This past week’s storm really helped with base building in Northern Vermont. But I was as much concerned with my own personal base building. I hit Mad River Glen in an effort to continue working towards mid-season form. With the trip just two weeks away, I decided top to bottom thin coverage at Mad River Glen would help.

Snow conditions at Mad River Glen are similar to other Northern Vermont areas: great for early January. Unfortunately, not so great for early February. But way better than last month when Mad River Glen struggled to open more than the Practice Slope for most of the month.

Mad River has all on map trails open with strong warnings against venturing into the woods. Conditions ranged from excellent packed powder to scraped and grassy. But the base on the trails is solid and one more storm will make the skiing stellar.

In the woods, the strong cautionary warning was not without merit. I ventured into the woods with mixed results. Untracked powder was alternatively dangerous or decadent depending on location and aspect. In one shot, I found a not yet buried tree stump. Cautious skiing yielded a minor bump but clearly suggested it was best to play elsewhere. And so I did and found a few mellow boot deep untracked turns. Not enough to warrant a powder day tag but more than what I had expected to find three days after a powder day.

The Sunnyside had better skiing, especially the more mellow blues such as Periwinkle and Snail. Trails off the Single often challenged even my inclinations towards thin coverage. But good skiing was still easy to find and I enjoyed my run down Lynx to Beaver. Even when turns were more challenging than enjoyable, I relished the work out.