No, the “Fire on the Mountain” reference is not related to the goings on at Killington for the Bear Mountain Mogul Challenge. We interrupt this trail report to mention an odd occurrence: skiing down a trail with a slopeside house completely engulfed in flames. :!: This happened on Alpine Dr. at Pico, which hugs the Sundowner trail. The lifts were not interrupted, but it was very odd, and sad for a few reasons: (1) the houses on Alpine Dr. are NOT cookie-cutter McMansions; they’re mostly old-style ski chalets with a lot of character, and it’s a shame to see one go up in smoke; (2) the Rutland Herald is reporting that the fire was caused by someone putting ashes from a fireplace out on their porch; in other words, totally, totally preventable. 
OK, now back to our originally-scheduled TR:
Every year my wife asks me what I want for my birthday, which is in very-late March. And every year, my answer is the same: “snow”. Well, just like in 2001, I got my wish.
It’s worth noting that as of last Wednesday, the storm was predicted to go well South of New England, leaving us high & dry. In fact, I had tentatively cancelled my VT plans – which were quickly reinstated once the Thurs morning weather reports got much more optimistic overnight. I suspect Mother Nature just wanted to throw us Easterners a curveball before giving us the goods. :wink:
Saturday at Pico was fantastic. You can probably just look up one of my previous reports from Pico to get a sense of what I skied, but I need to stress that conditions were either packed powder, or significant (and surprisingly light, skiable) powder on ungroomed trails and the trees. With temps in the 20’s and a cool breeze, and deep base depths and plenty of snow, you would have sworn in was late Feb., not late March. =D>
In line with Riverc0il’s 3/29 report on Cannon, I’ll just say that this was a wonderful way to end the year or end the Winter portion of the ski season. April for me is pretty busy on weekends with a lot of family birthdays and events, so I don’t know if that was it for me, but if so, what a way to end the year!! :lol:
And I must say on behalf of weekend warriors, this pattern of “flatlander specials” (snowstorms up North on either Thursdays or Fridays, with decent driving conditions on Friday nights, setting up great conditions for the wknd – and we had 3 or 4 of those in the 5 wknds in March this year in the East) is really something I can get used to. :idea:
Oh, on an unrelated note, the Mountain Times said the Smithereens were scheduled to be the band at the Bear Mtn Mogul Challenge over at K-Mart. The Smithereens??? Jesus, they played at my university's spring break party in the late 80's for God sake!! Methinks K-Mart needs to get some better entertainment for one of their signature events.
Over and out everybody!! (unless I can sneak in a day of skiing on the wknd of 4/12 -4/13) Have a great Summer and we'll talk to you again next year!
OK, now back to our originally-scheduled TR:
Every year my wife asks me what I want for my birthday, which is in very-late March. And every year, my answer is the same: “snow”. Well, just like in 2001, I got my wish.
It’s worth noting that as of last Wednesday, the storm was predicted to go well South of New England, leaving us high & dry. In fact, I had tentatively cancelled my VT plans – which were quickly reinstated once the Thurs morning weather reports got much more optimistic overnight. I suspect Mother Nature just wanted to throw us Easterners a curveball before giving us the goods. :wink:
Saturday at Pico was fantastic. You can probably just look up one of my previous reports from Pico to get a sense of what I skied, but I need to stress that conditions were either packed powder, or significant (and surprisingly light, skiable) powder on ungroomed trails and the trees. With temps in the 20’s and a cool breeze, and deep base depths and plenty of snow, you would have sworn in was late Feb., not late March. =D>
In line with Riverc0il’s 3/29 report on Cannon, I’ll just say that this was a wonderful way to end the year or end the Winter portion of the ski season. April for me is pretty busy on weekends with a lot of family birthdays and events, so I don’t know if that was it for me, but if so, what a way to end the year!! :lol:
And I must say on behalf of weekend warriors, this pattern of “flatlander specials” (snowstorms up North on either Thursdays or Fridays, with decent driving conditions on Friday nights, setting up great conditions for the wknd – and we had 3 or 4 of those in the 5 wknds in March this year in the East) is really something I can get used to. :idea:
Oh, on an unrelated note, the Mountain Times said the Smithereens were scheduled to be the band at the Bear Mtn Mogul Challenge over at K-Mart. The Smithereens??? Jesus, they played at my university's spring break party in the late 80's for God sake!! Methinks K-Mart needs to get some better entertainment for one of their signature events.
Over and out everybody!! (unless I can sneak in a day of skiing on the wknd of 4/12 -4/13) Have a great Summer and we'll talk to you again next year!