powderfreak
New member
I was planning on doing a quick afternoon trip to Bolton as I couldn't escape from Burlington till 2:30, but a quick look at Mansfield sealed the deal; I cannot ignore that mountain.
The view from the Moscow bypass confirmed it, there would be at least a little snow all the way to the base since the Spruce Peak lower slopes were still white.
Getting closer...anticipation building.
I arrived around 3:30 as the sun was falling behind the quadside...and temperatures started falling quickly in the shaded Mansfield trails. There was a decent crowd in the Midway parking lot. When I pulled in, I just happened to park next to Mr. Rogers who informed me he had just skied the top of Goat which was in some of the best shape ever, for any time of year. He was on his way out but it was nice to get a little information on what to expect up on the hill. I decided Nosedive would be the best approach for skinning up the mountain. Nice talking to you, Mr. Rogers.
I walked from the parking lot to the start of lower Nosedive only a couple hundred feet away...put the skis on and started skinning. Wow. What a bomber snowpack for late October. I've found its a really hard snow to describe. People asked if it was powder...well, no. So it was wet and heavy then, right? Well, no. How deep was it? Anywhere from 1" around the parking lot quickly increasing to a solid 6" on the lowest parts of Nosedive, then a foot between the Nosedive turn and where Cliff Trail enters, then 18" on upper Nosedive. So it must've been quite a slog to skin up in that much snow, right? Well, no. What type of snow are you talking about? Did they groom it or something? Absolutely not.
Very hard to describe but the best I can come up with is West Coast, dense windblown, packed snow, with a very soft almost chalky surface. Nothing close to wet but you didn't sink in either.
Since it was getting close to dusk, some of these photos are a little dark but it was full blown winter on Mt. Mansfield. I loved that usual cold feeling I get in the afternoon at Stowe when the sun falls behind the ridge. Some spots that had seen the sun were starting to refreeze but the majority of the stuff from the Front Four to Nosedive doesn't get much sun to begin with. So soft, chalky powder was the rule on top of a bomber snowpack.
Snowdepth along lower Nosedive:
Snowdepth along the lower-middle section of Nosedive...easily the most evenly distributed natural snow I've ever seen. You can't even do this with snowguns and a groomer.
Senic snowfall shots from around Nosedive:
And you can tell from the texture of the snow, how it drifted around every little twig and formed small waves along the surface, that it wasn't heavy or wet by any means.
I took a break at the intersection of Cliff Trail and Nosedive to take a drink and really enjoy the surroundings. Here's cliff trail with a solid 12-14" on it and another inch or two of windblown powder on top.
What was really amazing was looking across at Spruce and seeing the Golf Course completely snow-free and bright green in the late afternoon sun...while the Mansfield side was buried deep in winter.
While taking a break I also noticed a plane flying over Mansfield leaving a contrail in the fading afternoon light. What an amazing October afternoon.
Upper Nosedive snowpack...if you look at the water-hole its easy to see a solid 18".
After the long break, two skiers hiking up were passing Cliff Trail and after a couple seconds of looking at each other, I realized it was Aaron from skivt-l and friend Paul. I'd skied with Aaron at Stowe last year during one of those deep March days so we linked up; with dusk rapidly approaching it was nice to have those guys along in case something went wrong on the descent.
Aaron and Paul hiking up the upper stretches of Nosedive:
The views from the switchbacks on Nosedive were almost surreal.
Once we gained the top of Nosedive, it was time to take a quick break before a sweet, October descent at dusk. This is the type of spooky I like near Halloween...a deserted, snowy mountain with the only sounds around being the squeak of snow underfoot and the creaking chairs with too much rime on them.
Then it was time to click in and head down.
We went down to National and stood looking at the headwall that is *always* bare rock and frozen ground. Yesterday it was covered 2 feet thick and was easily the best turns I've ever had on it. Steep, covered thick, with windblown powder all the way down the skiers left side.
Aaron ripping GS turns from the top of the headwall
Paul teleskiing upper National part I
Paul teleskiing upper National part II
Being an aggressive skier, Aaron was popping off any little drift or wave he could find...once landing into deeper than expected powder and double ejecting. The look on his face was priceless...D@mn is good snow, is it really October?
Paul was testing the snow depth with the tail of his ski and was able to stick it in to his bindings without hitting anything solid showing just how bomber the snowpack was.
Scott carving through the intersection of National and Liftline
The rest of the way down was epic for October and we joked (maybe only partly joked?) that National was in the best shape since last October.
A skier flashes by in the night...an October night when the only sounds were from hoots and hollers that only the first, great run of the season can cause.
-Scott
The view from the Moscow bypass confirmed it, there would be at least a little snow all the way to the base since the Spruce Peak lower slopes were still white.
Getting closer...anticipation building.
I arrived around 3:30 as the sun was falling behind the quadside...and temperatures started falling quickly in the shaded Mansfield trails. There was a decent crowd in the Midway parking lot. When I pulled in, I just happened to park next to Mr. Rogers who informed me he had just skied the top of Goat which was in some of the best shape ever, for any time of year. He was on his way out but it was nice to get a little information on what to expect up on the hill. I decided Nosedive would be the best approach for skinning up the mountain. Nice talking to you, Mr. Rogers.
I walked from the parking lot to the start of lower Nosedive only a couple hundred feet away...put the skis on and started skinning. Wow. What a bomber snowpack for late October. I've found its a really hard snow to describe. People asked if it was powder...well, no. So it was wet and heavy then, right? Well, no. How deep was it? Anywhere from 1" around the parking lot quickly increasing to a solid 6" on the lowest parts of Nosedive, then a foot between the Nosedive turn and where Cliff Trail enters, then 18" on upper Nosedive. So it must've been quite a slog to skin up in that much snow, right? Well, no. What type of snow are you talking about? Did they groom it or something? Absolutely not.
Very hard to describe but the best I can come up with is West Coast, dense windblown, packed snow, with a very soft almost chalky surface. Nothing close to wet but you didn't sink in either.
Since it was getting close to dusk, some of these photos are a little dark but it was full blown winter on Mt. Mansfield. I loved that usual cold feeling I get in the afternoon at Stowe when the sun falls behind the ridge. Some spots that had seen the sun were starting to refreeze but the majority of the stuff from the Front Four to Nosedive doesn't get much sun to begin with. So soft, chalky powder was the rule on top of a bomber snowpack.
Snowdepth along lower Nosedive:
Snowdepth along the lower-middle section of Nosedive...easily the most evenly distributed natural snow I've ever seen. You can't even do this with snowguns and a groomer.
Senic snowfall shots from around Nosedive:
And you can tell from the texture of the snow, how it drifted around every little twig and formed small waves along the surface, that it wasn't heavy or wet by any means.
I took a break at the intersection of Cliff Trail and Nosedive to take a drink and really enjoy the surroundings. Here's cliff trail with a solid 12-14" on it and another inch or two of windblown powder on top.
What was really amazing was looking across at Spruce and seeing the Golf Course completely snow-free and bright green in the late afternoon sun...while the Mansfield side was buried deep in winter.
While taking a break I also noticed a plane flying over Mansfield leaving a contrail in the fading afternoon light. What an amazing October afternoon.
Upper Nosedive snowpack...if you look at the water-hole its easy to see a solid 18".
After the long break, two skiers hiking up were passing Cliff Trail and after a couple seconds of looking at each other, I realized it was Aaron from skivt-l and friend Paul. I'd skied with Aaron at Stowe last year during one of those deep March days so we linked up; with dusk rapidly approaching it was nice to have those guys along in case something went wrong on the descent.
Aaron and Paul hiking up the upper stretches of Nosedive:
The views from the switchbacks on Nosedive were almost surreal.
Once we gained the top of Nosedive, it was time to take a quick break before a sweet, October descent at dusk. This is the type of spooky I like near Halloween...a deserted, snowy mountain with the only sounds around being the squeak of snow underfoot and the creaking chairs with too much rime on them.
Then it was time to click in and head down.
We went down to National and stood looking at the headwall that is *always* bare rock and frozen ground. Yesterday it was covered 2 feet thick and was easily the best turns I've ever had on it. Steep, covered thick, with windblown powder all the way down the skiers left side.
Aaron ripping GS turns from the top of the headwall
Paul teleskiing upper National part I
Paul teleskiing upper National part II
Being an aggressive skier, Aaron was popping off any little drift or wave he could find...once landing into deeper than expected powder and double ejecting. The look on his face was priceless...D@mn is good snow, is it really October?
Paul was testing the snow depth with the tail of his ski and was able to stick it in to his bindings without hitting anything solid showing just how bomber the snowpack was.
Scott carving through the intersection of National and Liftline
The rest of the way down was epic for October and we joked (maybe only partly joked?) that National was in the best shape since last October.
A skier flashes by in the night...an October night when the only sounds were from hoots and hollers that only the first, great run of the season can cause.
-Scott
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