Ski Resort: Burke Mountain
Date: December 8, 2007
Conditions: Powder and Chowder! Lots of it!!!!
Weather: Snowed all day long, accumulating maybe 1-2” or so.
2007-2008 Report # : 7.
Trip Report: After snagging the last chair of the 2006-2007 season at Burke, it was only fitting that I make my best effort to get first chair. I got up early and made the drive. It was well worth it.
Got there at 8:25am and it was already bustling. Good vibes. Lots of happy people at MidBurke. But I was a bit :-? Because that meant more competition for the first chair.
Met up with the Dawn Patrol…same place, an hour later than last season. It was their first day on the slopes, so their plan was to stick to groomers. I had warned the original trailboss that might be striking off on my own to hit the pow. He understood…being a skier he knows the rule that you have no friends on a pow day :wink:
Skated over to the Quad at 8:40 and was 1 of about 15 folks waiting. Being a single, I got up to the front pretty easily. It was the longest 20 minutes I have ever had to wait. Everyone was so stoked. The original trailboss and crew were behind me…
Before they dropped the rope, I squeezed up front and joined the one guy who had been there all morning waiting and the two other guys who had snagged the other seats with him. I got first chair.
I learned that the first man in line had gotten there at 7:30 for tracks That’s commitment. He in recognized me from April. “You were the guy who got the last chair? Yes?” Good memory. :wink:
So many choices. Only one first run. I decided to take East Bowl for quiet solitude and powder bliss. Knee deep, soft, and amazing. Wow. There were a few tracks from patrol’s sweep on Friday, but I scored major pow. Amazing.
That got me pumped…hooting all the way down. Beware though…the ground is not yet frozen and there are open ditches in places. Ski with care.
Next run I caught up with the Dawn Patrol. They saw my big and were thrilled to hear of the snow. I jumped behind them and as they ducked onto Carriage Road I cut onto Wilderness. Wow. Soft snow, no rocks, amazing. Knee deep chowder. Powderhorn was a bit dicey…especially the middle part. I cut onto the left side of the lower knoll to find frankensnow that had blown over from Dippers…very sketchy. I cut across Dipper and then ducked onto Boarderline. That is a nice run that is easily missed, but today had only two tracks on it. So I had to add mine :wink: Great snow. Best I have seen that trail!
Where I was I could see that McHarg’s was untracked, and that the Poma was running with no lines. So what does one do? Yep, head to the Poma for a half hour of quick pow runs on Middle/Lower Fox’s Folly (if that makes sense :wink: ) which was amazing. That was worth three runs in a row off the Poma. By now my legs were warmed up and my powder dance was pretty much perfect…enough to get some shouts from the Quad overhead. On the last charge down through the powder, I got caught on some frankensnow and faceplanted in powder. Oh well.
I did two runs down McHarg’s, which was amazingly soft and deep. Great stuff.
By now it was about 10:15 or so and I was soaked in my fleece. It had been snowing all morning and a Patagonia R4 Fleece is not made for heavy snow…so I delayered and threw on my Gore Tex shell and headed back to the Quad. MK and TD had requested that I hurry back to hold them a place at the bar, but they beat me…they just ski too fast…
Next run was down the west side. I had been eyeing Ledges, one of my favorite steep runs, and I decided it was worth a roll. I dove down Camper’s Carry into some more knee deep pow and then onto a wind scoured Bear Den, which was a bit sketchy. I picked my way to the Ledges and peered down…some nice chowder on the left. After directing a lost intermediate skier to Willoughby (so as to avoid the headwall), I headed down left then cut back right onto my favorite side. The snow was soft, but not quite as deep as on the East Side. Well worth a spin…on December 8th nonetheless. I skied down Lower Bear Den, then onto Lower Fox’s for more pow shots in front of the Dawn Patrol, and then onto a groomed Lower Lower Fox’s where I caught an edge (oy).
Next run was down Wilderness again to Powderhorn and then to Lower Doug’s, which was deep. I did a spin down Willoughby all the way down. Upper was groomed, but needed some more ironing out. Lower was chowder, but like the Ledge’s, it was a bit shallow because of the wind. Still good. I also grabbed a quick run down a nicely groomed Carriage Road before hitting Mountain Marsh and Little Dipper before heading in for lunch. The last runs were chopped up, but soft and fun.
It was great to catch up with the Dawn Patrol at the expanded Bear Den Lounge. I grabbed a beer and talked politics with MK. The $825 turkey hat was proudly displayed. Lots of good energy, lots of familiar faces…it was all good.
At 1:15 the Dawn Patrol headed home and I headed back out for some turns. I was tired and decided some groomers would be nice. So I headed down to the Lower Mountain for four runs. High Meadow’s and Bunker Hill were ironed out, but a bit slick from snowmaking that had not quite set up. Binney Lane was smooth pow on the top, but a bit sketchy down below thanks to unfrozen ground and springs. The terrain park on Dashney Mile was impressive and the coverage below was edge to edge. Amazing.
I headed back up top for a few more runs before calling it a day. First run was down Upper Fox’s to Deer Run, and then to Doug’s. I could not resist…peering down over that lip, I saw that the bumps were soft and not too overwhelming. It was a bit thin in places, but nothing worse than how it has been before. I found some good snow and then cut over to Mountain Marsh before cutting back onto Boarderline. Still great.
By now it was about 3pm and I had covered almost all the open terrain at the mountain except for the glades. I took one more run off the top…hitting Carriage Road to Upper Doug’s Drop, then screaming down Deer Run to Lower Powderhorn. I rolled the dice on Lew’s Leap…it was very nice. The headwall was well covered, but the lower part had some rocks that were covered in snow and easily avoided.
I skated over to the Poma. Did one spin down Middle Fox powder field…and then a couple cool downs on Warren’s Way before calling it quits at 3:20 or so.
What an amazing opening day! It really was incredible, but since the last few weeks of 2006-2007 were amazing, it is hard to appreciate these great conditions. To be able to hit all my favorite trails on natural snowcover in early December is unprecedented. Going back tomorrow for more…stay tuned.
Date: December 8, 2007
Conditions: Powder and Chowder! Lots of it!!!!
Weather: Snowed all day long, accumulating maybe 1-2” or so.
2007-2008 Report # : 7.
Trip Report: After snagging the last chair of the 2006-2007 season at Burke, it was only fitting that I make my best effort to get first chair. I got up early and made the drive. It was well worth it.
Got there at 8:25am and it was already bustling. Good vibes. Lots of happy people at MidBurke. But I was a bit :-? Because that meant more competition for the first chair.
Met up with the Dawn Patrol…same place, an hour later than last season. It was their first day on the slopes, so their plan was to stick to groomers. I had warned the original trailboss that might be striking off on my own to hit the pow. He understood…being a skier he knows the rule that you have no friends on a pow day :wink:
Skated over to the Quad at 8:40 and was 1 of about 15 folks waiting. Being a single, I got up to the front pretty easily. It was the longest 20 minutes I have ever had to wait. Everyone was so stoked. The original trailboss and crew were behind me…
Before they dropped the rope, I squeezed up front and joined the one guy who had been there all morning waiting and the two other guys who had snagged the other seats with him. I got first chair.
I learned that the first man in line had gotten there at 7:30 for tracks That’s commitment. He in recognized me from April. “You were the guy who got the last chair? Yes?” Good memory. :wink:So many choices. Only one first run. I decided to take East Bowl for quiet solitude and powder bliss. Knee deep, soft, and amazing. Wow. There were a few tracks from patrol’s sweep on Friday, but I scored major pow. Amazing.
That got me pumped…hooting all the way down. Beware though…the ground is not yet frozen and there are open ditches in places. Ski with care.
Next run I caught up with the Dawn Patrol. They saw my big
and were thrilled to hear of the snow. I jumped behind them and as they ducked onto Carriage Road I cut onto Wilderness. Wow. Soft snow, no rocks, amazing. Knee deep chowder. Powderhorn was a bit dicey…especially the middle part. I cut onto the left side of the lower knoll to find frankensnow that had blown over from Dippers…very sketchy. I cut across Dipper and then ducked onto Boarderline. That is a nice run that is easily missed, but today had only two tracks on it. So I had to add mine :wink: Great snow. Best I have seen that trail! Where I was I could see that McHarg’s was untracked, and that the Poma was running with no lines. So what does one do? Yep, head to the Poma for a half hour of quick pow runs on Middle/Lower Fox’s Folly (if that makes sense :wink: ) which was amazing. That was worth three runs in a row off the Poma. By now my legs were warmed up and my powder dance was pretty much perfect…enough to get some shouts from the Quad overhead. On the last charge down through the powder, I got caught on some frankensnow and faceplanted in powder. Oh well.
I did two runs down McHarg’s, which was amazingly soft and deep. Great stuff.
By now it was about 10:15 or so and I was soaked in my fleece. It had been snowing all morning and a Patagonia R4 Fleece is not made for heavy snow…so I delayered and threw on my Gore Tex shell and headed back to the Quad. MK and TD had requested that I hurry back to hold them a place at the bar, but they beat me…they just ski too fast…
Next run was down the west side. I had been eyeing Ledges, one of my favorite steep runs, and I decided it was worth a roll. I dove down Camper’s Carry into some more knee deep pow and then onto a wind scoured Bear Den, which was a bit sketchy. I picked my way to the Ledges and peered down…some nice chowder on the left. After directing a lost intermediate skier to Willoughby (so as to avoid the headwall), I headed down left then cut back right onto my favorite side. The snow was soft, but not quite as deep as on the East Side. Well worth a spin…on December 8th nonetheless. I skied down Lower Bear Den, then onto Lower Fox’s for more pow shots in front of the Dawn Patrol, and then onto a groomed Lower Lower Fox’s where I caught an edge (oy).
Next run was down Wilderness again to Powderhorn and then to Lower Doug’s, which was deep. I did a spin down Willoughby all the way down. Upper was groomed, but needed some more ironing out. Lower was chowder, but like the Ledge’s, it was a bit shallow because of the wind. Still good. I also grabbed a quick run down a nicely groomed Carriage Road before hitting Mountain Marsh and Little Dipper before heading in for lunch. The last runs were chopped up, but soft and fun.
It was great to catch up with the Dawn Patrol at the expanded Bear Den Lounge. I grabbed a beer and talked politics with MK. The $825 turkey hat was proudly displayed. Lots of good energy, lots of familiar faces…it was all good.
At 1:15 the Dawn Patrol headed home and I headed back out for some turns. I was tired and decided some groomers would be nice. So I headed down to the Lower Mountain for four runs. High Meadow’s and Bunker Hill were ironed out, but a bit slick from snowmaking that had not quite set up. Binney Lane was smooth pow on the top, but a bit sketchy down below thanks to unfrozen ground and springs. The terrain park on Dashney Mile was impressive and the coverage below was edge to edge. Amazing.
I headed back up top for a few more runs before calling it a day. First run was down Upper Fox’s to Deer Run, and then to Doug’s. I could not resist…peering down over that lip, I saw that the bumps were soft and not too overwhelming. It was a bit thin in places, but nothing worse than how it has been before. I found some good snow and then cut over to Mountain Marsh before cutting back onto Boarderline. Still great.
By now it was about 3pm and I had covered almost all the open terrain at the mountain except for the glades. I took one more run off the top…hitting Carriage Road to Upper Doug’s Drop, then screaming down Deer Run to Lower Powderhorn. I rolled the dice on Lew’s Leap…it was very nice. The headwall was well covered, but the lower part had some rocks that were covered in snow and easily avoided.
I skated over to the Poma. Did one spin down Middle Fox powder field…and then a couple cool downs on Warren’s Way before calling it quits at 3:20 or so.
What an amazing opening day! It really was incredible, but since the last few weeks of 2006-2007 were amazing, it is hard to appreciate these great conditions. To be able to hit all my favorite trails on natural snowcover in early December is unprecedented. Going back tomorrow for more…stay tuned.
