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Okemo 2/2/2009

severine

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Date(s) Skied: 2/2/2009

Resort or Ski Area: Okemo, VT

Conditions: mostly cloudy, windy, 20ish degrees at start, 38 degrees at end of day, hero snow, packed powder

Trip Report: Headed up to Okemo today to meet up with some of the Divas. Between the little guy waking up frequently last night puking, and being stuck behind slow-poke drivers on Route 103, I was late for the 2nd meet up. Went to Mtn Services for my 1/2 price ticket and this woman kept staring at me in line; it turned out she was one of the Divas who was also running late. We went to the meet-up at the bottom of the North Start Express Quad but the Divas were nowhere to be found; we were 20 minutes late. After waiting 10 minutes, we decided to just ski. Neither Snowflake nor I knew our way around Okemo, so we did the best we could. We started out skiing Sunburst to warm up... I'm fuzzy after that as to how we got to the base on that run. :oops: It's been a long day... Waited 10 minutes at the base again; still no sign of the ladies. Next run we tried to hit Jolly Green Giant but skied right past it; went down the top of Timberline to Upper Arrow to Lower Arrow. The snow was nice! Churned up beautifully! Next was Countdown>Sprint>Catnap and we went up the South Face Quad. We rode up with an Okemo snowboard instructor who recommended Stump Jumper for us, so we tried Rimrock>Stump Jumper. NICE! We both liked how it was set up in stages with increasing steepness; really helped build our confidence. The hero snow was phenomenal!
DSCN1882.sized.jpg


Next run we tried Rimrock to Wild Thing. I don't usually like skiing under lifts, but we had a blast! Decided we would head down for lunch after that so we took Rimrock>Sachem and hoped to find the rest of the Divas at the lodge... we did not.

When we got back out, we figured we'd try some different stuff. Took the North Star Quad again and skied more of the main face. Decided to head over to the Solitude area and as luck would have it, at 2PM we found the other Divas! So we spent the next 3 runs with them; first down Exhibition (which I freaked a little at first because the larger group skied FAST and the snow was more skied off over there). Next run was Heaven's Gate>Screamin' Demon. I don't know why Screamin' Demon is a blue and some of the other trails are blacks; the drop in totally freaked me out. It took a few minutes, and lots of encouragement from Snowflake, to get me down. Once I started on it, though, it only got easier. :D Then it was time for our last run with the Divas. We went down Coleman Brook where we said goodbye, continuing on Mountain Road to Lower Arrow to go home.

I can't believe I went straight to class after that. I didn't even have a chance to change out of my ski clothes! :eek: I also can't believe I'm wide awake right now... it's been a LONG day! Glad I went though. Can't complain for $36. :D
 

Greg

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Nice report. Glad you got up north.
 

bvibert

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I'm glad you had a good time. I hope you can get out with the girls a few more times this year.

Good on you for pushing yourself a bit too. :)
 

Swamp Dog

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Dear God, I'm still tired from yesterday. We skied from 9 - 3 with a short break for lunch, somewhere in the vicinity of 19 runs and 25.5K vertical according to someone's geek gear.

Carrie, even though it was a late meeting, it was better than not meeting at all.

I am looking forward to going back to Okemo some time this season.
 

Warp Daddy

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Carrie ; sounds like you guys had a great day !! And as Brian said its good to get out of your comfort zone once in awhile it helps to build both skill and confidence -- good job
 

Ski Diva

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Definitely a great ski day! Carrie, I'm so sorry about the meet-up snafu. Next time: cell phones.

We'll have to do it again sometime. (Not the missed meet-up time, though.)
 

severine

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I still have $33 left of a gift certificate... I'm there! :D

Normally we're pretty big on cell phones for meet-ups but it didn't even occur to me for Okemo. I think because Verizon has a spotty record of service in VT, I assumed that my phone probably wouldn't work there anyway. It did and now I know for next time. :)
 

Trekchick

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Carrie, I love reading this stuff. When it comes down to it, you have the skillz, but you let the demons get in your head.
If you can shake the "stuff" between your ears, you'll rip it up with the best of 'em!!!
Rock on Girl!!!
Date(s) Skied: 2/2/2009

Resort or Ski Area: Okemo, VT

Conditions: mostly cloudy, windy, 20ish degrees at start, 38 degrees at end of day, hero snow, packed powder

Trip Report: Headed up to Okemo today to meet up with some of the Divas. Between the little guy waking up frequently last night puking, and being stuck behind slow-poke drivers on Route 103, I was late for the 2nd meet up. Went to Mtn Services for my 1/2 price ticket and this woman kept staring at me in line; it turned out she was one of the Divas who was also running late. We went to the meet-up at the bottom of the North Start Express Quad but the Divas were nowhere to be found; we were 20 minutes late. After waiting 10 minutes, we decided to just ski. Neither Snowflake nor I knew our way around Okemo, so we did the best we could. We started out skiing Sunburst to warm up... I'm fuzzy after that as to how we got to the base on that run. :oops: It's been a long day... Waited 10 minutes at the base again; still no sign of the ladies. Next run we tried to hit Jolly Green Giant but skied right past it; went down the top of Timberline to Upper Arrow to Lower Arrow. The snow was nice! Churned up beautifully! Next was Countdown>Sprint>Catnap and we went up the South Face Quad. We rode up with an Okemo snowboard instructor who recommended Stump Jumper for us, so we tried Rimrock>Stump Jumper. NICE! We both liked how it was set up in stages with increasing steepness; really helped build our confidence. The hero snow was phenomenal!
DSCN1882.sized.jpg


Next run we tried Rimrock to Wild Thing. I don't usually like skiing under lifts, but we had a blast! Decided we would head down for lunch after that so we took Rimrock>Sachem and hoped to find the rest of the Divas at the lodge... we did not.

When we got back out, we figured we'd try some different stuff. Took the North Star Quad again and skied more of the main face. Decided to head over to the Solitude area and as luck would have it, at 2PM we found the other Divas! So we spent the next 3 runs with them; first down Exhibition (which I freaked a little at first because the larger group skied FAST and the snow was more skied off over there). Next run was Heaven's Gate>Screamin' Demon. I don't know why Screamin' Demon is a blue and some of the other trails are blacks; the drop in totally freaked me out. It took a few minutes, and lots of encouragement from Snowflake, to get me down. Once I started on it, though, it only got easier. :D Then it was time for our last run with the Divas. We went down Coleman Brook where we said goodbye, continuing on Mountain Road to Lower Arrow to go home.

I can't believe I went straight to class after that. I didn't even have a chance to change out of my ski clothes! :eek: I also can't believe I'm wide awake right now... it's been a LONG day! Glad I went though. Can't complain for $36. :D
 

mikestaple

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Was at Okemo at the same time. Fantastic conditions. We had seven (yes, 7) kids in tow with us ranging from 3.5 to 11. All except the 3.5 year old were able to handle all the terrain you mentioned (sans Stump Jumper). Like you, none of us could figure out why Exhibition is a black (wide open under a chair lift with about 30 yards of steep - outside of the steep it was really nothing more than Range View at Bretton Woods) and Screamin' Demon is just a blue (much, much steeper - but no chair). I think Screamin' Demon just gets in your head. Heaven's Gate sets it up by being a typical nice Okemo blue cruiser and then SD just drops off right off down to the Solitude base. All of felt our skiing confidence go way up after doing it and went back for a few more runs on it.

Loved the South Face, the Superpipe (yes, stupid dad went through it with the kids and did wipe out), all the blues, and the variety of terrain that let us leave the kids to go off and meet up with us at various points on the mountain - all on the same run.

Next time check out the Narrows to Whistler. Wonderful run through the trees and the Narrows really (really!) makes you envious at the tween crew and their short skis. There really isn't any room to make turns so you have to be sharp on your edges the whole way. This path is a much better option than slow poking it down from the top on Mountain Road.

Wednesday was cold and the wind at the Summit lodge was howling. This led to great stashes of powder on Countdown - or any place that had shelter from the wind - that had blow off of the top. Too cold for a lot of skiing and had to head back to the big city around noon.

A fun mountain. We'll be back.
 

severine

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We did receive a suggestion to check out Whistler the next time we're there. But by that time, it was late in the day and our legs were cooked. I am by no means a great skier, but I felt I held my own. I'll definitely be back this season. Screamin' Demon is funny because I held back when I saw it... and I probably would have been fine but then 2 people skied up next to me and started talking about how scary it looked and how they wouldn't even try it. They helped psych me out, probably. I only had the chance to ski it once, but I will try that again.
 

MommaBear

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What exactly is "hero snow"? There are a lot of terms that get thrown around on this board that I eventually figure out thru the repetition and context. Figured I'd just ask on this one. :dunce:
 

severine

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I'm not so great with most of those snow terms myself, but hero snow (as I understand it) is that kind of snow where you feel you can do no wrong in it. It's a little forgiving, a bit soft, and everything just comes together right in it. Generally comes about on warmer/warmish days.
 
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What exactly is "hero snow"? There are a lot of terms that get thrown around on this board that I eventually figure out thru the repetition and context. Figured I'd just ask on this one. :dunce:

hero snow is snow that makes you feel like a hero..it can be different things to different people..to a racer hero snow could be scrapped off hardpack but generally it refers to buttery spring snow..where sharp edges are a moot point..
 
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