Category: April

2006-2007 Season, April, Sugarbush

Spring Corn Skiing at Sugarbush

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After four previous days at Sugarbush in my skiing career, I was happy to finally give all the marked terrain at Sugarbush South a legitimate hammering after having eluded me during previous visits for various reasons. Could not have picked a better day short of a big powder day to do it! Certainly the best Spring Corn days rank right up there just below the best of powder days (though in a season like this, today would not even crack my top ten).

Paid the man $46 for a lift ticket and ascended Super Bravo to warm up on Murphy’s Glade before heading up to the summit for a run down Paradise and on to Castlerock for a marathon session on the trails offered off the double. I was particularly impressed with the refurbished lift design. The Castlerock Double is rather high speed for a fixed grip chairlift but has its chairs spaced out at a rediculous distance. Good management decision regarding this chairlift, thank goodness ASC never bouched up this gem.

I am going on the record to say that Rumble is the best non-gladed marked trail in the Northeast. Big statement, I know. So the caveat on that statement is I have never skied Smuggs, Whiteface, Gore, or Sugarloaf (since I was rather young). Otherwise, I stand by the remark and was very appreciative of the trail which had it all: Good Pitch, Lots of Curves, Very Narrow, Terrain Features, Tree Options around the Curves, Good Mogul Rhythm despite Narrow Trail, etc. Essentially, a slightly steeper and more turny version of the best untouched leftovers from the CCC days. Beautiful.

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2006-2007 Season, April, Cannon Mountain, Earned Turns

Spring Corn Skiing via Earned Turns

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After a rather long hiatus with only occasional lift assisted skinning, the One Run for the Price of None Tour 06-07 fires back up again with a vengeance… and man are my arms tired. My legs too. All of the powder and packed powder skiing this season has my physical condition less toned than usual at this time of year despite passing my season total of 39 days. Speaking of lifts turning, I can honestly say I am glad Cannon always shuts down the first week in April because boy oh boy was it nice having the mountain almost entirely to myself. This was the best day of skiing I have had….. in the past seven days.

Originally, the plan was some local BC but downed trees had me concerned. Opting on a summit from the M side, I was blown away by both the coverage and blow down. This is better coverage than I have seen during many years in January, wow! Also impressive was the wind and weather damage done to the summit tower. Many pieces of wood were torn clear off the tower making the summit tower access slightly dangerous but safe enough. Views everywhere were amazing. I spread my arms, felt the breeze, and smiled a big toothy grin. This was a truly beautiful Spring day and there was no where else I would rather be. Something about this mountain, I don’t quite know what it is, continues to leave me in various states of awe.

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2006-2007 Season, April, Powder Day, Stowe

22nd Powder Day of the Season at Stowe

The rabble invaded Stowe today for the Can Food Drive and I was more than happy to do my part for a $25 ticket. Regardless of conditions (generally), I don’t pass up opportunities to ski Stowe at a discount.

Conditions were interesting and variable. It puked snow all day which was a glorious sight to behold halfway through the month of April. But don’t let your guard down because everything looks soft and fluffy! Ascending the Mountain Road, the rain snow line pretty was the Toll Road Area. Just down the Mountain Road everything was wet and rainy. Snow near the base area was very wet and there was a hard setup from the day before with warming temperatures causing consolidated snow to firm up. The lower 200-300 vertical feet of the mountain was choppy and unfriendly. Upper elevation sported a dense powder with untracked lines were hard to find though available off the beaten path.

After finally getting to disappoint myself by sampling Goat which had been roped on my previous visits, I wasted no time ducking into the woods. Trees in the Upper Mountain Forerunner area were mighty fine and impressive with that thick, dense powder. Mighty fine steep and tight lines in the trees, thank you very much! But I quickly decided that the royal soaking on the Forerunner was not worth the upper mountain trees and spent most of the day on the Gondi.

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2006-2007 Season, April, Jay Peak, Powder Day, Video

Yet Another April Powder Day at Jay Peak

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Met up with Nhski and from_the_NEK for a mid-week assault on Jay Peak as yet another major April snow storm slammed into New England with more on the way. I am quickly getting used to this and hope I will not suffer too much withdrawal when Spring finally returns with a vengeance to wash all this wonderful whiteness away.

Jay Peak’s web page is reporting 10 inches within 24 hours and 20 inches within 48 hours which does not match up to what we skied today. It was excellent but it was not 20 inches even in the untracked that was not skied the previous day. I would estimate closer to between sixteen and eighteen for the two day storm total. Not shabby for April regardless of how you measure it.

But that total was over the course of two days, so on lines that had been tracked the previous day, we only found about ten inches untracked in the morning. Despite light crowds, I felt that the untracked went quick as any one out there knew where to find the goods. I would not expect much untracked for Saturday but the snow is really good. Warm weather was getting the best of snow near the bottom of the mountain with some exceptionally wet and heavy snow down low. Things were still powdery on the upper sections of the mountain, but even after a foot and a half, Spring and April are letting their presence be known.

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2006-2007 Season, April, Mad River Glen, Powder Day

Powder Day at MRG: Last Day of The Original Single

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This report is essentially useless gloating as Mad River Glen is now closed for the season. This is due to the construction schedule for the Single Chair rebuild including an important Haul Line inspection during early April. Work begins immediately and even a one week delay would have put an already tight schedule behind. With cold weather to persist through this week and potential snow fall Thursday and Friday, it is conceivable with the current base that Mad River could be skiable from top to bottom perhaps for the entire month of April. Even without the Single construction plans, given the extremely low turn out for three powder days in a row at one of the best mountains on the East Coast, I doubt operations would have turned profitable for an additional week, which is unfortunate for late season skiing in general, let alone late season skiing at Mad River Glen.

Three inches fell over night though it seemed like more in places on the Upper mountain. It snowed all day with not much accumulation. Though it really started coming down hard as I began driving home at 5:30p. Tomorrow will be an amazing fifth straight powder day for the Northern Greens. This is April? This weekend certainly has not sucked. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday combine for a three way/day tie for my third best day(s) of the season. Not the deepest powder but pretty close at times and no competition all weekend with lots of untracked. It has really been sick out there.

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