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March 2, 2013June 14, 2013

Bolton Valley and Backcountry, VT 02MAR2013

An image of a ski track in powder in the terrain off the back side of Bolton Valley Resort in Vermont — Enjoying some of the substantial powder of the back side of Bolton Valley

Since the storm that came through in the midweek period, we’ve moved under the influence of an upper level low pressure system that is off to our northeast. It’s keeping snow showers in the area, but as of this morning the Northern Vermont ski Resorts had only picked up 1 to 3 inches of snow. Without much in the way of new powder, it was a little hard to get the boys motivated to head up to the mountain today, but E thought that they might be excited by some swimming at the Bolton Valley Sports Center. Indeed that was enough to get them excited, so while E and the boys spent time at the pool, I planned to get in a quick sidecountry and backcountry ski tour. My plan was to head off the back side of the Wilderness Summit to explore a line that I’d seen before, and then connect back onto the trails of the Bolton Valley Backcountry Network and return to the village via a front side run. Dylan had to get to a birthday party at 3:30 P.M., so I had to fit my tour into a two to three hour window.

E and the boys dropped me off at the base of the Wilderness Lift as they headed down to the pool, and light snow was already breaking out after a morning lull. Temperatures were comfortable in the low 20s F, and winds were fairly minimal. Rime still coated the trees all over the mountain, and clouds shrouded the upper elevations, leaving the overall views very white. As I approached the Wilderness Summit, the chairs ahead of me began to disappear into the clouds, but visibility at the summit itself would up not being all that bad.

I followed the main route off the back of the Wilderness Chair that I’d taken before, and found a skin track ascending as I began my descent. I initially followed the main drainage right below Ricker Mountain, but continued to head off to the north because I kept finding the terrain much more open. The skiing was quite good, even if the powder was a rather dense, Pacific Northwest style snow, but it covered everything below the snow with such effectiveness that it really proved its worth. There were numerous and continuous open areas, allowing for some big turns. I’d pulled my fat skis out after a couple weeks on skinnier gear, and they were absolutely the call today. The dense snow was accommodated well with girth and rocker, and there were minimal worries about catching a ski under the snow. I continued to descend, heading generally northward when the appropriate opportunities arose, until I’d hit the 2,500’ elevation mark after descending close to 700’. The snow was getting a bit of crust on it down at that elevation, and the terrain was flattening out, so it was the perfect place to stop. I found myself in an area that I knew fairly well from previous tours, and with a little GPS guidance I was able to plot a course up toward Paradise Pass.

As I’d done on the descent, I continued to check the depth of the snow as I skinned up. I generally measured depths between 20 and 30 inches before reaching a real solid subsurface, and although I was only skiing on the top several inches due to its density, it was still quite impressive. All that wind that I mentioned in my Bolton report from February 18^th had to put the snow somewhere, and plenty of it got thrown to the leeward slopes. Combined with all the recent snowfall from various storms, it’s mighty deep out there. The Mt. Mansfield Stake is at 63” as of yesterday evening, which is actually about a half foot below average, but at this time of year even being a bit below average means a pretty deep snowpack. The intensity of the snowfall had picked up quite a bit since my tour began, I just about had to wear my goggles even while ascending because of the snow intensity at times.

I got myself up to Paradise Pass, and had to pull out my map a few times and I wound my way over to the section of Heavenly Highway where I planned to make my front side descent. After a couple direction changes, I met my goal, and hit a glade I’d found that brought me right down to Snow Hole. I couldn’t believe that the front side snow in the high elevations was even slightly better than I’d found on the back side. I think that a little more of the recent snow had fallen there, creating a thicker coating atop the denser snow. Whatever the case, it was sweet and allowed me to rip my way down through the terrain. Once down to Snow Hole I called E to check on their status – they were done swimming and were having lunch at the Village Deli. With that info I was able to head toward the base of the Wilderness Lift, and then onward to the deli for some lunch of my own. I was pretty bushed from keeping such a high pace on the tour to ensure that I got back to the village in time, and boy did I devour that sandwich.

A Google Earth map with GPS tracking data from a front and backcountry ski tour at Bolton Valley Resort in Vermont on March 2nd, 2013 — Google Earth map with GPS tracking data from today’s tour – Click for full size image

Later in the evening we went for a snowshoe tour around the neighborhood and across the Winooski, and the snowfall picked up, providing an excellent wintry scene. We’ve already had more snow tonight than last night, and all these small rounds of snow are going to really help in keeping the slopes fresh.

February 28, 2013June 14, 2013

Bolton Valley, VT 28FEB2013

An image of ski tracks in powder on the Wilderness Lift Line trail at Bolton Valley Resort in Vermont — Dad and Dylan leaving their mark as they get in some afternoon powder turns today up at Bolton

Our most recent storm brought up to 18 inches of snow to the Green Mountains, and while it was certainly much denser than Champlain Powder™, it provided a solid resurfacing to most areas. Based on the conditions we’ve had in the Northern Greens, it was hardly necessary, but a slope refresher is usually good, and this stuff is going to keep that mountain snowpack growing. I was busy in the morning, but with E and the boys still on break they came and picked me up in Burlington so that we could get in some skiing in the new snow. E and Ty had been tossing around the idea of working on a report that Ty had to do for school, and they ultimately decided that they had to use some of the afternoon to get a jump on that. So, it was just Dylan and I that initially headed up to Bolton Valley for some afternoon turns, while E and Ty planned to join us later if the work went smoothly.

In this area, snow has been falling all the way to the valley floors with the current storm cycle, but it’s still been fairly warm and the lowest elevations haven’t been accumulating snow except when temperatures drop overnight. Today it was fairly warm as well, with temperatures around 40 F or so at our house when we headed up to Timberline. We found that the snow there was already wet and spring-like, and I knew we’d be heading to the upper mountain to get to the best powder for turns. Indeed the snow was much better up high – at the Vista Summit above 3,000’ it was still somewhat dense, but dry and ready to support some good powder turns.

Being well into the afternoon, I decided to show Dylan some terrain off Ricker Mountain; we’d explored it before, but I doubt he’d remember that. The snow did get somewhat thick as we headed down in elevation, even just down to 2,800’. Dylan didn’t seem to have a problem, but if I stopped for extended periods I’d have snow starting to stick to the bottom of my skis. Fortunately, it would be cleaned off as soon as I started moving. We continued our run by making our way over to Wilderness, and that’s where we found some of our best powder of the day. Although we were lower in elevation than we’d been before, the snow Wilderness Lift Line was holding up quite well.

Our next run was a trip to the Villager Trees, and I gave Dylan his choice of line – he wanted the “Heaven” chute that he’d enjoyed the other day, so Dylan got first tracks through there. His run wasn’t without some adventure though – at one point he caught an edge and went flying head over heels. He was OK, but it took him a couple of minutes to realize that. Dylan wanted to catch a run on Adam’s Solitude, but once we got down to the lowest Timberline elevations and saw how sticky the snow was getting, I decided that we could hold off and catch it another time.

While we were in the lodge getting a snack for Dylan, I saw that I had a new phone message. It was from E, and she said that they had finished Ty’s work and were thinking of coming up for some night skiing. She also recalled that because it was Family Week at the resort, they had No Strings Marionette Company putting on a show up at the main lodge. We all planned to meet up, watch the show, and then get in some evening skiing under the lights.

The marionette show was excellent as expected – No Strings Marionette Company had spent a week in residence at Ty and Dylan’s school, so we knew their work. Ty had brought his Telemark skis and Dylan switched over to his, so they spent the evening working on their Telemark turns. After a couple runs, we snuck in dinner at Fireside Flatbread, and I was really surprised that the boys hadn’t had enough skiing after that. There was some really nice snow out there though, with the very best of it in the highest elevations. Dylan and I had noticed that the line of transition to notably wetter snow was about 200’ above the main base. The snow below that level was still OK, especially with skier traffic, but it was above that level that the new snow was driest and skiing really well. We started out with a typical training run on the Sherman’s Pass route, but Ty was eyeballing the impressively steep expanse of Spillway as we went by. I commented that Spillway was too steep for him to be working on Telemark turns, but of course Ty would have none of that logic. I acquiesced with the insistence that Ty practice Telemark turns even on the steep terrain, and by the next run we were dropping our way down the steeps of Spillway. The snow was somewhat packed in the center of the trail, and even starting to develop a few moguls. However, the sides, especially the skier’s right where the terrain is somewhat invisible as it falls away from view, held a lot of deep loose snow that was either still sitting there from the storm or thrown their by the work of other skiers. That terrain falling away from view also equates to it falling away from the assistance of the night skiing lights, and that adds quite a different dimension to the experience. With only the marginal assistance of the lights from the other side of the trail, it was quite a hoot making steep Telemark turns in down Spillway amidst copious chopped up powder. I found some beautifully soft lines of there, and it was a reminder of how even semi-packed snow can be a lot of fun. The boys were clearly having enough fun as well, because they wanted to keep doing more runs – we kept going until the lifts shut down.

February 24, 2013April 26, 2013

Stowe, VT 24FEB2013

An image of Ty skiing in soft snow on Angel Food at Stowe Mountain Resort in Vermont. — Ty on Angel Food today – conditions are simply fantastic at Stowe right now and it’s a great time to hit the slopes.

Today was back to ski program at Stowe, and with the recent snows we decided to make it an early day and get in some turns in the morning before our actual sessions started. After charging the boys up with a good breakfast, we headed off to Stowe under cloudy skies and temperatures running a pretty consistent 35 F in the lower mountain valleys. The temperatures slightly above freezing created a cascade of wet snow slowly slipping off trees, roofs, and most other objects as we traveled through those areas. As we ascended to the resort base elevations, the temperatures finally cooled down to around the freezing mark, and we were greeted with light snow falling.

“…now is the time
to go if you’ve been
waiting to ride the
Northern Greens.”

After my reconnaissance run on Angel Food on the 14^th, I was planning to bring my group out there today. I figured it would be fun to give E a chance to ski the area since she’d never been out that far, and it would provide Ty and Dylan with a preview so that they could be helpful with guiding when we brought the other boys out there. Descending from the top of the gondola on Upper Gondolier, it was immediately obvious just how good the snow surfaces were. The combination of the past two storms has really done a great job of resurfacing the on piste areas. Conditions out on Angel Food were quite good – we skied the standard route and mostly tracked snow, but it hardly mattered because the snow was so soft. E hasn’t skied Stowe on alpine skis with the boys in quite a while, and she was very impressed with the pace at which they seemed to fly through the challenging terrain. She’s definitely worried that the boys are starting to surpass her in aspects of their skiing – at least on alpines. One of the interesting things we noticed while out on Angel Food today was the number of people using the route to skin up the mountain. I guess it’s a convenient way to go so that one stays out of bounds for an ascent. We made one more gondola run on Perry Merrill so that E could check out the potential for some of her intermediate students, and I noted that with conditions being so good, it could be a real confidence builder. Ty and Dylan kept up their fast pace of ascent, even racing on the last pitch of Perry Merrill with E’s approval, but I assured her that we did not do things like that during our regular session time.

Our next stop was lunch at the Great Room Grill – I tried the salmon burger for the first time and it was quite good. It comes with an interesting side of coleslaw that has some unique raisins in it. We wanted a good meal because we were expecting to push hard all afternoon with the great snow that was out there. We’d already learned that Ken wasn’t going to be able attend our afternoon session, and in the end we found out that Jack was also out, so it was jump me, Ty, Dylan, and Luke.

Our first stop of the afternoon was the standard Angel Food run, and it was a huge success with Luke. After difficulty in the Bench Woods, he was very impressed with how much better Angle Food was. We continued on next with his selection of the Nosedive Glades from the Cliff Trail side, and then another selection he’d mentioned – Hackett’s Highway. We sampled some great woods in various places off the Fourrunner Quad – the off piste is skiing really well right now and you can essentially jump into any line you want. Back at the Gondola we had a long run through some of the Gondolier trees and the finished off the day back at Spruce with some trees and most of the terrain above Meadows. Even that terrain right down near the base was skiing stupendously.

We had dinner in Stowe on the way home, trying out Charlie B’s Pub and Restaurant. It’s associated with the Stoweflake Mountain Resort and Spa, and has a nice cozy atmosphere. While we were there, we also got to watch footage from the Stowe Derby that had taken place today. It’s fun to watch people try to negotiate those curves on the Toll Road on Nordic skis – that takes some serious skill.

As an overall comment on the day, I’ve got to say that the skiing is simply fantastic right now in both a qualitative and quantitative sense. The snow from the current storm was denser than fluff, and even though it hasn’t been a huge storm, it’s contributed quite a resurfacing when combined with the midweek storm. For me, today’s skiing at Stowe had a bit of a Whistler Blackcomb feel to it; the peaks were shrouded in clouds, snow was falling, and the snow underfoot was semi-dense with plenty of meat to it that covered up the subsurface. I’d say the part where the experience differed was that you could head all the way down into the village elevations and you wouldn’t get into that sticky snow that can so often be an issue as you get down toward Whistler Village. While dense, there wasn’t any stickiness from top to bottom – at least down to the 1,500’ elevation. Part of the Whistler Blackcomb issue of course is that they’re covering 5,000’+ of vertical, but today’s snow was like a good slice of 2,000’+ from somewhere up in the higher elevations. In terms of quantity, the stake is at 65”, so right around that average mark, and average for this time of year is pretty sweet. These last two storms have clearly pushed things to another tier of coverage off piste; we were skiing and seeing lines that we’ve yet to this season, and the skiing in many areas has taken on an entirely new dimension. Anyway, now is the time to go if you’ve been waiting to ride the Northern Greens.

February 23, 2013June 14, 2013

Bolton Valley, VT 23FEB2013

An image of Dylan skiing in powder in the Villager Trees area of Bolton Valley Ski Resort in Vermont — Dylan drops into a powdery line in the Villager Trees today.

Snow from our current storm was just starting up when he headed up to Bolton Valley today – at roughly 11:00 A.M. we went from scattered flakes down the house at 500’ to a steadier light snow up at 1,500’. After my quick trip to the resort on Thursday to check out the snow from our midweek upslope dump, I made note of several places to go to get E and the boys some powder turns. So, after stowing our lunch in the Timberline Lodge, we hopped right on the Timberline Quad and got to the Timberline Summit. The intensity of the snowfall increased as we headed up in elevation, and as we headed over to the Village we could feel how the groomed slopes were already taking on that coating of fresh snow.

Dylan said “That was
heaven!” and Ty insisted
“I could ski that all day!”

We rode the Vista Quad for the next leg of our trip, and indeed the intensity of the snowfall increased again as we headed still higher in elevation. We had to hunker down against a somewhat easterly wind that was blowing in our faces as we rode the lift, but we knew we’d be into the protection of the trees soon enough. We found the snow surface on Cobrass to be very impressive – the mountain presumably made some snow on the headwall and has been able to keep things in very good condition ever since through grooming etc. E said that it was some of the best conditions she could remember seeing there.

We worked our way into the Villager Trees and found some excellent snow conditions, then we headed up to “The Knob” for some additional turns. The boys were in very good spirits, and demonstrated some excellent teamwork as they got the gear up through “The Crack”. We hit a nice steep line bringing us back down to the main thoroughfare in the area, and the boys were extremely enamored with the skiing. Dylan said “That was heaven!” and Ty insisted “I could ski that all day!” Anyway, they were very impressed with the snow. We were still skiing in areas that hadn’t seen traffic since the last storm, so there were some deep turns to be had. The settling of that snow plus the new synoptic snow falling on top of it meant that it wasn’t the ultra fluff that was available right after that upslope dump, but it was soft, bottomless, and only getting deeper as the snow continued to fall. We finished off the long run all the way back to the Timberline Base, catching some good turns on Lower Tattle Tale and Spur.

That had been a long circuit, and the boys were ready for lunch by the time we got to the lodge, but their spirits were high. They had enjoyed it some much that they requested doing the same run again. That was really impressive because it’s the first time I can recall them wanting to head to “The Knob” a second time. But, the snow was really good, and they had the fever for that fresh powder, so we did the same circuit again as soon as we were done with lunch. The snowfall intensified as the afternoon wore on, reaching up to an inch an hour at times, but it was typically in the moderate range. At the end of that run, Dylan fell right near the lift and hurt his thumb, so he went inside with E to take a quick breather, while Ty and I went for a run off the Timberline Mid Station.

Ty and I headed out on the traverse toward Doug’s Solitude, and found some good turns, but that area still needs a bit more snow since it’s fairly low elevation and it’s south facing. The Solitude traverse was really fun though, Ty enjoyed that best as he sent himself off every jump and bump he could find. When we got back to the lodge and found that Dylan was fine but calling it a day, we decided on one more run. Ty wanted to get back to the Solitude traverse, so I introduced him to some of the lines in the Intro Woods and then we eventually worked out way back down to the Solitude traverse. It’s still weird how the traverse has been modified to accommodate the off road driving school, but at least most of it is still intact.

At our car at 1,500’ I’d say there was about an inch or so when we left, but there was some wind so it was difficult to get a good read on it. The temperature at that elevation was 30 F around 4:00 P.M., so we were curious to see how warm it was in the valley and if any snow was accumulating. Indeed we found that snow had accumulated all the way to the bottom of the access road (340’) even though the temperature appeared to be in the 34-35 F range. It seemed like there was a new inch or so at the base of the road, but it was even colder and snowier when we got to our house (~500’). I found a temperature of 32.5 F and 1.8” on the snowboard. Since that point the snowfall has been of lower intensity, with 0.8” additional as of 10:00 P.M. The snow continues to fall tonight; it’s probably not going to be heavy, but it should make for some fresh surfaces tomorrow and we’re going to try to get in some early turns at Stowe before our BJAMS ski program if we can. There’s also another potential storm coming to the area during the midweek period, so we’ll be watching for that one.

February 21, 2013April 26, 2013

Bolton Valley, VT 21FEB2013

An image of a ski track in powder in the Villager Trees area of Bolton Valley ski Resort in Vermont — Enjoying the bottomless Champlain Powder this afternoon

People have been talking about the potential for upslope snow on the back side of our current storm cycle for days, and indeed it delivered. Just as the National Weather Service Office in Burlington predicted a few days ago, Jay Peak was the jackpot for this one, pulling in 27” of snow for the storm. From there, it was just an easy walk down the spine of the Green Mountains with the snow totals falling in line: 24” at Smuggler’s Notch, 18” at Stowe, 16” at Bolton Valley, and on downward into the Central and Southern Greens. The early morning pictures from Jay Peak were impressive, as parked cars already began to disappear in the snow, and although I was busy in the morning at work, if I found the time I was going to have to hit the slopes in the afternoon. Since I’m writing this, you can guess that I found some time.

“It wasn’t just good,
it was really good
– even by Northern
Vermont standards.”

I got up to Timberline in the mid afternoon and caught a ride on the Timberline Quad with a bartender on his way up to work at the James Moore Tavern. He lives at the Bear Run Condos, which are slopeside along the Timberline trails, so technically this was his “commute” to work. There was hardly anyone around on the lift since it was getting pretty late in the day, but because he was with me he decided that he’d count it as car pooling. In order to ski home, he often catches a ride to the top of the resort with one of the groomers late in the night when he’s done his shift at the bar, and he said that last night during his nightly excursion, the snow was coming down like mad. It sounds like he had a fun “commute” home last night.

Snow surfaces had been pounded pretty flat by the wind when I’d last visited the resort on Monday, so I figured that it was really going to take a good dump to invigorate the surfaces. I was somewhat skeptical that this storm would be enough… until I took that first turn in the powder off to the side of Villager. It wasn’t just good, it was really good – even by Northern Vermont standards. It was somehow really dry, while still being bottomless. What I’d forgotten was that the resort had picked up some denser snow yesterday morning, and that was sitting down below this latest Champlain Powder™ fluff. That sequence created a beautiful right-side up combination of snow layers. Powderfreak found the quality worthy of comment as well on the American Weather Forum, so indeed it was some impressive powder in which to make turns.

Since it was mid afternoon and people had been out skiing the fresh snow all day, I didn’t really have the run of the resort so to speak with respect to powder. The wind was also having its way in some exposed areas, but I knew where to go. From the Vista Summit I made my way down into the Villager Trees, where the snow was protected and there was plenty of untracked powder. The trees in the there were glorious to behold with all the delicate powder layered on them. I got into some good lines off The Knob, farther skier’s left than I’ve been this season. I probed the powder in various places during my travels, and the measurements all came back in the 15-19” range for settled depth. I don’t believe that was all from this storm in areas that hadn’t seen much traffic, but things start to get deep when it’s powder on top of powder.

An image of snow sitting on dead branches on an evergreen in the Villager Trees area of Bolton Valley Ski Resort in Vermont — The fluff was everywhere today.

Since my car was down at Timberline, I was able to finish off my day there, and I caught some nice turns upon traversing over to Lower Tattle Tale. The Tattle Tale headwall was scoured, but boy was there some deep, well-protected powder on the lower half. I had the trails to myself since it was the end of the day, and Spur was particularly enjoyable as I followed the main track and skirted in and out of the powder on the sides to check my speed. I caught a little bit of powder on the bottom of Spell Binder, and I’m sure it was nice getting fresh tracks there this morning.

The bulk of this storm was really focused on the Northern Greens, and the skiing has definitely stepped back up a notch after getting pretty flat and beaten down over the weekend. This was a much needed dump of snow with so many of the big synoptic systems missing off to the south of the area, and the snow depth at the Mt. Mansfield Stake has reached 65”; it’s finally gotten back above average after being below for a month and a half. We’ve got the potential for a modest snowstorm this weekend, and then another next week, so those could really help to keep building the snowpack if their tracks are halfway decent.

February 14, 2013April 26, 2013

Stowe, VT 14FEB2013

An image looking down at the top of the Angle Food run in the sidecountry ski terrain at Stowe Mountain Resort in Vermont — Taking in the view before dropping into Angel Food today

The winter storm that’s been affecting Vermont over the past couple of days is actually one that The Weather Channel name “Orko” based on its effects in the Midwest earlier in the week. Snowfall from the system hasn’t been widespread, but it has dropped a foot and a half of snow on Jay Peak, and Stowe has done reasonably well with its own foot of fresh powder. Powderfreak’s fluffy pictures from Tuesday told the story – it was another one of those midweek Mt. Mansfield powder days that fly right under the radar. And, the snow wasn’t just fluff; it had enough substance that it represented a reasonable resurfacing of the slopes. What made the new snow even better was that I wouldn’t say Stowe even needed it that badly based on the conditions we encountered Sunday. With these thoughts in mind, I’d contemplated getting out to Mansfield for a few turns, but when Powderfreak commented in a post on Americanwx.com that “…it’s pretty unanimous in town here that the mountain is skiing the best of the season”, it seemed like it was time to pay the mountain a visit. I’d been too busy to fit it in earlier in the week, but I finally found myself with enough time this morning to get out and make a few turns.

“…it’s pretty unanimous
in town here that the
mountain is skiing the
best of the season.”

The beckoning conditions were certainly enough to get me out to the hill, but I had another good reason to pay Mt. Mansfield a visit. Our Sunday trip out to the Bench Woods with the boys during our BJAMS ski program got me thinking about bringing them out to Angel Food. It’s been a while since I’ve been out that way though, so like I did for the Bruce Trail a few weeks back I wanted to get in some reconnaissance to ensure that the trip would go smoothly. As of yesterday, the Mt. Mansfield Stake was showing a snowpack depth of 57 inches; it was still below average, but only by a couple of inches, and it was certainly enough to provide some decent turns even on steeper runs in the Stowe sidecountry.

With the combination of new snow and relatively low, midweek skier traffic, the traverse out to Angel Food was in good shape. I stopped in a few spots along the traverse to check the depth of the powder, and found anywhere from 12 to 20 inches in the high elevations. The main route was certainly tracked up, but there are just so many acres and acres of terrain around it that fresh lines were everywhere for the taking. Even though it was tracked and packed, the snow in the central areas was so good that I actually spent a lot of time there working on turns. When I did venture off the sides of the main route into other trees, the powder turns were divine, but the depth of the powder definitely started to drop as I went down in elevation. Down near the 2,000’ elevation there was also a thin layer of crust somewhere between the layers of powder. It was often quite subtle, so I suspect it was simply a bit of melt crust from when temperatures in the lower elevations rose above freezing on one of these past few days. I decided to take the traverses that got me back to the base of the resort instead of venturing down to Route 108, since that’s most likely what we’ll do with the boys at first, but we’ll work our way up to some of the other stuff. There was just glade after glade after glade off the main Angel Food route with few if any tracks, so the resort is really set up well for the coming holiday weekend.

A close-up image of powder snow on a spruce branch out in the Angel Food sidecountry area at Stowe Mountain Ski Resort in Vermont — Out in the sidecountry – a little Champlain Powder settled on a spruce

“There was just glade after
glade after glade off the main
Angel Food route with few if
any tracks…”

After getting back to the base, I decided on one more run on Gondolier to really burn out my legs – I was on my Telemark skis so it really wasn’t going to take much. On piste conditions were very good. I’d still encounter the occasional firm spot, so I can’t quite put them down as top notch, but they were way up there. As they have been much of the week, temperatures at the base were right around 30 F, and somewhere in the 20s F up top. Between the fresh snow, midweek levels of visitors, and the perfect temperatures, people who chose this week for their vacation are really getting that quintessential Stowe experience. I think a couple more feet of base snow would really get everything to that upper echelon of conditions, but it’s essentially powder and packed powder everywhere as far as I could tell, so it’s somewhat splitting hairs on the exact level of snow quality. We’ve got some chances for snow going into the holiday weekend, and I’m leaning toward some backcountry turns barring a big storm, but front, side, or backcountry – the skiing is looking good in the Northern Greens right now.

February 10, 2013January 20, 2018

Stowe, VT 10FEB2013

An image of Ty skiing in soft snow in the Meadows area at Stowe Mountain Resort in vermont — Ripping it up on Spruce Peak today

Today was a continuation of riding Nemo’s bounty, and we got to check out how things went down at Stowe. Like most of the Vermont ski areas, Stowe fell in that 1 to 1 ½ foot range for storm accumulation, reporting 14 inches from the event. Yesterday’s cold had also cleared out today, with the forecast calling for sunshine and temperatures in the 20s F.

We kicked things off before program started, with a warm up run off the Sunny Spruce Quad. Conditions last Sunday were certainly decent, but it was easy to see that they’d taken a significant step upward today. On piste, the snow from Nemo had been worked into the groomed surfaces to make them quite soft, and off piste there was a good foot of fairly fresh powder everywhere. The boys requested a descent along the Sunny Spruce lift line on Lower Smuggler’s and it was some fine cruising. We had time for a second quick run since people were still assembling, so we checked out Nastar Hill and the open terrain above Meadows. When we’d initially arrived at the resort today I hadn’t seen many tracks up in that area, so I figured it might be crusty or tough to ski, but it was anything but tough. It was partially skier-packed snow that was gloriously soft. After ripping his way down that face Ty proclaimed, presumably with some hyperbole, that it was his “best run ever”. I get where he was going with that though, in that it was almost effortless. That’s low elevation, south-facing terrain, and the conditions were extremely impressive. After experiencing that, and having skied west-facing terrain at similar elevations at Bolton Valley yesterday, I’d say that Stowe currently has the edge in terms of conditions.

An image of Ty sitting in the powder in the Nosedive Glades at Stowe Mountain Ski Resort in Vermont — Kickin’ back in the Nosedive Glades

We finally met up with Ken and Jack and made our way over to Mt. Mansfield. With the new snow that has fallen thanks to Nemo, I decided that a Kitchen Wall run was in order, and the boys were fired up for that. The snowpack depth at the Mt. Mansfield Stake has jumped to 55 inches with the addition of the recent snow, so that’s getting it up not too far below average. The Kitchen Wall traverse is in decent shape, although certainly not as soft and filled in as it could be. The snow in there was nice, with plenty of areas of untracked powder remaining if you were willing to poke around. Down below we found Nosedive a bit firm in the middle at times due to the manmade snow, but the edges were great and we worked those all the way back down to the Gondola.

“It was partially
skier-packed snow
that was gloriously
soft.”

Another big plan for the day was to bring the boys out to the Bench Woods, since only Dylan has been in there with me. The first chutes bypassing Upper Gondolier were simply heinous – they’re cut overly tight for their very steep pitch to begin with, and with the traffic that has been in there, the coverage is worn down way too low. Another couple feet of base are needed in there to make them respectable. Even before we went in, I told the boys that I usually skip those chutes because they hardly ever ski well, but I wanted them to at least experience what they were like. Well, one trip was enough for them to realize why those chutes just aren’t that great. Down in the Bench Woods the powder was actually quite plentiful. Ken and I had a blast gliding our way down the center of a small streambed that just kept going and going. Luke and Jack definitely struggled in there though, since there are a lot of saplings that make many lines feel tight, and they don’t have a ton of experience in that terrain. Ty and Dylan handled it well, although they did get a bit bored waiting for the other boys if they were getting stuck in the powder or having trouble navigating. It’s a long run as it is, but between the struggles and boredom, Ken and I were probably the only ones really having an all out blast. However, we had a lot of good teaching moments dealing with the nuances of skiing that sort of terrain. The past couple of times I’ve been in there, it’s seemed like there’s a lot more underbrush compared to what I remember back in the 90s – I just think the whole place needs a good pruning and it will ski many, many times better.

Coming back out of the Bench Woods felt like a never ending saga for the boys, so when we finally arrived, I decided that they’d earned a good snack break in the Midway Lodge, just like Dylan and I had done that last time we’d skied in there. And, just like Dylan and I had done, we kicked back near the Fireplace in the near solitude of Midway in the late afternoon. For a snack I grabbed what looked like some maple granola made by Mitzi’s, a local Stowe company also known as Fresh Mountain Foods. That granola is fantastic, and when I shared it around among the group everyone was impressed. I suspect they carry it in other parts of the resort, but it’s going to be an excuse to get me back to the Midway Lodge.

“Ken and I had a blast
gliding our way down
the center of a small
streambed that just
kept going and going.”

After the extended break to recover from our Bench Woods adventure, we had time for one more run. We decided to keep it simple due to the late hour, so we just did a Perry Merrill to Gondolier run. The snow was again quite good, and excellent along the edges. About halfway down I heard the boys yelling about something they could see off in the distance, and the best we could tell, since it was way down in the base area, it looked like a car was on fire. Black smoke was billowing hundreds of feet in the air, but it was hard to imagine that it could actually be a car on fire. We rushed down to the base, and low and behold there was indeed an SUV on fire. It was the weirdest thing, and not something you’d expect to see at the base of a ski resort (or I guess most places for that matter). I’m not sure what caused it, but perhaps we’ll hear about it in the paper.

An image of a burning SUV in the Midway parking lot at Stowe Mountain Resort in Vermont — Strange sight in the Midway parking lot

The boys wanted to hang around for some food, so we had a mellow meal by one of the south windows in the mostly deserted Great Room Grill. Claire is off to Africa for a couple of weeks, so she and Luke weren’t there, and Jack and his family were with some other folks over by the Spruce Camp Bar. Jack and the boys played some sort of hide and go seek around the lodge though, and kept themselves amused until we finally had to reel them in. At least E got them to eat most of their food – they often forget to eat and then they want more food when we get home.

We’ve got another winter storm coming into the area tomorrow. It’s a low pressure system that will be working in nearly overhead out of the Midwest, and in The Weather Channel naming scheme this one is called “Orko”. Down here in the valley it sounds like we’ll have a bit of rain with snow on the front and back ends of the storm, but it sounds like the higher elevations are going to be mostly snow with perhaps a little sleet. You folks better get your space heaters in order, no one wants frozen toes. The current forecast calls for 5 to 9 inches in the Mt. Mansfield area, although the models are showing some good potential for upslope snow on the back side lingering into Tuesday night, so totals could ultimately be higher than that if the upslope really kicks in.

February 9, 2013April 26, 2013

Bolton Valley, VT 09FEB2013

An image of Ty skiing waist deeppowder in the KP Glades at Bolton Valley Resort in Vermont thanks to winter storm Nemo — Ty, finding Nemo quite rewarding today.

Winter storm “Nemo” dropped up to 40 inches of snow on parts of Southern New England, and the effects were much less dramatic up here in Northern Vermont, but we did pick up over a foot of snow at the house, and Bolton Valley’s snow report came in at 14 inches this morning. Being far enough away from the core of the storm, winds weren’t a big problem, but the forecast called for fairly cold temperatures with a high of around 10 F in the mountains. Today’s skiing held a little too much potential to let a bit of cold get in the way though, so we brought along some hand and foot warmers for the boys, and headed up to Timberline.

“As for the skiing, it was
a decent day with plenty
of powder, but certainly
nothing epic.”

Today was actually the first time this season that we had a chance to get in a Timberline-based day, and there was a surprising amount of activity at the base area when we arrived. There was even a couple minute lift queue present at the Timberline Quad not too long after lift opening. Ty commented that he’d seen a sign indicating that the Vista Quad was down, and it turned out that it was down all day due to electrical issues. That made for some substantial queues of several minutes at the Timberline Quad in the late morning period, but they dissipated in the afternoon.

As for the skiing, it was a decent day with plenty of powder, but certainly nothing epic. We checked out Spell Binder, which had some coverage issues on the headwall outside the center strip where they’d made some snow. There were also some massive death chunks, some that were the size of basketballs, which were left over from the snowmaking in the transition zone between the natural and manmade snow. They had groomed most of the lower part of the run, so powder really wasn’t as plentiful there as it usually is. We did find some very nice powder turns in the Corner Pocket Glades though, with first tracks through a good part of that area. We also found some great fresh snow in the KP Glades and the Sure Shot Trees. Twice as Nice really needs one more round of base building, and that’s the case with a lot of natural snow terrain down in the lower Timberline elevations. The turns are generally fine, but you need to be on your guard to avoid any spots where coverage is a little low. The off piste is skiing well because it gets more minimal traffic, but it would be nice to have another couple feet of base there to better cover up underlying objects. We’d occasionally bump something under the snow today where we typically wouldn’t expect to find anything. We never ventured over to the main mountain with the Vista Quad not operating, but the base depths there generally seem sufficient to avoid those types of issues.

An image of Erica Telemark skiing in powder in the Corner Pocket Glades at Bolton Valley Resort in Vermont — E glides through some of today’s fluff deposited by Nemo.

It was definitely fun being back in the Timberline groove today, we had an early lunch and the lodge was moderately busy, but there was still ample space. Some of us did a little rating of the overall skiing when we were discussing things at the end of the day – Dad gave it a 5 out of 10, and Ty gave it a 6 out of 10. A couple more decent storms will get those lower elevation Timberline trails fixed up, and it looks like the next one could be coming in Monday. February is becoming a lot more active in terms of winter storms, which is a nice change from the relatively dry January period that we went through. We’re looking forward to the upcoming stretch of skiing at Bolton Valley.

January 29, 2013April 26, 2013

Bolton Valley, VT 29JAN2013

An image of ski tracks in powder on the Spell Binder trail at Bolton Valley Resort in Vermont — Finding good turns today in 8-10″ of powder

The Northern Greens picked up roughly a half foot of new snow thanks to the storm that came through yesterday. There was actually a general 3-6” of accumulation up and down the spine, with the southern resorts catching the lower end of that range. Although this was a rather modest storm, the past couple of weeks have been pretty lean on snowfall, so it was a nice way to put an end to the bout of dry, arctic air that had been hanging out in the area. We picked up 4.5 inches of snow at our place in the valley, and that actual turned out be our largest storm so far in 2013. The snow quality was certainly good; my analyses revealed water content of 5% H2O for the snow that fell through the afternoon, and then 4.3% H2O for the additional snow in the evening.

“Since there hasn’t been much
traffic in a while, the combination
of the most recent snow and lighter
events from last week provided
8-10 inches of beautiful powder
over a smooth base.”

With the conditions already quite good based on observations from my outing on Sunday, and Bolton Valley reporting 5” of new snow up top, it was definitely a morning to hit the slopes. I contemplated heading up to the main base to get the most snow, but as I drove past Timberline it looked pretty good so I decided to check it out. I went back and forth for a few moments about which base to visit, and eventually decided to stay where I was because it was generally quiet and I was hoping I could keep out of the way of any grooming equipment. There were a couple of other cars were parked below the center island below the lodge, which meant that there might be a skin track already in place. It was a nice morning – it was cloudy, but there was no wind and the temperature there at 1,500’ elevation was 22 F. That was very pleasant after the arctic temperatures we’ve recently seen.

An image looking down a long spine of man made snow atop the headwall of the Spell Binder trail at Bolton Valley Ski Resort in Vermont with trees visible in the background below — Snowmaking spine on Spell Binder

I began my ascent and followed the skin track that people had established on Twice as Nice. My depth checks on the powder consistently revealed 4” new, which is what Bolton reported for the base elevations. For the descent I headed over to Spell Binder, since a groomer was working on Showtime, and there were already a couple of tracks and a groomed strip on Twice as Nice. I’d forgotten that the mountain could make snow on Spell Binder, but they’d made some snow on the upper headwall area. There were some huge snow whales there, which they’ll have to spread around at some point. The approach to skiing the steep terrain on the headwall was a toss up. One option was to ski on some of the manmade snow, but there were some tricky snow formations made by the guns, and the 4-5 inches of snow wasn’t enough to keep you from touching down on that dense manmade surface. The other option was to ski the sides of the trial that had not seen snowmaking. The base snow was of higher quality, and there had been additional round of powder on top of it, but there were spots of poor coverage where snow had been swept away by winds. I ultimately made use of both options, going where my line took me.

I was a bit conservative in my skiing of the headwall since I didn’t want to hit any rocks that might be lurking under the snow, but once I was below that, the rest of the trail was in another league in terms of snow quality. Since there hasn’t been much traffic in a while, the combination of the most recent snow and lighter events from last week provided 8-10 inches of beautiful powder over a smooth base. Sunday’s turns were certainly good, but with the addition of this latest storm, these were the deepest turns I’d had in a couple of weeks. The top levels of the snow were in that 4-5% range of H2O content, and there was a nice gradient of more dense snow below. It was that combination that powder skiers seek for great turns.

The addition of this latest storm has certainly helped the meager snow totals that we’ve seen this January. We’ve now had almost 22” of snow at the house this month, however, that’s still only about half the average I have in my records. Tomorrow is supposed to be a warm day, so this latest round of powder is going to settle down, but the forecast says we’re back into the cold tomorrow night into Thursday, with some chances for snow. No large systems are expected, but some Clipper systems may come through in the next several days, and the Greens can usually do something nice with that moisture and often pull out totals just like we saw today.

January 27, 2013April 26, 2013

Bolton Valley Nordic/Backcountry, VT 27JAN2013

An image of ski tracks in powder on the backcountry network at Bolton Valley Resort in Vermont — Making tracks in the Bolton Valley backcountry today

We’ve had arctic air in the Northeast all week, which has made it one of the coldest and driest periods of the season. With the lack of moisture there’s been only an inch of snow at the house in the past seven days, and although Bolton Valley was reporting a similar accumulation, they had picked up a few inches since I was last there for my backcountry outing on the 19^th. I also suspect they’ve picked up various small accumulations of dry arctic snow similar to what we’ve seen down here at the house, but they haven’t hit that one inch threshold for the snow report. Although still rather cold this weekend, temperatures have definitely moderated somewhat from the beginning of the week… when high temperatures actually remained below zero in many locations. Yesterday we topped out around 15 F down here at the house (495’), and the afternoon temperature was sitting around 4 F up in the Bolton Valley Village (2,100’). Today we actually got up around 20 F at the house, and when I arrived at the Village in the mid afternoon, the temperature was a reasonable 12 F. The arctic air is definitely waning. Although I wasn’t planning on doing too much skiing this weekend with the combination of air temperature and minimal new snow, I at least wanted to get out one day for a tour. I almost got one in yesterday, but ran out of time since we were having James and the kids over for the evening. However, E and Claire cancelled our BJAMS ski program at Stowe today due to the forecast temperatures, so it gave me the opportunity to get in an afternoon tour. I think today actually worked out to be the better ski day of the weekend, since it was almost 10 F warmer up on the mountain, and we had sunny skies in contrast to a bit of gray yesterday afternoon.

“It was surprising to think
that the snow was holding
pat after such a dry week,
let alone improving.”

Last weekend’s outing on the backcountry network was fun, since the powder was decent, but also fruitful in that I discovered a nice new glade in an area I hadn’t previously visited. That discovery really wasn’t planned, but since it worked out well I figured I’d go with a similar theme today; my goal was to check out a descent off Heavenly Highway in the Moose Glen area. It’s an area that E and the boys and I have wanted to explore for a while. Since the boys were a bit under the weather and they weren’t going to head out in the cold temperatures, it was another solo outing for me. I find these solo outings work well for reconnaissance though, because I can move quickly and efficiently and explore a lot of terrain relative to when we’ve got the boys along.

“As I slid through that last run in
the powder, my feet felt really quick.
I guess that’s the best way to describe
it; the pitch of the slope, the depth of
the powder, and the length and width of
my skis all just came together to make
everything work for Telemark turns.”

Once again, despite the chilly temperatures and dearth of fresh snow, the main parking lots up in the Village were pretty full, so the resort was getting a lot of visitors. On piste conditions are actually pretty good based on what I’ve seen though, as the arctic air appears to be preserving packed powder surfaces very nicely. I’ve been sort of down on the arctic air that’s been hanging around because it doesn’t bring fresh powder for skiing, but boy does it do a heck of a job on snow preservation. Even though new snow has been minimal in the past week, I could tell that the quality of the snow on the ground had improved as soon as I began my ascent today. I saw a bunch of Telemark skiers working on turns on the Telemark Practice Slope, and even though that was a tracked area and they were often on the subsurface below the powder, the turns were very quiet. As I probed around and checked depths during my trip up the Bryant Trail, I could tell first hand that the subsurface had improved since last weekend. Presumably that ultra dry arctic air has been working on it, because it was even more crumbly and Styrofoam-like than last weekend. The conditions also seemed to be bolstered by additional powder. Whereas last weekend I found 3 to 4 inches at the 2,100’ level and 6” up at 2,700 at the Bryant Cabin, today I found roughly 5 inches at the base elevations and 7 to 8 inches at the cabin. It was surprising to think that the snow was holding pat after such a dry week, let alone improving.

An image of drifted snow along the edge of the Bryant Trail on the Nordic/Backcountry network at Bolton Valley Ski Resort in Vermont — Along the Bryant Trail

My ascent went smoothly, and I saw a few other groups of skiers here and there having fun in the good snow. After reaching the Bryant Cabin, I continued on up to Heavenly Highway, and once I got up to around the 3,000’ elevation I could really see just how well preserved things were at those elevations. In protected areas, the evergreens were still coated in white like snow had just fallen. I finally switched to descent mode in the Moose Glen area, where below me sat a nice open, untracked line powder line. The pitch looked perfect for the 6 to 8 inches of medium-weight arctic fluff that it held, and I could see the exact line I wanted to take. As I sat there contemplating those first turns, there was an almost tangible excitement in seeing if the snow was going to deliver. As good as the snow can seem on the ascent, making those turns is really where the rubber meets the road.

I dropped in and the turns were smooth and effortless; there was still the occasional touch on the subsurface, but indeed the conditions had taken quite a leap since last weekend. There were a couple old tracks from previous skiers to give me an idea of where to go on the descent, but I also let the lay of the land dictate the route. A number of clear areas offering nice turns, but I could tell that many more shots would be available if the snowpack was bumped up a foot or two. After some consolidation and this dry January spell, snowpack depth at the Mt. Mansfield Stake is about a foot below average, so typically some of those areas with brush would be covered by now. Hopefully we can do some catching up on snow depth in the next couple of months.

An image looking down at an untracked powder line from Heavenly Highway in the Moose Glen area on the Nordic & Backcountry Ski Network at Bolton Valley Ski Resort in Vermont — Getting ready to drop in

I continued downward in a general southerly direction and entered an area of flat terrain among evergreens. I could tell that it was a bit of a shelf with land sloping off to the south. There was a clearly cut route that entered the area, but the ski tracks that had led me there disappeared. After a few minutes of poking around, I was happy to find that my instincts had led me in the right direction. There was a nicely made glade dropping down the initial steep slope, and then in mellowed out into a large, sparsely treed area with lines everywhere. I enjoyed a lot of good turns in there, and I eventually found that it had led me right down in Snow Hole, which without the Wilderness Lift running, didn’t have many ski tracks. I was really appreciating the consistency of the snow in Snow Hole – the powder was just perfect for the pitch; it was dry, but somewhere just on the dry side of medium in density, and the floatation was great.

When I came to the fork indicating the route over to the Wilderness Lift, I opted to check out the right option instead, and quickly found myself on Gardiner’s Lane. I was really liking the overall setup of this descent, gaining that extra elevation above the Bryant Cabin had already given it that extra boost of vertical, and I knew I still had some good turns to go. On World Cup I headed past the glades adjacent to the Telemark Practice Slope, since I could see that they had seen a number of skiers, and continued on until I got to some additional untracked lines. The woods are pretty open there, so there was no need for a specific glade to get some really nice turns.

As I slid through that last run in the powder, my feet felt really quick. I guess that’s the best way to describe it; the pitch of the slope, the depth of the powder, and the length and width of my skis all just came together to make everything work for Telemark turns. I’d say that was really just the pinnacle in terms of that feeling, but all day today I felt good on the AMPerages. After the way they’d felt slow at times last weekend when I hit the Bruce Trail, I was tempted to switch to my narrower-waisted RT-86s today for a faster feel with a potentially firmer base. In the end I decided that I wanted the float of the AMPerages, and I’m glad I went that route. Whether it was that improvement in the powder, the subsurface, the snow density, or just the lines I hit today, they were the tool of choice.

This is a Google Earth map with GPS tracking data for a ski tour on the Nordic/Backcountry network at Bolton Valley Ski Resort in Vermont — GPS tracking data for today’s Bolton Valley Nordic/backcountry tour – click for full size map

It was getting close to 5:00 P.M. before I was done with my tour, and now that we’re over a month past the solstice, I’m definitely noticing (and thankful for) that longer light. We’ve also got some warmer temperatures coming in the next few days, with a dramatic change in the weather pattern this week. A storm is coming in tomorrow that is forecast to deliver a modest 2-4” type of snowfall, but that is going to feel like a lot after only arctic dustings over the past week or so. We’re also expected to go above freezing with the next round of the storm as it cuts to the west, but hopefully we’ll get some additional snow on the back side. We could be into a more active pattern going into next weekend, which would be nice to build the snowpack after these January doldrums. With that said, I’ve certainly got a new found respect for what these arctic weather conditions can do for the snowpack, so if we do get another round of that weather, the skiing could be good as long as we can get at least some snow to go with it.

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