S
Scalce
Guest
Bear with me as this is my first official trip report and I would like to start making it a habit. 
I have a Suunto watch to measure time and my runs so the lift times I give are actually time and not guesses.
DateSkied: Sunday, January 19th
Resort or Ski Area: Okemo
Conditions: Variable
Trip Report:
My wife and I took a day trip to Okemo to finally ski after all the cold weather. The temps were probably in the teens but the windchill was nasty. Waking up at 4 am is rough but it's worth it. We hit the lifts for first tracks at 8:00 am. First we took the South Ridge Quad B to get to the other lifts. We took the Northstar Express Quad for the first few runs. Upper and Lower Chief had just the right amount of fresh snow on top of groomed granular snow so you could rip nice turns all over the trail. We then took a run down World Cup (which we usually like) but the conditions were very variable but still skiable with little effort.
We decided to head over to South Face by taking the Sachem Quad and Glades Peak Quad right after each other. It took over 20 minutes total to get to the top. We got very cold as the South Face seems to always be more windy and with the cold temps this was not fun. Our fingers and toes got chilly from not moving for almost a half hour. We took a few runs on Rimrock, Stump Jumper, Off the Rim, and Punch Line. I liked Stump Jumper and Punch Line the best as far as constant pitch and conditions go. There were some sections of nasty boilerplate but they were avoidable. Conditions were fast to say the least and it was fun but again very windy and cold.
We then took Upper Mountain Road to get to the Solitude base area to go warm up with a hot chocolate. This trail is long and if you cannot skate well it is not for you as alot of it is flat and slightly uphill. Good wax helps alot and the conditions were pretty fast and hard. We hopped on Sidewinder and flew down it to go warm up. The conditions on that trail were variable and icey in spots. The Solitude Base lodge is small as far as the sitting area goes as it was packed. My wife and I got hot chocolate and sat in the stairwell to avoid people and kids constantly bumping into us.
We took the Solitude Quad back up and skied down Exhibition where I caught an edge and did a double ejection. I was OK but it was my first major wipeout since knee surgery last May so I made sure my leg was fine. The conditions were variable but you could edge if you dug in. It is a nice falline cruiser that is pretty wide and has a decent constant pitch to it with some rolls.
We then decided to go over to Jackson Gore even though we know it is boring. We went back up the Solitude Express and hit Escape and Lower Limelight to get over to te Gore. We took the quad to Quantum Leap and Vortex which are basically the only trails worth skiing. They were very variable with bad ice patches on some of the faces and granular surface conditions.
We hopped back on the Jackson Gore Epxress Quad (which is very fast) and headed back over to Sidewinder to go eat at the Gable's Restaurant. The menu is small like the Sitting Bull Restaurant and slightly more expensive but has better food and service. The Sitting Bull is always slow, crowded, and in my opinion annoying.
We took a few more runs on Express Lane/Route 103 to Upper Arrow and then went to Sel's Choice to check out the bumps. Both of us are horrendous at bumps but want to get into them to learn. My knee was already alittle sore so we just skied down the bailout strip of the run to check out the bumps. The pitch is not bad but some of the bumps were nasty looking (to me at least). I took 2 or 3 bumps at the very bottom and got tossed around.
I may have missed some runs here and there but that is the just of our day. We purchased the Sunday Solution and saved $12 each because we haven't skied past 1:30 anyway because of my knee.
I hope to write more reviews soon. I know this is probably long and boring so I apologize.
I have a Suunto watch to measure time and my runs so the lift times I give are actually time and not guesses.
DateSkied: Sunday, January 19th
Resort or Ski Area: Okemo
Conditions: Variable
Trip Report:
My wife and I took a day trip to Okemo to finally ski after all the cold weather. The temps were probably in the teens but the windchill was nasty. Waking up at 4 am is rough but it's worth it. We hit the lifts for first tracks at 8:00 am. First we took the South Ridge Quad B to get to the other lifts. We took the Northstar Express Quad for the first few runs. Upper and Lower Chief had just the right amount of fresh snow on top of groomed granular snow so you could rip nice turns all over the trail. We then took a run down World Cup (which we usually like) but the conditions were very variable but still skiable with little effort.
We decided to head over to South Face by taking the Sachem Quad and Glades Peak Quad right after each other. It took over 20 minutes total to get to the top. We got very cold as the South Face seems to always be more windy and with the cold temps this was not fun. Our fingers and toes got chilly from not moving for almost a half hour. We took a few runs on Rimrock, Stump Jumper, Off the Rim, and Punch Line. I liked Stump Jumper and Punch Line the best as far as constant pitch and conditions go. There were some sections of nasty boilerplate but they were avoidable. Conditions were fast to say the least and it was fun but again very windy and cold.
We then took Upper Mountain Road to get to the Solitude base area to go warm up with a hot chocolate. This trail is long and if you cannot skate well it is not for you as alot of it is flat and slightly uphill. Good wax helps alot and the conditions were pretty fast and hard. We hopped on Sidewinder and flew down it to go warm up. The conditions on that trail were variable and icey in spots. The Solitude Base lodge is small as far as the sitting area goes as it was packed. My wife and I got hot chocolate and sat in the stairwell to avoid people and kids constantly bumping into us.
We took the Solitude Quad back up and skied down Exhibition where I caught an edge and did a double ejection. I was OK but it was my first major wipeout since knee surgery last May so I made sure my leg was fine. The conditions were variable but you could edge if you dug in. It is a nice falline cruiser that is pretty wide and has a decent constant pitch to it with some rolls.
We then decided to go over to Jackson Gore even though we know it is boring. We went back up the Solitude Express and hit Escape and Lower Limelight to get over to te Gore. We took the quad to Quantum Leap and Vortex which are basically the only trails worth skiing. They were very variable with bad ice patches on some of the faces and granular surface conditions.
We hopped back on the Jackson Gore Epxress Quad (which is very fast) and headed back over to Sidewinder to go eat at the Gable's Restaurant. The menu is small like the Sitting Bull Restaurant and slightly more expensive but has better food and service. The Sitting Bull is always slow, crowded, and in my opinion annoying.
We took a few more runs on Express Lane/Route 103 to Upper Arrow and then went to Sel's Choice to check out the bumps. Both of us are horrendous at bumps but want to get into them to learn. My knee was already alittle sore so we just skied down the bailout strip of the run to check out the bumps. The pitch is not bad but some of the bumps were nasty looking (to me at least). I took 2 or 3 bumps at the very bottom and got tossed around.
I may have missed some runs here and there but that is the just of our day. We purchased the Sunday Solution and saved $12 each because we haven't skied past 1:30 anyway because of my knee.
I hope to write more reviews soon. I know this is probably long and boring so I apologize.
