Date(s) Skied:Nov 26, 2005
Resort or Ski Area:Mount Sunapee
Conditions:MG, PP/P. Snowmaking in Progress on Chipmunk as well as Sunbowl and under the lift.
Trip Report:AFTER seeing that Cannon would not open at all this weekend
, I decided to head back to my home in the Upper Valley and use my pass to Sunapee. I was stunned to see that they made their Nov 25th opening date on two trails--the Blastoffs--and was thrilled to see that I would have Skyway Ledges, Westside, and Tobaggan Shoot to add to the list :beer: So some variety for early season.
I convinced my good friend, CB, to come down and hit Sunapee with me. It was to be his first day as well for the season.
We arrived to find plenty of parking and the mountain was covered in snow and the guns were going in numerous places. After speaking to the attendant, we went to get a ticket for my friend. I had found a $10 coupon for any full day ticket and gave it to him--they accepted it--making his ticket only $20 for the day.
After booting up, we headed to the quad and got right on. The lift was going about half-speed, but fast enough to make for no lines all day long.
Snowmaking and grooming crews were in full force on Chipmunk...which was great to see Guns were blasting under the lift and over on North Peak and in the Sunbowl. It was clear that Sunapee was ready to get going (applause).
We had two routes for today--the Skyway Ledges/Westside/Tobaggan Shoot run and the Blast Off runs. We hit the former first to find excellent edge-to-edge cover. This run was very reminiscent of Burke's Upper Dipper. Lake Sunapee was cold, dark, and gray in the distance and there were some boaters on the water as well :blink:
Our next run was the Blast-Off's which were in great shape--again edge-to-edge. Grooming and snowmaking were great. No bare spots at all. "This is great! It's midwinter skiing," CB said to me as we grinned.
"This is what I like," I added. :beer:
From about 9:30 until 3:30pm, we alternated between the two--him on his snowblades and me on my rock skis. It was a lot of fun. I will confess that he did sample the Summit Glades to find decent cover and some interesting lines...my knees prevented me from following :roll:
Skyway held well for most of the day but Lower Westside became rather slick. Upper Blastoff was great until about 1:30 or so and also got slick. Mid and Lower Blast Off had soft snow on the edges and a few death cookies for those not paying attention.
We yo-yoed up and down all day and had a great time hitting bumps and mini-jumps. I hit soft bumps on the side of the trails in between big GS Turns. My legs held up really well and I skied great. I was considering that a week ago there was NO snow at all.
I was surprised by who did show up--lots of locals buying day tix and who did not--many passholders or out-of-staters. Big surprise. The median age was low--maybe 18 or so--many kids being dropped off I imagined for Mom and Dad to do some XMAS shopping. And for a $30 or $20 ticket, the skiing was great. (Jay is $35 for today and had six trails going...)
The place was not busy at all and skiers/riders came and went in waves. By 2pm it cleared out. No lines on the lift at all.
We pulled the plug at 3:30 as it was getting dark and icy. Snowed all day but not much accumulation.
I will be back tomorrow for a few hours to beat the rains :x They had set up a mini-rail park on lower Chipmunk and I look forward to skiing this run...the snow was fresh and I imagine it will be groomed to perfection :beer:
After a day at the slopes, we hit the Village Pizza in Lebanon for a beer and great eats. A great first day and a great way to start my 17th season! :beer:
Resort or Ski Area:Mount Sunapee
Conditions:MG, PP/P. Snowmaking in Progress on Chipmunk as well as Sunbowl and under the lift.
Trip Report:AFTER seeing that Cannon would not open at all this weekend
, I decided to head back to my home in the Upper Valley and use my pass to Sunapee. I was stunned to see that they made their Nov 25th opening date on two trails--the Blastoffs--and was thrilled to see that I would have Skyway Ledges, Westside, and Tobaggan Shoot to add to the list :beer: So some variety for early season. I convinced my good friend, CB, to come down and hit Sunapee with me. It was to be his first day as well for the season.
We arrived to find plenty of parking and the mountain was covered in snow and the guns were going in numerous places. After speaking to the attendant, we went to get a ticket for my friend. I had found a $10 coupon for any full day ticket and gave it to him--they accepted it--making his ticket only $20 for the day.
After booting up, we headed to the quad and got right on. The lift was going about half-speed, but fast enough to make for no lines all day long.
Snowmaking and grooming crews were in full force on Chipmunk...which was great to see
Guns were blasting under the lift and over on North Peak and in the Sunbowl. It was clear that Sunapee was ready to get going (applause). We had two routes for today--the Skyway Ledges/Westside/Tobaggan Shoot run and the Blast Off runs. We hit the former first to find excellent edge-to-edge cover. This run was very reminiscent of Burke's Upper Dipper. Lake Sunapee was cold, dark, and gray in the distance and there were some boaters on the water as well :blink:
Our next run was the Blast-Off's which were in great shape--again edge-to-edge. Grooming and snowmaking were great. No bare spots at all. "This is great! It's midwinter skiing," CB said to me as we grinned.
"This is what I like," I added. :beer:
From about 9:30 until 3:30pm, we alternated between the two--him on his snowblades and me on my rock skis. It was a lot of fun. I will confess that he did sample the Summit Glades to find decent cover and some interesting lines...my knees prevented me from following :roll:
Skyway held well for most of the day but Lower Westside became rather slick. Upper Blastoff was great until about 1:30 or so and also got slick. Mid and Lower Blast Off had soft snow on the edges and a few death cookies for those not paying attention.
We yo-yoed up and down all day and had a great time hitting bumps and mini-jumps. I hit soft bumps on the side of the trails in between big GS Turns. My legs held up really well and I skied great. I was
considering that a week ago there was NO snow at all. I was surprised by who did show up--lots of locals buying day tix and who did not--many passholders or out-of-staters. Big surprise. The median age was low--maybe 18 or so--many kids being dropped off I imagined for Mom and Dad to do some XMAS shopping. And for a $30 or $20 ticket, the skiing was great. (Jay is $35 for today and had six trails going...)
The place was not busy at all and skiers/riders came and went in waves. By 2pm it cleared out. No lines on the lift at all.
We pulled the plug at 3:30 as it was getting dark and icy. Snowed all day but not much accumulation.
I will be back tomorrow for a few hours to beat the rains :x They had set up a mini-rail park on lower Chipmunk and I look forward to skiing this run...the snow was fresh and I imagine it will be groomed to perfection :beer:
After a day at the slopes, we hit the Village Pizza in Lebanon for a beer and great eats. A great first day and a great way to start my 17th season! :beer:
