Mother Nature has been dropping a lot of snow on Mansfield as of late, and the powder continues to build up.
We’re in the midst of a fairly snowy stretch here in the Northern Greens, and thanks to the MLK holiday, E and the boys and I were able to head to Stowe for some skiing today. They’d reported up to 4 inches of new snow overnight, and it was still coming down when we arrived at the mountain in the morning. The continued snow was a welcomed sight, but unfortunately there was also an absolutely brutal wind out there today that came along with it. We parked in the Mansfield lot and made our way to the Over Easy as quickly as possible to get out of the wind and over to the Spruce Peak Base Area.
We had some breakfast at the Great Room Grill while we waited for Jack and Norris, who were the reason that Ty and Dylan were so excited for the day. They were going to head off as a foursome on their own, similar to what they’d done last season. It’s hard to beat hanging with your buddies with total freedom on the slopes. That meant that E and I would get to spend some time skiing alone together, which we haven’t done in quite some time.
“Right on one of the cat tracks I checked with my pole and found a healthy 22 inches of snow above the base. It wasn’t all from the current storm, but boy where you found undisturbed snow it was very deep and bottomless.”
The boys headed on their way up Spruce Peak, and E and I were off to Mansfield to ride the Gondola. It seemed like the way to go with those ferocious winds, and everyone at the resort seemed to have the same idea so there was quite a queue. Winds were actually fairly minimal up at the Cliff House itself thanks to its position below the ridge, but I knew that in general the trees would be the place to go to seek protection. We headed toward the Nosedive Glades and found impressive amounts of powder out there. Right on one of the cat tracks I checked with my pole and found a healthy 22 inches of snow above the base. It wasn’t all from the current storm, but boy where you found undisturbed snow it was very deep and bottomless. We didn’t return to the Gondola due to the queue, but headed over to the Mountain Triple Chair and Fourrunner Quad, which were deserted. We found some excellent snow in the Chapel Glades/Birch Glades area; base depths are easily sufficient for those glades. The powder in undisturbed areas was typically in the range of a foot there, being lower on the mountain. We were warmed up enough after that run that we braved the winds on the Fourrunner Quad, and went back into the Nosedive Glades from the other side because the snow had been so good in there.
Deep snow in the Nosedive Glades
We warmed up at the Midway Lodge near the fireplace, and then made another Gondola run to hit some of the terrain in that area since the lift queue had disappeared. We checked out Waterfall and Switchback and found some pretty nice snow. I dipped into a few glades to check them out, and there are some lines that flow, but most need just another storm or two. The boys had called from the Octagon with plans to meet back at the Great Room Grill for lunch, and they made it back well ahead of us and snuck in a bit more skiing on Spruce Peak while they waited.
Tons of snow clinging to the evergreens in the Nosedive Glades
By the time we’d finished lunch it was after 3:00 P.M., but the boys were interested in checking out some of the lines that E and I had skied with the great snow in the Nosedive Glades. Traffic had been pretty light in the afternoon, and with continued snow falling the conditions were excellent. We even sampled a few more glades on the lower mountain on that run; it’s still hit or miss with the current base depths, but there are certainly some decent shots available. On piste conditions were generally a mix of great new snow with a reasonably soft base in areas of low traffic, but firm in areas that had seen typical levels of holiday weekend skiers. Things should only be getting better over the next couple of days with the continued snow; Winter Weather Advisories are already up for the upslope region of the Northern Greens for the snow coming into the area tomorrow.
Snow from the past few days have really put down a nice layer of powder that’s still around in low traffic areas.
Yesterday we picked up a quick inch of snow at the house, but I was surprised to find out that Bolton Valley had received up to 4 inches out of the deal. It was fairly dense snow as well, and combined with more snow from a couple of days ago, that gave them 8 inches in the past 72 hours. I know we haven’t had quite a large enough storm for a real resurfacing of the slopes, and it is a holiday weekend with higher than usual skier traffic levels, but that snow was enough to inspire me to head out for at least a couple of runs today.
It was a real nice winter day to be out in any case, temperatures were comfortably around 30 F as I approached the Bolton Valley Village at 2,100’. Holiday visitors were in full effect, which was great to see for the resort. The upper parking lots in the Village were just about full, but I was able to grab a spot one tier from the bottom thanks to someone who had left. Wilderness and Timberline aren’t yet in operation this season, but the remaining lifts were doing a decent job of supporting the holiday traffic. Even the line at Vista wasn’t past the corral ropes, and it was probably 5 minutes or so of a wait for the quad queues. I hopped in the singles queue since I was solo, and that was just a couple of minutes.
Welcomed holiday visitors patronizing Bolton Valley today
Being solo, I rode with other parties and got to hear their conversations, and everyone seemed happy with the conditions. Steeper trails with manmade snow had the usual sort of firm surfaces you’d expect without a decent resurfacing in a while, but it was well up above where things would be post-thaw thanks to the recent snows. There are some new additions to the trail lineup, with Hard Luck available thanks to manmade snow. I headed right there on my first run, and the middle 80% was pretty much the slick sort of surface you’d expect from snowmaking and traffic on a steep slope, but the sides held plenty of loose snow, both from the natural over the past few days and whatever skiers had pushed there. Unfortunately, there were still some large chunks leftover from snowmaking, grooming, or whatever, and they weren’t ice, but they were pretty firm and really marred what would otherwise be some excellent conditions on the sides.
“That was where I really hit gold. There had been no snowmaking to deteriorate the natural snow, and there was a substantial base with generally 7 to 8 inches of powder on top. In some places there was as much as a foot of loose snow.”
I picked my way down the first half of Hard Luck along the edge, and then dove into the Hard Luck trees to find ample base and another 8+ inches of powder atop that. The total snowpack depth in there is still just shy of 18 inches, so it’s not quite game on, but you could hit some of the cleaner lines if you wanted to, and people had certainly been doing that. My plan was actually to continue on through to Show Off, since it was open below the Hard Luck crossover, and it looked really good from the lift. That was where I really hit gold. There had been no snowmaking to deteriorate the natural snow, and there was a substantial base with generally 7 to 8 inches of powder on top. In some places there was as much as a foot of loose snow. Few skiers had actually been though there, so there was plenty of powder turns left of the taking. It was so good that I immediately hit it again on my next run, that time starting from the very top Hard Luck connection that was open. The resort has unfortunately left some higher brush on Show Off so that limited a few lines, but those should be available with another foot or two of snow.
On the lower mountain I made my way over to Snowflake to check out how those trails were doing, but the trails to the south of the lift were roped off, so that left Butterscotch as the main route. Skier’s right of Butterscotch held some decent snow, but there was still some contamination from manmade snow, and the powder wasn’t as deep as higher on the mountain so it couldn’t quite compare. I also checked out Glades on the lower mountain, which has opened on natural snow. It’s seen a lot of traffic, so even it has firm surfaces in the middle, and something similar to Butterscotch along the sides without any manmade snow.
Our next storm is closing in as Whiteface Disappears into the clouds
It was definitely worth the trip today for those turns on Show Off though; it made me wonder what the powder turns were like for those hiking at Wilderness or the backcountry network. I suspect sheltered spots at similar elevations are providing some great turns. I stopped in at the Bolton Valley Deli & Grocery and ordered some sandwiches to bring home, and by the time I was heading down the hill the Timberline shuttle bus was running and there were already three rows of cars in the Timberline lot. That’s more great news for the resort considering that they had to be closed for much of the holiday week. We’ve got another storm coming into the area tonight, and we should be in a rather snowy regime right through Wednesday, so I expect we’ll see some improving conditions and additional trails opening. Clouds were already lowering when I was at the mountain when I was out, and by the look of the local radar snow is just about on our doorstep as I write this.
My first sign of ski tracks today confirmed that I’d be able to find some decent powder turns on the slopes of Bolton Valley’s Timberline area.
The Alberta Clipper system that affected the area yesterday was expected to drop fairly modest amounts of snow in the 3 to 6-inch range, but I began to suspect we might do a bit better than that when the snowfall really cranked up in some areas last night. When we’d already picked up half a foot by late evening here at the house, I planned to check the mountain reports in the morning before heading off to work. Bolton Valley was reporting 5 to 7 inches of snow, and although it was very dry, Champlain Powder™ fluff (2 to 5% H2O based on my analyses down at the house), that was just enough accumulation to convince me to stop by the mountain to check it out. The base snow is very firm right now, but with fat skis and appropriate terrain, there would likely be some good turns out there.
The season has been off to an incredibly slow start, but today I finally decided to pay a visit to the Timberline area for some turns. I found 4 to 5 inches of new snow in the Timberline lot at 1,500’, which jived nicely with the report of 5 to 7 inches higher up at the main base area. There were a couple of cars in the lot, and a skin track heading up along the usual Twice as Nice route. A quick survey of Twice as Nice revealed the most protected powder along the skier’s left of trail, and the lone skier who had descended Twice as Nice earlier had made a good choice in that regard. Looking for something with a fairly consistent but mellow pitch, I made my way over to Spell Binder just below the headwall. The combination of powder and pitch was just what I was looking for, and there was a descent track already in place from a previous skier that confirmed that.
The sight of some nice turns on Spell Binder this morning
With the super dry snow, I was easily touching down on intermediate pitches, and even at times on mellower pitches, but the fat skis certainly helped keep me afloat and the turns were really fun. It was certainly worth a quick trip. We’re not quite to the land of bottomless powder skiing glory yet, but the weather pattern at least looks decent going forward with chances for storms. Timberline will still need a decent synoptic storm with an inch of liquid equivalent or so, or a few smaller events, before the resort could open the terrain without snowmaking.
The higher elevations took on a coating of rime as Winter Storm Goliath pulled away.
There was another inch or two of snow from Winter Storm Goliath overnight, and after finding some decent turns yesterday up at Bolton Valley, I contemplated another visit to see what the new snow had done to the overall conditions. It was a fairly nice day in the valley today – temperatures edged a bit above freezing and the stormy conditions of yesterday had moved out. It was cloudy, and we had occasion bouts of snow giving the area that snow globe atmosphere that is more typical of the Northern Greens in winter.
I finally got around to heading up to the mountain in the midafternoon period, and the weather in the Bolton Valley Village was quite a contrast to what we experienced yesterday. The air was calm, the temperature was just below freezing, and I was quickly dropping layers as I began my ascent of the skin track on Lower Turnpike. There appeared to be about an inch of new snow at Village elevation, and there was also some rime on the trees as I ascended that gave everything quite a wintry look.
To explore something a bit different than yesterday, I got off Lower Turnpike at the junction with Wilderness Lift Line, and made my way over toward Work Road, Lower Crossover, and eventually Fanny Hill. Testing snow depths revealed a general 6 to 9 inches of snow in most areas, and it had set up a bit in the higher elevations where it was colder. As was the case yesterday, the best turns were in those sheltered areas along the edges of trails. The upper part of Fanny Hill had seen very little traffic, so I had my pick of lines and got in some nice turns. I quickly got into more tracks lower down, but still managed to get some untouched snow off to the skier’s left. That area conveniently held some of the best powder as well. I peeked into the trees here and there, but they’re really not ready yet aside from a few of the milder pitches – another inch of liquid equivalent will get a good chunk of the lower angle trees going. The lower half of the mountain actually offered the best overall snow since it was just a bit warmer and the snow hadn’t set up as much. I talked with some other folks in the parking lot who had been ski touring and they agreed. I could actually see groomed terrain offering some very nice turns today where this dense snow had been tilled.
Like we’d experienced in the valley, there were some pleasant bouts of snow on my tour today as part of the next system affecting the area. We’ve actually got a series of small systems expected to hit the area over the next several days, so hopefully the mountains will work their magic with the snow showers and enhance the ski conditions even more.
E enjoys a bit of fresh snow for the holiday week.
We’ve had a decent buildup to Winter Storm Goliath over the past several days because it was expected to be the first widespread winter storm to hit the Northeast this season. The forecasts were spot on with an initial burst of heavy snow in the wee hours of Monday night, as snow began to fall not too long after midnight, and by the time I made my 6:00 A.M. weather observations there were 4.3 inches on the boards here at the house. Early morning reports from the mountains weren’t actually all that much greater than our total in the valley, topping out around a half a foot, but the snow was certainly going to do a decent job of resurfacing the slopes – my liquid analysis showed the snow coming in at a hefty 13.0% H2O. That’s actually a great way to start building a natural base of snow.
“I could tell that in the appropriate areas the snow was going to offer those surfy, buttery powder turns that you get atop a good dense snowfall.”
We were getting set to head up to Bolton Valley for some turns around noontime when we hit a very unexpected snag – Ty put on one of his Telemark boots and immediately let out a boisterous “Whoa, that’s tight!” Apparently kids his age grow. Ty likes his boots really tight, so for him to say that was a bad sign, there was no way he was going to be able to ski in those boots. E quickly offered him one of her new boots, and it was a great fit. Ty was of course elated to have the chance to try out E’s sweet ski boots, but of course that left her without a pair. Let’s just say that it’s fortunate for us that trash day is Thursday. E’s old Telemark boots had been sitting around for a couple of years, and after finally bringing them to OGE last week for consignment and finding out that they were just too beat up for them to even accept them, it seemed like it was time to give them the heave-ho. Desperate times call for certain types of measures, so into the trash I went this afternoon, and the old Garmonts came back into service. Ty actually tried them on and found that even those were too tight, so “conveniently” he somehow still wound up with E’s nice new boots and E donned her old ones. Needless to say, a trip to OGE is going to be in order to see what we can find for Ty in the Tele boot department.
The precipitation we encountered was generally sleet as we headed up to the resort, and we got a pretty good sandblasting with pellets driven by a strong wind in the Bolton Valley parking lot. There generally seemed to be 3 to 4 inches of new snow at Village elevation, but there was also plenty of drifting due to the strong winds, so it was hard to get a good estimate. The process of being blasted by sleet pellets tamed down as we began skinning up the sheltered slopes of Lower Turnpike, and after gaining a couple hundred feet of elevation, depth checks revealed 5 to 7 inches of dense snow along the sheltered areas on the climber’s right of the trail. Even on Lower Turnpike, there were still some areas that were wind packed and or showed reduced snow depths due to stripped snow, but I could tell that in the appropriate areas the snow was going to offer those surfy, buttery powder turns that you get atop a good dense snowfall. The boys stopped their ascent at the junction with Wilderness Lift Line and jumped into the woods to play in the snow, but E and I continued on up to the base of the headwall on Cougar to get into some of the typically good snow that sits there. As we neared the top of our ascent I was finding pockets of 8 to 10 inches of snow in the best spots, but even half that amount was plenty to keep you well off the subsurface with the density of this storm’s snow.
After a quick break, E and I began our descent, sampling the snow along the skier’s left of Cougar and finding some reasonably soft lines in the dense accumulations. As E descended I took the opportunity to get in a first test of ski action photography using the Canon EOS 7D Mark II with the Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L USM lens. I’ve been looking for a really bright lens to supplement my Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM workhorse – especially for dark storm days like this near the solstice. Although it’s a prime lens, 50 mm on an APS-C camera is in a pretty nice spot with respect to focal length for my type of ski action photos. And, it’s hard to argue about the monstrous light-gathering ability of an f/1.2 lens – wide open it’s more than an 11-fold increase over my f/4 lens, so it should be able to handle even the darkest of storm days. Obviously shooting action photos wide open at f/1.2 with its razor thin depth of field isn’t necessarily going to be practical, but even stopping down to a respectable f/2 is going give me a four-fold increase in brightness and the ability to hit action-stopping shutter speeds in lower light without having to crank up the ISO too high. Today I started off with a reasonable f/2.8 and a locked shutter speed of 1/1000 sec, and an ISO of only 250 was required. After looking at the images, I’ve got nothing to complain about so far; the focal length is looking like it’s going to be great, and the lens has got that beautiful color retention and contrast you’d expect from one of Canon’s L-series lenses.
“Dylan was back on his game of trying to one-up me with his Telemark turns, but I had my fat skis today, and boy were they the right tool for the dense snow.”
There was certainly some variability in the snow due to areas affected by the wind and dense precipitation types, but the sheltered spots yielded some very nice turns. When we’d made it down to the boy’s elevation we found that they had already put away their skins and were just about ready to go – that was a pleasant surprise. Dylan was back on his game of trying to one-up me with his Telemark turns, but I had my fat skis today, and boy were they the right tool for the dense snow. They made that beautifully stable platform that kept you up in the upper reaches of the powder, but still let you slice your way into it. I’d say the most consistently good powder turns were in the upper reaches where E and I began our descent, but there were some nice turns to be had lower down as well. Ty was unfortunately off his game a bit due to a sore leg, but Dylan had some beautiful carves and was working hard on fast transitions from turn to turn as he followed me into some of the best lines along the skier’s left of the trail.
Dylan in one of his smooth Telemark carves today
I’d heard that the James Moore Tavern was going to be open for business this weekend, but I guess they changed that plan because we found it closed, and instead headed for some food at the Bolton Valley Deli & Grocery. The resort was pretty quiet in general, with just a few skiers around hitting the slopes and enjoying the new snow with a bit of extra solitude. There was plenty of snow being made on the slopes of the main mountain today, and combined with this natural accumulation (which added up to over an inch of liquid even down at our place in the valley) they should be in good shape to handle lift-served levels of traffic on the terrain they open. We’re getting into a much more wintry weather pattern now, so this storm should serve as a good base for the start of the season’s snowpack.
This morning though, I was feeling notably better, and it seemed like a trip to the snow would be in order. Assessing what I’d seen for coverage on the Bolton Valley Web Cam at 2,100’, and comparing the pictures that Powderfreak posted yesterday from ~2,500’ on Mansfield, it looked like Stowe had picked up the better accumulations, so I set my sights there. Around midday I was ready to head out. I knew that the snow wasn’t going to be dry in the lower elevations, because temperatures were already well up into the 40s F, but even if the snow turned out to be sticky, I’d still get a nice hike out of the deal.
The first traces of snow along the Mountain Road appeared in the 900’ – 1,000’ elevation range just below The Matterhorn, and up at the Mansfield Base Lodge there was about an inch of patchy wet snow. A quick survey of the area had shown me that North Slope had some of the best-looking coverage, and apparently, that was because the resort had actually made some snow there. I threw my skis on my pack, unsure of whether or not I’d be skinning, and headed up the stairs to the base of the lifts. I just happened to run into Claire and Luc, who were up because Luc was anxious to get in some turns on the available snow. We hiked together at various stages, and since she was hiking back down, Claire stopped at the Crossover elevation while I switched over to skins, and Luc and I continued up to the top of the next pitch of North Slope around 2,400’. There were actually a fair number of people out and about for the “day after” the storm, but I guess it wasn’t too surprising with the nice warm temperatures.
One of many folks out enjoying the day at Stowe
Luc headed down before me to catch up with Claire, and when I finally started my descent, I found out that the snow conditions were quite good. I’d been worried about the warm weather making a mess of the snow, but the combination of natural and manmade snow, along with some skier traffic, turned a good portion of the route into dense, spring-like snow that skied very well. I hit Tele turns where the snow was good, stuck in some alpine turns where conditions were more variable, and had quite a good ride for a quick outing. We’ve got a warmer week coming up, with highs in the mountains generally in the 40s F, but it looks like we might have more cold and snow as we head toward the weekend and Thanksgiving week, so we’ll see what chances that period brings for additional turns. For now though, I’d say there’s enough snow on North Slope to last through some warm days for people interested in earning some turns this week.
Temperatures were around the freezing mark in the valley, but dropped into the 20s F up in the higher elevations. I swung past Timberline and found about 3-4” of new snow there, but I kept going up to the main base area, planning to use the Wilderness ascent route. It was in the mid 20s F, blowing, and indeed downright wintry up in the Village. I made my way over to the base of Wilderness, and broke trail up the ascent route, since nobody had been out in that area before me. There really wasn’t any noticeable difference between the accumulation of new snow up there above 2,000’, and I found essentially the same depth as I did at the base of Timberline and even our house, so there wasn’t too much elevation dependence with this snowfall. This was actually my first time getting to use the official ascent route on Wilderness since it’s been in place. I stuck to the climbers left where the signs are, although my usual preference up there is on the climber’s right for whatever reason. I can’t figure out if it’s because it feels more sheltered or what.
I ascended to near the mid station elevation, switched over, and started my descent. The snow was reasonably dense, so with my 115 mm AMPerages it was easy to float on the available snow. There were a few scoured spots due to the winds, so I did touch down in a few of those however. I skied a bit of the Wilderness Woods, but with the contours in there, the wind had actually scoured a few more spots, so I quickly returned to Lower Turnpike. It was a nice run, certainly nothing epic, but there was some good powder skiing, I got in a quick workout, and naturally it was a great way to start the day.
Back down in the valley, snow totals had fallen off west of Bolton Flats, and in the town of Bolton itself it only looked like there was an inch or two of new snow. Snow totals seemed the least in the zone heading westward from Bolton to around Richmond, and then they increased again as I got into the Champlain Valley. I’m not sure exactly why the snow stuck to the trees so well in the Burlington area relative to other towns to the east, but it was unquestionably the most picturesque area I saw west of the mountains. Eyewall’s pictures do a great job of showing how beautiful this snowfall was in the Burlington area.
After fresh powder overnight an into the morning, the sun came out this afternoon to provide some great skiing up at Bolton Valley
The local ski resorts here in the Northern Greens picked up about a half foot of snow from a storm that started overnight, and by early this morning the snow levels even dropped down to the bottoms of the valleys. Since everyone in the family has been a bit under the weather this week with a cold that seemed to focus on stuffy noses, we were generally taking it easy this morning and resting up. By that afternoon I was feeling decent though, so I decided to head up to the mountain to check out the new powder and catch a couple of runs.
The sun was just starting to come out in spots as I left the house in mid afternoon, and as I headed up the Bolton Valley Access Road I could see the last flakes from the storm blowing lightly through the air. I’d opted to head all the way up the main mountain based on the strong elevation dependence of this recent storm, and I grabbed a spot in the top parking lot from someone who had already left. The winds up high were sufficient to keep the Vista Quad from running, so I walked right over to Wilderness for a run. The sun was really starting to come out and produces some wonderful views of the fresh snow, but it was still cold like mid winter, with temperatures around 20 F. I decided to take a run through White Rabbit as I’d done last Saturday, and found that the storm had totally erased any signs of previous tracks. Indeed the snow was right in line with the report, as there was roughly a half foot of powder out there. Although the powder turns on White Rabbit were fine, I’d already encountered some potentially challenging conditions in some places where the subsurface snow hadn’t fully refrozen, so you could sink down through the new powder and get into some mush. In a way it was a really good excuse to call on the extra floatation of fat skis, although I’d just brought my midfat Teles today. They worked fine, although once I got down toward the end of Snow Hole I found that the lower elevation meant less freezing of the underlying snow and more potential to punch through the soft subsurface. The main traveled areas of Snow Hole were skiing fine though, so I just stuck with the spots that had previously been packed and skied. Lower Turnpike was skiing beautifully, as was the Wilderness Lift Line based on the quiet sounds of people making their turns while I was on the lift.
Sampling the Outlaw Woods today
For my next run I headed up Wilderness again, and this time visited the Outlaw Woods. The subsurface there in untouched areas was less secure than what I’d found on White Rabbit, and perhaps that was due to more exposure to the sun. With the Vista Quad down on wind hold, I cut left at the Wilderness Mid Station and headed over to some of the Vista trails to see how they were skiing with no traffic. The trails were awesome with the packed surface underneath, and a few fresh inches on top. I caught some turns at the bottom of Hard Luck and they were fantastic – it probably would have been worth a skin up to higher on Vista, but I hadn’t brought my skins since I’d planned to take it pretty easy as I recuperated from being under the weather this week. I made my way over to the Snowflake Summit and found Snowflake Bentley totally untracked, so I put a nice signature down that and then headed onto Lower Bentley to do virtually the same thing. From there I just skied down past the townhouses and back to the parking lot. It should be interesting to see how the skiing shapes up for tomorrow with the way it’s cooling down tonight – it might actually improve the powder skiing in the lower elevations if that subsurface tightens up.
Elisabeth is ready for some storm day action in the trees today at Stowe.
The weather shifted into a bit of a spring-like pattern this past week, with temperatures getting above freezing even in the mountains. Knowing that the snow had tightened up as colder temperatures moved back in by Thursday and Friday, we didn’t ski yesterday, but instead waited until today when Mother Nature brought in our latest winter storm. The storm actually started up yesterday at a rather modest pace, and accumulations were generally just 3 to 5 inches at the resorts as of this morning. It was a high water content snow though, and it really held the potential to cover up the underlying subsurface. And, that snow even continued to fall throughout the morning at a more fervent pace, so the prospects for bottomless powder this afternoon were looking very good.
“I was amazed at how good the snow was; we knew the surface powder was going to be good, but it really seemed like traffic had been light in there because even the packed snow underneath was really quite nice.”
We arrived at the mountain early enough to take a quick run off the Sunny Spruce Quad before ski program began, and we could tell that the mountain had already received a nice resurfacing. Trails that people had skied showed a few firm areas, but anywhere that hadn’t been touched was beautiful. When the lower slopes of Spruce Peak have been resurfaced, you know that the slopes of Mt. Mansfield are going to be excellent. As I looked over toward The Chin and saw how the Gondola simply disappeared into the snowfall, I knew we were going to make our way over there in short order.
One look over toward the snowy air obscuring the gondola let me know that Mt. Mansfield was getting more fresh snow.
Today’s group was one of our biggest of the season, with Ty, Dylan, me, Joe, Ethan, Luc, Elisabeth, Kenny, Jack, Wiley, Johan, Julia, and big Luke it numbered 13. Last Sunday we hiked up into the Mt. Mansfield alpine, and it was tough to manage at times with a group that size, but with today being a storm day we were staying down low and I expected it to be much easier. Today Joe and I assigned everyone a buddy that they were to keep tabs on as well; since we’d be skiing a lot (as it turned out, almost exclusively) in the trees, we definitely wanted that system in place. It’s just too easy for folks to get separated when tree skiing, and the bigger the group, the harder it gets to keep everyone relatively coalesced.
Joe shows how it’s done today as he negotiates one of the ice falls on Ravine.
Once gathered we headed right over to the Gondola and were surprised to find a rather large queue sticking right out of the lower terminal. There was a big AIG event going on, but we suspected the line was in part due to folks riding the Gondola to stay out of the wind. Elisabeth told us that it was really windy on the Fourrunner Quad, and I could tell that today was going to be a windy one even when we were on Sunny Spruce. It was a perfect day to stay in the shelter of the trees, so our first run was down Ravine. I was amazed at how good the snow was; we knew the surface powder was going to be good, but it really seemed like traffic had been light in there because even the packed snow underneath was really quite nice. Ravine is in excellent condition as one would expect this time of year, with many of the ice falls looking rather small because so much snow has piled in. Everyone tackled the large ice fall well, and each person did it in their own style as I shot photos. Some of us made forays into the powder in the trees off to the sides of the main ravine, and that powder was sweet. Although in spots, the trails bore the firmness that suggested temperatures had risen above freezing at some point, with the off piste skiing it was really hard to tell.
Dylan was a total tree skiing master today as he blasted through any and all openings with sniper-like precision.
We might have stayed for another run on the Gondola were it not for that surprisingly long lift queue, but leaving meant that we were quickly on to my other plans for the day. With the Fourrunner Quad really getting up there into today’s winds, I decided that we should stay low and work the trees off the Mountain Triple Chair to see how the snow was faring down there. We started off heading through the Chapel Glades, and as soon as I got off into the untracked powder outside the main lines, I knew that we’d found an activity that would keep us going the whole afternoon. The group proceeded to work just about every segment of off piste terrain from that southern end of the mountain, and there was so much untracked powder that even our group of 13 was going back to areas more than once.
“Whether it’s the awesome coverage, the great snow, or their abilities hitting their stride as we get into the latter part of the season, the students seem to be firing on all cylinders.”
Whether or not it was the buddy system helping out, or the newer members of the group simply learning our typical dynamic and modus operandi, things just worked today. As large as it was, the group somehow meshed and there was no splintering or wandering. Folks knew just when to wait (such as when we’d encounter a trail) and when someone crashed or got stuck in the powder, people always chipped in and helped them right out. One thing I’m very excited about is that everyone’s tree skiing is now at a level where I can take them on just about anything without much forethought. If I see a chunk of terrain that looks interesting, I just dive in and say let’s go. If we come upon cliffs, or drainage traps, or denser areas of trees, it doesn’t matter because everyone can handle it. I have to say that I was thoroughly impressed by everyone’s skiing today. Whether it’s the awesome coverage, the great snow, or their abilities hitting their stride as we get into the latter part of the season, the students seem to be firing on all cylinders.
“That boy can really ski trees.”
Dylan was sticking with me a lot so I got to watch him ski, and he was simply on fire today. I was blasting through what I thought were some tricky lines, and he was always right there if he wanted to follow me. Sometimes he’d go first and I was just amazed at the lines he’d take. He was just gliding effortlessly through whatever came his way today; it didn’t matter how tight or open the vegetation was, he was just making it all look like he was out for a Sunday stroll. That boy can really ski trees.
“…I hit the first drop of probably 6 to 8 feet right down onto another pillow, and from there the line just flowed with fresh powder…”
One of my favorite times today was somewhere in the woods near Gulch. We’d just come down through Upper T-Line and cut our way southward into a new set of trees. Everyone was choosing their own unique paths, and Wiley had followed me to skiers left as we all approached a band off cliffs and ledges that represented a cumulative drop of probably 50-100 feet. The area that Wiley and I had was all untracked, and it was steep with some pillow drops. I told Wiley to come along as I hit the first drop of probably 6 to 8 feet right down onto another pillow, and from there the line just flowed with fresh powder right down until the terrain began to mellow out. Wiley did a great job getting down through there, and indeed everyone had managed to find their own way through the steep terrain. Watching everyone make quick work of such a challenging chunk of terrain and quickly regroup when we hit the next trail below really epitomized the way that the afternoon played out. If we can keep everyone on this wavelength and in synch the way they are, our group is going to have a lot of fun going forward. Today it seemed like every off piste shot I chose delivered great terrain and untracked snow in spades. So indeed I love it when a plan comes together, but it’s even better when it brings the group together, and that’s exactly what seemed to happen today.
We had some breakfast at the Great Room Grill while we waited for Jack and Norris, who were the reason that Ty and Dylan were so excited for the day. They were going to head off as a foursome on their own, similar to what they’d done last season. It’s hard to beat hanging with your buddies with total freedom on the slopes. That meant that E and I would get to spend some time skiing alone together, which we haven’t done in quite some time.
