Mark Renson
New member
<I>(Note from the Administrator: This report was originally posted on 12/27/99. Due to our move to new servers, the date and time attributed to this post is incorrect.)</I> <BR> <BR>About 70% of the on-piste terrain was open and even Chute and Catamount were open from The Single. <BR>Conditions were interesting - crust on top of a thin yet durable base. I patrolled Quacky and then Birdland. I made my way up The Single and found crust on Catamount Bowl that was negotiable and actually enjoyable. Coverage was excellent, too. Chute was the same way, and few bumps were to be found, though the crust was actually enjoyable. The whole place had little grooming which left it up to the skiers to do the not-so-brutal grooming. The woods were unskiable, yet I observed some tracks into the 20th - you can have that! <BR>In the afternoon, Chute was closed down to be preserved for the next day. It was then up to me and a few others to open up some of the terrain off of the Double including Gazelle, Panther and Slalom Hill. Untracked breakable crust was the snow. I had to grind through the crust, make a big hop turn on a feature, sink down chug through the crust and uncoil for the next big hop turn - POP!, Crcrcrcrcr, <BR>CrunchCrunchCrunchCrunchCrunch, [hop], POP!, Crcrcrcrcr, <BR>CrunchCrunchCrunchCrunchCrunch, [hop] was the routine. Being 6 foot <BR>210lbs, I was able to plow through and get the fresh underneath the crust. <BR>Kids sking by actually rode on top of the crust. It was all great adventurous skiing. <BR>At the days end, it was time to do the Sweep under rapidly darkening skies. Catamount into Porcupine ended a great day! <BR>Next day ...... hopped onto the Double. Had to pad a sign and then patrol Panther - more fun death crust ! Much o fthe prior days crust elsewhere had been ground down into broken up chunks, especially on Chute, <BR>Catamount, Quacky headwall and the Catamount/Antelope braids. However,untracked crust was to be found on Gazelle and Panther. <BR>Temps seemed to drop like a rock at the end of the day - temp at the midstation registered a minus 2F. Crowds dispersed and the mountain had that sublime frosty bone-chilling Vermont feel. I was on the Sweep off of the Double and we did not get down to the bottom 'til 4:30PM. <BR>The skiing was great fun - classic "Old School New England" non-McSkiing early season conditions.