Ski Sundown - 3/13/2007 (night)

[Greg]

Date(s) Skied: Tuesday, 3/13/2007, 7:30 pm - 10:15 pm

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

Conditions: Spring bumps! Temps in the 40's, No wind, mostly cloudy.

Trip Report: The bumps are back, baby! Clicked in a bit before 7:30 and headed up and straight to Nor'easter. I was psyched to find great spring bumps. Actual bumps too; way better than the bumplets that were there on my last visit shortly after they were flattened. The next lift ride up I got a call from bvibert who was a few chairs ahead of me. We met at the summit and skied to the top of the Nor'easter bumps when cbcbd skied up along with some tele skier kid.

Tele skier kid hung with us for a run and we took another with him later. He was actually fun to watch skip over the bump tops. Anyway, Brian, Doug and I hit Nor'easter all night. The bumps are skiing better than ever and are totally in forgiving spring condition which let me take a bit more aggressive line. The center line was the best with some nicely sized bumps. Not too small and not gnarley big. I skied another line to the left which was consistent and good too, but a bit more forgiving. Brian indicated the line on the right was skiing good as well.

We all did well skiing tonight. I had a blast despite two wipe outs (one on Nor'easter, one of the flats of Ex) leading to a single and double ejection respectively. The bump skiing was so good that the three of us decided to hike back up the Nor'easter bumps after the last lift-serviced run of the night. We got to the top a few minutes before patrol came down to sweep. Just enough time to cool off a bit. I stuck my last run pretty well.

No more moguls on Exhibition.

AWESOME night. Good to ski with Doug again who I first met at Hunter back in December. He seems to be picking up the bumps very well and was able to hold his line pretty well all night for the most part. Brian looked solid too. Lots of fun. Thanks guys!

 

[bvibert]

Good times for sure, I'm glad I was able to get out of work for the night. It was nice to meet up with cbcbd again. Hopefully the video turns out good. The hike back up was a good idea, a nice way to end the night. :beer:

 

[Grassi21]

How was the hike in ski boots? How long did it take? What trail did you hike up?

 

[Greg]

How was the hike in ski boots? How long did it take? What trail did you hike up?

6 mins. Right back up Nor'easter, looker's left.

 

[Grassi21]

6 mins. Right back up Nor'easter, looker's left.

nice. i would be interested in some early morning turns as the season moves on or after the lifts stop turning. its certainly not VT, but its got to be a good work-out.

 

[Greg]

nice. i would be interested in some early morning turns as the season moves on or after the lifts stop turning. its certainly not VT, but its got to be a good work-out.

Brian and I were discussing hiking the hill once they close. The problem is there will probably be other day trippable mountains open that still offer lift serviced skiing, even after Sundown closes. Nevertheless, I imagine Sundown will still have skiable snow well into April. Maybe even patches in May. They may very well close with full coverage.

 

[2knees]

so they are back. thats really good to hear. not to pester you guys, but are they top to bottom filled in again or are there big dead spots in the middle still.

 

[Grassi21]

They may very well close with full coverage.

I was thinking this too. It would make hiking the place worth it. I'll plan on pulling a few work from home days to hike/ski Sundown for 1-2 hours. Now that coaching is starting I need to be able to get some turns in the morning and still be able to make practice at 4:30.

 

[Greg]

so they are back. thats really good to hear. not to pester you guys, but are they top to bottom filled in again or are there big dead spots in the middle still.

Not pestering at all. The middle bumps are back although a bit small. Pretty close to what we had at the end of January, just a little smaller, and oh so much softer. They are really good right now. You will enjoy them.

 

[bvibert]

I actually think the middle section is more defined now than it was before. The snow was very soft. The hike back up on the last run would have been a lot tougher if we weren't able to kick toe holds into the short steeper sections...

 

[cbcbd]

Good times! Glad I could meet up with you guys and follow behind your tracks.

I'll "youtube" the videos later tonight, they look good - especially tele-kid's comments after the "pole" incident

Lol - and looking at my first time skiing on video - not bad and I can definitively see my areas for improvement much clearer now.

 

[Greg]

I'll "youtube" the videos later tonight, they look good - especially tele-kid's comments after the "pole" incident

Oh God. I can only imagine.....that was my gaper moment of the night...

Lol - and looking at my first time skiing on video - not bad and I can definitively see my areas for improvement much clearer now.

Seeing video of yourself can be inspiring and troublesome all at once.

 

[cbcbd]

Oh God. I can only imagine.....that was my gaper moment of the night...

BTW, I snipped those passes from my jacket
...it was time

 

[2knees]

i got pinched at sugarbush with too many tickets. i hadnt worn my ski jacket since the last time i was at sundown and had my magic ticket still on too. The ticket scanner dude was shaking his head at me. I felt like a tool.

 

[Greg]

BTW, I snipped those passes from my jacket
...it was time

No worries. Always looking to help de-gaperize. Hope I didn't offend. You're a good skier and really can wear as many lift tickets on your jacket as you want. Your skills can speak for themself.

I was really digging that eyewear you had though. Those were rad. 8)

 

[cbcbd]

No worries. Always looking to help de-gaperize. Hope I didn't offend. You're a good skier and really can wear as many lift tickets on your jacket as you want. Your skills can speak for themself.

I was really digging that eyewear you had though. Those were rad. 8)

No offense taken - I was actually wondering if you guys would've mentioned anything, especially since that was one of the "you know you're a gaper" points in the gaper thread
I was kind of waiting for it to get too ridiculous and be an anti-gaper
But it was starting to get in the way of my technique in the bumps

"rad"
Those were my Native Hardtop XP. I wanted to try out the yellow lenses in the nighttime conditions. Around dusk when I got there they really helped. At night I didn't notice too much difference.

 

[Greg]

No offense taken - I was actually wondering if you guys would've mentioned anything, especially since that was one of the "you know you're a gaper" points in the gaper thread
I was kind of waiting for it to get too ridiculous and be an anti-gaper
But it was starting to get in the way of my technique in the bumps

At least they weren't all on your center zipper and smacking you in the lip the whole night...

 

[Grassi21]

At least they weren't all on your center zipper and smacking you in the lip the whole night...

Speaking of gapers. I saw two denim-daredevils ripping it up on Monday. One of which was wearing a t-shirt. Then after lunch I saw a boarder with the rasta hat with fake dreds. I true to snap a pic but he was too far away.

 

[Greg]

Speaking of gapers. I saw two denim-daredevils ripping it up on Monday. One of which was wearing a t-shirt. Then after lunch I saw a boarder with the rasta hat with fake dreds. I true to snap a pic but he was too far away.

Ultimate gaperness as Sundown last night. A guy in a black trench coat. :-o

 

[bvibert]

Ultimate gaperness as Sundown last night. A guy in a black trench coat. :-o

I was just going to mention that. The lifties were calling him a vampire...