A decent course with more turns than normal on Twister. The team did well but we were missing one of our Ringers so the points were not as high as they could have been. But we maintained our position in the league despite the lack of a key racer.
Game on! Winter resumes its steady drum beat of white stuff this Monday with a solid helping of eight inches in the upper elevation locales of southern New Hampshire. The storm slowly crept across southern New England with snow totals slightly lower than expected. The day time storm track made for disappointment in terms of looking for untracked powder but pleasing snow conditions across the board. Oh yea, we all had a beer league race tonight too.
Powder snow is great for free skiing but horrible for racing. Major rut action quickly became an issue on the first run and continued to worsen for the second run. Blue course ran better than the red course but neither offered a terribly great run. Our team finished third out of eleven, stepping backwards one place from last week’s second slot. My best handicap adjusted time for the team was fourth out of seven. The best handicapped time actually was delivered on my less than stellar red course run which suggests that the NASTAR system rewards good technique though slower times on a hard course more than cruising to a quick time on an easy course. Overall, I was disappointed with both of my runs and never felt quite on top of my skis.
That was perhaps due to my ski change shortly before the race. With eight inches of fresh falling throughout the afternoon, I got an early start with my mid-fats and changed over to my racing skis just shortly before my first run. The performance and handling differences between the two skis are significant. Though I regret not a second of the fun runs I had prior to the race, during which time I normally spend dialing into my skinny skis and working on race turns.
The first Monday of the new year marked the start of the Pat’s Peak Corporate Race Leagues. Not having raced since college and long having given up high speed ripping for low speed bark chewing, my primary aim of joining a race league was not the skiing but rather the camaraderie. Not to mention night skiing and racing beat my normal Monday activities. Which do not consist of doing anything other than browsing the internet and perhaps an occasional movie.
The Pats Peak course is a typical nearly straight line Nastar course without challenge or much variety week to week. I quickly discovered the novice friendly course required little advanced racing technique which allowed older groomer lovers with high handicapps to top out the results with marginal times. The handicapping system also assumes that younger racers are faster than older racers which is not always true. The best ski racers are never those fresh out of college but rather the seasoned pros and veterans that have logged many seasons on the tours. A benefit for our team was the telemark handicap which suggested that a racer on telemark skis needs a huge point advantage which is not necessarily the case for telemarkers that can alpine turn. Unfortunately for our snowboarding member of the team, the handicap system does not assist snowboarders at all and assumes that they are nearly as fast as skiers.
Regardless of handicap or point structure, our team has a great crew of guys that are fun to ski with. After warm up runs down Cyclone, we made our way over to FIS for inspection and two rounds of dual format racing. I took fourth place on the team with an overall middle of the pack finish. We finished the night out with three runs down Pat’s bump run called Hurricane including a final non-stop top to bottom bump run.
Pico offers up some first rate skiing, without the crowds and McSki atmosphere that plague neighboring Big Brother Killington. UMass Lowell Ski Team descended upon Vermont during the night of a fierce snow storm. When we awoke Saturday morning, many inches of snow had accumulated already. Upon reaching Pico, we found over a foot of fluff at the summit! My first true Powder Day. On our first run, half the team ascended to the summit via both Quads, and we proceeded to fall often in knee deep fluff skiing the Summit Glades. Amazing!
All that fluffy powder was not good at all for racing, though. We had to clear all the powder away from the gates. This took numerous times of the entire 100 person league snow plowing the course before it was racable. After all that snowplowing, the ruts on the race course were huge! It was an unbelievable day to ski, but an abysmal day to race.
Pico has some interesting terrain. Everything off the Summit Quad is gold. There is a relatively flat section on mid-mountain that was hard to deal with. Pico is essentially four mini-peaks. They have a Triple and Double on the Left and Right Wings for access to the smaller peaks. The first quad goes up the gut of the mountain, to mid-mountain where it services intermediate and beginner terrain. And their Summit Quad gets you to the real goods. Unfortunately, this means that top to bottom skiing is not really much of an option. However, there is quality skiing everywhere on the mountain.
UMass Lowell Ski Team hit Vermont’s own “Mountain in the Sun;” Bromley, for a weekend of racing the gates. Saturday brought snow showers and high winds early, and then the sky opened up into bright and sunny skies for the rest of the weekend! Bromley is not kidding about the sun exposure, bring your sun screen, you will need it!
Bromley is an incredibly well laid out mountain. Looking at the map, a bowl full of tough diamond runs rests comfortably on the right side of the map. Located far away from intermediate terrain and serviced by its own lift, a clear difficulty distinction is drawn which separates the men from the boys. Most of the mountain’s intermediate terrain is located right down the center of the mountain and is served by a fairly slow High Speed Quad and a pair of doubles. Towards the left side of the map, you’ll find beginner heaven with gentle grades and soft snow from the sun’s exposure.
Value wise, Bromley is slightly expensive for what they offer. However, their expert terrain is nothing to laugh about! They market themselves as a family mountain, which I found to be their niche. A great weekend of skiing and racing was had for myself and the team.