Winter's here, folks. Don't delay. Head to northern VT now! \
/ Say what you will about Jay, call BS on their marketing, but they really do get the goods. Compare these photos from wherever you were in the East today, and try to tell me differently.
The car thermo was reading a balmy 2ºF as I sped across the northern Vermont countryside on VT 105. I was running a bit behind, and wanted to meet up with Liftlines user gincognito and a few of his friends, who were all driving down from Montreal. Somehow I made it to the parking lot at 8:45 am, right on time.
Jay really looks a whole lot better than it did this past Sunday (see photos #1 & 6, below). Just about everything was open today, save for the Face Chutes (of course!); Staircase; Northwest Passage; and Ullr's, Wedelmaster and Pomaline because they were blowing wet sludge that refroze on Ullr's (don't ask me how I know, I just do :wink: ). I never hit anything but snow all day. Most glades were soft and fluffy. The woods proper, including the sidecountry, need a bit more snow to cover a bunch of deadfall and other nasties, as well as some persistent puckerbush in places, but otherwise the place skied superbly today.
As was posted in the Burke topic today, the sky was cloudless for most of the day (see photos #2, 3 & 10, below), and the visibility seemingly endless. It was drop-dead gorgeous. Somehow I didn't feel cold even on the early morning runs, and by lunch time it had warmed to a very reasonable 23ºF. Stiff winds were out of the southwest, so for the most part they were blocked by the summit ridgeline.
We started the day on Valhalla. The upper entrance was a bit bony thanks to the wind, so we went another 25 feet to the lower entrance and found snow so dreamy (see photo #4, below) that we went back to ski it a second time after lunch (see photo #11, below -- anyone know the HR rep for Barum & Bailey?). From there we headed down Upper Milk Run, and gincognito and Tim hit Bonnie glade while I opted to cruiser lower Milk thanks to those first-run foot cramps.
Over to the Blue, and off into Timbuktu. Yowza! (See photos #8 & 9, below.) More light fluffy tracked-out pow, although fresh tracks could be found by playing see-saw with the boundary rope (that, thanks to the early-season snowpack, is currently strung many feet overhead). Next run was down Upper Kitz to "Alternate" Kitz Woods, where some fresh tracks were laid.
And on and on it went, right up to 3pm when I screamed "uncle!" after a Beaver Pond Glade/Beyond Beaver Pond combo, and gincognito and his friends took one final run up the Metro Quad. Even runs like Jet (see photo #7, below) and Vermonter were in some of the best shape that I've ever seen them, save for on a legitimate powder day.
And the place was nearly deserted for a Saturday, to boot! Maybe it was last-minute Christmas shopping, maybe it was the thermometer readings this morning, but I don't really care why...it was wonderful! We could even get a seat in the Tram Haus at prime-time for lunch.
The only negatives today:
1. Upper Goat was, well, Upper Goat. Wind-scraped man-made.
2. Parts of Northway (see photo #5, below) and Angel's Wiggle were definitely granular, at times about half the size of marbles...where did that come from, in a land of otherwise wall-to-wall legitimate packed powder?
3. A scraped-off bobsled run down Deliverance. Yuck!
4. I spent a couple of hours after lunch feeling like I had two left feet, before realizing that I had left my AT boots in "walk" mode. #-o
It was so good that gincognito is already making plans to go back tomorrow. I, on the other hand, am headed to Smuggs to make turns with vtRat. Winter is finally here!
/ Say what you will about Jay, call BS on their marketing, but they really do get the goods. Compare these photos from wherever you were in the East today, and try to tell me differently.The car thermo was reading a balmy 2ºF as I sped across the northern Vermont countryside on VT 105. I was running a bit behind, and wanted to meet up with Liftlines user gincognito and a few of his friends, who were all driving down from Montreal. Somehow I made it to the parking lot at 8:45 am, right on time.
Jay really looks a whole lot better than it did this past Sunday (see photos #1 & 6, below). Just about everything was open today, save for the Face Chutes (of course!); Staircase; Northwest Passage; and Ullr's, Wedelmaster and Pomaline because they were blowing wet sludge that refroze on Ullr's (don't ask me how I know, I just do :wink: ). I never hit anything but snow all day. Most glades were soft and fluffy. The woods proper, including the sidecountry, need a bit more snow to cover a bunch of deadfall and other nasties, as well as some persistent puckerbush in places, but otherwise the place skied superbly today.
As was posted in the Burke topic today, the sky was cloudless for most of the day (see photos #2, 3 & 10, below), and the visibility seemingly endless. It was drop-dead gorgeous. Somehow I didn't feel cold even on the early morning runs, and by lunch time it had warmed to a very reasonable 23ºF. Stiff winds were out of the southwest, so for the most part they were blocked by the summit ridgeline.
We started the day on Valhalla. The upper entrance was a bit bony thanks to the wind, so we went another 25 feet to the lower entrance and found snow so dreamy (see photo #4, below) that we went back to ski it a second time after lunch (see photo #11, below -- anyone know the HR rep for Barum & Bailey?). From there we headed down Upper Milk Run, and gincognito and Tim hit Bonnie glade while I opted to cruiser lower Milk thanks to those first-run foot cramps.
Over to the Blue, and off into Timbuktu. Yowza! (See photos #8 & 9, below.) More light fluffy tracked-out pow, although fresh tracks could be found by playing see-saw with the boundary rope (that, thanks to the early-season snowpack, is currently strung many feet overhead). Next run was down Upper Kitz to "Alternate" Kitz Woods, where some fresh tracks were laid.
And on and on it went, right up to 3pm when I screamed "uncle!" after a Beaver Pond Glade/Beyond Beaver Pond combo, and gincognito and his friends took one final run up the Metro Quad. Even runs like Jet (see photo #7, below) and Vermonter were in some of the best shape that I've ever seen them, save for on a legitimate powder day.
And the place was nearly deserted for a Saturday, to boot! Maybe it was last-minute Christmas shopping, maybe it was the thermometer readings this morning, but I don't really care why...it was wonderful! We could even get a seat in the Tram Haus at prime-time for lunch.
The only negatives today:
1. Upper Goat was, well, Upper Goat. Wind-scraped man-made.
2. Parts of Northway (see photo #5, below) and Angel's Wiggle were definitely granular, at times about half the size of marbles...where did that come from, in a land of otherwise wall-to-wall legitimate packed powder?
3. A scraped-off bobsled run down Deliverance. Yuck!
4. I spent a couple of hours after lunch feeling like I had two left feet, before realizing that I had left my AT boots in "walk" mode. #-o
It was so good that gincognito is already making plans to go back tomorrow. I, on the other hand, am headed to Smuggs to make turns with vtRat. Winter is finally here!
