Stowe 2/25-2/28

box297

box297

New member
long time reader, first time poster...

heading up to stowe next week with the wife, who is strictly a green circle type of lady, so i'll be left to my own devices for much of the time on the mountain...

while i've been skiing VT since the age of 4(now a crusty old 35), this will be my first time at stowe...any tips, advice, encouragement, secrets(shhhh!), would be greatly appreciated...i guess i'd consider myself advanced intermediate, and would really like to try to advance my woods, bc, and bumps skills...i've done them at low angles, but would like to improve...there was a 10 year hiatus in my life when i did not ski, picked it back up about 7-8 years ago, and got HOOKED...it was a total re-awakening...i never feel as alive as when i'm on the hill

if any of you kind souls will be out there, and would like to enjoy the mountain greenery with a well-meaning but somewhat clueless tourista, give me a shout...i'm definitely not bold enough to venture OOB on my own...we're staying in the condos at the inn at the mountain...will be trying out some solomon x-wings that i got a sweet deal on at the end of last season...this will be my first time out this year...yeah, i really need to re-prioritize, although in my defense, i live in PA and we've probably had 4" of snow this winter...conditions 'round here have not been condusive...excuses are like...well y'know...i make up for it mountain biking about 5-10 miles of singletrack every night after work

anyways, sorry for the boring diatribe...cannot freakin wait to get up there! :D
 
Hey box, I'll let the Stowe-ics respond to your specific queries, but wanted to take the opportunity to extend a warm welcome to a new poster.
 
even though other folks will have even better advice, let me give you $$ quotes in bullet form, and hope that the "primacy" effect kicks in:

-Inn at the Mountain is wicked nice.

-A green circle lady like your wife will like skiing at Spruce. And so will you, in the sense that the terrain off the high speed summit quad is quite fun.

-On Mansfield, you wife will like the low-angle stuff off the triple chair (only goes to mid mtn; less intimidating for her). But when other stuff on Mansfield has been skied out, the runs off the triple hold new snow very well.

-As an upper int. skier who's looking for woods stuff, the Nosedive Glades are right up your alley.

-My recommendation? If you can afford it, after 2 days skiing, set your wife up with spa services at Topnotch while you ski mid-week powder on Mansfield. Again, it's EZ for me to be a hero with your $$, ain't it? :P

Have fun! Stowe is a great resort town.
 
I'll be up on the 27th and maybe the 25th.

I'll be in lime green ski pants, with a yellow pack, black visored helmet. I'd be glad to show you around the lower angled glades in the area.

Call me out if you see me.

porter
 
Admin":js2s071c said:
salida":js2s071c said:
I'll be in lime green ski pants
Click to expand...

Were you on Blackwell's list this year?
Click to expand...

I didn't know what this list was so I googled it, apparently I should belong on the worst dressed list...

Marc, between this thread and the one insulting the whole Crocker family, you are awfully concerned with fashion these days, and does the normal man even know what the Blackwell list is? And what the hell, I think the pants look pretty damn cool:

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I don't even get the second comment.

And by the way, green ski pants must be slightly cooler than skiing down Peruvian without gloves...
 
salida":tdluc7lq said:
And by the way, green ski pants must be slightly cooler than skiing down Peruvian without gloves...
Click to expand...

:lol: Touché!

"It's not how you feel, it's how you look...and dahling, you look MAHvelous!"
 
I'll be in lime green ski pants
Click to expand...
I believe admin was recalling Andrew's last day in these pants at Mt. Rose in 2005:
rose_skipants.jpg

Which, by the way, were far superior to his pants last Saturday at Sundance. :lol:
 
wow...thanks for the welcome and the replies

i think i may break down and try using a helmet this time out...i've never used one either for skiing or biking...i know it's stupid, but i got into the habit because i was convinced that they affected my peripheral vision and equilibrium...the couple of times i tried it, i felt less confident and stable...but maybe that's a fair trade for not opening up my melon on a birch tree
 
so we got 3-5" of nice dry fluff here in eastern PA, and it's ironic that, were i not taking all of next week off to ski, i would have called out today and made a bee-line to the local bump (bear creek-all 500' of it...wooo hooo!)

life be funny
 
finally back from stowe and wishing i hadn't left...

Two blue sky days sandwiched around two snow days made it about the best ski vacation i've ever had. This was my wife's first time on skis in 8 years, and she caught the ski bug! When we were eating lunch during her first day out and I asked her if she was going to come back out for more skiing that afternoon, she gave an entusiastic 'yes!' with no hesitation. This bodes very well for future mountain forays.
Having skiied most of the other larger eastern mountains, I have to say that I enjoyed Stowe the most. Between the natural beauty of Mansfield, the friendly vibe, and the varied terrain it was a unique experience. It was perfect for me in that I was able to warm up on easier slopes, then begin to challenge myself. If you are in the intermediate-advanced range and want to push yourself incrementally, Stowe is the best. By Thursday, I was hitting Lilftline and Nosedive with confidence(I know for some this is no biggie, but I was pretty excited over it), and decided that I would leave the other steeps for next time-which provides me with incentive to return.
We lucked out with the snow, as we had planned this trip well in advance, but even on Monday, before the storm, things seemed to be in pretty good shape...a little scratchy here and there, but nothing major. Oddly enough things seemed their worst when the powder from Tuesday/Wednesday's snow was groomed down and the more windswept areas became rock hard on Thursday.
In four days I probably covered 60-70% of the resort terrain, of course doing multiple runs on my favorite lines. What really bumped it up a notch was when I was skiing the natural moguls(no pun intended) which seemed to be created on just about every run after the storm, and things kind of started to 'click'. You know when you feel those turns working, and it all comes together. I was using my core to initiate the turns and letting my legs move independently to absorb the terrain, but also together towards the goal of carving the turn. I gained confidence on every run. I had never really skiied the day after a sizable dump of powder, and wow...it was super fun, but man was my ass kicked by the end of the day Wednesday.
Never saw the man in the lime green pants, but I would imagine with the conditions he was off in the deep greenery of Mansfield. I did, however, enjoy some obvious tree shots on the lower portion of toll raod, where you are basically cutiing the switchbacks through the trees. I would like to someday be able to explore more of the beautiful backcountry, as I really enjoy the quiet and solitude of being amongst the trees. I've told myself that before I try any of that I should be able to ski the entire resort confidently in most conditions(and buy a helmet).
In short, I had a great four day stretch of non-stop skiing, a new favorite mountain, and a wife who can't wait to get back on the slopes...I'm a lucky man.
 
because i'm that kind of guy...pics from last winter's trip...

views from the triple chair

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towards the notch

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mrs b, enjoying the snow

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yours truly

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the view out our back window

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