- Joined
- Jul 1, 2001
- Messages
- 31,154
- Points
- 0
Well, it's been a bit over a week since the mighty Ski Sundown closed for the 2008-09 ski season and I would be lying if I didn't admit that I'm still a bit sad about that. This season was unique in that I didn't travel north all that much. You might think I feel a bit cheated because of that. Hell effin' no! I had an awesome season and most of that was due to the great bumps the folks at Ski Sundown offered.
Opening day was 11/28/08 and 4 months later to the day on 3/28, they closed. Every single day this season, but one the mountain had a decent string of moguls. Not bad for a little hill down here in Connecticut. We were blessed last fall with an almost week long snowmaking window during the last third of November. This not only allowed the mountain to open the earliest it ever has, but also let them build enough base on Nor'easter and Temptor to offer bumps on opening day, and good ones at that. Probably the only decent set of bumps in the entire northeast at the time.
For the next almost 3 months we had bumps to play on, some great, some funky, some downright treacherous.
We also had a few decent snow storms in that time which is always a nice bonus. I had several ice bump days mid-season, but hell I'll take firm bumps over groomers being the only choice any day. I applaud the mountain for sitting tight and keeping the bumps in place until the next snow fall came. Most mountains don't get it. Not the case at little ole Sundown.
On January 24, the second Bump or Bust mogul competition was held. Not the best conditions; a cold and windy day and a firm course, but the turnout was good and we were honored to have some of Hunter Mountain's best skiers in attendance. Their presence alone truly validated the event. At the end of the day, everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and all of us local Sundown bumpers then looked forward to the second half of the season. The final weeks of the Temptor bumps featured one final snow making assault as well as a nice hit of natural snow and some great powder bumps before they eventually firmed up again.
On the night of February 20, the mountain began seeding Gunbarrel, their signature trail. I'm not sure any of us really understood what the final result would be. It took over a week for Kurt the groomer to finish his work, but when he was done, we were left with a 1,600 foot long bump field with a vertical drop well over 500 feet of tightly spaced bumps. A lot of bumps! On March 2, a foot of snow fell on those seeds setting us up for one helluva month!
The next four weekends in a row featured sun, warm temps, softening snow, growing moguls and some sick ass lines. We had visitors from AZ from all over the northeast; from New York State to New Hampshire, and of course us local mogul hacks as well trying our best to make every one feel welcome. I missed the most epic of all Sundays, March 15, but scored a truly great day, the next Tuesday which featured 50 degree temps, bluebird skies and sick bumps. Thanks 2knees, ishovelsnow, and MogulQueen for the company that day; quite possibly my best of the season, again right here at little Sundown.
On March 22, Sundown held the Bump or Bust III mogul competition, part of a day long spring event known as S7. In attendance were the Meatheads and "The Hammer" took home the $1,000 grand prize for the mogul comp. Personally, I'm psyched with my effort that day. I was seeded 15th in a field of 42 and while I lost my first duel, it was to New Hartford local and Sundown patroller, Bart Baxter who placed 2nd in the January bump comp. Cool guy and a great skier. I will never forget the roar from the crowd after finishing my qualifier and duel, mostly lead by a group of half drunk AZers. :lol: Thanks for your support guys! Unfortunately, Sundown only opened for one more day on March 28 due to melting snow and diminishing attendance. I feel very fortunate to have been there on closing day to enjoy the last of the Gunbarrel bumps.
I know Sundown gets talked about a lot on here, and a few of you that have never even been seem to like to take shots at our little hill. Well, I will say this to you. Several of who I would consider AZ's top skiers have checked out the Sundown moguls this season, some of them several times. I would say that in and of itself validates Sundown as a bump destination and deserving of the attention it gets here. I'd like to take this time again to thank Alan Belsky (180) for his support of the Sundown mogul approach this season. Anyone that has skied with Alan knows the caliber of his skiing and just having him here at Sundown on several occasions was a true pleasure. Many of you know that Alan's wife was injured during the March bump comp and we all wish Robin a speedy recovery.
I think Sundown's management understands now more than ever that some folks indeed still love to ski bumps. What they did with Gunbarrel resulted in easily the most challenging trail in Southern New England this season and that's an effort they should be proud of. I've even heard comments to the effect that Sundown had better bumps than many places well into NNE this season. March 2009 especially was a period in time that Sundown and all of us should be very proud of.
Sorry I'm so long winded with this first post here, but as all of you know, the emerging Sundown mogul scene is something I'm extremely passionate about and in a way very proud of. I first discovered the moguls at Sundown along with 2knees in February of 2006. At that time it was a short stretch of bumps on Lower Nor'easter. Many AZers and I have been hounding them ever since ( ) and this season was basically a culmination of all our efforts. Kudos to the Sundown AZers and to Chris Sullivan and Jarrod Moss for listening to us nutjobs. :lol:
I look forward to many more seasons of mogul skiing at Sundown, including introducing my two young daughters to the joys of bump skiing.
So, without further adieu, I present the 2008-09 Ski Sundown Mogul Tribute Video. I hope you enjoy it:
Here's a list of the cast of mogul characters in the video:
bvibert
Greg
2knees
powhunter
Grassi21
gmcunni
mondeo
downhill04
Mikey1
rueler
WoodCore
madroch
johnnypoach
MR. evil
MogulQueen
madskier6
180
181
MrMagic
MRGisevil
sLoPeS
o3jeff
powbmps
madriverjack
Beast_Ed
Shannon Stewart
jack97
ishovelsnow
Randy "The Hammer" Grasso
There may be a few other random people I forgot to credit. Anyway, feel free to use this thread to also show your appreciation to Ski Sundown for their mogul efforts this season.
Opening day was 11/28/08 and 4 months later to the day on 3/28, they closed. Every single day this season, but one the mountain had a decent string of moguls. Not bad for a little hill down here in Connecticut. We were blessed last fall with an almost week long snowmaking window during the last third of November. This not only allowed the mountain to open the earliest it ever has, but also let them build enough base on Nor'easter and Temptor to offer bumps on opening day, and good ones at that. Probably the only decent set of bumps in the entire northeast at the time.
For the next almost 3 months we had bumps to play on, some great, some funky, some downright treacherous.
We also had a few decent snow storms in that time which is always a nice bonus. I had several ice bump days mid-season, but hell I'll take firm bumps over groomers being the only choice any day. I applaud the mountain for sitting tight and keeping the bumps in place until the next snow fall came. Most mountains don't get it. Not the case at little ole Sundown.On January 24, the second Bump or Bust mogul competition was held. Not the best conditions; a cold and windy day and a firm course, but the turnout was good and we were honored to have some of Hunter Mountain's best skiers in attendance. Their presence alone truly validated the event. At the end of the day, everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and all of us local Sundown bumpers then looked forward to the second half of the season. The final weeks of the Temptor bumps featured one final snow making assault as well as a nice hit of natural snow and some great powder bumps before they eventually firmed up again.
On the night of February 20, the mountain began seeding Gunbarrel, their signature trail. I'm not sure any of us really understood what the final result would be. It took over a week for Kurt the groomer to finish his work, but when he was done, we were left with a 1,600 foot long bump field with a vertical drop well over 500 feet of tightly spaced bumps. A lot of bumps! On March 2, a foot of snow fell on those seeds setting us up for one helluva month!
The next four weekends in a row featured sun, warm temps, softening snow, growing moguls and some sick ass lines. We had visitors from AZ from all over the northeast; from New York State to New Hampshire, and of course us local mogul hacks as well trying our best to make every one feel welcome. I missed the most epic of all Sundays, March 15, but scored a truly great day, the next Tuesday which featured 50 degree temps, bluebird skies and sick bumps. Thanks 2knees, ishovelsnow, and MogulQueen for the company that day; quite possibly my best of the season, again right here at little Sundown.
On March 22, Sundown held the Bump or Bust III mogul competition, part of a day long spring event known as S7. In attendance were the Meatheads and "The Hammer" took home the $1,000 grand prize for the mogul comp. Personally, I'm psyched with my effort that day. I was seeded 15th in a field of 42 and while I lost my first duel, it was to New Hartford local and Sundown patroller, Bart Baxter who placed 2nd in the January bump comp. Cool guy and a great skier. I will never forget the roar from the crowd after finishing my qualifier and duel, mostly lead by a group of half drunk AZers. :lol: Thanks for your support guys! Unfortunately, Sundown only opened for one more day on March 28 due to melting snow and diminishing attendance. I feel very fortunate to have been there on closing day to enjoy the last of the Gunbarrel bumps.
I know Sundown gets talked about a lot on here, and a few of you that have never even been seem to like to take shots at our little hill. Well, I will say this to you. Several of who I would consider AZ's top skiers have checked out the Sundown moguls this season, some of them several times. I would say that in and of itself validates Sundown as a bump destination and deserving of the attention it gets here. I'd like to take this time again to thank Alan Belsky (180) for his support of the Sundown mogul approach this season. Anyone that has skied with Alan knows the caliber of his skiing and just having him here at Sundown on several occasions was a true pleasure. Many of you know that Alan's wife was injured during the March bump comp and we all wish Robin a speedy recovery.
I think Sundown's management understands now more than ever that some folks indeed still love to ski bumps. What they did with Gunbarrel resulted in easily the most challenging trail in Southern New England this season and that's an effort they should be proud of. I've even heard comments to the effect that Sundown had better bumps than many places well into NNE this season. March 2009 especially was a period in time that Sundown and all of us should be very proud of.
Sorry I'm so long winded with this first post here, but as all of you know, the emerging Sundown mogul scene is something I'm extremely passionate about and in a way very proud of. I first discovered the moguls at Sundown along with 2knees in February of 2006. At that time it was a short stretch of bumps on Lower Nor'easter. Many AZers and I have been hounding them ever since (
) and this season was basically a culmination of all our efforts. Kudos to the Sundown AZers and to Chris Sullivan and Jarrod Moss for listening to us nutjobs. :lol:I look forward to many more seasons of mogul skiing at Sundown, including introducing my two young daughters to the joys of bump skiing.
So, without further adieu, I present the 2008-09 Ski Sundown Mogul Tribute Video. I hope you enjoy it:
Here's a list of the cast of mogul characters in the video:
bvibert
Greg
2knees
powhunter
Grassi21
gmcunni
mondeo
downhill04
Mikey1
rueler
WoodCore
madroch
johnnypoach
MR. evil
MogulQueen
madskier6
180
181
MrMagic
MRGisevil
sLoPeS
o3jeff
powbmps
madriverjack
Beast_Ed
Shannon Stewart
jack97
ishovelsnow
Randy "The Hammer" Grasso
There may be a few other random people I forgot to credit. Anyway, feel free to use this thread to also show your appreciation to Ski Sundown for their mogul efforts this season.
