Burke, VT: 02/09/07 (Cheating the Man)

[riverc0il]

Worked late yesterday so I came in late to work this morning. Felt really good, kind of like I was sticking it back to the man for the man sticking it to me every so often. Jay Peak recipricole mid-week pass was in effect for two runs before heading into work. Burke was empty, wow! Talk about a mountain that is under utilized mid-week, let alone on the weekends. Burke's very friendly staff directed me to the correct desk for my ticket and I was advised (by a former Jay employee who I talked trees with) that Cave Man would be better than Throbulator (both recently opened I believe). The employee informed me that he had been on the trail crew that maintained Cave Man over the Summer, pretty cool getting that type of information when both runs count!

Up the Sherburne Express and then a rather cold run up the Willougby Quad to the summit. Two inches of dust on top of the groomed made the first couple turns on Big Dipper feel amazing. But I bared right onto Wilderness that had natural snow and really nice small and soft moguls with 2-4" of light fluff on top of a packed base. I built up a lot of speed since the moguls were small and the snow was soft. Cruised some arcs down a groomer with 2" of fluff down to Caveman's entrance.

Caveman was freaking sweet! 2-6" with an awesome boot to knee deep drift halfway down. Not many folks have been in so far and no tracks yet this morning. Cover was respectable but still thin if you slammed on the breaks. So par for the course was going fast, not turning much, and chewing up the fluff One of the best things about Burke's glades are the natural contours, topographical oddities, rocks, and stumps left to build cool snow obstacles around. Made for great jumping into the fluff. That run ended way too soon with the long runout back to Mid-Burke. Honestly, as much as I fear for those glades and East Bowl, if they can retain the glades and character of the area, I welcome not having to traverse back. It will also increase the amount of runs I take in that area as that runout and traverse limit the amount of laps I prefer to do into that runout.

Next run was Doug's Drop to Little Cheif (I believe?) which was a blast. Doug's is still pretty thin with natural snow and again those natural contours, rolls, and rocks that make the trail interesting. I hurled my body off the natural bumps again into soft landings on a few inches of fluff covering a packed but thin base. Lower Doug's was okay but I saw Little Cheif open and ducked in for a well covered short narrow slot through the trees which was particularly nice and provoked my only verbal exclamation of praise and delight for the morning. I cut back to Warren's Way which had two inches of fluff over a groomed base, awesome covering through the fluffy fresh powder even though only two inches were left after the groomers last pass.

Burke is skiing really nicely with almost all trails (except Fox's Folly) open and about half of the glades. Burke continues to be the over looked gem of Vermont and every visit never fails to remind me of what makes Burke so special. With the new ownership, some things have changed, but guest services has only gotten better and people (guests and employees) are both as friendly as ever. Considering the poor start to the year and how Burke always misses the jackpot snow falls that hit the Northern Greens, Burke is in great shape, way better than I had expected.

A few pictures to be posted later tonight once I get home...

[kingdom-tele]

always nice to her how much fun someone had a burke, we have been the past two weekends,(15$ sunday afternoons) and last friday and friday night, it is incredible how well 6" of snow ski at burke compared to jay, while i love jay it is a completely different mtn from burke,

Riv- you said it best, it really is a gem in the VT ski world

[from_the_NEK]

Considering the poor start to the year and how Burke always misses the jackpot snow falls that hit the Northern Greens, Burke is in great shape, way better than I had expected.

Great report
I haven't posted any trip reports from the last several weekends (I've been kind of lazy..or maybe selfish ) otherwise you would probably know how nice it has been. I got some of the first tracks through Caveman last weekend and it was SWEET! I even skiied the lower sector of the trail I've been working on. It was great as well until I wrapped my right leg around a young 4" maple tree . Almost ended my season right there


A few picts from January 28th (and it has only gotten better )-

[riverc0il]

Here we go:
http://www.thesnowway.com/gallery/ma...20070209burke/

T: Sorry to spoil your fun by posting just how good Burke is. I doubt you have much to worry about though

and here is what happens when i get new gear in the mail. sharon laughed although sometimes i wonder how in the world she puts up with the obsession.
http://www.thesnowway.com/gallery/ma...steve/offsnow/

[thetrailboss]

Looks and sounds great. Looking forward to being up there again the next couple weekends....you have me salivating now....

Going to be at the Middlebury College Snow Bowl tomorrow. Hoping this snow will allow them to open the backside.