Date: December 22, 2006
2006 Trip Report #: 10
Resort: Pico Mountain
Conditions: MG/SM
Weather: Partly cloudy, becoming cloudy. Winds picking up out of the SW. Temps in the 20’s.
Trip Report: Day Ten of the season and Day Two of the Trailboss Christmas Break 2006 Tour. Ms. TB and I headed to Pico for some skiing…in anticipation of skiing 49er off the summit.
We pulled in at 9:30, got booted up, and headed to the Golden Express. There was a short line to get on the lift….mainly other locals who were there to ski the summit. First run down Fool’s Gold was good…better than Wednesday. Some snow had been made on the run.
Having come down the run, we made the turn to the Summit Quad, which looked like new
We boarded and enjoyed the great views of the ‘Dacks, Green Mountains, Whites (including Washington! ), and even Champlain. As we approached the summit, I prepared Ms. TB for the view of Killington. She was impressed.
If you have not been to the summit of Pico, it is one of the most interesting places to ski. Instead of trails coming off of the lift, the area is a series of short trails and knolls that weave into each other. It would have been too easy to bulldoze those knolls and make wider boulevards down to the trails, but Pico let them be.
The opening is very similar to Burke’s Willoughby, and in fact, 49er reminded me of Willoughby because it is a steep blue cruiser with consistent pitch. Pure bliss. I hooted as I carved down the side of the trail. The upper part was a bit slick, but just below it the snow softened considerably. The HKD’s were going….pushing out some good snow. Middle part of the trail was good, but there were some short sections of death cookies that had to be avoided. :x The lower part narrowed and then spilled into Middle Pike, which had snowguns going. The runout was fun…with some slick waterbars that could catch you.
Back at the Summit Quad base, Ms. TB decided to head back to the lodge to stretch out her feet while I headed back to the summit for another spin. On each of our runs, there was no more than five people at a time on the trail! And even then the skiers and riders were, like Burke, of such a caliber that you need not worry about collisions or having to take any evasive measures. It was nice.
I skied back to the base and picked up Ms. TB. We headed to the summit for some more runs….enjoying each one. Ms. TB got worn by the 1,600 vert runs.
After about an hour or so at the top, we went to the bottom and skied the triple. Ace of Clubs, though thin in places still, was empty. It is a short run, but the dips and rolls make it fun. We did four or five spins on this lift before doing a cool down on the whooping 75’ of vert that Bonanza had to offer :wink:
It was another nice morning at Pico….Ms. TB loves the place…and the terrain. She is expert enough to appreciate the dips and rolls of the trails. She also appreciates the character of the mountain. Looking forward to going back on January 1st. :beer:
2006 Trip Report #: 10
Resort: Pico Mountain
Conditions: MG/SM
Weather: Partly cloudy, becoming cloudy. Winds picking up out of the SW. Temps in the 20’s.
Trip Report: Day Ten of the season and Day Two of the Trailboss Christmas Break 2006 Tour. Ms. TB and I headed to Pico for some skiing…in anticipation of skiing 49er off the summit.
We pulled in at 9:30, got booted up, and headed to the Golden Express. There was a short line to get on the lift….mainly other locals who were there to ski the summit. First run down Fool’s Gold was good…better than Wednesday. Some snow had been made on the run.
Having come down the run, we made the turn to the Summit Quad, which looked like new
We boarded and enjoyed the great views of the ‘Dacks, Green Mountains, Whites (including Washington! ), and even Champlain. As we approached the summit, I prepared Ms. TB for the view of Killington. She was impressed. If you have not been to the summit of Pico, it is one of the most interesting places to ski. Instead of trails coming off of the lift, the area is a series of short trails and knolls that weave into each other. It would have been too easy to bulldoze those knolls and make wider boulevards down to the trails, but Pico let them be.
The opening is very similar to Burke’s Willoughby, and in fact, 49er reminded me of Willoughby because it is a steep blue cruiser with consistent pitch. Pure bliss. I hooted as I carved down the side of the trail. The upper part was a bit slick, but just below it the snow softened considerably. The HKD’s were going….pushing out some good snow. Middle part of the trail was good, but there were some short sections of death cookies that had to be avoided. :x The lower part narrowed and then spilled into Middle Pike, which had snowguns going. The runout was fun…with some slick waterbars that could catch you.
Back at the Summit Quad base, Ms. TB decided to head back to the lodge to stretch out her feet while I headed back to the summit for another spin. On each of our runs, there was no more than five people at a time on the trail! And even then the skiers and riders were, like Burke, of such a caliber that you need not worry about collisions or having to take any evasive measures. It was nice.
I skied back to the base and picked up Ms. TB. We headed to the summit for some more runs….enjoying each one. Ms. TB got worn by the 1,600 vert runs.
After about an hour or so at the top, we went to the bottom and skied the triple. Ace of Clubs, though thin in places still, was empty. It is a short run, but the dips and rolls make it fun.
We did four or five spins on this lift before doing a cool down on the whooping 75’ of vert that Bonanza had to offer :wink: It was another nice morning at Pico….Ms. TB loves the place…and the terrain. She is expert enough to appreciate the dips and rolls of the trails. She also appreciates the character of the mountain. Looking forward to going back on January 1st. :beer:
