Anyone considering attending the Eastern Tune Up?
November 4, 2004
Looks like a good time at a good price. Anyone ever attended one of EpicSki's events before? Anyone know the approximate drive time to Stowe from Annapolis? Heres a link if you have no idea what Im talking about...
http://forums.epicski.com/showthread.php?t=18786
Hey pig. I went to the Eastern Tune Up last year at Stowe. Considering it was the first year for the event it was amazingly organized. On the plus side, the instruction I received was hands down and by far the best instruction I ever received. Also, even though I didn't know anyone else at the event, it was a very social and welcoming crowd. I thought the weekend was a huge bargain.
The potential downside is simply the weather. Stowe was having a great early season last year and then a few days before the event, it warmed up and rained a ton. By the weekend when the event started, the temperatures had cooled back down, but the conditions were pretty rough. Still good, but plenty of ice, plenty of rocks and plenty of snow snakes. I would rent skis if you go rather than ruin your own bases. Of course, Sunday night when the ETU ended, they got about two feet of snow. Timing is everything.
After much debate, I don't think I'm going this year, but it was a close call. I tried to talk a few friends into going from the area, but no one else could make it. If I was assured that the conditions would be pretty good, I would go again, but that's a long way to go for possible marginal skiing, even if the instruction is the best. Feel free to ask any other questions. I flew last year so don't know the drive time from Annap. If you could hook up with someone for the ride from Burlington Airport, Independence Air has some pretty cheap fares from DC. Burlington is only about 40 minutes from Stowe.
powpig, take a look at the Stowe, Vt thread.
Did I read that correctly, you're inviting all DCski readers attending ETU to a hot tub party?
Unfortunately the hot tub at my 15 room Stowe chalet is temporarily out of comission, as is the Chalet. Sometimes its nice to stay with the common folk so Ill be at the $49/ night hotel. Ill fill up the tub with some hot water and everyone is invited over for Natty Boh and cheeze puffs!!!
Did you go solo last year or did you take some friends? Didnt even really consider the VT weather that early, or the associated conditions. Guess its something to consider before I start planning. Independance Air looks like the deal though, thanks for the heads up on that one!
Yes, I went solo last year. Back to the weather thing, if the event was three days earlier or three days later last year it would have been spectacular conditions. Also, the mountain was still about half open so the skiing wasn't poor by any stretch, it was just rough. At one point, I came flying over a ridge and the downside of the ridge was grass. I was launched about 20 feet forward as my skis stuck but my momentum kept my body going. (I'm serious about recommending rental skis, though. I had a fair amount of base repair needed after the trip and I was not alone.)
What was great about the trip is that while you were in a group of about 6 skiers, the instructor was great and all of the members in the group had a serious dedication to skiing. It made for a great dynamic.
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everyone is invited over for Natty Boh and cheeze puffs!!!
Powderpig, too bad we can't really, no Natty Boh anymore. If you're willing to substitute popcorn for puffs, we can impress them with Old Bay?
I attended last year. It's an opportunity to ski for two days with some of the very best instructors in the U.S. and at a price that is very reasonable. Just don't think you can get this kind of instruction anywhere else at the price. They basically have groups at all levels and I think there's lots of great folks involved -- both as instructors and participants. We are planning to attend again, though the drive is considerably shorter. The conditions last year were pretty rugged. They had a big snow a few days before the event and then very heavy rain. There was thin cover in places and some pretty icy (they don't have ice at Stowe) conditions. Who know what conditions will be like this year, so if you're looking for conditions, it's a crap shoot. If you want outstanding instruction, I'd highly recommend.
Hey skihound, who was your instructor up there?
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Hey skihound, who was your instructor up there?
Kristi Robertson. My wife and I stated skiing year before last and I'm an old fart so we were in the lowest level group. We we're somewhat leary about attending given our skill level but we were assured they wanted skiers of all abilities. We thought Kristi was absolutely outstanding, but I didn't hear anything but great comments about all the instructors.
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Hey skihound, who was your instructor up there?
Kristi Robertson. My wife and I stated skiing year before last and I'm an old fart so we were in the lowest level group. ...
Whoa! I didn't realize that she was on the faculty.
For those that don't know her, Kristi is a PSIA-E Examiner, I believe is chair of the PSIA-E ed. committee, and an all around great gal. As I recall, she might have been just getting over some back problems around then.
Where else but at an EpicSki event would you find an Examiner and PSIA muckety-muck teaching intermediates?
Tom / PM
Yes, we thought Kristi was an absolutely terrific instructor. She was also great fun to ski with and seemed like she'd be a great person away from the slopes as well. She won't be at this year's ETU but they have a great lineup of instructors. Our skiing improved greatly during the two days. Unfortunately I got hurt shortly after and couldn't ski again till the very end of the year. Lost the mileage needed to reinforce the skills. We talked about trying to go to the Epic Ski Acadamy at Big Sky, just couldn't arrange it with our work schedules. Think the quality of instruction and value of the Epic events is about as good as it gets.
I believe my old friend Doug Stewart is on the list of instructors. He's an Eastern Demo team member and one hell of a great guy. I knew him when he was a junior at Liberty and we got "registered" (now L1) together.
