December 12 Blue Video

Day 2---Perfect

 Headed out with Noah and Blake Friday Dec 12 making first run at 11ish then shutting down the Hill at 4:30.    The snow reports said that there was 25cm of new snow and we were not dissapointed.  Mother Nature cooperated too with little breeze,  temps around freezing and glorious Sun..lots of Sun.   After a couple of Runs with Bake and Noah I headed off on my own.   The Southern Chair and my favorite Run "Cruiser" were open for the first time this season.    Took a break around 1 and had a pint in the Sun at Rustys.   Didn't even need a coat sitting out in the Sun.    The day was allot like an early April outing ... great snow ,  great temp glorious Sun.   It felt like we were getting it all in before the season ended.  After Rustys I met up with Mark and Trevor.   Hung out with them for a couple of hours.    Ended the day where I started in Happy Valley...caught the last chair up!  Took a bunch of video and will put something together in the mean time here are some stills ...

Day 1...simply awesome!

I didn't plan on Skiing today but when I looked at the Collingwood Weather and it said heavy snow fall I just couldn't help myself!   The normal 40 minute drive took and hour.  Tried to park at the top but the lot was drifted in so I tobogganed the car to the bottom of the hill parking at the Hotel Parking Lot.  Got stuck parking but I knew it would be hard to get a push later so off I went....


Ravena

After picking up my pass I did 2 runs in Happy Valley ...  had a bit of a tough go of it adjusting to nearly a foot of snow!!!!     After I got my legs under me I headed down Legacy heading down The Village way making a dive for the Silver Bullet.   Legacy had allot of icy brown snow from some very aggressive base building efforts.   I have never seen so much snow on Smart Alex it was skied enough that giant moguls of powder were forming and there were some pretty good lines to follow.   Found some untouched powder on the South side of Tranquility and finally found my powered legs.  After an uneventful trip down Memory Lane I had my best Pow Run of the day down Rinus Run finding a large swath of untouched powder.
L Hill was sooooo tempting but I didn't as it was taped off....

When I was all done I found a couple of young fellow to push me out .... no problem as expected.   Returned the favor helping them out ... just about everyone was stuck.  Followed a plow all the way from the Village back to Ravena.  Didn't mind cause it sure made the drive allot easier!



See the plow

It may be September but ....

Its never to early to practice....




Or Wax.....

Playing Hookie

Took my son Noah and his buddy Blake to Blue today.  It was a school day but perfect weather ,  perfect conditions and the fact that I had the day off was a "Must Do Blue Day" .

We started when they turned the lifts on a 09:00.   It was corduroy  trail time,  machine groomed powder at its best.  Headed to North and spent the first couple of hours there before eating a little Tranquility before lunch.   Sun came out and the temps were near freezing ,  very comfortable.  Snow hung in there until about 1pm then it got a little slow and clumpy ...no more carefree bombing.     Called it a day a 3pm ,   exhausted after 5.5 hours on the Hill.

Chasing Groomers - Last Night

This Eve marked the end of the 2013/2014 night Skiing at Blue.  Arrived good and early making first Run at 4:30 pm.    Chased the Groomers in search of the "Corduroy Trail".  First Cruiser then teh Village way and finished with  Tranquility!     Met up with Patrick and gang.  Didn't hang in there too long as I was starting to freeze,  It was a balmy -17C with little wind.  When the Sun was up it was manageable but when the shadows took over so did Mr Frost.  After spending just shy of 3 hours on the slopes I pulled the plug and headed home.  

Snow Media Contest Entry

Played a small role in this video. Did some of the camera work and a bunch was shot in my yard. All the editing credit goes to Patrick Rose.

Out with Ryan

Great night at Blue with Ryan and Josh.  Met up with Patrick and his friend Ron and his kids.  Had a great meal at Wild Wings then closed out the night on Crusier.   Good fun , great weather , perfect conditions but the priceless part was seeing Patrick complete a 16 hour day on the slopes.     Here is a picture of the start of his day ...I share this because its probably one of the absolute best pictures I have ever seen....

Busier Blue

Hit the Hill with Noah and Blake last night.   We made it for the 4:30 start of Night Skiing.    It was clear and sunny just below freezing with a rather gusty West Wind.    It as really pleasant skiing for the first 2 hours in daylight.   I was expecting it to be really icy but it wasn't all that bad ,   machine groomed granular.   Closed down the Hill waiting at the base of the Orchard life .... Noah and Blake made the last ride up at 9:58 pm.   They are so poky goofing off they didn't come off the Hill until 10:15pm.    Great night ...felt a bit tired towards the end but that probably had something to do with the 50k Run I did yesterday.

Shot some video as the day changed to night.   Will be putting it together soon,  here is a screen cap....

Back at Blue

Didnt get out for just a little over 2 weeks so it was really pleasant to get back on the hill last night.   Mason headed out with me hitting the slopes around 6pm skiing until 9pm.  We were treated to some pretty awesome conditions again ,  machine groomed powder ,  not much ice ,  not too many on the hill and best of all it was only just a little below freezing.   Highlight of the night was Mason's request to do a double black diamond.   Not too many runs at Blue have this designation and the only one that came to mind was "Calamity" ,  appropriately named.   Mason sat on the edge tightening his snow board bindings and before he was finished he was headed down the hill on his but sliding  and picking up speed all the way to the bottom.... very funny.   In the winter time we refer to this hill as a double black diamond ,  in the summer we call it a cliff.  

Love Blue

Loved Blue,  and this video... will be on the slopes tonight!

Sat/Sun

Two eves on the Hill with Noah and Blake this weekend.    The boys went on Friday too and in spite of all that time I still had to pull them off the Hill at 9:30 pm tonight.  

Hand and Feet then Knees and ...

Holly cold on the Hill last night.  Heading across Beaver valley enroute to Blue it dipped as low as -24C and it was breezy.   Much to our delight when we arrived at the top of the Southern Chair it was a balmy -20C and snowing heavily.   I love it when the only place its snowing is on the Ski Hill!     Had Noah and Blake the 13 year olds with me again.  These two are hard core eat , breath sleep boarding!   Now we started out heading to the Terrain Park.   I headed that way with Frozen Fingers from fumbling around getting ready at the car!   Wiggled the hands all the way up the lift and things improved greatly and was reasonable comfortable.   Did a half dozen runs,   Happy Valley ,  Calamity  then my toes were just too cold so I headed to the Terrain Parks and told the boys to come in  for dinner!   I had two pairs of socks on ,  the Injinjii Toes socks with Marks Work Warehouse wool thermal!   The Toes were numb and took a good 10-15 minutes to warm up.  Having the toes separated wasn't very bright.  I took off the Toe Socks and went to the single thermal sock and was much better … will not do toe socks again ,  that’s for sure.   After dinner the boys headed to the Orchard and I followed.   Did a few runs down Cruiser ,  loved it.  The few cm of fresh snow was on top of machine groomed powder and it was about as good as it gets ,  95% anyway just as good as before our January Thaw.    Meet up with the boys around 8:30 at the Orchard.    Did one run down Butternut which was fantastic.  I was comfortable going down the hills but the ride up was brutally cold.   Now my Knees felt like someone was beating on them with a meat tenderizer…YIKEs!  So I headed down the Ski out taking a second warming break in the Southern Lodge.   After consoling myself with a Creemore Logger I headed back up the Southern Chair and called it a night.    At 09:30 pm I drove down the Hill to the base of the Orchard lift and waited for Blake and Noah to close down the hill at 10:00 pm.  

It was a pretty amazing night ,  no one on the hill.   When I headed to the Orchard I was the only one on Waterfall the entire way …I owned the Hill.   I wished I could handle the extreme cold like the boys ..must be an age thing.  

Just for the record I was wearing at the start ….

Helmet over  Nylon Hoody ( attached to coat ) over Balaclava over Running Compression Cap over Buff that  covered neck….yup  5 things on head!!!!  I had to adjust my Helmet so it would fit.     I had two long sleeve Mizuno Compression Shorts with a Columbia Sweat Shirt topped with my very warm Columbia 3 in 1!    Down below was my Sugoi Running Tights topped with my  new Ski Pants and of course the Toe Socks under the Wool Socks.  

No plans to head out this weekend or early next week.  A week from today all the Kids are off so I booked the day off to head to the Hill.  Told Noah and Blake next week its Fri/Sat/Sun ,  they were very pleased!   

Impromptu Eve

Working days this week with the Frosty 6 Hour Ultra looming on Saturday.  Good week to rest up or so I thought.   Noah called me at work at 3:40pm " Ron can we go to Blue tonight"...how could I sat no.   Ran a couple of errands on the way home.   Made dinner for the Boys,  took care of the Dog'd ,  Fire,   post dinner clean up then off to Blue arriving at 6:30 pm.    After the "January Thaw" I expected Ice and wasn't dissapointed.... it sport of sucked.   Headed from the Orchard to Happy Valley in search of the "Corduroy Trail" but came up blank heading back to the Orchard.    Of all the areas I found the Orchard to have the best conditions.     Found my grove one Butternut.   The trail is pretty flat for the first 1/2K but the "machine groomed granular made for some good speed.   Just where Butternut deviates from the Chair there is a sudden steep drop.   Hitting this would be easy to get air but I managed to keep it on the ground enjoying a brief moment of weightlessness every time I dropped in.   The remainder to the drop was fast fast fast ,  hard but not too ice.  I enjoyed carving hard pilling a G or 2 on the way back to the lift.    I was so dialed in I pushed back my departure time from the planned 08:30 pm until 09:30 .... could have gone longer but I need some sleep too!

Repeat but warmer

Hit the slopes again with Noah and Blake again.  Temps near freezing or a little above made for a great night.  First time in a long time that I wasnt the least bit cold!   Shut down the Southern Comfort Chair skiing "Cruiser" for the last hour of the night.  Yup it was that good!  

Did a little video Patrick invites one and all to Blue ...

Fun Night

Temps moderated a bit ,  now around -13C.   Hit the hill with Blake and Noah and met up with Lisa and Patrick.    Boys had a blast in the Orchard ...trails ,  trails and more trails.    Shut it down near closing!   Returning again this eve with Blake and Noah!

Cold Night

Headed to Blue again last night.  -17C made for a rather chilly eve however the conditions more then made up for the bitter cold.  I had Noah and his friend Blake with me.    Intended on starting at 4:30 but we didn't arrive until 5:00 pm.      Parked at the top of Southern Comfort and headed directly to the Orchard.  With  the exception of heading to the South Lodge for dinner the boys spent all there time exploring the Orchard terrain.   The cold must have scared everyone off because there were no line ups and at times we were the only ones on the Hill.  I grabbed the Car around 9pm and headed down top the parking lot at the Orchard lift and waited for the boys to close down the Hill.   The finished up at 9:45 pm spending more then 4 hours boarding ...they weren't the least bit cold ....I was!  

New Years Day 2014

Headed to Blue with Mason and his Girlfriend Nicole yesterday.   We arrived at 4:15 just enough

time to make the first run at the start of night Skiing ... 4:30 pm.   Nicole has only boarded once before so we suited her up with Noahs old gear and got her a "beginner" lift ticket.    She and Mason tuck to the Carpet by South Lodge then hit Big Baby.  The story of the night was by far the cold.  It was -17C with ice fog when we arrived.   I was pretty comfortable but the feet were a bit cold after 90 minutes on the Hill.   Took  break for dinner and met Robin in the South Lodge.     I pretty much spent the entire night at the Orchard.  It was completely open for night Skiing so I explored.   The frigid weather must have kept the crowds away because it was another night of Up/Down repeat repeat repeat ...sweet!