Ski Resort: Burke Mountain
Date: December 22, 2007
Conditions: Chowder and MG.
Weather: Cold, mostly cloudy, stiff wind out of the SW.
2007-2008 Report # : 12
Trip Report: After a one-week hiatus for exams, my legs and skis were ready to hit the trails. I got up early and headed to the mountain to meet the “Dawn Patrol” for some early morning turns.
Just like last season, the mountain was filled with the future ski racers of America. If they had not been there, the place would have been quiet.
I met the original trailboss and crew and we headed out. The first spin was down Upper Willoughby with the original trailboss leading the charge. After making fun of Danny for his epic fall last week, it was my turn to go face first. I skied off of Willoughby onto the knoll at the top that I have dubbed “the launchpad.” Intending to get in on some chowder and then blast off, I instead steered into the snow and quickly flopped down. Nobody saw me at least :wink:
We charged down Lower Bear Den to Lower Fox’s for another run. Very nice…edge to edge corduroy.
Next run was down Upper Dipper to a wonderful Powderhorn. “Had to get into the natural snow,” TOTB said with a grin. Danny and his posse went full steam down Carriage Road and reported that it was a bit uneven in places. Lower Powderhorn was much improved over the last visit.
We headed back to the top to do a full run down Willoughby. Very nice. I cut onto Upper Bear Den while TOTB and most other folks spun down Camper’s Carry. I hit the banks just right and was loving it…until the final little pitch where I hit some death cookie action…some evasive maneuvering saved the day. Lower Willoughby was silky…
Before taking a break, we hit Carriage Road, which was a bit skied out IMHO. I hit the bumps on the left of the knoll and found some decent snow. It looks like they did not put much snowmaking on it this season…and word had it that most of the snowmaking crew has been laid off already. Dippers skied very well.
The mountain opened the Bear Den Lounge on schedule…the midmorning break that is for us. We grabbed a table and hung out…I discovered that Danny is a celebrity of sorts, and the rest of us picked on him. What else is new…
After a break, we were off again for some more good runs. We pointed them down Willoughby, where Dave dusted a kid half his size :wink: That got some ridiculing from the rest of us. Becky charged ahead down Lower Bear Den and Lower Fox’s. Both were in good shape.
We did one more spin down Powderhorn before they called it quits for lunch. I took a run off the top, hitting Wilderness to Mountain Marsh and Boarderline. Wow. Wilderness is in AMAZING shape and I found great cover on Boarderline. Marsh had been mowed earlier this week, but set up really nicely.
The Poma was going top to bottom, so I took two spins. First was down Ledges, which was chowder heaven. I cut onto Fox’s and then over to the Poma for another spin. This time it was Doug’s to a recently mowed McHarg’s. Wow. Doug’s has to be the best I have seen it…simply great.
Well, at this point, my “beer light” came on. Time for some carb recharging. Mind you that the other folks’ “beer lights” are better calibrated than mine, because mine went off later…but I was still there. We admired the old school Burke hats and glasses. I see some in my future. We also talked about the holidays.
The crew headed out at 1pm and I went down to Lower Mountain to terrorize the ankle biters. I took a spin down each of the trails…usual crowd down there of HSQ lovers, terrain park rats, newbies, and young families. Nothing to write home about…except Dave has been assigned to the HSQ.
From here I headed back to the top to hit East Bowl. It had been mowed earlier this week, but it was really skied out. I find that like some other trails, once EB is groomed, you are pretty much committed to grooming it until the next storm. It didn’t ski too well…
I hit Bear Den from top to bottom…mint though the Meadows is still sketchy. No snowmaking for some reason (?) :blink:
Wilderness was the next spin…simply awesome…and then I jumped onto Lew’s Leap. That run was very well covered and skied excellently. I was
to see someone standing at the top of the ledges on skier’s right…they had no choice but to get air and they didn’t come out so well. He was OK, but I told his buddy, “I wouldn’t do that if I were him.”
I did one more spin down Ledge’s, and then another Wilderness/Lew’s Leap Run, before closing with two more spins down Ledge’s. There was enough snow on that run to ski most of the run…as opposed to one or two choice lines. Awesome.
I closed the place up…was not intending to ski open to close, but I did considering that the weather is not looking good tomorrow between the r&*n and high winds. I may get out for a few hours in the morning…got to take it when you can.
Date: December 22, 2007
Conditions: Chowder and MG.
Weather: Cold, mostly cloudy, stiff wind out of the SW.
2007-2008 Report # : 12
Trip Report: After a one-week hiatus for exams, my legs and skis were ready to hit the trails. I got up early and headed to the mountain to meet the “Dawn Patrol” for some early morning turns.
Just like last season, the mountain was filled with the future ski racers of America. If they had not been there, the place would have been quiet.
I met the original trailboss and crew and we headed out. The first spin was down Upper Willoughby with the original trailboss leading the charge. After making fun of Danny for his epic fall last week, it was my turn to go face first. I skied off of Willoughby onto the knoll at the top that I have dubbed “the launchpad.” Intending to get in on some chowder and then blast off, I instead steered into the snow and quickly flopped down. Nobody saw me at least :wink:
We charged down Lower Bear Den to Lower Fox’s for another run. Very nice…edge to edge corduroy.
Next run was down Upper Dipper to a wonderful Powderhorn. “Had to get into the natural snow,” TOTB said with a grin. Danny and his posse went full steam down Carriage Road and reported that it was a bit uneven in places. Lower Powderhorn was much improved over the last visit.
We headed back to the top to do a full run down Willoughby. Very nice. I cut onto Upper Bear Den while TOTB and most other folks spun down Camper’s Carry. I hit the banks just right and was loving it…until the final little pitch where I hit some death cookie action…some evasive maneuvering saved the day. Lower Willoughby was silky…
Before taking a break, we hit Carriage Road, which was a bit skied out IMHO. I hit the bumps on the left of the knoll and found some decent snow. It looks like they did not put much snowmaking on it this season…and word had it that most of the snowmaking crew has been laid off already. Dippers skied very well.
The mountain opened the Bear Den Lounge on schedule…the midmorning break that is for us. We grabbed a table and hung out…I discovered that Danny is a celebrity of sorts, and the rest of us picked on him. What else is new…
After a break, we were off again for some more good runs. We pointed them down Willoughby, where Dave dusted a kid half his size :wink: That got some ridiculing from the rest of us. Becky charged ahead down Lower Bear Den and Lower Fox’s. Both were in good shape.
We did one more spin down Powderhorn before they called it quits for lunch. I took a run off the top, hitting Wilderness to Mountain Marsh and Boarderline. Wow. Wilderness is in AMAZING shape and I found great cover on Boarderline. Marsh had been mowed earlier this week, but set up really nicely.
The Poma was going top to bottom, so I took two spins. First was down Ledges, which was chowder heaven. I cut onto Fox’s and then over to the Poma for another spin. This time it was Doug’s to a recently mowed McHarg’s. Wow. Doug’s has to be the best I have seen it…simply great.
Well, at this point, my “beer light” came on. Time for some carb recharging. Mind you that the other folks’ “beer lights” are better calibrated than mine, because mine went off later…but I was still there. We admired the old school Burke hats and glasses. I see some in my future. We also talked about the holidays.
The crew headed out at 1pm and I went down to Lower Mountain to terrorize the ankle biters. I took a spin down each of the trails…usual crowd down there of HSQ lovers, terrain park rats, newbies, and young families. Nothing to write home about…except Dave has been assigned to the HSQ.
From here I headed back to the top to hit East Bowl. It had been mowed earlier this week, but it was really skied out. I find that like some other trails, once EB is groomed, you are pretty much committed to grooming it until the next storm. It didn’t ski too well…
I hit Bear Den from top to bottom…mint though the Meadows is still sketchy. No snowmaking for some reason (?) :blink:
Wilderness was the next spin…simply awesome…and then I jumped onto Lew’s Leap. That run was very well covered and skied excellently. I was
to see someone standing at the top of the ledges on skier’s right…they had no choice but to get air and they didn’t come out so well. He was OK, but I told his buddy, “I wouldn’t do that if I were him.” I did one more spin down Ledge’s, and then another Wilderness/Lew’s Leap Run, before closing with two more spins down Ledge’s. There was enough snow on that run to ski most of the run…as opposed to one or two choice lines. Awesome.
I closed the place up…was not intending to ski open to close, but I did considering that the weather is not looking good tomorrow between the r&*n and high winds. I may get out for a few hours in the morning…got to take it when you can.
