Rumors of the season’s demise have been greatly exaggerated. While many skiers have called it quits due to a lack luster winter, the season is just starting to ramp up. Off map woods are back in business and ready for action. Crowds were minimal and it snowed hard all day.

After digging out from a foot and a half of snow, I slowly slid my way down to Waitsfield. It was the most challenging descent of Route 17 that I have ever had, averaging 5-10mph and still slipping despite Blizzaks and AWD. Route 100 to I-93 was a crawl. Snow was falling faster than the plows could handle it.

An astounding multi-day storm and a fabulous day of skiing.

Daylight Saving Time powder days provide a special kind of joy. The early riser always gets the untracked. But doubly so when most skiers do not adjust their waking time to accommodate not only snowy roads, but also the time change.

So, it was much to my chagrin that the power was out in the Mad River Valley. Having nothing else to do (and not having my uphill gear), I settled in for the long wait. Many other skiers would not be patient. One by one, they took off their boots, packed their bags, and left.

Half of the crowd left and then, sure enough, the power kicked on at noon. I will gladly wait four hours for lifts to open late if it means half as many skiers are in line.

Given the Double had no one waiting and would be the faster chair to open, I lined up for third chair. The snow was dense and a foot deep, but it fell on top of somewhat bare ground. Steeper would better, but I was mindful of unseen obstacles under the surface.

I started with a cautious opener down Panther and gained more confidence merging into Gazelle. Riders on the chairs above cheered the first tracks of the day. Waterfall skied as good as I have ever skied it. After skiing untracked top to bottom, I hopped on the Single for a longer and steeper run.

I overheard a patroller mention that Paradise was good. That raised my confidence a bit too much. The undulations were significant and so were the hidden obstacles. Halfway down Paradise, I took a trip over the handlebars, and tehn finished the run with Upper and Lower Glade.

I went back up the Single and found some of my favorite in-bound off-map rabbit holes where I scored mostly first and second tracks on my third, fourth, and fifth runs. The super heavy and dense snow was best where it was untracked. Multiple ski cuts really chunked up the snow.

I could not return the next day for the expected foot of blower. But I can rest easy knowing that the late season is saved and I still have more opportunities to use my two remaining Mad Cards. A week ago, I had feared an early end to the season might be imminent.