Date(s) Skied: January 28-29, 2006
Resort or Ski Area: Burke
Conditions: P/MG/FG/Thin Cover
Trip Report: It was passholder appreciation weekend and the recent weather, busy schedule, and prospect of some decent skiing thanks to some new snow brought me to Burke.
January 28th: A Sunny Saturday
I pulled in at 8:30am to find the place beginning to buzz. After a warm up on the lower mountain, I took a quick run off of the POMA. Upper Warren's was open and it had been a couple years since I had skied it. No regrets. Great cover and grooming. No ice. Better than expected (I had to get at it before the racers did).
After meeting my buds, Chris and Eric, and giving them the hookup (half-price tickets thanks for friends of passholders thanks to Burke :beer: ), we headed up for some great, fast, smooth runs down Carriage Road, Dippers, and Willoughby. We spent some more time roaming around on the groomed/snowmaking runs and even made a short jaunt down to the lower mountain to show them the HSQ.
I grabbed my rock sticks and we went wild. First was a run down Sasqwatch, which had decent cover. I like this glade--narrow, hidden, and fun. Wilderness was decent as was MOST of Powderhorn, but Lower Powderhorn was really, really thin and Toll Road was a choice of thin powder or pavement, no joke :x Thank God for rock skis :roll:
Our next two runs were down my favorite, East Bowl. Chris and Eric snuck into a "stash" and sampled the goods while I found soft powder, decent cover, and some nice bumps on EB. The bottom pitch was atrocious though...dirt, ice, rocks everywhere and barely any snow. Next run down EB, I hit the stash with them--it was narrow, had good cover, and great pitch. The closing of the glade was an overgrown meadow/opening which was neat
After lunch, we decided to take it easy and hit the groomers again. Lower Toll Road and Powderhorn closed due to the cover (Thank God). We hit Lower Mountain after scoping out the upper terrain park on GAP...many were those jumps HUGE!
More runs on Lower Mountain and then closer on Warren's. Bumpier than before.
Passholder Gathering
We put our skis away and headed to the party for the passholders in the Bear Den Lodge. The place was rafter-to-rafter with people...busiest I have ever seen it Three deep at the bar for drinks. Sam Adams was giving stuff away--mainly shirts and hats. A guy walked out with a new pair of skis. Good crowd, good vibe. Mingled and had a good time. Ginn and Company provided GREAT free food. After about an hour, the Ginn Chefs came in with three full plates of wings, sushi, a huge platter of sandwiches, finger and spring rolls, and dips and sauces Impressive! I recognized two Burke Management Team Staffers on hand for the event--Marketing guru David Gwatkin and Manager Dick Andross. The new GM was nowhere to be seen. The mountain also broadcasted vintage video footage of the construction of the Poma and ski trails in 1955-1956 and boy, did the place look different (as did the technology). Interesting clip. Given recent rumors regarding the future of MidBurke, mainly that it is going to be leveled, it was a bittersweet event because of the size of the crowd and the festive mood.
Sunday's Visit: First Chair and First Tracks
I pulled in at 8:30am, booted up, and skated over to the quad to find that I was the first person there. After about ten minutes, I was rewarded with the first chair ride up and first tracks down Carriage Road and the Dippers, both groomed to perfection. :beer: I skied from 9-12, taking about ten runs down all of the groomed/snowmaking runs on the summit. Carriage Road was probably the best. I also meandered down Upper Warren's and scoped out the GAP terrain park (the photos on Burke's site don't do the jumps justice....they are HUGE ). Last run was a rock ski run down East Bowl. Unlike Saturday, it had been tracked out and was thin and icier in sections.
Great weekend, just need more snow to really rock and roll! :beer:
Resort or Ski Area: Burke
Conditions: P/MG/FG/Thin Cover
Trip Report: It was passholder appreciation weekend and the recent weather, busy schedule, and prospect of some decent skiing thanks to some new snow brought me to Burke.
January 28th: A Sunny Saturday
I pulled in at 8:30am to find the place beginning to buzz. After a warm up on the lower mountain, I took a quick run off of the POMA. Upper Warren's was open and it had been a couple years since I had skied it. No regrets. Great cover and grooming. No ice. Better than expected (I had to get at it before the racers did).
After meeting my buds, Chris and Eric, and giving them the hookup (half-price tickets thanks for friends of passholders thanks to Burke :beer: ), we headed up for some great, fast, smooth runs down Carriage Road, Dippers, and Willoughby. We spent some more time roaming around on the groomed/snowmaking runs and even made a short jaunt down to the lower mountain to show them the HSQ.
I grabbed my rock sticks and we went wild. First was a run down Sasqwatch, which had decent cover. I like this glade--narrow, hidden, and fun. Wilderness was decent as was MOST of Powderhorn, but Lower Powderhorn was really, really thin and Toll Road was a choice of thin powder or pavement, no joke :x Thank God for rock skis :roll:
Our next two runs were down my favorite, East Bowl. Chris and Eric snuck into a "stash" and sampled the goods while I found soft powder, decent cover, and some nice bumps on EB. The bottom pitch was atrocious though...dirt, ice, rocks everywhere and barely any snow. Next run down EB, I hit the stash with them--it was narrow, had good cover, and great pitch. The closing of the glade was an overgrown meadow/opening which was neat
After lunch, we decided to take it easy and hit the groomers again. Lower Toll Road and Powderhorn closed due to the cover (Thank God). We hit Lower Mountain after scoping out the upper terrain park on GAP...many were those jumps HUGE!
More runs on Lower Mountain and then closer on Warren's. Bumpier than before.
Passholder Gathering
We put our skis away and headed to the party for the passholders in the Bear Den Lodge. The place was rafter-to-rafter with people...busiest I have ever seen it
Three deep at the bar for drinks. Sam Adams was giving stuff away--mainly shirts and hats. A guy walked out with a new pair of skis. Good crowd, good vibe. Mingled and had a good time. Ginn and Company provided GREAT free food. After about an hour, the Ginn Chefs came in with three full plates of wings, sushi, a huge platter of sandwiches, finger and spring rolls, and dips and sauces Impressive! I recognized two Burke Management Team Staffers on hand for the event--Marketing guru David Gwatkin and Manager Dick Andross. The new GM was nowhere to be seen. The mountain also broadcasted vintage video footage of the construction of the Poma and ski trails in 1955-1956 and boy, did the place look different (as did the technology). Interesting clip. Given recent rumors regarding the future of MidBurke, mainly that it is going to be leveled, it was a bittersweet event because of the size of the crowd and the festive mood.Sunday's Visit: First Chair and First Tracks
I pulled in at 8:30am, booted up, and skated over to the quad to find that I was the first person there. After about ten minutes, I was rewarded with the first chair ride up and first tracks down Carriage Road and the Dippers, both groomed to perfection. :beer: I skied from 9-12, taking about ten runs down all of the groomed/snowmaking runs on the summit. Carriage Road was probably the best. I also meandered down Upper Warren's and scoped out the GAP terrain park (the photos on Burke's site don't do the jumps justice....they are HUGE
). Last run was a rock ski run down East Bowl. Unlike Saturday, it had been tracked out and was thin and icier in sections. Great weekend, just need more snow to really rock and roll! :beer:
