Today was getaway day. I got everything loaded into the car and pipes drained by 7:30 – a new record. Made it to the mountain by 7:50. Plan was to meet Jeff in front of the Gondi at 9am.
A couple of solo runs down the front, a Twister and a Sunway. I hadn’t been on the trails up front at all yesterday. Twister, open officially for the first time was firm, but without ice. A few bare spots.
Jeff and I are living parallel lives. Two tele guys, with little kid(s), demanding jobs and understanding wives. We’ve got a lot to talk about.
We went up the Gondi, down Uncas to the quad, and hit Straightbrook and Chatiemac Glades. Uncas was excellent. From the looks of it from the bottom – much better than Pine Knot. Straightbrook was actually in better shape than Chatiemac.
Lies was pretty good on an absolute scale, but nothing like the Nirvana of the last few days. Dark Side proper looked very hard hit. Other less obvious parts of the DS were in better shape.
At the top of Lies we ran into EDeO, Powderqueen and the entire gang. I was getting ready to call it a morning, to begin doing battle with 87 and my return to real life in downtown NJ. The pull of the group was too much. We did a few runs off Headwaters. Conditions were definitely softer on some of the less popular stuff.
My fatigue from skiing bell-to-bell on both Friday and Saturday really caught up with me. I could barely get my skis around in the tight stuff. When Jeff and I were skiing together, alone, I was lagging. He was very understanding and supportive.
With the big group I definitely a liability. Around 11:30 I bid goodbye to that accomplished group and struck off, down Tannery, to begin the end of my Birthday sojourn. Thanks to everyone who made the weekend special… Powderqueen, Matt, Matty, Pam, EDeO and Jay, Jeff, The whole gang at The Gear Source in town. I had a great time.
We had a blast skiing with you Harv! and the whole gang. What fun! Considering the lack of natural snow, the snow in the woods held up well and was very skiable.
Kudos to snowmaking and grooming. There seemed to be some quality manmade snow on the trails and the grooming was excellent, making for a very satisfying skiing experience.
There seem to be a lot of whiners out there. I don’ know what all the fuss is about.
Sure, it would have been nice to ski Burnt Ridge and Rumor. The website made it seem like it would be likely, but that was clearly not happening. I just hope they get it going for MLK weekend, to disperse the crowds. Luckily this weekend it wasn’t all that busy and what we were skiing was in good shape.
PDQ … It was good getting together for the annual meeting of the editorial staff.
The Dippikill Gang is warm, friendly and they ROCK in the trees. It was great to be included.
One of the patrollers at Gore told me, only half-kidding, that the wind has blown so much snow into the woods that they should close the trails and open ONLY the woods!
Harv, non-skiing comment: I assume your cabin plumbing drains well under gravity, but if it’s a little iffy, have you tried using a small air compressor to blow it out? That’s what I do with my cabin on lake Ontario and it works like a charm.
Tom … the patroller was not even half kidding. He was 100% serious. The day the difference between the trees and the trails was greatest was Saturday Jan 2. Check out the TR in the archives.
On that day – I’d call the tree skiing good or even very good. And the trails were death. I quit that day at 3:15 when I felt that Hawkeye, Chatiemac AND Cloud – would all result in falls. Bullet proof ice and bedrock vs my very smooth edges. Not good odds for me. On my last run I down Hawkeye, I actually sat down and slide down the headwall on my butt.
With regard to the plumbing … it’s a gravity drain system with a few irregularities. The tankless hot water heater has some coils that are hard to clear. It’s easy to get all the water out, except the last pint. If the power goes out and it’s really cold, there is one spot that can freeze.