Sunapee, December 15, 2005: Greg and TB Hit It

[thetrailboss]

Date(s) Skied: December 15, 2005

Resort or Ski Area: Sunapee

Conditions: PP/FG

Trip Report: Greg had told me he was planning on coming up to get his new boots and to hit Sunapee for a few hours and it worked out that the weather postponed him until this week--my exam week--when I was able to shift my schedule around. No regrets at taking a study break--the skiing was great as was the company.

Greg was held up a bit, but it allowed me to sample the terrain beforehand. The Pipeline trail was edge-to-edge corduroy and the lift was empty. The trail beside it had 20-30 foot snow piles Great way to start the afternoon.

From here, I did two runs down Flying Goose, which was in excellent shape--my pick of the day. No lines at the triple either. I like the consistent pitch on this run.

Before Greg arrived, I was able to hit each of the summit trails once and IMHO Bonanza was in the best shape. At 2:30pm, I met Greg and his new boots (very nice) and we proceeded to Bonanza, which he liked and then Sunapee's signature trail, Skyway Ledges. The snow here was still a bit scratchy, but the edges were nice. Kickback was open, but it was death cookies and boilerplate. Chipmunk was soft on the edges.

Our next run was down Blast Off, which Greg especially liked. On the encore, he shot some pics and video.

The last summit run was down Skyway again to enjoy the sunset on the lake and the soft snow on the edges.

At 3:50pm, we took a chance and headed to the North Peak Triple to catch the last chair. Much to our surprise, the trail still had soft snow and was a great way to end the day.

The HSQ delivered us some quality runs in a short time. I wish that the Sunbowl was open, but oh well Great day to show Greg Sunapee and what it is all about.

Feel free to add your comments Greg....and/or set me straight.

[hammer]

Sounds like you had a good time and that Sunapee's getting in good shape for the season.

I'm hoping to try out Flying Goose this year. The triple's a lot less crowded that the HSQ on a busy day...

[thetrailboss]

Originally Posted by hammer

Sounds like you had a good time and that Sunapee's getting in good shape for the season.

I'm hoping to try out Flying Goose this year. The triple's a lot less crowded that the HSQ on a busy day...

WAY less crowded and serves up some of the best fall line IMHO.

[Greg]

Great to get out with you trailboss. I wish we had a chance to ski more than 90 minutes. Sunapee is a nice hill. The views are especially nice. It's awesome that you can easily pick out the major ski areas from central to southern Vermont, including Killington, backside of Ascutney, Okemo, backside of Magic, Bromley, Stratton, Snow and Haystack. It's cool to be able to view the entire spine of the Southern Greens and see each area in relation to the others. Washington, Franconia Ridge, and several other White Mountains including Mooslilauke were visible as well. The view of Lake Sunapee from Skyway Ledges is fantastic.

Skiing was very good; typical fast early season surface. I struggled a bit with the new boots. I am in a completely different (correct) position than I was in the old boots. Couple that with skis that desperately need a tune and the fast surface and I was slip-sliding in places. More on the bootfitting later. Trailboss - I forgot how well you ski - very fluid consistent turns. The sides of the runs had some loose stuff to play in.

Again, Sunapee is very nice hill. A bit far for a day trip (3:15 for me) but I'd make the trip again if other AZers wanted to meet there.

Thanks for the tour, trailboss!

[bvibert]

Sounds like you guys had a good time! Wish I was able to join you...

[thetrailboss]

Originally Posted by Greg

Great to get out with you trailboss. I wish we had a chance to ski more than 90 minutes. Sunapee is a nice hill. The views are especially nice. It's awesome that you can easily pick out the major ski areas from central to southern Vermont, including Killington, backside of Ascutney, Okemo, backside of Magic, Bromley, Stratton, Snow and Haystack. It's cool to be able to view the entire spine of the Southern Greens and see each area in relation to the others. Washington, Franconia Ridge, and several other White Mountains including Mooslilauke were visible as well. The view of Lake Sunapee from Skyway Ledges is fantastic.

I fell in love with the view all over again when I skied there in November. Awesome.

Skiing was very good; typical fast early season surface. I struggled a bit with the new boots. I am in a completely different (correct) position than I was in the old boots. Couple that with skis that desperately need a tune and the fast surface and I was slip-sliding in places. More on the bootfitting later.

You were doing awesome IMHO. The conditions were variable. And you kept pace if not beat me on a couple runs. Glad you didn't biff it on the Blast Off runout.

Trailboss - I forgot how well you ski - very fluid consistent turns. The sides of the runs had some loose stuff to play in.

Thanks. I've been getting back into it over the last few outings and I was er, warming up before you came. I was trying shorter poles to see if it would help out and it did. I was able to really find the sweet spot on the skis yesterday and they were taking off.

Again, Sunapee is very nice hill. A bit far for a day trip (3:15 for me) but I'd make the trip again if other AZers wanted to meet there.

You've got my number Almost weekly trips there, on Fridays and Sundays probably. And anyone else, a simple PM gets my company at Cannon, Sunapee, or Burke

[Greg]

Originally Posted by thetrailboss

Glad you didn't biff it on the Blast Off runout.

No kidding. There was a little area of ungroomed snow down there with some small bumps. I came screaming down right into it. With the flat light and contacts that weren't behaving, I didn't even see it until I was crashing through it. Got into a kung-fu stance and made it through relatively unscathed...

[hammer]

Originally Posted by Greg

No kidding. There was a little area of ungroomed snow down there with some small bumps. I came screaming down right into it. With the flat light and contacts that weren't behaving, I didn't even see it until I was crashing through it. Got into a kung-fu stance and made it through relatively unscathed...

Skiing in a kung-fu stance...I'll bet that would have made for a good video...

[Greg]

Originally Posted by hammer

Skiing in a kung-fu stance...I'll bet that would have made for a good video...

I got some videos. Not of that event, but on Upper Blastoff. Trailboss looked smooth. I was chopping down pretty pathetically. I'll post them later...

[bvibert]

Lets see the vids! I betcha TB didn't even take a spill for the camera or anything...