Category: 2012-2013 Season

2012-2013 Season, March, Suicide Six

Suicide Six: A Resort Amenity

The Face at Suicide Six

At only 650 feet of vertical on paper (I get a hair under 600′ looking at a topo), Suicide Six was the smallest area on The List. It was added arbitrarily as it falls significantly short of my 1150′ minimum. Middlebury College Snow Bowl, Dartmouth Skiway, and Whaleback also fall short of my arbitrary minimum number. However, unlike those other diminutive areas, Suicide Six skis even shorter than its already inflated vertical suggests and can’t quite make up for its lack of stature. It is no wonder that the area thrives as a resort amenity rather than on its own merits.

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2012-2013 Season, March, Smugglers Notch

Smuggs: The Honeymoon Still Isn’t Over

Smuggs Trees

Every time I ski Smuggs, I wonder if it will be the day that the honeymoon will end. Eventually, I am going to have a bad day at Smuggs. One of these days, the warm and fuzzy emotional reaction I get isn’t going to happen. But after half a dozen days at Smuggs, that day has not yet come. And It may be a while yet before it happens. If it ever happens.

Most of New England was forced to rely on human-groomin’ to alleviate a freeze event which followed mixed precip and/or wet snow. Smuggs was lined up for a few inches daily resulting in exceptional powder and packed powder conditions. Untracked was less than my half foot standard for powder day status but a few inches was all it took to ensure exceptional turns.

My slight disappointment with the low new snow totals was significantly offset by the exceptional quality of what little powder Smuggs did get. Everything was skiing exceptionally well despite occasional base depth issues in tight and steep quarters. There were still places in which a hockey stop in a tight chute would strip snow down to a grassy, rooty, or rocky base. But for the most part, snow conditions were primo.

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2012-2013 Season, February, Magic Mountain, Powder Day

The Magic of Mid-Week Powder Days

Black Line

Magic Mountain led Vermont in new snow reporting in with 10-14″. It felt deeper in spots but never felt less. The snow was extremely dense and super surfy. I was expecting more people but crowds were light and the double was ski on all day. It felt great to have a relaxing powder day.

Red Line and Black Magic were closed to conserve snow conditions for this weekend’s Ski the East Freeride Tour stop. It was disappointing not being able to ski one of New England’s best liftlines, but I could certainly get behind the cause of ensuring Magic has a great event on Saturday. Otherwise, the mountain was completely good to go, though there wasn’t much base to speak of underneath the new dense snow.

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2012-2013 Season, Black Mountain, February

Crossing Black Mountain, ME Off The List

Black Mountain, Maine

During my first drives to Saddleback, I would gaze west from Route 17 in Mexico and contemplate Black Mountain of Maine. I originally mistook it for a lost area, making a mental note to research the area for possible turn earning.

But the lifts have been spinning steadily at Black since 1935. More well known for hosting numerous high profile nordic championship events, the alpine portion of Black focuses on affordable family friendly skiing for local area residents.

The reason that the lifts still turn at Black Mountain is Maine Winter Sports Center’s financial support from the Libra Foundation. Without the financial support of the Libra Foundation, Black Mountain would not be able to offer its record low lift ticket price of $15.00 and sustain operations.

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