Ski Resort: Burke Mountain
Date: December 28, 2007
Conditions: P/Chowder, 5 inches of new pow on top of MG mainly.
Weather: Clouds and some snow showers. Warm enough to wear just a soft shell.
2007-2008 Report # : 17
Trip Report: Having seen that it was snowing hard at the mountain, I wanted to get first chair for Friday Morning. I got up early and managed to snag the first chair…but not by much. Let’s just say powder is the breakfast of champions :wink:
I made first tracks down Powderhorn, loving it with every turn. This run had been groomed on Thursday night, so it had more pow on it. It was sweet. I ducked onto Dipper Doodle and scored more freshies. Wow.
Seeing that a line was forming at the Quad, and knowing that things were going to be cut up very quickly, I opted to take the fast Poma for four quick runs. In quick succession, I hit Upper Warren’s to Lower Fox’s, Willoughby to Lower Bear Den, Ledge’s to Lower Fox’s, and then Doug’s Drop to McHarg’s. The groomed runs were smooth and amazing. Wow. I got third tracks on the chute to the left of the knoll on Ledge’s and found that it was almost ready for skiing again. The new snow covered up a pretty solid, hard icy base underneath that was edgeable, but did not sound good. It was also tough to see what you were skiing on, so I decided that one run was enough. Doug’s had a bit more snow on it and was tracking well, but I again felt that some more snow was needed before it was back up to speed. I found McHarg’s to be skiing very well…they had groomed it at least twice during the last week and it had set up really nicely. Nice deep bases overall. The surfaces were variable on ungroomed terrain.
I then hit the Quad and decided to take a spin down East Bowl. The new powder was great, but the snow underneath was scratchy from the traffic and not being groomed. Overall, still a joy to ski and it is in great shape.
During a short break, I caught up with PM and discussed the upcoming snow event and saying that I hoped to see her this weekend on the slopes. I also apologized because again, there are no friends on a powder day :wink:
Too much talking. Back to skiing. I hit Carriage Road to Lower Powderhorn. Both were still great. I decided to take a walk on the wild side and hit Lew’s Leap to find good snow and the same variable base. I skied the right side before jumping to the left on the main pitch. I almost biffed it in one spot, but recovered gracefully.
The crowds were picking up and the terrain was getting scraped off in good shape. I did a run down Upper Willoughby to Lower Bear Den, which was getting rutted in good shape. Wilderness had some deep pow on it and the bumps were nice…getting caught behind a flock of knee-high kids was not fun. I skied Lower Powderhorn and then cut across Dippers to sample Boarderline. It was not quite set up, like the other bump runs, so I bailed out and enjoyed Little Dipper.
On the next run, I was talking with some other locals who were saying that they were looking for some snow, and suggested that Mountain Marsh might have a stash. Well, they obviously did not know the rules for a powder day, even one that had only four inches. Rule #1: you have no friends on a powder day. Rule #2: you get up early for first chair. Rule #3: you don’t discuss trail choices. And Rule #4: if someone is foolish enough to spill the goods, you take it. Mountain Marsh however was not really great. It was tracked out, but I did find some untracked snow on the last pitch and then on one side of Little Dipper.
By now I was hungry, tired, and my legs were burning. The parking lots were full, the trails were getting chewed up, and that liftline was getting to be about 5 minutes or so…which is too long by Burke standards :wink: So I headed in, had lunch, grabbed the next Vintage Burke Pint Glass, and headed into town for a meeting.
See ya for tomorrow’s report.
Date: December 28, 2007
Conditions: P/Chowder, 5 inches of new pow on top of MG mainly.
Weather: Clouds and some snow showers. Warm enough to wear just a soft shell.
2007-2008 Report # : 17
Trip Report: Having seen that it was snowing hard at the mountain, I wanted to get first chair for Friday Morning. I got up early and managed to snag the first chair…but not by much. Let’s just say powder is the breakfast of champions :wink:
I made first tracks down Powderhorn, loving it with every turn. This run had been groomed on Thursday night, so it had more pow on it. It was sweet. I ducked onto Dipper Doodle and scored more freshies. Wow.
Seeing that a line was forming at the Quad, and knowing that things were going to be cut up very quickly, I opted to take the fast Poma for four quick runs. In quick succession, I hit Upper Warren’s to Lower Fox’s, Willoughby to Lower Bear Den, Ledge’s to Lower Fox’s, and then Doug’s Drop to McHarg’s. The groomed runs were smooth and amazing. Wow. I got third tracks on the chute to the left of the knoll on Ledge’s and found that it was almost ready for skiing again. The new snow covered up a pretty solid, hard icy base underneath that was edgeable, but did not sound good. It was also tough to see what you were skiing on, so I decided that one run was enough. Doug’s had a bit more snow on it and was tracking well, but I again felt that some more snow was needed before it was back up to speed. I found McHarg’s to be skiing very well…they had groomed it at least twice during the last week and it had set up really nicely. Nice deep bases overall. The surfaces were variable on ungroomed terrain.
I then hit the Quad and decided to take a spin down East Bowl. The new powder was great, but the snow underneath was scratchy from the traffic and not being groomed. Overall, still a joy to ski and it is in great shape.
During a short break, I caught up with PM and discussed the upcoming snow event and saying that I hoped to see her this weekend on the slopes. I also apologized because again, there are no friends on a powder day :wink:
Too much talking. Back to skiing. I hit Carriage Road to Lower Powderhorn. Both were still great. I decided to take a walk on the wild side and hit Lew’s Leap to find good snow and the same variable base. I skied the right side before jumping to the left on the main pitch. I almost biffed it in one spot, but recovered gracefully.
The crowds were picking up and the terrain was getting scraped off in good shape. I did a run down Upper Willoughby to Lower Bear Den, which was getting rutted in good shape. Wilderness had some deep pow on it and the bumps were nice…getting caught behind a flock of knee-high kids was not fun. I skied Lower Powderhorn and then cut across Dippers to sample Boarderline. It was not quite set up, like the other bump runs, so I bailed out and enjoyed Little Dipper.
On the next run, I was talking with some other locals who were saying that they were looking for some snow, and suggested that Mountain Marsh might have a stash. Well, they obviously did not know the rules for a powder day, even one that had only four inches. Rule #1: you have no friends on a powder day. Rule #2: you get up early for first chair. Rule #3: you don’t discuss trail choices. And Rule #4: if someone is foolish enough to spill the goods, you take it. Mountain Marsh however was not really great. It was tracked out, but I did find some untracked snow on the last pitch and then on one side of Little Dipper.
By now I was hungry, tired, and my legs were burning. The parking lots were full, the trails were getting chewed up, and that liftline was getting to be about 5 minutes or so…which is too long by Burke standards :wink: So I headed in, had lunch, grabbed the next Vintage Burke Pint Glass, and headed into town for a meeting.
See ya for tomorrow’s report.
