Bolton Valley, VT 17FEB2017

An image showing the depth of snow on the Spell Binder Trail at Bolton Valley Ski Resort in Vermont
Diving into some deep snow at Bolton Valley this morning

Between Winter Storm Orson and Winter Storm Pluto, the past two cycles to hit our area, we’ve picked up almost three feet of snow at our house in the Winooski Valley.  I actually haven’t even been able to consistently check on how much snow has fallen in the local resorts, but it’s been a lotThe Mt. Mansfield Stake has passed the 100-inch mark though, which says a lot about how much snow we’ve been getting recently, and is fantastic for mid-February.

I managed to get out for some turns on Monday morning for Winter Storm Orson, but I’ve been busy this week and haven’t even tried to work more turns into my weekday schedule despite the awesome conditions.  Last night though, some of the backside snow of Winter Storm Pluto was falling, and it got me intrigued to hit the hill again.  Between 6:00 P.M. and midnight we picked up 5 inches of sub-2% H2O at the house.  That’s really rarified fluff that’s way too good to pass up, and I knew that I’d just have to check out how it skied in the morning.

“I dove in and encountered the kind of snow that makes you feel like the bottom of the world is falling out, and you’re dropping down an elevator shaft into infinitely deep feathers.”

Snow from Winter Storm Pluto was still pounding away when I arrived up at Bolton Valley’s Timberline area this morning.  It was quiet, with just a couple other cars in the lot.  The skin track up Twice as Nice wasn’t even in place yet, and I feared that I’d have to break trail, but fortunately Showtime had recently been groomed.  It held about an inch of new snow over the packed base, and I was really thankful for the efforts of the groomers on that one.

I had time for a quick run down Spell Binder, and a probe on the skier’s right of the headwall revealed close to two feet of ridiculously fluffy Champlain Powder™.  I dove in and encountered the kind of snow that makes you feel like the bottom of the world is falling out, and you’re dropping down an elevator shaft into infinitely deep feathers.  So, yeah, last night’s snow analysis told the story, and the snow out there today was indeed incredibly dry.

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