Ski Sundown - 2/11/09

[Greg]

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:

 

[Grassi21]

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 **** 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.

 

[RichH]

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

Glad you guys had a good day other than that.

 

[Greg]

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.

 

[gmcunni]

Chris, looking great in those bumps!

who was skiing thru the credits at the end?

 

[Greg]

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.

who was skiing thru the credits at the end?

180.

 

[2knees]

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.

 

[MrMagic]

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

 

[Grassi21]

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

 

[gmcunni]

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?

 

[2knees]

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.

 

[deadheadskier]

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:

 

[Marc]

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

 

[Grassi21]

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.

 

[MRGisevil]

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.

 

[MR. evil]

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

 

[bvibert]

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...

 

[downhill04]

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.

 

[180]

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.

 

[bvibert]

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 .