Mark Renson
New member
.....WOW! did that weekend really happen? <BR> <BR> On Friday, I received an e-mail from Mission Control with the heading of "Old Time Rock and Roll". What does this mean, I thought. In it, the e-mail mentioned "the powers to be want to drop the ropes on Sunday AM". <BR> <BR>Apparently, Jamey the GM wasn't gonna' let Bunny Bob's Sugarbush be the only game in town. <BR>I was shocked that we were gonna' bet on the weather and make an attempt. But, I gathered my gear and was punchin' the accelerator on I-495 at 8:00PM. I got to the Hyde Away at 11:30 for refueling, before crashing at the Hartford Ski Club by myself (I was the only one there for the weekend). <BR> <BR>The next morning, a light snow fell as I reported to the Patrol Hut by 8:00AM. Much work had to be done. We loaded much gear onto sleds and crates, dragged them acorss the base area and loaded it onto the Sunnyside Double. <BR> <BR>After setting up the Patrol Shack at the top of The Double, we set out to affix ropes, etc on the trails. Of course, this also meant some sweet untracked powder for us as a reward for our work. Fox/Vixen was wonderful, but the lower mountain was sketchy. Rocky Bleier - that's the MRG one, not the Pittsburgh Steeler - reminded me to recall where grass was and where work roads ran in order to avoid rocks. <BR> <BR>We then repeated the process on The Single. Snow was falling hard at this point! At Stark Mountain's summit, winds roared and I struggled to help remove snow from the track of the Single chair. I even caught a shot of frostbit in the process. <BR> <BR>After warming up in the Stark's Nest, we headed out onto the trails. I followed the PD and Geordie down Cat Bowl. The left side had drifted and with the powerful headwinds, a very dramatic powder run was had!! I set up a rope to close the <BR>first traverse between Catamount and Chute. After that, I pushed off in my AT gear and hit some nasty rocks and splatted flat on my face, breaking my goggles. I also broke one of my bindings - massive catastrophic internal damage. <BR>This meant that I had to carry my skis on my pack all the way down the mountain in the rapidly deepening snows, saying hullo to many who were earning 'em. I was crushed that my day was over, but still happy about the turns I had made. <BR> <BR>At the bottom, I met up with everyone in the Patrol Shack. The PD mentioned that we were to go up The Double in 10 minutes. "Ten Minutes" I blurted out, "that mean I could change into my alpine gear if I could do it fast enough". "So what are you waiting for" was the response I got. So, in 9:59:007, I was in my alpine gear <BR>and on my way to The Double. On the way down, we installed pads on posts on Fox/Vixen, enjoying the deepening snows! The descent via upper Chipmunk was fa ntastic knee-to-thigh deep untracked. Going under the The Double was not shabby either!! For the finale, we went through <BR>S-Turn/Periwinkle Bowl and got some especially sweet stuff under The Double for the last pitch. <BR> <BR>At the end of the day, the PD deemed the mountain NOT ready to be opened ..... six more inches was needed. Given the forecast and the heavy snow falling, we were 99% sure that Sunday was Opening Day!! <BR> <BR>After a few beers at the MMT, I drove back up the hill and cruised through the untracked in the MRG Parking Lot, getting many face shots and leaving tracks! <BR> <BR> It was a good thing I got that face shot practice .....