# Mount Snow - 11/25/2006



## Greg (Nov 25, 2006)

*Date(s) Skied: *Saturday, November 25, 2006, 9:30 am - 2:20 pm

*Resort or Ski Area: *Mount Snow, Vermont

*Conditions: *Manmade, variable. Clear, temps 30's - 40's, no wind.

*Trip Report: *bvibert and I left our meeting place in town a bit after 6 am. We pulled into the lot around 8:40 am. As we were gathering our things, I noticed somebody checking out the tailgate of my car looking at the AlpineZone.com decal and immediately realized it must be andyzee! We introduced ourselves and said we'd hook back up at the designated meeting place at the main entrace/drop zone. We headed into the main lodge to get ready and soon JimG. arrvied. andyzee and I went out to the lift ticket windows to grab lift tickets and wait for MichaelJ. We soon found him and headed back inside to grab the rest of the crew.

We took the Canyon Express quad up to the Canyon/River Run juction. We took River Run down to warm up and grab the Challenger triple which served as today's access lift for the open terrain. From the summit we took Upper Canyon to River Run again. Upper Canyon was in very good shape with deep manmade throughout the upper section. The bright sun made for a very pleasant run. River Run was in the shade most of the day and consisted of a much more variable surface. Jim, andy, Mrs. Zee and I decided to give Chute a try while Michael and Brian hit the Canyon/River Run combo again.

I found Chute to be in great shape. More deep, yet heavy manmade with some nice bumps and groomer lip skier's left. That's when it clicked for me and I was feeling pretty comfortable despite new boots and it being day one. The next run we all took Chute and everybody seemed to enjoy it. We proceeded to do a few more runs on Chute and another on Canyon/River Run before heading in to lunch. After lunch we did the Canyon/RR combo and then Chute at which point andy and Mrs. Zee decided to hit it. Very nice couple; good people. I enjoyed several lift rides with them.

A couple more runs down Chute and the rest of us just about had it. We hopped back on the Canyon Quad to download which went off without any issues. Kudos to Mount Snow for setting up an early season skiing option, despite the need to download. The surface they offered was very very good for only having a few days to make snow. A few of the choke points on Canyon/RR got pretty thin, but nothing that would cause much, if any base damage. Chute had pretty solid cover throughout. A few thin spots here and there, and some funky bumps, LGR piles and hard pack. Variable snow was the rule today, although any of the surface in the sun was a pleasure to ski. It was great to have 1,000+ vertical feet of a decently pitched run in Chute. It was pretty crowded today and the Challenger lift seemed to stop quite a bit. A few of the stops were several minutes in length (one of them probably approaching 10).

Again, the mountain offered a solid product and I am now officially in a mellow mode that should hold me over to at least Wednesday or so before I begin to wig out again. :blink: I laughed at some of the comments today about how hyper I seemed leading up to this event. I'm glad it went off well. Some damn decent conditions, awesome weather with bright sun and no wind (it actually felt warm today) and some really great company! Day One is officially in the record books!

Tough day to get good photos on Chute as the light was either flat or the sun right at you. Click *HERE* for pics! I have a short video too, but it's 75+ MB! Need to figure out how to compress it...


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## MichaelJ (Nov 26, 2006)

I had a blast on this trip. It was great to be challenged by skiers better than I, trying to follow their tracks and improve my technique. I beat the heck out of my body on no food and barely any sleep, but the snow conditions, company, and weather were worth it.

In fact, all things considered the conditions were remarkable for November. If they take as good care of the trails when winter finally arrives, I'll definitely revisit.

Greg - I have all sorts of vid technology here and plenty of bandwidth; if you make the video available to me I'll see what I can do with it.

It was pretty funny when I got home. In the parking lot of my apartment complex, I unloaded my skis while the guy next to me unloaded his golf clubs.


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## bvibert (Nov 26, 2006)

Nice report Greg!  It was a good day for sure.  I only got two *pics* and a few short vids:
Pics: http://forums.alpinezone.com/gallery/showgallery.php/cat/616
Vid1, Greg on Chute: http://www.bvibert.com/skiing/vids/PB250003.MOV
Vid2, JimG on Canyon: http://www.bvibert.com/skiing/vids/PB250004.MOV
Vid3, Greg, then MichaelJ on Canyon: http://www.bvibert.com/skiing/vids/PB250005.MOV


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## Greg (Nov 26, 2006)

bvibert said:


> Vid1, Greg on Chute: http://www.bvibert.com/skiing/vids/PB250003.MOV



Cool videos! One thing I noticed on this one as I skied by is my position is much taller and centered. I'm normally a croucher. That may be partly a function of the new boots. I'd like to tighten up that stance just a bit though and smooth out my transitions. Overall, not bad for day one on some sketchy surfaces. Legs are a little tight today...but not too bad.

Jim looked in control and confident as usual. Brian - again, your form was very good yesterday. You appeared much more agile and fluid. Dropping that extra weight has definitely helped. MichaelJ - you're well on your way. Work on those hands and log as many miles as possible this season. Mrs. Zee recovered well from a little spill in a tricky area near the bottom of Upper Canyon. Aside from that little bobble, she skis very well. Andyzee took am impact from an out of control skier with grace and dignity.  I saw that lady ski right after that and she was actually a good skier. Weird that she crashed into you like that. It happens I guess.

Let's do it again soon!


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## andyzee (Nov 26, 2006)

Greg said:


> Mrs. Zee recovered well from a little spill in a tricky area near the bottom of Upper Canyon. Aside from that little bobble, she skis very well. Andyzee took am impact from an out of control skier with grace and dignity.  I saw that lady ski right after that and she was actually a good skier. Weird that she crashed into you like that. It happens I guess.
> 
> Let's do it again soon!


 
When that skier took my legs out from under me, I was in no rush to get up as I was laying on top of her. The first words out of my mouth were " We gotta stop meeting like this" and I introduced myself. Afterwards when my wife took a spill, not sure if you saw it, but she was coming straight at me as well, think I had a target on me that day 

Got to say though, I'm used to it. Women have been flinging themselves at me all my life


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## ALLSKIING (Nov 26, 2006)

Nice guys!!! The pics and video had the opposite affect they usually do on me...Now I am in panic mode to make some turns!!!!!!!!


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## thetrailboss (Nov 26, 2006)

Nice pics.  Looks like the terrain was good and that there was not too much of a crowd.  Nice views.  I can't wait to get there when there is more snow.


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## Greg (Nov 26, 2006)

Okay. I found a utility online to convert the video from AVI to MPG. I'm impressed with the quality of the video mode on my little point and shoot camera. Again, tough to to get good pics/video and this little sample is just some lazy turns on sketchy late day Chute:

*Jim, Brian and Michael heading down Chute*

Right-click and "Save as..." It's almost 13 MB so be patient.


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## bvibert (Nov 26, 2006)

Nice avatar!  I guess the pic was avatar material after all! 

Sorry it's a bit grainy...


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## bvibert (Nov 26, 2006)

Cool vid Greg!  Those turns were a lot faster in my head...


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## Greg (Nov 26, 2006)

bvibert said:


> Cool vid Greg!  Those turns were a lot faster in my head...



Well, in your guys' defense that was the second to last, or maybe the last run of the day down Chute. We were all just cruising it at that point.


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## ski_resort_observer (Nov 26, 2006)

I stayed up till 2AM waiting for the trip report from you guys! :wink: Great reports! Looking forward to hopefully meet up this winter! :smile:


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## MichaelJ (Nov 26, 2006)

Great vid - thanks, Greg! But ... a .mpg format that won't open in Quicktime? I watched it with a different player, but it makes me wonder what's going on in that file.

In any case ... Oy, my form! :roll:

I've got a few shots worth posting; I'll get them up this afternoon, right now I'm going to take a quick 20-mile bike ride while the sun's high.

One comment I'll add about Mt. Snow, though. The summit food options were not up to par compared to other places I've been, namely Sunday River (North Peak) or Sugarloaf (Bullwinkles). The mini pizzas looked good, as did the chili and soup, and the hot dog I had wasn't bad, but they really need a grill turning out burgers and a vat of fries.


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## Greg (Nov 26, 2006)

MichaelJ said:


> Great vid - thanks, Greg! But ... a .mpg format that won't open in Quicktime? I watched it with a different player, but it makes me wonder what's going on in that file.
> 
> In any case ... Oy, my form! :roll:
> 
> ...



Yeah - I noticed it not working in Quicktime. I had to "Save as..." to get it to work in WMP. Probably the converter I used. I just Googled "video conversions" and used one of the first ones I found. I need to find a good video editing app.

About the food. Just early season options, I'd imagine. Almost $13 for a turkey wrap, chips and a drink... :roll:


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## 2knees (Nov 26, 2006)

nice pics.  i'll check out the videos at work.  my computer is a mess and i cant get anything to play on it.  Glad you guys had decent conditions.  just pissed i couldnt make it myself.


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## bigbog (Nov 26, 2006)

Greg said:


> ..............Almost $13 for a turkey wrap, chips and a drink... :roll:


  ....and we thought our day packs would be utilized only during avi_time:-D  and hiking/skinning...:roll: 

*bvibert*....Day#1 and you're already doing the 90%_Inside_ 10%_outside_ drill with the feet!  

*ALLSKING*, same here....just have to get the skis Tuesday..check & wax em', and I am laying rubber Wed morning..

.........Nice TR Greg.


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## Greg (Nov 26, 2006)

Okay. So I played around with the built-in Windows Movie Maker which has a fair amount of features (certainly good enough for a newbie like me) for a few hours tonight. I put together a little compilation video of the pics and vids we got yesterday:

*Mount Snow - 11/25/2006*

Let me know what you think!


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## ski_resort_observer (Nov 27, 2006)

Wow, that was the first video you have put together? How long did it take you? It was fun to watch!


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## MichaelJ (Nov 27, 2006)

That's awesome!!!

Now I feel bad I haven't gotten my pics up yet; I will definitely do it tonight!


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## bvibert (Nov 27, 2006)

Wow!  Now I'm famous! 

Good job on the vid Greg, it came out great! :beer:


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## MichaelJ (Nov 27, 2006)

Someone finally posted his pictures, the slacker!


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## bvibert (Nov 27, 2006)

Nice pics MichaelJ!  I like the captions. 

*All lifts lead to the well-groomed summit, where ungroomed skiers collect.*


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## andyzee (Nov 27, 2006)

bvibert said:


> Nice pics MichaelJ! I like the captions.
> 
> *All lifts lead to the well-groomed summit, where ungroomed skiers collect.*


 
I missed that, good one!


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## Greg (Nov 27, 2006)

ski_resort_observer said:


> Wow, that was the first video you have put together? How long did it take you? It was fun to watch!



Yup. It was a lot of fun. It took me about an hour to learn the basics of the software and figure out what I wanted to do. It took about 2 1/2 - 3 hours to get the content organized and the video put togerther. I'm sure future projects will go quicker...


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## roark (Nov 27, 2006)

Cool, sounds like y'all had a good time. I must admit I'm glad I went on Tday after looking at the liftline! Hopefully I'll catch up with everyone next time.


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## ALLSKIING (Nov 27, 2006)

Sweet vid Greg! Can't wait to see one in mid-winter conditions with lots of vid taken.


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## Greg (Nov 27, 2006)

ALLSKIING said:


> Sweet vid Greg! Can't wait to see one in mid-winter conditions with lots of vid taken.



Thanks. Yeah, I'm going to ty to get more video at the AZ gatherings now, starting with Hunter on 12/15. My Canon A700's video mode is pretty impressive and certainly more than adequate for online videos and for my purposes, the Windows XP Move Maker is fine.


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## JimG. (Nov 27, 2006)

roark said:


> Cool, sounds like y'all had a good time. I must admit I'm glad I went on Tday after looking at the liftline! Hopefully I'll catch up with everyone next time.



That line was an issue for 2 runs tops...most people from that line stood in a similar line about that long for the download to the base about 1/2 hour after some of those pics were taken.

Crowds were not an issue.


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## JimG. (Nov 27, 2006)

Lots of fun everyone.

No horrible form blunders in the pics or vids either...rare for the first few days on skis. 

Greg's vid of us going down Chute was the last run of the day. I was hurtin'!!


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