Jerry A. wrote:

> > [snip ...]
>
> O.K. You have piqued (sp?) my curiosity. What kind of maintenance and/or
> base could one expect around, lets say, May 11th of this year? Would it
> probably be just Superstar, or perhaps skylark and a couple of others.

This year, probably a couple of others. In the past at the Big K, Superstar
has had as much as 35 feet of snow and as little as 20. No barespots to
speak of and walking to and from the lift doesn't start until June.

>
> Also, would one have to de-ski and re-ski at the bottom and top
> of the quad, respectively? Or is K-mart able to keep a slush carpet
> available at the bottom and top?
>
> When does K-mart stop grooming the Superstar trail? Have they > > already stopped grooming it to conserve base?

This one I'm not sure of. Two years ago on the night before the Broken Rib
Tour (actually the year it got named this) I had a nightmare that they
groomed it flat! But as we found out, I needn't-have-worried.

I'll try to post reports of past trips for conditions and such.

Swartzie^2
From VUN-der-ski Wed Apr 24 16:53:13 1996
Received: from moose.uvm.edu (moose.uvm.edu [132.198.101.60]) by elk.uvm.edu (8.7.3/8.7.3) with ESMTP id QAA153814 for <[log in to unmask]>; Wed, 24 Apr 1996 16:53:13 -0400
Received: (from mswartz@localhost) by moose.uvm.edu (8.7.5/8.7.3) id QAA98712; Wed, 24 Apr 1996 16:53:13 -0400
Date: Wed, 24 Apr 1996 16:53:12 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Wunderski <VUN-der-ski>" <[log in to unmask]>
To: Ski-Vt <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Broken Rib Tour/Big K Sunday (fwd)
Message-ID: <[log in to unmask]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII




This is a report of last year's trip, if you're not interested, hit delete!


____________________________________________

A bit long...

A Great Day at The Big K,

Spent most of saturday night in the lab and returned home at about 5:30 AM.
Needless to say I didn't get a really early start to head on down for
some mogul skiing !

Spoke with Rob and Sue early saturday and they said that they would
commandeer some burgers and the like at Costco and head down early to set
up camp. Rob also had a bit of a late night in the lab so I kept my
fingers crossed that we would find a spot.

7:30-ish, phone rings and it's Bob "bitchin'" Bennett from his Audi-phone
somewhere in Jersey. Seems he used a secure channel and informed me that
he had bugged out of the Mother's Day Hoopla in Pennsyl-tuckey and was
headed for the big K. Pam was up and about getting things prepared while
I coped a couple more Z's.

9:00 on the road. Looking for propane actaully, but decided that the
ghrill probably had enough. Pam and I borrowed her brothers full size
Che-by Pick-em-up truck and had it loaded with the ghrill, coolers and
ski paraphenalia.

Arrived at the Big K appproximately 10:15. Found the before-mentioned Bob,
Rob and Sue and discovered they had indeed had staked out a
claim next to the lift. Juggled some cars,
backed in the Scottsdale, and suited up. Partway into rigging, ShawShank
(Token-boarder) appears out of the white and greets us. Shaw beat us all
to the mountain by sleeping out atop Superstar Saturday night and getting
in a near-moonlight run with some incredible star gazing to boot. What
dedication !

We noticed that the Jayspinner was absent and lingered a bit waiting to
see if he would show. Ah, yee of little faith. On the horizon appears
his trusty Italian steed and we're an official group. Sue's Bros show
from CT and off we go.

Three trails open.

First run, what are my legs doing?

Summary of day:

Superstar
Superstar
Superstar
Superstar
Superstar
Superstar
Superstar
Superstar
Superstar
Jump-hike-jump-hike-jump-hike
Burgers/beer/diet Coke
Barter for beer, Burger-give-aways that win us friends, (like 30 of 'em)
Superstar (beautiful last run with 5 people on the hill and a patroler.)
Lift Closed.
50 strong in the parking lot...
Burgers/Beer/Tequila with old and new found friends and the drive home.
(Designated driving type stuff of course organized and in order).
Unpack / back in the lab


Highlights:

Jay Spin with Ca. 30 heli's total throughout the Day. What a mad-man!
Donna W. (Olympic Fame) spoted and worshiped as she eats up the bumps with
incredible ease. (we are not worthy) Great to watch.
Bob Bennett eats up the bumps as he adjusts back to his "ski-legs"
Sue pulls off a "new" jump in her arsenal: A nice rendition of a
backscratcher.
Rob shows us what he picked up while out west.
Watch some bump-busting maniacs eat up the hill and pop outrageous Air
off Jay-spin's before-mentioned Phat Jump at the bottom of the hill.
Filmed in Panavision and technicolor
Tried out the Swiss Bob after being told that I had brought my sled, and
therfore had to do it...
Observed someone else break a pair of Dynastar S9's in the same spot that
I had snapped mine (3 times). Pilot error seems to be an
unacceptable reason...
Second year of Sailing AND skiing in a single weekend...and in Vermont !

Thanks to all that helped and attended. I live for gathering with my
friends and enjoyed everyone's company. Six years running, and the
spring pilgrimmage lives on.

Noticed the absence of my long time ski buds Whit, Timmy (powderhound)
and the gang but we turned some for everyone. Roz-man had another
engagement as well, hope to turn 'em again soon with the whole gang.

***Long live the Broken Rib Tour!***



-swartz (Wunderski <Vun-dar-ski>)

*****************************************************************************
Matt Swartz e-mail: [log in to unmask]
Analytical Chemist www: http://www.uvm.edu/~mswartz
UVM Chemistry Department
******************************************************************************
Remember: "If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the
                                 precipitate !"
******************************************************************************


From VUN-der-ski Wed Apr 24 17:02:35 1996
Received: from moose.uvm.edu (moose.uvm.edu [132.198.101.60]) by elk.uvm.edu (8.7.3/8.7.3) with ESMTP id RAA43560 for <[log in to unmask]>; Wed, 24 Apr 1996 17:02:34 -0400
Received: (from mswartz@localhost) by moose.uvm.edu (8.7.5/8.7.3) id RAA41272; Wed, 24 Apr 1996 17:02:34 -0400
Date: Wed, 24 Apr 1996 17:02:34 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Wunderski <VUN-der-ski>" <[log in to unmask]>
To: Ski-Vt <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Past trips to the Big K
Message-ID: <[log in to unmask]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII



This is the trip from a couple of years ago, The one that gave it the name.
again, hit delete if you're ot interested


_____________________________
>From [log in to unmask] Wed May 18 18:18:01 1994
Date: Mon, 16 May 1994 12:23:29 -0400
From: Powder Hound <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Bad Ass Skiing at the Big K

Well folks...here goes...

The Missing Tooth World Tour left Burlington at approx. 5:45 AM
on Sat heading for the Big K...Beautiful start to an amazing (and
scary...you'll hear in a minute) day of skiing...highlight of the morning
drive was cresting the last hill on 89 just before exit 3...and seeing
the coolest white ribbon of snow streaking down from the top of the
mountain...is that Skye Peak???who cares it was cool...driving up the
mountain road gave us a gasp as we saw perhaps the biggest washboard in
the world (i.e. Superstar)...

Windy as hell as we unpacked gear at the base of the quad and got
the grill out and the McDonalds flag flying...a walk up to approx. the
4th or 5th pilon and then a tentative first run (well it wasn't a real
run but it was tentative) to check conditions...one word...HARD...wow couldn't
believe it but the cold from night before was beneficial in that it
prevented the end of the day from being runs in soup...so we waited...

Soon thereafter, BB showed and our group was now three (BB, JWM
and me Powderhound)...we started to get a tan when the rest of the group
showed up to the delight of us all...Pete, Angela, Becky, Rob (aka Ski
Dog), Ali, Goff, Wunderski (we're all with ya buddy) Killer Miller with the
camcorder, Allan (expert in the field...
doesn't matter, take your pick...aka Cliff Claven), Santa Claus Hayes and
Mrs Claus, Clark "Crazy Man in the steeps, the bumps or the brook" Boynton,
Wendita, and of course Abby the real Ski Dog. We were still waiting on
Steph, Colin and Marcel, cause they rolled in from Montreal as we were
leaving Burlington...

So we started up the hill to get in some bumps...still pretty
hard packed...did about three runs and then took a break to keep the legs
for the end of the day...it had to soften up...temp probably in the 60's
by 11 AM. Still looking for J Spin's party...said he'd be looking for
us...where are ya J???
The three lost sheep arrived at approx. 11:30 and we had the 20
people secured...we started up the hill and this was when J Spin finally
hooked up with us...he had Dave (sorry about that ski buddy...no one
wants to hear the sound i heard...hey ya still looked good on the
rentals), James the crazy man and Chris in tow so now the group was up to
24...not bad i have to admit...

This was actually a really good thing because it made Wunderski's
escort down the last part of Superstar that much more impressive...my
best ski partner had to be stretchered down by the Killington Ski
Patrol...These guys are GOOD...if you're gonna get hurt do it at
Killington...kudos to you guys...anyway, the Wunder man had a cracked rib
and torn cartilage...since i know him pretty well i'll tell ya that's
about what it takes to keep him off his feet...otherwise he would have
skiied it off...no more this year but you guys better keep your eyes open
next fall when the Big K reopens and you see a guy in an anorak and
sunglasses (need new ones dude) and an Alta hat bombing down the
Superstar at light speed...that'll be Wunderski...hey buddy get better
soon so i can give you a lesson on the proper way to fall...

All the rest of the runs for that day were dedicated to the
fallen skiier in all of us...there were some pretty impressive highlight
to come...a line of about 15 crazed skiiers side by side (i say crazy
cause Goff was one of em) coming down the flat middle section at top
speed...and yelling all the while...then getting to the bottom to watch
the craziest of all...Stephane perform his trademark BACK-FLIP...at the
bottom...yep, a back flip, which he then followed up with a FRONT-
FLIP...i have been skiing a few times and this freaked me out...i think
i can safely say that everyone from our group was pretty amazed...the kid
is out there...BTW he had two hairline fractures in his foot as well...he
said it was a little sore at the end of the day...yeah right...Oh
yes...pooh-pooh to the crowd on the deck at the Big K...i guess they have
seen lots of back and front flips before...

A few of us got some pretty good air on this jump at the
bottom...Dave, J Spin, Clarkie and JWM got the award for the most
graceful landing...

Highlight of the drive home had to be seeing Elvis...that's right
the King is alive and well and playing outside Peppers on Shelburne
road...it's true...got it on tape....

well i'm spent...I am prayin to the Ibuprofen gods these
next few days until i'm upgraded from invalid status...rock and
roll...ski to live, live to ski...

Wunderski will be back...count on it...

Powderhound