Category: Powder Day

2022-2023 Season, Mad River Glen, March, Powder Day

MRG: Jackpot (Finally)

MRG Trees

This season has left much to be desired. I had skied only two times through the end of February. Northern New England ski areas were averaging one storm every two months with little in between. President’s week featured a powder day that felt like a late season weekend. Conditions were so terrible that even a holiday powder day could not bring the crowds out.

But you can never completely write off a season. It just takes one storm to get things going again. One exceptionally good storm to make you forget about months of misery. And at Mad River Glen, we finally got that exceptional two-footer, and it put most lines on the table. And the off map trees were skiing phenomenally due to the think and dense nature of the snow.

The storm brought out the crowds, leading to one of the longest lines that I have ever seen for the Single (easily a 40-minute wait). But the nature of the Single is that even hours after opening, there are still untracked lines all over due to the low density and low uphill capacity. The lines thinned out by noontime, and I didn’t last much longer than that. Only on my third day and charging hard, my legs called it quits long before I wanted to.

2022-2023 Season, Cannon Mountain, February, Powder Day

Double Day, Part Two: Cannon

Candyland

Continued from Part One

While driving home from Jay, after only a few hours of lackluster skiing, I was replaying my helmet issue in my head. Why wouldn’t the ear pads fit into my helmet? What made them pop out without warning?

As I approached Franconia, I recalled that I had two helmets. Perhaps they had different ear pads and I had jammed the wrong set into my helmet? While driving, I rummaged through the pockets in my boot bag. And, sure enough, I found another set of ear pads. What a fucking idiot.

I started the approach to Franconia Notch and Cannon loomed large. By now, I had compared snow reports on my phone, and I knew Cannon had received more than three times the few inches that Jay had received. It was almost two o’clock, not much time left for the lifts. But, I had the sudden urge to stop at Cannon and resume my ski day, with my helmet and with leftovers from a foot of fresh.

I was glad I stopped! The skiing at Cannon was phenomenal. While I was many hours late to first tracks, I used my knowledge of the mountain to find the best snow and enough untracked to justify a powder day tag. It was only the second day I have ever skied two areas on the same day, and certainly the first time I had done so without planning it that way.

2021-2022 Season, Jay Peak, March, Powder Day

Jay Peak: Knee Deep

Paydirt.

Two feet. Knee deep untracked. Every single run.

Can one day change the malaise of an entire season? Almost. It cannot change the past, nor the season’s future trajectory. But it still ranks right up there with all of the other knee deep untracked days that I have experienced. They are not a given during any season. Even a powder hound like me can go years between knee deep days. They are always special.

Especially when I found myself dropping the best untracked lines of the day for my last run. What!?!? Nuts.

It all melts down after this, perhaps the season’s best (and only significant) hurrah.