Already four days behind last season’s epic start, I had resigned myself to no October turns for the first time in three seasons. After a massive snow making push by seven New England ski resorts this past weekend, I was chomping at the bit to boot up and make some turns. Attitash posted some impressive pictures and video of their snow making efforts using their new line up of SMI Polecat Fan Guns. Unfortunately, the man made white gold fell on unfrozen ground which quickly melted out the snow and any chance for top to bottom turns.
On this day before my twenty-ninth birthday, I find myself one year older but no less the wiser when it comes to pursuing skiing adventures and the pursuit of turns the hard way. After jetting out of work an hour early, I pointed my car north and drove up through Franconia Notch and the down through Crawford Notch. Driving past Bretton Woods en route to Attitash, I was dumb founded by the lack of snow. While I figured Bretton Woods used the snow making more for publicity than anything substantial, I held out hope that Attitash would have the real deal. Stepping out of my car and gazing upon Roland’s Run was disheartening but I was not about to let any amount of grass between snow patches get in the way of my first turns of the season!
Ten minutes later, I had changed out of loafers and slacks and into goretex and vibram. Due to the warmth, the fleece and jacket I had packed would not be needed. Neither would my skins as I began booting up in my G-Rides. I ascended Roland’s Run and in short order was working my way up to the Illusion headwall which was too rocky to bother with. Within visual range of the high speed quad unload station, I dropped pack and got ready to link some turns (hopefully). The view of Mount Washington and the peaks surrounding the Southern Presidentials was splendid and I savoured the moment before beginning a run that should call into question my sanity.
Snow depth ranged from 0-2″ with plenty of geological and floral treats to avoid. This adventure certainly brings the definition of “thin cover” to an entirely different plane of existence. Sliding surface consisted of broken patches of snow approximately 20-30 feet long by 30-40 feet wide. Many other smaller patches were bypassed or side slipped. Generally, I side slipped many of the grass interludes with exception of a hundred vertical feet near the middle of the run and the last hundred vertical feet. I successfully managed to link a half dozen turns on one patch though three to four turns per patch was closer to the average. One particularly well executed turn gave me a taste of the rush that will be had later this season on many occasions. Definitely worth the trip and it sure beat staying at work for the full shift.
