My wife, daughter and I skied bell to bell (12-3:45) with a few dozen other skiers and had a blast. The couple of inches MRG picked up on 12/23 bonded well and ops’ decision to cut the trail count and wait a few days before resuming grooming paid off. The groomers were almost perfect. Low-angled terrain that had not been groomed offered some shallow freshies. The higher-elevation ungroomed terrain also skied way better than expected as it had clearly snowed more up there since the rain. Coverage is still well-above average for this time of year. In addition to some of the lower-angled terrain, I managed to bag runs on Catamount Bowl, Chute, Fall Line, Creamery, and Lower Paradise. All of them were worth doing. However, it did not seem wise to venture into the woods.
As an aside, over the years I have become convinced that one of the minor unwritten rules of the universe is that any day I ski MRG, I will be subjected to the Greatful Dead at least once by the lifty’s boom box at the single-chair mid station. Yesterday, I thought perhaps my theory would fail, as Christmas music prevailed for much of the day. However, on the last ride up, sure enough: “Shakedown Street.” #-o If I happen to be reincarnated as a MRG lifty in my next life, I can only hope I will have the presence of mind to play something like the Dead Boys on a daily basis in order to even the score.
I first skied MRG in 1979 when I was 11 years old. We try to get back every other Christmas, but were not able to make it in 2016. For reasons I can’t quite articulate to myself, it is one of those rare places where I am a little bit more at peace with the universe. “Shakedown Street” aside, it was good to be back.
As an aside, over the years I have become convinced that one of the minor unwritten rules of the universe is that any day I ski MRG, I will be subjected to the Greatful Dead at least once by the lifty’s boom box at the single-chair mid station. Yesterday, I thought perhaps my theory would fail, as Christmas music prevailed for much of the day. However, on the last ride up, sure enough: “Shakedown Street.” #-o If I happen to be reincarnated as a MRG lifty in my next life, I can only hope I will have the presence of mind to play something like the Dead Boys on a daily basis in order to even the score.
I first skied MRG in 1979 when I was 11 years old. We try to get back every other Christmas, but were not able to make it in 2016. For reasons I can’t quite articulate to myself, it is one of those rare places where I am a little bit more at peace with the universe. “Shakedown Street” aside, it was good to be back.
