Matt Duffy
New member
<I>(Note from the Administrator: This report was originally posted on 12/15/99. Due to our move to new servers, the date and time attributed to this post is incorrect.)</I> <BR> <BR>Saturday: <BR> <BR>I arrived to 8-10 inches of new snow with more falling heavily and sideways. There was a whipping wind and a surprisingly small amount of people. Skiing right onto the lift is unheard of at 10:00 on a Saturday, or at least it was. I skied from 8:30 to 11:30 on that same, mind numbing run before going home to sleep. There were tracks of rope-duckers here and there, but I decided it wasn't worth getting my pass yanked at this point in the year. Not for poaching any trail on Sterling with such inconsistant snow. Aside from some drifting here and there, most of the snow had blown away and I'm not sure where it went. On anything without snowmaking, there was much grass still showing and nothing in the trees looked too inviting either. There really isn't much for inviting woods off that one open run anyway, but on the trail, the skiing was nice. There was a lot of loose stuff with which to play, but I did sometimes bottom out on the solidified base underneath. Not an outstanding day, but a good one none-the-less. <BR> <BR>Since opening day at Smuggs, I've excercised every possible way to ski that trail, every style I know of to test my new skis, 10 times over. It's beginning to feel like going through the motions and I think I now can ski it with my eyes closed. A change of scenery would be nice. <BR> <BR> <BR>Sunday: <BR> <BR>Got there a little before 9:00 and already a huge lift line. I'm talking bigger than I've ever seen up there. 30 feet beyond the ends of the corrals. Almost an hour wait. Still one run open. A mass of humanity all over it. Took one run and left. Screw that, I'm going to bed. <BR> <BR> <BR>Monday: <BR> <BR>Nobody there. Nice. Maximized my time budget with a Doogie paced 7 runs in 2 hrs. Primo stereotypical New England conditions. Firm but edgeable, artificial and groomed. Pockets of loose stuff and even some drifts of real powder. They were getting ready to open Blacksnake when I had to leave, the end of a streak now almost within grasp. Well over a hundred consecutive runs down the same trail. Never done that before, hope I never do again; though it sure beat not skiing at all! <BR> <BR> <BR>Tuesday: <BR> <BR>Freedom. Well, it felt like it. In reality, I guess it was just a bigger cell for this caged bird. Blacksnake, AND Thomkes were open. 2.5 ways down. ! Thomkes is a winding little diversion that serves as a connector to more interesting trails when they are open. In and of itself, it doesn't entertain for too long but it was a nice breath of fresh air today. It winds around and connects back to that oh so beaten path of late, but Blacksnake was open top to bottom. I stayed on this for most of the day and compared to what I've been droning on for the last 2 weeks, it was quite a hoot. I met up with a few other regulars and we were like a bunch of escapees from prison getting a little taste of freedom. There was a ton of artificial snow whales with some loose natural scattered about. This trail actually has a bit of real black-diamond pitch to it which was very long awaited for and well deserved. We went off the sides sometimes and fought all the little knee-high whips for some nice turns in all-natural, wind consolodated powder. We found air off many whales, sometimes landing with a loud smack on the hard, postholed backsides. I led a charge down the narrow rope-tow (not the handle-tow) line and found a nice powder drift in there that lasted for about 500 feet. Had to pretty much straightline to keep moving, but it felt pretty good to be floating again. Similar experiences repeated themselves and it turned out to be a very good day. It felt like finally starting to come around from a coma; nearing the end of that zombie-like state. I want more!