# Ski Sundown - 2/11/09



## Greg (Feb 11, 2009)

Got to the mountain about 1:15 and saw Grassi21 and 2knees in the lodge. We loaded about 1:30. Temp was 61 degrees based on the base thermometer. Leading up to the Nor'easter bumps was mush. I jumped into the bumps full on and was surprised they weren't as mish mash as I suspected. Got totally out of control and almost wrecked.

Temptor was similar. Crazy warm temps didn't quite get them primed fully. Still rippable, but not full out. Exhibition was mashed bumps. You could almost go straight. 2knees did one time. :lol: We lapped the bumps and Temptor improved throughout the afternoon. Eventually met up with bvibert and o3jeff.

One funny story was the Grassi brake disaster. Chris wrecked on his way to the Temptor bumps. Apaprently his brake exploded. Not sure how it happened, but eventually his ski started coming down Temptor into the bumps. I tried to dive onto it since there were kids on the bumps at the time, but missed it and ended up ski-less on one foot myself. Chris was eventually able to retrieve his ski which careened off into the woods. Kind of a weird course of events.

On my last run with Brian and Jeff my legs were cooked. I went in to get undressed and saw 180 looking ready to rip. He talked me into a run with him. Not wanting to look like a total poser in front of our Hunter friend, I tried my best to ski hard and fast and actually did okay despite the jello legs. Hooked up with Brian and Jeff again getting ready to hit Temptor. Alan talked me into one more run. I was actually glad I skied a few more as they were a lot better than what I thought was going to be my last. I finished up a bit before 6 pm.

Great afternoon and I'm cooked. Not totally epic bumps on Temptor, but still excellent. Gunbarrel gets a lot more sun so that should loosen up on most sunny days. Only ~11 more days until it gets seeded!

Here's a vid, but looks like there is a long processing wait:


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## Grassi21 (Feb 11, 2009)

my body hurts.  the flat section of temptor in between the bumps was really hard pack,  on a few runs i would just side slip the entire section and hockey stop at the top of the bumps.  i caught an inside edge and took a digger.  in the process i lost one ski and landed on it.  i have a nice bruise forming on my knee and arm. the brake that exploded was the one marc boke last year.  there was no putting it back together this time.  greg admirably tried to dive and catch my runaway ski.  it looked like he was diving in slow motion.  after finding my ski in the woods i started the walk of shame to the base.  at one point i dropped the brakeless ski and it slid down to one of those light/snow cannon pods.  two kids stopped it and told me i need a brake.  i said no shit and showed them the pieces of my brake.  as i continued my walk a kid from the lift informed me that i was going to get hurt walking on the trail.  i yelled back that my equipment was broken and he should mind his own business.  i called my ski shop on the ride home and they informed me they can fix it.  hopefully it won't be a long turn around.

despite the crash i had a bast today.  good pace today.  despite the crash i would have been sore as hell tonight anyway.  i took some "pain killers" and am ready to pass out.


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## RichH (Feb 11, 2009)

That sucks Grassi21 hope you manage to get it fixed soon. 

Glad you guys had a good day other than that.


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## Greg (Feb 11, 2009)

*High Rez Vid*

*HERE'S* the high rez video for those that don't want to wait for Vimeo to do its thing. It's ~38 MB.


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## gmcunni (Feb 11, 2009)

Chris,  looking great in those bumps!

who was skiing thru the credits at the end?


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## Greg (Feb 11, 2009)

gmcunni said:


> Chris,  looking great in those bumps!



Chris was skiing great. He hit every stretch of bumps today non-stop and with decent speed and control. I could tell the exact moment when he got tired though. Nice rippin' Chris. You're a helluva skier for someone only skiing a few years.



gmcunni said:


> who was skiing thru the credits at the end?



180.


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## 2knees (Feb 11, 2009)

nice day today.  great weather just that the bumps on temptor never got close to the mashed i was hoping for.  taking about 2 weeks off messed me up.  I was crashing all over the place today.  i so wanted to let it fly but the top inch or so was all that really mushed up and the bumps really are pretty big for any mountain, not just sundown.

Grassi impresses me more each time we ski.  We never wait for the guy and he holds a line and does it with good form.  the dude has been skiing for basically 3 or 4 years.  awesome job man.

kicker was fun but there is a bump right before it which was throwing me from time to time.  the bumps on noreaster and ex were soft.  I did straighline exhibition almost to the bottom but i got scared and bailed out.  even on a flat trail, its a bit unnerving to be going that fast with so many people around.


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## MrMagic (Feb 11, 2009)

i def got some good sun today, looks like the bumps on temptor  got a little bit more soft


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## Grassi21 (Feb 11, 2009)

you guys are making me blush...   or maybe its my colon acting up...


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## gmcunni (Feb 11, 2009)

2knees said:


> even on a flat trail, its a bit unnerving to be going that fast with so many people around.



you getting shy or was it crowded today?


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## 2knees (Feb 11, 2009)

gmcunni said:


> you getting shy or was it crowded today?




lol, it was mildly crowded but there were alot of little kids in the exhibition bumps.

man, that vid is kinda depressing.  lots of folding at the waist and forward lean (not standing up) going on.  i had a feeling i was gonna lose some progress made by not skiing for that long.  It almost feels like i have to go back to the drawing board.


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## deadheadskier (Feb 11, 2009)

Grassi21 said:


> you guys are making me blush...   or maybe its my colon acting up...



:blink:

....pushing me over towards the Sundown TR hater crew here :lol:


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## Marc (Feb 11, 2009)

I offered to buy you a new one damnit.  You had to go and ruin my nice repair job.


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## Grassi21 (Feb 12, 2009)

Marc said:


> I offered to buy you a new one damnit.  You had to go and ruin my nice repair job.



it held through many crashes.  not sure why this one made things fall apart.  oh well.


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## MRGisevil (Feb 12, 2009)

Tim and I showed up around 6 or so, I think. Had a miserable night and left an hour and a half later. Boots weren't fitting well, felt like crap, should have stayed home. Nice to finally get a chance to talk to Mondeo, though- funny guy & great skier from the looks of it. Sorry I missed everyone else- would have been crappy company as it was anyway.


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## MR. evil (Feb 12, 2009)

Last night was not fun. I managed to get 4 runs in with the new boots. It was 3 runs too many. My feet were F'g killing me. After my last run I ripped the boots off on the deck becuase I could wait to get in the lodge. I will be dropping off the boots at the sop for more work this afternoon


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## bvibert (Feb 12, 2009)

Great day yesterday!  Exactly what I needed.

By the time I got out of work and got ready I loaded the lift at about 3:40.  I got a hold of Greg from the lift, who told me they hadn't softened up as much as we would have hoped.  I feared for the worst, but was pleasantly surprised.  I had so much fun that I stayed all that way until last chair, which I didn't think I would do.  My legs were pretty toasted by then.  I'll post more later, damn work...


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## downhill04 (Feb 12, 2009)

Nice job guys! Pat were you feeling ok? I thought I saw you hitting the kicker on a non comp run. How did the knees hold up? Good to see you getting some air. You were ripping.


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## 180 (Feb 12, 2009)

Got on the hill at 5:15.  Spent the extra $12 instead of waiting for the 6pm tickets.  Dragged Greg away form grocery shopping.  What kind of excuse is that?  I will have none of that. Skied the same trails till after 9pm.  On one run , patrol put some boo on the jump which I quickly removed.  On another run, patrol was doing sled training and we almost killed them because they were in a blind spot.  On our last run, patrol asked us, how many times we skied this trail.  181 replied, "there are other trails?".  More talk ensued, they said you should have come to the bump contest.  Eventually, it came out that 181 won the contest.

Great to eet some more AZ'ers.  Everyone practice your exercises!

I'll be back in March for some more evening ripping.


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## bvibert (Feb 12, 2009)

180 said:


> More talk ensued, they said you should have come to the bump contest.  Eventually, it came out that 181 won the contest.



They were also all impressed by downhill04's crash during the comp, and that he walked away form it .


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## Greg (Feb 12, 2009)

180 said:


> Got on the hill at 5:15.  Spent the extra $12 instead of waiting for the 6pm tickets.  Dragged Greg away form grocery shopping.  What kind of excuse is that?  I will have none of that. Skied the same trails till after 9pm.  On one run , patrol put some boo on the jump which I quickly removed.  On another run, patrol was doing sled training and we almost killed them because they were in a blind spot.  On our last run, patrol asked us, how many times we skied this trail.  181 replied, "there are other trails?".  More talk ensued, they said you should have come to the bump contest.  Eventually, it came out that 181 won the contest.
> 
> Great to eet some more AZ'ers.  Everyone practice your exercises!
> 
> I'll be back in March for some more evening ripping.



:lol: I see you've come across some of Sundown's finest. It makes me nuts when they practice with that sled through the bumps. I understand the have to do it, but it's usually a major disaster. I have to say though that I've seen more and more patrollers skiing the bumps with some decent skill lately. Anyway, glad I got a chance to rip a couple runs with you Alan. Hope you guys had a good time again at our little hill. :lol:


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## Greg (Feb 12, 2009)

MR. evil said:


> Last night was not fun. I managed to get 4 runs in with the new boots. It was 3 runs too many. My feet were F'g killing me. After my last run I ripped the boots off on the deck becuase I could wait to get in the lodge. I will be dropping off the boots at the sop for more work this afternoon



Sorry to hear about the boot issues. I know there are a lot of Krypton fans here, but is it possible that it's not the right shape for your foot? Seems like you're sorta committed now though. I'm sure Peter will do his best to get them fitting right for you.


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## Madroch (Feb 12, 2009)

Good night.  Skied from 7:00 to last chair.  Got many fine tips from 180, 181, Mondeo and Brian (back side pole plant, turn on the back side, extensio, etc).  Just need to try and focus on one at a time-- had some trouble with that last night leading to many clusterf*ck runs (I was struggling a bit to start and went dowhnhill from there).  Last run did manage to get turning on the top/backside for a string- quite a difference.  One tip I should have no trouble mastering-- new shorter poles.  

Enjoyed.


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## bvibert (Feb 13, 2009)

I have a serious case of mogul back this morning, and my legs are sore.  It's almost like Wednesday was my first outing of the season... 

It was great to ski with a bunch of people that night.  I skied at least a little with Greg, Grassi, 2knees, o3jeff, 180, mondeo, 181, and madroch at some point throughout the afternoon/evening.  I also saw Mr.Evil and MRGisevil in the lodge, but I didn't get a chance to ski with them.  I enjoyed watching 180 and 181 ripping it up, especially considering that 181 was on some old cracked boots the he duct taped back together.  I really appreciated the tips that I got from both of them.  Between the tips and the good conditions I really felt like I made some good progress.  It stayed warm enough after the sun went down that the conditions didn't really change through the night, though the last run felt like it had a bit of a crunch to it.


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## MR. evil (Feb 13, 2009)

bvibert said:


> I enjoyed watching 180 and 181 ripping it up, especially considering that 181 was on some old cracked boots the he duct taped back together.  I really appreciated the tips that I got from both of them.  Between the tips and the good conditions I really felt like I made some good progress.  It stayed warm enough after the sun went down that the conditions didn't really change through the night, though the last run felt like it had a bit of a crunch to it.



I am annoyed that my boot situation kept me from skiing with 180 & 181. I am very jelous of all you that were able to ski with them and get advise & tips from those 2 rippers! Lately I have felt like I have made some progress in the bumps and I was hoping some time with those two would shed some light on a few things. Oh well next time.

I am going to back to see Peter this weekend to get the boots worked out. He thinks I may need to go up a size based on some of the feedback I gave him.


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## thorski (Feb 13, 2009)

How is sundown looking for this weekend? did they seed the bumps on gunbarrel yet?


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## Grassi21 (Feb 13, 2009)

MR. evil said:


> I am annoyed that my boot situation kept me from skiing with 180 & 181. I am very jelous of all you that were able to ski with them and get advise & tips from those 2 rippers! Lately I have felt like I have made some progress in the bumps and I was hoping some time with those two would shed some light on a few things. Oh well next time.
> 
> I am going to back to see Peter this weekend to get the boots worked out. He thinks I may need to go up a size based on some of the feedback I gave him.



all that tells me is you need to get to hunter sometime this season.  i have a free ticket to hunter and need to get there myself.


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## Grassi21 (Feb 13, 2009)

bvibert said:


> I have a serious case of mogul back this morning, and my legs are sore.



+1 Between Sunday and Wednesday I also have mogul back and sore legs.  But I think part of my back pain is due to my wreck.  Who saw it and how pathetic was it?

My ski shop believes they can fix my brake.  They just need to a order a part form NH I think.  The nice thing is they are throwing in a free tune.    If the opportunity presents itself I might have to bust out the old Heads as a back-up ski.


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## Grassi21 (Feb 13, 2009)

thorski said:


> How is sundown looking for this weekend? did they seed the bumps on gunbarrel yet?



I don't think Gunny will be seeded this weekend.  I think we are still 1 - 1.5 weeks away.  Greg can confirm.  He has a countdown calendar on his desk at work, night stand, and in his kitchen at home.


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## hammer (Feb 13, 2009)

Greg said:


> Nice rippin' Chris. You're a helluva skier for someone only skiing a few years.


+1...I've only been at this for a few years as well and there's no way I could manage through the bumps as well as I saw him do in the video.  I'm quite envious...


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## gmcunni (Feb 13, 2009)

Grassi21 said:


> I don't think Gunny will be seeded this weekend.  I think we are still 1 - 1.5 weeks away.  Greg can confirm.  He has a countdown calendar on his desk at work, night stand, and in his kitchen at home.



i'm surprised he doesn't have a sticky note in the forums with an electronic count down.

for some reason i think i recall hearing the bumps will be seeded 2/22 night so they should be ready for skiing in on Monday.


http://www.timeanddate.com/counters...h=2&day=23&year=2009&hour=8&min=00&sec=&p0=98


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## 2knees (Feb 13, 2009)

gmcunni said:


> i'm surprised he doesn't have a sticky note in the forums with an electronic count down.
> 
> for some reason i think i recall hearing the bumps will be seeded 2/22 night so they should be ready for skiing in on Monday.
> 
> ...




i heard he is going to be there to film the whole process overnight.   and chris sullivan is letting him blow the horn on the new cat to signal the start of the gunny bump season.


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## Grassi21 (Feb 13, 2009)

hammer said:


> +1...I've only been at this for a few years as well and there's no way I could manage through the bumps as well as I saw him do in the video.  I'm quite envious...



thanks hammer.  i have a long way to go but its all about the mileage.  rarely do i stray from my route of nor easter > temptor > exhibition bumps.  and i think 11 or my 14 days have been at sundown.


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## Grassi21 (Feb 13, 2009)

2knees said:


> i heard he is going to be there to film the whole process overnight.   and chris sullivan is letting him blow the horn on the new cat to signal the start of the gunny bump season.



:lol: :lol: :lol:


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## Greg (Feb 13, 2009)

Grassi21 said:


> But I think part of my back pain is due to my wreck.  Who saw it and how pathetic was it?



I think I was the only on that saw it. Still trying to remember how the runaway ski got moving down the trail. You and your equipment were basically all stopped in one big pile.



gmcunni said:


> for some reason i think i recall hearing the bumps will be seeded 2/22 night so they should be ready for skiing in on Monday.



As I understand it, that's the plan. I don't think the bumps will go below midstation by that Monday. I plan to be there on Friday the 27th. Arrival time depends on temp and conditions.



2knees said:


> i heard he is going to be there to film the whole process overnight.   and chris sullivan is letting him blow the horn on the new cat to signal the start of the gunny bump season.



That would be sweet!


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## o3jeff (Feb 13, 2009)

bvibert said:


> I have a serious case of mogul back this morning, and my legs are sore.  It's almost like Wednesday was my first outing of the season... .





Grassi21 said:


> +1 Between Sunday and Wednesday I also have mogul back and sore legs.  But I think part of my back pain is due to my wreck.  Who saw it and how pathetic was it?



I'm still sore 2 days after and I was only there for 2 1/2 hours. I am planning on being at Sundown on Sat and Sun, hopefully my body can take it or I will be hitting some groomers.

Good to ski with everyone, hope I didn't slow you up too much! Was good to meet 180(I think I called him Dave, sorry about that) and thanks for the tip, now I just need to get out there and practice.


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## Grassi21 (Feb 13, 2009)

just watched that vid for the 10th time...  during one of greg's runs towards the end you can see me hiking out of the woods after retrieving my run away ski.  

as for the runway ski...  i remember throwing down in disgust to attempt to repair it and watching it slip slide away.


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## bvibert (Feb 13, 2009)

Grassi21 said:


> just watched that vid for the 10th time...  during one of greg's runs towards the end you can see me hiking out of the woods after retrieving my run away ski.
> 
> as for the runway ski...  i remember throwing down in disgust to attempt to repair it and watching it slip slide away.



Yup, the last scene with Greg before the credits.  I wish I had seen the events unfold, what I did see was pretty comical by itself.


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## powbmps (Feb 13, 2009)

You guys are all looking good.  I like 2knees charging into that line at :32.

Greg you are ripping it right after that too.  

It was 52 up at Sunapee on that day and the bumps didn't soften up much at all.


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## Greg (Feb 13, 2009)

powbmps said:


> You guys are all looking good.  I like 2knees charging into that line at :32.
> 
> Greg you are ripping it right after that too.
> 
> It was 52 up at Sunapee on that day and the bumps didn't soften up much at all.



:lol: Too bad that trail is, like 2knees says, "so flat, it's almost uphill..." :lol:


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