thesnowway.com

Competition for untracked lines has never been higher in New England. The ever elusive top to bottom completely untracked run is a rare thing at most New England resorts and ski areas. Those skiers and riders that often enjoy lots of untracked lines show up early with detailed knowledge of the mountain and its secrets. Fat skis have made powder skiing more accessible to more skiers than ever before. Boundaries are being pushed and novelty comes at a premium. The result is even the tight trees of New England are mostly tracked out by noon time on a powder day.

The lack of adequate untracked powder skiing shows the disconnect between supply and demand. Conditions that are deemed fun are often in high demand as advanced and expert skiers and riders shun the frozen groomed hard pack surfaces available from most lifts. With quickly disappearing untracked on the slopes, expert skiers and riders have taken to the woods in droves. On map glades, thinned out off map glades, and natural skiable trees all hold powder snow much better than on piste slopes. While the off map glades and trees are also lesser known, any powder hound can snuff out all but the most hidden gems after having seen the patterns these glades and tree options follow.

As competition increases, untracked lines have increasingly begun to favor the early bird. One advantage of being a Jay Peak skier is most less dedicated souls from the flatlands can not get out of bed early enough to make first chair. But this is true at any mountain, though Jay’s distance makes the discrepancy between first chair and 10:30 Johnny Come Lately’s all the more prominent. Early birds track up the on piste, followed by the on map glades, and are just starting to move into the off map trees before most metro skiers even arrive at the lodge, much less arrive at the lifts. Early start times and knowledge of the mountains have never been more important for the dedicated powder hound.

Competition will continue to increase as ability, desire, knowledge, and equipment all develop and allow more people more access to great snow conditions. Ten years ago, relatively minor mountain snowfall up to a foot went largely under the radar. But today, internet forums, official web pages, and weather forecasters build up a few inches several days outside the actual event. Upslope snowfall never mentioned on metro television weather forecasts can be accurately predicted days in advanced making weekend powder days a crowded party rather than a solitary epic. The ultimate weapon of the powder hound still remains flexibility of schedule and ability to ski mid-week via what ever means necessary. The lifestyle, career, and family choices skiers and riders make will dictate their relative level of success in scoring big powder days and untracked lines if more proven options such as first chairs, knowledge of the mountain, and mid-week vacation days are not available.