Blue RAW 1/14

[RootDKJ]

Anyone else going to be around tonight? I'm heading up Right After Work!

[RootDKJ]

I was supossed to go with my dad this morning but after the sixers game last night I fell asleep on the subway and woke up at Fern Rock at 1 am. He had to drive to philly to pick me up. no snowboarding today but we are probably going up there tomorrow morning

 

That's pretty funny.

[Johnny Style]

I'll be up around 6:30 but living on Raceway for the NASTAR races. It's just me and the Vista lift all night.

[tarponhead]

I'll be up around 6:30 but living on Raceway for the NASTAR races. It's just me and the Vista lift all night.

 

 

Enjoy the bra tree......

 

Have a meeting at the the local High School for my eldest tonight so I can't make it up as planned..

 

Will be swinging my elbows there all of MLK weekend though.

[Blong131]

the pathetic thing is that this isnt the first time this has happened. Last year I left my friends house in brooklyn at like 4am and got on the subway. two hours later i woke up at the last stop in queens. I then proceeded to fall asleep again and woke up two hours later right back where I had started in brooklyn. a subway ride that was supossed to be 2 hours took 6 hours lol

 

dude, i got a $50 ticket for sleeping on the subway earlier this year, it was ridiculous.

[RootDKJ]

TRAFFIC WARNING: If you are going to Blue from NJ via I-78, they have 3 lanes closed down at the Delaware River toll-booth. Take Exit 3 on I-78 to Rt. 22 into PA.

 

Date(s) Skied: 1/14/10

 

Resort or Ski Area: Blue Mountain

 

Conditions: Typical

 

Trip Report: Crazy night at Blue on several levels.

 

So I pull in to the lower lot, and there must be at least 20 buses there. Crap. Oh well. I quickly boot up and make my way over to the 6 pack. Love that VIP line. Challenge was pretty bumped up and Razors was closed, so I started off down Lazy Mile. Snow surface was typical blue. Some death cookies, some sketchy parts, some really nice parts. Right after the last right turn on lazy, some kid comes barreling past me and then yard sales right in front of me. I knew my right ski was clear, but I have no clue how my left ski missed him. Whew!

 

Nightmare/Dreamweaver was mostly good...and less crowded then Lazy. Main Street was surprisingly nice, including Lower Main Street. On my next lift ride up, I team up with two other season pass holders in the line and they ask me what's good tonight so I give them the trail-by-trail rundown.

 

Paradise - Didn't ski because I heard a lot of whistles coming from over there while on the Quad

Nightmare/Dreamweaver - pretty good

Razors/Challenge - didn't hit

Lazy - typical late day conditions

Switchback - pretty good, couple of scratchy spots

Main St - surprisingly nice, even on the lower part.

 

So anyway, the one guy starts telling the story how his son got at ticket for skiing too fast on Paradise over the weekend when the other guy tells me he's on Blue's patrol, but off-duty tonight. Then he proceeds to tell the story how on Saturday, he was off-duty and he got pulled over for skiing too fast down Paradise. He also told a story about getting stopped on Main Street. Funny stuff. They decided they were going to run the Tour de Blue. Ok, I'm game.

 

The first stretch of Paradise has these nice little rollers on them that really make the trail a bit more fun. But wait...I think I see a redcoad ahead, so I slow to a stop after the 1st turn. The two dudes pass me, moving at a good clip. I follow. Paradise by far has the nicest snow on the mountain. So soft and smooth...ahhh. Anyway, there's a possible redcoat sighting ahead, so the dudes come to a stop right before the last left turn. False alarm, and we joke about it. So the last section, I let the two dudes lead, but I let it all out and quickly smoke past them.

 

I wait for them at the Quad and ride up with them again. Next run, Nightmare/Dreamweaver I ski with them again. On the last section of Dreamweaver, the off-duty ski patrol guy is hauling ass and I'm keeping up with him. I had to get a little low to pass him in Lower Paradise. Good thing I was a little small already...that always helps. It was kinda crowded and I was a little closer then I'm comfortable with passing him, but I squeeze by. Zero commentary out of Mr. Off-duty. Nice.

 

Later in the night, I share a ride with an on-duty ski patrol guy. He's asking me if I think the snow is better this year. He tells me that they (not sure who exactly "they" are) are under new management this year and management wants them to get the opinions of people on how Blue is doing. I give him the same play-by-play I gave the other dudes, only I add in that Paradise has the best snow on the mountain. He then tells me that he's off to do some speed patrol over there. I tell him that I feel sorry for him. Two runs later, I took a responsible run down Paradise to find him standing about half-way down on the last section. Overall, it was a pretty interesting night at Blue.

 

Lift line

 

Nightmare

 

Dreamweaver

 

Main Street

 

Lazy?

 

Switchback

 

One for the bump lovers

 

As I'm de-booting, a death cookie falls out of the cuff of my ski pants. I thought I'd share it with you.

[Justo8484]

i went up right after work cause kev registered me for the rail jam on central. i hadn't even seen any of the stuff in there yet, so i figured why not go up and check it out. the setup for the first staircase is really nice. rails are still a little sticky since they're brand new, but the dfd will be awesome once it gets broken in a bit. i took a grand total of one lift right last night, and that was up the 6pack after the comp was over. snowboarders were having a much easier time dealing with the stickiness of the dfd, lots of kids trying 3 out of the flat, not lots of kids landing them though hah. kev ended up getting first, i got 2nd, little miller got 3rd. it was a fun setup and a fun comp, good job park crew. sidewinder looks awesome too.

[skier1112]

i went up right after work cause kev registered me for the rail jam on central. i hadn't even seen any of the stuff in there yet, so i figured why not go up and check it out. the setup for the first staircase is really nice. rails are still a little sticky since they're brand new, but the dfd will be awesome once it gets broken in a bit. i took a grand total of one lift right last night, and that was up the 6pack after the comp was over. snowboarders were having a much easier time dealing with the stickiness of the dfd, lots of kids trying 3 out of the flat, not lots of kids landing them though hah. kev ended up getting first, i got 2nd, little miller got 3rd. it was a fun setup and a fun comp, good job park crew. sidewinder looks awesome too.

 

please do a gopro run through of sidewinder so i can look at the features i wont get to hit, i would be grateful

[Justo8484]

please do a gopro run through of sidewinder so i can look at the features i wont get to hit, i would be grateful

 

that will probably happen this weekend. 2nd jump looks like perfection, as does the down rail that's set up where the cannon box was last year.

 

did you talk to mauser about getting a ride home this weekend? i thought he said he was coming home?

Edited January 15, 2010 by Justo8484

[skier1112]

i have not talked to him about it, but i think im staying at psu this weekend cause some people from home are coming up. Plus its going to be ridiculously crowded for the holiday weekend, so im thinking hopefully ill be able to catch a ride with him home on a weekend that isnt a holiday.

[RootDKJ]

Nice report Root... Was razors closed for snowmaking or the race team? I will be at blue from 8-?? Sunday morning if my foot heals up.

 

Razors was just closed for the race team from when I got there until around 7:30ish. Lots of people straightlining Razors once they opened it up. Some more successful then others.

 

Edit: I can't make Sunday but Monday is looking good.

Edited January 15, 2010 by RootDKJ

[Timeless]

Nice report and good pic's. It's amazing how quickly you forget the "chalk over hardpack" surface over there. It's wierdly different for me after learning to ride in the pocono's, it feels like very ski-day is a vacation day. I hope I never become a west coast ski-snob, looks like I might be coming back to ride at killington in March so I guess I'll find out...