Another powder night at Greek Peak 1/26/05

Sharon

New member
When I arrived at Greek Peak at 4pm it was 18 degrees, when I left it was
not over 5 and there was a stiff wind yeilding wind chills in the double
digits below zero. Toe and hand warmers were a must on a night like tonite.

It had snowed a bunch over the last few days and there was a lot of powder to be had. I got there early enough (before the school kids) to run a few glades and get some virgin powder off Chair 2, sometimes thigh deep. Atlas was only partially tracked and Aesops had some tracks but plenty of untouched snow to do a number of laps. It got really deep when I tried to exit the woods onto a trail, only to find that there was a significant ditch between the woods and the trail and the snow was so slow that I did not have nearly enough speed to clear it. I found myself stuck in the ditch. The powder was so light and dry that climbing out was like climbing out of a tree well out west. You climb and climb and don't go anywhere. I was able to pack down enough snow to get to the point where I could throw my upper body onto the edge of the trail and hoist my legs up over my head onto the trail. A ski instructor that I had just rode the lift with saw me and came over to see if I needed help. I was a bit embarassed. Had I stayed higher up on the trail there was a nice exit without the ditch a few yards away. I was just following the fresh snow as far as I could and stayed away from the tracks. It was worth it, despite the embarassment and the hassle of getting out of the ditch. I should have taken another run but I saw my friends pull into the parking lot, so I went in to greet them. By the time we got back out it was getting dark, but we had a foray in the woods next to Eleysian fields, only to find that it was pretty dark in there. The moon was still behind the clouds and we just didn't have enough light to ski it safely. One quick run in there was plenty fun. There's still fresh powder in the woods near Chair 2. I learned today that my friend skins up there when the lift is closed. Most of the tracks in the fresh were his. That trail is only open for about an hour, since they don't open Chair 2 until 4pm and then close the unlit trails by 5pm.

There was still lots of fresh snow between the lit trails, so I dipped in
and out getting freshies along the way between Iliad and Alcemene (the old t-bar trail). The woods there are double fall-line, so, if you enter from Iliad and ski diagonally, you can get some nice turns in before you approach the downed trees. I had a blast on my powder boards.

My best skiing sister arrived, so we ditched the guys and we ripped up the trails and got ready for the seed race. It was the first night of weds night racing.

There was a great turnout and many new racers. Next week the race clinics start and we all get to learn more about how to go fast in the gates. They served us pizza in the pub afterwards. I was so hungry I ate 5 pieces. The cold air really makes you hungry.

The drive home was much easier than the last few times. There was actually black pavement most of the way.
 
Hope this is working. I'm from Montreal. Looking for good powder south of here. We've had no real snow in 4-5 weeks. You talk of all these woods. Are we talking "official" glades or places only locals know about.

I need some serious glade skiing in deep powder. I'm looking for a saturday destination and hopefully some local whiz to share the good stuff with me...
 
It's quite a season when someone from Canada this GP is the place to go for glade skiing.
 
Yup. Quite a lousy season up here. You guys got up to 36 inches last sunday in some places. I'm looking for a small out of the way place that got hit hard sunday and last night and where the skier traffic is real low so there will still be lots of powder left in 2 days. Don't care where, don't care how high the VD is, just want 2 things : glades and tons of fresh snow.

So here's your chance to play good american host. In exchange I'll directly email you next time we get a major dump. Fair?
 
Well Richard, I responded to your request in the other thread.

If I were you, I wouldn't go to Greek Peak from Montreal. I think the skiing will be much better at Gore, even though they did not get as much snow as we did this past week.

By the weekend, most of the snow in the glades will be beat up pretty good. I expect to see some dirt showing in the official glades. The non-official glades won't be so bad, but they are not all that long and require a lot of maneuvering to get around fallen logs and such. It is fun if it is in your backyard, but I wouldn't travel that far for it. It is really the best if you get out there while it is snowing or just after. All of my glowing reports on GP were during or immediately after a snowfall. Its sunny now and will be for a few days. It gets tromped on pretty good in a day or 2, so there won't be too much to get excited about this weekend, though I surely will send a report.

Gore would be worth the trip, as would Sugarbush and MRG, or go further south to Mt Snow to get the deeper snow. Killington has a lot of terrain and you will definitely enjoy the skiing there (if you don't mind the crowds), but the glades are tracked out and rock and lumber is showing.

Oh, I shouldn't neglect Bellayre in the Catskills. They got a lot of snow, but, I don't know about the glades there.

If you really want to ski the trees in fresh pow this weekend, then you must earn your turns.
 
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