# Hunter 3/19



## 2knees (Mar 19, 2007)

*Date(s) Skied: 3/19 *

*Resort or Ski Area: Hunter  *

*Conditions: packed powder/some loose/some scratch *

*Trip Report: *  Gonna beat Greg to this although i hope he adds his thoughts as he is more descriptive then myself.

Got up there this morning around 10:45 and met greg at the top shortly thereafter.  Took a run down cliffs, nice pow bumps with some scratch in between.  Broadway was next, some nice soft bumps there and then over to eisenhower.  not sure what happened there but the comp course is a wreck now.  anyway, i could tell this was gonna be a fun day right off the bat.  We took another run down the main face, upper crossover.  Never skied that before.  Not bumps you could kill but still fun.  some chunks in the lines but still soft. 

We decided to check out the west side next.  Took Colonels alternate to Claires.  The colonel had nice snow on it and claires, not quite as good.  Alot of ice showing but still pretty damn good.  Bump lines were messy, but fun.  Found one real sweet line near the bottom under the chair.  Next up Annapurna.  damn, that is one fun trail.  the steeper upper part suffered, or i suffered, from some real ice troughs and spaced out bumps.  Greg has some video of me gaping it up pretty bad, so you can all point and laugh at that when he posts it.  The bottom half got really really good with some more consistent lines and less scrape. fun fun fun.  

also did upper and lower k27.  the headwall on lower is pretty steep.  Had some real ice chunks among the bumps so i basically hit survival mode on that.  It was quite a workout.  Other then that, we basically hit annapurna most of the time and i got all i bargained for.  Really, that run is quite relentless.  Not sure on the vertical, but it has to be about 1200 feet or so and constant bumps on a pretty good pitch.  the heavier leftover mank, ice patches and funkily shaped bumps made for quite a workout.  nice day and always a blast to ski with greg.


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## bvibert (Mar 19, 2007)

Sounds pretty damn good.  Although I had fun skiing with HPD and Jim on Friday I kinda wish I had bagged that day and went today instead...  Oh well, maybe next time.  I probably would have had trouble keeping up with you maniacs anyway.


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## 2knees (Mar 19, 2007)

bvibert said:


> Sounds pretty damn good.  Although I had fun skiing with HPD and Jim on Friday I kinda wish I had bagged that day and went today instead...  Oh well, maybe next time.  I probably would have had trouble keeping up with you maniacs anyway.



you could've kept up with me.  I was sucking wind by 1:00.  greg on the other hand, dude has an extra strength battery or something.


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## Greg (Mar 19, 2007)

*Hunter Mountain - 3/19/2007*

*Date(s) Skied: *Monday, 3/19/2007, 10:05 am - 4:00 pm

*Resort or Ski Area: *Hunter Mountain, NY

*Conditions: *Cruddy powder, dense powder bumps, packed powder, some scratchy troughs. Sunny am, cloudy pm, Snow squalls late in the day, temps in the 20's, Calm winds.

*Trip Report: *I had a severe case of ski-itis today. I couldn't get out this weekend so I just had to try and get in a day on quite possibly the last few days of mid-winter conditions in this area. Clicked in a bit after 10 am and took a few runs. It was nice and sunny this morning and it was a pleasure skiing the Hunter front side. The bumps on Cliff and Broadway were nice. Kind of like skiing dense chalk dust on styrofoam. My form was pretty rough early on and my feet were aching for whatever reason. Ike was pretty funky. On the next run I found a neat little lower mountain tree shot.

Met up with 2knees shortly after 11 am at the summit and we took a few runs on the front hitting the bumps on Cliff, Broadway, Ike, Crossover and Lower K. We didn't find too many lines that wowed us so we headed over to the West sides via Colonel's to Claires. Claire's was okay, but there's a lot of ice showing up between the bumps. The line skier's left directly under the lift was the best.

We then made our way to Annapurna. Purna was where it's at today, especially once we found some great snow skier's left on the steep section. Not great bumps up there, but nice snow allowing for easy skiing. Great bumps lines could be found once the pitch mellowed a bit. This really is a great run - relentless top to bottom moguls. We hit Purna several times and then took a quick 20 minute lunch after hitting Upper K (awesome) and lower (okay).

After lunch we huffed it back to Annapurna and just lapped it this afternoon. Pat had to split around 3 pm so I skied down with him to take a break and get a drink. My plan was then to head back to Purna for one more. I hit Wayout (groomed but very nice) and hopped on Z lift. At the top I noticed Claire's and Purna were both roped so I hit K27 again. Had a great run on Lower; so much so that I rode the quad up and hit it again.

Great day. I feel much better.  The mountain has a ton of snow and is really set up well for some nice spring bumps. Got a bunch of video so I'll try to put something together later.


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## Greg (Mar 19, 2007)

Whoops. I did my whole write-up before I saw yours so I merged them. I'm beat. My shower zapped any bit of energy left in my battery... Seriously though, I stopped a lot on Purna today. Certainly didn't feel like I was full of energy and was actually worried I was bogging you down...


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## MarkC (Mar 19, 2007)

I wish i knew that some AZers were going to be at hunter today.  I would have gone there instead of Belleayre.  I am headed to Hunter tomorrow.  TR to follow if my cell internet wants to work.  If anybody wants to meet up send me a PM.


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## Greg (Mar 19, 2007)

Here are the videos. YouTubage:



(Needs a few minutes to process). Here is the much higher quality version (52+ MB). Give this one another 10 minutes to finish uploading:

*Hunter - 3/19/2007*

Enjoy!!!


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## Greg (Mar 20, 2007)

Greg said:


> Here are the videos. YouTubage:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Ugh... :blink: I was saw tired and blurry-eyed last night, I didn't even notice the annoying blue hue to all the video. I think the white balance on my camer's video mode is screwed up. I remember playing with that recently. Sorry for the crappy footage... :-?


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## 2knees (Mar 20, 2007)

greg, why didnt you call me out on the stupid extra lift tickets on my jacket?

they look like little hands flapping at my side.


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## Greg (Mar 20, 2007)

2knees said:


> greg, why didnt you call me out on the stupid extra lift tickets on my jacket?
> 
> they look like little hands flapping at my side.



Now why would I do that? Hopefully, by your next outing you'll forgot about them again and we can all point and laugh at you...

And now that you mention it, you epitomized the lift ticket gaper move. You have lift tickets flapping around off of *both *pocket zippers! :blink: Next time just complete the picture and attach your lift ticket to the center zip so it smacks you in the face the whole time... :lol:


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## Grassi21 (Mar 20, 2007)

Great stuff as usual guys!

I should probably ask this question over at the mogul skiing forum but I thought about it while watching this video.  When you get in trouble in the bumps (too much speed, getting tossed around, out of control), what is the best way to stop?  Hockey stop on the front face of a bump? Hop out of a trough onto a bump?  I get so rattled when I loose control in and I never know how to react.


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## Greg (Mar 20, 2007)

Grassi21 said:


> Great stuff as usual guys!
> 
> I should probably ask this question over at the mogul skiing forum but I thought about it while watching this video.  When you get in trouble in the bumps (too much speed, getting tossed around, out of control), what is the best way to stop?  Hockey stop on the front face of a bump? Hop out of a trough onto a bump?  I get so rattled when I loose control in and I never know how to react.



Thanks Chris. Each situation is different. I normally try to hockey stop on top of a bump to check my speed, especially on steep moguls. Sometimes it's better to just stop totally and quickly regroup. Don't stop for too long unless you need the rest though. Sometimes it's better to jump back into it. If you lose rhythm, maybe try traversing to a new line.


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## Grassi21 (Mar 20, 2007)

Greg said:


> Thanks Chris. Each situation is different. I normally try to hockey stop on top of a bump to check my speed, especially on steep moguls. Sometimes it's better to just stop totally and quickly regroup. Don't stop for too long unless you need the rest though. Sometimes it's better to jump back into it. If you lose rhythm, maybe try traversing to a new line.



Nice.  I'm hoping we can get hit Sundown next week so I can give it a try.  I'm two days shy of my goal and need to meet or exceed that goal.


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## 2knees (Mar 20, 2007)

Greg said:


> Thanks Chris. Each situation is different. I normally try to hockey stop on top of a bump to check my speed, especially on steep moguls. Sometimes it's better to just stop totally and quickly regroup. Don't stop for too long unless you need the rest though. Sometimes it's better to jump back into it. If you lose rhythm, maybe try traversing to a new line.



this is all good advice grassi. I'll add one thing.  If you are really hauling a$$ sometimes the best thing to do is to just put yourself down.  Its better to have a controlled fall then to careen down the trail like a pinball until you just blow up.

and the part about waiting too long is totally true.  I try (emphasize try) to eat up as large chunks as possible cause alot of stopping and looking at lines and such, personally, makes me more tentative.


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## Grassi21 (Mar 20, 2007)

2knees said:


> this is all good advice grassi. I'll add one thing.  If you are really hauling a$$ sometimes the best thing to do is to just put yourself down.  Its better to have a controlled fall then to careen down the trail like a pinball until you just blow up.
> 
> and the part about waiting too long is totally true.  I try (emphasize try) to eat up as large chunks as possible cause alot of stopping and looking at lines and such, personally, makes me more tentative.



sounds like i can do that.  i've been pretty good at taking falls this season.  i do stair endlessly at the run before dropping in.  to put in terms of golf, i just need to grip it an rip it.


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## Greg (Mar 20, 2007)

Grassi21 said:


> i do stair endlessly at the run before dropping in.  to put in terms of golf, i just need to grip it an rip it.



I've gotten away from doing this a lot this season. I used to stop at the top of a techncal run and overanalyze it. It's better to look for a few seconds and just jump in.


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## Grassi21 (Mar 20, 2007)

Greg said:


> I've gotten away from doing this a lot this season. I used to stop at the top of a techncal run and overanalyze it. It's better to look for a few seconds and just jump in.



With the pace you set there seems to be little time to stand around and look. ;-)


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## hammer (Mar 20, 2007)

2knees said:


> I'll add one thing.  If you are really hauling a$$ sometimes the best thing to do is to just put yourself down.  Its better to have a controlled fall then to careen down the trail like a pinball until you just blow up.


Any advice on how to have a "controlled fall" in the bumps?


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## 2knees (Mar 20, 2007)

hammer said:


> Any advice on how to have a "controlled fall" in the bumps?




try to find a softer spot and just lay yourself down to one side.  i generally lay down while throwing my skis out in front of me, horizontal to the fall line to keep myself from sliding too far.  fortunately, or unfortunately, i've had years of practice at this as i tend to get out of control quite a bit.


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## Greg (Mar 20, 2007)

2knees said:


> try to find a softer spot and just lay yourself down to one side.  i generally lay down while throwing my skis out in front of me, horizontal to the fall line to keep myself from sliding too far.  fortunately, or unfortunately, i've had years of practice at this as i tend to get out of control quite a bit.



There's an example of an *un*controlled fall in the above video at 1:47 - 1:51. Rolling down the windows big time there; some serious backseat. I don't know how you stayed up. Looks like you made one last effort to get over that bump. Almost, man. Kudos for trying to hold on.


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## 2knees (Mar 20, 2007)

Greg said:


> There's an example of an *un*controlled fall in the above video at 1:47 - 1:51. Rolling down the windows big time there; some serious backseat. I don't know how you stayed up. Looks like you made one last effort to get over that bump. Almost, man. Kudos for trying to hold on.




lmao, rolling down the windows.   thats a perfect analogy.  never heard that before.


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## Greg (Mar 20, 2007)

2knees said:


> Other then that, we basically hit annapurna most of the time and i got all i bargained for.  Really, that run is quite relentless.  Not sure on the vertical, but it has to be about 1200 feet or so and constant bumps on a pretty good pitch.



You're pretty close with your 1,200' estimate. It appears from this *topo* that the Hunter (ski area) summit is at about 3,200'. The base of Z Lift is at 1,870' so 1,330 total vert. Provided that Annapurna is depicted more or less accurately on that topo, that bumped up part runs about from about 3,100 to 1,900 so you're right on with that 1,200' guess.


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## highpeaksdrifter (Mar 20, 2007)

Greg, I was going to PM you this, but then I figured why not give you props in public.

After watching the vid on this thread, I can't believe how much you've improved in the bumps since we skied Hunter earlier this season. When you where coming down Anna toward the camera I thought it was Pat until you got closer.

As soon as you can keep those knees together all the time you'll have it all going. Nice job.


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## dmc (Mar 20, 2007)

more speed Greg!!!  More speed!!!

Actually... You seem to have gotten alot better!!!

Good on ya bra!


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## Greg (Mar 20, 2007)

highpeaksdrifter said:


> Greg, I was going to PM you this, but then I figured why not give you props in public.
> 
> After watching the vid on this thread, I can't believe how much you've improved in the bumps since we skied Hunter earlier this season. When you where coming down Anna toward the camera I thought it was Pat until you got closer.
> 
> As soon as you can keep those knees together all the time you'll have it all going. Nice job.





dmc said:


> more speed Greg!!!  More speed!!!
> 
> Actually... You seem to have gotten alot better!!!
> 
> Good on ya bra!



Thanks for the kind words, guys. I can fake it on the low-angle bumps.  Put me on the steep stuff and I still check turn on the bump tops and lose my aggressiveness and speed. Baby steps though, right?

I've worked on a few things this season - tighter stance (getting there), more direct line (i.e. speed) and a taller stance. I'm happy with my progress this year. The key has been skiing bumps as much as possible and with great skiers like Jim, Pat, Skip, and others.


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## roark (Mar 20, 2007)

Greg said:


> The key has been skiing bumps as much as possible and with great skiers like Jim, Pat, Skip, and others.


Bingo. I'm twice the skier in good company.


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## 2knees (Mar 20, 2007)

highpeaksdrifter said:


> Greg, I was going to PM you this, but then I figured why not give you props in public.
> 
> After watching the vid on this thread, I can't believe how much you've improved in the bumps since we skied Hunter earlier this season. When you where coming down Anna toward the camera I thought it was Pat until you got closer.
> 
> As soon as you can keep those knees together all the time you'll have it all going. Nice job.



he's totally improved.  he ripped off another line near the bottom that i wasnt quick enough with the camera for.  totally blew me away.


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## bvibert (Mar 20, 2007)

Good work on the video Greg and Pat, you guys both look good in it.  I liked the two shots you used for the closing credits Greg, it was a nice effect.


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## Greg (Mar 21, 2007)

2knees said:


> he's totally improved.  he ripped off another line near the bottom that i wasnt quick enough with the camera for.  totally blew me away.



Thanks Pat. Low angle. As you know, I'm a radically different bump skier on the steeper stuff. I think it's a confidence thing mostly.



bvibert said:


> Good work on the video Greg and Pat, you guys both look good in it.  I liked the two shots you used for the closing credits Greg, it was a nice effect.



Thanks. That was Upper K-27 in the first shot and the Lower K-27 headwall in the second. It turns out my camera was on a weird white balance setting in video mode which is why the photos have accurate color and the video is blue.


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## cbcbd (Mar 21, 2007)

Cool videos, guys, you two are rippin' it... I need more practice


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## Greg (Mar 21, 2007)

cbcbd said:


> I need more practice



Hit up Sundown tonight then. With sunshine and temps near 40 today and hopefully remaining above freezing through the evening, I expect quality bumps like we had last Tuesday.

It's all about the miles...


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## cbcbd (Mar 21, 2007)

Greg said:


> Hit up Sundown tonight then. With sunshine and temps near 40 today and hopefully remaining above freezing through the evening, I expect quality bumps like we had last Tuesday.
> 
> It's all about the miles...


I know, I know... but it looks like I'm working tonight. I felt like a complete bump newb at Hunter this past weekend.


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## Greg (Mar 21, 2007)

cbcbd said:


> I felt like a complete bump newb at Hunter this past weekend.



The curse of the bump skier. You're never happy with your form and you always think you look worse than you actually do. Get used to it!


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## millerm277 (Mar 21, 2007)

Greg said:


> The curse of the bump skier. You're never happy with your form and you always think you look worse than you actually do. Get used to it!



Agreed...I always feel like an idiot while I'm doing bumps, and then I hear people say that I'm good at them.


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