Day 4 - Killington

What a fantastic day - it may have been the best October day ever! Arrived early only to be greeted with yet another hold. It ended up only being 15 minutes, but still... On the hill from 9:15 until 1:00; totally overcast and windy with some rain from 11:00 until 11:30 and then again as I was leaving; mid-thirties to start, mid-forties to finish; futzing with my GoPro app screwed up today's Ski Tracks so I'll have to estimate 25 runs and 14,750 vertical; skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheater 17's - what an unbelievably fun ski; the snow was fantastic - great cover, groomed smooth edge-to-edge, and as soft as a baby's butt; almost left when it started to rain, but ended up being rewarded when all the people left and then it stopped; with heavy rain in the forecast for tomorrow, I skied just about as long as I could today; picked up my new Head i.Speed GS Cheater 19's on the way home today; took the GoPro out for a little test run this morning - shot about 80 minutes - GoPro Test 1.

Day 3 - Killington

I woke up this morning to the first snowfall of the season. Although it was only an inch, things sure look a lot more like winter. On the hill for 2½ hours - from 9:00 till 11;30; a heavy overcast at the start gave way to gradual clearing; temps in the upper twenties; skied the Rossignol Experience 98's; 14 runs; 8,300 vertical; snowmaking continues all over the upper mountain; the snow was a little heavy and sticky to start, but as they turned off the guns on Rime and things got skied in it actually became quite good; took my first fall of the season today on Upper Double Dipper - a rather loud affair that got me no less than five, "Are you Ok's" from passersby - don't worry, nothing hurt but my pride; my legs were very tired today; still looking for the first opportunity to use my GoPro.

Day 2 - Killington

Got to the hill right at 9:00, but a mechanical problem delayed opening until 10:15; brilliant sunshine today with no wind; teens overnight; low twenties to start; mid thirties when I left; 2½ hours today - 10:15 until 12:45; 14 runs; 8,300 vertical; skied the Rossignol Experience 98's; snowmaking galore today; with the warming temps and on-going snowmaking conditions were all over the place; not sure whether it was the sunshine or the snowmaking, but the hill looked much better today; skied Downdraft Headwall first thing - extremely good - I'm not sure it will get any better all year; legs still feel pretty good, but my right shin is a little tender - I think I'll try a little strategic padding tomorrow.

Day 1 - Killington

Late start this morning after arriving last night and unpacking until 2 AM; out for 2½ hours from 10:30 till 1:00; skied the Volkl RaceTiger SL Cheaters; mid-thirties, increasing overcast, and windy; no snowmaking this morning - I guess they're expecting some warmer weather to move in; 16 runs; 9,500 vertical; fairly good coverage; variable conditions from hard pack to super soft snowmaking; Great Northern around to most of the Northridge area; lots of familiar faces: Jim, Bob, Ric, Rick, Barb, Chelsea, and Dave; my legs feel pretty good after a fairly agressive start to the season.

Ski Areas

If I can get 32 of these ski areas this year, I'll consider it a major accomplishment. Unforturately, Grand Targhee is already a scheduling casualty, so it's going to be all the tougher.

11/25 - just lost Catamount and Wachusett too, NEMS scheduling change.

12/30 - lost Blue Knob, had to wait for the plumber.

01-Killington, VT
02-Pico, VT
03-Blue Knob, PA
04-Seven Springs, PA
05-Greek Peak, NY
06-Swain, NY
07-Elk Mtn, PA
08-Ski Denton, PA
09-Big Boulder, PA
10-Ski Sawmill, PA
11-Montage, PA
12-Labrador Mtn, NY
13-Middlebury, VT
14-Catamount, NY
15-Wachusett, MA
16-Stratton, VT
17-Bromley, VT
18-Gore Mtn, NY
19-Whiteface, NY
20-Mt. Pisquah, NY
21-Pat's Peak, NH
22-Ragged Mtn, NH
23-Plattekill, NY
24-Bellayre, NY
25-Cannon Mtn, NH
26-Loon Mtn, HN
27-Steamboat, CO
28-Winter Park, CO
29-Jackson Hole, WY
30-Grand Targhee, WY
31-Silverton, CO
32-Durango, CO
33-Telluride, CO
34-Crested Butte, CO
35-Loveland, CO
36-Breckenridge, CO
37-Arapahoe Basin, CO
38-Copper Mtn, CO
39-Keystone, CO
40-Okemo, VT
41-Magic Mtn, VT
42-Jay Peak, VT

New Snow Tires

Since this will be the first full-time winter in this Ford Expedtion, I got new snow tires. The original wheels I picked out were $770 each - I kid you not! So I got the ones on sale for $102 each instead. Although they don't look half as good, they only cost an eighth as much - so by my logic they're four times the value.

When I got home I found out Killington opened this afternoon!

Slideshow of Last 3 Seasons

Seven Springs Confirmed

Visiting Lee, Tony, and the boys; staying over 12/30 and 12/31; skiing 12/31 and 1/1.

Winter Condo Rental

111 Birchwood, Mendon, VT; Nov 1 thru Apr 30; rent and utility deposit paid in full this week

Western Trip Plan

Wed	2/26	Fly ALB to DEN + 3.25	Steamboat
Thu	2/27	Steamboat (N)	Steamboat
Fri	2/28	+ 2 Winter Park (N) + 2	Steamboat
Sat	3/1	Steamboat (N)	Steamboat
Sun	3/2	Steamboat (N) + 6.5	Jackson
Mon	3/3	Jackson Hole	Jackson
Tue	3/4	+ 1.25 Grand Targhee + 1.25	Jackson
Wed	3/5	Jackson Hole	Jackson
Thu	3/6	Jackson Hole + 9.75	Ouray
Fri	3/7	+ 1 Silverton + 1	Ouray
Sat	3/8	+ 1 Durango (N) + 1	Ouray
Sun	3/9	+ 1 Telluride (N) + 1	Ouray
Mon	3/10	+ 2.5 Crested Butte + 3.5	Silverthorne
Tue	3/11	+ 0.25 Loveland + 0.25	Silverthorne
Wed	3/12	+ 0.5 Breckenridge + 0.5	Silverthorne
Thu	3/13	+ 0.5 Arapahoe Basin + 0.5	Silverthorne
Fri	3/14	+ 0.25 Copper Mtn (N) + 0.25	Silverthorne
Sat	3/15	+ 0.25 Keystone + 1.75
Sun	3/16	Fly DEN to ALB

2013/14 Killington Pass

Bought on-line today; paid in full.

Hammering!

Ivica Kostelic

Day 116 - Killington

Yet another in the string of spectacular ski days! Parked on the Access Road; on the hill from 9:00 until 2:30; skied the Rossignol Experience 98's; 30 runs; 36,000 vert; started out mostly sunny with temps around 40°, by 11:00 it was intermittant sun and flurries - sometimes not even intermittant, but both at the same time - then after 1:00 it got sunny again and warmed into the 50°'s; Super-Hawk-Sky-Sweet was creamy smooth to start, after coffee Skylark got good, and after lunch I did a few Skyhawk-Skylarks; I'm not going home yet - I now plan on skiing through next Monday.

Day 115 - Killington

Another really nice spring ski day; parked on the Access Road; on the hill from 9:00 until 12:30 including a coffee break in KBL; skied the Rossignol Avenger 76 Ti's; 21 runs; 25,600 vert; Superstar was in really good shape this morning. The top and middle were smooth, flat, and firm without being slick. The bottom wasn't quite as good, it started out with the similar conditions to the top and middle but quickly started to 'chunk-out'; the Peak via K-1 is as good as done - walking required on Cascade Runout; after coffee Super-High-Skylark was extremely good - so I did 10; thinking tomorrow might be my last day.

Day 114 - Killington

Today was a really good day - mid fifties with brilliant sunshine; parked on the Access Road; skied the Rossignol Avenger 76 Ti's straight threw from 9:00 until 12:00; started on Superstar, conditions were extrememly variable; moved on the K-1 and eneded with 7 straight DD - really good, soft, nicely spaced bumps; 15 runs; 21,000 vert; just a couple more days and my seasonw will be over.

Day 113 - Killington

Decent winter type day for late spring; parked on the Access Road; on the hill from 9:00 until 11:15; temps at or just above freezing with overcast skies; skied the Volkl RaceTiger SL Cheaters; 13 runs; 16,500 vert; the upper and lower Superstar headwalls were in nice shape, most everything else was pretty much blah...

Day 112 - Killington

Parked on the Access Road again this morning; on the hill from 9:00 until 11:00; 35° with a bright overcast; skied the Volkl RaceTiger SL Cheaters; 15 runs; 18,000 vertical; overall pretty good morning; Super-High-Skylark was good - relatively firm, flat, and skiable.

Day 111 - Killington

Rain overnight; the hill looks terrible - the top of Great Northern at the K-1 terminal is all gravel ½ way to the ski patrol shack; parked on the Access Road again; tried the K2 Apache Xplorer's again this morning and once again had to change skis immediately to the Rossignol Avenger 76 Ti's - I think the Xplorer's are done :( ; deep, heavy, granular chucks on Lower Superstar almost immediately; Cascade wasn't near as good as yesterday; I was so depressed, I made like 8 runs and left.

Day 110 - Killington

Parked on the Access Road just below the Superstar Quad; on the hill from 9:00 until 1:15; threatening rain at 9:00 with heavy overcast and a stiff breeze, around noon skies brightened a little as temps rose into the upper forties; skied the Rossignol Avenger 76 Ti's; 20 runs; 28,400 vert; The runs on Skye Peak immediately turned to deep piles of sugar and various size chucks of ice this morning, so I went in a little early for coffee thinking that I might just go home. When I came back out I got on K-1 and was rewarded when I found Cascade in really good shape, nicely firm and relatively flat, just starting to corn up - so I did 10 in a row!

Day 109 - Killington

Just a few runs the morning; on the hill from 9:00 until 11:30; 11 runs; the rain overnight soaked in and froze, so most of the runs off the peak were closed early on; Superstar was the only thing even remotely skiable until after coffee when they dropped the rope on Cascade; skied the K2 Apache Xplorer's and immediately changed the the Volkl RaceTiger SL Cheaters; the hill is looking pretty worse for wear.

Day 108 - Killington

On the hill from 9:00 until 1:00 with a quick coffee break in KBL; 45°, overcast, and windy - rain expected this afternoon and evening; skied the Rossignol Experience 98's; 16 runs; 24,500 vert; good morning - everything was pretty soft; East Fall was good early, Downdraft was good later; did Ovation again today - again probably for the last time this season.

Day 107 - Killington

Very nice return to the hill today after being away to do my taxes. They obviously got some snow over the past few days because the hill looks alot whiter than when I left. On the hill from 9:15 until 12:30; skied the Rossignol Experience 98's; 16 runs; 21,400 vert; Skylark was good early and the Canyon was good after coffee; suprisingly large crowd today - maybe it's just that there are only two lifts open; probably skied Lower Ovation for the last time today.

Day 106 - Killington

Well spring skiing has finally arrived. Rain overnight, lots of mush, lots of dirt and pine needles and sticky snow. On the hill for a dozen runs from 12:30 until 3:00. Skied the K2 Apache Xplorers.

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 103 - Killington

Winter returns! Sunny, cold and windy today. 15° at 8:00 and 26° when I left at 12:45; skied the Atomic D2 Race GS #2's and the Rossignol Avenger 76 Ti's; 20 runs; 24,750 vert; conditions were good today, just not as great at the past few days; Canyon and Snowdon mostly - Cascade was the best run of the day; coffee and a few runs with Susan and Jay this morning; the old Bittersweet headwall was actually open today and it was pretty good too!

Day 102 - Killington

Another beautiful day in the neighborhood! 35° and mostly sunny with a light wind; on the hill from 9:00 until 1:45 with a quick KBL coffee break; skied the Atomic D2 Race GS #1's; 26 runs; 32,000 vert; spectacular snow conditions today - smooth, soft and extremely carvable without getting clumpy or wet; Lower Ovation was groomed so that was nice, but Dip Dip and Cascade were unbelievable again today.

Day 101 - Killington

Another spectacular spring day! On the hill from 9:00 until 1:00 with a quick KBL coffee break; Sunny and warm (36° when I left) without getting wet or sticky; skied the Atomic D2 Race GS #2's; 22 runs; 29,000 vert; another season high Max Speed recorded in today's Ski Tracks; they didn't groom DD or Supertar last night so they weren't near as good today.

Day 100 - Killington

A beautiful mid-winter, 3F day - perfect for my GS skis; on the hill from 9:00 until a little after 1:30 with just a quick coffee break in KBL; hard freeze (15°) overnight and some good grooming made the Canyon and Superstar near perfect; skied the Atomic D2 Race GS #1's; 29 runs; 35,000 vert; After consulting with Nadine about last week's Ski Bum disaster, I've been focusing on sustaining much more of a macro view while skiing. Rather than looking at some spot on the ground in the the turn I'm entering, I've been looking much more down the hill trying to see 100 or 200 yards ahead and focusing on the entire slope, not just some point on the ground. I think it's been helping me a lot - I've felt pretty good.

Day 99 - Killington

On the hill from 9:00 until 11:15; made 12 runs or so; 33° and heavy, low overcast; 3" new snow overnight; skied the K2 Apache Xplorers; make a half dozen runs or so with Mike Cahill; nobody else out on the hill today; lots of first tracks in this morning's cement - Stitchline, Vertigo, and Lower Ovation.

Just can't help myself. I went to the hill this morning thinking I'd just do a run or two to 'get the day', but with 3" wet snow overnight I ended up staying for a couple of hours. It started raining as soon as I got home. With today's rain and a hard overnight freeze forcast, I'm going to skip tomorrow.

Vertigo

Stitchline

Same turns on Stichline from above

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 96 - Killington

A really Good Friday; 35° with broken clouds; on the hill for a couple of hours stating at 10:30; skied the Rossignol Avenger 76 Ti's; parked in the Vale; hit Snowdon, Skye Peak and the Canyon; marvelously soft spring snow - not yet corn and not yet wet, just perfect; fairly large Friday crowd today.

Day 95 - Pico

Pico closes Sunday, so I did a few runs over there this afternoon before the mountain closes; 9 runs from 2:30 until 4:00; 35° and heavy overcast; skied the Volkl RaceTiger SL World Cups.

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 93 - Killington

19 runs - on the hill from 9:00 until 1:15; 30° with flurries clearing to broken sunshine; 1" new snow on last night's groomers - nice! first run on Cascade was fantastic; skied the Atomic D2 Race GS #1's and switched to the Rossignol Avenger 76 Ti's after coffee; made a few more runs with Amy and Mark - she is the coolest person I know; I'm not sure, but I think my skiing is actually coming around.

Day 92 - Killington

Did a few runs (14) first thing this morning before taking my boots to Peak for a little work; skied the Atomic D2 Race GS #2's; Canyon chair running, but DD not groomed... ... ... come on!; skiing ok, but still feel blah.

Day 91 - Killington

On the hill at 8:00, left at 11:30; 25° and overcast; skied the Volkl RaceTiger SL Cheaters; good conditions today, but I just felt blah…; made 12 runs by 10:00; DD was groomed poorly.

Day 90 - Killington

Welcome home! 4" blower pow overnight - 2" or 3" more this morning; 20° with 20 mph breeze; parked in the Vale and started right at 8:00; made 11 runs; skied the Volkl Katana's; all the trees were pretty sweet - The Cathedral, Patsy's, Low Rider; Super Star Woods - Upper and Lower, Julio (run of the day), and Chop Chop (a little less than stellar).

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 87 - Schweitzer

Enough said!

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 83 - Whitefish

Late start this morning since I didn't get in until almost 5:00AM; On the hill from 10:30 until 2:30; 2" of cement last night; Overcast and 35° with little to no wind; Heavy cloud layer on the top third of the hill; visability on top at times was total white-on-white - in fact it was so bad they marked the center of the main trails with orange lollipops every 50 yards or so; today was get acquainted with the mountain day - I skied at least two runs in all open areas; this is a Big Mountain - pun intended; tons of snow here; tons of steeps here; tons of tree skiing here - a little different than VT, much more open in the trees and different wildlife too!

 

Day 82 - Killington

On the hill from 8:00 until 11:30 with a quick coffee break in KBL; 25° and perfectly sunny at the start with increasing light clouds and 40° when I left; skied the Rossignol Avenger 76 Ti's; the Canyon was marvelous again today; Ski Tracks recorded 72+ mph today - on my putt putt skis none the less.

Day 81 - Killington

On the hill from 8:00 until 1:30 with a long coffee break in KBL; beautiful day - perfectly sunny with 25° temps to start getting up to 45° by the time I left; skied the Atomic D2 Race GS #2's and the Rossignol Experience 98's; after coffee I skied with Radvanyi and his son Trevor - we did few easy blacks then headed for the trees.

Day 80 - Killington

On the hill from 9:00 until 1:30 with a quick coffee break in KBL; 4" of new snow overnight; 24° and still snowing at 8:30 when I pulled in at Snowdon; 34° with the sun starting to peak out when I left; skied the Volkl Katana's; did a few things I hadn't done yet this year - Pipedream, Roundabout, Devil's Fiddle, and Sunrise liftline; So I had to duck the rope to get the top of Sunrise Liftline, but I even went back and jumped off the chair to get the bottom pitch as well. I'll bet I'm the only person who has skied that lower pitch in years; Patsy's and Low Rider were excellent - Low Rider was so good I did it 3 times.

Day 79 - Killington

On the hill from 9:00 until 12:30 with a quick KBL coffee break; Skied the Atomic D2 Race GS #1's; 28° overcast and very windy with a few short periods of freezing rain; Ski Bum double header today - second run scored seperately as make-up from last week's cancellation; Despite periodic white-on-white conditions in the Canyon Double Dipper was in excellent shape - I've seen it softer, but rarely smoother.

Ski Bum #1 - 1st in class Men's B, 13th Men's Overall, and 15th Overall including the Women

RANK	BIB	NAME	CLASS	RESULT
15	98	MARTIN BURNS	MB	26.01 (15)

Ski Bum #2 - 1st in class Men's B, 12th Men's Overall, and 12th Overall including the Women.

RANK	BIB	NAME	CLASS	RESULT
12	98	MARTIN BURNS	MB	26.19 (12)