Your Official 2007-08 Ski Season Breakdown Thread

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

I say leave it up to the individual. My day total is far from impressive compared to some so it's hardly bragging.

I like to count days (that's where it ends; tracking vert or runs is too much work) and log each one in the form of a TR. Sort of my personal online ski diary. I also have a goal each season in terms of number of days so I need to count days to know I reached it.

I've always kept track of days...from 6th-10th grades I also kept track of the number of hours skied. Then in 11th grade I bought an Avocet watch and kept track of vert as well and hit a lifetime high season of about 2.6 million vertical feet. Back then my typical weekend ski day at Blue mountain was 7:30AM to 5:00PM..Then when I went away to college at UVM I stopped keeping track of vert because I skied alot of woods and tree skiing is not apples to apples with regular runs.

When I lived in Montana after college my home hill...Bridger Bowl was all low speed lifts and I didn't keep track of vert. Then in late 2005..I discovered www.paskiandride.com and lots of people over there keep track of runs, days, and vert. I decided to once again track my vert but I now keep track of my runs skied in my head because when I wear the Avocet watch, I look at it too much. For next season I'd like a GPS so I can track top speeds and number of miles skied. Different strokes for different folks. Me personally I'm not satisfied with 10..20..or 30 days of skiing per year. Skiing is my main passion in life so I devote several thousand a year and alot of vacation time to skiing as much as I can. After two 100+ day seasons in a row..I might wind up in the high 90s this year..still mad steezy yo..

Once Xanadu opens at the Meadowlands..I'll hit that up a few times a year as well...skiing is so great...I take my skiing more seriously than anything.

 

[drjeff]

Today was #44 for me. As long as Mount Snow operates ATLEAST weekends only through April 27th I'll get 50 in. If they go beyond that (please, please, please), then I'll be in the low 50's

 

[mondeo]

I'm at 16 now, figure I'll get 2-3 more in. Of the 16, 12 were Killington, 3 were Sundown, and 1 was Holiday Valley (Western NY, over Christmas with my family.)

At the start of the season, I probably would have been contempt, but looking back I'm not. Last year (first year back after college,) I only got in 6 times, so it's a decent jump, but nowhere near the amount of skiing that I need to do to get to the level I want to be at. My ability, however, I feel has made a major step forward, mainly with my midseason commitment to actually start paying attention to my bump skiing technique instead of just hacking it.

Goals for next year (probably appropriate for another thread, but...):
50 days, 20 at Sundown, 20 at Kmart, 10 elsewhere.
5 new mountains visited (figure Okemo, Stratton, and Sugarbush, other two I'll figure out later.)
Learn how to do a helicopter; learn how to land a helicopter in the bumps.
Make it past qualifying at the Bear Mountain comp.

And no broken body parts.

 

[aveski2000]

26 at this point, should get 0 - 2 more days in. Most days I've skied in a season.
21 - Sunday River
4 - Sugarloaf
1 - Wildcat

 

[Terry]

I'm at 72 right now. I will hike for turns tomorrow after work, and am hitting Sugarloaf on friday. Not sure where on sat, and will hit SR on sunday.That will put me at 76 and I should be able to hit 80+ no problem. I have improved on my bump and woods skiing some this season and even though I sprained both knees in Jan, I have had a great season. I also improved on the race course this year.

 

[kingslug]

I gave up counting..it's never enough.
Alta 1 1/2 days
Snowbird 1 day
Panorama 4 days
KH 1 day
Heavenly 2 days
Squaw 1 day
Hunter ?????
Bell ????
Plattekill 1 day
Stowe 2 days
Sugarbush 1 day
Whiteface 2 days
killington 1 day

Might have hit 30.
I give the season a 50/50. Weather wasn't good to us and I wanted more time in Utah. the early season was great though 2 powder days at Hunter...nice! Meeting more and more AZr's is always great. And I think I'm finaly getting those bumps down.
My back country tour at Alta was the highlight of the season. And skiing bumps all day with Jim and Carl was my final exam. Jim gave me passing grades...a happy slug I am!!

 

[loafer89]

I will have to come back and visit this thread in May, until then the best is yet to come.

 

[gmcunni]

Great Year

I had an awesome year on several different fronts.

Personally - life-time high in number of days, somewhere near 25. I was fortunate enough to get out to Utah for a family trip this winter. Even though my wife doesn't ski she sucked it up to go with the kids and me. We skied SnowBasin and Power Mountain!!

I got back to up Sugarbush and Mad River after a 20 year absence and had a great time. I skied Bromely for the first time and discovered (thanks to AZ) that there was indeed decent skiing locally here in CT at Ski Sundown. I also realized that night skiing (something I had only done once many many years ago) was a lot of fun and a great way to supplement trips to VT.

I skied thigh deep powder (Sugarbush and Pico) for the first time ever and FINALLY understand what everyone means when they talk about how great powder skiing is.

Proud Parent - both my kids made great improvements in their skiing this year.

14YO son tagged along with me most of the season and made great improvements in skill, strength, stamina and a desire to ski more difficult slopes. He has a new found passion for skiing in the woods. He declared Summit Glade @ Pico his new favorite trail and took on both Middle Earth and Castlerock at Sugarbush.

My 9YO daughter got bitten by the bug. She now declares skiing her favorite winter sport (previously skating held that title). This year she skied Utah with me as well as Mount Snow and Ski Sundown. She's stated that she needs no further lessons and wants to ski black diamonds next year. Had time not run out this season she was more than ready to tackle Gunbarrel @ ski sundown.

Lastly, as geeky as it must sound, i "skied" vicariously through many of you. Through AZ i rediscovered my obsession (wife's description) with skiing and thoroughly enjoyed reading and seeing what everyone else was doing. AZ helped me improve my skills and expand my perspective.

I'm still holding out hope for one last day on the slopes this year!

Next year - new mountains and the ski sundown bump contest.

At 43 years old, i've convinced myself that my best skiing years are ahead of me, not in my past.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

I gave up counting..it's never enough.
Alta 1 1/2 days
!!

A half day counts as one day...

 

[Mikey1]

I am at 28 days right now and would like to reach 30. Several highlights were finally making it to Mad River Glen, meeting all you AZ'ers, and the bump competion at Sundown! Also, my 13 year old daughter became much more enthusiastic about skiing this year and actually wanted to ski more with her dad. I hope that it's not a temporary condition, but we shall see. If yesterday was my last day, I will be satisfied but some of those recent trip reports from NNE are making me drool in anticipation of more.

 

[frozencorn]

Was a slow year with an infant in the house, still somewhat satisfied to get 10 days in, with two more to go next weekend at Bush-Stowe.

 

[Vinny]

Although we don't count days, the days we did get in this year seemed extra spectacular. Lucked out with many sunny days and great conditions. The sunny days were extra special, because on more than 50% of them forecasts were for clouds. We're still hoping to get three more days in next week as our last hurrah for the year. Overall an absolutely wonderful year.

Maybe as we get older (mid 50's and counting) we enjoy it even more? To paraphrase Zen and Motorcycle Maintenance..."When talking about 'making good time', the emphasis should be on 'good'." I feel the same way about counting days.

 

[Warp Daddy]

Vinny : that's right on target ! Quality over Quantity is a great goal

 

[dmc]

."When talking about 'making good time', the emphasis should be on 'good'."

I love that line

 

[kingslug]

A half day counts as one day...

It was actualy 2 hours. I got on the hill at 2 after landing, checking in, taking a train to the bus........OK I'll count it as a day.

 

[NortheastSlopesest.1936]

We got in at least 48 days, don't really count, just know it was 3 days a week + a few that were 4-5 days, seems like every other day was nothing but a foot of pow and this spring has been just as good. Every time I have been out this past week (4 out of 5 days) the mornings have been cold enough to stiffen things up and has lasted throughout the day with only a few inches of corn, perfect conditions has been the theme ALL season long.

 

[ERJ-145CA]

Just got back from some good spring skiing at Belleayre - day 38.

 

[highpeaksdrifter]

Mountain Totals
Mountain Visits Runs Vertical
Blue Mountain, PA 68 1079 1104120
snow king, wy 1 4 6000
Killington, VT 1 15 17150
Camelback, PA 2 65 46850
Sugarbush, VT 1 14 20300
Big Boulder, PA 2 50 18800
Sno Mountain, PA 1 25 12500
Okemo Mountain Resort, VT 1 20 27550
STOWE,VT 5 76 142450
Mt Snow 2 20 34000
Jackson Hole, Wy 9 121 229710
Grand Targhee 1 14 21740


GrilledSteezeSandwich's Averages and Totals
Total Days Recorded 94
Total Runs Recorded 1503
Total Vertical Recorded 1681170
Average Runs per Day 16
Average Vertical per Day 17884.8
Average Vertical per Run 1118.5


This is from the stats I keep on www.paskiandride.com

It looks like I'll get a day at Belleayre, a day Hunter, and a few more days in VT,,,last season I hit 119 days but I had a 61 day streak at Blue and this year I skipped alot of the rainy days plus Blue closed 9 days earlier than last year. It was a good season for me for sure..not my best..and definitely not the most powder skied but it was one of my better seasons. When I lived in Montana I skied less days because there was no night skiing but I skied so much cold smoke powder. I'd trade a few of my days at Blue mountain for more Powder..

Get help.

 

[highpeaksdrifter]

Dont' count. Feels too much like competing or braggin'...

I never felt like it was bragging or competing and I had never done it before I started posting here. I always felt like I was kinda making myself do it and never really liked it. It was liberating to stop doing it this season. I did 56 days last season and I probably got a little past that, maybe not, but who cares anyway.

That said to each his own.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Get help.

ahahahaha..why numbers and statistics are a hobby of mine..

4 more days until Belleayre