tuesday 1/10 report

[skiadikt]

cold and cloudy start w the usual fog draping the top of the mtn. some blue breaks brought a glimmer of hope as the sun finally broke through later in the morning.

the 3 F's (flat, firm & fast) ruled again but felt like the best day in a while as the grooming combined w the snowmaking provided an edgeable surface for us non-racers. the usual bubble start w the snowdon routes skiing the same except for lower trap where the fan gun softened things. NR better than it has been and a jaunt down LEF was so good we wished the canyon was running. finally dipped my toe back into supe and it skied surprisingly well. maybe it's gets a "deluxe" groom on tuesdays. lower lark still under the guns repeats as rotd. still skiing great with some big bumps forming though the right side has been been skied down to the underlying ice in places. earned 5 laps. bear also skied well particularly the problem are on lower claw. not impressed w cruise which was rather hard & chunky from the recent snowmaking. GE down to rt 4 was fun. did a good job fixing it.

really fine ski day. mnt has done a good job recovering. in addition, to lower lark, there was snowmaking on GE and ttb on highline - assuming there's some competitions coming up.

[Captain Hafski]

Loon Report. Great use of our Ikon pass today. About 20 runs 11:30 - 3:30 shift. Low skier/rider/herb density. Long high speed lifts that didn't stop. Close to bluebird skies. Nice change of pace.

Best groomer conditions I've seen in a while. 2 trails with ungroomed moguls that were good on the edge.

ROTD: East basin trail lookers left of the lift. Liftline trail there was runner up.

All 5 runs on South side very good though Ripsaw [Loon's one double black] was the only one not to be repeated.

Well worth the drive today.

[brownman]

Not surprised to learn Loon was in decent shape. They are working hard over there to build their brand
We always stop in Bradford, VT for dinner on the return from Lincoln, NH at the Colatina Exit. It is a hidden Italian gem with a history.
Sensational bill of fare (especially their bean salad). Oh, and Wednesday nites they feature a trivia contest.
Some of you on here would score pretty well on that.

[Captain Hafski]

At Loon, it didn't hurt that they had 7" a few days ago and 2" early in the morning. Biggest plus [as we've found with many of our Ikon trips] is lower skier/rider density and lower snowboard/skier ration; net result = less scraped down in these firm conditions.

Conditions on the South trails actually improved later in the day as the "center of the trail" skiers pushed snow to the sides giving a constant refresh for those of us skiing the sides.

Did I mention high speed lifts that didn't stop all the time?

NOTE: I am not really bashing K here, just posting that our experiences at hitting other places midweek, especially in conditions like these, has usually paid off.

And, thanx for the tip about the Colatina Exit restaurant. We usually stop at the Hungry Bear restaurant right at the Rte 5 intersection with the Bradford bridge road. We will check out your place next time.

[Southside_Bobby]

I was riding the SS chair at 2:30 on Tuesday, when I heard a scream from the top of Preston's. I turned back to watch someone fall badly at a high rate of speed. He slid on his chest a long distance, as one of his skis became a runaway above him. As he finally stopped sliding far skier's right, the runaway missed hitting him by a few inches and flew off the side of the trail.

I hope the guy ended up OK.