Ski Sundown January 21st 2007

loafer89 · Jan 21, 2007, 8:58 PM

Area skied: Ski Sundown, C.T

Date skied: January 21st, 2007 from 5:30pm - 8:30pm

Surface conditions: Hardpacked, packed powder.

We arrived at Ski Sundown at 5:15 and our first run was down Gunbarrel which is a really nice wide run down the fall line of the mountain. It was nice to be back on my favorite trail at Sundown, but the snow was nothing too great with alot of scraped off sections and very hard packed snow. A snowboarder slid sideways down nearly 75% of the trail and that looked on the dangerous side to me.

Next up was Canyon Run which had alot of hardpacked snow on nearly every portion of the trail, edges or not. Snowmaking was blasting from the tower mounted cannon on Exhibition and that had some deep powder to make turns in and had the most consistent snow on the mountain.

Temptor was awful, with alot of exposed base ice and some thin spots and I only skied it once. No snow was being made on it all night long.

Warren dragged me down Tom's Treat twice and it had some large snowmaking whales and the guns where making stuff that could outdue Elmers Glue for consistency.

Noreaster was okay, nothing great, nothing horrible and it was very slick down the middle. By 7pm Sundown was a ghost town with maybe 50-75 skiers on the mountain for the rest of the night. Snowmaking was turned on top to bottom on skiers right down Gunbarrel and guns where also going on Temptor (did not ski it) from just above the terrain park about 3/4 of the way up, then no snowmaking.

At 7:30 Warren and I got a bite to eat in the lodge and took three more runs. Warren had a yard sale under the guns on Gunbarrel after I skied ahead of him

and he managed to collect his stuff and ski down to me on his own

. The snow was deceptively soft with alot of hardpacked underneath (dust on crust). I took 5 runs down it in all and often had the trail to myself.

By 8:00pm most of Canyon was engulfed in a manmade blizzard when the guns where turned on and had some really deep and soft powder, mixed with hardpacked and was the best run of the night. All in all today was just okay and I would give it a 4 out of 10 score. Skier traffic must have been heavy and the trails really showed it.

**bvibert** · Jan 22, 2007, 7:35 AM

Sorry I wasn't able to make it up there last night. Did you see any other AZer's?

**Greg** · Jan 22, 2007, 8:05 AM

Yeah - sorry I missed you guys too. Just wan't in the cards.

Quote:

Originally Posted by loafer89

4 out of 10 score.

4 out of 10?

Was it really that bad? How did the sides ski?

loafer89 · Jan 22, 2007, 8:33 AM

What I have to remember is that it rained all of last weekend, so all of the snowmaking that was done on the open trails since then was done on a base that is now frozen solid. Not alot of snowmaking was put into Canyon, Temptor, Stinger and Noreaster so they where really hardpacked. Even the edges that we like to lurk on where crappy, with the exception of skiers right on Canyon and skiers left on Noreaster.

Temptor was horrible and mostly sheet ice. I give the mountain credit for opening Gunbarrel and the green runs, but that was the extent of most of last weeks snowmaking and alot of the previously opened trails are still thin with base depths.

Conditions should be excellent for this week with lighter skier traffic as they are making snow on nearly all opened terrain now that expansion is mostly finished. I also would not go back to ski on a weekend night, the snow gets trashed with heavy skier traffic and I am also getting tired of groomed snowmaking runs.

**Greg** · Jan 22, 2007, 8:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by loafer89

I give the mountain credit for opening Gunbarrel and the green runs, but that was the extent of most of last weeks snowmaking and alot of the previously opened trails are still thin with base depths.

Hopefully, they can resurface the older trails this week. Hoe was the base depth on Nor'easter? I wonder if there's enough to seed bumps there yet.

loafer89 · Jan 22, 2007, 8:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greg

Hopefully, they can resurface the older trails this week. Hoe was the base depth on Nor'easter? I wonder if there's enough to seed bumps there yet.

Nor'easter looked to have about the same amount of snow as it did two weeks ago and no snowmaking took place on it last night when I was there.

The mound of snow behind the yellow chair was comically large and impressive production for one HKD snowgun.

Jan 21, 2007, 8:58 PM	#1 (permalink)
loafer89 Sugarloaf Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Coventry, C.T Posts: 3,551	Ski Sundown January 21st 2007 Area skied: Ski Sundown, C.T Date skied: January 21st, 2007 from 5:30pm - 8:30pm Surface conditions: Hardpacked, packed powder. We arrived at Ski Sundown at 5:15 and our first run was down Gunbarrel which is a really nice wide run down the fall line of the mountain. It was nice to be back on my favorite trail at Sundown, but the snow was nothing too great with alot of scraped off sections and very hard packed snow. A snowboarder slid sideways down nearly 75% of the trail and that looked on the dangerous side to me. Next up was Canyon Run which had alot of hardpacked snow on nearly every portion of the trail, edges or not. Snowmaking was blasting from the tower mounted cannon on Exhibition and that had some deep powder to make turns in and had the most consistent snow on the mountain. Temptor was awful, with alot of exposed base ice and some thin spots and I only skied it once. No snow was being made on it all night long. Warren dragged me down Tom's Treat twice and it had some large snowmaking whales and the guns where making stuff that could outdue Elmers Glue for consistency. Noreaster was okay, nothing great, nothing horrible and it was very slick down the middle. By 7pm Sundown was a ghost town with maybe 50-75 skiers on the mountain for the rest of the night. Snowmaking was turned on top to bottom on skiers right down Gunbarrel and guns where also going on Temptor (did not ski it) from just above the terrain park about 3/4 of the way up, then no snowmaking. At 7:30 Warren and I got a bite to eat in the lodge and took three more runs. Warren had a yard sale under the guns on Gunbarrel after I skied ahead of him and he managed to collect his stuff and ski down to me on his own . The snow was deceptively soft with alot of hardpacked underneath (dust on crust). I took 5 runs down it in all and often had the trail to myself. By 8:00pm most of Canyon was engulfed in a manmade blizzard when the guns where turned on and had some really deep and soft powder, mixed with hardpacked and was the best run of the night. All in all today was just okay and I would give it a 4 out of 10 score. Skier traffic must have been heavy and the trails really showed it. __________________ Ski School - A place where novices are turned into menaces.

Jan 22, 2007, 7:35 AM	#2 (permalink)
bvibert Surfing AZ while waiting for snow Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Torrington, CT Posts: 12,421	Sorry I wasn't able to make it up there last night. Did you see any other AZer's? __________________ Brian SAC Tracker - Tramdock Tracker - Chainlove Tracker - WhiskeyMilitia Tracker

Jan 22, 2007, 8:33 AM	#4 (permalink)
loafer89 Sugarloaf Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Coventry, C.T Posts: 3,551	What I have to remember is that it rained all of last weekend, so all of the snowmaking that was done on the open trails since then was done on a base that is now frozen solid. Not alot of snowmaking was put into Canyon, Temptor, Stinger and Noreaster so they where really hardpacked. Even the edges that we like to lurk on where crappy, with the exception of skiers right on Canyon and skiers left on Noreaster. Temptor was horrible and mostly sheet ice. I give the mountain credit for opening Gunbarrel and the green runs, but that was the extent of most of last weeks snowmaking and alot of the previously opened trails are still thin with base depths. Conditions should be excellent for this week with lighter skier traffic as they are making snow on nearly all opened terrain now that expansion is mostly finished. I also would not go back to ski on a weekend night, the snow gets trashed with heavy skier traffic and I am also getting tired of groomed snowmaking runs. __________________ Ski School - A place where novices are turned into menaces.

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