Ski Sundown 2/11/2008 (night)

[severine]

Date(s) Skied: 2/11/2008 7:10PM-10:10PM

Resort or Ski Area: Ski Sundown, New Hartford, CT

Conditions: 17-19*F + wind, mixed bag: fresh manmade, packed powder, hardpack, ICE

Trip Report: The night started out pretty poorly. I was so sure y'all made the right decision in not coming. Nor'Easter did in fact lack lights in the middle, it was windy, cold, and they were blowing snow. My first run (after a 2-run warm-up in Sunnyside) was on Tom's Treat and the snow was awful. Scratchy hardpack with a big ICE patch on the hill right before Papoose. Turns out, there was no mid-day groom. And the snow guns on the flats were instantly icing over my goggles. Did not bode well for the evening.

My next run was on Canyon Run (from the top, which I rarely do). Avoiding the snow-gun-goggle-ice-over around the whales was a bit of a challenge, but the snow felt better here - mostly fresh man-made, no hardpack or ice. I tried the outside edge of bumps on Exhibition but they're pretty shot - no rhythm, and many of them have been skied off. Abandoned them for a nice curvy run down the middle of Exhibition instead.

After another run down CR (starting at the top of Nor'Easter instead), I decided to give Temptor a try. Temptor has been sort of my nemesis this season... And it didn't help that the path leading to it from the sundeck down was in the dark. Still, I managed, and even got down without looking so much like a gaper. I was elated. So I did it again for the next run. The 3rd time, I met one of my fellow Loss Prevention employees at the top and I actually lead him down! When we stopped at Exhibition, he said I must have been skiing much longer than he has with the way I hit it (it was the fastest run of the night for me). It's only my 2nd real season, and he really has very good form, but I appreciated the compliment.

Before that 3rd run on Temptor, I had been considering Gunbarrel. I'd never skied it before and it was a goal of mine to hit it by the end of this season. The next time up top, my co-worker decided on Gunbarrel so I followed. I figured the fresh snow would help slow it down a bit (in spite of the lack of grooming) and since the place was DEAD, I may as well take advantage of having the trail basically to myself. I'm SO glad I did! In no way did I race down it, but that wasn't my intention. I made some nice lazy arcs back and forth, mostly across the middle until that got a little too bumpy halfway down. It was awesome. My co-worker insisted the view is gorgeous during the day, but I think being there at night was to my advantage - I'm seriously afraid of heights and seeing that open view may have been a deterrent.

Anyway, after my success on Gunny, I decided to give Stinger a try (a first, as well). I mapped out my path on the next lift ride up and was pleasantly surprised by the terrain (in general) being more gentle than Temptor. Goofed a little and went to the left of the first big jump (on the right side of the trail), but I found my way around without having to hit any of the terrain features. The death cookies on the top kind of sucked, but otherwise, all that fresh man-made made for a nice run.

Hit Temptor again and could feel the night wearing on me. My form was fading fast. So the next run was on Canyon Run. (During one of these, I actually attempted the middle of the bumps on Exhibition, figuring they might work better for me than what was on the left side... that didn't last long. I bailed quickly and enjoyed more arcs down Exhibition instead.)

9:45PM and I had a decision to make.... I wanted to hit Gunny again, but do I do it now or last run? What if they close the lift early? I checked my cell phone and that actually read 9:49PM, so I decided on Gunny, figuring I'd be disappointed if I didn't get one more run on it. Again, SO glad I did!!! All to myself and this time, I stuck mostly to the right. Bliss!!!

Ski Patrol was convened at the bottom of lift 1 when I returned, but luckily, the lift wasn't closed yet. I was one of the last people up and enjoyed one more run down Canyon before calling it a night.

It was my first time out in 2 weeks and I'm so glad I went!! I had some breakthroughs (like leaning forward more must be helping with the transitions to and from the fresh man-made, as it wasn't problematic for me at all while it was tripping up my co-worker). I tried new trails and enjoyed them. And I had the mountain mostly to myself. Sorry you guys bailed tonight, but I had a blast!

[bvibert]

Nice detailed TR! Sounds like you're really making some progress. Hopefully we can ski together again soon!

[Grassi21]

Good stuff sev. Nice report. The view from Gunny is great. But the lack of visibility at night does keep your mind off of the other stuff and lets you focus on skiing. I found myself feeling the same way last season. This season it doesn't matter if its day or night, just point 'em down hill.

[Greg]

Nice job, Carrie. Way to push beyond the sometimes trying first few runs. Whenever I'm in a funk, I just keep going and usually can break out of it. Psyched for tonight. Bumps and fresh snow. Hope those lights get fixed.