Ski Day #7: Sunday River, and other weekend fun!!!
Well it was my last official ski trip on the bus this winter. It was another bus trip to Sunday River on Saturday. I was worried it would be very icy as the weather report showed rain anywhere in ME Friday and Friday night, but the elevation on the hill was enough that it snowed. That was the good news, the bad news was we still had to drive up through ice (the driver saw 5 accidents, I was awake for 3). It got worse when we got there (by 9am!) because it was very windy so they couldn’t open all the lifts… In fact they only had 2 lifts open when we got there. The slowly opened more lifts, but it was painful to sit in line all day with 6″ of snow on trails we couldn’t get to…
In the end we went in to lunch a bit early, and came out to them just opening a high speed quad. We ended up skiing that until 3:38 (that was the last time we got on it, I’m supposed to be on the bus around 4pm) and had a great time on it. The we is me and Jeff, another escort who appears in the shots from the first trip to Stowe. We ended up having a great time, and being exhausted by the end of the day, but it was painful all morning.
It’s a bit sad because I love to ski, and my last day was pretty bad, but it’s for the best. I’m done skiing for the winter, at least on the bus, because Nikki is due in ~4 weeks now and we both feel me going ~4 hours north on a bus that can’t come home early wouldn’t be the smartest thing to do… I may go for a weekend day in the car someplace close, but that would cost me money (gas and tickets) to go someplace boring and crowded, so we’ll see how bad I’m jonesing in a week or two…
Nikki and I had a fun Sunday (pre super bowl that is). We went out to a nice breakfast at a cheap diner near our house. We then went to Dave’s for the weeks groceries. We then came home and did a bunch of little things for the nursery (changed mobiles [we have 4!], hung pictures, hung a curtain rod, and a bunch of other little things) . We made Taco Salad and enjoyed some of the super bowl. I tried not to yell too much at the offensive coordinator for insisting on running every first down… I did “let him have it” when they then insisted on passing on 1st and goal and 2nd and goal late in the 4th where they really could have run some time off the clock… buy hey, what do I know? We still enjoyed the game and the commercials, but it’s hard watching the giants beat both my teams. They played very well in both games, I’ll give them that, I just feel neither of my teams played up to their potential. It’s hard to watch them lose when you know they could have done better.
Ski Day #6: Loon!
Well Sunday was another ski day. Went to Loon on the bus. We ended up having bus issues (bad alternator) which left us sitting in North Attleborough for 45 minutes. The drive up wasn’t too pretty as the roads were a icy mess. We saw about 5 accidents in total. The skiing was OK. I’m not a huge fan of loon. Their layout is horrible and their lines are usually way too long. I skied single all day so I was able to avoid the lines. I also checked out their 2 new runs and new lift which were quite nice. My other pet peeve of loon was evident though. They’re not very good at grooming. The snow was scraped off most trails around noon leaving piles on the sides as usual. I found a few trails that were OK and stuck to them. I also made a few trips into the terrain park. Threw a couple 3s and hit the big jumps with some straight airs. Always feels great to get some air under the skiis. That’s why I didn’t bring the camera on the hill though.
Ski Day #5, Sunday River!
Went on another bus trip Saturday. As mentioned before, I escort for New England Action Sports. It’s the only way to go skiing really… Enough advertising though, we went to Sunday River in ME on Saturday. The also had a meltdown 2 weeks ago, but they had had enough time to make some snow, groom everything, and they actually received 6″ of fresh Friday before we arrived. This left the conditions quite nice actually. The groomer were awesome, and you could even ski in the woods if you didn’t mind hitting the occasional rock (no core shots). A sailing friend of mine came with me so we skied together all day. His buddy Mark was also on the bus. Crowds were OK considering it was MLK weekend. We were more than tired enough by the time the day was over.
Okemo Again!
Another weekend, another trip. This time to Okemo. The weather took a decided turn for the worse over the past week. When we were at Stowe the week before the mountain hosts told us they were expecting rain and warm temps the next week. Well arriving at Okemo Saturday proved them right. Apparently it had been around 50º all week with it raining both Tuesday and Friday. Then Friday night it dropped below freezing over the whole mountain, leaving it at ~35º at the base and ~25º at the summit. It doesn’t take a meteorologist to figure out this means ice, and lots of it. Anything and everything was covered with a good half inch of solid ice. Somehow the conditions weren’t as bad as you might guess. Anything they groomed that night (or at least the part after everything froze) was actually OK. My only issue was I stepped on some loose snow that was covering sheet ice when trying to get to a lodge and fell pretty hard bruising my knee and elbow. It was also my first time snowboarding this season, so lots of different muscles were used, and are now sore. I had a great time, and took my new Leica with me over the full on Canon setup from the previous trips. It’s not a perfect camera, but it’s the best P&S I’ve been able to find.
Stowe again!
Another weekend, another bus trip. This time to Stowe again. Incredible conditions. They’ve had 165″ of snow so far this winter. Unfortunately it’s warm there this week, and supposedly raining today, but the 2 times I’ve been there this year it’s been like western conditions. The terrain at Stowe is also awesome, I just wish I know my way around better so I could find some more Stashed. Nikki’s friend Danielle met the bus up there so I could get her a ticket at the group prince. We ended up riding together and had a great time.
Sunday was spend at Hayden’s 1st birthday party. Great time and very educational for us (1 8 month old, 2 1 year olds and 1 18 month old baby all in the same room [all boys too?]). We had a great time. Then it was back to the house where 2 friends from my photography forum stopped by for a matting lesson. We had home made bread paninis and had a great time matting a few prints.
All in all another great weekend. My only regret is that is was too short (they always are) and that I didn’t get any time to take any more belly shots.
