Mother nature provided absolutely perfect weather and temperature for Stowe’s last day of operation for the season. And skiers and riders came out in significant numbers for the occasion (largely due to the cheap lift tickets for contributing to the Vermont Food Bank canned goods drive). College students from Burlington made up a significant body of the crowds and their obnoxious antics were on display in Caddyshack Caddy’s Day style.

Due to a recent rain/freeze event the day before, bump trails were not skiing well in the morning. So I enjoyed the groomers off the Forerunner. I really enjoyed the cruising, actually. Not normally one to feel satisfied with cruising around at mach 5 on trails rolled out flat as a pancake, I found it tremendously satisfying and enjoying to relax and zip around with a cool breeze and bright sun shine.

But that kind of relaxing approach to skiing is not par for the course and I found myself charging down spring bumps as soon as they softened up. I quickly found my lower body sore after having skied very little lately and almost no bumps all year.

I persisted as long as I could, but ultimately the lift line for the only open chairlift deterred me from further punishment. A UVM inspired snowball fight culminated with a 100 snowball launch at other guests in the lift line which brought the Forerunner to a hault pending termination of the Animal House inspired behavior (Food Fight!!!). A few knuckleheads even had the gaul to toss snowballs at the liftie trying to perform some semblance of crowd control. Spending more time waiting in a liftline than skiing and dodging snowballs is not my idea of a good time, so I concluded my day shortly after lunch time rather than exacting further punishment on my already sore lower body. Despite the liftline wait times and shenanigans, I had an excellent afternoon and conditions could not have been better.