the CLITs are so lucky

[deadheadskier]

Say what? Try skiing Rime at Killington in early November. It's totally bumped up by the afternoon. The way you get early season bumps going is to not groom the trail.

When I skied K early season last year, yes there were bumps on Rime, but minimal decent lines. More like, 2-4 bumps to get some rhythm, then a luge shot to the next bump 30 feet down hill. GS push pile bumps for the most part.

In the East, 9 times out of 10, seeding is going to produce better moguls than leaving a trail ungroomed, unless two conditions exists.

1. A high percentage of good bump skiers on the trail and minimal lower level skiers. Hate to say it, but snowboarding also can be quite damaging to line formation.

2. A good amount of natural snowfall.

IMO, the best natural bumps in the East these days exist at Sugarbush (north especially) and MRG.

People snicker at seeding, but it serves a purpose. It pretty much guarantees a good product provided a ski area is also committed to top dressing the terrain with snowmaking refreshes. For this reason, yes, Sundown skiers have a great thing going for them.

 

[makimono]

Wachusset stinks at making moguls...they make oblong mounds with big gaps and weird spacing. The best moguls at wawa are the ones that form late season on smith walton after they stop grooming it for the year.

It'd be awesome if they could figure it out but I don't think they really want to. I mean even the little bit they do seed (badly) is on a crappy part of 10th with a perennial 20 meter ice flow at the start or a section of hitch that's not steep enough to link short swings.

 

[Nick]

Wachusset stinks at making moguls...they make oblong mounds with big gaps and weird spacing. The best moguls at wawa are the ones that form late season on smith walton after they stop grooming it for the year.

It'd be awesome if they could figure it out but I don't think they really want to. I mean even the little bit they do seed (badly) is on a crappy part of 10th with a perennial 20 meter ice flow at the start or a section of hitch that's not steep enough to link short swings.

I was going to say the ones at the end of the season this year seemed pretty decent.

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[Nick]

Here's a video I found of Sunapee (sp.?) seeding bumps:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fth44N-3P0&feature=youtube_gdata_player

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[Nick]

They plant them in the fall and they grow in the winter.

Nice, :lol:

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[Nick]

Bobutts shot this....here's how they do them at Sunappee..... the other place that is leased :blink:

Notice how the bump formation will allow turns to be linked into a nice line. Wachusett obviously used a groomer but their formation is quite different.

Argh thanks, sorry I missed that earlier, just posted the same video... my bad!

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[mondeo]

When I skied K early season last year, yes there were bumps on Rime, but minimal decent lines. More like, 2-4 bumps to get some rhythm, then a luge shot to the next bump 30 feet down hill. GS push pile bumps for the most part.

In the East, 9 times out of 10, seeding is going to produce better moguls than leaving a trail ungroomed, unless two conditions exists.

1. A high percentage of good bump skiers on the trail and minimal lower level skiers. Hate to say it, but snowboarding also can be quite damaging to line formation.

2. A good amount of natural snowfall.

IMO, the best natural bumps in the East these days exist at Sugarbush (north especially) and MRG.

People snicker at seeding, but it serves a purpose. It pretty much guarantees a good product provided a ski area is also committed to top dressing the terrain with snowmaking refreshes. For this reason, yes, Sundown skiers have a great thing going for them.

Last year, for whatever reason, no real bump lines formed off the NRT. Year before that, it was great. Fully bumped up by noon.

And I'd rather have Wa's bumps for the entire season than the full length Gunbarrel that we had for a week or two this year. The rest of the year was on Nor'Easter, with about 3 bumps at a easy blue pitch.

 

[makimono]

You know what I'd like to see wawa do?

Leave the groomers off piece of cake. Don't try to seed it, just let us bump it up naturally. They'd have to groom it out once in a while but for the most part just let it get bumped up edge to edge top to bottom. They never run the triple anyways so they don't have to worry about some kids wandering into it by accident and getting in trouble since you need to do a 20' sidestep uphill to get to the run.

It still may not be steep enough I don't know...but a dedicated bump run would make wachusett so much more better.

 

[deadheadskier]

Last year, for whatever reason, no real bump lines formed off the NRT. Year before that, it was great. Fully bumped up by noon.

And I'd rather have Wa's bumps for the entire season than the full length Gunbarrel that we had for a week or two this year. The rest of the year was on Nor'Easter, with about 3 bumps at a easy blue pitch.

what was the issue with the Gunbarrel bumps? too tight?

too tight is almost worse than too spread out

 

[powhunter]

Last year they were perfect.

Steveo

 

[bvibert]

Bobutts shot this....here's how they do them at Sunappee..... the other place that is leased :blink:

Notice how the bump formation will allow turns to be linked into a nice line. Wachusett obviously used a groomer but their formation is quite different.

That's not how Sundown does it. They said they've tried it that way, but preferred their method more. They start at the top and push the piles up using the plow blade one at a time. The groomer is facing uphill and works it's way down backwards. It's a pretty tedious process. The groomer operator at Sundown is really good, he moves really quickly, but it still takes him a couple of nights to seed Gunny. He also get's motion sickness regularly while seeding and has to get out to blow chunks in the woods.

 

[Watatic Skier]

You know what I'd like to see wawa do?

Leave the groomers off piece of cake. Don't try to seed it, just let us bump it up naturally. They'd have to groom it out once in a while but for the most part just let it get bumped up edge to edge top to bottom. They never run the triple anyways so they don't have to worry about some kids wandering into it by accident and getting in trouble since you need to do a 20' sidestep uphill to get to the run.

It still may not be steep enough I don't know...but a dedicated bump run would make wachusett so much more better.

I would like them to just bump at the majority of the Pitch on tenth, starting where the lift goes back into the trees, down to the road. It happened a few times this year. The could leave maybe a 20-30 foot wide strip groomed? I wouldn't care what they did with the rest of the trails if that happened.

Also, the New High Speed Quad there talking about replacing the extremely slow beginner lift wouldn't probably drag the, err.... less experienced people off the summit, greatly increasing manuvering room and leave more room for moguls

Edit: heres a picture from one of the times they had 10th bumped up

Notice the Bail-out lane on the left.

 

[jack97]

I would like them to just bump at the majority of the Pitch on tenth, starting where the lift goes back into the trees, down to the road. It happened a few times this year. The could leave maybe a 20-30 foot wide strip groomed? I wouldn't care what they did with the rest of the trails if that happened.

Smith Walton gets closed to the public for race program Sunday morning and prolly other weeknights. Once those programs finish, they may leave Smith Walton alone to bump up. Haha..... its a treat early season after a December dump and they Smith Walton bump up before the race program.

If you talking about that long section right under the lift line.... that would be great. But they still need to blow snow just to establish a good base for the bumps, otherwise the troughs will burn through exposing the dirt. I would be happy with where they have the present bumps but just form them so that you can link turns for a zipperline.

If they can only do something like this, it doesn't have to be that wide....

 

[mondeo]

what was the issue with the Gunbarrel bumps? too tight?

too tight is almost worse than too spread out

The problem is they didn't exist. Through January it was maybe 200ft vert of very shallow bumps, then only the top 200 ft or so of Gunbarrel. 6-7 minutes on the chair for 20 seconds of straightlined bumps. And for a while they didn't even have a real jump in the terrain park. Bored out of my mind for the first half of the season.

If they ever expand and get a dedicated, reasonable pitch run they can bump up for the entire season and put in a small-medium size half pipe, I'll consider going back. Other than that, I'll go for the competitions.

But I've already said too much, I fear the others are onto me. Best go and hide before swift and brutal retribution.

 

[deadheadskier]

Seems like reasonable feedback to me.

I'd imagine if I skied Killington every weekend, Sundown's offerings would be a bit of a let down.

I'm guessing that many Sundown regulars would feel the same way if they skied up north as often as you do.

 

[wa-loaf]

The 10th Mtn bumps are pretty hit and miss, sometimes a decent line form. This year was the first time (that I remember) that they put in bumps on Hitchcock which is a nice low angle hill. Great for people who wanted get a little practice in without being intimidated and fun to just rip through. They had great lines in them, not sure why it's good there but so sucky on 10th.

 

[SkiFanE]

I'm a bump skier. Hate seeded bumps. Love natural, but in NE even the best natural trails need to get groomed flat every now and then. But something like Agony at SR will be bumped up nicely again in a day. I never have trouble finding a line, but I rarely ski seeded bumps - I wing it and always look far enough ahead to keep my rhythm. Definitely a shame smaller mountains (ie WaWa) don't leave some stuff natural, seeded bumps are like driving on a race course...I like to be out on the roadway, best way to improve in bumps.

Maybe seeded are best for competing, but nothing better than a nice long trail of natural bumps (got Antelope in 3 days before MRG closed, thanks JJ ).

 

[2knees]

I'm a bump skier. Hate seeded bumps. Love natural, but in NE even the best natural trails need to get groomed flat every now and then. But something like Agony at SR will be bumped up nicely again in a day. I never have trouble finding a line, but I rarely ski seeded bumps - I wing it and always look far enough ahead to keep my rhythm. Definitely a shame smaller mountains (ie WaWa) don't leave some stuff natural, seeded bumps are like driving on a race course...I like to be out on the roadway, best way to improve in bumps.

Maybe seeded are best for competing, but nothing better than a nice long trail of natural bumps (got Antelope in 3 days before MRG closed, thanks JJ ).

You sound like you really know your stuff. You should put on a clinic for all of us less then 30 day a year unaddicted hacks who can only ski seeded bump lines made with laser precision. I'd sign up in a heartbeat to learn from a pro like yourself. Let me know when and where. I'll clear my schedule.

 

[SkiFanE]

You sound like you really know your stuff. You should put on a clinic for all of us less then 30 day a year unaddicted hacks who can only ski seeded bump lines made with laser precision. I'd sign up in a heartbeat to learn from a pro like yourself. Let me know when and where. I'll clear my schedule.

I note some sarcasm. I have little experience in seeded bumps, and probably do worse in them than natural. Never said I was better skier, it's just a different kind of skiing. Half the fun is finding natural bumps and then figuring them out.

 

[Grassi21]

You sound like you really know your stuff. You should put on a clinic for all of us less then 30 day a year unaddicted hacks who can only ski seeded bump lines made with laser precision. I'd sign up in a heartbeat to learn from a pro like yourself. Let me know when and where. I'll clear my schedule.

Looks like this heat is making someone cranky... :lol:

Seeded bumps are for hacks... like me!