 - Killington

#justgivemeagroomer    Out 8:00 to 11:15 with a coffee break; cold and snowing - 2" from 8:00 to 10:30; 13 runs; 15,000 vertical; skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheater 19's; skied with Susan and Jay through coffee; Dip Dip was groomed - I did 5; conditions remain baby soft.

Day 97 - Killington

#justgivemeagroomer    8:00 to 10:00 with a coffee break; 20° overcast and very windy; 6 runs; 7,000 vertical; skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheater 19's; skied with Susan and Jay; still soft packed powder.

Day 95 - Killington

#justgivemeagroomer    Out 9:30 to 11:00; upper twenties, overcast, and very windy; 8 runs; 9,000 vertical; skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheater 19's; skipped today's two run Ski Bum - both times I went over the line was huge; conditions still excellent; knee still hurts.

Day 94 - Killington

Out 10:30 to 1:00; 20° with increasing light overcast and no wind; skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheater 19's; 11 runs; 14,500 vertical; Lower Downdraft groomed was worth doing 3 times.

Day 92 - Copper Mountain

Writing this 3 days after the fact. Skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheater 19's; 21.16 NASTAR - Gold; was still sick - just out for a few runs since I'd already paid for a lift ticket.

Day 90 - Breckenridge

Sick as a dog today - almost didn't go out. Out 11:30 until 3:15 without any breaks; bluebird day with temps in the upper twenties on the hill; skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheater 19's; 20 runs or so; unknown vertical; tons of people - I mean a lot; stuck to the groomers - lots to be had; Peak 10 groomers (Centennial, Double Jack, and Crystal) were supreme; the altitude still sucks the life right out of me; Breck has the money extraction routine down tight - bought lift ticket, paid for parking, and paid for lunch before actually hitting the snow.

Not Breck, but taken this morning

Day 83 - Steamboat

Ski and Travel Day. Out 9:00 to 12:00 with a 5 minute Boat Burger break; upper twenties, in and out sun, a little wind; skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheaters; 18 runs; unknown vert; 9.46 NASTAR today; the drive from Steamboat to Jackson Hole was beautiful.

Day 82 - Steamboat

Out 8:30 to 12:30 - no break; 2" wet snow overnight; mostly cloudy; temps in the upper twenties; very windy - in fact the gondola and the top of the mountain were closed; skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheater 19's; 25 runs or so, but 20 or more over on NASTAR; 6.77 today at NASTAR - platinum; with the upper mountain closed it seemed very crowded.

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 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 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 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.

Day 67 - Killington

Out 9:00 until 12:00 no break; sunny but cold, low-single digit temps; 11 runs; 12,000 vertical; skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheater 19's; 2-Run Ski Bum:   Run 1 - 28.57 (20)   Run 2 - 29.10 (19)   Total: - 57.67 (17)   +10.46 behind Sardelli; conditions remain good.

Day 65 - Killington

On the hill from 9:00 until 1:00 with a coffee break; temps falling through the twenties as a quick 3" of snow fell in a howling wind storm; 17 runs; 23,750 vertical; skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheater 19's and changed to the Volkl Katanas after coffee; I'm looking for a new name for the blog - any ideas?

Day 62 - Gore Mountain

Thankfully, warmer today than I expected. On the hill from 8:30 until 1:00 with a coffee break; -14° at home when I left at 6:00 AM, but much warmer on the hill, 0° for first run and 8° when I left; brilliant sunshine with a light and variable wind; 21 runs; 24,100 vertical; skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheater 19's; The Rumor wasn't open, but Lies was pretty good so I did like 9 or 10; nobody on the hill today but me, nice; my skiing feels better, but not as good as I'd like; I'm getting my hips much more forward and inside before applying pressure high and early - this is creating much higher edge angles and less skidding and gives me the ability to control or tighten the turn radius as needed.

Day 56 - Cochran's

NEMS 'Give It A Try' clinic - some good swag; on the hill for a couple of hours; mostly cloudy with temps in the low thirties; skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheater 19's; our group was lead by Bobby Cochran - the youngest looking 72 year old I've ever seen; get the skis out away from the body and up on edge as early as possible - ankles, then knees, then hip.

Day 55 - Killington

A little more snow today; on the hill from 9:00 until 1:00 with a coffee break; upper twenties with a light snow that ended around noon - another inch or so of accumulation; skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheater 19's; parked in the Vale and started at Ramshead, then moved to the Canyon before coffee, then a run down Superstar and over to Bear; the mountain needs some love - not as much snowmaking going on as I would have expected; got to ski Downdraft today, but Cascade was much better; hiked up the very top of old Snowshed Crossover to get OL, but they had it roped at the top, so I turned around.

Day 54 - Killington

Surprisingly good today after a full day of hard rain yesterday. On the hill from 9:00 until 12:30 with a quick coffee break; skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheater 19's; yesterday's rain ended as 2" of new snow above 3,000 ft.; bright sunshine today with temps rising into the 40's at KBL; got to ski Dip Dip for the first time this year; Ski Bum today: 29.46 (24) +4.84 behind Sardelli.

Quite a contrast in conditions from KBL to the top of the Canyon!

Day 53 - Swain

On the hill for a couple of hours then left - that's all it took to ski all the trails; skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheater 19's; the overcast was so thick that the light were on and it actually helped.

Day 52 - Montage

ASRA GS in the rain; skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheater 17 & 19's; good and bad today - nearly came to a stop twice in the first run, but recovered for a decent second run;   Run 1: 48.39 (11);   Run 2: 43.75 (6);   Total: 91.14 (9); visited the doctor on Thursday and got a steriod shot in my right knee - for now it feels much better.