Sunday River ME – Oct 26, 2013 – Hunt for October

Sunday River ME – October 26, 2013 – Hunt for White October!!!

Day One and Month 97 is in the books and posted on the blog.

No West Virginia this year.
No Whiteface Tool Road.
A return to Maine Octo-turns

Day trip from Montreal with another ski forum addict.

A bit long to sort out all the non-related ski pictures.

Opening Day at Sunday River:

October Rituals!!!

For kids: its Halloween, dressing up and candy.
For some: Its spectacular foliage, picking up the leaves and getting ready for Winter.
For hunters: its game time for Moose.

Skiers also have their own rituals :

- Ski porn and ski shows.
- First flakes and first snow.
- Race to see which ski area will be the first to spin lifts in the country (A-Basin or Loveland) and in the East (Killington or Sunday River).
- Hunt for Snow enough to ski on.
- And number 97 for a Mad Skier!!!

Hunt for White October!!! At least a bit of October white to turn on !!!

October 2013 was no different: After a warm first half of the month in Eastern North America, diehard skiers were looking at the first sign of slidable snow (natural or fake). Things got back to normal with some seasonable temperature in the second half of the month. The first real snowmaking window opened on Tuesday with Killington and Sunday River turning on the guns for a October opening.


Click link to read on and see more pictures


These aren't snow guns?


This ain't ski porn?


Snow...


Skiing by MadPat


Snowboarding by MTL_Ripper

More words and more pictures in TR.

97 months ....   Mad????

I'd say committed.  

Pat, I can't even begin to comprehend your achievement and dedication.... Total shock and awe.

TD

Telemark Dave wrote

97 months ....   Mad????

I'd say committed.  

Pat, I can't even begin to comprehend your achievement and dedication.... Total shock and awe.

TD

Not sure how to respond? Thanks ?  I know a few people think I should be locked up. Skiing at least once a month is the perfect to eliminate skiing withdrawal syndrome ... also pretty good to fight hay fever also, just a bit more expensive.

Seriously, the initial goal was to ski at less once every-month in one year. Then I had the opportunity to get October again and bridge into next season. The rest is history.

In reality, you generally need only one plane ticket a season to bridge August and September months which are non Eastern snow months. Most years, you can find snow in early July at Tuckerman Ravine.

I meant it as a compliment of the highest kind... Being able to balance family, work, and skiing to the extent that you do is worthy of respect.  

TD

Telemark Dave wrote

I meant it as a compliment of the highest kind... Being able to balance family, work, and skiing to the extent that you do is worthy of respect.

The space for work was (by choice) and is (maybe not choice anymore) being less and less time. I have a great family to let me pursuit my dream... work hasn't been so great, not sure what is in store for that. That is all that I'll put in a public forum.

MadPatSki wrote

I know a few people think I should be locked up.

I thought that we had agreed on the much less offensive: "the dog wagging the tail"

Jamesdeluxe wrote

MadPatSki wrote

I know a few people think I should be locked up.

I thought that we had agreed on the much less offensive: "the dog wagging the tail"

So how has your ski season been so far James?

The blog readers are probably the top 10% of committed skiers.  From that survey we did last year I think the average was around 25 days but many of us ski much more.  We are very committed.  Pat takes commitment to the 99.9 percentile.

Coach Z wrote

The blog readers are probably the top 10% of committed skiers.  From that survey we did last year I think the average was around 25 days but many of us ski much more.  We are very committed.  Pat takes commitment to the 99.9 percentile.

I mentioned on another ski forum a few years back to someone that I knew that talked about the commitment to skiing once a month, etc. I told him that I regarded his uprooting everything to move out West for one season a bigger commitment. My good friend Lucky Luke is going to be spending his 2nd winter out in Terrace BC. He skied over 100 days last season, 80 of them in the backcountry. He started going to Terrace in 2008. It started as 2 wks, then it move to 1 month.

It's all at a different level of course. My commitment is to find snow once a month and ski it. I need to take it to the next level. Some people did this in their 20s prior to finding a "real" job...I'm just very late or upside down. After a "real" job, I might be a bit more irresponsible (skiing-work wise).