Category: Earned Turns

2009-2010 Season, Earned Turns, Jay Peak, November

Survival Skiing on Man Made at Jay

One route at Sunday River for $39, three routes at Killington for $49, or two routes earned for free at Jay. Gee wiz, I think I will see what is behind door number three, please!

Unfortunately, not much. This is a tough weekend for the desperate unless you want to buy over priced lift tickets for extremely limited products at Sunday River or Killington.

The price at Sunday River increased by over 50% without any increase in product. Needless to say, the law of supply and demand is in full effect. And who can blame them for doing so? When lift lines are backing up into double digit wait times and beyond, they obviously have enough demand to justify increasing the prices to increase profitability and put out a better product.

As for Killington, suffice to say I would not pay $50 for half of their trails open let alone two runs off the North Ridge Triple and Bunny Buster. Bretton Woods also opened one bunny trail for a $10 donation to charity. The options were not looking very promising for lift serviced.

So I turned my attention towards Jay.

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2008-2009 Season, Earned Turns, January, Powder Day, White Mountain BC

Powder Day in the New Hampshire Backcountry

My backcountry days are normally limited to late season on Mount Washington. But three days after more than a foot of fresh covered much of New Hampshire, it was a sure bet that even the most secret of stashes at the resorts would have been hammered into submission. It was time to take to the backcountry for a rare mid-season powder day via earned turns.

If a 5 minute hike keeps 95% of the skiers away, then a 95 minute hike keeps greater all but less than 1% of skiers away. Despite that fact, the skin track was already set and we were grateful. Temperatures remained cold but comfortable all day with almost no wind except near the summit. Sunny blue skies rained supreme with occasional cloud cover every few hours.

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2008-2009 Season, Earned Turns, October, Powder Day, Stowe

Sensational Earned Turn Powder Day to Start the Season

Looking Down National at Stowe

Game on! Last week’s two inches was just a teaser of better things to come. A massive storm system drew moisture out of the tropics and sent cold air racing the Appalachian chain into Florida. Combined with upslope snow fall on the backside of the storm, this is the trifecta of perfection for early season powder dumps in New England. Amazingly, the Catskills in New York received the highest snowfall totals at nearly double Mount Mansfield’s reported 12″ at The Stake. But when all was said and done, Mansfield definitely received more than a foot of fresh and was the best place to ski following the storm.

Austin and I hooked up in West Lebanon and carpooled up to Stowe. Originally, we had been considering Jay which was forecasted to receive more than Mount Mansfield. But the initial snow totals suggested that the upslope did not kick in for Jay like it did for Mansfield. We met up with Greg in the parking lot and skinned up Nose Dive. After an ill advised dabble in Nosedive Glades, we skinned up to the Octagon and prepared for a descent down National.

National usually is a horrible trail to descend featuring irregular spacious mounds of snow with scraped snow in the valleys. National is one of Stowe’s well known “front four” trails but hardly merits its reputation as an expert level trail. The steep drop scares many skiers into throwing the skis sideways and scraping off the snow which then slides into unorganized mounds. Suffice to say, National hardly skis well except immediately following a fresh dump.

Seeing an beautifully untracked line down skiers right, I picked my way through some thin coverage and rocks (which had kept most skiers away) and slid into a slot of bliss. With quads burning and begging for mercy, I skied down National’s powdery bliss spraying powder clouds left and right. Happy Birthday to me one day early. At the intersection of National and Liftline, tracks went everywhere but untracked was still to be found. The tracks a testament to well over a hundred skiers and riders hiking for turns. I finished my first run of the year down Lower National making somewhat aesthetic lines where once there was untracked snow. This is the way to begin a season.

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2007-2008 Season, Because, Earned Turns, July, Mount Washington, Tuckerman Ravine, Video

Closing Out the Season in Tuckerman Ravine on July 6th

The Author Ending his Season at Tuckerman Ravine on July 6th

Another season comes to a close with the annual suffer fest to Tuckerman Ravine. This year finds the Ravine with more snow than usual with the Sluice patch extending nearly to the ravine floor for almost two hundred vertical feet per run. Snow conditions were a sensational spring corn quality and turns were buttery compared to the usual teeth rattling glacial ice.

En route to the Ravine on the Tuckerman Ravine Trail, I came within spitting distance of a large moose. While hiking up the trail, I noticed a group up ahead pull off to the side of the trail and started taking pictures where the Raymond Path splits from the Tuckerman Ravine Trail. I assumed I was about to pass some tourists taking pictures of a trail sign. But as I rounded the bend, I came up short and noticed the cow was walking straight down the Tuckerman Ravine Trail. I side stepped to the edge of the trail and let her pass.

Met up with Rog and his friend who were already making turns in the bowl. The usual crowd of stunned and surprised hikers gathered along the snow patch to watch us make our July turns. After taking six laps, I called it a day and called it a season.

The Author Skiing the Tuckerman Ravine Snow Patch on July 6th:

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2007-2008 Season, Earned Turns, East Snowfields, May, Mount Washington

Memorial Day Slacker Turns on the East Snowfields

The Author Climbs the East Snowfields

Opening weekend for the Mount Washington Auto Road is a special weekend when the East Snowfields are in play. After my first experience on the East Snowfields two years ago, I vowed to never miss an opportunity to ski the East Snowfields slacker style when the Auto Road opens.

Kingsley and I hooked up for a long planned trip to Mount Washington to lap the East Snowfields on Memorial Day Weekend. Sunday offered the best conditions with the added perk of being a TimeForTuckerman.com gathering date. I brought a cooler full of adult beverages and grilling meat though the gathering was already well stocked with both. Not many things better than lunch time burgers near the summit of New England’s highest peak on a blue bird day following four laps of the East Snowfields.

During the seven mile drive from Route 16 to the East Snowfields, Kingsley and I listened to a sensationally dramatic CD detailing the history of the Auto Road. We quickly geared up and headed over to the Snowfields where we met Austin just finishing up a climb back to the top. After some quick introductions and pleasantries, we got down to business carving huge turns down stellar baked untracked corn snow. The first run would be the best and it was very enjoyable. The snow on the snowfields was quickly cut up by over one hundred fellow slackers. The traffic combined with the high temperatures and baking snow made for mashed potato sloppy corn by the third run.

Kingsley and I ventured further afield to the southern end of the East Snowfields which offered less hammered snow and occasional untracked patches. We enjoyed turns in a barely covered rock garden before climbing back up to the gathering and grilling some meat. After beer and burgers, we took two more runs for a total of six laps and called it a day. Another sensational blue bird day on Mount Washington which marks the beginning of the end for the season.

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