Catching some fresh tracks down from the top of Snowflake Bentley today
After a slow stretch of winter weather for much of February, the last third of the month has been picking up in that department. Three systems have been forecast to come through the area, each one with the potential for more snow in the mountains. The first one came through Tuesday night into yesterday, and dropped 1.7” of snow here at the house and a few inches in the mountains. The second system started up yesterday, and as of this morning we’d only picked up some rain here in the valley, but it was definitely a step up in accumulation for the northern mountains.
With only rain down here in the valley, it was difficult to assess what the mountains had picked up for snow around 6:00 A.M. when I was trying to make the decision about taking some runs, but fortunately Stowe was out with a nice early report indicating at least 5” up high. With fairly high snow levels, I wasn’t surprised to see that it was a steep accumulation gradient with elevation; Stowe was only reporting 1” new at the base. Still, the high-elevation number of 5” was enough for me to suspect that the main mountain at Bolton, which is all at 2,000’+, would be in great shape, so I prepared my gear and decided to stop in up at the mountain on the way to Burlington.
It was interesting to find that it was actually snowing way down at the base of the Bolton Valley Access Road (340’), but there was just a skiff of new white there. In fact, the snow line for getting into to good snow was actually pretty high. Even up at 1,000’ on the access road I’d say there wasn’t much more than a dusting of new snow, and there was probably only an inch up at the Timberline Base at 1,500’. In the Village at 2,100’ I found 2-3” of new snow on the ground, although that was probably the accumulation from the last two days because the cars that appeared to have spent the night in the lot probably had an inch or so on them. The temperature there at the main base was 31 F, and light snow was falling.
I was only about 30 minutes away from the opening of the Vista Quad when I started skinning up the mountain, so I stuck to the Wilderness side to stay out of the way of any potential downhill traffic. Wilderness wasn’t scheduled to open until 10:00 A.M., so I had a good cushion of time. The 2-3” of snow I’d seen at the base grew to 4-5” at ~2,500’ as I headed up Fanny Hill. I made my way toward Upper Crossover, and stopped my ascent at the top of Bolton Outlaw. Up there at around 3,000’, new snow depths were in the 5-6” range. It was past 8:30 A.M. by that point, and I was just starting to hear the hoots and hollers of folks descending off Vista, so I didn’t linger long before I dropped in to see how the turns were going to be.
The powder was medium weight, not sticky at all, but with plenty of substance. Still, I was touching down in spots, so it wasn’t completely bottomless with the steepness of Bolton Outlaw. Turns were great though, and if this is just a taste of what’s to come when the third storm gets here, the next couple of days are going to be great on the slopes. I continued on down to the Wilderness Lift Line, where turns became bottomless with the slightly lesser pitch. Nobody had been down to Wilderness by that point, so it was first tracks all the way down until I merged into the Vista Trails.
Catching first tracks on the Wilderness Lift Line today
I decided to stick around for another couple lift-served runs, and first hit Hard Luck. It had seen a few tracks, but the turns were excellent. I cut through to Show Off, which was untracked at the point, and the turns were generally bottomless. I finished off with a run below the Vista Quad above the Jungle Jib. I opted for Vermont 200 on my next run, where I actually found the snow depths topping out around 7”. I hit some woods, and then cut across on Deer Run to get to the top of Snowflake. I combined the top part of Snowflake Bentley, which was about half groomed and provided some nice turns, with Lower Foxy, which allowed me to ski past the Wentworth Condos and out the access road. The powder was excellent almost all the way back down to the main base, although I’d say the last couple hundred vertical were just a little thick – certainly enough that I noticed. It was easy to see that the main mountain was the place to be though; dropping down to the elevations of Wilderness would likely have seen a dramatic decrease in both the quantity and quality of the powder.
A touch of snow remained among the "UVM bushes" this morning.
The temperature was still at 31 F when I was leaving the mountain, and the light snow continued to fall as it has the entire time I was at the mountain. The temperature was in the mid 30s F back down in the Winooski Valley, and on the way into Burlington, I saw that there were actually pockets of accumulation even in the lower elevations, with a decent coating in Richmond, and another good coating at the I-89 rest area in Williston. There were even a few pockets of accumulation visible at UVM.
Despite this winter’s low snowfall so far, the snowpack is quite deep along the high elevations of the Catamount Ski Trail and Bolton Valley’s backcountry network.
I parked down at the edge of the tennis court lots as usual, made my way up to the Wilderness Lift, and connected over to Heavenly Highway from the Wilderness Summit. Snow conditions were very much like yesterday – I checked the depth of the powder atop the base snow along Heavenly Highway and found it to be around 9 to 10 inches. The big change from yesterday was that there was nobody out on the backcountry network trails – Monday afternoon on a holiday weekend must have meant that most people had already headed home.
“It was so quiet that even the nearly silent shuffling of my skins through the snow had me feeling like a marching band crashing through a sleepy town in the middle of the night.”
Once past that first glade along the Catamount Trail, I was into what was for me, uncharted territory. I continued along the trail, which gradually rose as it headed generally north-northwest toward Bolton Mountain. One of the most impressive aspects of this part of the trail was seeing the impressive depths of snow that have built up, in what has really been a very low season for snowfall. The general area below the Catamount Trail junction with Raven’s Wind, which is sheltered like parts of Heavenly Highway, revealed evergreens that were just choked, buried, and ensconced with snow. Around every corner I was finding fantastic, gravity-defying deposits of powder. Once past the junction with Raven’s Wind, which marks the last outpost of Bolton’s backcountry network, the Catamount Trail began to level off and skirt along the eastern edge of Bolton Mountain. At over 3,300’ in elevation, this area marks the highest point on the entire Catamount Trail.
Ski tracks leading to the Cotton Brook area provide a rough sense of the snow conditions out along the Catamount Trail today.
I contoured along the southeast face of Bolton Mountain as the trail switched to a northeasterly direction; I couldn’t see the summit of Bolton Mountain (3,680’) through all the evergreens, but the steep rise in the terrain off to my left let me know that it was looming up there about 400’ vertical feet above me. As I continued to scan the elevated terrain to my left, I quickly noticed that the density of the evergreens had become sparser, and I began to see potential ski lines through the trees. I eventually decided that I’d gone far enough out on the trail for the day, and chose a spot to ascend a bit and see if I could start my descent up in the trees above me. The terrain was fairly steep, but there was that consolidated base below that top layer of powder, so I wasn’t wallowing in bottomless fluff as I broke trail. With the evergreens all around me, the air was deathly still. It was so quiet that even the nearly silent shuffling of my skins through the snow had me feeling like a marching band crashing through a sleepy town in the middle of the night. I continued generally westward and upward, following what looked to be the most open lines through the trees. The terrain began to flatten out ahead of me, and I could see on my GPS that I was approaching the Long Trail along the ridgeline; I decided that that was a good goal to mark as my turnaround point. I know that I was very close to meeting up with the trail when I finally stopped my ascent, as I was definitely on the ridgeline and the land clearly began to drop off to the west. I was tempted to go a little farther and make the trail connection, but it just didn’t seem worth it to lose elevation. It was after 3:00 P.M., I was well away from the Catamount Trail, and I was alone. It was at least generally downhill back to the Catamount Trail from my location, and there was no need to push my luck.
“Some trees even displayed that hanging moss that I’ve often seen in the mountains of the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia…”
I stripped off my skins and reversed my course, traveling along generally flat, ridgeline terrain at first, and negotiation a steep south-facing gully as well. When I’d finished crossing the flattest terrain and could see that I was about to begin the descent to the Catamount Trail, I stopped in a comfortable spot and pulled out some of my food supplies. I ate a Clif Bar and had a couple rounds of the hot tomato soup that I’d packed in my thermos like yesterday. That absolutely hit the spot. I definitely needed the recharge after throwing in all that extra trail breaking on top of the ascent of the Catamount Trail. The energy expenditure had been enough that I was getting a bit drained, and I definitely wanted something in the tank for the descent. Once I stopped moving, the silence around me was redoubled, and it was indeed eerily quiet. Such is the scene at times when one is alone in the deep woods of winter.
Catching a line through the trees high on Bolton Mountain
I packed up my food and gear and began the real descent through the evergreens. There were indeed some reasonably open spaces and nice turns, but it was steep enough that it really would have been better with deeper powder for the available tree spacing. The 9 to 10 inches that were there were OK, but I’d say something around 18 inches would be more appropriate. And, although the natural lines through the trees were good, they could be dramatically enhanced just by clearing off the all the dead branches that were still on the lower parts of the evergreens. That would be a great off-season project for someone to tackle, and the process could continue right on down below the Catamount Trailas well, because the terrain just keeps going. In any event, even in its natural state I’m keeping that terrain in mind for a place to visit after a reasonably big dump with depths of powder that will fit the pitch and spacing of the trees.
I popped out on the Catamount Trail and had begun to head back toward the resort, when I ran into the first pair of people I’d seen all day. It was a couple of younger guys, and they asked me if I knew the area. I said that I knew it fairly well, but when they asked me what lay to the north of where we were, I told them that that was out of my range of knowledge – I was currently the farthest north I’d ever been on this section of trail. In terms of descents, I said that I’d recommend descending back in the Cotton Brook area if they were unsure of where they were, because I knew that one could ascend back out of there quite easily. It was likely that one could traverse and get out from areas to the north as well, but one never knows just what the terrain would be like until they’re actually in there. I’m not sure what they ended up doing, but since it was well after 3:00 P.M. by that point, I hope they made an appropriate choice.
Views of countless snow-covered evergreens and even hanging moss as I travel through the high elevations of the Catamount Trail
I was tempted to do a little extra exploration on my return trip, especially as I looked at the vast expanse of evergreens below me. Some trees even displayed that hanging moss that I’ve often seen in the mountains of the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia; as if the deep snowpack wasn’t enough, the sight of the moss seemed to me like a real testament to just how much precipitation falls in the higher elevations of the Northern Greens. As much as it would have been nice to poke around, ultimately I wasn’t willing to explore a descent down into the Cotton Brook area with the time of day, so I descended back toward the resort on the Catamount Trail itself. The trail isn’t very wide, so the descent below Raven’s Wind was quite a hoot. Let’s just say that I’m glad that I didn’t “run” into anyone ascending at that time of day. It’s definitely an exhilarating descent back toward the main glade though if you can catch it without any uphill traffic. I enjoyed a descent of the main glade back toward the Cotton Brook Trail junction, but despite the decent amount of powder, the combination of tracked snow, irregular surface underneath, and some previously work by the sun, made it rather challenging and nothing special in terms of flow. It’s definitely time for another storm.
I cruised quickly back along the Catamount Trail to the Bryant Cabin area, and headed right onto Gardiner’s Lane and North Slope. I was determined to find that glade that I’d missed with E and the boys yesterday, and after a bit of searching, I did. I made another mental note on the entrance to set myself up for next time, and had a fun ride down through there. When I finally got back down to the lower Nordic trails, I saw a couple of other people, but amazingly that was it for the entire tour of almost six miles. I can’t wait for my next chance to get out in the farther reaches of the Catamount Trail and explore it further.
Enjoying some turns in one of the glades off the Catamount Trail
During yesterday’s outing at Bolton, we found decent powder above roughly the 2,000’ level, and ended up skiing several laps off Wilderness to take advantage of the good snow. With that in mind, we decided to head out onto the backcountry network today to get in some additional powder skiing. The plan was to begin by riding the Wilderness Lift for a quick elevation assist, then transit on Heavenly Highway to a glade along the Catamount Trail that I’d last skied on January 22nd, 2011. I’ve brought Ty out on Heavenly Highway before, but this would be the first opportunity to get out there with the whole family at once, so that aspect was very exciting. Dylan’s touring range has grown by leaps and bounds over the past couple of seasons, and it seemed like he was ready for a tour this size. With a planned route that would encompass 4 to 5 miles, it would likely be the longest ski tour that either of the boys had done, but with a mile of distance and 1,000’ of vertical coming from the Wilderness Lift, it seemed manageable. The boys each got two packs of GU energy gel, which were stashed in the side pockets of their ski pants to quickly mitigate any concerns about bonking out on the tour. The boys both like the GU (at least the vanilla bean) a lot; we’ve found it helpful for mountain biking in the off season, and it worked quite well for Dylan on our ski tour at Pico in October.
Although not quite as warm as yesterday’s highs in the 30s F, the forecast was for temperatures in the upper 20s F and generally clear skies, so weather wasn’t expected to be an issue on the tour. The Wilderness Lift wasn’t opening until 10:00 A.M., so we had plenty of preparation time in the morning. I cooked up a typical ski day big breakfast to ensure the boys would be maxed out on energy, and we loaded up all the gear. Arriving up in the Village in the mid morning period, we found that the resort was hopping with holiday visitors. I dropped E and the boys off at the ski patrol building at the base of Wilderness, and parked in the tennis court lot down along the Broadway trail. The village lots were filling up fast, but they hadn’t overflowed into the tennis court lot yet; it was just me and a couple other cars parking for Nordic/backcountry activities.
I got my gear on and headed up to find E getting the skis ready and helping out the boys with theirs. The boys’ Telemark skis are still in the three pin format, so getting them on can be a little tricky. That process combined with having to negotiate a lift ride with a backcountry pack plus a child, makes it E’s least favorite part of one of these types of outings, but everyone got loaded, had a good ride, and disembarked at the Wilderness Summit without incident. Once off the lift, E was able to relax and enjoy the rest of the tour.
We skied over to the Heavenly Highway entrance, and strapped on everyone’s skins for the undulating trip across to the Catamount Trail. As we started along, E commented that it seemed like we could do this part without skins if we wanted, but having done parts of that myself before, I assured her that it was much more fun having the skins on. There are enough dips and rolls that you appreciate not having to herring bone up every rise. Dylan took point on our travels across Heavenly Highway, and actually kept a decent pace. It wasn’t long before he decided that he wanted to remove his helmet to cool down a bit.
Checking out some of the thick snow formations created by the powder along Heavenly Highway
We found tremendous snow formations in the usual sheltered spots along the Heavenly Highway – some stacks of snow on the trees were two to three feet high, revealing just how much snow had built up from recent storms. Ty probed one stack by punching his pole way up through it, and then Ty and Dylan had fun with another thick stack by knocking it off the tree to which it was attached. Even though it’s been a low snow year, elevations up around 3,000’ have still taken on a lot of snow this season, and E was very impressed with how the snowy corridors through the trees made one feel like they were entering some sort of magical world. It was the first time E had been up there, but I’m sure similar experiences by those in the past played a part in how the Heavenly Highway got its name. We’d negotiated a few moderate drops in all the ups and downs of Heavenly Highway, and Ty was very proud that he’d been able to make some Telemark turns on those pitches – it’s certainly tough with the narrow confines and skins on the skis.
At the junction with Devil’s Drop we had to make a decision, whether to finish off our trip to the Catamount Trail on Heavenly Highway, or take on the quicker, but more challenging descent of Devil’s Drop trail. I gave everyone an idea of what the two routes were like, and we all joked about the nearly polar opposite names of our two choices. I pointed out that Heavenly Highway would finish off with terrain much like we’d seen up to that point, while Devil’s Drop was, true to its Machiavellian name, a fairly precipitous and tricky drop to negotiate on skis. I figured that everyone would be able to handle it though, and the momentum quickly seemed to shift that way. Before we knew it, Dylan was on his way down toward Devil’s Drop with the rest of the family in tow. We didn’t take off our skins, which actually made the descent kind of fun as the extra friction combined to make it both difficult, sort of like day with sticky snow on the slopes, and easier, almost like having your car holding you back in low gear on a descent. There were a couple of icy patches, and indeed the necessity of fitting skins so that one’s edges are left exposed was never demonstrated so well. I’d say that some pitches on Devil’s Drop are easily in the range of 30 degrees or so, but fortunately the trail has switchbacks to avoid having to ski it at that pitch. Ty did some impressive switchback short-cutting though, working his way through a steep slot that was much more challenging than I would want to take. There are actually some nice options for skiing Devil’s Drop and getting some great powder turns, but with the time for transitioning the boys out of their skins and them back into them for the return to the ascent didn’t quite seem worth it. Perhaps on a future trip we’ll add that feature into the tour. At the bottom of Devil’s Drop, after what had seemed like a surprisingly challenging descent to me, I realized that I’d left my Telemark bindings in free pivot touring mode. There’s much less stability in that mode than with the toes locked down – it explained why the drop felt extra challenging today, but I wished I’d realized it before the bottom!
Below Devil’s Drop we took a short snack break at the junction with the Catamount Trail, and I told the boys not to eat too much because we weren’t too far from our final destination where we planned to have lunch. With our snack complete, Dylan continued on point, and led us on the Catamount Trail through the wide, flat col between the height of land containing the Devils’ Drop area to the east and the 3,300’ spur of Bolton Mountain to the west. We cruised along through the flats thanks to Dylan’s abiding pace, entering back into the thicker trees in about 5 to 10 minutes and quickly coming to the north intersection with the Cotton Brook Trail. There were lots of people out in that junction area today, and everyone seemed excited to see Ty and Dylan out there. They got lots of encouragement from folks for undertaking such a substantial backcountry tour.
E and Ty approach the top of our ascent along the Catamount Trail.
We came to the final leg of our ascent, and I was able to show E and the boys the glade that I was thinking of skiing with them. Dylan continued in the lead, pushing up through the switchbacks along the glade. I could tell that he was getting a little impatient and/or tired, but we let him know we were just minutes away from our stopping point, and he pushed on. Ty was actually more impatient than Dylan at that point, and he clearly needed to be done with the ascent. At the top of the glade we found a beautiful powdery spot overlooking the ski terrain and the Catamount Trail, and set everything down to have lunch.
Dad finally gets that chance to sit down and enjoy lunch along the trail.
We’d packed a thermos full of tomato soup, and another full of hot chocolate, and I was really anxious to get some food and an energy recharge. Before I could relax though, I wanted to finish putting away all the skins and preparing all the gear for the descent. Ty and Dylan had clearly been more anxious for the end of the ascent than they were tired, because they were running around like animals having a big snowball fight, and E actually had to work on calming them down so that they weren’t too disruptive to other folks traveling on the trail. The boys played on, but finally I’d taken care of the gear; I fashioned myself a nice soft seat in the powder, and kicked back with some hot soup. I’d been waiting for that for quite a while. To sweeten the scene, just as we’d arrived, it had begun to snow. We had expected mostly clear skies earlier, but clouds moved in quickly, and before we knew it, big fat flakes were swirling all around us. One never knows what Mother Nature will throw at them up at 3,000’ in the Northern Greens, but the beauty of the falling snow was certainly appreciated. Sitting up there overlooking the glade with the fresh snow falling was quite a treat, and one of the folks passing by on the trail commented on what a great lunch spot it seemed to be.
Enjoying the snowy scene during lunch along the trail as big flakes of snow fall all around us
After a few rounds of soup, we were finally able to pull ourselves away from the superlative location for a descent of the glade. We found several inches of powder atop the base, but I was surprised that the snow wasn’t quite up to the standards that I thought it was going to be. There appeared to have been just enough traffic and or sun exposure that there was a bit of a crusty layer below the powder. That made the skiing challenging in those spots, but I was able to sneak in some nice turns in areas of untracked snow. Clearly I’m going to have to bring E and the boys back for another trip to experience the primo conditions that are often found there.
Enjoying some turns in one of the glades off the Catamount Trail
Once back on the Catamount Trail, Dylan took the lead again, and I told him that he could cruise as fast as he wanted down the trail. We came rocketing through the flats in the col, and Dylan continued to move along at a marvelous pace. While it’s generally a gentle downhill glide, there are a few short rises and I couldn’t believe how fast we covered the ground. The snow must have been a lot slower the last time I’d been out in that area, but before we knew it we were back at the intersection with Devil’s Drop where we’d had our first snack. We cruised further down the trail, and as soon as Ty and Dylan saw the Bryant Cabin, they headed right toward it like a shot. E and I hadn’t really planned to stop in there unless we needed to, but it was quickly obvious there was no way we were getting past it without a stop. Getting a chance to play around in the cabin is clearly one of the favorite parts of these trips for Ty and Dylan.
A window scene from up at the Bryant Cabin today
We pulled into the cabin, which was unoccupied and had no fire going in the woodstove, but with the fairly moderate outside temperature it was comfortable enough that the boys shed some layers. We got into the hot chocolate and snacks for a while, and the boys played around in the upstairs area that they like so much. We saw a couple of groups ascend the Bryant Trail and reach the cabin, but they congregated outside. Eventually the hot chocolate was spent, and we geared up for the final descent leg of the trip to the car.
We headed out on Gardiner’s Lane and onto North Slope, and my intent was to take E and the boys down through the North Slope and Gardiner’s Lane glade combination that I’d visited a lot last season. There hasn’t been a lot of traffic at the glade entrance though, so we sailed right past it and continued on North Slope. We ran into Kurt Ries, who was part of a large group collecting at the top of one of the drops on North Slope. Clearly they had a similar idea to us on this fine winter day. Having missed the glade I’d initially planned to visit, we cut off North Slope and simply explored the woods below. The snow was quite good, with 6+ inches of powder in many spots, and while we found a few good shots, there was nothing too outrageous in terms of providing an extensive amount of turns in open terrain. We connected onto Gardiner’s Lane, and recounted the last time we’d skied it where Dylan had had some binding issues and I’d needed to carry him. He talked about how much fun that had been, but I liked it better with him skiing. We finished off with a run through the Telemark Practice Slope and the associated glades, and cruised down Broadway to the car.
Today's 4.35-mile backcountry tour plotted on Google Earth, with the ascent tracks marked in red, descent tracks marked in green, and the Wilderness Lift assist marked in yellow
Checking the GPS at the car, it reported a tour length of 4.35 miles, with an overall elevation difference of 1,112’. It was certainly the boys’ biggest tour to date, and they continued to have energy at the end because they were quickly playing on top of the snowbanks in the parking lot while E and I packed up the gear. E said that she had a great time with her first trip on Heavenly Highway and the Catamount Trail beyond Bryant Cabin, and we saw plenty of opportunities for more exploration. Hopefully next time we can get even softer conditions and nail the route through those lower glades.
As Ty demonstrates, the Outlaw Glades were really delivering the goods today at Bolton Valley.
For much of January the weather pattern in Northern Vermont featured winter storms with mixed precipitation. The storms weren’t actually that bad in terms of how they affected the ski conditions, but with the mixed precipitation robbing some of the potential snowfall, they just didn’t have that oomph of full-blown winter storms. So naturally everyone was excited when February rolled around and the weather pattern appeared to be undergoing a change. The only problem was… it was a change to essentially no storms at all. That’s good for a few days to perhaps a week if it comes with good snow preservation, but soon the powder gets harder to find, and the groomed snow just gets old. We’d hit that point by last Saturday – the quote from Stephen was that the snow was “beaten down”, and I’d say he nailed the general demeanor of the slopes perfectly. To put some numbers on it, through today (February 18th) we’ve had just 5.0 inches of snowfall at the house for the month… a month that averages roughly 45 inches of snow down here in the valley. So when we got to mid February and it looked like the weather was going to switch back to the pattern of storms with mixed precipitation like we saw in January, I think there was some relief… we probably just didn’t know how good we had it before. The storm ushering in this change started up on Thursday, and it was pretty weak on precipitation overall, but by this morning the local mountains were approaching a half foot of new snow, which was more than enough to whet our appetites for the slopes. Powderfreak has been keeping us apprised of the conditions at Stowe, and based on his powdery pictures from yesterday, we knew that the good snow was out there. Combined with a weather forecast of partly cloudy skies and temperatures in the low to mid 30s F, it was looking like a mighty fine day to hit the slopes.
Bolton’sTimberline area finally opened last weekend, and although I suspected that the warmth this week was going to undermine the conditions on those lower elevation trails, we still wanted to base ourselves out of Timberline for the day due to the convenience it offers. It’s a holiday weekend, so parking in the village and dealing with the main base would likely be a bit chaotic. When we arrived at the Timberline Base (~1,500’) around mid morning today, the snow situation was actually looking a bit grim; the temperature was already in the mid 30s F and the snow surfaces looked like just a couple of inches of new snow over a refried base. I was optimistic though; I knew the higher elevations would be in much better shape, and our real goal was to get ourselves over to the main base area and up to Wilderness.
Just as we were getting our gear on we saw Stephen and his crew at the base of the Timberline Quad. I inquired about the snow conditions and Stephen didn’t sound enthusiastic. I asked him if he’d been over to Wilderness yet and he said no, so I was still holding out hope. While snow surfaces did look bland at first, they quickly improved as we rode up toward the Timberline Summit (~2,500’), and all my fears were allayed by the time we got off the lift. I checked off the side of the trail and found a good 4 to 6 inches of powder there for the taking, with still more in some spots. I even took a quick jaunt in the Timberline Run trees, and found the same stuff. By this point I knew we were in for some good powder skiing, and I was more than happy to share this thought with E. She was quite unimpressed with some of the off piste conditions last weekend, and her enthusiasm for today was painfully low at first. As I passed by Lower Bentley on our way to the main base, I saw some great looking powder off to the side of the trail and really wanted to dive in, but our goal was Wilderness and we had to stay on task.
Stephen and his kids were all on board for a run in Snow Hole, so we hopped on the Wilderness Lift with a group plan in hand. As we ascended through the Wilderness terrain, it was quickly obvious how good the snow was going to be. We began to see tracks in the powder on the Wilderness Lift Line, and the depths were increasing nicely. We found great snow in Snow Hole, a general 4 to 6 inches of powder outside of the high traffic areas where the snow had already been packed down. The hobblebush is sticking out a couple of feet in the big open area up top though – it could probably use a trim this off season, but it’s presence is also just a function of the low snowpack this year.
Stephen, Thomas, Johannes, and Helena had to head in for lunch after that run, but E and the boys and I went up for another Wilderness run to hit Bolton Outlaw and its surroundings. Bolton Outlaw had seen enough traffic that it unfortunately held a lot of slick areas, but the glades around it were fantastic. The boys ripped up some of the fresh lines in there and the snow quality had everyone excited. We poked around in some lower elevation glades as we descended back to the base, with some decent turns, but nothing quite up to the level of those Outlaw Glades. The Wilderness Lift Line provided some nice turns though, consistent with the quality-looking snow we’d seen from the lift.
Dylan enjoys some of that powder in the Outlaw Glades.A yummy addition to lunch in the Tavern today
The boys were already talking about lunch by the time we got back to the base, and we headed into the lodge with a plan to go to the James Moore Tavern. Stephen and his group were ready to head back out onto the slopes, and had to leave by 1:00 P.M., but Ty and Dylan were just too hungry to be talked away from lunch. The lodge was really hopping though with holiday business; we even had to wait about 10 minutes to get into the Tavern. With the wait we had plenty of time to hang our ski stuff in the clothing area, and we made an impressive and compact assembly of all our gear, even the helmets. Lunch was a fun time; we sat next to a mom and her toddler, who kept everyone entertained for the entire meal. The boys got some impressive-looking hot chocolates to start things off, and for me, lunch was an easy choice. As soon as we entered the tavern I smelled that barbeque smell from the pulled pork sandwich, and my mind was immediately made up. I’ve had it before, but this one was especially good.
I knew I was going with pulled pork as soon as I walked into the Tavern today.
We headed back out to the slopes after our filling lunch, and Wilderness was all we had on our minds; there was no lift queue, the snow was fantastic, and there was powder to ski. Based on what we’d heard from Stephen about the Vista area, there was no need to go anywhere else. We ran the same couple of runs that we’d hit earlier, and powder pickings were a little slimmer, but the snow was still quite good. We did notice that areas of powder in the sun below about 2,500’ were getting a little thick, so presumably the freezing line was creeping up a bit in elevation. Those Outlaw Glades were again the standout of the afternoon, and E said that she had her best Telemark turns of the day in there.
We eventually decided to call it a day and headed over to Snowflake to get us back to Timberline. We were actually thinking of doing an extra run off Snowflake, but there was a lift queue of a few minutes so we just decided to skip that plan. A nice bonus on the trip back to Timberline though was Lower Tattle Tale. For whatever reason, people had not been skiing it from the middle entrance, and the skier’s left held lots of powder. I thought it might be too low in elevation to hold onto such good soft snow, but it was more than fine, it was sweet! Judging by what we found on the trip back to the Timberline Base, I’d say that around 2,000’ was the elevation at which the powder really started to peter out. The groomed trails began to get slick as well, so below that elevation was where temperatures must have gotten just a bit too far above freezing over the past couple of days.
Although temperatures had definitely stayed below freezing on the upper mountain, it was still above freezing when we got back to the car, so the lower elevation snow at Timberline will probably do a bit of temperature cycling tonight. It seems like everything above 2,000’ is going to continue to be mighty fine though, so all the holiday visitors should keep on getting those good turns. Based on the fantastic conditions we saw up high on Wilderness, we’re thinking of going for some backcountry skiing tomorrow – it looks like another comfortable midwinter day with sunshine, so there should be some opportunities for excellent earned turns. We may also get a couple more of those mixed precipitation storms in the coming week, and even if they’re not perfect, at least they’ll keep the slopes fresh – and we’re going to appreciate that as much as we can.
Although we haven’t had snow in about a week, there’s still untracked powder out there for turns – Dylan enjoys some today on Bolton Valley’s Lower Tattle Tale
There’s been sufficient coverage for skiing at Bolton Valley’s Timberline area since at least mid January, and I made my first turns of the season there on January 15th, but apparently the resort hasn’t been confident in the ability of the snow to hold up to much skier traffic, because it wasn’t until yesterday that they started running the Timberline Quad. It’s incredible to think that we’ve had such a late start to Timberline lift-serviced skiing, and similar things may have happened before, but certainly not in the past several seasons since we’ve been back from Montana. At this point though, it’s just really nice to have the expansion to spread everyone out and open up some of our favorite terrain, so we were excited to get in on this first weekend day of Timberline lift service.
There’s the potential for cold temperatures and even some fresh snow as we move through the weekend, but today it was sunshine with temperatures in the 20s F. We didn’t get up to the mountain until roughly 11:00 A.M., but the number of visitors was pretty light and parking spots were open right in the circle below the Timberline Lodge. The parking was so easy that after dropping off E and the boys and all our gear at the, I parked the car and then walked over and began chatting with them – forgetting to even put on my ski boots. We’re definitely still getting into our Timberline rhythm for the season.
We kicked off the day with a trip down Villager to Sure Shot, and then took the link onto Lower Tattle Tale to hopefully get into some powder. Pickings were a little slim since we haven’t had fresh snow in a week, but some lines were still available and we shot some pictures of the boys getting into the untracked snow. The powder was getting a touch stale after a week, but we weren’t complaining. We jumped on Spur to get into some additional untracked snow on our trip back to the base, and then headed up again for a mid station run. We took Wood’s Hole and worked our way down to check out the Corner Pocket Glades for the first time this season. Coverage was more than sufficient, but the tracks of previous skiers combined with a mixture of shaded and sunny areas really produced a lot of variability in the powder and even the subsurface. The challenging conditions had us quickly getting back out on Spell Binder, where surfaces were much more consistent.
E cruises along in some of the powder on Lower Tattle Tale.
The boys were already urging us to get lunch, so we hit the Timberline Lodge for a break. The boys wanted to order from the grill, so Ty got a cheeseburger and fries, and Dylan went with chicken fingers and fries; it was a good thing too, because I overcooked today’s tomato soup and it was tasting rather smoky. On a positive note though, our replacement Stanley® “bullet” vacuum bottle recently arrived, so we had a chance to test it out and it was keeping the soup incredibly hot. Our other Stanley bullet that we’d had for several years had ceased to insulate (it probably had lost its vacuum), and indeed Stanley stands behind their lifetime warranty. I called Stanley up, informed them about the loss of insulation in our bottle, answered a few questions, and said a new unit was on the way. So, if there are others out that use any sort of Stanley insulating equipment for their ski outings, (or are thinking of getting one) know that the company is quite serious about that lifetime warranty.
On our way back out to the slopes after lunch, we gave Stephen a call and planned to meet up. While we waited for him we basically repeated our first run from the day, but mixed in some Sure Shot Trees for variety. We eventually met up with Stephen and Thomas and did that route yet again, but Stephen got spun around and had a fall on Sure Shot, so he didn’t join us for the powder on Lower Tattle Tale. We peeked into the KP Glades, and they looked awesome, but we didn’t get a chance to head in.
We were done after that trip and headed home, but it had definitely been a good day on the slopes of Bolton Valley despite the recent lack of snowfall. It doesn’t look like we’ll be at Stowe tomorrow, as E and Claire are canceling BJAMS ski program due to the expected combination of temperatures and wind; temperatures aren’t going to get out of the single digits, and wind chill values are going to be in the -40 F range. I think we’ll all be happy enjoying the day inside tomorrow.
“I’d put the snow conditions
that we encountered somewhere
in the good to great range;
skier traffic is all that
kept it from being as
outstanding as what we skied
at Timberline yesterday.”
This afternoon it was back to Stowe for turns, and much like yesterday, the morning low temperatures were cold at around zero F. Fortunately, the forecast called for highs in the 20s F with clear skies, so we were looking forward to getting into some of the recent fresh snow. Today is Super Bowl Sunday as well, and that can help to keep crowds lower as many people stay off the slopes to participate in parties.
We headed to the resort around midday, and the boys and I hooked up with Luke and Jack and got in a quick Alpine Double run on the open terrain above Meadows while we waited to see if Alexia was going to join the group. I’d put the snow conditions that we encountered somewhere in the good to great range; skier traffic is all that kept it from being as outstanding as what we skied at Timberline yesterday. Back at the base area, we still had no word on Alexia, so we did another lap and jumped into the trees to the skier’s left of the lift line. There were no tracks in there at all, so the powder skiing was excellent.
The Inspiration trail at Stowe’s Spruce Peak Base Area on Super Bowl Sunday
After that lap we were finally able to meet up with Alexia, who was with her brother Jordan, their parents, and Claire. We all got together as a large group and took Sunny Spruce over to Sensation. Like last week, we saw plenty of great snow on Spruce Line, so those of the group that were feeling up for it took a run in there, mixed in with turns on Main Street. We also found a good access point to the final pitch of the Sensation Lift Line and caught first tracks though there. Our next Sensation run brought us over to Upper Smuggler’s for some steep turns, and we returned to the Spruce Peak Base to work our way over to the Mansfield side of the resort. We spent the second half of the afternoon over there on the big mountain, starting off with a run of Perry Merrill/Rim Rock/Switchback and some of the associated trees. We followed that up with a similar start, but worked our way over to High Road and tried out some lines in the trees down to Rim Rock that we’d never seen before. We found plenty of nice snow in there, which isn’t surprising with the combination of elevation and protection from the sun and wind that the area offers. The trees are mostly evergreens in there, and all that really needs to be done to create some nice additional lines is to trim off a lot of dead branches on the lower limbs. After that enjoyable variation, we worked our way back across Gondolier to hit some more of the Switchback trees, and then the boys finished off the day with a couple of their requisite runs in the little terrain park off Midway. A number of folks were up for après ski at the resort again today, and this time people gathered in the Spruce Camp Bar area to cap off the great weekend on the slopes.
Fresh tracks underneath the Sensation Quad today
We’re in the heart of winter now, and although snowfall hasn’t been as prodigious as usual this season, the constant snowfall is adding up and the local backcountry is skiing well. The skiing has definitely been good both on and off piste at the resorts over the past couple of weeks, and we’re thankful for that because it looks as though the immediate future will provide only minimal additions to what we’ve currently got down on the slopes. The forecast suggests that a fairly quiet week of weather is coming for Northern Vermont, with just a couple of minor snow events. There’s one round of snow expected to come through tomorrow night into Tuesday, and then another one expected for Friday. If these storms do their usual thing with the mountains, it should work out just fine since there don’t appear to be any major warm air intrusions on the horizon. It would be nice to have the new snow go right into enhancement instead of recovery from firm conditions due to mixed precipitation events, which seemed to be the pattern in much of January. The scuttlebutt I hear from some of the meteorologists is that we have undergone a significant weather pattern change (I guess the lack of any mixed precipitation in the forecast this week is a testament to that), which will only offer minor events for now, but does hold the potential for some bigger systems down the road. The base (both snow and skier) is definitely ready for some bigger dumps, and it would be nice to build it for spring. We’ll see what Mother Nature offers in the coming month to set up the rest of the season.
Enjoying some Telemark turns today in that Bolton Valley powder
If it seemed like we had a lot of mixed precipitation events in Northern Vermont this January… that’s because we did. Many winter seasons will have some sort of January thaw, where the weather pattern shifts or resets and the temperature temporarily bumps above freezing, but according to Roger Hill, this year we had seven January thaws. None of these storms posed snow coverage issues for the local mountains; they were just winter storms with snow on the front and back ends, but warm temperatures with mixed precipitation in the middle. But even though they weren’t notable thaws for the mountains, each time the precipitation changed over to something other than snow, that was snow we weren’t stockpiling into the base depths for the season. The mixed precipitation was substantiating the total liquid equivalent in the snowpack, but once temperatures came back down after warming, the potential for hard snow surfaces arose. Fortunately, the Northern Greens worked their magic, pulling out enough snow on the back end of each storm to provide a decent shot of powder to get things back to normal. Last weekend at Stowe was a perfect example; we didn’t think the skiing was going to be any good, but Mt. Mansfield pulled that Champlain Powder™ out of the sky, and we found ourselves making fluffy laps off the Sensation Quad on Sunday afternoon.
I was feeling down with a touch of stomach flu this morning, but we decided to head up to Bolton for some turns in the afternoon because the day was looking just too fantastic to miss. There was bright sunshine, temperatures in the upper 20s F, and fresh snow to boot. When Stephen called us around mid morning today, we let him know we’d be up to the mountain later, and that we were planning on making a special run for some extra fresh tracks. With the Timberline Quad still not running, we decided to spot a car down there and catch a nice long run of powder from the Timberline Summit. We let Stephen know about our plan, and with both Johannes and Helena in full day ski programs/lessons, he was totally free to join us. Since we didn’t head up to the mountain last Saturday, we were eager to catch up with him and make some turns.
We parked a car at the Timberline Base, noticing about a half dozen other vehicles that were also there from people doing the same thing or earning turns, then dropped of our skis at the Village Circle and got a parking spot in the main Village lots. The lots were pretty full, but since it was around 1:00 P.M., spots were opening up we were able to get one down near the recreation center. E and I changed into our ski boots at the car, and the combination of sunshine and warm air was so mellifluous we could have just spent the entire afternoon right there. We rang Stephen, who said he was just getting off the top of Wilderness and would meet us at the base.
A coating of snow covers one of the resort’s vehicles in the village circle this afternoon.
Ty wanted to do a warm up run on Snowflake, so we did, with a run through the Butterscotch Terrain Park as the boys often request. There was powder available off to the skier’s right as usual, so Stephen, E and I naturally availed ourselves of that. It was sometimes deep enough to get us floating, sometimes not, but even the subsurface was not half bad as Powderfreak had indicated; we were anticipating some very nice options over at Timberline.
With the warm up run out of the way, we could move on to getting ourselves over to Timberline. We rode the Vista Quad and opted for the Cobrass route. Stephen had warned us that the top, south-facing portion of Cobrass was icy, and he was right. We had to pick out way through that, with even the normally soft skier’s right featuring little in the way of nice snow. Once below that though, things improved on Cobrass Run, and improved even more once we got to Five Corners, where the skier’s right was filled with a delightful combination of powder and chowder.
We discovered a layer of glorious Champlain Powder atop the snow whales on Villager.
Finding ourselves at the Five Corners intersection, it was time to make our way up Villager. Although the trip up to the Timberline Summit is relatively short, E and I had our skins so that we could carry the boys’ gear more easily. I was in the process of strapping the boys’ skis to my pack, when Ty decided that he wanted to ascend with one ski on and one ski off. I warned him that it might be a bit tiring and inefficient, but he actually made it look pretty easy. The hike up Villager was glorious, with sunshine and temperatures in the 20s F just as advertised. We even got the occasional sunshower of snow when a breeze would blow some of the delicate fluff out of the trees. I was excited because despite the stomach ailment that had plagued me in the morning, I was feeling just about 100%. On the hike I checked on the depths of the new snow, and throughout the ascent we generally found 5 to 7 inches of powder over the old base. Previous rounds of snowmaking had produced some large whales up and down the trail, and now that they were coated with that beautiful blanked of fluff, the boys made good use of them for some sliding. It was fun watching the powder explode around the boys as they slid off the huge mounds, knowing that we’d hopefully be skiing that same stuff soon. In some leeward spots, we found up to 20 inches of powder that had blown in, and the breezes that put it there must have been quite gentle because it was just as light and fluffy as the powder that hadn’t seen any wind. I took it as a good sign that we’d be able to find some excellent powder on the descent.
Ty and Dylan dive off one of the Villager snow whales as fluffy powder explodes around them.
At the Timberline Summit we took our time and enjoyed the weather, with the boys playing around in the snow near the summit station of the lift. Eventually E and I finished getting the gear readied, and with Dylan anxious to start skiing, we got on our way with the descent. We headed down Brandywine and Intro to get access to the trails below the mid station, and the powder was indeed very good; consistent with what we’d seen on the way up Villager, there was roughly a half foot of classic Champlain Powder™. It wasn’t ultra light, so there was plenty of substance for a lot of floating, and even when you weren’t off the base, the subsurface was unblemished and reasonably soft such that even that skiing was great. There were some areas that had been hit by wind up high, but we able to find good powder on most pitches and knew that the effects of the wind would be even less below the mid station.
E testing out the powder on Upper Brandywine near the beginning of our descent
I was going back and forth in my head about whether we should head for Twice as Nice, with its consistent pitch, or Spell Binder, with its lower traffic and steep headwall. The headwall isn’t always the best option if we haven’t had a dump large enough to provide floatation in the steeps, but with the quality of the subsurface we’d observed, I decided we’d give it a shot. It turned out to be a fantastic choice. I headed down first, keeping to the skier’s right for the best snow at the top, and then cutting back left as I got into the lower part of the headwall. Even with only midfat skis, speed got one floating, and the smooth, undisturbed nature of the subsurface with the quality fluff on top made for an impressive ride. I pulled up a good distance below the headwall, and got out the Canon to catch the descents of the others. The boys went first and were looking extremely good, carving some big, high-speed turns down the headwall. In anticipation of the powder, we’d brought their fat skis, so with their light body weight, the girth of their skis, and the high speeds, they had no problem floating. Seeing Dylan with the confidence to arc down the slope at high speed was especially exciting, and it’s obvious the strides he’s making in his skiing this season; sifting through today’s action shots and observing his form really bore that out.
Dylan slices a huge high-speed arc through the powder on the Spell Binder headwall.Stephen carving his way through the powder on Spell Binder today
Once below the headwall we all enjoyed a long run of powder cruising, gliding our way through the fluff that was most protected from the wind. The dips and berms of the water bars were still occasionally visible, but fortunately the snowpack is well past the stage where they’re of much concern. We did another couple rounds of photography, taking advantage of the great light and excellent snow. The depth of the powder did decrease with elevation, but there were a few inches present even down to the 1,500’ level to make for quite a complete run. If we’d had the time and the boys had had the inclination, it would have been fun to run some additional laps on the terrain, but the day was wearing on and since the Patriots were playing, we were thinking of watching some of the Super Bowl. Stephen also had to pick up Johannes and Helena from their lessons… and let them know what they’d missed of course.
E enjoys the expanse of powder available on Spell Binder today.
We dropped Stephen off at the Village Circle and headed back to our car to complete the circuit. We definitely need to get in more of these days, although I suspect Timberline will be opening soon. There’s always spring though when the mountain shuts Timberline back down. The weather pattern appears to be changing, and it looks like we’ll be trading in all the mixed events for something different. Hopefully we can keep the precipitation coming in the form of snow. E and I started up a two-day chili recipe yesterday, and the final stage was when it cooked in the crock pot today, so it was ready when we got home. It was very good… very good – my only regret was that I had to take it easy due to what my stomach had been dealing with earlier. Fortunately it stores very well!
Greg and some of the boys riding Sensation today between laps in the powder below
There haven’t been any major snowfalls in the area since the storm that dropped up to two feet in the mountains around mid month, so when I assessed the monthly snowfall at the house through yesterday (27.2”), it wasn’t surprising that we were well below the January average I’ve calculated from the past five seasons worth of data (40”+). Even without any huge storms though, the Northern Greens have been doing their thing to keep the slopes fresh as they capitalize on the moisture from more modest systems or make their own upslope snow. Today was another perfect example, as we found ourselves amidst massive flakes when we arrived at Stowe around midday. It was a bit of a surprise to see all the snow in the air and the cars covered in white, since all we’d seen at the house were a few flurries, but that’s Mansfield being Mansfield.
Our snowy arrival in the Spruce Peak Village today
“Every week we seem to
get one of those mixed
storms to make a mess
out of the slopes, and
Mansfield pulls another
7, 8 , 9, 10 inches or
whatever out of the sky
to bring back the powder
skiing.”
The day was set up as a nice comfortable one with temperatures in the 30s F for the mountain valleys, and a high of around 25 F on Mt. Mansfield. Naturally, the combination of nice temperatures and fresh snow had us excited to hit the slopes, so with some extra time before our coaching session began, I grabbed Ty and Dylan and we rode the Alpine Double for a run in the terrain above Meadows. Consistent with the latest temperature fluctuations above and below freezing over the past week (which seems to be a theme this month) there was certainly a crusty layer under the powder, but the turns were very good with all the new snow, even down at the low elevations near the Spruce Peak Village (~1,500’). In fact the snow was nice enough that when we met up with our group for the day, which consisted of Jack, Luke, and Greg Pause as a second coach, we headed right back up to do the same run.
Catching Greg and the boys on one of our snowy Sensation runs
Seeing how nice the skiing was down low with the new snow, we didn’t want to wait too long to get higher up on the mountain, so we caught Sunny Spruce to make our way over to Sensation. While on the lift, we saw a few tracks on Spruce Line, but loads of untracked snow, so we worked our way through the trees to get there. The boys were challenged by some difficult routes through the trees, but Ty encouraged everyone, letting them know that they could really handle it, and they did. Indeed the powder skiing was excellent up at that elevation with the additional depth of new snow afforded by 1,500’ of increased elevation. One aspect of the run that had everyone grinning was the fact that nobody else was skiing the area, so we had it all to ourselves. We continued on down to Whirlaway, where the snow remained quite good, and then decided that it would be a shame if all the untracked snow on Spruce Line went to waste, so we did the exact same run again. We concluded our Spruce Peak session with one more Sensation run, hitting the steep terrain of Upper Smuggler’s down to Side Street, then back to the Spruce Peak Base Area to catch the Over Easy to Mt. Mansfield.
“It was a bit of a surprise
to see all the snow in the
air and the cars covered,
in white, since all we’d
seen at the house were a
few flurries, but that’s
Mansfield being Mansfield.”
The second half of the afternoon was spent over on Mt. Mansfield exploring areas serviced by the gondola. Waterfall continues to have good snow, so we enjoyed its somewhat steep terrain as a good variation down to Gondolier. We played around a lot in the Switchback trees, and a quick check on the powder there revealed 7 inches of depth for the mid to lower mountain elevations. We did a run on Perry Merrill as well, and worked our way back to Switchback for a variation on the trees we’d skied before. The snowfall had slackened during the middle of the afternoon, but it resumed for the end of the ski day, and gave everyone a renewed sense of excitement. The boys finished off their last run as they do with most gondola runs, the requisite trip through the small terrain park below Midway. We headed back to Spruce as the light began to fade and the snowfall ramped up.
Catching that last terrain park run in the fading lightSpruce Camp entrance
We headed to the Great Room Grill for après ski, and the snow continued to fall; the forecast calls for up to another 6 to 8 inches tonight on top of what fell today, so I suspect that conditions are going to be even better tomorrow. It certainly makes me want to hit the slopes instead of heading in to Burlington. I’ve got to say, Stowe really continues to impress this season in terms of conditions. Sometimes the heavy traffic at the mountain can really wear things down, but in this season of low snowfall, big temperature swings, and mixed precipitation, Mansfield just keeps coming through. Every week we seem to get one of those mixed storms to make a mess out of the slopes, and Mansfield pulls another 7, 8 , 9, 10 inches or whatever out of the sky to bring back the powder skiing. I really thought this was going to be the weekend in which the conditions wouldn’t make it back in time, with this week’s mixed precipitation storm coming so late in the week, but damn if there wasn’t some fine skiing out there today.
Ty glides through some Champlain Powder today in a glade below Heavenly Highway.
There was some warmth in the area in the early part of the week that put a crust on snow surfaces, but then the mountains picked up in excess of a half foot of snow in the Thursday/Friday storm, and that remedied the issue pretty quickly. And, although the current storm has been focused down along the south coast of New England, the local Northern Vermont resorts reported another 2 to 3 inches of fluff to top the powder off further. This latest addition was extremely dry snow, classic Champlain Powder™. With only about 8 inches or so of new snow atop the old base, and the top of that being some of our ultra fluff, it wasn’t going to be extremely durable when stacked up against resort levels of skier traffic, so it seemed like a great day to head out for some backcountry turns. It also turned out that Dylan had to go to a birthday party today, so it meant that Ty and I could ski together; we’d be able to cover ground a little faster and extend our tour a bit compared to an outing in which Dylan was with us.
“…we were surrounded by
accumulations of that 2%
water-content Champlain
Powder™ that I affectionately
call ‘see-through’ snow.”
Ty and I spent the morning around the house, and light snow was in the air because we were on the northern periphery of that storm off to the south. The snowfall transitioned from small 1-2 mm diameter flakes in the early hours, to huge, 1-inch monsters by mid morning. The small flakes deposited just a couple tenths of an inch, but by noon we’d picked up another couple of inches thanks to the loft from those huge flakes. My noontime snow density analysis revealed that the water content of the snow was just 2%; indeed it was as light as feathers. While I prepared the ski gear, Ty grabbed his sled and hit the front yard slope to enjoy some of the fresh fluff. Even though the top coating on the snowpack wasn’t all that deep, it was so dry that it easily exploded up around him as he cruised through it on his sled. We talked about why this snow behaved that way, and I pointed out the fact that since this snow was 2% water, that meant it was also 98% air. Looking at it that way really puts a perspective on just how delicate and airy such accumulations are. One great thing about living so close to Bolton Valley, is that when we get snow like that at the house, we know that they’ve received at least that much (and almost always significantly more) up on the resort’s slopes.
Champlain Powder comprised of just 2% water explodes around Ty this morning as he takes a run on one of the sledding hills at the house.
It continued to snow lightly at the house, and we’d picked up another half inch of fluff by the time we headed up to the mountain around 1:00 P.M. We skinned up Bryant, and I figured that with Ty’s energy level, we’d be able to head up past the Bryant Cabin and add in some of the higher elevation glades to our descent. The trip up Bryant was very serene, as we were surrounded by accumulations of that 2% water-content Champlain Powder™ that I affectionately call “see-through” snow. Indeed, the snow piles up with such loft on tree branches and other objects that you can actually see right through it in certain spots. As we ascended along the trail, touching the snow-loaded branches would produce the most amazing effect, as hundreds of huge crystals would scatter and float ever so slowly toward the ground in a brilliant, shimmering storm.
Branches along the Bryant trail coated with some of that 2% H2O “see-through” Champlain Powder
Once we approached the Bryant Cabin, we found out that it was occupied by a group that had rented it out for an overnight to enjoy some backcountry skiing, and they invited us to join them inside. They had the woodstove running, and it was delightfully warm in there. Ty and I pulled out our snacks and hot chocolate, and had a great time chatting as Ty intermittently explored the cabin. I can’t recall exactly where the group was from, but I think at least some of them were from parts of Southern New England, so it was great to see that they had been able to come up and enjoy the snow – as deficient as our snowfall has been so far this season in Northern Vermont, farther south, the dearth of snowfall seems even worse. While we were there, various members of the group were in and out getting in some touring, and it was just what you’d expect to see at the Bryant Cabin in the heart of winter.
Smoke from the chimney foretold a warm welcome at the Bryant Cabin today
After our brief stay, Ty and I bid everyone at the cabin adieu, thanked them for the “warm” hospitality, and headed out to gain a bit more vertical before our descent. We used Birch Loop to connect to Heavenly Highway, and then continued up for a few more minutes to get to the higher glade that drops us down to Gardiner’s Lane. While switching gear, I initially couldn’t figure out why my pack smelled so much like hot chocolate, but then I saw that my thermos had leaked a little liquid into the pack’s interior. The thermos has one of those recessed valves in it that enables you to pour out the liquid without removing the inner cap, but it’s easy to forget to close that valve (and you often can’t tell at a quick glance whether it’s open or closed). Indeed, simply screwing the outer cup/cap back on the top of the bottle was not liquid-tight. The spill wasn’t too large, but I did smell like hot chocolate for the rest of the tour and learned a good lesson about those valves – since it’s difficult to tell whether they are open or closed, close them as soon as you are done pouring so you don’t need to worry about it.
Finishing off the day in the backcountry glades with the golden light of the afternoon sun.
That first glade dropping from Heavenly Highway has some pretty steep pitches, and even with all the new snow that had fallen, we would still encounter the underlying crust at times. Ty had an advantage, as he floated on top of the snow better than I did, and he even worked a few Telemark-style turns into the pitch. We both managed some nice turns though, since there are plenty of open spots in that area. We next headed down to JJ’s, and since the trail itself had seen a good deal of traffic, we opted to check out some trees off to the side. The tree spacing was just too dense for the pitch of the slope combined with the consistency of the snow, so we didn’t get a lot of great turns in there. We got back into some really awesome turns though once we hit the lower elevation glades down near World Cup. The pitches there are more moderate, and there were just a couple of old, partially buried tracks from other skiers, so that set us up for some beautiful floating through the trees in the golden light of the setting sun. It was definitely a stupendous way to end the day.
Ty had stayed at Kenny’s house overnight as planned, so E, Dylan and I decided to get in some runs before picking him up around midday. It was tough finding a parking spot on the Spruce Peak side of the resort in the later morning period today, probably due in part to so many people thinking like us and going with a later morning start, so I dropped E and Dylan off at the lodge and they started skiing while I took care of the car. After some searching, I eventually got lucky with a great spot right outside the Stowe Mountain Lodge. E was working with Dylan on his Telemark skiing on Easy Street, and once I met up with them it was time for E to head to Morrisville to get Ty, but I made sure to keep Dylan’s Telemark groove going. We worked in some runs off Easy Street as well as the Inspiration trail off the Adventure Triple, and I shot some video with E’s camera. As designed, the pitch of Inspiration is really consistent and good for learning, so Dylan had some nice turns there.
Fish tacos for lunch today – yum!
Once lunch time approached, Dylan and I headed in and ordered up lunch at the Great Room Grill. I tried the fish tacos for the first time and they were excellent; I suspect I’ll get them again at some point. When E returned with Ty, he got into his ski clothes, she had a quick bite to eat, Dylan switched to alpine gear, and we got ready to head back out for more turns. We also picked up Luke, since he’d been skiing with his mom during the morning, but she had to head off to take care of some work.
We headed over to Mt. Mansfield for some runs off the gondola, and right from the gondola summit, I was excited to see that the very top of Waterfall was open – with plenty of coverage and great packed powder. I’m not sure if it’s just my timing, but that area never seems to be open, so that says something about the coverage and snow quality that have been attained due to the recent storm. We worked our way down to Perry Merrill, and after poking around a bit, we got sucked into the Hazelton Zone because the coverage and powder looked so good that it was just too hard to resist. There was more than a hint of trepidation in Luke’s voice as we dove into the trees – he’s not nearly as comfortable as Ty and Dylan with being led off into the great unknown by me. He’s survived trips with me before though, so he knows that he can do it, even if we’re well outside his comfort zone.
“He came down carrying good
speed, but crashed in an
intense blizzard of white,
and when the smoke cleared,
we could only see the
bottom part of him.”
We began dropping into one of the many Hazelton gullies, and got some OK turns in the powder, but didn’t want to fully commit to the base of the gully since coverage was still a bit marginal in spots for really exploring with reckless abandon. Therefore, we kept ourselves on the slope marking the skier’s left of the gully with a healthy dose of traversing. I was leading and breaking trail, making it easier for the kids to work their way through the deep snow, but navigating the combination of steep terrain, trees, and bottomless powder was still challenging for some. At one point, E found a nice route, and suggested that Luke follow her. He might have had to back up or navigate a bit of a steeper slope, but E heard him emit some sort of exclamation, and when she asked if he was OK, he replied with and exasperated “Nooo!” Fortunately he was OK, just stuck in the powder and generally discombobulated. E asked Dylan to check on Luke, but before he could even do that, Luke had managed to regain his footing and was back on track. I think he’s learning more about dealing with powder all the time.
Not long after that, we found a nice steep pitch of powder in the streambed that we decided to ski. Ty agreed to be the guinea pig, and check out the slope for the other boys. He came down carrying good speed, but crashed in an intense blizzard of white, and when the smoke cleared, we could only see the bottom part of him. The front half of his body was obscured under the powder, and he wasn’t moving. Initially he didn’t respond to our inquiries about his status, but after a few moments he responded from beneath the snow with “Am I in heaven?” We pulled him out and he was fine, but not surprisingly, the other boys weren’t overly enthusiastic about dropping into the line themselves. We resumed our traversing along the skier’s left of the gully, and eventually made out way back out to Perry Merrill, and I’m sure Luke couldn’t have been more relieved. We saw some other riders having fun in some lines on the other side of that gully, and there are definitely lines opening up in there, but a couple more storms are going to be needed to really get all the lines flowing in there for the boys.
“After experiencing the
mountain first hand
today, I’m not surprised
that Stowe was able
to open 100% of their
terrain as of Saturday.”
We made another run off the gondola, taking it easy on the boys and not venturing off piste to any great degree, and then we worked our way over to the Fourrunner Quad. In general, there were amazing on piste conditions on the hill – I’m usually less than impressed with the conditions on the snowmaking trails at Stowe because of how that manmade snow turns to ice with skier traffic, but conditions on many of the trails were head and shoulders above what I’ve seen on them in quite a while. For whatever reason, perhaps the good combination of dense snow/mix followed by fluff, there was a layer of natural snow that really had staying power to mask the manmade stuff underneath – runs like Centerline and Hayride come to mind (I think they’ve both got snowmaking). The steepest pitches still got down to that slick stuff, but wow, last week’s storm was a great one for producing some packed powder conditions. Coverage was quite impressive as well – at one point E said she couldn’t believe that we were in the midst of a low snowfall season. After experiencing the mountain first hand today, I’m not surprised that Stowe was able to open 100% of their terrain as of Saturday. Temperatures ended up topping out around 20 F at the base elevations, which wasn’t overly warm, but certainly fine for mid January, and there were no temperature issues for any of the boys. Also, Luke survived another day with us on the slopes. When we dropped him off in town with his dad, Luke seemed like he was pretty exhausted, but I think he was satisfied with his day.
