Driving from the north to Mad River Glen, this picture is probably Sugarbush North.
Most of Mad River's trails are not visible from its parking lot.
If yesterday was spring skiing, today was summer. The thermometer at the base of the single chair was over 60 degrees most of the day (another T-shirt day), and it had not been close to freezing overnight. The double chair runs were slop even at the beginning of the day.
MRG's low skier density was a negative when I unwisely ventured into the rotten snow bumps of Slalom Hill on my second run.
I moved over to the single, where narrower trails, more skier packing and the better exposure resulted in better surface conditions.
I probably skied as many moguls today as I have during some whole seasons in the West. Fall Line, Catamount Bowl, Chute, Glade, Lynx/Beaver and Ferret/Moody's were wall-to-wall bumps, fortunately in the soft spring snow I prefer for moguls.
I met marketing director Eric Friedman about 2PM for a few runs, the last of which was the famous Paradise.
Paradise has a consistent pitch which would fit in nicely at Squaw or Snowbird, with the frozen waterfall as an added feature.
MRG certainly exudes the retro ambience I have read about, yet is the only ski area I have visited with a free Internet terminal in the lunch room. Eric says the single chair is 54 years old, and when it is replaced the Cooperative will vote to install .... a new single chair. The lift line was about 5 minutes today (Monday). It supposedly is 10-15 minutes on the weekends and only gets out of hand on special event weekends like the recent telemark festival.
After skiing I drove Route 100 north to Jay, stopping for an hour at the Vermont Ski Museum at Stowe.
Most of Mad River's trails are not visible from its parking lot.
If yesterday was spring skiing, today was summer. The thermometer at the base of the single chair was over 60 degrees most of the day (another T-shirt day), and it had not been close to freezing overnight. The double chair runs were slop even at the beginning of the day.
MRG's low skier density was a negative when I unwisely ventured into the rotten snow bumps of Slalom Hill on my second run.
I moved over to the single, where narrower trails, more skier packing and the better exposure resulted in better surface conditions.
I probably skied as many moguls today as I have during some whole seasons in the West. Fall Line, Catamount Bowl, Chute, Glade, Lynx/Beaver and Ferret/Moody's were wall-to-wall bumps, fortunately in the soft spring snow I prefer for moguls.
I met marketing director Eric Friedman about 2PM for a few runs, the last of which was the famous Paradise.
Paradise has a consistent pitch which would fit in nicely at Squaw or Snowbird, with the frozen waterfall as an added feature.
MRG certainly exudes the retro ambience I have read about, yet is the only ski area I have visited with a free Internet terminal in the lunch room. Eric says the single chair is 54 years old, and when it is replaced the Cooperative will vote to install .... a new single chair. The lift line was about 5 minutes today (Monday). It supposedly is 10-15 minutes on the weekends and only gets out of hand on special event weekends like the recent telemark festival.
After skiing I drove Route 100 north to Jay, stopping for an hour at the Vermont Ski Museum at Stowe.
