Date: January 4, 2007
2006-2007 Trip Report #: 20!
Resort: Burke Mountain
Conditions: LG/FG
Weather: Bluebird Day. Winds picking up out of the SW. Temps climbing into the 40’s.
Trip Report: After a good dentist appointment, I headed up to Burke for some afternoon turns. The skies were still cloudy and it was colder than forecast, but the skies did clear making for a great afternoon for the East Side to debut for the season. It was also a nice day for the local high school race on Warren’s Way:
I booted up and hit the Quad. Big Dipper was open, via Deer Run or Shoot/Upper Fox’s. I had my rock skis on so I decided to try out the east side by way of Deer Run all the way to Big Dipper. Surprisingly, the snow had stayed in place and the cover was decent on the road (Deer Run is the Toll Road and is paved). There was not enough snow to groom it on the upper part, and one could not stray too far because the cover was ice covered. It was nice to get on an old school trail again:
Upper Dipper, as usual, was not open yet. They usually wait until later in the season to open it up since the terrain requires a lot of snow. The lower part of the headwall was open, but not groomed out, so I decided to avoid it. The rest of Dipper was well covered and good, but another night or two of grooming will make it better. Like the other trails, there were sections of “mini death cookies” on it. No complaints…we had a nice alternative to the Willoughby run:
I headed back to the top and decided to take Shoot/Fox’s to the Dippers. Another great run. From here I hit Willoughby top to bottom. I noticed that there was some more ice than before….and that Lower Willoughby still had the same soft snow on the sides. Turns out that they had given the groomers the night off…only Lower Warren’s, Dipper, and Shoot were groomed. :blink: Everything else was not touched. I did laps on Dipper and Willoughby, throwing in a Upper and Lower Bear Den run into the mix. Lower Bear Den had some ice on it. I did not hit Lower Fox’s.
Like yesterday, the blue skies and warm temps made it possible for a lunch on the top of the mountain. The sun did go in and it got cold…so I did not linger too long at the top before heading down Shoot and Fox’s to the Dipper. After lunch, I did Willoughby to Bear Den and the Dipper Run again. Seeing that the races had ended, I did a couple quick spins on the Poma, which was nice. The snow was soft and I found some good crud/LG from the racing ruts.
My tired legs and back could only take two runs on the Poma, so I headed down High Meadows to the base for some ego runs on Dashney and Bunker Hill. Good vibe down there…kids having a good time. I even rode up the lift with the acapella group that has been singing this week for folks at the mountain. Nice bunch of guys.
After some time down here, I returned to the top to take two or three closing runs on Deer Run and Big Dipper. I did get a nice view of the sunset:
And after leaving the mountain, I took some great pics of the mountain. Here is one of those pics:
Another great day….some more snow and Burke will be in good shape.
2006-2007 Trip Report #: 20!
Resort: Burke Mountain
Conditions: LG/FG
Weather: Bluebird Day. Winds picking up out of the SW. Temps climbing into the 40’s.
Trip Report: After a good dentist appointment, I headed up to Burke for some afternoon turns. The skies were still cloudy and it was colder than forecast, but the skies did clear making for a great afternoon for the East Side to debut for the season. It was also a nice day for the local high school race on Warren’s Way:
I booted up and hit the Quad. Big Dipper was open, via Deer Run or Shoot/Upper Fox’s. I had my rock skis on so I decided to try out the east side by way of Deer Run all the way to Big Dipper. Surprisingly, the snow had stayed in place and the cover was decent on the road (Deer Run is the Toll Road and is paved). There was not enough snow to groom it on the upper part, and one could not stray too far because the cover was ice covered. It was nice to get on an old school trail again:
Upper Dipper, as usual, was not open yet. They usually wait until later in the season to open it up since the terrain requires a lot of snow. The lower part of the headwall was open, but not groomed out, so I decided to avoid it. The rest of Dipper was well covered and good, but another night or two of grooming will make it better. Like the other trails, there were sections of “mini death cookies” on it. No complaints…we had a nice alternative to the Willoughby run:
I headed back to the top and decided to take Shoot/Fox’s to the Dippers. Another great run. From here I hit Willoughby top to bottom. I noticed that there was some more ice than before….and that Lower Willoughby still had the same soft snow on the sides. Turns out that they had given the groomers the night off…only Lower Warren’s, Dipper, and Shoot were groomed. :blink: Everything else was not touched. I did laps on Dipper and Willoughby, throwing in a Upper and Lower Bear Den run into the mix. Lower Bear Den had some ice on it. I did not hit Lower Fox’s.
Like yesterday, the blue skies and warm temps made it possible for a lunch on the top of the mountain. The sun did go in and it got cold…so I did not linger too long at the top before heading down Shoot and Fox’s to the Dipper. After lunch, I did Willoughby to Bear Den and the Dipper Run again. Seeing that the races had ended, I did a couple quick spins on the Poma, which was nice. The snow was soft and I found some good crud/LG from the racing ruts.
My tired legs and back could only take two runs on the Poma, so I headed down High Meadows to the base for some ego runs on Dashney and Bunker Hill. Good vibe down there…kids having a good time. I even rode up the lift with the acapella group that has been singing this week for folks at the mountain. Nice bunch of guys.
After some time down here, I returned to the top to take two or three closing runs on Deer Run and Big Dipper. I did get a nice view of the sunset:
And after leaving the mountain, I took some great pics of the mountain. Here is one of those pics:
Another great day….some more snow and Burke will be in good shape.
