# Mt. Snow 12/5/07



## 2knees (Dec 5, 2007)

*Date(s) Skied: 12/5/07 *

*Resort or Ski Area: Mt. Snow*

*Conditions: Slightly used powder *

*Trip Report: *

Hit Mt. Snow today after slowly crying myself to sleep last night for, what i thought, was blowing a perfect ski day.  Much to my surprise, today was unreal at Mt. Snow.  Started around 10:30 on challenger.  It was probably the most scraped of any trail we hit today.  After 1 run down that, hit freefall under the lift thinking Brian might see me or i would see him.  Anyway, Freefall was lightly bumped with those soft pillows that are so much fun.  Caught up with Brian after 3 runs on freefall and we hit chute so he could get a warmup.  Groomed flat but still fun as it was pure packed powder.  no real scrape.  PDF was next, and it was damn good.  tracked out somewhat but plenty of untracked shots to be had.  Alternated on that and challenger for a while and had some lunch.  Went back out and on a whim, Brian suggested we try olympic since he'd never skied it.  I dont usually get over to that side of the north face much but damn damn damn was i glad i did.  Much less tracked then any of the other trails we hit.  Just boot deep goodnes.  Fallen Timbers was also to be had and that also was surprisingly pristine.  Great day.  Had the pleasure of meeting Severine and Brians wonderful children.  They take their looks from their mom thankfully.  :wink:  

had the bump skis with me today, not the ideal powder ski but who cares, it was so damn good.  We took some video that probably shows us flailing quite a bit but definitly smiling.  I think Brian may have his hands full tonight with the kids though!

Just wanted to add that i've skied Mt Snow a boatload of times in my life but it didnt even feel like the same place today.  I cant emphasize enough how shocked I was at the conditions.


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## powhunter (Dec 5, 2007)

wow sorry to hear about the conditions ;-)   ...how much natural did they get from the storm??

steve


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## Greg (Dec 5, 2007)

*Sweet!*

Soooo glad you guys got out today. Smart move. Despite being early December, the entire spine of the Green Mountains seems to be rockin' right now. Get out there folks!


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## reefer (Dec 5, 2007)

Told ya. Glad you got some!


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## JimG. (Dec 5, 2007)

Good for you guys.

When is the next significant snowfall predicted?

I'm thinking an MRG or Stowe trip is in the cards with an overnight or 2.


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## 2knees (Dec 5, 2007)

JimG. said:


> Good for you guys.
> 
> When is the next significant snowfall predicted?
> 
> I'm thinking an MRG or Stowe trip is in the cards with an overnight or 2.




I need to pop my MRG cherry.  Stowe too in a way.  Been there once but all of the good stuff was closed and trees were definitely not an option.


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## bvibert (Dec 5, 2007)

We just finally got home.  All I have to say right now is....

*SICK SICK SICK*


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## Newpylong (Dec 5, 2007)

Damn, sounds like an awesome day.

Glad you checked out Olympic, one of my favorites. You will absolutely love the natural bumps that form on that run after a few good dumps : )  Reminds me of something like Northstar or Vagabond but much much longer.


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## 2knees (Dec 5, 2007)

powhunter said:


> wow sorry to hear about the conditions ;-)   ...how much natural did they get from the storm??
> 
> steve




I'd say somewhere around a foot and a half.  Seemed like that anyway.


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## bvibert (Dec 5, 2007)

2knees wrote a pretty accurate description of the day so I won't bore you with more words and stuff.  What I do have is a quick and dirty video that doesn't even come close to doing the conditions today justice...

*Higher Res Version (~21MB)*
*Smaller, but still better quality than YouTube (~11MB)*





2knees said:


> I'd say somewhere around a foot and a half.  Seemed like that anyway.



Nipple deep!


 :lol:


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## danny p (Dec 6, 2007)

nice vid, looks good!  hope mother nature keeps it coming!


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## SkiDork (Dec 6, 2007)

Awesome!  You guys looked good out there.  2knees - sweet bump technique.  Keep up the good work.

Q:  Any trees?


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## severine (Dec 6, 2007)

Great video, Brian!  I only wish things had worked out better so I could have had a chance at some turns.  But at least you had fun.  That's all that matters!  



2knees said:


> Had the pleasure of meeting Severine and Brians wonderful children.  They take their looks from their mom thankfully.  :wink:


  It was a pleasure meeting you as well!  Our daughter was quite taken with you!


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## 2knees (Dec 6, 2007)

Excellent video brian, thanks for putting that up.  That intro scene, I am really sorry for running over your skis!  You can hear it in the video.


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## drjeff (Dec 6, 2007)

severine said:


> Great video, Brian!  I only wish things had worked out better so I could have had a chance at some turns.  But at least you had fun.  That's all that matters!
> 
> It was a pleasure meeting you as well!  Our daughter was quite taken with you!




Did you get to stay in the lodge all day with the kidlets while hubby was out playing???  If that's the case, then Santa needs to be extra nice to you this year!  There may not be any friends on a Pow day, but there sure are spouses (atleast that's what my wife tells me  )


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## severine (Dec 6, 2007)

drjeff said:


> Did you get to stay in the lodge all day with the kidlets while hubby was out playing???  If that's the case, then Santa needs to be extra nice to you this year!  There may not be any friends on a Pow day, but there sure are spouses (atleast that's what my wife tells me  )


Yup, we tried out having the kids stay in the lodge.  It's not an experiment I'd like to repeat anytime soon.  The guys came in to eat during one of the worst moments, too.   Our 6 month old was fine, it's our 2.5 year old who was....restless.


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## drjeff (Dec 6, 2007)

severine said:


> Yup, we tried out having the kids stay in the lodge.  It's not an experiment I'd like to repeat anytime soon.  The guys came in to eat during one of the worst moments, too.   Our 6 month old was fine, it's our 2.5 year old who was....restless.



I know it costs a little $$, but for future reference I can personally vouch for what a great job the daycare staff does at MS!  My oldest, who turns 4 next month spent 2 winters in their daycare, last year in their daycare/ski program (cub camp) and is now in their ski program (snow camp) and my youngest, who turns 2 the end of the month is in his 2nd season of the daycare there and both love it!  Just like the rest of the buildings at MS now,  Peak Resorts has freshly painted and carpeted the daycare facilities too!

As a parent, I can also tell you that in the now 4 season that my wife and I have utilized their childcare facilities, year in and year out we see the same staff there watching after our kids.  The facility there isn't just a seasonal one, but a daycare facility that operates year round and the employees of Mount Snow use it for their own kids year round.


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## Greg (Dec 6, 2007)

Great video, guys! Thanks for putting that together. How did you deal with all those crowds?  Some great skiing in there too. 2knees - looks like you can get those skinny skis moving around in the powder just fine. How did you like them in the bumps? Brian - how were the Volkls treating you? Nice ski for the conditions, I'd imagine.

What trail is that in the first photo of the vid, on the title page? Was that Olympic? Also what trails are those starting at 0:30 and 1:40? The natural trails on TNF do have some nice character.

Glad you guys grabbed some of the powder. Looks almost equivalent to what Killington had amazingly enough.


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## Greg (Dec 6, 2007)

2knees said:


> That intro scene, I am really sorry for running over your skis!  You can hear it in the video.



Cripes! Just cause Brian has increased the count in his quiver pretty dramatically this summer, doesn't mean he wants you wrecking his boards!  Comes with the territory. I think I made some contributions on your old Volants that ultimately caused that cap to pop off.... 



severine said:


> Great video, Brian!  I only wish things had worked out better so I could have had a chance at some turns.  But at least you had fun.  That's all that matters!





severine said:


> Yup, we tried out having the kids stay in the lodge.  It's not an experiment I'd like to repeat anytime soon.  The guys came in to eat during one of the worst moments, too.   Our 6 month old was fine, it's our 2.5 year old who was....restless.



:-o Me thinks Brian just took a huge withdrawal from the wife account. I think some deposits are in order!


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## severine (Dec 6, 2007)

drjeff said:


> I know it costs a little $$, but for future reference I can personally vouch for what a great job the daycare staff does at MS!  My oldest, who turns 4 next month spent 2 winters in their daycare, last year in their daycare/ski program (cub camp) and is now in their ski program (snow camp) and my youngest, who turns 2 the end of the month is in his 2nd season of the daycare there and both love it!  Just like the rest of the buildings at MS now,  Peak Resorts has freshly painted and carpeted the daycare facilities too!
> 
> As a parent, I can also tell you that in the now 4 season that my wife and I have utilized their childcare facilities, year in and year out we see the same staff there watching after our kids.  The facility there isn't just a seasonal one, but a daycare facility that operates year round and the employees of Mount Snow use it for their own kids year round.


The problem with that is daycare costs pretty much make or break it for us.  I'd rather take turns and have more ski days than have only a few because of the exorbitant costs of on-hill daycare.  Don't get me wrong - those people earn their pay!  It's just that with a tight budget, it does make a huge difference.



Greg said:


> :-o Me thinks Brian just took a huge withdrawal from the wife account. I think some deposits are in order!


I'm willing to work with him.  No big favors owed.  We already discussed at the beginning of the season that we'd be taking turns.  If it hadn't been such a hike from the lodge to the car to get my gear, I probably could have gotten 1 run in before we left.  But by then, I was just so tired from chasing our daughter around that all I wanted to do was leave.


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## drjeff (Dec 6, 2007)

severine said:


> The problem with that is daycare costs pretty much make or break it for us.  I'd rather take turns and have more ski days than have only a few because of the exorbitant costs of on-hill daycare.  Don't get me wrong - those people earn their pay!  It's just that with a tight budget, it does make a huge difference.
> 
> I'm willing to work with him.  No big favors owed.  We already discussed at the beginning of the season that we'd be taking turns.  If it hadn't been such a hike from the lodge to the car to get my gear, I probably could have gotten 1 run in before we left.  But by then, I was just so tired from chasing our daughter around that all I wanted to do was leave.



Sounds like a full perfect conditions day for you is in order, or atleast MULTIPLE gilrs nights out 

I built up some "credit" last weekend by taking both kids with my for the entire weekend, so my wife could have some time to herself.  But then again she doesn't gripe (atleast too much) when I go to Patriots games


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## Greg (Dec 6, 2007)

bvibert said:


> *Higher Res Version (~21MB)*



Watched it a few times. Good stuff. Hey Pat, I think I can estimate your heart rate on the bvibert scenes! 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





:lol:


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## bvibert (Dec 6, 2007)

SkiDork said:


> Awesome!  You guys looked good out there.  2knees - sweet bump technique.  Keep up the good work.
> 
> Q:  Any trees?



Thanks for the compliments.  The trees certainly looked good enough to ski and some people had.  The conditions were so good on the trails that we didn't feel the need to venture into the unknown..



2knees said:


> Excellent video brian, thanks for putting that up.  That intro scene, I am really sorry for running over your skis!  You can hear it in the video.



I told you no big deal, at worst you grazed over the tip.  I didn't even feel it when you went by, the sound was the only evidence.



Greg said:


> Great video, guys! Thanks for putting that together. How did you deal with all those crowds?  Some great skiing in there too. 2knees - looks like you can get those skinny skis moving around in the powder just fine. How did you like them in the bumps? Brian - how were the Volkls treating you? Nice ski for the conditions, I'd imagine.



The crowds were rough man!   Seriously we'd see groups of people heading up the lift, but I don't know where they were going from there.  Most runs we had virtually to ourselves.  Pat did a damn good job considering that he was sinking to the grass on every turn with those skinny boards!  The G4's were pretty nice, I really enjoyed them...  Except for one thing...  I pre-released a few times, which was mildly annoying.  Luckily I figured out why, but only after I got back to the car at the end of the day...  I never turned the DINs up, they were backed up to the minimum of 3!    The first couple of runs were a little hairy in spots since I never had a chance to get the thick layer of summer wax removed.  I figured the snow was abrasive enough that it would remove the wax for me.. 



Greg said:


> What trail is that in the first photo of the vid, on the title page? Was that Olympic? Also what trails are those starting at 0:30 and 1:40? The natural trails on TNF do have some nice character.



The still from the opening shot was on Challenger I believe.  I'm pretty sure we didn't get any shots on Olympic, it was too much damn fun the first run and we accidentally ended up on Fallen Timbers for our last run.

0:30 was on PDF I think.  1:40 was on Fallen Timbers, our last run.  You had to take that to get over to Olympic because the upper part of Olympic wasn't open.  I was standing at the cross-over, but Pat was having so much fun he skied right by...  Which was fine because Fallen Timbers didn't suck either.  Interestingly there was a sign posted at the cross-over to Olympic that stated some walking required.  I'm not sure what that meant, we skied down the whole thing. :roll:  The snow was blown off of the right half of the upper section, but the left was sweet and the lower was side-to-side awesomeness.



Greg said:


> Glad you guys grabbed some of the powder. Looks almost equivalent to what Killington had amazingly enough.



I was really kicking myself for missing Killington the day before...  Until I saw just how awesome Snow was, then I didn't fell bad at all!



Greg said:


> Me thinks Brian just took a huge withdrawal from the wife account. I think some deposits are in order!



Uh yeah, she was a trooper yesterday for sure.  I'm gonna have to figure out some sort of compensation...



Greg said:


> Watched it a few times. Good stuff. Hey Pat, I think I can estimate your heart rate on the bvibert scenes!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


:lol:  Some of those scenes were zoomed in pretty far, which makes it really hard to hold steady enough...


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## 2knees (Dec 6, 2007)

Greg said:


> Great video, guys! Thanks for putting that together. How did you deal with all those crowds?  Some great skiing in there too. 2knees - looks like you can get those skinny skis moving around in the powder just fine. How did you like them in the bumps? Brian - how were the Volkls treating you? Nice ski for the conditions, I'd imagine.
> 
> What trail is that in the first photo of the vid, on the title page? Was that Olympic? Also what trails are those starting at 0:30 and 1:40? The natural trails on TNF do have some nice character.
> 
> Glad you guys grabbed some of the powder. Looks almost equivalent to what Killington had amazingly enough.



the bump skis were actually pretty good.  I think the forward mount was as much as an issue as the lack of width but all in all, i was happy with how they handled.  In the bumps, it was like going from driving a yugo (the volants) to a ferrari.  so responsive.


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## 2knees (Dec 6, 2007)

SkiDork said:


> Awesome!  You guys looked good out there.  2knees - sweet bump technique.  Keep up the good work.
> 
> Q:  Any trees?



thank you.  still trying to change some things but yesterday was too much fun to worry about technique.

no trees, although they did look somewhat doable.


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## Greg (Dec 6, 2007)

2knees said:


> the bump skis were actually pretty good.  I think the forward mount was as much as an issue as the lack of width but all in all, i was happy with how they handled.  In the bumps, it was like going from driving a yugo (the volants) to a ferrari.  so responsive.



Cool. Cool. Betcha can't wait for Sundown bumps...


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## bvibert (Dec 6, 2007)

Day after TR:  I could barely walk all day today.  I can hardly wait to see how tomorrow is going to be, since two days after is usually the worst... 

Severe leg pain = Great 2nd day out = Happy me!


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## Greg (Dec 7, 2007)

2knees said:


> still trying to change some things but yesterday was too much fun to worry about technique.



Seems to be the case for me most of the time...


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## 2knees (Dec 7, 2007)

Greg said:


> Seems to be the case for me most of the time...



lol, yup same here.  I talk to myself on the ride up.  Stacked position, hands up, pressure the shins and on and on.  Then i ski and i'm back seat, arms flailing and skiing on my tails.


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## hammer (Dec 7, 2007)

2knees said:


> lol, yup same here. I talk to myself on the ride up. Stacked position, hands up, pressure the shins and on and on. Then i ski and i'm back seat, arms flailing and skiing on my tails.


I find your comments interesting...I do the same thing but I don't look anywhere as good as you do (and I stick to the groomers to boot).

Methinks you are being too hard on yourself...


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## bvibert (Dec 7, 2007)

hammer said:


> I find your comments interesting...I do the same thing but I don't look anywhere as good as you do (and I stick to the groomers to boot).
> 
> Methinks you are being too hard on yourself...



2knees is the king of being hard on himself.  I can't tell you how many times I've seen him blast down a bump line and wished I could hammer down like that only to have him get to the end and mother-f himself for doing such a crappy job...


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## Greg (Dec 8, 2007)

bvibert said:


> 2knees is the king of being hard on himself.  I can't tell you how many times I've seen him blast down a bump line and wished I could hammer down like that only to have him get to the end and mother-f himself for doing such a crappy job...



Just the curse of being a bump skier. You _never _think you skied a line as good as you actually looked.

2knees is a helluva skier. Probably in the top 3 or 4 of AZers that I've skied with.


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## JimG. (Dec 8, 2007)

I never ski as well as I think I should.

And even after people telling me otherwise, I still think about what I need to improve.

When I stop feeling that way (I hope never) skiing won't be as much fun anymore.


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## Greg (Dec 8, 2007)

JimG. said:


> I never ski as well as I think I should.
> 
> And even after people telling me otherwise, I still think about what I need to improve.
> 
> When I stop feeling that way (I hope never) skiing won't be as much fun anymore.



You're in that top 3 or 4 as well. Seems like the most humble skiers are the most accomplished. Funny how that works...


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