Given the weather forecast, I knew that Okemo wasn't going to be my best bet for Saturday. However, I had been wanting to make some turns with my buddy Rich, and he was committed to being there for the weekend. On top of that, they were reporting something like 30% of the mountain open on Friday, one of the highest percentages in the Northeast, so it wouldn't be that bad an option.
I drove up on Friday night. Rain and 40 degrees all the way to Manchester (VT), then things totally changed in the span of 2 miles or so as I climbed VT Rte. 11 toward Bromley. The first sign of the change was a slight film on the road, and a mile later the road was completely covered in white as a bus sat 30 degrees from its direction of travel, wheels spinning hopelessly in the right lane. By the time I reached the 11/30 intersection the road was packed with a couple of inches of wet, greasy snow, a condition that continued all the way to Ludlow. It was white-knuckle driving, but gave me hope for Saturday.
That hope, unfortunately, was dashed by dawn on Saturday. It had rained overnight at the base, and freezing rain fell on the higher elevations. The first couple of runs were on the South Ridge Quad only as Okemo's staff toiled to get the ice off the lifts to start them spinning. Slowly, by 9:30 or so, the Sachem and Northstar Quads were turning and we struck out for higher terrain.
There was a good inch and a half of ice on the upper mountain trees, but the Okemo groomers did the best that they could with what they had to work with. In the end, we had firm but edgeable crusty snow on the upper mountain, and spring-like slush on the lower mountain.
The place was hopping! Runs like Lower World Cup were stupidly busy, and on more than one occasion I pulled to the side of the trail to allow some out-of-control yahoo to get in front of me. We did find a means to avoid the crowds, though, by skiing trails like Upper Tomahawk/Heaven's Gate/Screamin' Demon to travel from the top of the Northstar to load the Solitude Quad (well-named on Saturday), then back down things like Arrow to return to the Solitude Quad. We did a few laps in this manner. Aside from a few thinner spots on Lower Tomahawk, coverage was edge to edge, and a few inches of natural snowfall graced the remainder of the landscape.
The heavy, wet snow became a chore to push around. I called it a day around 2 p.m., and prepared for my drive north in search of the bounty from the developing storm. The day totalled 13,533 vertical feet skied, and just about all of that was spent cruising on groomers. I've attached just a couple of photos, below.
I drove up on Friday night. Rain and 40 degrees all the way to Manchester (VT), then things totally changed in the span of 2 miles or so as I climbed VT Rte. 11 toward Bromley. The first sign of the change was a slight film on the road, and a mile later the road was completely covered in white as a bus sat 30 degrees from its direction of travel, wheels spinning hopelessly in the right lane. By the time I reached the 11/30 intersection the road was packed with a couple of inches of wet, greasy snow, a condition that continued all the way to Ludlow. It was white-knuckle driving, but gave me hope for Saturday.
That hope, unfortunately, was dashed by dawn on Saturday. It had rained overnight at the base, and freezing rain fell on the higher elevations. The first couple of runs were on the South Ridge Quad only as Okemo's staff toiled to get the ice off the lifts to start them spinning. Slowly, by 9:30 or so, the Sachem and Northstar Quads were turning and we struck out for higher terrain.
There was a good inch and a half of ice on the upper mountain trees, but the Okemo groomers did the best that they could with what they had to work with. In the end, we had firm but edgeable crusty snow on the upper mountain, and spring-like slush on the lower mountain.
The place was hopping! Runs like Lower World Cup were stupidly busy, and on more than one occasion I pulled to the side of the trail to allow some out-of-control yahoo to get in front of me. We did find a means to avoid the crowds, though, by skiing trails like Upper Tomahawk/Heaven's Gate/Screamin' Demon to travel from the top of the Northstar to load the Solitude Quad (well-named on Saturday), then back down things like Arrow to return to the Solitude Quad. We did a few laps in this manner. Aside from a few thinner spots on Lower Tomahawk, coverage was edge to edge, and a few inches of natural snowfall graced the remainder of the landscape.
The heavy, wet snow became a chore to push around. I called it a day around 2 p.m., and prepared for my drive north in search of the bounty from the developing storm. The day totalled 13,533 vertical feet skied, and just about all of that was spent cruising on groomers. I've attached just a couple of photos, below.
