Fun & Fitness over 50

I have not been too enthusiastic about skiing this season. Not sure what is it. When skiing with my friend Charles I have wanted to quit before he does which is unusual for me.

At Mt. Snow, my first day of the season on Dec. 12th, I was underdressed and got a chill after lunch. We took a blue trail and it was ungroomed and deep heavy crud. That was tiring and not fun. Then there was a snow squall and i took a bad face plant because of visibility. I don't mind falling but I just wasn't feeling with it. Hey, it was the 1st day. But Charles was hot to trot. I quit an hour before he did.

Then went to Butternut and it turned out to be a powder day. That was pretty good once I realized that the snow was so light you could plow right through the crud with no ski deflection. Still, I was glad to quit for the day.

Last week was Hunter. It has to be perfect conditions for me to like Hunter. Too much too steep and too narrow. Couple of snow squalls with low visibility, high winds. Tired early. Not confident. Not having (enough) fun. Nuff said.

Oh yeah, I started tuning my edges myself this year so every time I hit an icy patch and didn't get the purchase that I thought I should be getting I was worried that I don't know what I'm doing with tuning (I don't).

Today was a scheduled ski day at Butternut and I even entertained thoughts of cancelling but went ahead out of momentum I guess, hoping it would be a good day.

... It was ...

Blue skies, 0 mph wind, not too cold. 100% open, every trail fully groomed, not crowded.

These are the kind of conditions that deceive me into thinking I'm a good skier. Hero snow. No, the mountain skied me. I didn't have to do anything. It was that good.

Sue and I have this thing at the beach in the summer. If you watch the waves as they break with sunglasses on sometimes we see this iridescent shimmery blue light in the water ... stunningly beautiful. We sit there looking at 6" waves going "oh wow" like tripping hippies. I don't know what it is, maybe plankton or something like that.

Well, my first lift up the mountain was like that today. The sun was just coming up behind the trees which were acting like a filter. I think the moon was just next to the sun. You'd never see the moon without the filtering effect of the trees and my snow googles. There was this quivering, iridescent blue blob that would appear from time to time ... such a beautiful vibrant color, it's hard to describe. Much bluer than the deepest blue of the sky. An auspicious beginning.

As I worked my way up from easy to more difficult trails I started to gain that old confidence back. I worked on my wide GS style turns, trying to keep myself facing down the fall line as I carved across the slope. I got some beautiful pure carves at least on my left turns, my right has always been my weak side. Pure joy. I think part of my edge issue may be technique rather than tuning.

Favorite runs of the day for those who know the hill and care: Whip to Hob Nob, Lower Downspout and Freewheeler. I skied everything except Upper Downspout as it was mostly bumped up except for a narrow chute on the edge and it looked like there may have been some icy spots too.

Quit at 2PM just because I said I was going to but I wasn't the least bit tired nor did my quads feel it at all.

So conditions have a lot to do with my ski happiness, in particular, groomed conditions. I would like to be able to handle ungroomed and cruddy conditions better and still have fun with it. Not have to fear those "uh-oh" moments when you wind up on a trail you thought was going to be groomed but is a bumped up nightmare. I can usually get down those all right but it's not what I call fun nor what I call skiing.

Goals for 2014-2015 in priority order: 1. have fun, 2. improve.

A week ago Thursday I skied Sugarbush in Warren, VT. Ostensibly my last day of the season. I thought I might go later in the month but I jumped at this opportunity as the temps were relatively cool and there was more terrain open than usual for late season. Also there were several days of rain in the forecast.
When I arrived it was just above freezing at the base but was not expected to go above the low 40s all day.
Super Bravo and Heaven's Gate lifts were running.

First run was mid-mountain off Super Bravo ... Valley House Traverse to Snowball to Spring Fling.

The surface was firm, a little fast. Ok for a warm-up run.

2nd run was all the way to the top of Lincoln Peak. To get there requires a run down from the unload of Super Bravo via Downspout to the Heaven's Gate lift.
I could never figure out why it took so much effort to control my speed on this section. It doesn't look that steep. Maybe because the surface was fairly hard.

 I should mention at this point that I had developed a problem with my left ankle bone, the protruding bump on the right side of the foot, from pressure of the ski boot. I noticed it first on my previous trip to Mt. Snow. This time however, it was painful the minute I put the boot on in the lodge. Not a good sign!

All this to say, Ripcord,
at the top of Lincoln Peak looked very tempting. It is steep in places but was groomed invitingly, at least from view of the lift but I thought I should hold off because of the foot problem. Steeper runs means more pressure on the problem bone when making right turns. So, instead of turning right and down Ripcord, I turned left and herringboned up to Jester. Herringboning hurt too! :-(

Jester is a blue square with good views of the Mad River valley. It has several switchbacks which can get cruddy on warm spring days but it didn't get warm enough this day. I took upper Jester
and then lower Organgrinder, a black diamond.
Upper Organgrider
is nasty looking, ungroomed, large natural bumps (whales really) and steep, should be double diamond but the lower part is groomed and almost blue square steep although the pitch is pretty consistent making it a good workout. Here is a shot from the top of Lincoln Peak looking all the way down Organgrinder.

After this I took several runs from mid-mountain, Lower Jester, Domino Chute, Downspout, Organgrinder, etc.

7th run, just before lunch was upper Jester and over to Snowball and Spring fling on the other side. By this time short section of slope on Snowball was pretty soft and heavy. It caught me by surprise after all the hard pack of Lincoln Peak and I turned but my skis didn't. Popped right out of both bindings very neatly and took a low speed tumble into the soft stuff.
That slope must have been at just the right angle to catch the sun or something because lower down it was hard pack again.

Break for lunch, then a few runs down the lower mountain, one from the top and my screaming quads called it a day.

12 runs and 18000 vertical. Not bad for the last day of the season. Got a little air time too.

Wonder what that foot problem is about? I've had those boots several years without any trouble. Maybe I'm skiing more and harder? Thinking about cutting a hole in boot right where it hurts. Not really but maybe buy a sheet of padding and see what I can do with that. I'll worry about it when next season rolls around.

Here is the link to my stats for the day in case you are interested: http://www.alpinereplay.com/stats/u?uId=46688&vId=875817

Skied at Mt. Snow in Dover, VT almost 2 weeks ago. Predicted temps were 30 at 9AM to a high of 54 at the base but it was already over 30 when I arrived at 8:30.

Ticket price was $29.99 senior rate on-line pre-purchase (oh yeah!). Nobody there! Parked in the 1st row.

I did my usual green circle warm up on Long John to Deer Run to Long John

but was eager to get to the blue squares. Snow was soft(ish) but not yet mushy/heavy/carved up.
I was also concerned with how my DIY spring wax job would fare in such conditions. So far so good.

2nd run was right down the middle of the Main Face, Lodge to Exhibition.

3rd run:  Drifter to Canyon.

4th run: jog left a little and down Snowdance,
probably my favorite on the Main Face. Blue square, long (1.7mi), groomed and wide. I saw the ski patrol dropping the rope on River Run but passed on it this time. I wanted to make sure I saw the lift spinning. This was just after 10AM, scheduled opening time for the North Face.

#5: I shot over to the North Face on River Run.
This was my first time ever on the North Face. River Run was still setup from the night before, not icy though, just starting to soften up a tad. Pretty easy blue square. Scoped out the diamonds on the ride up the Challenger lift on the North Face. A lot of them were bumped up pretty good. Some down right nasty looking with names like "Boulder Pile". I passed on them and went back to the Main Face at the top. I wanted to check out the status board back in the lodge to make sure I knew which trails were groomed before I committed. So back down Canyon on the Main Face for #6.

After a brief break in the lodge for coffee, a bite and the status board,  I took another run down Sundance.

Run #8: back over to the North side on River Run. Ready to take a shot at the groomed black diamonds. The Main Face was starting to get mushy and crudded up. Too much like work! Carefully scoped out what I could see of the groomed diamonds on the way up the lift. They were to my right. So far, so good. Fallen Timbers and Chute. I usually avoid anything black diamond or higher named "Chute" ha, ha. Fallen Timbers sounds like a glade and looks like one on the map but they said it was groomed.

#9: wound up taking Chute.
Not bad. A little narrow but still wide enough to make a couple turns across. A few ice patches, easily avoided. Groomed as advertised, a couple of rollers but not what you would call "bumps".

OK. Ready for Fallen Timbers.
This run was in the best shape, wide, flat, no ice. and it was NOT in the trees! ;-)

Another crack at Fallen Timbers, one last run down Chute and back to the Main Face and down to the base. These 2 diamonds were definitely my favorites for the day. I would love to have done them some more but my legs were giving out from the steepness and knew I would have one last tough slog down to the base in the Main Face mush.

There is a great view of Somerset Reservoir from the North Face that I didn't have the presence of mind to snap but here's a nice pic of the view that someone else took:
Finished up back to the base on Sundance and survived heavy crud without mishap. My wax job did well although I did apply some swix F4 liquid for a touch up about 11.

Here's a link to all my stats for the day:
Alpine Replay Stats
Great day! BTW, I also found a great shortcut around the town of Wilmington. Avoids the bottleneck at Rte. 100 and 9. From Rte. 9 just before Wilmington take a left on Haystack Rd., rt. on Ray Hill Rd., left on Mann, left on Coldbrook which changes into Handle. Just stay on Handle until you get to the resort.

One more road trip for the season? Maybe Sugarbush?

Skied at Windham Mountain on Tuesday. A little chilly, overcast day. I got there early, before 8:30. Lifts spun at 9.
Got snagged as a buddy-for-the-day by Steve G., a former wall street trader up from "Joizy" for the day.
Steve told me he checks the online trail report and sees what is groomed and what isn't and sticks to the groomed trails.
I check it too but pay more attention to how many trials are opened than whether they are groomed or not.
After warming up on a few short greens we headed over to the west peak and hit Whistler straight down the mountain under the lift for a few runs.
We alternated choosing runs between us and I took Steve over to Windfall

which is a new blue square this year. It was not groomed and not great. Not icy but pretty hard and rough.
Later we took Waltz, a narrow but not too steep chute into Warpath from the top. Not groomed and not great either.
I did a similar chute in the same general area, Wizard (formerly Whisper) and it was icy just about all the way into Warpath same as I remembered it a couple of years ago only this year my skills are better.
Later, after Steve left for the day I skied Why Not (groomed/good) over on the east peak and then Wing'n It (not groomed/bad).
The lesson learned: ungroomed trails are OK on powder days or as a necessary evil to get to good snow otherwise why bother?
Favorite runs of the day: on the west peak, upper warpath to whiskey jack
and on the east side, Why Not to Wintuck to lower Wicked.
Good surfaces all and Whiskey Jack is one of those narrow twisty blues that is just the right pitch and has banked turns that for some reason I find so exhilarating. Other similar trails like that are Sidewinder at Catamount and Drifter at Stratton.
25 runs for the day in all and here is a link to my Alpine Replay stats:  http://www.alpinereplay.com/stats/u?uId=46688&vId=837767

This Missus and I had a nice day today at Gore Mtn. in North Creek, NY. Thanks to $12 lift tix from iSkiNY (Ski Areas of NY, Inc.). They started this last year with one day, Jan 10th and expanded it this year to 2 days. We took advantage of both and went to Gore both times. Gore doesn't offer any other deals that meet our criteria ($30 max).
Today started out really cold, windy and overcast. Single digits, wind chill sub zero, etc. etc. But later in the AM to afternoon the sun came out, wind died down and the temps went up to a scorching 19 degrees (at the base that is, i don't know what it was at the top).
The surface was "variable" as they say which means watch out for ice but there was soft snow to be found. That's the usual mission here in the east, find the good snow.
Sunway was pretty good but that's usually the most crowded. Wind in the AM was brutal on Top Ridge. Almost blew you off the trail.
I found a nice stash on Quicksilver which is a blue square off Sunway, un groomed and whales. Nobody else on it. Later in the day it was more scraped off in places, the whales had become moguls and it was more crowded. Almost lost it right at the end otherwise I did okay. I even enjoy negotiating a few bumps if the snow is worth it.
We took 2 trips up to the high peaks area for the view. One run down Cloud and another down Headwaters to catch the Straight Brook Quad to the top. Cloud was OK. One icy steep section that wasn't too fun. Headwaters had all the snow guns going.
Echo was the only run open in the Burnt Ridge area. Was kind of scratchy. There is one section that is black diamond level steep. It would be ok if the snow was good. I keep trying it each visit. One day the snow will be right and it will be a fantastic run.
My favorite run of the day was Twister.  There was soft snow all the way down and it's wasn't too steep. Did that one twice.
Mrs. MTBMan1 usually likes the Pete Gay trail on the North side. It was OK except for one patch of hard ice right across the trail! But that double chair is too slo-o-o-w on a cold day!
The Missus favorite was Cloud, for the view.

I don't know what's up for next week. Looks like some (more) r**n in the forecast! :-(

As anticipated, Upper Jester was in great shape. It’s a heavily switchbacked trail of moderate width but the snow cover was edge to edge with no bare spots. I did that for a couple of runs. Brian did Ripcord and then we met up for a final run to lunch consisting of Upper Jester to Spring Fling.

Huge fun but my legs were pretty fried by that point so I opted to call it quits after lunch while Brian made 2 more runs from the top of Lincoln.

So why was it my best last day ever? I guess primarily because of my skill level and strength  which so far has improved and increased respectively each year. I am able to handle the heavier spring snow and negotiate hazards like ice and bare spots better. More control. Also it was a beautiful day, the open trails were in great shape (except for Lower Jester), new skis, spring wax  and I had my friend with me! :-)

Ski Day 21 and no complaints!

I’m going to sleep now. Wake me for the ski expo in November.

Well, it looks like ski season is finally over. Unless someone wants to treat me to a day or two at Jay Peak. ;-)
In any event, I have no complaints. It's been a great season, especially the late season, March into April.
In fact, since I started skiing 5 years ago, every season has been better than the last. Primarily because of my continual improvement but also because the ski areas here in the East do such a great job making and grooming snow when the weather is less than stellar for the natural stuff.
This week, i got two great days at Stratton. Late season special for over 65 geezers like me ... $10. Can't beat that.
Monday, the hill was still fully covered but the Sun Bowl was closed down so the trails serviced by those lifts were not open. The upper mountain was still hard until about 11AM but after about 1/3 of the way down it was great. In fact the cord at the top of Mike's Way was more like a washboard. Everybody was commenting on the noise! It made me laugh it was so ridiculous.
I went back on Thursday and the mountain had taken a pretty good hit from warm temps and rain over the 2 days between trips. There were a lot of unmarked hazards, ice, bare dirt and such so you had watch your step, at least I did.
The Ursa lift to the upper mountain was marked Experts only which spooked me the first time I approached it but after lunch I went up anyway and was glad I did. The temp never got above freezing up there so the top third or so stayed hard all day. Also there were some nasty hazards right at the top of some of the runs so I guess therein lies the "expert" warning but I navigated them OK. It was well worth enduring the dicey parts. Once you got past the ice and things softened up the snow was creamy and buttery and little trafficked. In fact, I was so alone on some runs that it was kind of eerie.
Mike's Way had a really ugly bare spot and a wide patch of ice at the top but once you got past  that it was almost pristine. Wide, mostly untouched soft groom all the way to the bottom.
By the way, the best thing I did that day was get my skis waxed. I intended to do that at first but the First Run shop was closed. After 3 runs I asked the lifty where I might get it done and he suggested I try the rental shop. They were closed too but someone inside saw me and he was glad to do it for me no charge. Wow, what a difference that made. Really smoothed out the crud.
A favorite run at Stratton is Drifter, a long, blue, narrow twister that had my quads burnin' pretty good by the end. I did that one both days. Lots of fun!
I also had a good time exploring a few of the short runs on the west side of the lower mountain like Snow Bowl Alley, White Birch and Hemlock which all feed into Flukey's Run .... pleasant, mellow.
Monday I did try one of the black diamonds over on the east side, Upper Tamarack, which was kind of chunky but soft and covered edge to edge. I look forward to exploring that area more next year. Looks like fun.
Kudos to Stratton for offering such great late season deals. I hope they do it again next year. I eagerly anticipate going back.
So now it's go through a little withdrawal and then gear up for biking and hiking!

Yesterday I skied at Stratton VT. I haven't been at Stratton much in the last couple of years. Since being bought by Intrawest they have not offered good enough deals that meet my criteria ($30 or less).
However, lately they have begun offering some discounted advance purchase tickets that, since I have become a "senior", do meet my fiscal requirements; $29. (Incidentally, as of April 1st everybody will be able to pre-purchase $29 tickets and my price as a senior goes down to $25!)
I have always liked Stratton. They have some great terrain, a lot of variety and long runs (Wanderer along the west side is 3 miles).
Of course all of the resorts in the Northeast have been raving about the conditions the last couple of weeks so I was very excited to get in on it.
What Mrs. MTBMan1 and I have been doing is bypassing the main area and going straight to the Sun Bowl. It has a smaller mountain feel. Parking is easier with no need for shuttles and it's generally less crowded.
Conditions were very good. They'd had about 15" of snow during the past week and it showed it on the ungroomed trails. Otherwise everything was powder and packed powder. I even caught a few pristine groomers on my first few runs. One of my favorite runs is Lower Downeaster but it was a bit bumpy today so I couldn't really let go on it. On the other hand, Gentle Ben was great. It's kind of a twisty trail with switchbacks but the surface was consistent. After doing all of the trails on the lower part of the Sunbowl and one run from the top down Black Bear, I traversed over to the Main side.
I did Wanderer the long green along the western edge.
Favorites on this side for me were Drifter and Get My Drift which, as the names imply get an almost constant windblown coating which keeps the snow soft and smooth.
Wound up doing 16 runs and pretty much frying my quads which makes for a pretty good day.
Here are my stats: http://www.alpinereplay.com/stats/?id=46688

Next up: Windham on Monday.

Kills my quads that is. And not actually speed but the G-forces of big carved turns. Ok. Best day of the season so far. Got my first senior ticket (turned 65 on 2/14). And I had $34 in credit from last year so I only had to pay $23 for the ticket.($58-35, don't know why they gave me the extra dollar).
They were 100% open except for one trail over on Carinthia that they were building up for a rail jam or something on the weekend.
Absolutely killed my quads on 17 runs. Snow was great although quite a few trails were on the bumpy side. I did come to terms somewhat with the bumps though. Did some exploring. After a couple of warm up runs on Long John and then Deer Run I skipped over to the Sunbrook side and checked out a couple of trails that weren't open the last time I was there. Big and Little Dipper. They were blue squares but ungroomed so there were some bumps along with some soft powder and some hard pack.  I had already planned out what I was going to do the next time i encountered bumps: side slide and/or 180 degree hop/stop turns all the way down. That worked out pretty good. I was even able to actually pick a line and do some moving turns. Big accomplishment this year.
After Sunbrook I tried to get to the westernmost side of the main face or even do River Run which is the one blue square on the North Face. In the process I did not find River Run but did One More Time which is the westernmost run on the Main Face. That turned out to be quite bumpy with thin cover and ice although not very steep. I did even better here than on the dippers but the trail was quite long and really tired me out so I didn't do that one again.
Favorite run of the day turned out to be Snowdance, a long, wide and even intermediate run with no bumps or hardpack. I did garlands all the way down so it really extended the length of the run. A real quad killer but I just loved it.
Conditions were great, not crowded, sun came out .... what's not to like?

Thanks to Warren Miller, we had another fine day of skiing at Sugarbush at price that met our $30 or less price limit criteria (free).
Also a pleasant surprise was $100 for a room at the Golden Lion Inn right at the base of the Sugarbush access road. Amazing! Breakfast included!
Mrs. MTBMan1 and I went up on Thursday, Feb. 28th, stayed the night and skied the next day, March 1st.
They had got a nice dump on the previous Wednesday so they were 100% open and conditions were quite good but it was raining the whole way up on Thursday. I kept waiting for it to change over to snow as we approached the mountain but it never did. I tried not to get upset (not very successful).
However, we did have a great day.
We didn't realize it but that turned out to be Vermont and NH's school vacation week so it was quite crowded in the lodge at Lincoln Peak. Also, getting established on Lincoln Peak required quite a bit of hoofing from the parking lot up to the lodge. Very tiring. (note to self: park at Mt. Ellen next time, much simpler. Then take the Slide Brook quad or the shuttle over to Lincoln Peak,)

We took the Gate House Express Quad up to the halfway point on North Lynx Peak and warmed up on Pushover, a green trail before heading out to Mt. Ellen on the Slide Brook.
As we did on Valentine's Day we warmed up on the lovely green circle, Northway before heading up to Rim Run at the top.
Now, there was a problem. The entire top third of Mt. Ellen was shrouded in a dense cloud. Visibility was very bad. Almost white-out conditions. After awhile I started to lose my orientation as to where the trail ended and the cloud began or even up and down! Not good. We scooted off there pretty quick and made no more attempts on the peaks.

Eventually we made our way back over to Lincoln Peak and ended our day there. I made one attempt at the top of North Lynx Peak on Birch Run, a blue square. The snow was excellent but the run had got a bit bumpy by then which is not my cup of tea. Fortunately, the trail was wide with tree islands and the right side of the trail had got less traffic and was pretty manageable for me. Nevertheless, after that I stuck to the lower part of the hill.
My pick for the rest of the afternoon was Pushover to Overshot to Sleeper which bypassed the Chutes.
So, green to blue.
Thanks, Sugarbush for making your Warren Miller freebie all-mountain! Do it again next year! :-)

School vacation week is a bit difficult for me to find someplace to ski because everybody is ramped up with holiday pricing and no deals.
Last year I was able to night ski at Bosquets for $25 on President's day so I was grateful for that.
This year, I was even more fortunate in that because school vacations varied amongst the different northeasterly states, Belleayre decided to only charge holiday rates for the 1st weekend and the Monday of President's Day itself. So the rest of the week reverted to normal non-holiday pricing. Still too rich for my wallet but, hooray, they have a "Coke Wednesday" wherein you present a Coke product at the ticket window and get a lift ticket for only $30 which qualifies for our self-imposed $30 lift ticket limit.
Thanks, Belleayre!
They advertised 34 out of 53 trails open which is plenty for me.
Conditions were pretty good although there was some hard pack, I didn't run into any ice or thin cover.
This was the day I discovered a comfortable way for me to ski the black diamonds ... garlands.
A garland is where you traverse a wide slope at a shallow angle and do as many turns as you can while traversing in one direction before you turn and do it the other way.
I am also able to bleed speed in or out by tipping down hill or edging up the skis respectively without actually making turns. So I am able to control my speed pretty well without just doing straight traverses which I find very tiring and does not maintain a good rhythm ... prone to falling as i get going either too fast across rough snow or too slow at the end of a turn and lose my balance.
The black diamond "Dot Nebel" over on the West side was my sweet spot after lunch and I just rode that until it was time to leave.
Thanks to Belleayre for an affordable daytime ski during a holiday week!

Sugarbush is quickly becoming a favorite. Long runs with interesting terrain. Big (for the East) mountain skiing. The only reason we don't go more often is 1.price and 2. distance (almost 4 hours for us).
This year we've had 2 good price deals. The first one was a no-strings $14 all-mountain lift ticket on Valentine's Day. Very generous of Sugarbush, I thought.
Mrs. MTBMan1 and I went, of course. We spent one night with some rels in Rutland the night before and met up with Mrs. MTBMan1's sister and her husband who live about 1-1/2 hrs. south east of the hill.
Conditions were quite good as I remember it. Lots of soft snow and most trails open although not 100%.
We parked at Mt. Ellen  and proceeded to warm up on a few green trails. A real favorite green turned out to be Northway. It's narrow and flat like a cross-country trail but very beautiful and shrouded in white coated evergreens.
Overall favorite on Mt. Ellen is Rim Run from the top. Wide, with a spectacular view and good snow.
The Slide Brook quad was running over to Lincoln Peak so we took that. The ride is 12 minutes with great views. The first time is particularly exhilarating as we were not use to facing and moving DOWN slopes as well as up.
On Lincoln Peak we stuck with the Gate House Express Quad and the lower part of North Lynx Peak.
A nice run was Sleeper. The first part of the blue section of Sleeper was closed so we had to go down Sleeper Chutes which is black diamond but I managed to slip slide my way down that and then back into the blue square part of the trail. Lots of fluffy powder and trees. Very pretty. Another favorite.

Everyone in our party had a great time. Kudos to Sugarbush for a memorable and pleasurable outing!

Ski day #9 (i think). This past Wednesday I went down to Belleayre off route 28 in the Catskills. The deal was $30 for a lift ticket if you presented a Coke product at the ticket window.
Conditions were awful to OK. The first trail I tried was a blue square that wraps around the east side called Roaring Brook. The middle 3rd of this trail was like skiing on pebbles. Not fun. In fact I hit something that was more rock size and nearly lost it.
Correctly assuming there was probably better, I checked out the west side via the Tomahawk lift. Deer Run is an equivalent trail running along the west side and it was much better. Getting back on the lift I overheard someone say that Peekamoose was excellent from top to bottom so I tried that next and it was very good. A smooth coating of packed powder over the groom like someone had plastered it. Very nice. The upper portion is a black diamond and the lower is blue square. I had a good time working on my black diamond technique and by the 3rd run on it I felt pretty comfortable.
So things turned out pretty good.
The runs are short unless you want to ski all the way down to the lower lodge over green terrain. Not too challenging. But the runs are still longer than Bosquet which @ $20 for night skiing looked to be my only option during the Feb. holiday break. However, this year, Belleayre is not going to charge holiday rates after President's day that week including $30 Coke Wednesday so I most likely will be back then.

Next up, Feb. 14th (my 65th birthday) at Sugarbush, VT. $14 full mountain lift tickets. You heard right. $14. No strings.

By the way, after my birthday, I can now officially get senior rates at most places. Oh yeah!

Here's a pic of me biting the dust (powder) at Butternut a couple of weeks back.

Those of you who have followed this blog know that one of the main themes has been skiing on the cheap. Downhill skiing is typically an expensive sport, not one that I can afford at MSRP. But I have been able to do quite well with a self imposed limit of $30 for a lift ticket. You just have to pay attention.
Now that I am getting into audio recording I find that I can do the same thing, i.e. setup a studio with little to no money. I'm quite pleased at how it's working out.
For example, there are a ton of great plug-ins and virtual instruments that can  be had free for the download. Plug-ins are software add-ins for your recording program that create effects like reverb and echo and simulate equipment like compressors and equalizers.
As for real physical equipment, I found a midi keyboard in perfect working order complete with stand, sustain pedal and power brick on the side of the street for trash pickup. A friend gave me another midi controller that he wasn't using any more. When I needed a snare and some brushes, I borrowed them from friends. I borrowed a mic and a djembe drum from my church and so on.

Other essential equipment: my ears and brain ... included at no extra charge! ;-)

They say it takes 21 days to either break or establish a habit. That's probably an arbitrary number but the concept is valid. Through repetition we establish neural pathways in the desired direction while causing old ones that we don't want to become less compelling through disuse.
I'm going to take a big step here and make an attempt at changing a much loved but harmful pattern ... bedtime snacks!
It's one of my great pleasures to kick back with a book and munch away.
But I really need to lose some weight. I know I'm feeling the extra poundage both in terms of energy level and in the stiffness and discomfort in my joints. Not to mention the extra company I feel when I bend over to tie my shoes. I don't like feeling like an old man (I'll be 65 in February).
Now, the holidays are coming up, in fact are already upon us and I'm not proposing to change anything about that, just the bedtime snacking. I'll enjoy holiday dinners and parties without thinking too much about it and I'll have a reasonable serving of dessert after dinner. Just see how it goes.

It's Day 2.

I borrowed a snare drum and brushes for one of Mrs. MTBMan1's songs. It has a 123 123 12 guitar picking pattern which could translate into a latin beat but I don't think the song wants that. I tried various combinations of clave, hand drum and tambourine but they were all too strong and the tambourine was too jangly. I'm thinking of more of a soft chuff-chuff than a chang-chang ... maybe maracas?
In any event, I borrowed a snare from one friend who doesn't play but has a trap set he's trying to sell and nylon brushes from his brother who does play. I initially thought I would use the electronic traps at church and record directly out of that but when I noticed that my friend Steve had a set sitting in his rumpus room I jumped at that opportunity. Obviously it will be a more natural sound and i can do it in the convenience of my own home studio.
I pulled up some youtubes on how to tune a snare and then how to play brushes. It's scary how much knowledge is out there and it's all at your fingertips.
I love learning something new and I always wanted to play drums. Heck I've always wanted to play everything! ;-)
Here's a photo of our "studio".

That's ree-zoom not reh-zoo-may. It's been since the end of last ski season, March 2012 that I last posted here. I'm going to post about other things than just fitness but they are things that are fun for me at least.
Previously I thought to stay focused on the fitness things for the sake of my public, all 4 of you (hi, mom!) but really, I don't think any of you care, do you?
So I may also include things I'm doing with music or anything else that interests me. I can always think about things to write while I'm doing them but when it comes time to actually commit them to "paper" ... well i'm lazy. So, we'll see.
Ski season is about to begin for Mrs. MTBMan1 and I. First scheduled day is Mt. Snow. I bought new skis this year which are my first brand new ones. The ones I had before I bought used and last year I rented. The new ones are Atomic Nomad Intruders which I got online from Levelnine Sports. $269 with bindings and free shipping! They look great and got all good reviews. I am psyched to try them out. They are rockered and a little wider underfoot than my other skis, 77mm.

Musically I am all over the map. Mostly I have been recording Mrs. MtBMan1's original songs and having a blast with that. I don't write much myself but love to develop my wife's songs which I think are great and unique. I am using garage band on a macbook pro with a Line6 GuitarPort for an audio interface. I'll post a pic of the "studio" at some point.

last Tuesday i skied Windham mountain. As you who have followed this blog know, I never ski without a 'deal'. Tuesday's deal was a gift card for $30 we received as a refund on our daughter's gear rental last december. We knocked off at about 1:30PM that day so they gave us an early return refund for the equipment. I thought that was very nice of them. I didn't expect anything. I figured you rent for the day and that's it. Another positive customer-centric experience that will keep us going back to Windham.
So ... $52-$30=$22 for the lift ticket!
It was a bluebird day. Probably didn't get much above freezing if at all. Conditions were packed powder (a dusting of real snow over man-made). It held up well throughout the day with very little ice poking through even by quitting time. They were 100% open.
My best workout to date putting in 28 runs in a little over 28 miles of actual skiing. I did just about every run on the mountain except for the double-blacks. Upper Wraparound to Whiskey Jack is a blue favorite and Why Not to new-this-year connecting trail, Wintuck, to Lower Wicked is favorite black diamond run.
Got 2 first chairs and first tracks both on the East peak, the D and G lifts.
I did a pole twirling exercise quite a bit that day. I got if from Chris Fellows great book "Total Skiing". You simply twirl your poles in front of your face like a drum major (or -ette) while you ski. It keeps your arms out front of course, keeps you face forward and helps with independence of lower and upper body. I felt like my upper body was enjoying the ride while my legs were doing all the work. It takes a couple of miles before you get the hang of it but it's a fantastic exercise.
Here is the link to my stats for Windham: click here

Yesterday (Friday) was Butternut in Great Barrington, Ma. Since I did a season rental of skis and boots at Butternut, I arrived early and had them hot wax and sharpen the edges. Brian had suggested I get tighter boots so I swapped my boots out for the next smaller size and they fit fine. Hard to tell if any of this made a difference though cause the conditions were so different from what I had been skiing all winter.

We had some warm days and a little rain since Tuesday so there were some large patches of ice showing even when the lifts first started turning. Nevertheless, Butternut was still 100% open and I had a great day. It was a little hard and scratchy in the AM on the east and west edges but the middle had a nice 1/2" to 1" of fresh which was very skiable. You just had to watch out for the ice spots. Nuthatch, for example, had one almost completely across the trail at one point although there was one skier width on either side that you could go around ... or just go straight over the thing! ;-)
By 11AM everything was skiable. Some spots were shaded all day and those remained a bit scratchy but still not as bad as first thing in the morning and they were skiable.
I finally skied Downspout and Chute so now I can say I have skied every trail on the mountain except for the terrain park. That's the only mountain I can say that about. And I skied every one of those trails (20) at least once and most twice on Friday.
Maybe next year I'll get a terrain park pass ($3) just to ski the trails in the park (twister and west way).
I did 21 runs in 17 miles at Butternut.

I tried doing the twirling exercise but the ice patches and mushy conditions required a little more attention than I was comfortable with so I didn't do much of that one.
There was however another exercise (you could actually call it a technique) from Chris Fellows that really helped a lot. It simply involved turning while lifting the uphill ski completely off the snow. This gave a lot of power into the carved turns. Really helpful under the wet snow conditions.

Here are my AlpineReplay stats for Friday at Butternut: click here

Next up: Mt. Snow next Friday. It's going to be a warm week with some rain. Hope the snowpack holds up!!

Skied today at Plattekill Mountain in Roxbury, NY in the Catskills. They advertised a $15 day so I decided now was the time. The weather has been a bit dicey too; rain just about every week. Today was supposed to be an unrainy day and there was supposed to be rain friday so this was it.

I was the second car in the parking lot. I didn't see anybody on the lifts or the slopes. Eerie. I like it uncrowded but this was a little strange. Eventually people started trickling in.

First run was on Powder Puff to warm up and test surface conditions. Consistent grooming, a little hard, no icy or bare spots. I think I got first tracks on that one

Then I did Sundown to Shredded Mozzarella, a blue run. Not bad. Looked like I was the second skier down it. Shredded Mozz is often tricky. There's a sharp turn with a reverse bank and it's faster than it looks. There's usually some kind of chop from the grooming on the corner too. Took a spill on that one.

My next planned run was Sundown then a right turn on to the Lower Face rather than continue on to Mozz. Lower Face is a Blue run but steeper. What Jiminy would class as a high intermediate. This is usually faster than I'm comfortable with and was what I had planned on working on today.

I pretty much alternated those runs today, concentrating on getting confident on the Face. I kept eyeing the Upper Face which is a black diamond cause it runs right under the lift. I have done it before. I finally tried it and it was ok if a little hairy. But I got down it alright.

After lunch it started snowing. I think it helped conditions a little but psychologically it's a big boost. It's so beautiful.

The upper face kept calling to me. I did it a few more times and got pretty comfortable with it. I think I've crossed a line. I'm craving steeper runs now. More Gs per turn! ;-)

The only other runs open today were the north face and blockbuster. I never got over to that lift. Had enough to work on I guess. Blockbuster was pretty nasty looking. Huge bumps. I think they just made snow and never groomed it out. I never saw one person on it all day.

Had another great day on the slopes. This has definitely been my best season so far in spite of the lack of snow and cold. I know the new skis (Rossi Bandits) have made a huge difference.

Here's video I made going down Powder Puff. I'm just using a regular hand held camera here.