So Vt 3/20-21

Sharon

Sharon

New member
I had some free skiing opporunities to use before the end of the season. I was waiting for snow to hit southern VT and the last storm of winter this past week made for my last possible opportunity to ski with good conditions. <BR> <BR>Okemo was in fine shape. There were over 100 McTrails with nice coverage, immaculately groomed. The terrain is a bit of a snoozer. <BR> <BR>Outrage and Double Diamond had ropes all the way across. The only 'natural' snow trails that were open were a small patch under the South Face Quad and one small patch under the Northstar Express. Not too much. But we found an opening into the woods inbetween Outrage and Double Diamond and found some powder in there and access to the closed trails. There was 8" of fluff on rock in there. Not much base. Plenty of good snow to ski on and plenty of rocks hiding. No major damage done, just an occasional sound of rock under ptex. We did a number of laps in there during the latter part of the day, since we were quite bored with the low angle cruising. The McTrails got a bit scratchy and skied off, but all in all the snow cover was pretty good. <BR> <BR>Other than that, not too much excitement at Okemo. <BR> <BR>Sunday we went to Magic looking for something a bit more interesting. It was a bit grim. The base lodge was empty. There were maybe 10 cars in the parking lot at 10am when we arrived. The marketing director said that they were thinking that today may be the last day. The groomed trails were nice, hero snow. The non-groomed trails had a fair share of rock, ice and crust. It had sleeted and rained a bit over night, so the powdery conditions had been reduced to a stiff packed slush. <BR> <BR>Not ideal, but still ok. Wizard and Wand were good. Witch was kinda yucky, with chunks and rock. Talisman had firm but skiable bumps with sketchy spots of rock and ice. <BR> <BR>It was snowing and they were expecting 3", but it just didn't accumulate enough while we were there. Officially it was the last day of operation this season. Glad we got it in before it was all over.
 
Sorry I missed you at Magic yesterday, Sharon! I was one of the other people on the lift. Conditions were variable as you pointed out Witch to Lucifer wasn't fun but Wizard, Talisman, Bailout and Heart of the Magician was fun. Sigh, next year. <BR> <BR>On 3/20 I was at Sugarbush and skied in mid winter conditions. The unmarked glades at 'bush were awesome.
 
I wished I had gone north instead of South. Granted I got in the last day at Magic, but I would trade that for some pow pow any day. <BR> <BR>I was the only one in a bright orange/red jacket, skiing with 2 guys, one in red on a snowboard and the other in gray with chrome helmet on skis. Did you see us? Amongst the 30 people there, I'm sure we were easy to spot.
 
Saturday was a good day at Magic. I hadn't been since februaury due to injury. It snowed on St. Patty's day and then lightly the rest of the week. I shouldn't of been surprised to find fresh on the w/e but I was. Even some of the woods had the goods. Glad I went cuz while there I found out about the impending closing <IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/clipart/sad.gif" ALT=":("> . Sunday I went boating instead making it three sundays in a row in the kayak. I saw skiers on the mountain on my way to the river. Maybe they were T-man or Boatergal's crew! ;^) I know where there is still fresh, Snow Valley...
 
Nope, Boatergal was at Magic on Sunday I saw her rippin it up (hee hee). <BR> <BR>Where'd you go boating? Is the West running? Do I know you? <BR> <BR>Boatergal is skiing one more weekend before she gets in her boat.
 
Hi Sharon, <BR> It's Tad, been too lazy to registar, the connecticut river is hydro harnessed and was releasing at a decent level on sunday. I like to mix it up this time of year. I love hearing all the stories on this site. Regarding snow valley it was doing pretty good lately. Wet powder the other day. Alot of times I'll ride Magic then head over to SV for some 4 o'clock freshies. It's pretty overun by the sled heads because of the VAST trail system that runs through there. I kind of play this game called hide the lines from them. I've maintained some lines there that are essentially old trails and some old rope tow lines. There are still some signs left of the rope tows, mostly sheaves grown into the trees or on the ground. There's remains of old ski area artifacts all over that place. I've 'built' my own lines too through the trees and over boulders just to have some back up lines in case the sleds find the others. Hardly any one hikes the place so it's pretty much guaranteed freshies. <BR> Didn't make it over to NY this year, I usually hit Gore and Whiteface at least once during the season. Heard the Slides opened yesterday at WF. Didn't even make it to Jay. Though scaled down, Magic is pretty similar. Dutch Hill near the Deerfield is another place that can be steep and deep. Needs lotsa work though. Should be a good w/e for spring skiing. Have fun!!
 
Hey Tad...I thought it might be you! <BR> <BR>It will also be a good weekend for boating. I know some folks who will be running the Fish this weekend. Tempting...but I'll be at Stowe and MRG. Gotta get it while there's still something to get. <BR> <BR>Boating season is just around the corner for me. <BR> <BR>May do a b-day ski weekend in mid-April at Kton again. Will keep you posted on that. <BR> <BR>Have you seen my resort features on this website? I've been doing a bit of writing for FTO. I've got 4 articles in the works. Just got back from British Columbia. I don't report much on that stuff in this forum if I'm writing an article, so when it's posted you can read all about it. Best week of skiing in my life! <BR> <BR>Anyhoo...hope to see you some time soon. <BR> <BR>Sharon
 
BG, <BR> No I have not seen your resort features. Where do I find them? I'm sometimes crt challenged. Hoping to indulge in a lil' sugarbush myself tomorrah.. syotr tm <BR>May everyone at FTO enjoy their turns this w/e!!
 
Tad, if you go to the table of contents and scroll down to "Resorts and Experiences", choose Vermont or New York, and you will find some of my features. <BR> <BR>For VT I did a piece on early season skiing at Okemo and Killington. I wrote a piece on Magic, but Marc hasn't posted it yet. He says he's getting to it. <BR> <BR>For NY I did my first piece on Greek Peak and then one on Holiday Valley and Holimont. <BR> <BR>I'm currently working on 3 pieces for British Columbia: Red Mountain, Whitewater and Valhalla Powder Cats. <BR> <BR>Oh, just type your name in the Username box. No need to register here. This way you won't be "Anonymous" unless you want to be. <BR> <BR>I'll likely be skiing at Gore this weekend. There's talk about paddling the Hudson Gorge, but I'm not too keen on it if its only going to be 40. I gotta have at least 50 degrees to paddle 35 degree water for more than an hour.
 
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