Does the above picture look familiar? It is one of my favorite spots on the mountain, within bounds no less. The above photo was captured during my second lap through this area. The first lap was mostly untracked and there was no slowing down to stop for pictures.
But I am getting ahead of myself. East winds are no good for Mad River Glen so it was decision time when I arrived. I delayed purchasing a ticket but also did not return to my car for my touring gear. The winds were forecast to shift and soon they did. After an hour delay, it was game on and line up for first run was the longest line of the day.
The Single offered the only option and I was quite a ways behind due to delaying my ticket purchase. Snow depths were variable depending on wind and aspect but certainly deepest in the trees. On the trails, the snow fell on top of thin coverage. But unlike this past weekend, the new snow was dense and packed down quite well (not to mention more plentiful at almost a foot by the end of day). Mad River Glen is finally positioned to continue operations through Shareholders Day in April.
I quickly identified off map trees as having the best snow due to wind shelter. So I hit them aggressively including two drops into one of my favorite lines on the mountain. The Double soon opened and The Single line was abandoned for the second powder day line up. However, the Sunnyside was considerably wind blasted, even in the trees. I found the best snow from the Double at (surprise, surprise) the Birdland complex. Blasting through untracked powder on Loon never gets old and it grows on me everytime I get to sample such conditions.
After a few halfhearted efforts on the Double, I went back over to the Single for more trees. My stamina failed me and I knew I was approaching last run and perhaps was well beyond that point. My skiing this season has been hampered by lack of physical fitness and general poor health. And today I took a serious blow to my ego having to pack it in as the powder started to dump well before the closing bell. But best to keep some energy in reserve for tomorrow than wear myself out or worse.
2 thoughts on “Mad River Glen: Further Down the Rabbit Hole”
What a line, what a place! I doubt you’ll be at work today, maybe not tomorrow. Now you’ve got me salivating. Wish it wasn’t so far. I can just feel the silence in the photos, as you cruise along! Too bad Birdland was windblown. I thought you were going to tell me you went into the woods over there.
Things are already starting to melt down here in the flat lands. I hope the snowpack entices the areas to stay open a wee bit longer!
Skied Cannon today. Mad River isn’t exactly close from me either at 2.5 hours. A little closer than from you, though. Most of the Sunnyside had received a wind buff but it was most severe on the steeper pitches on the upper portions, Birdland was actually dreamy and creamy, no windbuff there.
Snow pack still isn’t where it normally would be in an average year. We’ve had three really nasty blow torch events this winter, two in January and one in March. While it is better than last year by far, I still wouldn’t consider the snowpack deep. At Cannon today, the foot of fresh was great but it fell over almost bare ground at Mittersill. Mansfield Stake graph still shows below average where it has been almost consistently since December.