Ski Sundown - 1/28/2007 (night)

[Greg]

Date(s) Skied: Sunday, 1/28/2007 - 7:05 pm - 10:15 pm

Resort or Ski Area: Ski Sundown, New Hartford, CT

Conditions: Manmade packed powder, hard pack, seeded moguls. Temps in the high 20's, Mostly clear. No crowds.

Trip Report: I clicked in shortly after 7 pm and headed up. I immediately headed over to Nor'easter and was happy to see the bumps were skied in pretty well. They still have a hay bale shape to some of them, but the troughs are skied in and there are several lines to choose from. I took a few more runs and then saw 2knees at the top of the Nor'easter bump field. I followed Pat down and at the bottom met his brother, Chris.

Rode up with Pat and Chris and got a call from bvibert on the ride up. We also saw Grassi21 from the lift so we waited at the sundeck and the five of us soon all met up. Grassi skied with us until almost 9 pm and hit Canyon and the bumps on Exhibition. Brian took 2 or 3 warmups on Canyon and then skied Nor'easter exclusively. The low-angle bumps on Exhibition were skied in fully as well and a fun way to end each run.

Not much I can say about the conditions on the rest of the mountain, but based on Upper Nor'easter and the other areas without bumps, I would guess mostly slick hardpack with LSGR and manmade powder on top. The bumps overall skied very well and fast with some slick troughs here and there. A nice 6" dump on them would put them in prime condition, but the lines are fun and challenging as is.

Cool to meet Pat's brother. Good to see Grassi still working on the Ex bump field. Pat is always a pleasure to watch quickly slam the bumps, but technique award again goes to Brian. I saw some very nice agressive lines tonight and he seems to really be enjoying the moguls.

The big man is hooked!

My lower back took a beating though from some serious backseat towards the end of the night and the night seemed to go too quick. I keep telling myself only a few more nights until Wednesday. Some more awesome bump practice, CT-style!

 

[2knees]

Bumps were damn good. They were, in a few bursts, pretty damn big and spaced perfectly on the last 1/3 of noreaster, and the last part of that was down right incredible. good stuff.


Brian is well on his way. I was totally impressed by the progression. Also impressed by your progression Greg. skis were locked in tonight. I've skied with you a decent amount of times and thats the tightest form i've ever seen. good work.

 

[bvibert]

Great night guys! Thanks for the compliments. I'm really starting to feel like I'm getting it.

As always it was nice to ski and ride the lifts with Pat, Greg and Grassi and it was nice to meet Pat's brother. Greg is definitely looking good in the bumps, very smooth and controlled. It was inspiring to watch Pat hammer through the tops of the bumps at an impressive clip. Pat's brother looked good in the moguls, especially for his first time out this season. It's cool to see Grassi hitting the bumps on Ex, they're a really cool tool to use to get into them. I'm no expert but Grassi's technique really seems to have improved a lot since the first time I skied with him. Keep up the good work.

Can't wait for Wednesday!

 

[Greg]

Thanks guys. After seeing the Hunter vids, it was very apparent I needed to tighten up the stance. Tough to effectively absorb/extend when you have one ski walking up the side of a bump and the other dropping into the trough. Glad to know my efforts are paying off. It's easy to keep a tight stance on low-angle bumps like at Sundown. The real test will be when I get on some steeper ones. Yep. Also can't wait for Wednesday!

 

[Grassi21]

Thanks gents. And in the style of the 1980s anti-drug campaign, "I learned it from watching you!" Trial by fire is great but I'm gaining a lot from watching you guys rip the bumps. The wife and I took the dogs hiking yesterday afternoon so my legs were cooked around 9. I'm looking forward to Wed.!

 

[Greg]

Thanks gents. And in the style of the 1980s anti-drug campaign, "I learned it from watching you!" Trial by fire is great but I'm gaining a lot from watching you guys rip the bumps.

I've also seen you improve quit a bit. One run in particular last night looked pretty good on the upper section of the Ex bumps. You nailed all the turns and they looked very fluid. Use your time on the groomed trails to work on consistent short turns; good hand position; and keeping your body square to the fall line. Keep trying to work further and further down the Ex bumps when you get down there. You will eventually make it to the bottom, and when you can do that consistently, you can start to give Nor'easter a try. Keep at it!
:beer:

 

[2knees]

just keep at it. work on making short turns on canyon. the ex bumps are perfect starter bumps for sure. If i could see anything at night i would comment further but everytime we got to exhibition i didnt see you. at night, without my glasses, all i can see are shapes really. lol.

oh and greg, sorry for almost running you down.

 

[SKIQUATTRO]

Hey, how's Sundown on a Sunday...thinking about heading up there for some turns with the 4yr old on Sunday (my folks live in Glastonbury and can watch the 19mo old)...not really going for me or the wife (although I would like to take some bump runs..and will!!) but to keep the ball rolling with our 4yr old who just came off 5 days of ski camp at Smuggs..(this is her 2nd season--the first season at 2.5yrs doesnt really count!!)
She'll be able to ski from the top....how are the crowds/deals???

 

[2knees]

i havent been on a weekend day in a while but it can get a bit crowded. terrain wise, you'll probably get a little bored for a whole day but your daughter will be able to ski off the top with little difficulty. the only thing to watch out for is the bottom of the main area. All trails converge in one spot and it can get a bit wild. I've been taken out there a few times, including once already this year. just keep your eyes peeled. brian would probably have the best idea of what a sunday is like though.

 

[bvibert]

I haven't been there on a Sunday in a while. It was typically pretty empty on Sunday mornings a few years back and I doubt it's any different now. It would start to pick up a bit by late morning early afternoon when we would stop and go home though so I can't really speak for how busy it was then. I did work one Sunday last year, but that was because there was some special event or something going on and they were short staffed. Obviously that wouldn't be an indication of how they are normally, but IIRC there was quite a line forming at the lift around lunch time until we got enough guys together to open the other triple and things evened out nicely. Sunday is definitely your best choice out of the weekend days, Saturday is usually very mobbed.

 

[SKIQUATTRO]

planning on hitting Sundown on Sunday with the little one