billski
Active member
9am comes bright and early to Pomfret Vermont. Zero degrees, no wind, blue skies, sparse parking lot. This is the first stop on my 3-resort-in-one-day tour, Suicide, Darmouth Skiway and Whaleback. (I'll add links to the others as I post them.)
It's fair to say that the World Tour can be described as "highly educational", even to a 32-season veteran skier. I pushed my limits for driving, temperature, conditions and stamina. It felt like an MD Residency, where you see life in all it's forms in a 15-hour shift. Enough for the analogies, on with the report.
The first lesson worth repeating is that on a (really) cold, windy day, a smaller resort is the place to be. There was no wind to speak of at any of the three. All the lifts were turning at all resorts, the rides, while fixed-grip, were relatively short. For those taking notes, all three are "generally" comparable to Wachusett Mt. in Mass. in terms of vertical assets and terrain.
The second lesson is that Suicide Six is steeped in serious ski history. While others tout their bloodlines, you can see, feel and touch it at Six. It hasn't been bulldozed or "upgraded". They have nice displays about the area, the people and "hall of fame" boards with names posted as far back as 70 years ago. While Woodstock Inn owns it, it seems very ancillary to the Inn operations, even though they have a nice shuttle to/from the Inn. Everything is on one level - short walk from the parking lot, the lodge, to the lifts, even the bathrooms have an outside door near the lift.
In an earlier time the lodge was called "Bunny's Ski Tows", a name partially visible at the bottom of this sign. Enough about the history, it could go on for pages and much is written about it elsewhere.
The lodge was rebuilt from scratch in the 70's when the Inn bought it. See my "drive by report" from last year.
Next Lesson. Small, more remote resorts are the place to go during holiday periods. Simply put they are never crowded. Why wait in lift lines and fight for seats in the lodge and walk forever from the parking lot?
Next lesson. Learn to enjoy slow fixed grip. Especially on bluebird days.
This is the double chair. It was installed in the 70s. "The Face" is the groomed trail to your left. It's black diamond and impeccably groomed.
Next Lesson. When you get lemons, make lemonade. Conditions in Central and Northern Vermont and NH are wicked right now. Here is how Mad River described it today: "The main mountain terrain is in pretty rough shape with a glacial, lunar surface with a thin veneer of fluffy powder. What we need is a decent storm of 6-12" of snow with "some grip to it" if we are to get the big hill going again soon. " This sums it up pretty well everywhere I went. If your resort has a huge investment in heavy equipment machinery, that's the ONLY way you're gonna have tolerable conditions.
The snow skied marginally at all areas. Dust on concrete describes it well. Problem is that the un-groomed trails have the old tracks and skid piles frozen in perpetuity.
If you look to the right of this chair, these trails look lovely, right? Nada. This is lunar moon material. It looks tempting, but NOTHING on it moves.
The picture above shows what the moon looks like. Lovely, eh? Even those foot tracks are frozen solid.
So, Lesson for the day, stay on the groomers.
Suicide did a great job of grooming out several trails. There were lots of options, but anything declared as "natural" was to be avoided. They groomed it pretty heavily. Falling would be hard, but there were no death cookies to be seen.
Suicide could be awesome on a powder day.
Regarding historical trails, these trails are as they were carved 70 years ago. In fact, the trees have had ample time to grow back in, and in a few cases they shroud the trail like a canopy. It's really a lot of fun on Skyline and The Chute.
View from "The Face"
The top of the mountain reminds me of the bowls at Steamboat. It's wide and relatively flat.
Much of the area borders pastureland, which is incredibly scenic.
I was pleased to find a really nice article in yesterday's Boston Globe about the place.
Next Stop, Dartmouth College's Skiway.
It's fair to say that the World Tour can be described as "highly educational", even to a 32-season veteran skier. I pushed my limits for driving, temperature, conditions and stamina. It felt like an MD Residency, where you see life in all it's forms in a 15-hour shift. Enough for the analogies, on with the report.
The first lesson worth repeating is that on a (really) cold, windy day, a smaller resort is the place to be. There was no wind to speak of at any of the three. All the lifts were turning at all resorts, the rides, while fixed-grip, were relatively short. For those taking notes, all three are "generally" comparable to Wachusett Mt. in Mass. in terms of vertical assets and terrain.
The second lesson is that Suicide Six is steeped in serious ski history. While others tout their bloodlines, you can see, feel and touch it at Six. It hasn't been bulldozed or "upgraded". They have nice displays about the area, the people and "hall of fame" boards with names posted as far back as 70 years ago. While Woodstock Inn owns it, it seems very ancillary to the Inn operations, even though they have a nice shuttle to/from the Inn. Everything is on one level - short walk from the parking lot, the lodge, to the lifts, even the bathrooms have an outside door near the lift.
In an earlier time the lodge was called "Bunny's Ski Tows", a name partially visible at the bottom of this sign. Enough about the history, it could go on for pages and much is written about it elsewhere.
The lodge was rebuilt from scratch in the 70's when the Inn bought it. See my "drive by report" from last year.
Next Lesson. Small, more remote resorts are the place to go during holiday periods. Simply put they are never crowded. Why wait in lift lines and fight for seats in the lodge and walk forever from the parking lot?
Next lesson. Learn to enjoy slow fixed grip. Especially on bluebird days.
This is the double chair. It was installed in the 70s. "The Face" is the groomed trail to your left. It's black diamond and impeccably groomed.
Next Lesson. When you get lemons, make lemonade. Conditions in Central and Northern Vermont and NH are wicked right now. Here is how Mad River described it today: "The main mountain terrain is in pretty rough shape with a glacial, lunar surface with a thin veneer of fluffy powder. What we need is a decent storm of 6-12" of snow with "some grip to it" if we are to get the big hill going again soon. " This sums it up pretty well everywhere I went. If your resort has a huge investment in heavy equipment machinery, that's the ONLY way you're gonna have tolerable conditions.
The snow skied marginally at all areas. Dust on concrete describes it well. Problem is that the un-groomed trails have the old tracks and skid piles frozen in perpetuity.
If you look to the right of this chair, these trails look lovely, right? Nada. This is lunar moon material. It looks tempting, but NOTHING on it moves.
The picture above shows what the moon looks like. Lovely, eh? Even those foot tracks are frozen solid.
So, Lesson for the day, stay on the groomers.
Suicide did a great job of grooming out several trails. There were lots of options, but anything declared as "natural" was to be avoided. They groomed it pretty heavily. Falling would be hard, but there were no death cookies to be seen.
Suicide could be awesome on a powder day.
Regarding historical trails, these trails are as they were carved 70 years ago. In fact, the trees have had ample time to grow back in, and in a few cases they shroud the trail like a canopy. It's really a lot of fun on Skyline and The Chute.
View from "The Face"
The top of the mountain reminds me of the bowls at Steamboat. It's wide and relatively flat.
Much of the area borders pastureland, which is incredibly scenic.
I was pleased to find a really nice article in yesterday's Boston Globe about the place.
Next Stop, Dartmouth College's Skiway.
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