First crack at the Orchard

The Orchard was awesome.  Hit Blue tonight expecting long waits in the lift lines but was pleasantly surprised to be riding solo most of the night.  Headed over after dinner ready for a cold night at -13c. Mason was along for the ride for his second trip to the hill this year.    Conditions were great....machine groomed powder that was pretty consistent.

Quest For Powder

On the Hill With Ryan

 Booked the Eve off work being that the kids had a PD day but the only taker was Ryan.   It was great to have a one on one with him ...its been awhile.   I was a little worried about him getting hurt.  Last time I was with him he broke his wrist!!!!     We parked at the top of Southern Comfort and did a few runs at Water Fall before we headed North to the Happy Valley!      Had a great lunch  then Skiied Happy a bit longer before we headed home.... without injury.  

Me today!

Snowy Friday December 13th, 2013

 Mason and I headed to the hill today.   Temps were just as cold as yesterday but the winds were allot less and I had 2 pairs of socks on!    Did a run on Cruiser then headed to the village meeting up with Patrick.   We checked out Happy Valley open for the first time this season.     It was snowing heavily and there was tons of deep powder to be found everywhere.    The main runs were a bit tough with the snow piling up here and there but overall its was pretty good conditions.   Got stuck on the century express for about 10 min ... my feet got really cold.   When we took a lunch break I took the boots off and my feet were quite painful for 10 minutes as they warmed up ... so much for the second layer.    I left  Mason at the Central Cafe ,  he was getting picked up by Amber heading to Wasaga for the weekend.  I headed home because I was working at 4pm.  

Cold Morning

Made it out shortly after 09:00 am today making fresh tracks on "Cruiser".   Parked at the top of the South Chair...less distance to the lift and way less wind.    Found some pretty good lines ,  fresh soft man made snow.  It was -13C but there was a huge wind making it feel more like the mid -20's.   Hands were a bit cold but I could move them around to get warm.   The feet were frozen and there wasn't
much I could do about it.  Next time its 2 layers of socks!  

Day 2 - Monday December 9, 2013

2nd trip of the 2013/2014 season today.   Arrived at 10:00 am ... fresh snow ,  -3C and a huge westerly wind at the top and nothing at the bottom.    The Village Way was open for the first time this season.  Did that run first but didn't find my groove.   Next up was Smart Alec ...found a good line and was doing bit fast wide turns.   The snow was getting clumped up and it was ice underneath with nuggets here and there that made for a ton of chatter.   There were still good lines to Ski...just had to find them.     The Silver Bullet lift was not moving as fast as usual ,  high winds were hampering the operation.  It was fun seeing peoples reaction cresting the hill and getting blasted.    Wore my new Columbia jacket...very pleased!      Last 30 minutes or so were sent on the Village way.   Took the trail across the top of the Mountain heading to the Century Express and started at the very top of the Village Way trail , stayed to the left in fresh snow making lots of new track cutting hard across the top of Graduate then back to the Village!     Heading back to the car it was blowing so hard if I had of set my poles down in the Parking lot they would have blown away!  

December 1,2013 - First Run 2013-2014 Ski Season

Robin, Noah and their friend Landon hit Blue Sunday morning.   I was up at 5:00 am ,  hot tub for an hour then took the boys Tim's for Breakfast.   The drive was a bit tenuous ,  slushy wet heavy snow on the road!  Made it just in time to make first tracks parking at the top of the hill.  Skied down picked up five 5X7's.  Usually we don't ski during the day on Sunday only during the Eve. They were advertising "Snow Go" prices ,  19.75.  It was a pleasant surprise when they knocked $10.00 off for 5X7 holders!   The snow was pretty good ,  stuck mostly to Smart Alec.   Visibility was an issue from time to time with wet snow or dropping through low hanging clouds.... yup goo at the top ,  socked in half way down and clear again at the bottom.   We only stuck around until noon as Robin had to work in the afternoon.  3 hours was enough for the first day!  

Last, last Run....IN MAY!!!!!!

April 25 Video

Patrick did his usual magic with a camera yesterday capturing what it was like to be at Blue yesterday.

New Record

Was out at Blue today setting a new record ... latest opening in history.    It was below freezing overnight and there was some fresh snow.   Conditions were totally mind blowing for the first couple of hours.  Geat fun on what may be my last "Snow" day this 2012-2013 season.

One more day!

Having the day off,  Sun and temperatures in the mid teens made for some perfect Spring Skiing today.




 Shorts were a must and I was very comfortable.  Going up the life I was enjoying the  sun and warm breeze on my bare legs it reminded me of  lounging by a Caribbean pool with a cool one in my hand.   It was one of those life is good moments.   Skied Memory Lane ,  Smarty Alec, Tranquility , Village Way and even went under the roped and Skied the L Hill ,  nicely groomed and just me...am I bad.   Odds are pretty good thats it for 2013 but I may get lucky and get one more in.

April Fools Day

 Spring 2013 has been good to the Ski season this year.   Today ,  April 1st 2013 Noah, Mason, Blake and myself headed to Blue for some "Spring Skiing".   Mother Nature was up to some April Fools antics with 40-50K Winds and a Temperature of -5C  with a wind chill that had to be in the mid minus teens.  I knew it was going to be winter like  and told the kids to dress for the coldest day and its a good thing they listened.   We parked at the top of Waterfall and were on the hill shortly after 09:00 am.    Groomers were hard at work overnight and I suspect when they parked it Mother Nature took over and dumped 5cm of fresh powdery snow over the corduroy trail.  All  the Runs were open and there were very few folks on the Hill so it was a real treat laying fresh tracks down all morning.    So it was  a great winter day ,  lots of snow and good times  doing non stop up and down Skiing.   Looking forward to some real spring Skiing but the way things are going it could occur in May!

Today's Video ...

Fall, Winter and now Spring

Skied in my 3rd Season of the 2012-2013 Ski Year...it was Springs first full day today!

Conditions were great , some of the best I have seen all year!   It was one of those days where the snow conditions were consistent and you could just more or less point your Skis and go.  A real treat was the constant snow throughout the morning yielding fresh tracks almost every run.   I was pure joy to be out today .  My pain in the butt that has been bothering me for the past few weeks was gone.     Going to try to get out again  tomorrow but it may not be possible.

February 2013 Blue Mountain Video Compilation

Family Day Video

Family Day, Feb 18, 2013

Had a fantastic Family Day at Blue.   Managed to get Ryan ,  Robin , Noah and his friend Blake to the Hill.

They opened things up at 07:30 . We tried to be there for the first run but were a bit late arriving at 08:00 am.   The conditions were fantastic ,  clear sky, -13C and the  amazingly perfect groomed trails.   For the first 2 hours there were almost no lift lines up down and a ton a fun.   Wait times really started to ramp up around 10:00 am.   At 10:30 we went in for lunch and were back out on the hill before 11:00 am.   Robin headed off to join some friends,  Blake and Noah headed to the Badlands and Ryan and I started on the L Hill .... the triple lift was running that day and the lines were pretty reasonable.       Plan was to all meet up at the Village at 2pm.    Ryan and I hit the Patio at Rusty's and enjoyed a pitcher of Canadian.   Robin, Blake and Noah meet us at we headed to Waterfall and the South end of the resort spending the last couple of hours of the day.    I was parked in the small lot next to the Beaver Tail Shack and when we left at 4:30 we ended the  day with some hot fresh fried doe.  

Too Much Fun

Robin and Mason joined me last night for an evening at Blue.    Had a blast in the Superpipe....

All of today's Videos

All of today's pictures ...

Wow what a day

Robin and I were back to Blue today   15cm of new snow ,  tons and tons made and all I can say is WOW!

We Skied the trail between Tranquility and Smart Alec and got up close with the Snow Cross .....

Really Quite Good

After temps in the low teens and heavy rain yesterday things were actually quite good at Blue today.   There were wet sections ,  icy sections and snowy sections ...just had to find the right line.   Although it was -10C  there was still allot of soft snow from yesterdays melt.     High winds and snow making made things rather chilly at time but with my 3 layers I managed quite well.      Robin was the only one that wanted to go with me today and it was nice to spend the day Skiing.  

Cold return to the hill

After a 2 week absense I returned to Blue today.  It was cold and windy -12C but compared to the recent rain and thaw it was welcome.   I expected more snow but they didn't get he dump we got here yesterday.   They were making snow everywhere and depending on where you Skied it was soft to hard to icy. Not quite the day I was looking for but I was glad to be on the hill.

Robin having fun at Blue

Last Night at Blue