My Retirement Year: An Ongoing Skiing TR

Day 20: Stratton, VT (Ikon)

Damn, it was cold this morning. Not really colder than Monday at Okemo but Stratton doesn't have heated seats on its chairlifts. I can't believe I just typed that but tbh,I like those heated seats when it's 10*.

Linked up with a non-mag friend (Craig) who was the F&B manager at Magic last year and is now a bartender at the base lodge bar here at Stratton. Always good to have friends that tend bar. Also met his buddy (Jay) who lives at Timber Ridge, the closed ski area on the east side of the mountain that Magic operates on (Glebe Mountain for those not in the know). At one point TR and Magic were conjoined and a lot of Magic regulars still ski over there when there is new snow and Magic gets tracked out. But, I digress....

It was cold enough today to preclude any pictures. A shame I suppose as it was one of the clearest days we've had in the last month or so. Views into the High Peaks of the Adirondacks to the west and not quite to the Presidentials to the east. Killington looked like it was right next door to the north. Of course my crappy iPhone camera couldn't begin to capture what the eye was seeing so maybe it's not a real loss.

It felt good to be out in the cold, flying down the mountain. For those that don't follow the ECRC, you should strongly consider reading this article https://vtskiandride.com/skiing-after-dark/ Credit to mag jhyatt for posting that link in the ECRC.

Did quite a few laps on the upper mountain but it started to get congested so we called it a day a bit early.

Will likely be off the grid tomorrow and Saturday so happy holidays to all that I've met and those I haven't yet. And belated Happy Channukah to my friends that celebrate.

Day 21: Magic Mountain, VT (Magic Pass)

After a couple of days off, it felt good to be back on skis. We had another tough weather day on Christmas with most of New England getting freezing rain...some places got a couple of inches of snow afterward but magic wasn't one of them. Even so, the guy that does 90% of the grooming at Magic (a cool cat who's married to the best bartender in the area) made things workable on the 1.5 RODs that are skiable. All the same, it was
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It snowed a bit; not enough to really make a difference, but snow always makes skiers smile.
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Herd of turkeys enjoying the low snowpack at Magic
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Had a good chat with Jeff-with-a-G today. Magic is suffering the same woes as other ski areas around the country with a lack of available workers. Red chair to the summit should be open in a couple of days and I've seen/heard the additional snowmaking up above what is currently open. It will help make things more interesting to have different RODs to ski. Although there's plenty of places with more terrain open all around us, not going to them this week as they are likely zoos.

On a different front, due to family health issues (not ours), we've cancelled our trip to Maui that was scheduled for next week through MLK Sunday. I'm sure the locals are pissed because it's guaranteed to dump if I'm out of town but getting those 13 days back for skiing makes my other season goals more easily attainable.

Day 22: Magic Mtn, Vermont (Magic Pass)

Can Groundhog Day be in December? Today was eerily like yesterday except a few more mags showed up which always makes skiing better. Skied today with RustyGroomer, OrangeGondola, had beers with jgb@etree, and also saw MagicSnowboard and his ripping family. His 4 yo daughter was laying some trenches in the hardpack today. Mrs. MSB is an incredible skier as is her mom who is even older than me (by a little).

Magic should have the summit lift open by Wednesday as planned. They were making snow up above where we were skiing today
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Lots of day tickets swirling around today. I suspect the majority of them were IndyPass redemptions which I'm not sure was a good deal for them as Jeff-with-a-G has lowered day tix to $39 because of the limited terrain open. They should save those Indy days for pow days. Good for the mountain as I think Indy pays the ski areas somewhere in the neighborhood of $50 per redemption so +$11 for Magic.

Spent the afternoon mounting Tectons on some new sticks for Rusty. I'll post some pics in the MYOFS thread when they're done.

Day 23: Magic Mtn., VT (Magic Pass)

Another day of riding the wheel at Magic...I can think of worse things to do. It was warm this morning (34*) and the early groomer zooming was fun with soft snow and edgeable base underneath. We could really use some natural snow but that looks like a January proposition at best for New England.
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After skiing I hung out with a bunch of friends (socially distant of course) in the lodge and then headed back to our casa to finish mounting Rusty's skis. Need to do some plastic trimming on the brakes as they hang up a bit but they came out really nice. Have to say thanks to rfconroy for building me a centering jig with his 3D printer. It really cuts down on the time needed for a precise mount (Tectons).
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Skiing is still fun and the friends here at Magic make it even more so.

Day 24: Pats Peak, NH (Indy Pass)

This is the little mountain that could. I continue to be impressed with the operation at Pats. Lifts spun at 8:30 and I got there at about 8:35...the line of cars to get into the lot was backed up a couple hundred yards. Just like I-70 on a Saturday morning, eh? Went to the ticket window and a nice lady that looked a lot like Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction hooked me up with a ticket in less than 2 minutes.

With the lots filling rapidly, I approached the chairlifts with some dread. Fear not...
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Within 30 minutes they had 2 triples and a double servicing the frontside to the summit. Pro tip: use the Vortex Double...it's faster than the other 2 summit chairs and rarely, if ever, stops. It's mostly used by the racer kids but I skied on every lap. You lose about 50 feet of vert on each lap (it starts above the base area) and maybe that matters on a 742 vert hill but I'll take no stopping and no lines every time.

Anyhow...the trails were mostly deserted! With 24 of 28 trails open, I'm not calling them RODs at Pats any more. Multiple ways down and a couple of trails with sustained steep pitches kept it interesting. The snow was soft and very edgeable. The visibility on the other hand...
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Last time I was here, the "back side" of the hill was not open. This is a recent expansion and certainly wasn't open when I skied here 40 years ago. It opened at 10 and I hustled over there to trench some fresh cord. On my 3rd ride on the back side chair, the crowds arrived so I headed back to the main face.

Wait, is that sun?!?!? Could this become a perfect ski day?
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Alas, that peek of blue skies and sunlight was just a tease and we returned to the land of Murk
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Back on 12/18 I fell while walking home from Magic and tweaked my knee. Rather than stopping my march toward 100, I've just kept skiing on it (although I did rest yesterday). I have to say the soft snow today really made it a lot easier but I'm rationing my runs to make sure I can keep skiing when the snow finally comes. Nightly gummies also help.

Major setback today for Magic unfortunately. More drive issues caused a sudden stoppage of the Red Chair and the sudden stop caused a downhill-traveling chair to swing into a lift tower and become detached from the haul rope. State Inspector is aware but no prognosis on when Red will be up and running.

Sorting out my skinning gear tonight....

Strong work, single and I will work the loaf and saddleback shifts with you when you get here. And damn if those ranger 107’s don’t look good, have a pair in a sierra cart now


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I have Ranger108s with Vipecs. Very similar setup. Love the wide Rangers in 3D snow.

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Enjoying your thread Mr. West. A former girlfriend of mine is married to the guy in charge of snowmaking at Pat's Peak, you may even know him and/or them. Sounds like an interesting place where snowmaking is really their bread and butter. Anyway, carry on, looking forward to seeing you make it to 100 days.

This thread is cool! Keep up the good with MNIAW!

Your pics prove there is... nothing left to do but smile smile smile.


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by yeahman

Enjoying your thread Mr. West. A former girlfriend of mine is married to the guy in charge of snowmaking at Pat's Peak, you may even know him and/or them. Sounds like an interesting place where snowmaking is really their bread and butter. Anyway, carry on, looking forward to seeing you make it to 100 days.

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Thanks for the feedback...I'm a newbie at Pats so don't know them but I'm seriously considering a pass there next year.

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Originally Posted by skinipenem

This thread is cool! Keep up the good with MNIAW!

Your pics prove there is... nothing left to do but smile smile smile.


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Right on! Skiing is fun!

Day 25: Magic Mtn., VT (Magic Pass)
The news was pretty grim yesterday (Thursday) as a new drive motor installation on one of Magic's summit lifts malfunctioned and caused speed surges which led to chair oscillations which ultimately led to an unoccupied chair on the downward trip to become detached from the haul rope. Nobody was injured and there was no need for a lift evac. All the same, it was a different vibe this morning.

On the first ride up (we made it out at the crack of 10:30) the sun tried to power through the murk
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By the time we reached the top of the mid-mountain lift, things were definitely brighter
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The snow was soft, the lines were mainly non-existent and many Magic families were there to bring the smilez.

Local favorite, Sammy B was playing apres in the tavern and man, that guy can pick a guitar. Sat with Jeff-with-a-G for quite a while and tried to keep him from jumping off a ledge. There's a lot of gremlins working against Magic but he definitely felt buoyed up by the support of the people that love this place.

Tonight we burned a shrine to Ullr in the hopes that it can change the weather patterns and the cloud that is hanging over Magic...
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A short update on mags I skied with today...
RustyGroomer
OrangeGondola
Aldo
Speedfreak (making his annual appearance back east)
MagicSnowboard

and non-mags
BillH
Bank-mang
JFR
Otter

Fun day despite the near-miss yesterday. We'll get through this.

Having now missed the entire Christmas break for the first time in forever (family non-covid health issue), I am even more grateful for this thread MNIAW. One of these years (soon) I will join you on the mission for 100, with Magic as the core stomping ground.

Once again there is promise in the models for cold (looks good for early next week at least) and maybe snow (Friday storm - keep an eye on). But we've been here before only to see the cold fade and the storm push north and be warm. Maybe the sacrifice to Ullr is just what we needed to push the universe just a tad and make it snow in SoVT.

Happy and healthy New Year to all.

Day 26: Stratton, VT (Ikon)

To start off today's entry, let's look back at the sunset out of our kitchen window last night:
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Pretty amazing.

The temps crashed after that sunset and it was 3* this morning making for a very chilly skin up and down Magic early.

Met a neighbor (Les) at Stratton at 11:00 as the temps finally climbed into the teens. Forecasters called for a south wind today but that must have been for later today as it was a NNW wind that definitely chilled things. It was also supposed to be sunny but right after I took this pic
Attachment 399746
the clouds closed in. The trails were more crowded than expected and the snow they had made over the last 36 hours was completely scraped off leaving hockey rinks all over the mountain. My knee is still sending me signals that I should be on a trip to Maui right now so we called it after only a few runs. Stratton is advertising something like 45 trails but realistically, there was only 5 ways down from the top today.

Hoping to get out early again tomorrow for a skin lap at Magic and then unsure what will follow. Supposed to be mid-30s so maybe things will be softer. Fingers crossed for some real snow on Friday although the models are saying south and east of Vermont. May have to head over to the NH basecamp for a coupla days.

Day 27: Okemo, VT (Epic)

Earlier in this thread, I noted how Okemo has the most fucked up lift system in the east. Today bore that out. You always have to take a beginner quad to get high enough to get to any of the chairs that service the main mountain. Today, the Sachem chair (touted as being open on the website this AM), and the Sunburst 6-pack (also touted as being open but maybe on wind hold) were shut down. Ultimately, this led to a choice:
Skis short little runs off of a slow-as-death and ancient Triple or take 3 lifts (including said triple) to get to the pseudo-summit.

I tried choice 1 and it was OK but a ton of people were opting for choice 1 so I tried choice 2. Got to the summit and headed south toward the trails serviced by the 6 pack. Nobody there and the snow was quite enjoyable
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There were 3 decent trails in this pod so I endeavored to lap them...but it took forever to get a lap in. After 3.5 hours, I only had 7 laps of about 1,700 vert in. There were short lines (3-5 minutes) at each of the 3 chairs but when you added it all up, it was taking 30 minutes to get to the top...of Okemo. I decided that the juice wasn't worth the squeeze and headed home.

Tomorrow: Sunapee with an old friend from my days as a federal employee.

Day 28: Mount Sunapee, NH (Epic)

Disclaimer...the first 27 days of skiing in this TR were on marginal snow (if you can call it that). Today was the first day on anything resembling new snow so my report may be biased.
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Holy shit was today fun! Met up with a friend from my federal service days and we were 10th chair. There was a solid 2" of real snow in the lot so we were stoked. They groomed last night before the snow fell so it was smooth and inviting on the ride up. It skied as good as expected. Soft turns over a firm but edgeable base. Very little scraping until we were 10+ runs into the day. First 2 runs, I was skiing untracked pow! Yeah, it was only 2" but it felt like Snowbird blower after the shitty start to our season here on the Ice Coast.
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No pics of our earlier runs because we were trying to snap up as much of the untracked as possible. I'm sure I could have made a big sliding stop to give the over the head pow shot. Despite some of the spots looking a little shiny in this pic, I can assure you it was the low-skilled photographer and not the actual conditions.

I forgot to mention on yesterday's report that the people were way more talkative on the lifts at Okemo. I guess I gave them a bad rap. I even had several-minute conversations with women that were much younger than me. So sad when you realize that you're so old women don't think of you as somebody that's tryna put the moves on them. But I digress....

Probably going to ski at Magic tomorrow. The Red Chair is supposed to be back up and running for the weekend and the runs from the summit will feel like something new especially if that coastal storm clips us with 4-6" which is what my weather expert (FussyD) tells me is possible. Hope springs eternal.

Day 29: Magic Mtn, VT (Magic Pass)

The good news is, the coastal storm extended far enough into SoVT that we picked up a couple of inches here at Magic. The bad news is that COVID hit the Magic Ski Patrol so hard that they couldn''t muster enough staff to safely operate. For old-timers here at Magic, that would have meant nothing and they still would have opened. While I can't see myself ever needing Patrol's help, you never know and I won't fault the area for remaining closed today.

So we made lemonade. Doing my AIARE Level 1 on Mt Washington in a little over 2 weeks and my skinning game is not up to par. Grabbed my next door neighbor and up we went after confirming with area management that it was OK.
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Easy hike to mid-mountain as there was a lot of snowmaking and grooming going on above that point. A look at the uphill route that heads over toward Timber Ridge
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Neighbor BH on Vertigo
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Me also on Vertigo
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Should be a good day tomorrow as the snow has continued and it's still floating down at nearly 3:00pm.

Day 30: Magic Mtn, VT (Magic Pass)

When I walked the dog at 7am, the thermometer read 1.8*. That's going to feel warm once Tuesday hits. Just the same, neighbor BH and I decided to wait for the sun to get a little higher in the sky before venturing out. We headed over to Magic (it's about a 10-minute walk to the lifts) and happily noted the Red Chair running with skiers loaded. Up we went:
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It was still cold (10-ish) but there was no wind and it was a total bluebird day
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After a few laps on the great snow that DoWork and his crew laid down, we headed in for lunch. Although the lodge was uncrowded, we opted for the heated tent that Magic invested in last year.
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A few more runs in the afternoon and then a beer with MMP and jgb@etree in the tavern. If you've skied at Magic, you've probably noticed the house that is trailside on the east side. It's the only trailside house at the whole place. Mrs. MNIAW is friends with the owners and they invited us over for an apres firepit session.
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Another great day outdoors in Vermont...

Glad everything is going well so far. Magic looks great considering the weather so far. Keep ‘em coming.

Seems like you're doing retirement right.

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Originally Posted by ntblanks

Seems like you're doing retirement right.

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I'm trying.....

Day 31: Magic Mtn, VT (Magic Pass)

Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away....

Not a huge Beatles fan but that just popped into my head. Today was so different than yesterday and typical of what La Nina is doing to us here on the east coast. Woke up to howling winds and a thermometer that was rapidly climbing from 11* when I went to bed last night through the 30s (ultimately peaking at 37 today). Oh, and it was raining of course.

Goniff braved the shitty roads and texted me to meet him at the Red Chair. I grabbed neighbor Bill and we headed over. The most challenging part of today (other than keeping the goggles wiped) was walking over to the lifts. We headed up on Red
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The skiing was actually pretty OK despite the rain. We did a few laps but we weren't thrilled with the weather and called it an early day to watch some football. Neighbor Bill is a Jets fan and I follow the Patriots so neither of us had a great afternoon.

Not every day can be bluebird and I figure getting turns in during the shitty weather in December/January gets me in shape for pow days in February and marathon days in the sun in March and April (and May).

Way to go MNIAW, Goniff, BH and crew. Inspiring stuff, keep it up! This may have been covered but you got a fitness/flexibility regimen going to help get to the finish? Btw I'm going to have to hustle to have as many days as you when you get here but I'm up to the challenge

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I rode a lot over the summer, did a fair amount of light weight training and stretching through the fall, focusing on core strength. Haven't done much since Thanksgiving tho....

Quality is definitely more important than quantity and based on what I'm seeing, you guys are kicking my ass in that department.

Dude, go ski today. plenty of daylight!

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Originally Posted by kokomas

Dude, go ski today. plenty of daylight!

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Took a coupla days off to let a bum knee recover a bit. Back out this morning (Sunapee). Will drop a TR post later. Temps struggled to top 0* yesterday and it's currently 0.3* but s'posed to get into the 20s later.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MyNameIsAugustWest

Took a coupla days off to let a bum knee recover a bit. Back out this morning (Sunapee). Will drop a TR post later. Temps struggled to top 0* yesterday and it's currently 0.3* but s'posed to get into the 20s later.

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Yeah I think I was trying to motivate myself more than you. Cold here too, at least it's warmer up top though. Sorry about the bumb knee.

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Day 32: Mt. Sunapee, NH (Epic)

As I was leaving the house this AM, I looked up at the mountain and saw this
Attachment 400851
Snowmaking cloud as DoWork and his crew are trying to expand terrain at Magic for the upcoming holiday weekend. Some rumors flying around about a potential storm late this weekend. It would be appropriate as the last 3 MLK weekends (may be more, I can't remember) have had important storms to really kick of our season in SoVT. Think I'll get my car washed on Sunday.

On to Sunapee...got to the lot at 8:35 (9:00 first chair) and met up with a non-mag friend in the lot. Car thermometer read 9* but it was supposed to get warmer today. They were really pounding the snowmaking on Sunapee's North Peak (steeper section of the area) and it certainly looked like they had enough already to open a couple more trails for the upcoming holiday. We grabbed 8th chair and did a skiers left to right progression across the legit 6 ways down from the summit. The manmade was in great shape and the crowds were minimal. And that view...
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The skiing was great for what Sunapee is...a cruiser's hill and I have no issues with skiing there. Nice staff and friendly skiers.

We decided to do a 2nd round of the progression plus 1 more for a baker's dozen runs.

Did I mention that view?
Attachment 400856
I think this pic shows the effort that Sunapee has made with their snowmaking so far this year. Many Epic resorts in the NE are struggling (I suspect due to lack of staffing) in the snowmaking department but Sunapee is not one of them.

Skied a newly opened trail today and it gave some perspective on the tree skiing at Sunapee...they have committed to it and there is a bunch of places to ski good or eat wood. Looking forward to skiing these spots once we get some real snow.

Another great day to be outside.

Day 33: Stratton, VT (Ikon Pass)

Woke up to a dusting of snow at Magic and headed over to meet non-mag friends Ant and JFR. Skiing was good if not great and Stratton continues to expand terrain after the uber-cold temps earlier this week. Today was downright pleasant with the car showing 25* in the lot.

Just wondering what the deal is with the "clock tower" thing. I know Vail has one in their village but no idea if they were the OG. Stratton used to be Intrawest and they have the fake village with all kinds of shops where the bankers, lawyers, and dentists try to melt down their AMEX cards with the outrageous prices they charge there. Okemo also has a Clock Tower...Pretty sure it didn't back when I skied there in the 70s.
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Not really trying to bash Stratton because the skiing there has been far superior to the other SoVT spots. I boot up at the car, walk to the lifts, ski, and walk back to my car. Not interested in the other nonsense that makes the place a "destination".

Anyway, I had to cut my day short because I needed to get up to Ludlow (where Okemo is) to get some bootfitting work done. Solid shout out to Boot Pro in Ludlow. Good bootfitters and they don't try to push product unless you ask. My bootfittter today was Hannah who was knowledgeable, shared a BC secret after we got to talking about real BC skiing, and was exceptionally easy on the eyes. Of course she was easily younger than my daughters so that was just an objective observation.

Also met up with buttahflake in Ludlow at a different shop. I know many people that have never met this cat think evil thoughts but he is a solid mag and he did full tunes on my son's snowboard and a pair of my skis for some homegrown buds. Buttah asked who my fitter was and confirmed that Hannah is also a complete ripper on skis. Somebody's dream girl. Did I mention she was a red head? Man, if I was 35 years younger....

Just wait until it snows and you can ski Stratton’s side country.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Peruvian

Just wait until it snows

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Yes I am waiting. And waiting. And waiting.
Oh well.

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We are anxiously awaiting you guys' arrival out here. We have the snowz.

And clocktowers, ca. 1966
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Originally Posted by Djongo Unchained

We are anxiously awaiting you guys' arrival out here. We have the snowz.

And clocktowers, ca. 1966
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Man, we cannot wait either. Tried to grab a quick hop to either SLC or Boise to find some real snow but the airlines are so screwed right now it's virtually unpossible to grab a flight on short notice...so many flights being cancelled. Fingers crossed for a real storm toward the end of this weekend.

Day 34: Magic Mountain, VT (Magic Pass)

I didn't want to jinx myself with yesterday's post but I am 1/3 of the way toward my goal of 100 days. Way ahead of pace since our Maui trip was cancelled so I will definitely take tomorrow off (windchills in the -30* to -40* range tomorrow). If it was a pow day I'd be out in it but not for groomed manmade.

As I headed over to Magic at the crack of 10 this morning, I looked across the valley and saw the sun shining on the Sun Mountain (Bromley). Magic was encased in the murk. Their season may end early but man, that's a nice place to ski in January. Unfortunately, they don't have any great deals on passes and are not a part of any of the conglomerates. Their midweek pass is around $400 but with Epic Pass available to me for under a buck fiddy, it's hard to justify.
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Magic took advantage of the sub-zero temps earlier in the week and laid down enough snow to open 3 more trails. Still nothing on the west (steeper) side but at least we are out of the WROD category now.
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Snow was great and there was nobody there. Thursdays and Fridays are great at Magic. Saw one of our favorite families (5 kids ranging from 4-14). The kids come out for all the volunteer days and really love cutting their own trails. Also saw Rusty and his clan.

And this clan also
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Once the murk rose, the top of the mountain was coated in rime
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All in all, another good day to not be working!

Day 35: Magic Mtn, VT (Magic Pass)

Day 35 and my first pow day. Goniff came over last night in preparation for our first pow day of the year. When we got up this morning, there was a bit of disappointment. All the models were pointing to 12-16" with the majority of the snow landing before 9am. At 7am, there was only about 5" of dense snow that had fallen. We headed over to get in the inevitable line and got up in the first 25 chairs or so.
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We headed to our favorite east side natural snow trail and were not disappointed. By the 3rd lap, things were getting pretty tracked out but nobody was complaining because...snow! And snow it did. It didn't let up until almost 2pm.
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By the end, at least 12" of snow that got lighter as the day wore on. So sweet. After a lunch of barley malt, hops, and water, we headed back up to ski some more. We were just getting to re-do some of the morning's runs when a patroller that is also a good friend whispered, "Gary's at tower 18 and he's going to drop the west side rope when he gets here." So we hung near the rope trying to look nonchalant and telling everyone that there was no way that rope was going to drop today. Goniff, neighbor BH, and I were the first 3 through the rope and while Goniff opted for Talisman (it was a good call) neighbor BH and I opted for Sorcerer, the next trail over.
Neighbor BH trying to work around my tracks:
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And shortly after him, his daughter CB:
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Another day with a few mags to ski with: Goniff, MMP, RustyGroomer and a whole host of non-mag Magic friends.

Swweeetttt!

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Sooo.....

I'm going to take about a week off and try to heal this knee. After taking 2-3 days off, it feels pretty good but skiing on it just makes it hurt again. Yesterday was totally worth it but I can hardly get my pants on today because it is so swollen right now. VT-F and I are doing AIARE 1 this weekend and as long as we can skin up/ski down, I'll do it and report on it because in my book, those will count as ski days. But if we have to walk in either direction, I think I will be setting myself back too much and may have to bail.

Hoping the knee responds to some quality rest man! I would have chosen sorcerer too….

Was great to have free reign of the west side Monday afternoon! Nowhere else I’d rather be!


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Mrs K and I have each gotten some relief in knee pain and swelling from these, which I would not have considered had they not come recommended from our pt. Something about copper in there. Wear before, during or after as you see fit

https://incrediwear.com/collections/...xoCzBsQAvD_BwE


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Interesting. The copper thing has been around a long time but I've always been kinda, meh, in a totally ignorant way. Nice to hear from an actual unpaid human say they help.

Rest that puppy MNIAW! You have a lot of deep turns in your future!

Good luck with the knee--at least it looks like you got a legit powder day before deciding to rest it. Nothing wrong with a few days off when the old body starts to ache. I hope you're icing the hell out of it.

Thanks all. K, a couple of others haver also recommended the copper sleeve. Will go on a search mission tomorrow. Also trying to find cheap heated socks since it will likely be below zero on MTW for the Avy course.

check hunting supply shops / ice fishing shops for "cheap" heated socks ;
also farm supply

don't know if Bean's has 'em ;

do believe Cabela's has 'em
( by this weekend only if there is a Retail in the neighborhood )
see also, Bass Pro Shops --


the knee is worrisome...
baseline imaging ?
Ortho. assessment ?
If it needs to be 'scoped' , I'd do that Soon if I had a condo. in Teton Valley in a month
( sketchy to get it scheduled in two weeks, healed in three weeks or two weeks this side of Fifty.

I would definitely want the assessment. imaging is desireable.

Also - try to find soft snow. go Easy on the EC icepack ( it reads-like a half day still counts as a ski day. ))


Good luck ! skiJ