powderfreak
New member
Another day in paradise...
It was a dreary, mostly overcast day in the mountains, but there was
something spooky and beautiful about the northern Green mountains today as
dark, mean looking clouds raced above the peaks:
http://tinyurl.com/732s8
http://tinyurl.com/9okgb
http://tinyurl.com/7hm9p
There's still some high elevation snow evident on north facing slopes and
the white trails of Sugarbush were visible far off in the distance south
of Camels Hump:
http://tinyurl.com/7owxh
Dave and I got to the base of the quad at the early hour of 2pm and
wondered where everyone was. Quad wasn't moving and we realized that
Stowe must've lied when they said they'd be open till May 1st
We hiked
up Nosedive:
http://tinyurl.com/aoeo8
Still tons of snow on the gondi connection, Nosedive woods, and Bypass.
http://tinyurl.com/8y2u7
Saw evidence of a skin track up on the upper portions of
Nosedive...figured those to be Wes'. Made it to the Octagon and just sat
and enjoyed the views for a while. Decided after looking at the available
options and the potential for the most vertical with minimal walking, we
chose Hayride which looked to have wall to wall coverage most of the way
down the mountain and when the snow ran out, you could take a quick 30-
second jaunt over to the halfpipe region to ski down to the bottom. We
were able to ski from the Octagon down to the very top of Hayride where a
quick 100 foot walk awaited us down to the snow. From that point, we were
able to keep our skis on all the way down to the bottom of Hayride and
that trail had easily the deepest, most consistant coverage of anything
left on the mountain. Images:
http://tinyurl.com/deqz9
http://tinyurl.com/aedoj
http://tinyurl.com/77la3
Dave skiing:
http://tinyurl.com/83r64
http://tinyurl.com/9ejgm
http://tinyurl.com/8zdkl
Two short clips (I hope tinyurl works for mpg's..me then dave):
http://tinyurl.com/8v5t7
http://tinyurl.com/b542q
Skied all the way down Hayride, 30 second walk and we were up at the
Halfpipe and it looked like there were a half dozen skiable trails over
there in some form or another looking up Lord, Standard, and whatever else
is over there. Stowe did some wierd cat work above the Halfpipe and while
they wrecked the walls of the halfpipe enough so you can't actually ski it
like a halfpipe, they piled snow about 30 feet high at the top of the
halfpipe...each wall is also around 20 feet thick. That snow looked like
it'll be there well into June. It almost looked like they were saving the
snow by piling it so high. Maybe they're planning some sort of rail or
kicker deal for Memorial Day or something.
I believe with some cat work, Stowe could've stayed open through today but
economically it definitely wouldn't have been worth it. The snow around
the halfpipe area would've been enough to make a route back to the lift
and with a little bit of work up at the very top of Hayride, they've got
their route down...plus a few other options that could be worked out
(Liftline to National to Lower Nosedive maybe?) Would've been more verts
and just as much terrain as Killington...
As we drove back into spring in the Champlain Valley, with the sunlight
breaking through the clouds on the Adirondacks, I felt pretty lucky to
live in northern Vermont.
http://tinyurl.com/dqlnt
-Scott
It was a dreary, mostly overcast day in the mountains, but there was
something spooky and beautiful about the northern Green mountains today as
dark, mean looking clouds raced above the peaks:
http://tinyurl.com/732s8
http://tinyurl.com/9okgb
http://tinyurl.com/7hm9p
There's still some high elevation snow evident on north facing slopes and
the white trails of Sugarbush were visible far off in the distance south
of Camels Hump:
http://tinyurl.com/7owxh
Dave and I got to the base of the quad at the early hour of 2pm and
wondered where everyone was. Quad wasn't moving and we realized that
Stowe must've lied when they said they'd be open till May 1st
We hikedup Nosedive:
http://tinyurl.com/aoeo8
Still tons of snow on the gondi connection, Nosedive woods, and Bypass.
http://tinyurl.com/8y2u7
Saw evidence of a skin track up on the upper portions of
Nosedive...figured those to be Wes'. Made it to the Octagon and just sat
and enjoyed the views for a while. Decided after looking at the available
options and the potential for the most vertical with minimal walking, we
chose Hayride which looked to have wall to wall coverage most of the way
down the mountain and when the snow ran out, you could take a quick 30-
second jaunt over to the halfpipe region to ski down to the bottom. We
were able to ski from the Octagon down to the very top of Hayride where a
quick 100 foot walk awaited us down to the snow. From that point, we were
able to keep our skis on all the way down to the bottom of Hayride and
that trail had easily the deepest, most consistant coverage of anything
left on the mountain. Images:
http://tinyurl.com/deqz9
http://tinyurl.com/aedoj
http://tinyurl.com/77la3
Dave skiing:
http://tinyurl.com/83r64
http://tinyurl.com/9ejgm
http://tinyurl.com/8zdkl
Two short clips (I hope tinyurl works for mpg's..me then dave):
http://tinyurl.com/8v5t7
http://tinyurl.com/b542q
Skied all the way down Hayride, 30 second walk and we were up at the
Halfpipe and it looked like there were a half dozen skiable trails over
there in some form or another looking up Lord, Standard, and whatever else
is over there. Stowe did some wierd cat work above the Halfpipe and while
they wrecked the walls of the halfpipe enough so you can't actually ski it
like a halfpipe, they piled snow about 30 feet high at the top of the
halfpipe...each wall is also around 20 feet thick. That snow looked like
it'll be there well into June. It almost looked like they were saving the
snow by piling it so high. Maybe they're planning some sort of rail or
kicker deal for Memorial Day or something.
I believe with some cat work, Stowe could've stayed open through today but
economically it definitely wouldn't have been worth it. The snow around
the halfpipe area would've been enough to make a route back to the lift
and with a little bit of work up at the very top of Hayride, they've got
their route down...plus a few other options that could be worked out
(Liftline to National to Lower Nosedive maybe?) Would've been more verts
and just as much terrain as Killington...
As we drove back into spring in the Champlain Valley, with the sunlight
breaking through the clouds on the Adirondacks, I felt pretty lucky to
live in northern Vermont.
http://tinyurl.com/dqlnt
-Scott
