Category: Vermont

2007-2008 Season, April, Stowe

Really Warm Spring Day at Stowe

Panorama of Stowe from Below the Chin

With a comp ticket left to burn and Stowe closing on Sunday, I made lift serviced a priority. Especially considering the alternative of skiing on Mount Washington during its busiest weekend of the year due to the Inferno race. Today was yet another blue bird day *yawn* I think this is almost getting old. You know the type of day… not a cloud all day, bright sun shine, soft snow, etc. What I wouldn’t give for -10F, crowded, and frozen hard packed snow conditions. Why any one skis this late into the season is beyond me. Bunch of wackos. 😉

It never got below freezing last night so the snow was really soft from the get go and temps were excessively warm. Having never been up on the ridge before, I climbed up and poked around a bit. Being solo and unfamiliar with the terrain, I played things conservatively and skied back down one of the climbing gullies. It was nice to get the lay of the land on a nice day. Looked like a few options might have still been in play barely via the chin but like heck I was going route finding by myself without good coverage. Had a great first run up top then a wicked soft and slushy Perry Merrill back to my car. I switched to alpine gear and ditched most of my clothes opting to ski in a t-shirt with no gloves. It had to have hit 70 today at the Octogon. Fashions on the hill were easy on the eyes as folks stripped down to beat the heat.

Began hammering bumps via the Forerunner Quad during the morning and on into the afternoon. Went back and forth choosing various hits from Hackett’s to Goat. Upper Liftline was really nice and Lower Goat was also to my liking. As was Lookout where I enjoyed some of the best lines of the day. Hackett’s was farily thin in places and occasionally barely passable without going into the woods. Upper Starr was toast and not fun though Middle to Lower Starr had much better bumps. Hayride was enjoyable and as per usual Liftline was a bore below the upper section.

Many locations offered poor lines and bad bumps, especially those areas that received the most traffic. However, decent lines and bumps were most often found where most skiers were not. Almost one hundred percent coverage except a few minor bare spots. Even the base area looked great. Needless to say, Stowe could have gone at least one more week with only a few trail closures and minimal need to push some snow down to the lifts at worst. But lift service will end Sunday at Stowe. No chairs went up empty today and there was a short two to three minute wait through most of the morning and early afternoon.

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2007-2008 Season, April, Mad River Glen

Great Spring Bump Skiing at Mad River Glen

Steve Launches the Tower 10 Cliffs (Photo Credit: eatskisleep / Micky O'Brien)
Steve Launches the Tower 10 Cliffs (Photo Credit: eatskisleep / Micky O’Brien)

This was definitely a morning to sleep in (oops) as thing were quite firm out of the starting gate. But things got really good later in the day. Really really good. I arrived at the mountain at quarter past nine and ascended the Single feeling a chill in the air and could barely see two chairs in front of me due to fog. The Triple Crown Bump Competition was being held today and they wanted it on Chute. To break up the frozen crust, they were encouraging the bump comp folks to lap Chute. Despite the crusty snow, Mad River went with Chute and looked to have a solid event despite lack luster turn out.

My first run was down frozen groomer tracks on Upper Antelope and then around to Bunny for a top to bottom frozen groomer tracks quad burner. My skis haven’t been tuned in about a year at this point and the edges were no match for the frozen snow. I slid my way down to the Basebox and awaited the arrival of my partners.

After hanging out for half an hour, I chatted with the guys and we all headed back out for a run down Chute which had been cut up by the bump competition skiers. Better than Upper Antelope but a far cry from spring skiing. Down on Canyon, the bumps were actually surprisingly sweet with especially nice lines in the middle elevations of the trail. We hit the double chair for two more runs down Canyon to Waterfall which got better every run due to lower elevations warming up and traffic being focused on Canyon as the lower mountain bump run of choice.

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2007-2008 Season, Mad River Glen, March

Curtailed Day on Firm Snow at Mad River

What a crowd today! Keep that up folks, no complaints here! We would be skiing into May if we could get half of today’s crowd not to hang up their skis for the season following this weekend. Because, as we all know, there is no more skiing come April.

Let’s review for those thinking about stopping to ski after this weekend: warm temperatures, no wind, sunshine, blue skies all day, lots of smiles all around, every trail open, huge base depth, and the snow still hasn’t even corned up which we can add to the list very soon. April will be sensational.

While the crowds were not expected, conditions today were much as I had anticipated. Three new inches helped refreshen surfaces earlier this week. But two days after the snow event, we are back to very firm conditions all around. Cannon today would have been night and day better conditions than Mad River Glen, but I had two vouchers to use and less than three weeks to use them. Purely an economical decision as I still have two more vouchers and a season pass. Not to mention that it is high time to think about Mount Washington. There is a pressing need to burn any remaining vouchers ASAP and today was a fine day for it.

Bumps on the trails looked rather scraped. Groomed trails skied wonderfully though shady spots not as well as those in the sun. Unmarked woods faired slightly better but were still pretty toasted. Due to a late start and needing to be back in Plymouth for a 6pm presentation (gotta love working Sunday night!), I only got four runs today as the Single was a full coral for much of the day. I found some great snow in the 20th and the drive was well worth those four runs. Earning turns gives you such a huge appreciation for one stellar run, let alone four of them. After yesterday’s bell to bell powder fest and four butt burners at Mad River today, I am one sore but satisfied skier.

2007-2008 Season, Jay Peak, March, Powder Day

Crowded Wind Blown Powder Day at Jay

Singles Line on the Bonnie Extending to Second Lift Tower

Lots of options were on the table today. But with the lifts closed on Friday, I figured Jay would be the best pick despite the anticipated crowds. And holy moly were there crowds. This weekend was a “Perfect Storm” of sorts. No major powder days since March 1st, almost two feet of Fresh snow heading into the weekend, lifts not spinning on Friday, early Easter Holiday weekend that usually does not come into play during April Easters, Downhill Race on Haynes (after two postponements), etc. Add in the Tram not running until noon and the Flyer not running at all and you have a recipe for the longest lines I have ever experienced at Jay. The singles line on the Bonnie extended to the second lift tower and there was a ten minute wait for the Metro Singles line at one point. Tram car waits were reported to be four or five cars. So, was it worth it?

The rush hit earlier than normal, but I was able to get in an hour and a half of competition free pick your line powder festivities before the crowds arrived. Since it stopped snowing yesterday, the wind did its thing and leveled out most of the snow into a super dense wind slab. I was glad to have my fat skis today for sure! Nailed some sensational boot to knee deep early. Boot deep was the general rule for the untracked. Decidedly not as deep, soft, or good as yesterday’s earned turn powder in the same locations thanks to wind over night without any new snow.

Things looked bleak with no Tram and no Flyer at noon time but I soldiered on despite the crowds. I would have been quite alright with those lifts not running had it not been for the lines. Full cycles from the Bonnie to Tramside were taking around 45 minutes but yielded boot deep untracked late into the day. I quit at 2pm despite having just hit yet another section of untracked woods late in the day. But the lines were beyond my tolerance level at that point and I had already taken my fill. Had the Flyer come online sooner, I might have stuck around but the chairs were not even on the line at 2pm and the Bonnie singles line was back to the second lift tower again.

Lines aside the skiing was sensational despite the extremely wind slabbed snow. Base depths extremely deep at this point. It feels like early season in the woods again due to the constant need to cross block branches with poles. Instead of blocking trees not yet buried, we are instead blocking high branches that normally do not come into play! Canopy levels are getting into head chopping range. Some downed trees and bent limbs also made normally open lanes tighter than normal.

2007-2008 Season, Earned Turns, Jay Peak, March, Powder Day

Major Earned Turn Powder Day During Jay Lift Hold

Headed up to Jay on Friday with moderately reasonable hopes that at least one of the Stateside lifts would turn (probably the Jet). Despite hopes of a late afternoon opening, it was not to be. Friday could have been my best day of the season had the lifts spun. It was still sensationally epic skiing none-the-less.

We skinned up Meadows to Wiggle where the game planning began and continued to evolve. Skiing would involve dropping down to the flats and yo-yo’ing whatever looked good. Several tree options provided sensational knee deep powder with more face shots than I could shake a skinny touring ski at. One particularly wind favored section saw me sinking below my croch for a few turns. We ascended to the top of the Jet twice and Kitz Woods was the best I had ever skied it. We made a poor selection on the next run off the Jet sliding into an area that was severely wind buffed and not protected. The wind directions seemed to change throughout the day so it was not easy predicting what areas would offer good skiing.

We got in four runs on some of the deepest snow of the season. Knowing I had two more days this weekend and probably a rather demanding Saturday, I decided to call it quits before my legs completely gave up. The snow was dense wind blown with some mammoth drifts in places. No regrets on the decision to ski and earn turns at Jay Peak which received two feet of snow compared to other Vermont resorts that had lifts turning with half as much or less powder.