# AZ's 'Stellar' Burke Day:  March 5, 2005 (and encore March 6th)



## thetrailboss (Mar 7, 2005)

*Date(s) Skied: * March 5-6, 2005 

*Resort or Ski Area: * Burke Mountain Resort

*Conditions: * Sat:  Packed Powder, Powder, incredible Blue Skies.  Sunday:  Powder, fresh powder, and snow.  

*Trip Report: *  I had been looking forward to my homecoming to Burke Mountain, where in January 1990 my addiction...err...ski career began on the Carter Country Trail in front of the lower lodge.  I've been to Burke many times and with many different folks, but Saturday's visit ranks as one of the top days spent on the slopes of the old "Northern Star."  

We pulled into the MidBurke Lodge at 8:20 or so to find that we were one of a handful of folks who got up for an early start.  We met Bob R and riverc0il inside the lodge.  "I was car number five...thought I was in the staff lot or something," Bob said to me.  "This is a typical early morning crowd," I said, motioning to the handful of locals who were in the lodge.  One of those locals, my Uncle Tim, stopped by and gave us some good suggestions for the morning.  "The sun is shining on the Dippers and there is fresh grooming.  Real fresh.  I'd go there first."  

So we took his advice and headed out...me, Ms. Trailboss, Bob, and riverc0il, along with some of riverc0il's friends.  We pulled into the lift corral at 8:45 and found a group of 25 folks drooling at the sight of fresh grooming and empty slopes.  (Burke now has pushed their weekend opening time back to 9am from 8:30am).  Within minutes of our arrival, the rope dropped and we began our first ride to the summit.  I pointed out the area landmarks--Sugarbush in the south, Camel's Hump, Mansfield, Jay, Willoughby Gap, and Bald Mountain.  At the top, we regrouped and headed down   *Carriage Road to the Dipper Race Trail*.  Both were freshly groomed and I hooted as I ripped some large turns on the Dippers.  "Nothing wrong with that," said Burke first timer Bob.  

For the second run we headed down *Upper and Lower Willoughby* with me screaming for joy.  "Wow that was incredible," Bob said as we rode up the lift at 9:45 to see still fresh grooming on Lower Fox's and Lower Bear Den.  

As the mini-tour guide, I wanted to be sure to show Bob *one of Burke's signature trails: The East Bowl*.  Beginning as narrow opening, barely a groomer width ride and after a hike up the Toll Road, East Bowl requires a slug up and along a catwalk before coming to the famous *Bob's View*, which features a panorama of the Presidential Range and the Northern most Whites.  From here the trail is a roller coaster ride down over boulders and through narrow openings and interesting pitches along the resort's parameter.  At one time this trail was considered a green circle (!) because of the runouts at the top and bottom, but later it was changed to a blue square due to the bumps and rolls.  "They say it's an intermediate run, but it can be downright hairy when it's bumpy," said riverc0il's friend Mike.  Today we found it groomed (and it had been groomed to perfection on Sunday).  Bob, riverc0il, and I zoomed down the trail, rolling off of the rocks like pinballs and tucking the bottom runout (a must).  

After a brief stop in the lodge, we headed back up for a run down   *Upper Bear Den to Willoughby and then down Lower Bear Den to Lower Fox's*.  At this point, almost 10:30, we still had some fresh grooming.  At the bottom, we were all grinning.  "What a mountain--every turn gets faster and faster!"  Bob exclaimed.  

From here I took Bob and Ms. Trailboss down *Powderhorn to Dipper Doodle* while riverc0il and his buddies hit some more glades.  We also hit *Shoot to Willoughby and then East Bowl* before taking lunch.  

After relaxing in the lodge and having lunch, I met Charlie Schuessler, who had a big grin on his face.  "I tried to get a hold of you yesterday...got here a bit late this morning, but have been ripping it up.  What a mountain!"    At this time, my sister and her boyfriend also showed up and we all headed to the summit for a run down the Dippers (Bob, Ms. Trailboss and Trailboss' sister) while the riverc0il, Charlie, and I hit  *Sasqwatch and Throbulator glades interuppted only by Wilderness and Powderhorn.*  "Wow, that is sweet," Charlie said as we watched riverc0il make some short, sweet turns in the snow choked woods.  

The balance of the afternoon was spent with Charlie and riverc0il hitting almost every major glade (and coming out with the biggest   's I've seen) while I showed Bob and Ms. Trailboss some more great runs on Burke's rollicking trails.  riverc0il, Charlie, and I did attack *Doug's Drop,* which was in great shape with some big bumps.  Later we did a nice easy run down Toll Road to *Mountain Marsh* and Trailboss' favorite glade, *Marshland,* which was covered very well.  This glade has some nice hits and is hidden from other areas.  Bob R joined us on this tree run and admitted that it was good (though he preferred trails for his signature big turns  :wink: ).  After a photo run on the Dippers, Bob and Ms. Trailboss wrapped things up by taking two runs off of the historic *Mountain Poma,* which was the first lift installed on Burke in 1953.  It was shortened in the sixties and then renovated and extended to its present length (with an elbow in the line at midstation).  We ripped some turns on Warren's and Lower Fox's before Ms. Trailboss and Bob headed to the pub.  I took one more run down Carriage Road and headed inside for a well-deserved beer.  

Charlie and riverc0il joined us after some few last tree runs on Jungle, Birches, Caveman, and Dixiland.  We sat, talked, had some beers, and viewed pics of the day before Ms. Schuessler snapped a couple pics of the AZ boys  :beer: .  We were all smiles...great day, great weather, great company, great snow.  For those who didn't join, you missed a real gem.   :wink: 

*Some quotations from the day:*

"Welcome to my home."  --Trailboss

"He's like a kid in a candy shop." --Bob referring to Trailboss. :wink: 

"Raise the bar at the lucky tree." --Trailboss

"Wow.  Great grooming.  Nice wide open trails."  --Bob

"I love this place.  I'll be back.   "  --Charlie.

"I have such a hard time driving by Cannon, but this was worth it today."  --riverc0il

(Pointing to ten people in the corral):  "This is a Burke crowd." --Trailboss

"Crowd's gettin' too big.  I'm headin' home."  --Burke Season Pass holder's response to a five minute wait for the quad.  

"This is a mountain where each turn is faster than the one before."  --Bob R referring to the fall line trails of Dipper, Willoughby, Lower Fox's and Lower Bear Den.  

"I missed the turn...you skied too fast for me!"  --Ms. Trailboss, who gets props for keeping up with us   

  --riverc0il and Charlie, our resident woodsmen.  

*As for Sunday*  we took advantage of the $15 afternoon ticket special and hit our favorite runs including East Bowl (3 runs for Trailboss   ), Willoughby, Dippers, Powderhorn, Dipper Doodle, and Warren's Way.  NOBODY was there for the couple inches of fresh powder on top of groomed sweetness!


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## bvibert (Mar 7, 2005)

Sounds like an awesome time!  I wish I could have made it...


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## Greg (Mar 7, 2005)

I'm really happy to see another group got together via this forum. When I started AlpineZone.com some 6+ years ago, I could never have realized what it would become. It truly is satisfying to see how all those long nights  have paid off by providing a medium for folks from all over the Northeast to be able to organize a trip like this. Sounds like a spectacular day and I wish I could have been there. I was thinking about you guys a lot on Saturday and commented to my wife how you scored such a perfect day, weather-wise. I'm looking forward to the pics. One question: When is Ms. Trailboss gonna register?


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## Vortex (Mar 7, 2005)

Thetrailboss was an excellent host and showed us all what was to be offered. I had a great time.  The views were as good as the skiing.  I was glad to do a small tree run and go out of my comfort zone.  Nice to meet RivercOil, Charlie, Jane and Ms. trail Boss.  Hung a bit with RivercOils friends also nice bunch of folks.


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## Charlie Schuessler (Mar 7, 2005)

Bob's run in Marshland was sweet, he made some silky smooth turns with clean tracks....if he was out of his comfort zone he didn't look it...


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## thetrailboss (Mar 7, 2005)

thetrailboss said:
			
		

> "Crowd's gettin' too big.  I'm headin' home."  --Burke Season Pass holder's response to a five minute wait for the quad.



By and far the quote of the day  :lol:


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## thetrailboss (Mar 7, 2005)

I just uploaded my pics for you all...enjoy (even if they are backwards in order...grrrrrr)

:wink: 

http://forums.alpinezone.com/module...ame=gallery&file=index&include=view_album.php

NOTE:  A cup for drooling may be required.   :lol:


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## Greg (Mar 7, 2005)

thetrailboss said:
			
		

> (even if they are backwards in order...grrrrrr)


Select "sort items" from the *<< admin options >>* drop down and select "By Picture-Taken Date". Great pics!


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## Vortex (Mar 7, 2005)

Tb awesome job.  The picture of RivercOil was great.  He has proof know of how much he uses his uphill ski. :wink:


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## Charlie Schuessler (Mar 7, 2005)

It took me a while to find the AZ crew, but find them I did….

TrailBoss and his delightful lady were Distinguished Mountain Hosts, as well as making nice turns and leading us into powder stashes…BobR makes sweet turns with nice clean arcs in all conditions…great form!  RiverCOil makes Bump & Glade Skiing look easy…too easy…and those high-speed GS turns are very graceful and a real pleasure to ski with.

Thanking you all for allowing me to ski with you.  Let’s do it again real soon.


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## thetrailboss (Mar 7, 2005)

Here are riverc0il's photos:  

http://forums.alpinezone.com/module...ame=gallery&file=index&include=view_album.php

Thanks for sending those along!  :wink: 

Also, here is his report/pics from his website:

http://www.thesnowway.com/ski/2005/burke030505.htm

He has a really cool website...some more nice pics from the day.  Thanks for sending that my way, riverc0il!


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## Greg (Mar 7, 2005)

I took another look at the pics. It sure looks like you guys had a great day. "The Shoot" looks like a cool run and those glades look like something even I could handle. Good stuff. riverc0il looks like he's rocking in typical fashion. thetrailboss - you did a nice job of capturing the days events as well as the scenery. My favorites:




riverc0il




Bob R




riverc0il and Charlie


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## bvibert (Mar 7, 2005)

Awesome pics there TB and riverc0il!  Looks like the conditions were very nice!  I'm very jealous...


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## thetrailboss (Mar 7, 2005)

Greg said:
			
		

> riverc0il and Charlie



Looks like riverc0il might be giving me the thumbs up...can anyone confirm?  

Aw, thanks guys...be sure to check out the pics now since I'm done uploading.  Would any of you believe that that was my first experience with a digital camera in the field?  I'm used to my Canon SLR.   :wink:


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## ChileMass (Mar 7, 2005)

Wow - what a great day you guys had!  Nice pics!


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## riverc0il (Mar 7, 2005)

thanks again to thetrailboss for hosting and greg for putting in the initial poll to do the gathering.  both gatherings were a smashing success and a great start for what will hopefully become an AZ tradition.  it's great meeting up with all the folks on the forum!  pleasure to meet and ski with bob and charlie who can both really rip it up.  trailboss ain't no slouch either!

Bob, you sure are right about that inside ski!  it's amazing how sometimes you don't even know how the mechanics are working when you're too busy enjoying the turns.  additionally, as charile mentioned, you may have been outta your element in the glades, but it certainly didn't look like it!

for those folks who couldn't make it up to burke on saturday, do be sure to check it out when you can!  burke's groomers are second to none and stay mostly fresh all day.  and the woods, oh man.  still a few thin spots and the occasional rock or two, but the woods are aestetically pleasing in addition to keeping some fine snow.  most people venturing into the woods wouldn't even know it's a bad natural snow year in the NEK.  i even nailed a few shots of boot deep untracked by venturing a little off the side of the maintained trail, sweetness.

i gotta give charlie credit for keeping up with (heck, often passing) a young whipper snapper like me in the woods all day!  t'was a pleasure.


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## Terry (Mar 8, 2005)

*AZ day at Burke*

Sounds like you guys had an awesome day. I wish I could have made it, but my wife had prior commitments. I did go to Attitash by myself sat and had a great ski day though. Hope that we can plan another trip that I can make it to. Would be nice to meet you guys!!!!!!! If any of you get up in my neck of the woods, let me know and maybe we can meet up.
 :beer:


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## Greg (Mar 8, 2005)

riverc0il Emailed me a video of thetrailboss in the glades. I'm hosting it *HERE* (~2 MB). You'll need QuickTime to view it. Enjoy!


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## Charlie Schuessler (Mar 9, 2005)

Was that video shot in Marshland?


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## riverc0il (Mar 9, 2005)

throbulator i think.


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## thetrailboss (Mar 9, 2005)

AHHHH!!!    

Didn't realize I was on Candid Camera...though I looked decent considering that was my first real glade for the season (southern New England can't compare to Burke).  Thanks for the video, Riverc0il!  Though I think we should have gotten one of you  :wink:


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## thetrailboss (Mar 9, 2005)

riverc0il said:
			
		

> throbulator i think.



Yes, that is Throbulator as it spills onto East Bowl.


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## Greg (Mar 9, 2005)

thetrailboss said:
			
		

> ...though I looked decent considering that was my first real glade for the season...


Agreed. Nice and controlled.


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## thetrailboss (Mar 9, 2005)

Greg said:
			
		

> thetrailboss said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Yeah, I don't rip through trees and bumps, but rather ski slow and in control.   :wink:


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