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Date(s) Skied: Saturday, 3/18/2006 - 9:10 am - 12:30 pm
Resort or Ski Area: Ski Sundown, New Hartford, CT
Conditions: Groomed LGR. Icey bumps with thin cover. Sunny and cool.. Very little wind.
Trip Report: Was a toss-up between Catamount and Sundown today. When Catamount's ski patrol indicated to me on the phone this morning that it's questionable whether they will open Catapult or not, I opted for Sundown.
Arrived right at 9 am and booted up in my front row spot. Sat on the lift at 9:10 am. I decided to take my first run down Gunbarrel. Not often do I get to ski the run after a recent groom so it was fun to hit the LGR courderoy. I then headed over to the Nor'easter bumps on my next run. Whoa :blink: not looking so hot. Noticed several hazard markers and a lot of dirty and hard looking bumps.
So of course I jumped right in and was instantly humbled. Rock solid bumps with ice, dirt and large 3-4' diameter patches of bare rock in some of the troughs. Not a good run and I was questioning my choice to ski these versus trying Catamount. At 9:30 am this morning this run could even be considered dangerous and I was actually somewhat surprised it was even open.
Glutton for punishment as I am, I decided to take a few more runs down them. It was actually a real challenge to keep good form and probably helped further develop my ice mogul survival skills. I also tried Temptor which was a sweet run of dirty and deep LGR skier's right. I also took another run down Gunbarrel. At around 10:30, I went over to the Sunnyside Learning Area to visit Brian. After a brief chat, I made my way back to the main mountain.
I went back to Noreaster for more punishment and was happy to see they softened up a little bit in the late morning sun. Only saw a couple of other folks try them all morning including a denim daredeveil that proclaimed he hasn't skied in 7 years. I questioned why he decided to ski these bumps. He then proceeded to launch off a huge mogul, land on his back and propel one of his skis about 30 feet down the trail. I was actually a bit worried that he hurt himself, but within a few minutes he was back up retrieving his ski. I skied Noreaster all the way until the end. There was really only two lines to ski, both of which included several large bare spots. My final run was actually pretty clean and very satisfying.
I stopped at the bottom and looked back up thinking of all the great bump runs this season; solo and with Pat (2knees). After reviewing my trip reports from this season, I estimated that I probably skied the Nor'easter bump run 70+ times since they were first set up 4 1/2 weeks ago. I thought about how much fun this run was and I was a bit sad to see it start to succumb to Spring. I would say this run has just about had it this year. A couple of 50 degree days and they'll likely shut it down, if not after tomorrow.
So, by the end of the day, I was happy with my decision to hit Sundown for my ninth and likely final time this season. I'll be back next year! Kudos to the mountain for a great bump run. Put 'em back on Gunbarrel next season!
Resort or Ski Area: Ski Sundown, New Hartford, CT
Conditions: Groomed LGR. Icey bumps with thin cover. Sunny and cool.. Very little wind.
Trip Report: Was a toss-up between Catamount and Sundown today. When Catamount's ski patrol indicated to me on the phone this morning that it's questionable whether they will open Catapult or not, I opted for Sundown.
Arrived right at 9 am and booted up in my front row spot. Sat on the lift at 9:10 am. I decided to take my first run down Gunbarrel. Not often do I get to ski the run after a recent groom so it was fun to hit the LGR courderoy. I then headed over to the Nor'easter bumps on my next run. Whoa :blink: not looking so hot. Noticed several hazard markers and a lot of dirty and hard looking bumps.
So of course I jumped right in and was instantly humbled. Rock solid bumps with ice, dirt and large 3-4' diameter patches of bare rock in some of the troughs. Not a good run and I was questioning my choice to ski these versus trying Catamount. At 9:30 am this morning this run could even be considered dangerous and I was actually somewhat surprised it was even open.
Glutton for punishment as I am, I decided to take a few more runs down them. It was actually a real challenge to keep good form and probably helped further develop my ice mogul survival skills. I also tried Temptor which was a sweet run of dirty and deep LGR skier's right. I also took another run down Gunbarrel. At around 10:30, I went over to the Sunnyside Learning Area to visit Brian. After a brief chat, I made my way back to the main mountain.
I went back to Noreaster for more punishment and was happy to see they softened up a little bit in the late morning sun. Only saw a couple of other folks try them all morning including a denim daredeveil that proclaimed he hasn't skied in 7 years. I questioned why he decided to ski these bumps. He then proceeded to launch off a huge mogul, land on his back and propel one of his skis about 30 feet down the trail. I was actually a bit worried that he hurt himself, but within a few minutes he was back up retrieving his ski. I skied Noreaster all the way until the end. There was really only two lines to ski, both of which included several large bare spots. My final run was actually pretty clean and very satisfying.
I stopped at the bottom and looked back up thinking of all the great bump runs this season; solo and with Pat (2knees). After reviewing my trip reports from this season, I estimated that I probably skied the Nor'easter bump run 70+ times since they were first set up 4 1/2 weeks ago. I thought about how much fun this run was and I was a bit sad to see it start to succumb to Spring. I would say this run has just about had it this year. A couple of 50 degree days and they'll likely shut it down, if not after tomorrow.
So, by the end of the day, I was happy with my decision to hit Sundown for my ninth and likely final time this season. I'll be back next year! Kudos to the mountain for a great bump run. Put 'em back on Gunbarrel next season!
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