Hard to believe I could possibly be disappointed today; but after yesterday’s romp and continued snow storm, I had myself psyched up that Thursday would be the day of the decade. Perhaps it was for first sliders, but I was held up at work most of the day only boarded the Willoughby Quad at 2:50 P.M.

I was able to get in four runs before the quad was shut down “due to wind” at 3:50 P.M. Went into the trees on the first run and was rather disappointed. The snow had been slaughtered and I was not going to get perpetual refills like Wednesday. Next I took a wonderfully packed/loose powder Willoughby to Birches where I found occasional untracked while trying not to get stuck in knee to thigh deep powder.

The snow consistency is amazing and unbelievable all at the same time. I have never seen better base building snow as what has covered Northern Vermont this week. Everything is open with great coverage. Despite several feet of snow fallen; once this snow got wind loaded, you just could not sink more than half a foot to a foot down into the snow.

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I have had better individual runs and have skied deeper and better quality powder. I have skied knee deep blower powder with excellent base down narrow chutes and sweet glades. But I have never had a day featuring untracked on every run. Instant refills on the untracked due to heavy snow, blowing winds, and very little competition. Even though I have had better individual powder runs and better powder conditions, today is easily one of my best ski days due to untracked runs from open to close.

Boot to knee deep untracked all day with heavy snow filling in tracked lines within an hour or two. Essentially, untracked every single run from open to close. The snow is a very dense type of precipitation falling in small, tight, dense crystals. Definitely not fluffy but powder all the same. It made keeping tips up a challenge and spelled certain doom if tips got submarined. After much consideration, today tipped the scales, and I am officially in the market for something fatter than my current 89mm waist Dynastar Inspired Bigs.

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Powder Day? Two days after the storm? Pinch me!

After staying out late last night, I was feeling very tired at the 6 A.M. alarm. Ditched plans to ski either Jay or Mad River Glen (more likely MRG), I opted for a $15 half day at Burke Mountain which averaged about a buck fiddy per run. Sweet deal, especially considering the quality of the runs.

The competition at Jay Peak on a powder day is insane. You get so little chance at scoring top to bottom untracked despite the amazing quantity of terrain and tree shots at Jay. It is baffling how quickly the powder goes gets played out only one day after a storm. But two days after the storm? Even off the map shots are fully tracked out. Enter Burke Mountain two days after a storm at noon time…

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Worked late yesterday so I came in late to work this morning. Felt really good, kind of like I was sticking it back to the man for the man sticking it to me every so often. Jay Peak reciprocal mid-week pass was in effect for two runs before heading into work. Burke was empty, wow! Talk about a mountain that is under utilized mid-week, let alone on the weekends. Burke’s very friendly staff directed me to the correct desk for my ticket and I was advised (by a former Jay employee who I talked trees with) that Cave Man would be better than Throbulator (both recently opened). The employee informed me that he had been on the trail crew that maintained Cave Man over the Summer, pretty cool getting that type of information when both runs count!

Up the Sherburne Express and then up a rather cold Willoughby Quad to the summit. Two inches of dust on top of the groomed made the first couple turns on Big Dipper feel amazing. But I bared right onto Wilderness that had natural snow and really nice small and soft moguls with 2-4″ of light fluff on top of a packed base. I built up a lot of speed since the moguls were small and the snow was soft. Cruised some arcs down another groomer with 2″ of fluff en route to the Caveman entrance.

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