riverc0il
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Dare I say... Powder Day? Two days after the storm? Pinch me!
After staying out and up late last night and feeling very tired at the 6 P.M. alarm, I ditched plans to ski either Jay or MRG (more likely MRG was the train of thought) in favor of a $15 half day at Burke costing me about a buck fitty per run. Sweet! Especially considering the quality of the runs...
Let's face it: the competition at Jay on a powder day is insane. You get so little chance at scoring top to bottom untracked despite the amazing quantity of terrain and tree shots at Jay. It baffles the mind how quick the powder goes by noon time the day after a storm. But two days after the storm? Even off the map shots are fully played out. Enter Burke two days after a storm at noon time...
Boot deep freshies with occasional other tracks thrown into the mix with knee deep wind blown drifts and deeper pockets were to be had on Burke's lesser known secrets. Most of my runs were of the map woods trails with plenty of untracked lines. Cover left something to be desired but no core shots were taken. A one or two foot dump will put some stuff that I have longed to ski at Burke within striking distance.
On the map, the open woods (and some of the closed woods it seemed, though I didn't duck) were fully played. But powder was still to be had occasionally with untracked shots on the sides of many natural snow trails. Burke advertised that Fox's Folly was opening today to bring their trail count to 100%. Let me just say this:
Nice try Burke. Opening the last 150 feet of Fox's Folly is cool, but most of Fox's Folly that parallels The Ledges was roped. And for good reason! Those rocks are not covered and the powder has only limited visibility of the hazards. But lets get something straight, Burke does not have 100% of their trails open and Fox's is currently 50% closed (the 50% that is the best part of the run, no less). I appreciate the lower section of Fox's being open though Burke's Lift Line reminds me of Magic's Red Line in that it is a narrow lift line chute with low chairs and supreme visibility for those who appreciate showing off some nice turns. A nice 8' drop into soft packed powder bumps with an audience always gets me pumped up. Hey, I am allowed a little vanity in life, I sure don't have it in any other part of my life.
Natural snow trails were mostly perfect soft packed powder (real packed powder mind you, not "machine groomed packed powder." Doug's Drop is beat up beyond belief and Boarder Line was pretty thin. Entrances and Exits to many natural snow trails and glades left something to be desired. Burke's Groomed terrain was perfect as always. Best groomed cruising terrain in New England as far as I am concerned. And I know that is a big statement, but I stand by it. I also stand by my experiences with Burke's customer service which I rate highest of any ski area I have been to.
Dropped the skis off at East Burke Sports on the way home for a tune up along with my warranty replacement 8000s which will be mounted up and ready to go for next weekend. Speaking of great customer service, East Burke Sports won me over, great service from this outfit and I give them my recommendation if you are in the area and need a purchase, rental, or repair.
Photo Gallery
Note photos 5, 6, and 7. I have said it before and I will say it again: Burke has some of the more challenging trees around. As a whole and on average, Burke's trees are much more challenging than Jay's glades which are rather open. The photos I pointed out above were taken in the woods that remind me of a slightly tighter version of bxxxx dxxxxx at Cannon. I stand by my Jay Peak pass for reliability of powder and open tree runs. But once Burke gets going, it easily rivals Jay for tree skiing, especially considering the lack of competition and crowds.
from_the_NEK can feel free to deck me after that report. :twisted:
/ Dare I say... Powder Day? Two days after the storm? Pinch me!
After staying out and up late last night and feeling very tired at the 6 P.M. alarm, I ditched plans to ski either Jay or MRG (more likely MRG was the train of thought) in favor of a $15 half day at Burke costing me about a buck fitty per run. Sweet! Especially considering the quality of the runs...
Let's face it: the competition at Jay on a powder day is insane. You get so little chance at scoring top to bottom untracked despite the amazing quantity of terrain and tree shots at Jay. It baffles the mind how quick the powder goes by noon time the day after a storm. But two days after the storm? Even off the map shots are fully played out. Enter Burke two days after a storm at noon time...
Boot deep freshies with occasional other tracks thrown into the mix with knee deep wind blown drifts and deeper pockets were to be had on Burke's lesser known secrets. Most of my runs were of the map woods trails with plenty of untracked lines. Cover left something to be desired but no core shots were taken. A one or two foot dump will put some stuff that I have longed to ski at Burke within striking distance.
On the map, the open woods (and some of the closed woods it seemed, though I didn't duck) were fully played. But powder was still to be had occasionally with untracked shots on the sides of many natural snow trails. Burke advertised that Fox's Folly was opening today to bring their trail count to 100%. Let me just say this:
Nice try Burke. Opening the last 150 feet of Fox's Folly is cool, but most of Fox's Folly that parallels The Ledges was roped. And for good reason! Those rocks are not covered and the powder has only limited visibility of the hazards. But lets get something straight, Burke does not have 100% of their trails open and Fox's is currently 50% closed (the 50% that is the best part of the run, no less). I appreciate the lower section of Fox's being open though
Burke's Lift Line reminds me of Magic's Red Line in that it is a narrow lift line chute with low chairs and supreme visibility for those who appreciate showing off some nice turns. A nice 8' drop into soft packed powder bumps with an audience always gets me pumped up. Hey, I am allowed a little vanity in life, I sure don't have it in any other part of my life.Natural snow trails were mostly perfect soft packed powder (real packed powder mind you, not "machine groomed packed powder." Doug's Drop is beat up beyond belief and Boarder Line was pretty thin. Entrances and Exits to many natural snow trails and glades left something to be desired. Burke's Groomed terrain was perfect as always. Best groomed cruising terrain in New England as far as I am concerned. And I know that is a big statement, but I stand by it. I also stand by my experiences with Burke's customer service which I rate highest of any ski area I have been to.
Dropped the skis off at East Burke Sports on the way home for a tune up along with my warranty replacement 8000s which will be mounted up and ready to go for next weekend. Speaking of great customer service, East Burke Sports won me over, great service from this outfit and I give them my recommendation if you are in the area and need a purchase, rental, or repair.
Photo Gallery
Note photos 5, 6, and 7. I have said it before and I will say it again: Burke has some of the more challenging trees around. As a whole and on average, Burke's trees are much more challenging than Jay's glades which are rather open. The photos I pointed out above were taken in the woods that remind me of a slightly tighter version of bxxxx dxxxxx at Cannon. I stand by my Jay Peak pass for reliability of powder and open tree runs. But once Burke gets going, it easily rivals Jay for tree skiing, especially considering the lack of competition and crowds.
from_the_NEK can feel free to deck me after that report. :twisted:
