Mad River Glen, VT 3/9-3/11

[BD]

Played hooky to ski at mad river this week. I had more or less decided to go before they got 3-4 inches of snow on monday into tuesday, so I was well prepared for absolutely horrific conditions. Without the new snow, I'm sure that's what it would have been. But actually the few inches they got really made a dramatic difference. Conditions were best on Tuesday, where just about everything was in pretty decent shape. Chute was the winner of the day, with nice even bumps and nothing really sticking up above the snow. Cat bowl, fall line, and paradise were also decent, though there was rock and ice in many places beneath the fresh snow. The lower mountain was more hit and miss. Glade was pretty lousy, but lynx/beaver and lower antelope were excellent and grand canyon was decent. All these lower mountain trails had regions of rock/grass/sheet ice. But nothing that couldn't be pretty easily avoided. Skied some trees too -- the upper mountain ones again were pretty good. 20th hole was particularly nice. The lower-mountain trees and streambeds were a bit tricky -- rocks hidden under the new snow made for a bit of a bumpy ride, but still definitely enjoyable to ski. <BR> <BR>On Wednesday conditions weren't quite as good. The thaw/freeze overnight and then warm temps had us skiing on nice slightly crispy stuff in the morning and then slushy snow by the end of the day. Chute was clearly my vote as the best on the mountain, and it was in about as good shape as it ever is -- good snow, great bumps, and no rocks or ice to be found below the usual spots at the top. Other upper-mountain trails were all decently skiable. Lynx and Beaver on the lower mountain were also great, though there were a few rocky sections that you had to skirt around. Glade was bad and grand canyon started OK but deteriorated through the day. Snow in the woods was decidedly heavy by the end of the day, but still quite fun to ski. Took a run up the double in the afternoon, and it was atrocious. The upper part of gazelle was ugly brown, and it didn't get better as you went down. <BR> <BR>Thursday just skied the morning before having to head back to work. Things were more of the same from Wednesday -- the upper mountain snowpack was basically the same as before while all the lower mountain trails had lost a little bit. Lower Antelope in particular had gone from pretty good to bad. But Lynx/Beaver was still in great shape. Things were looking pretty slushy at noon when I had to leave, so without new snow I would say that the conditions are likely to get bad before too long. But if they get even a few inches from this storm, there should be plenty of fantastic skiing all over the mountain this weekend.