The not-so-calm before the storm!

While most of the northeast prepared for the first major snowfall of the season this past weekend, it was business as usual for vacationers, locals, and the avid skiers and riders at Maine's ski resorts. And while the snow guns were blasting away on terrain at a rate I haven't ever seen, Mother Nature threw a bit of a curve ball our way this past Saturday.
You always know who the hearty souls are out on the mountain. Aside from the telemarkers who are seemingly always the hearty souls, I include anyone who gets out and skis or rides when others shriek at the mere possibility of stepping outside. Granted, this is usually what happens in January as the mercury dips to below freezing and the winds begin to howl, but for a bunch of us, January came a month early and put on an early test of fortitude.
With temps hovering around five degrees and a steady wind of about 20-25 knots, the snow conditions were nothing short of amazing. With less humidity, the man made snow is drier, which makes for ideal grooming conditions and buttery snow on newly coated trails. So I found myself with a handful of friends, ripping down a trail that had just opened and jumping right back on the lift. It seems that not everyone gets excited about these wintry conditions and I understand. The bitter cold can really hurt, but the reward it well worth the extra layers.
And while Sunday brought more seasonable temps to the mountains of New England, it was for good reason as a front moved in and coated resorts like Sunday River with over a foot and a half of Mother Nature's finest. Yes, the storm came in while I headed back to the coast to work, but we can't pick when such storms are going to hit, nor can we pick when the weather is going to be bitter cold. What we can do is decide to make the most of whatever the conditions allow. That's what we did this past weekend and the smiles were all around!

The battle of the new ski boot blues!

It's seemingly every skiers nightmare - the anguish of breaking in or adjusting to new boots. On one hand, were told how much better we'll ski, but on the other hand, the honest boot salesperson admits that our new boot will hurt like hell for a while. These factors - along with the cost of new boots - tend to keep many of us in our comfort zone, which of course can mean that we are skiing in a boot that has been over-skied and over-flexed. Translation: We aren't optimizing the connection between the foot and the ski. And while many of us put this purchase off for any number of reasons, I can attest that while the pain can be intense, the upswing is amazing. Minimize the days of pain after the purchase by hitting the hill as hard as you would on your old boots. If you can get through this, it will be all downhill after day one. And while your front two buckles won't need to be tightened if the boot is properly fitted, you want to tighten your top buckles so that they're super-tight, but not pinching. While some people choose to go tighter and tighter each day, I did it within a few runs. And for an added bonus, you'll get some back stretching in at the bottom and top of each lift as you'll want to be sure to unbuckle before getting on the lift.
Remember to also be prepared for some residual effects on other parts of your body, mainly your knees. Why? Older boots - those with over 150 skier days, will lose much of their stiffness and thus your legs/knees aren't thrust forward like they are with a properly fit boot; so when you get into new boots with a stiffness of say, 90, you'll notice that when you put the boots on, you'll be forced forward. Your body will naturally want to sit back a little to varying degrees depending on how old and soft your old boots are. What this means is that you'll need to adjust your stance and get forward. This is how your stance should be anyway, and you get optimal performance with the proper stance.
Obviously, results will vary from skier to skier. There's a good chance that if you're a more aggressive skier, the time to adjust to new boots will be less, but again, the real x-factor in this is the boot you're leaving behind.
And before I forget, do yourself a huge favor and do two things to make sure you have the best new boot experience possible. First, read up on ski boots. There are a multitude of early season magazines that review the best boots for all abilities. Second and hugely important is that you get fitted by an expert. I chose Greg at Sunday River Sports. Greg's expertise is second to none. My last piece of advice to you is that you get the new boot blues over with and make the most out of your season!

The U.S. Ski Team moves ahead without Bode - looks to youth for the future

One of the biggest stories in ski racing this year leading up to the season has been Bode Miller leaving the U.S. Ski Team to train by himself. While FIS rules state that he must don the US Ski Team attire during races and official training, the break from the team has allowed him to live outside the recent rules, which many feel were geared towards reeling him in and policing his behavior.
Whereas I was a Bode fan for a while, I had certainly strayed from being a loyal supporter except for the fact he has represented the team and garnered many of our Nations Cup points. Whereas he has some great results and legions of followers, I’ll always have much more admiration for the likes of Daron Rahlves, who while shy and always seemingly the underdog, exemplified what representing ones’ country should be about. And while Daron decided to call it a career a couple years back after cementing himself as America’s winningest downhiller, a new generation is ready to step forward and take over.
While last year saw the emergence of Steve Nyman as a threat to the Austrians in the speed events, Marco Sullivan (Seen in above, on the right) captured his first career podium on Saturday at Lake Louise, Canada with a spectacular second place finish. And while Nyman rounded out the points scoring by coming in 15th, Miller, otherwise known as “Team America,” was a distant 20th after some fast training runs. Add those two impressive early season finishes with a constantly improving T.J. Lanning and the more technical oriented Olympic Gold Medalist, Ted Ligety, and The U.S. Ski Team should have a bright future ahead.

Safety First!

To say I don't like to let my skis run and rip some fast turns would be a complete lie, but I never compromise the safety of myself or others in the process. That being said, we are all excited that ski season is here and look forward to long hours skiing or riding our favorite trails, but whether it's early or season of mid-week in the heart of January, we should respect slow skiing and riding zones. They're marked as such for a reason and just because a ski patroller isn't standing around waiting to chase you down doesn't mean it's safe to ignore the simple warning.
Maybe this wouldn't be at the forefront of my mind if I were not hit from behind by someone on Saturday, but that is the case. Thankfully, neither myself or the person who flailed out-of-control before hitting me, were hurt, but especially in early season, when many skiers and riders are packed on to a few trails, we need to be cognizant of our surroundings. When afternoon approaches and shadows begin to cover the trails, we are less likely to see ice and even more less likely to react to it as we would early in the morning. There are plenty of places to let 'em rip, but trail sections with children and merging trails are not those places. For the safety of yourself and those around you, dump some speed so we can all enjoy a long season!

Great Weekend To Start The Season

There was a definite vibe in the air this past weekend at Sunday River. Having walked up the steps along side the Barker Lodge, the changes were evident. With a late spring micro burst reeking havoc on Barker Basin and much of the resort, Sunday Rivers' new owners had their hands full with the challenge of rebuilding trails, roads, foundations, etc.
Boyne rose to the challenge, but it wasn't the newly built base area or deck outside the lodge that got my attention, it was a the sound of snowmaking guns beginning to fire up on multiple trails instead of just enough to get the mountain open.
For my first run of the year, I opted to jump on Lift 1 for a quick shot up the mountain. I was pleased to see a nice coat of white being laid down on Sunday Punch with a newly installed row of tower guns positioned a third of the way into the trail to further extend the reach of the snow - further evidence of improvements. As my chair neared the top of Barker, I heard a distinct screeching sound coming from my right and as I looked down Right Stuff, I saw guns begin to spew the white stuff. Smiling, I knew that these folks meant business.
Spending most of my time lapping the Locke Triple mid-station and alternating between Upper Punch and T2, Cascades offered a fairly congested, but nonetheless, well-covered route to the base. As you can see from the picture of T2 in the photo in the post below, the coverage was great. Quite frankly, it didn't seem like November at all and the skiers and riders were giddy, especially this kid.
Jules and I rounded out the 3-day weekend with about ten runs on Monday, mostly on T2. With our edges sharpened, we each took turns carving the steep upper section and gliding past the park set up on the skiers' left towards the bottom. With a patroller dropping the rope on Sunday Punch, (As seen in above picture) Jules and I were two of the first to make turns on this trail I'd only admired from the quad the past two days. I later found out that Right Stuff came online shortly after we ended our skiing for the weekend. While I was one of the first to ski Right Stuff last year, I certainly couldn't fret as I marked my calender with the first three days of skiing. Looking down to Thanksgiving Day, I smiled - that was my first day last year.

Rime with reason

How many times do we tell ourselves we are going to get in great shape for the next ski season? For me, it's every spring and of course at the end of the first day of the ski season while my muscles ache in places I didn't know I had muscles. Perhaps that's the problem; I didn't get in shape so I don't have the muscles. Well, having concluded day number one of what I hope to be a long and wonderful exploration of all things alpine, I am kicking myself for not doing a better job preparing.
Don't get me wrong, it was great to be back out on the hill and was pleasantly surprised at what awaiting me today, conditions wise, but after that first run I wasn't so sure many would follow, and yet they did.
I'll wait till after the weekend to give a conditions wrap-up as I think a daily report is overkill, but I will say that Sunday River put on quite a show with the annual Tin Mountain Round-up and more snow that we could even think about this time last year. Granted, it's all man made, but it's snow and snow makes me happy. And while I spent last year making turns on the first day by myself, (which I like to do quite a bit) I was fortunate to hook up with a couple of the Sunday River forum folks. While Eric and I shared a couple chairlift rides and fast turns down a well-covered T2, (see picture) I saw Martin at the base and we went to visit Steve in the Barker Pub for a Red Sox celebratory beer... and Diet Pepsi. A good time was had by all and I look forward to tomorrow and a little less pain in the legs.

Sunday River is first to open in the Northeast

Upstaging perennial rival and "family member," Sugarloaf/USA, Sunday River Resort, Maine, officially opened for the 2007-2008 season at 11:30 today.
While Sunday River had opened for one day on Halloween, most don't consider a resort to be open for the season unless they stay continuously open, therefore, the Halloween opening doesn't really count as Sunday River's opening. Why is this important? Quite frankly, it really isn't in the grand scheme of things, but bragging rights are always the banter of forums and bar stools.
After a long period as king of early openings and late closings, Killington, VT - now operated by POWDR Corp, decided to not even attempt an early opening this year, which is the first time in decades. While this opened the door for Sunday River, who had all along intended to open no later than November 9th, it was recently announced that Sugarloaf would also open on the 9th, bumping up their opening by a week. Not to be outdone by its' sister resort, the mountain operations crew at Sunday River resumed snowmaking operations yesterday afternoon and were able to lay down enough snow for today's opening on one trail and one lift.
For the time being, skiing and riding is for advanced only and downloading is required on the Locke triple. So if you're not an expert, please think twice about getting on the lift. No, the terrain is not normally overwhelming, but early season skiing and riding is not easy and a lot of people end up walking down slopes and getting injured. For the full story on this and other alpine news, check out the good folks at Alpine Zone for the lastest updates.

And to help you in a more tangible search...

The Internet has brought us so many wonderful things. Thankfully, it has not ruined our journey down the snow-capped peaks, but in many ways, it has helped. Nope, I'm not talking about surfing the web on your iPhone on the chairlift. Hell, I think if I saw someone doing that, I'd really want to throw them off the chairlift, but I digress. The think I am alluding to has to do with two neat sections of many mountain websites - the interactive trail and conditions maps! I love 'em!
Okay, an http://www.skiheavenly.com/mountain/trail_map/ isn't gonna help all that much while your skiing or riding unless you've got something like that iPhone with you and believe you me, I'm not the only one that would want to give you a heave-ho. It is quite neat to be able to look at one of the maps before heading out on a trip to a new resort and choosing some areas you want to ski or ride. Sure, you may still want to have one of the hand-held - I feel like such a tourist - versions, but only for quick reference. They're such a pain to fold. So go to the website of the mountain you plan to conquer and map out a plan of attack. Most will let you select different sections of the resort and even zoom in and out. Pretty cool! Not only will it give you a better sense of where you want to ski, but it will help you avoid the areas you don't want to ski. Tres important!
As for the interactive conditions; they're not as widely used yet. There are a couple of reasons behind this, IMHO; first, they take more manpower. Someone has to update them to reflect what's going on and second, I would think they probably take a lot of server space. Nevertheless, I like to check out Sunday River's conditions map before each day. I get to see where snow was made (using a variety of time frames), what's been groomed, perhaps more importantly - what hasn't been groomed, where snow is going to be made, what trails are open, and what lifts are open. You combine this with your interactive trail map and you can skip the lodge, customer service, and all those things that are great on vacations, but not necessary when you're just out to rip it up. Have fun!

The search can take you anywhere

I learned a long time ago, that if you're a true skier or rider, you can never pass up an opportunity to slide down snow. Granted, this sometimes means that you don't even slide on that much, or even any snow at all. While living in London for a few years back in the early 90's, I strapped on skis and slid down a surface called Dentex, or "the toothbrush" to the Brits. Nope, it wasn't as good as even the hardest bulletproof, but it was skiing and it was part of my education.
Then there are the times when snow turns to grass or mud. Most call this the end of spring skiing, but others just consider it another element to ride on. Sure, you get a little dirty, but what is "apres ski" really, other than some overused and died out term for people that really never ripped anyway.
And then there is the difference in the terrain we ski and ride here in North America. In BC, you can rip over 5000 feet of vert while some people in the middle part of the continent get excited about 100 feet. Some would say that strapping your sticks on for the latter is a waste of time... those people no little about the search. If 100 feet is what you've got, make the most of that 100 feet. Imagine how you'll rejoice when you get to rip that 5000 some day!
So I challenge all of you to leave your comfort zone. Ski areas you normally wouldn't. If you've never skied at night, give it a shot. If you've never jibbed a rail, let 'em slide at least once. It's hard to have an opinion or claim to have experience if you stick to the same mountains and same runs day in and day out.
Season opens in 5 days... Where will you be?

Welcome to the Brotherhood!

The Blue World is more about skiing. It is more about Lake Tahoe. Yes, the beautiful alpine landscape surrounding, and of course encompassing Lake Tahoe, may be an inspiration of some of my writing, but it is so much more. It is about the "search" for the perfect day. That day may be on the slopes, in the backcountry, or on the water. So welcome to this blog and I hope you enjoy some of the information here. I may write a little about ski days, trips, some favorite and not-so-favorite resorts and ski areas, and may even discuss some racing and others skiers. This blog will focus a lot on the lifestyle that is skiing and mountain life. If you haven't experienced it, do it. Welcome! ~Jerry Graffam

**"Brotherhood" is of course a figure of speech, The Blue World is not gender-specific. :)**