Stowe, VT 12/12/99

martinjo

New member
<I>(Note from the Administrator: This report was originally posted on 12/14/99. Due to our move to new servers, the date and time attributed to this post is incorrect.)</I> <BR> <BR>I spent a less than productive Saturday at my ski house at Mount Snow. <BR>Although it seemed like it snowed all night Friday and into Saturday <BR>morning, there was no accumulation. I think the wind just picked up the <BR>little snow that actually fell from the sky and moved it around all day to <BR>give the allusion of snow falling. Total accumulation around the valley <BR>was about an inch in wind protected pockets. I sulked most the morning, <BR>watching TGR movies and nursing the remnants of a Friday night at the Snow <BR>Barn. Then it happened, turned off "Continuum" half way through a second <BR>viewing to catch the news. 14" of new snow at Stowe and still falling. <BR>Hello, Mr. Old Man Winter! I told my friends Matt and Brian that we _had_ <BR>to go Stowe on Sunday. The 18" report on the snow phone made the <BR>convincing easy. The plan was set. We hit the sack at the reasonable <BR>early hour 1:00am. Brian was less fortunate. He was trapped by the <BR>roommates returning from the bar, and had to play beer pong (better known <BR>as Beirut, "Because everybody gets bombed.") until the less reasonable hour <BR>of 4:00am. <BR> <BR>5:30am rolls around and it only took 20 minutes to wake Brian up. We <BR>pulled out of the driveway at 6:09 and pulled into a spot by the Gongi at <BR>8:46. Oh Momma! It's good to see the white stuff everywhere. It's tough <BR>to ride the lift and watch brown and green passing below your skis. Today <BR>would be different. <BR> <BR>Our first run took us over to Centerline. What's this... ice bumps. Hmmm? <BR>Where's all the snow? We checked out the other 2 and half runs that were <BR>open and found some fun, but we didn't drive all that way for just fun. We <BR>needed some powder. The crowds were growing and the fluffy cover was being <BR>stripped away in a hurry, so we did the only thing that we could. In true, <BR>Stowe, skivt-l fashion we started poaching. First up was the top part of <BR>Hayride, and found some excellent New England Ch-owder (or, boot deep <BR>cut-up powder). The lack of base made it taste more like rock soup from <BR>time to time, but what the hell that's why we brought the rock gear. <BR> <BR>Next up was Nose Dive. The crowd that was shuffling down the trail passed <BR>the stone hut made us think that the run was actually open, but it wasn't. <BR>We had to hike down the first section to reach the snow. But there was a <BR>lot of it by top of the first turn. More great boot and knee deep snow. <BR>There was a wind scoured section in the middle that required a few hundred <BR>yards of walking, but it was worth it for about 2000' of crowdless mountain. <BR> <BR>After lunch and a few more rush hour runs on Lord, we checked out the lower <BR>section of Hayride. More great snow with only one short sketchy section <BR>that required a short trip into the trees to find skiable snow. I even <BR>picked up a face shot after launching off a water bar on the bottom section. <BR> <BR>I saw Wes and Jumpin' Jim(?) from the lift (you can not miss Wes' pants!) <BR>but was unable catch up. <BR> <BR>Our last run took us back down Nose Dive again. We skipped the lower <BR>section and hiked back up hill for a little ways to hit another trail, (to <BR>the right past the sled shack) which I forget the name of. Even at 2:30 in <BR>the afternoon we were among the first few to bag that run and I got plenty <BR>of turns in untracked snow. <BR> <BR>That will turn out to be my last day skiing in Vermont for quite some time <BR>and what a great day it was. The next time I hit the slopes I'll be in <BR>Switzerland. I'll keep in touch and try to put reports up in the "No Bull <BR>Ski Report" on FirstTracksOnline. I just know it's going to snow like hell <BR>now that I'm leaving. <BR> <BR>later, <BR>Jon
 
Back
Top