Category: Powder Day

2011-2012 Season, February, Mad River Glen, Powder Day

MRG: Boot to Knee Deep is Boot to Knee Deep

Harvey Scoring Powder on Cat Bowl

During a season in which one inch became the new one foot and six inches became the new boot deep, it was nice to finally get pinched into wakefulness: today book to knee deep was boot to knee deep.

Harvey hatched a plan to ski Mad River Glen en route to points further north. I couldn’t help but throw in despite knowing that meant committing to seven days of skiing in a row. Harvey’s passion and enthusiasm for skiing is infectious. To play tour guide during Harvey’s first trip to Mad River Glen was an honor I couldn’t pass up. And Harvey brings good luck with him to Vermont, both times we have hooked up in Vermont were surprise powder days.

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2011-2012 Season, Cannon Mountain, February, Powder Day

Cannon: 6″ is the New Boot Deep

Cannon Trees

Fifteen minutes before first tram is almost always enough. But today, almost double that margin was only good for the second car. And I wasn’t even close to the first car when the doors slammed shut. Before the first car even loaded, the line snaked four times and then went out the front door. The powder frenzy was on in a bad way. All this for 4-8″ of fresh: only a minor under the radar storm during a good year.

My plan of attack was ruined. With seventy people unloading at the summit while I was boarding the 8:25 tram at the base, I was way behind. By the time I skied down to Bypass, the Peabody Quad had already been unloading. I engaged the frenzied charge to the Front Five where us Johny Come Latelies found very little untracked remaining. After wasting a run down Avalanche, I hit Banshee Slopes twice before heading to the summit and taking a hike.

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2011-2012 Season, February, Jay Peak, Powder Day

Five Inches of Blower at Jay

Jay Trees

I will never understand skiers that dive straight into the woods on first chair. There are few things I long for more than blasting powder turns down a flat, steep, and wide open pitch. Don’t get me wrong, I love trees. And I enjoy bumps when I can’t ski powder. But there is nothing like a steep groomer blanketed with untracked powder. It is far more rare than untracked powder through the trees.

On my first run, I found almost half a foot of untracked blower on top of scraped hardpack. A delightful surprise that affirmed my destination decision. I shamelessly made wide arcs across the entirety of JFK. A farmer harvesting the carefully planted crop I was not. The feeling of my skis planing up and surfing the fresh was sublime. The feeling of my edges engaging the hardpack at the apex of my turn was not.

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2011-2012 Season, January, Mad River Glen, Powder Day

Stick Season: Mad River Glen

Mad River Trees

Stick Season in New England continues with more cautious exuberance at Mad River Glen. Perhaps a little too much exuberance and not enough caution but can you blame a guy that is snuffing out half a foot of untracked days after the storm? I was hoping for a reasonable amount of relatively safe tree skiing. Despite the untracked heroics, even I had to question how to define reasonable.

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