Mostly sunny, 20 degrees.

Yeah sun. The sun makes everything better. It’s like bacon in that respect. Or carbon fiber, which also seems to make everything better. I’m a vegetarian, so I’d probably be better off eating carbon fiber than bacon, but I know a lot of people like it. Anyway, yeah, the sun was out in full force today making it feel warmer than it was and improving visibility radically. It elevates the mood. Almost every open trail was groomed today so that was nice too, providing a smooth surface,  lightly dusted with granular material. While I was up there it appeared that snowmaking was mainly concentrated on Snowshed but there were snowmakers out and about, getting ready to resurface a bunch of areas. I made a few runs with Dan and he said the Stash was riding pretty well. I took his word for it. The weather looks like it will remain in winter mode for a while now, thanks to orders from that woodchuck in Pennsylvania. Thanks Phil. Other than that, it looks like business as usual for the weekend. Except there is some big sporting event going on this weekend, one of those fringe sports, I forget which one. But you know what that means? Slopes are mine on Sunday afternoon. Unless you want to join me.

Dave Young is a former ski tuner from the Midwest. In fact, he was once assistant to the assistant manager at the biggest tuning shop in the mall. These days he mostly skis, photographs other people skiing, or hangs out in coffee shops pretending to write about skiing. Shop Our Online Store

Cloudy, 23 degrees.

Hey, happy Groundhog Day. In case you haven’t heard, Phil saw his shadow and that means winter is starting over and for real this time. Thank goodness. I was thinking that not only is today literally Groundhog day, like in the woodchuck seeing his own shadow sense, but it also reminds me of Groundhog Day, the movie with Bill Murray. In the sense that I keep finding myself here at Liquid Art Coffee House, trying to find something unique to say about yet another rain/thaw/freeze cycle. And failing. I actually thought about just recycling one of my past snow reports, but that would be dishonest. So, what we had today was flat. Flat terrain and flat light. The snow surface was typical for these kinds of days, firm and sprinkled with granular. Some trails were softer than others, Superstar and it’s neighbors, for instance, were quite nice, while lower East Fall was a little too shiny for my particular skill set. And so it goes. Killington says that tonight will see the return of snowmkaing, and more grooming will definitely happen which can only make things more better. Steadier winter type temperatures will remain in place for the weekend so that should prevent any unpleasant surprises. See you on the slopes.

Incidentally, I wanted to point out a fun thing that you should check out when you are in town here. Last night a bunch of us did a High Altitude Adventures dinner and had a really great time. HAA operates out of the sports center at Sunrise Mountain Village and they offer a number of different activities but the one we checked out was a snowshoe dinner party. Basically they take you on a nice little snowshoe walk through the woods to what they call the Wilderness Camp, a compound of tents out in the woods that are warm, richly appointed and set up for preparing a very hearty and delicious multi course meal. It is a unique and memorable way to spend an evening and is open to groups of 6 or more and they have rental snowshoes available (we had 30 people, so they can obviously accommodate a wide range of groups). Highly recommended and you can find more info at sunrisemtnvillage.com

Dave Young is a former ski tuner from the Midwest. In fact, he was once assistant to the assistant manager at the biggest tuning shop in the mall. These days he mostly skis, photographs other people skiing, or hangs out in coffee shops pretending to write about skiing. Shop Our Online Store

Bret looking trim and fast

Cloudy, 40 degrees.

Another fine day of skiing slid by this first of February, partially obscured in the mist but lovely nonetheless. Warm temperatures and palpable humidity, or something like that, made for soft and creamy snow conditions. The lower half of the mountain was especially nice owing to the possibility of one’s emergence from the cloud that cloaked the upper reaches of mighty mount Killington. I played the part of spectator at the fine local tradition of Ski Bum Racing and caught some nice snapshots of several Basin Sports luminaries. It was kind of dark so you’ll have to pardon the graininess. High ISO and so forth. Where to from here? I won’t venture to guess. The only way to know for sure how things will shake out is to get up tomorrow and do it all again, so that’s what I’ll do. Which reminds me that tomorrow is Ground Hog Day. Where I predict that the zany woodchuck Punxsutawney Phil will emerge from his hole in Gobblers Knob and pronounce that winter has not even yet begun. Better lay in another cord or two of firewood.

Dave Young is a former ski tuner from the Midwest. In fact, he was once assistant to the assistant manager at the biggest tuning shop in the mall. These days he mostly skis, photographs other people skiing, or hangs out in coffee shops pretending to write about skiing. Shop Our Online Store

Cloudy, 37 degrees.

Another super day at the Big K. There was still some fresh duff to be found from yesterday’s snowfall, plus the inch or so that fell last night. In addition, grooming, snowmaking, and a slight warm up in temperature gave the trails just the right consistency for confidence inspiring carving. Highline was so good I wish I could have stayed out longer. I would have lapped it ten more times. Great Bear still had nice turns along the edges, East Fall was smooth and fast. I heard that Needles Eye was dreamy too, but I never made it over there. It’s nice sometimes when you have to leave the hill with a few good runs still left in you. Makes me excited to get up and do it again tomorrow.

Dave Young is a former ski tuner from the Midwest. In fact, he was once assistant to the assistant manager at the biggest tuning shop in the mall. These days he mostly skis, photographs other people skiing, or hangs out in coffee shops pretending to write about skiing. Shop Our Online Store

Sun, flurries, 17 degrees.

I’ve gotten some criticism in the past for using the words three, inches, and dump in the same sentence. But seriously, this season, three inches is a dump. My mind is so warped by the lack of measurable snowfall that when I went out on my deck this morning and looked at the snow I thought, my God, look at all that snow. There must be two inches. Will I even be able to drive up to Killington in all this snow? I have snow tires, so maybe. I’m so glad that I took the chance. The skiing was good. One good thing about last week’s less than wintery weather is that there is a ridiculously supportive crust in the woods. You do not have to worry about breaking through it. Consequently, this three inches (actually it might have been four) allowed us to make some fairly confident turns in low angle trees today. You want to avoid having to stop quickly, but as long as you plan accordingly it can be done. And, as I’ve said several times already this season, three or four inches on the groomers makes a whole world of difference. Kevin and I agreed that today was probably our best day of Killington skiing so far in 2012. Of course we missed out on that one Saturday storm, so that might have been better, but today was plenty good. The Beast still has the pressure on with snowmaking too. With any luck we’ll get a few inches here and there throughout the week and be in good shape for a while.

Dave Young is a former ski tuner from the Midwest. In fact, he was once assistant to the assistant manager at the biggest tuning shop in the mall. These days he mostly skis, photographs other people skiing, or hangs out in coffee shops pretending to write about skiing. Shop Our Online Store