Sunapee Ski Day 12-30-2009

Marielle made her 09/10 season debut today and we had a great ski day. You'll see her ski review in the 2nd video. If it wasn't so cold you could see the smile on here face too. the fact that the sun was actually out was a huge bonus.

We got in 10 runs from noon to 4 (we didn't exactly rush to get there today, which was nice) and that was plenty. It got a bit 'scrapy' as the day went on but ICE doesn't phase Marielle in the least.

Sunapee was in great shape with a lot of snow being made, plenty of base, and the mountain will really come alive if the predicted snow really hits this weekend.

We did a bunch of photos with the Zi8 and a couple of videos. I am finding out this isn't the best 'action' camera. It's tough to keep the subject in the viewfinder when you are moving. Next comes music to get rid of the wind sounds.

Ski on the cheap factor: not so good, we paid full price but only bought 1/2 day tickets. It's tough to find deals on vacation week. I was reminded you can find tickets on Craig's List, we'll have to remember to have a look. Sunapee was fairly crowded - the lots was full but we found a great spot in the main lot. The hi-speed quad was packed, but all the other lifts had no lines whatsoever.

Another BDay - Ski Day @ Sunday River

We finally got to Pete's SKI DAY for his BDay!
It took until December 21st to pull it off, but we had some good company with Bob & Petee joining us. It sure was a cold, windy day and being the first day of winter, not the brightest day as the pictures show. Sunday River had quite a few snowguns blazing - top to bottom on multiple trails. We were looking to do some trail poaching under the guns but held off. Here's a shot of White Heat getting blasted...

This is at the top of White Cap heading down Obsession. What you can't see is the wind blowing up trail and sandblasting us with chunks of ice pellets.

One 'Bright spot' ;-) on the day (not to mention Petee getting himself out skiing & pulling the condo connections) was this shot of blue sky looking up into the Chutzpah glade at the top of White Cap. It did seem to be about 10 degrees warmer over this end of the mountain and White Heat was actually protected from the wind.


This video clip is another test with the Zi8. I'm finding it not to be the best action photo cam. It's tough to keep the distance right, hold the subject in the window and ski. But someone's got to test it -- sorry guys, compression problem from the Kodak software - I've had some issues with that too. Will try it again & RE/upload ASAP - hopefully with some tunes too.

BTW - who's slogan is it? Ski Day Blog goal for the season = "NEVER pay full price"
(we'll see, that could go down the drain fast with a big powder day approaching)
Sunday River 12 Days of Xmas special - MA residents pay only $39
I'll take it! ;-)

1st X-Country Ski Day

It snowed about 6 - 8 " today so I thought it would be a good chance for a quick ski thru the Middlesex Fells. It was a little bit on the thin side but the track was starting to take shape. The snow was very light & dry, perfect powder and just deep enough to float through. With all the foot traffic thru the Fells it will be 'groomed' before you know it. There's a pretty good downhill shot off the tower that I'll have to try once the base gets a bit deeper.


Later this evening we'll be heading north to Sunday River so we can do a Bday Ski Day for Pete C. Somehow the storm stayed south of SR but with all the cold air in place I'm sure the snowmaking has been epic. Hopefully we'll have a good video to try out here on the blog - come on sunshine ;-)

It's MA day at SR so we're going for a cheap Pre-XMas ski day. I'm 2 for 2 so far on the discounts - 3 for 3 if you count the x-country today. 'Don't pay full price' sounds like it may be the slogan for this season.



Here's a lame x-country ski video - I don't know if it's possible to have one that's watchable...

1st SKI DAY for '09/10 Season

Well we finally did it - the wait is OVER!
Nick & Lew did a Bday Ski Day (Nick's Bday)

We went to Sunday River for Two for One Tuesday, part of SR's 12 days of Christmas.
$65 for 2 wasn't too bad a deal.

It wasn't exactly crowded, that's for sure - and the snow was suprisingly good considering how foggy & warm the day turned out to be. Conditions were super at Aurora on Northern Lights, lots of loose powder piles to plow through:)
We got in 11 runs and called it a day as it started to spit some rain on us as we got to Barker for some after lunch runs. The snow was much heavier at this point - I did the last run down Wildfire w/ tracked up, wet & deadly soft snow - it was an interesting finish.



This is some early test video off my new Kodak Zi8. Not bad, still taking some time to get used to how it shoots. Tough light & fog all day really hurt the video options. More to follow.
Lew

Finally some SNOW

I think it's now official - I have never waited this late in the season for my first Ski Day. We've usually been successful getting that first escape plan done, but with the warm air here in the east we've been on hold. Who gets the first visit? Killington or Sunday River are the favorites - who's got the best deal.? Sunday River has a bunch of holiday specials happening, I think the 2nd day of their 12 Days of Christmas Promo will be the way to go -- Tuesday December 15th, 2 for ONE, works for me. Stay tuned, I'll have some pictures and hopefully some video. I am getting my new Kodak video cam figured out so we'll see what we can come up with for video pics.

By the way - the PT work on my knee has been helping out, it's alot stronger and I've been doing a solid routine to build legs & core. Back to Tele's is the goal!

Getting Closer to the first SKI DAY of the new season !

We'll there's been a lot of stuff going on in my world lately; Like starting up a new business in web development, so it's been tough to focus on getting my SKI DAY ideas published but it will get going as the season approaches.

The TODAY SHOW was featuring the Colorado snowstorm with 2 feet in Golden, CO and that always gets MY attention. My client, George, out at Steamboat has kept me apprised of all the snow he's seeing out there and I'm ready to go for my first SKI DAY.

Sunday River showed what they were made of as they opened for the past 2 weekends here in October!
Check out Sunday River for some great ski deals as they celebrate their 50th anniversary. They had some pretty cool $50 offerings thruout the season.

In terms of getting ready for ski season, I've finally got to the doctor for a knee check-up and I have a PT program started to strengthen my leg & get back to full strength. I am looking forward to getting on the Tele ski's much more this season and super leg strength will be the key to pain free knees!

Here's an image from my last ski day of the 2009 season. Look at that snowcover! Maybe Killington can get back to their old ways of "last to close" and give Sunday River a run for their money.

Ski Day Adventures on the Cheap

Hi Folks,
Here's the first post on my concepts of skiing cheap. We started the idea back in the late 70's when we had very little money. As college students, we squeezed every dollar as far as it could go. Lift tickets cost a fortune back then too, so our goal for the ski day was "a buck a run". That way we really got our money's worth. We were certainly a lot younger, and the knees were a lot less wobbly, but the lifts were a lot slower back then too. So pulling off 19 or 20 runs was a great SKI DAY! It was on those ski days that we learned about what ski fitness really was about -- taking a pounding 2, 3 or more days per week from December to June. Going for first chair up in the morning and seeing if you could still make to that last 4 pm chair.

Once we learned about the concept of ski houses, we were really cranking it up and building on our system. Getting a season pass became a must have piece of ski jewelry. You wore it proudly and marked off the days you skied. Along came the break-even day celebration. That formula of total season pass cost divided by the day ticket rate = #days to free skiing for the rest of the season! It made a for a great party after a long ski day.

Another development was the "3 Run Minimum". That was invented for the wimpier members of the ski house. Those people who didn't get up to the mountain until 11, then complained it was too crowded - and too icy. And had the nerve to call it a ski day!

Even if it was boiler plate ice top to bottom, you had to get 3 runs in before you could call it a ski day. I think there was some mention of character building or something like that. Having sharp edges certainly was a necessity on those days too.

So naturally you need a season tune pass...

More on that later --
Along with more cheap ski tips, ski videos, ski pictures and ski reviews.
Lew