Hunter Mtn 1/4/06

[JimG.]

Well, I couldn't get away for the powder day on Tuesday, so yesterday was the next best option. Arrived at the hill to brilliant sunshine and blue skies. Got out on snow at about 9:00am, went on a fact finding mission until 10am or so scoping out leftover scraps from the storm. The snow quality surprised me because the foot or so that fell was quite dry and fluffy. The cold, dry morning air had dried it out alot.

Got back to the quad a bit late and missed my meet up with tirolerpeter and NYDrew, so the only solution was to ski some more. Spent alot of time on the east side of the mountain, specifically K27. The sun had started to work it's warming magic and the snow was delightful, the best it would be all day.

Got back to the quad and met up with tirolerpeter and NYDrew. We went to the summit and started out for the west side to check Wayout. Somewhere along the line I lost both of them . So, I took a run down Wayout, then one on Clair's, then another on K27. On my way back up, I saw both tp and NYD, so we met up again for good.

We took a run and then went in for some lunch. Seems NYD had jacked his ankle pretty good. Somewhat swollen and bruised. But that didn't stop him. The boots went back on and we took off to ski as much as we could. The rest of the day involved a tour of the entire mountain.

The skiing was great, but the clouds started to roll in for real at about 1:30-2:00pm and everything started to freeze up pretty good. Plenty of snow to turn on punctuated by areas of hardpack and some genuine ice. Best runs were on 44 (Westway), Lower K27 (and anything else on the east side), Cliff to Racer's, and Upper Crossover. We called it quits at about 3:45pm.

Great day! I was particularly impressed with NYDrew who had a bum ankle; he didn't ski like he was in pain and easily handled everything we skiied. The powder-hardpack-powder-ice conditions must've been a strain on him, but he really sucked it up and skiied well.

Let's do it again soon guys!

 

[Greg]

I'd like to hear from tirolerpeter and NYDrew...did Jimmy beat you guys down on the Hunter tour like he did me? The guy doesn't stop! :beer:

Great to hear of more AZers meeting up.

 

[tirolerpeter]

Hinter 1/4

I'd like to hear from tirolerpeter and NYDrew...did Jimmy beat you guys down on the Hunter tour like he did me? The guy doesn't stop! :beer:

Great to hear of more AZers meeting up.

Jimmy was very gracious and really gave us a grand tour around virtually every trail that was open on the mountain. The guy knows his mountain and is clearly a very accomplished skier. I managed to stick with him and NYDrew for everything except K27 and a couple of other really icey bumped up spots. At my age, "discretion (can be) the better part of valor" and I was determined NOT to do myself in before leaving for Utah on Monday. I too was impressed with NYDrew's grit. After he dropped down K27 on our second or third run (I had taken the go-around so I was watching for him from a spot near the F Chair), he stepped out of his right ski binding at the apex of a high G GS turn and stuck his boot into the ground jamming his ankle. The kicker is that it was on the runout! Isn't it amazing how much bad stuff happens AFTER the challenging part of a run? In any case, despite the obvious pain and swelling, he just kept his boot cranked and kept on going like the Energizer Bunny! It was nice to meet the real people behind the screen names. I certainly had a great day chasing them both. We stayed together until about 3:30 when we mutually decided it was time to head out.

 

[NYDrew]

So our day started much the same. After being picked up at my house by tirolerpeter around 5:30, we arrived at the mountain at around 9. We made great time while I discovered the Cross County Parkway.

By the time we got ready, we had enough time to grab one run before checking the lift for JimG at 10. Waited a few minutes and yelled JimG at anyone that was wearing a yellow jacket.

We went skiing in the great conditions for another hour before 11. It was very nice packed powder, spots of corduroy were still present along with some great soft bump feilds. I particularly liked K-27...perhaps a little too much. Our third run of the day, I went down K-27 for the second time and after tearing up the top, disaster stuck on the lower run out.

I was just making some hard GS turns when my left ski tore off at the end of the turn and I took one nasty fall after putting my ski less boot into the snow. You could see the "story" in the tracks when I repeated the run soon after. My ankle, the one I broke skiing 3 seasons earlyer got pretty jarred.

We met up with JimG at 11 after takeing a couple more easy runs. Then we lost Jim on the first run. Then met up with him again. I think we then skiied in for an early lunch, I really wanted to take my boot off and stretch out the injury a little. Definately helped a little, but not too much.

TO answer your question Greg, Jim is a great skiier. Considering that our terrain, technique and speed preferences are similar, I wouldn't call it beating me down the mountain, probably wouldn't even have been much of an issue if I didnt have to stop every time I hit terrain with my left foot. Tiroler Peter impressed me, on his less then favorite terrain (its obvious you love your powder), he was right on mine and JimG's tails. Let's not forget that both me and Jim at one time were instructors, thats a lot of free lessons and plenty of practice time that we had over Peter.

As far as the best trails of the day, West Way was incredible, mixtures of blue ice and powder bump "oasis'" provided for much fun. The top part of K27 was on par but half way down the steep part became a bit too soft for my bum ankle to fully enjoy. As far as lower K27, see above, me and that trail are not friends anymore.

Like Jim said, we called it quits around 3:45.

As far as the injury was later. It definately hurt and will for a few days. I think I just beat up the soft tissue which still hasn't fully recovered from 3 years ago and it's just not happy. It was actually much easyer to ski then it is to walk, but every hour shows improvement, so I'll give it a few days before calling any doctors.

I am definately ready to do meet up again any time.

 

[tirolerpeter]

Postscript

Despite my prior posting, I do know my right from my left Drew. It was nice to meet you. I hope the "Ode to Joy" from Beethoven's 9th wasn't too hard to take on the run home. I did play it just once.

 

[NYDrew]

Are you sure, cause I'm not. I was the one spining accross the snow. Which ski did come off? Either way, its the left ankle that hurts.


Beethoven was not bad. Now if you started playing "Fizzle Swizzle Daddy rolls in the hood with his Uzi while shooting up the place...uh...yeah" I would have been upset. My music preferences- not rap, everything else is OK.

 

[tirolerpeter]

Which Ski?

You were just rolling over to the left and your right leg was fully extended when I saw the ski pop up into the air. I could have sworn it was your right ski, but that doesn't mean that your left ankle didn't take a shot. Regardless, I hope it feels better today.

 

[Vortex]

Re: Postscript

Despite my prior posting, I do know my right from my left Drew. It was nice to meet you. I hope the "Ode to Joy" from Beethoven's 9th wasn't too hard to take on the run home. I did play it just once.

My daugher plays that on her guitar. I bet your version is better. Hope no serious pain.

 

[JimG.]

I'd like to hear from tirolerpeter and NYDrew...did Jimmy beat you guys down on the Hunter tour like he did me? The guy doesn't stop! :beer:

Great to hear of more AZers meeting up.

tirolerpeter and NYDrew summed it up well; Greg, the conditions were a bit better when you and I skiied together. Less fresh snow, but the snow was softer and the day stayed sunnier.

Clair's was no gimme last year, but on Wednesday it was incredibly challenging. It was alot more skiied off than 44, it was all hardpacked bumps punctuated by boilerplate. Good deflection skills were essential and it was high speed skiing all the way.
And that run was in the morning with sun shining!

In the afternoon clouds I decided to bring tp and NYD into Clair's about halfway down, so we skiied across a work road from Wayout over to Clair's. That 1/2 run was our last on Clair's because 44 was so much more fun.

Since POW/ice conditions are the toughest for any skier, I turned my personal volume down to avoid injury to anyone, mostly myself. My last run down K27 was hair raising...my entry point got totally scraped off and by my 3rd turn I was doing about 30 MPH! That was when I nailed a nasty rut; I spent the next 5 bumps skiing backwards and holding on for dear life . Slowed it down enough to stop and then enjoy the last 2/3 of the run. Whew!

tp and NYD were great. Looking forward to the next meeting.

 

[tirolerpeter]

Re: Postscript

Despite my prior posting, I do know my right from my left Drew. It was nice to meet you. I hope the "Ode to Joy" from Beethoven's 9th wasn't too hard to take on the run home. I did play it just once.

My daugher plays that on her guitar. I bet your version is better. Hope no serious pain.

The version I play in the car is done by the "Berliner Philharmoniker" conducted by Herbert von Karajan, on Deutsch Grammophon. The part I like is at the end of the 9th, when the chorus does the "Ode An die Freude" (Ode to Joy) by Friedrich von Schiller. At a minimum it makes the hair on my arms stand up, and at times, moves me to tears. It is one of the few times I literally have my car CD player maxed out.

BTW I didn't suffer any injury or pain, it was NYDrew that jammed his ankle and kept on skiing. Ahhh...youth!