Ski Resort: Burke Mountain
Date: December 23, 2007
Conditions: MG/SC/WS
Weather: Fog, high winds up top, cloudy skies and temps in the Upper 30’s Low 40’s
2007-2008 Report # : 13
Trip Report: Looking at the forecast, it appeared that we might have a small window of time this morning before the r&*n came and the high winds. I got up at 7:30 and checked the reports…from what I could see, winds were not an issue here and it was mild but not r*(ing. So I went for it.
Driving up Route 114, I met the original trailboss coming off the mountain, which told me that the conditions were not up to his liking. As soon as I pulled in, I was met with a skier who had a long face. “Willoughby Quad is down because of the wind.” Fear not. The Poma was spinning and thanks to the snowmaking crew, we could go to the top of it. I could see ski racers setting up on Warren’s Way, so we were good.
Speaking with another hardcore Burke skier, we were both thankful that the Poma was running. The winds up top were a bit rough during the morning.
Did I mention that I had my own private ski area during this morning? While ski racers were crowding the race course, I was able to pick some choice runs with amazing groomed soft snow and/or soft bumps. Grooming lasted until about 12 noon.
First run was down Upper Warren’s Way to Lower Bear Den. Smooth, fresh groomed wet snow that skied like butter. It was amazing. I was very
Next run was to Ledge’s and down Lower Foxy’s. Ledges was holding snow well and it was soft and forgiving. Nice bumps and great soft snow. Lower Fox’s was edge-to-edge groomed wet snow.
Seeing that the natural snow runs were good, I hiked the short distance from the Poma to the Toll Road, and hit Lower Powderhorn and a nice, deep, soft Lew’s Leap. Only me and the sound of wind in the trees. Nice. I noticed that nearly every groomable run had been groomed last night, so that opened up some more options for tired legs.
I then hit Doug’s Drop and savored the soft bumps and great cover. Had it all to myself…making the third tracks on it of the day and it was about 10:15 or so. I cut over to hit Dipper Doodle and found that Mountain Marsh was freshly groomed. Now I could not let it go unskied! So I ripped it up and then made a cut over to the unskied Dipper Doodle for more buttery turns.
I kept thinking what a good roll of the dice. There only a handful of recreational skiers, and in large part they were sticking to Upper Warren’s and the west side.
I decided to try Upper Fox’s for some soft snow…and in case it closes due to icing. With my 110cm skis, I made easy work of it. I found that the spots that had been thin were getting thinner, and that there were some drifts that were very deep. I got about 2/3 the way down and was joined by a father and his young son, who commented that they also loved this “private ski area” we had going.
Before taking a break, I hiked for one more run on the eastside. Dippers was the call, and I found more groomed butter. The Dipper Woods called me over though…nice stuff in the woods. I avoided the other wood runs because I was pretty much the only one venturing on this side of the mountain.
I pulled into MidBurke for a short break. While in there, I saw a father and his two kids…they had long faces. “Boy what a bad day, huh?” He said to me. Looking at them, it seemed clear that mother had told the kids to take Dad skiing while she did some Christmas shopping.
“It’s really nice actually. There’s some great skiing to be had out there!”
“Where? The Quad is down. Nothing’s open.”
“Take the Poma.”
I proceed to tell them how to get to the Poma, and showing them a trail map and making a sweeping motion with my fingers on the map, “you can get to all of this and it is skiing really well. Nobody is out there.”
The only problem was that one kid was snowboarding, so I suggested Lower Mountain, which was where they came from. As I wished them luck, I could see Dad more at the prospect of skiing the Upper Mountain terrain, considering that I had just raved about the unskied Dipper Doodle.
From here, I did four quick runs on the bottom and did some E-mailing before heading back up. There was a good sized crowd down there, but the trails were slloooowww from the wet snow. Enhanted Forest was fun.
It was about 12:15 and I had figured I was done. But the race was over and the Poma was empty, so I had to take three more good runs before it got dark and windy.
I hit Upper Warren’s to find that it was getting skied off and was not as nice as earlier. This was no surprise considering that it was in plain sight and was skiing nicely. So that meant two more runs down Ledge’s. First spin was down the left side of the knoll and found it deep and soft. Skier’s left of Lower Bear Den was amazingly soft and untouched. It was 1pm and I was ripping fresh corduroy! :blink: :beer: Lather, rinse, and repeat, only this time hitting the headwall for some more soft bumps.
I pulled out at about 1:15 or so as it was just starting to sprinkle. Winds were beginning to shift and cold weather was on its way back….
A nice morning. Unexpectedly nice, but you had to look for it…not that hard though :wink:
Date: December 23, 2007
Conditions: MG/SC/WS
Weather: Fog, high winds up top, cloudy skies and temps in the Upper 30’s Low 40’s
2007-2008 Report # : 13
Trip Report: Looking at the forecast, it appeared that we might have a small window of time this morning before the r&*n came and the high winds. I got up at 7:30 and checked the reports…from what I could see, winds were not an issue here and it was mild but not r*(ing. So I went for it.
Driving up Route 114, I met the original trailboss coming off the mountain, which told me that the conditions were not up to his liking. As soon as I pulled in, I was met with a skier who had a long face. “Willoughby Quad is down because of the wind.” Fear not. The Poma was spinning and thanks to the snowmaking crew, we could go to the top of it. I could see ski racers setting up on Warren’s Way, so we were good.
Speaking with another hardcore Burke skier, we were both thankful that the Poma was running. The winds up top were a bit rough during the morning.
Did I mention that I had my own private ski area during this morning? While ski racers were crowding the race course, I was able to pick some choice runs with amazing groomed soft snow and/or soft bumps. Grooming lasted until about 12 noon.
First run was down Upper Warren’s Way to Lower Bear Den. Smooth, fresh groomed wet snow that skied like butter. It was amazing. I was very
Next run was to Ledge’s and down Lower Foxy’s. Ledges was holding snow well and it was soft and forgiving. Nice bumps and great soft snow. Lower Fox’s was edge-to-edge groomed wet snow.
Seeing that the natural snow runs were good, I hiked the short distance from the Poma to the Toll Road, and hit Lower Powderhorn and a nice, deep, soft Lew’s Leap. Only me and the sound of wind in the trees. Nice. I noticed that nearly every groomable run had been groomed last night, so that opened up some more options for tired legs.
I then hit Doug’s Drop and savored the soft bumps and great cover. Had it all to myself…making the third tracks on it of the day and it was about 10:15 or so. I cut over to hit Dipper Doodle and found that Mountain Marsh was freshly groomed. Now I could not let it go unskied! So I ripped it up and then made a cut over to the unskied Dipper Doodle for more buttery turns.
I kept thinking what a good roll of the dice. There only a handful of recreational skiers, and in large part they were sticking to Upper Warren’s and the west side.
I decided to try Upper Fox’s for some soft snow…and in case it closes due to icing. With my 110cm skis, I made easy work of it. I found that the spots that had been thin were getting thinner, and that there were some drifts that were very deep. I got about 2/3 the way down and was joined by a father and his young son, who commented that they also loved this “private ski area” we had going.
Before taking a break, I hiked for one more run on the eastside. Dippers was the call, and I found more groomed butter. The Dipper Woods called me over though…nice stuff in the woods. I avoided the other wood runs because I was pretty much the only one venturing on this side of the mountain.
I pulled into MidBurke for a short break. While in there, I saw a father and his two kids…they had long faces. “Boy what a bad day, huh?” He said to me. Looking at them, it seemed clear that mother had told the kids to take Dad skiing while she did some Christmas shopping.
“It’s really nice actually. There’s some great skiing to be had out there!”
“Where? The Quad is down. Nothing’s open.”
“Take the Poma.”
I proceed to tell them how to get to the Poma, and showing them a trail map and making a sweeping motion with my fingers on the map, “you can get to all of this and it is skiing really well. Nobody is out there.”
The only problem was that one kid was snowboarding, so I suggested Lower Mountain, which was where they came from. As I wished them luck, I could see Dad more
at the prospect of skiing the Upper Mountain terrain, considering that I had just raved about the unskied Dipper Doodle. From here, I did four quick runs on the bottom and did some E-mailing before heading back up. There was a good sized crowd down there, but the trails were slloooowww from the wet snow. Enhanted Forest was fun.
It was about 12:15 and I had figured I was done. But the race was over and the Poma was empty, so I had to take three more good runs before it got dark and windy.
I hit Upper Warren’s to find that it was getting skied off and was not as nice as earlier. This was no surprise considering that it was in plain sight and was skiing nicely. So that meant two more runs down Ledge’s. First spin was down the left side of the knoll and found it deep and soft. Skier’s left of Lower Bear Den was amazingly soft and untouched. It was 1pm and I was ripping fresh corduroy! :blink: :beer: Lather, rinse, and repeat, only this time hitting the headwall for some more soft bumps.
I pulled out at about 1:15 or so as it was just starting to sprinkle. Winds were beginning to shift and cold weather was on its way back….
A nice morning. Unexpectedly nice, but you had to look for it…not that hard though :wink:
