Much to my complete delight, only The Single ran on Friday. Pretty rare is the day when there is no line for The Single for first chair but things are backing up pretty far on the Sunnyside Double. Much of the Sunnyside can be reached from The Single via Broadway to Easy Way, but all the steeper stuff off the ridge was virgin untracked with the total three day accumulation, just begging for some tracks.
Oh
My
Goodness
Day 40 of the season was my 17th powder day with 18 to follow the next day. With work closed for the College Holiday, I started the long weekend at Jay Peak on the heels of a monster April surprise snow storm that would ultimately drop three feet of powder through the Holiday weekend. Amazing! What a way to start April off after March ended on such a downer.
Got started on The Jet at 9am despite Nhski running a little late (no friends on a powder day and all that…). But we played it like usual staying close to the lift for the first few runs of untracked and met up at the top of the Jet on the start of my third run. Sweet! Certainly has been a ton of fun finding a fellow skier to enjoy the great Jay powder with, always elevates my day to have a great skier to share it with.
Sometime during the halfway point of my third run down F.I.S. at Sugarbush yesterday, I recalled that due to the injury and other variables, Saturday was my first day of the season pumping out big bumps on a steep slope. Also at about the same time, I realized I needed to save some leg for Tuckerman Ravine the next day. But I am never one to save up potential energy for potential good skiing when I already AM experiencing good skiing. So three more F.I.S. runs later…
I got the days backwards this weekend. I figured Sunday would be warmer and the Ravine would experience less freezing over night so I thought it would be the better day for the Ravine despite tiring my legs out on Saturday at da’ Bush. Turns out it was too hot on Sunday so I should have reversed days. Not that the skiing in the Ravine was not fantastic, but hot days are not fun for lugging forty pounds of skiing equipment a few miles.
The parking lot was slammed more than the previous week’s Inferno Race, likely due to perfect weather this weekend and less than acceptable snow conditions the previous weekend. I tossed the skins in my bag based on a report indicating traction on the upper third of the TRT would have been helpful. Glad I did, as my fair weather hiking sneakers did not like hiking up the snow. I switched over to skins about 100 verts above the second bridge and only needed to take off the skis once until reaching HoJo’s, woo hoo! Better traction and less weight for around a quarter of the hike to HoJo’s is cool by me. Next weekend I would not have bothered.
After much debate regarding skiing plans for the final weekend of April, I decided on taking advantage of Sugarbush’s $10.00 lift ticket Saturday afternoon. Due to an over night freeze, I decided Tuckerman Ravine could wait until Sunday and one final day of lift serviced skiing for the season would be preferable to hiking for turns at Jay Peak. My decision was sound and resulted in a fantastic afternoon of skiing under a bright warm sun and Blue Bird skies.
Due to the overnight freeze, I slept in and took my time getting ready. Temperatures were still a bit brisk when I packed up the car around 8 A.M., but forecasts called for temperatures to soar into the fifties during the afternoon hours so I worried not. I made a quick detour and stopped by work to pick up my camera before making the drive down Route 2 and Route 100B to Sugarbush.
One would think people would come out in droves for $10.00 skiing on a perfect Blue Bird afternoon. But pulling into the parking lot at Mount Ellen, one would be sorely mistaken in believing many people thought skiing in April is a worth while endeavor. Their lose is my ski on lift.
After three glorious days of bright sun shine and warm temperatures ideal for corn snow, the weekend delivered a horrible blow to Mount Washington in the form of an evening freeze, overcast skies, and no softening in sight. Far from ideal conditions for the annual Inferno Race sponsored by the Friends of Tuckerman, the race would go on and so would my tour.
I arrived at Pinkham Notch Visitor Center (PNVC) shortly after 7 A.M. anticipating the huge crowds the events draws. However, I obtained front row parking at the Gulf of Slides trail head with plenty of spaces remaining on both sides of the lot. I managed to escape the crowds and secure a primo parking spot by getting a slightly earlier start than normal. Starting too early might not have allowed the snow to soften up sufficiently; but alas, there would be no softening of the snow today. The weather forecast had predicted partly cloudy skies warming to the mid-forties but the mercury combined with the wind chill likely never pushed out of the thirties.