Ski Sundown Opening Day - 11/28/08

[Madroch]

Made it 9:30 to 3:30- quite springlike toward noonish. Only one run on temptor due to kids in tow (my 6 year old did it with me, quite well in fact). Had many runs on on the mini bumps on Nor-Easter getting the kids comfortable. Good day, indeed. The ops people should be congratulated.

For those who were kind enough to comment on my Lange boot thread-- they are keepers-- simply the best fitting and most responsive boot I have ever skied. Wasn't cold enough today, and I didn't ski enough bumps, to make any conclusions about the flex, but they may work as is... surpised indeed.

Trying to find a way to sneak out tomorrow night to log a few laps on Temptor...

 

[loafer89]

Warren and I just came back from Sundown and we skied from 4:15pm - 7:30pm and took in 14 runs. We skied Temptor 5 times and did multiple runs doen Nor'Easter and 3 down Stinger.

Stinger had great soft snow, but was mobbed with snowboarders. Nor'Easter was fun especially the moguls on skiers left. The snow started to freeze up around 6pm and it was 30F when we left, down from 43F at 4:00pm.

Around 6pm the mountain closed Nor'Easter and Canyon, forcing everyone down Stinger which made for some funny spills.

We used our free passes today and are off to Stratton for saturday.

 

[severine]

With the exception of one run on Nor Easter, I skied Temptor from 1:30 - 4.

Wait, you've been brainwashed now, too??? :blink: Who's going to ski with me from now on??? :angry:

Round 2 is in progress as I type. I brought out the Celebrities this time and got out on the freshly-groomed trails around 6:30PM. We were lazy and took a nap this afternoon. I had a real hard time getting used to the Celebrities. They ski longer than the Maries (even though they're technically the same length). And the freshly churned up stuff was thick. And there were TONS of boarders around because the top of Nor'Easter was roped for the grooming. I completely psyched myself out. Made my way down eventually, but it was not pretty. Brian suggested going to Little Joe to do some drills. I know he didn't want to ski there, but I was grateful for the suggestion. Did some runs over there so I could get used to the skis, then I did one more run with him on the main mountain. Went top of Nor'Easter, cut over to Canyon and down this time. Not great, but better than the last run. I decided before that run that I would call it a day and I'm glad I did; my bad form meant my quads were killing me.

So right now, Brian is skiing (I presume with Greg) those bump lines on Temptor and I am in the lodge, taking a break from homework (and I found a wi-fi signal, incidentally, though I'm not sure if I'm supposed to be on it...).

Awesome opening day here!!!!!!!!! Way to go guys! :beer:

 

[Greg]

Wow!

The Temptor bumps are sick. Waaaay better than I expected. I was expecting rock hard frozen bumps and we were greeted with smoothed out loose granular explosions! There are several sick lines and one nasty "wall" bump that they all funnel into. But he lines towards the bottom of the seeded section are particularly rad. I'll throw together a little vid. It should be up in a few.

 

[Greg]

Quick vid

Here's a quick video of the bumps tonight:



Quite a bit more "mature" than the seeds seen in the pics from early this morning, eh? Overall, they bumps are great considering it was only the end of opening day (in November in CT, mind you.) Again, I expect flash frozen hard chunk bumps, but they really were great and you could let it rip if you wanted to. Once they get dusted with snowmaking, they're going to be great. Pretty damn good right now actually. Lots of traffic on them tonight, mostly knuckledraggers. I also noticed a lot of traffic on the run when I was there this afternoon. So happy to see people hitting it, even if they are just hacking their way down. Getting folks excited about bumps is the whole point. The base on Temptor is insanely deep and probably on par with the base depths at their peak during the middle of last season. 3 feet+ easy at the troughs.

All in all a stellar opening day. After a couple of very fun hours this afternoon with my daughter, and a couple more this evening skiing the bumps with Brian, I am fully pumped for the Sundown season. Between driving to my sister's to drop off the youngest so I could ski with Abby this afternoon and two trips up and back to Sundown, I probably drove 125 miles today. Totally worth it though. Finished it off with a brew in the parking lot with Brian and Carrie. Thanks guys!

 

[2knees]

SWEET.

great job sundown, those things look NICE!

some nice skiing too. good job greg and b. hope to see you guys sunday.

 

[Greg]

SWEET.

great job sundown, those things look NICE!

Great job indeed. The bumps are as good, probably far better than some of the stuff we were thrilled to ski in January and February. I'll be there on Sunday. Just trying to plan my day to be able to maximize the softest of bumps. The bit of rain forecasted actually has me psyched as it will put those sweet lines into primo thrashing status. Thinking about 10 am to 4 pm or so right now. Maybe earlier if they are picking up some natural in the morning, or they make snow tomorrow night which according to Chris S. via MR. evil, they won't be. NWS is forecasting a low of 21 so if they don't dust, they're gonna be firm in the early morning...

 

[severine]

Nice! I wish I had been up to more skiing but hey, it's only the start of the season. There are many days ahead of us. Nice seeing you again, Greg!

 

[bvibert]

Just got back in from a rad bump session tonight! Greg has it covered pretty good. I couldn't believe how much bigger and more skied in they were than when I left them at 11:30!

Nice to end the night with a brew in the lot with Greg.... Then we ended up hitting up the lounge with a couple of liftie friends for another. Nice way to end an awesome opening day! I'm beat now... :beer:

 

[bvibert]

RAD video BTW! :beer:

 

[bvibert]

I'm heading out now, hope to be skiing by 5 at the latest. I'll be working the bumps. Tan helmet, blue jacket,olive pants. RAD!

Were you there? I was looking for you??

 

[Trekchick]

Didn't want to bother with pics or vid today. I wasn't sure how she would do with all new gear so I just wanted to not be distracted and be there to help her out. Had I known how much she would be thrashing, I would have shot some vid. Next time.

The trouble you'll have now is getting out the door without her when its time for a daddy time out.

 

[powhunter]

Those bumps look sick!! What about those rollers?? any crazy air??

steveo

 

[MRGisevil]

Heading out soon for session II of the weekend. If anyone's around seek me out. Sorry I wasn't very social yesterday, but I was visiting with a friend I never ever get to see.

Just look for Checkers O'Hoolihan.

And yes- I have converted to the snowboarder pants, but Effin-A! These things are fantastic!

 

[danny p]

nice vid. are the bumps harder for you guys at night? They look pretty well lit up but I always remember some sketchiness in the shadows at Catamount back in the day.

 

[Greg]

FWIW, Nelson is one of my co-workers. He joined us last year for a Wed. night bump session. He is going to try to make some more Wed. night sessions this season for some bump action.

Was Nelson on the Volkls? If so, how did he like them? I'd imagine the conditions first thing in the morning were perfect for those skis.

nice vid. are the bumps harder for you guys at night? They look pretty well lit up but I always remember some sketchiness in the shadows at Catamount back in the day.

I actually find bumps at night easier than say bumps during the day in flat light.

 

[Greg]

Were you there? I was looking for you??

Yeah. No beetle and I thought downhill04 was heading over for the night sess?

 

[Grassi21]

Heading out soon for session II of the weekend. If anyone's around seek me out. Sorry I wasn't very social yesterday, but I was visiting with a friend I never ever get to see.

Just look for Checkers O'Hoolihan.

And yes- I have converted to the snowboarder pants, but Effin-A! These things are fantastic!

Those pants look like a comfy pair of flannel pajama pants. My pants aren't boarder specific, but they are baggy cargo style pants that any park rat would rock. Plus they have a houndstooth pattern, real stylish!

 

[2knees]

Here's a quick video of the bumps tonight:

cant get enough of this. I love the boarder wiping one turn in right in front of brian. Also shocked at the size of the bumps on nor'easter. they look really really good. one last thing is the amount of loose granular you guys were pushing around. i would've expect frozen cement blocks after the temps on friday. hope it stays somewhat loose for tomorrow, even if the "troughs" are sheer ice.

we never really get troughs going until well into the season. its usually just the bumps with flat in between. the base is just to setup to dig into.

 

[MR. evil]

. I was expecting rock hard frozen bumps and we were greeted with smoothed out loose granular explosions! There are several sick lines and one nasty "wall" bump that they all funnel into. .

I was amazed how quickly those bumps took shape. They were really rough and much smaller first thing yesterday morning. But once it warmed up with all the traffic on temptor they took shape nicely. Only problem was by that time my legs were jello from skiing the concrete morning bumps. There is one funky spot on the middle of the trail were there is a really long space between the bumps. I also hit that "wall" bump at the bottom on skiers right several times. Each time resulting in a very nice crash. After the last one I tried to use my skis and re-shape it, but it was still to hard. I actually jambed my left thumb really good during one of those crashes. Hurts pretty bad this morning, but so does the rest of my body.