Category: March

2012-2013 Season, Mad River Glen, March, Powder Day

Mad River Glen: Further Down the Rabbit Hole

Mad River Trees

Does the above picture look familiar? It is one of my favorite spots on the mountain, within bounds no less. The above photo was captured during my second lap through this area. The first lap was mostly untracked and there was no slowing down to stop for pictures.

But I am getting ahead of myself. East winds are no good for Mad River Glen so it was decision time when I arrived. I delayed purchasing a ticket but also did not return to my car for my touring gear. The winds were forecast to shift and soon they did. After an hour delay, it was game on and line up for first run was the longest line of the day.

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2012-2013 Season, Mad River Glen, March, Powder Day

Mad River Glen: Blower Over Thin Cover

Slalom Hill

Late season powder days are almost always the best of the year. While I am fond of early season powder days due to reserved trails, options are limited due to non-existent base. Whereas late season powder often falls over a decent base. And for whatever reason, many skiers (even dedicated powder hounds) are AWOL for the best days of the season. Maybe people have other obligations or perhaps thoughts are drifting towards “spring” outdoor recreation (as if skiing wasn’t at its best in the spring!). But for whatever reason, the masses abandon the season by mid-March.

Such was the case on Saturday at Mad River Glen. The summits of the Mad River Valley scored the jackpot with a foot of fluff at the summit. That was followed by 4-6″ Friday night setting up what would be a mid-season perfect storm: a well publicized localized jackpot followed by another half a foot of fresh heading into a weekend. Any other time of the season, Mad River Glen would have 40 minute lines with skinners claiming a hundred tracks before the Single even opened.

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2012-2013 Season, Burke, March

Burke: Out With the Old School

Willoughby Gap from Willoughby

After staying up way too late, the dog woke me up way too early. Springing forward isn’t an issue when you are planning a late start for spring conditions. But the weather looked like it wasn’t going to cooperate with partially cloudy skies and summit temps struggling to get to the forties. I bailed on a planned trip to Mansfield assuming the ridge would not soften. Instead, I got a late start and went to Burke.

It turns out that I could have putzed around at home a little while longer as conditions were still fast and firm in the late morning. During my first ride up the Mid-Burke Express, I shivered a little bit and debated returning to the lodge to replace my wind shirt with a full on jacket. I decided to tough it out and things did finally warm up after a few runs but temperatures never prompted full on spring conditions.

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...is AWESOME!!, 2012-2013 Season, March, Whaleback

Whaleback is AWESOME!!

Whaleback's Face

My only previous visit to Whaleback was eleven years ago, the first season Whaleback was closed. I stopped there en route to my first visit to Jay Peak (oh, how my skiing habits have changed since that visit!). I was a young and inexperienced explorer to New England skiing, but I already knew that I wanted to see all that New England had to offer.

Whaleback caught my eye during that drive up Interstate I-89, so I stopped to quickly explore the base of what was then a lost area. I immediately saw the potential for what I experienced today. I just wish I hadn’t waited so long to get back there. And I couldn’t have picked a finer area or a finer day to finish the last New England area on The List. And unlike many other areas that have been crossed off The List, Whaleback will definitely not be a one and done area.

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2012-2013 Season, March, Suicide Six

Suicide Six: A Resort Amenity

The Face at Suicide Six

At only 650 feet of vertical on paper (I get a hair under 600′ looking at a topo), Suicide Six was the smallest area on The List. It was added arbitrarily as it falls significantly short of my 1150′ minimum. Middlebury College Snow Bowl, Dartmouth Skiway, and Whaleback also fall short of my arbitrary minimum number. However, unlike those other diminutive areas, Suicide Six skis even shorter than its already inflated vertical suggests and can’t quite make up for its lack of stature. It is no wonder that the area thrives as a resort amenity rather than on its own merits.

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