Category: 2007-2008 Season

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, Earned Turns, Mount Washington, Sherburne Ski Trail, Tuckerman Ravine

Epic Day in Tuckerman Ravine

Sled and Steve Enter the Ravine

For the second week in a row, weather forecasts showed sensational blue bird days during the week and colder rainy weather for the weekend. Not to be skunked two weekends in a row during some of the best skiing conditions of the season, I requested Wednesday off from work and hooked up with the Sledhauler for an epic day in Tuckerman Ravine.

We got a late start arriving at Pinkham shortly before nine o’clock. Temperatures were warmer than expected which meant the long slog up the Tuckerman Ravine Trail to HoJo’s would be a sweaty affair which proved to be true. Touring with new boots for the first time, Sled had some discomfort on the skin up but fought through the pain. Views upon arriving at HoJo’s were stellar with gullies (both with and without names) filled in sensationally for this late in the season. We watched on as a boarder and skier slip slided and butt slided their way down Dodge’s Drop.

After a bit to eat and some quick refreshment, we were ascending towards the Bowl on the Tuckerman Ravine Trail. Sled opted to hike but I decided to continue skinning as long as possible. I skinned the entire trail to the bowl and only removed my skis once for a rock crossing. Coverage was simply sensational on the trail.

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2007-2008 Season, April, Earned Turns, Mount Cardigan

A Quick Lap Down Alexandria at Mount Cardigan

After sitting at home yesterday watching the biggest botched forecast of the season play out to the tune of great corn skiing in the mountains, I was anxious to ski. I timidly checked forecasts again this morning and did not like what I saw. I decided to lay low and check back later in the morning. Temps in Ashland, NH still had not come close to breaking 40 and snow banks next to my house were still crusty and firm. Hardly good skiing conditions or weather in my estimation. Austin and I had been debating hitting Mad River, but it did not look like the weather forecasters were going to wiff twice in a row. I suspected firm conditions along the spine of the Greens. The idea of Cardigan came up but Austin bailed and I decided even skiing terrible conditions was better than farting around at home two days in a row.

Just under an hour later, I was clicking in at the AMC Cardigan Lodge as a few flakes meandered through the air. The snow was surprisingly soft without being completely rotted through. No sooner had I started skinning than Zeke and his friend went flying past me. Not sure they recognized me but they were flying past before I could say hello. Can’t blame them for not slowing down, that run out is a pain.

Snow base was fantastic with snow starting right at the trail head. There was an average of at least a foot on the flatter sections of the Manning and Holt trails and slightly deeper still on the Clark trail above Grand Junction. I made decent time and soon enough was at the ledge above Alexandria when two skiers and a snow boarder came whacking their way down the Clark trail from above having come over from Firescrew (sounded like an arduous journey). After a brief conversation, I decided the limited amount of snowfields on the summit cone of Cardigan were probably not worth the effort, especially as the temperature was starting to drop and the snow was a tad more firm than on the ski trail.

Setting off down Alexandria for my first ski of Cardigan, I began making survival turns at their finest. The snow alternated from frozen crust to wet sloppy mush. This classic trail ended far too quickly. I left a few sitzmarks due to being unadjusted to my sloppy soft G-Rides that need replacement. Base depths were considerable. Even with the pending warm weather this coming week, Alexandria should ski well at least through next weekend. A very narrow snow bridge allowed dry passage at the end of the ski trail before the intersection with Clark, but crossing was difficult and it will surely be washed away within a day or two leaving a stream crossing at the end of the run. The ski out was uneventful. Upon reaching my car, the sky opened up and started puking white pellets. A nice final glimpse of snow fall as we leave winter behind.

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.