Category: Powder Day

2002-2003 Season, Articles, December, Powder Day, Ragged Mountain

A Different Breed: The Ragged Mountain Experience

Stinky's Slide

Driving to a ski area before the break of dawn, you realize that you share the road with a different breed of the human species. Normal people do not wake up at 5:00 A.M. on a Saturday and gleefully pack their cars in below freezing temperatures. Normal people do not embark on two hour crusades to remote far off mountains that are cold and covered with snow.

Normal people do not know the feeling of trying to earn first tracks on a powder day.

Once on the highway, you pass a Chrysler Minivan with two blurry eyed parents in the front seat, two kids zonked out in the back. You get passed by some college kids in a 1988 Subaru Wagon with bumper stickers that read “Mad River Glen, Ski It If You Can” and “Cannon – It’s A Blast!” Roof racks adorn the many SUVs driven by yuppies that can barely suppress their shit eating grins knowing that they will soon be devouring powder in a few short hours. These are a few examples of the rare form of the human species known as “Skiers,” and together we all drive far and wide to earn turns after a foot and a half of fluff gets dumped on central Vermont and New Hampshire.

(more…)

2002-2003 Season, Cannon Mountain, December, Powder Day

Cannon Mountain, NH

If only everyday could begin like this day. I awoke at the Hiker’s Paradise, a hostel in Gorham, NH. After a short drive down the road, I pulled over to the shoulder of Route 16 to take a picture of Mount Madison and Mount Adams, the northern most peaks of the Presidential Range. Amazing. After a brief drive around the Presidential’s and into Franconia Notch, I entered the parking lot of Cannon Mountain with a wonderful view of its trails.

In the lodge, I met fellow NELSAP’er and SnowJournal’er MadRider. We quickly set off up the Peabody Express Quad. The wind was hollowing ferociously, as one can often expect at Cannon. We tracked down Middle Cannon on pleasantly groomed snow and made our way to the Front Face. Upon seeing Zoomer filled up with 4-6 inches of powder, MadRider’s face lit up like a kid in a candy store. For myself, I was an awful powder skier at the time. I was about to tell MadRider I was going to opt for the tamer Rocket, but he was already riding down the pow. So onward to Rocket I went, not expecting to find what I did.

(more…)

2001-2002 Season, Articles, Burke, January, Powder Day

The Burke Mountain Experience

Willoughby Quad
Willoughby Quad

Getting There

Many great things have been said about Burke; and the mountain has been on my list of places to visit since it’s re-opening. After several years of poor management and closings, Burke re-opened last season and remains one of Vermont’s best kept secrets.

I woke up early on Saturday morning around 4:50 A.M and quickly grabbed a bite to eat, packed the car, and had the wheels rolling by 5:20 A.M. The darkness at this early time seemed greater than normal even considering the time of the year. Gloomy clouds were promising socked in peaks and they delivered on their promise.

Having never driven to the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, I opted to drive through the Franconia Notch on I-93 in New Hampshire instead of taking I-89. I believed this would be the faster and more interesting route and this proved to be a sound assumption. Although most of the peaks were socked in the clouds, I-93 through the Franconia Notch still remains one of my favorite drives even when the weather does not cooperate. Franconia Notch had a localized snow storm that made driving on the Parkway interesting. But the storm relented as I passed Cannon, as I looked longingly at Avalanche, Paulie’s Folly, and Zoomer.

Total mileage to Burke Mountain via this route from the New Hampshire boarder was 170 miles and took just under three hours. Upon reaching Burke Mountain, I by-passed the lower mountain Base Lodge and headed to the Mid-Burke Lodge which allowed quick access to the better terrain. The Lodge was populated with racers from both the Burke Mountain Academy and The New England Masters circuit along along with some locals.

(more…)

2000-2001 Season, February, Magic Mountain, Powder Day

Magic Mountain, VT

February 5th brought three feet of snow to parts of Western Massachusetts and Southern Vermont. I had been planning a trip to Magic Mountain in Southern Vermont for some time now; the big dump made the decision on where to ski that weekend rather easy. Magic Mountain is most well known for its challenging terrain, lack of snow making, and lack of grooming. It is a Skiers Mountain without any Resort atmosphere or amenities. Some may consider these reasons to avoid the Magic Mountain. But for me, they only add to the appeal.

The alarm clock went off at 4:30AM and I jumped out of bed. Two and a half feet of snow fell during the previous 24 hours and my back still hurt from shoveling the previous evening. After a shower and breakfast, I went out to finish cleaning up the drive way. I was ready to roll at 6:30AM, but was hesitant to go because of the road conditions. I watched the news for an hour and a half before I was satisfied that the drive would be safe. I left home around 7:30AM; I had originally planned to leave two hours earlier so I could get first tracks.

(more…)

1999-2000 Season, February, Pico, Powder Day, Racing

Pico, VT

Pico offers up some first rate skiing, without the crowds and McSki atmosphere that plague neighboring Big Brother Killington. UMass Lowell Ski Team descended upon Vermont during the night of a fierce snow storm. When we awoke Saturday morning, many inches of snow had accumulated already. Upon reaching Pico, we found over a foot of fluff at the summit! My first true Powder Day. On our first run, half the team ascended to the summit via both Quads, and we proceeded to fall often in knee deep fluff skiing the Summit Glades. Amazing!

All that fluffy powder was not good at all for racing, though. We had to clear all the powder away from the gates. This took numerous times of the entire 100 person league snow plowing the course before it was racable. After all that snowplowing, the ruts on the race course were huge! It was an unbelievable day to ski, but an abysmal day to race.

Pico has some interesting terrain. Everything off the Summit Quad is gold. There is a relatively flat section on mid-mountain that was hard to deal with. Pico is essentially four mini-peaks. They have a Triple and Double on the Left and Right Wings for access to the smaller peaks. The first quad goes up the gut of the mountain, to mid-mountain where it services intermediate and beginner terrain. And their Summit Quad gets you to the real goods. Unfortunately, this means that top to bottom skiing is not really much of an option. However, there is quality skiing everywhere on the mountain.