After closing up shop last week due to a horrible melting period and rain storm followed by a rapid freeze, Mad River Glen fired up the Single again earlier this week to the delight of skiers everywhere. At least those skiers that still think it is ski season. The foot of fresh that Mad River Glen received last week was wonderful for the Upper sections of the mountain but only succeeded in covering up potential obstacles down low. After a lot of wind blown snow and grooming, Mad River Glen was able to open up again despite thin cover conditions dominating the lower mountain.
Having taken the previous day off to rest and recuperate for four days in a row of skiing, I opted to burn my first of three Mad Cards today with hopes of returning on Saturday and Sunday to use the remaining two. My vacation this week has been wildly successful scoring some exciting skiing and great conditions and today was no different.
I began my morning by heading up the Single and descending down the groomed roller coaster that is Catamount. Peering up at Cat Bowl, I noticed some enticing bump lines so I boarded the Single at the mid-station and skated over to Cat Bowl. Coverage was mostly good with some occasional thin spots and loose snow on skier’s left. While maintaining my line down skier’s left, I thought that the bumps would be perfect once things warmed up a little. But I would not have the opportunity to return later to find out.
After finishing out Cat Bowl, I took Catamount back to the mid-station where I noticed the rope for Upper Glade had been dropped. I eagerly dove into what looked like some great lines featuring occasional untracked. Looks were deceiving as the lines were less than satisfactory. Thin cover conditions were prevalent and lots of snow snakes lurked beneath the deceptively enticing new snow. While tracking up a previously untracked line, I twice got thrown for a ride on my butt by stumps and rocks lurking underneath the snow. I opted to stick to the tracked up sections of Upper Glade where I could better see potential obstacles and hazards.
The run out on Bunny involved a high degree of survival skiing due to the ice flows. Normally, when New England Skiers mention ice, they are really referring to excessively scraped and/or wind blown patches or sections of the trail with no snow covering frozen groomer tracks. But these conditions are not ice. They are still edgable by better skiers and present negligible worries to experienced skiers. Real ice involves frozen pools of water from a previous rain storm much like was experience at Mad River Glen the previous week. Real ice is neither carvable nor skiable and in the case of Bunny’s lower section, there were few sections of the trail not covered by ice flow making things interesting.
Back up the Single I went after returning to the Basebox for a quick bite to eat and some water. The bumps under the Single on Chute looked exceptional, so I made that my next run. And then I made it my next run after that! The top section went from prime time soft packed powder to scraped down and icy quickly. A well chosen line resulted in few problems. I opted to avoid the cliff under the single not due to shyness or modesty, but rather because I spied a patch of untracked fresh down a side chute. Boot deep and untracked! But the consistency was anything but powder due to the quickly warming temperature which was then above freezing. Despite the moistness of the snow, the brief shot of untracked felt wonderful. Back under the single, Chute is perhaps one of the best bump lines in all of New England. Add in a highly discerning audience featuring some of New England’s best skiers overhead on the Single and you have either an opportunity to strut your skills or show that you are a hack. I love lift lines and the audience factor, so I quickly went to work knitting some fantastic lines through the softening bumps of Chute. I returned for a second helping before turning my attention to the other Upper Mountain trails.
A quick hike and traverse above Stark’s Nest found me entering Fall Line, a multi-channel “trail” unlike any other. The main route down Fall Line featured exceptional soft packed powder bumps, some of the best I have skied all season. I branched off into the woods to find fresh lines but the consistency of the snow and lack of adequate coverage made quick turns hard and put me in survival skiing mode quickly. After finishing a meandering line, I headed back up the single to try the main route in full. Fall Line remains one of my favorite trails in all of New England for its exceptional snow, soft bumps, excellent lines, and amazing character. It is a trail unlike any other featuring one of my favorite locations of any New England Ski Area. Coming around a bend halfway down the trail, you enter a glade straddled by two tall majestic looking spruce trees. It is a serene and quick location with a great view of Camel’s Hump in the distance. I always need to pause and breathe deeply when arriving at this location to fully appreciate and enjoy the experience. This is what it means to ski Mad River Glen.
Finishing out Fall Line, I looked further down the ridge to fabled Paradise for my final run of the afternoon. Paradise shares some similarities with Fall Line as they are neighbors. But despite the proximity, Paradise is a much rougher beast. After a two hundred foot traverse, you are dropped into a steep bumpy line. Before you get too comfortable, the snow drops away before you as you take a mandatory drop over the waterfall. Without missing a turn, you are instantly thrown into a widening bump field on a 35+ degree pitch. The snow is soft and delicious but the turns are demanding, fast past, and steep. The whole trail opens up to many possibilities and lines for the adventurous. The weak of heart keep pounding down bumps within the main area of the trail. Large trees dot Paradise everywhere and the further down you ski, the more trees you must contend with. The cover gets thin, the trees get tighter, but the pitch does not relent until you get dumped out onto the Fox trail.
But that was just the Upper Mountain. No rest for the weary at Mad River Glen where you can start from any lift and hammer out over two thousand vertical feet of bumps. Upper Canyon was next in my sights. The top section starts out gently enough with soft packed powder and some loose snow on skier’s left. Soon the bumps begin and the pitch drops away. Skier’s left had excellent bumping throughout Upper Canyon with cover thinning out towards the lower end. I traversed towards the center to finish out Upper Canyon at the intersection with Bunny. Lower Canyon looked bleak, but it was open and I was willing! Things started out innocently enough with small bumps on skier’s left. Soon I found myself traversing to skier’s right to avoid ice flows and exposed grass. During my traverse, I had to walk my skis over about five feet of grass which was a non-issue to be expected during Spring Skiing. After a few survival turns down skier’s right, I finished out strong on some nice soft bumps and headed back to the Basebox to conclude my day early at 1:30 P.M. With three more days of skiing in a row, I did not want muscle fatigue from a full day of skiing Mad River Glen. And if you are not sore after 7 straight hours of skiing at the Glen, you haven’t been trying hard enough.
