Date(s) Skied: 2/14/08
Resort or Ski Area: Mad River Glen
Conditions: Powder, some wind-blown, some packed, some Fresh. Some firmer stuff at lower elevations
Trip Report: After the rain killed plans for a SoVT trip I decided late Wednesday night to do a solo day trip to MRG the next day. I had planned to leave by 4am so I could get there before the single started up at 9am, unfortunately I didn't get up until 4am. After a few minutes of convincing myself that it was going to be worth it to drive a total of about 9 hours just to ski about 4-5 I was off. Some roads were a bit slick in spots due to all the rain the day before followed by temperatures well below freezing. I choose the wrong route to get over to 91 from my house and got stuck behind several people who apparently thought the roads were much worse than they were and/or didn't share my enthusiasm to get up north as quickly as possible. Once on 91 things moved nicely and the roads were clear of any ice, at least in CT and MA. Before I even got through MA I realized that I was having a little trouble keeping my eyes open. I began second guessing my plan and started thinking that maybe I should switch back to the original target of Magic. Luckily my better sense prevailed and I stuck with the plan, it sounds like Magic is in pretty rough shape. I stopped in the VT welcome center and grabbed an over-priced bottle of Pepsi from the vending machine. I'm not sure if the soda is what woke me up or not, but I think it was a combination of that, the sun coming up, and that 91 started getting icy in spots once I hit VT (particularly the left lane). The roads got progressively worse the further I went, but I was still able to keep a pretty decent pace. I did go through and entire tank of washer fluid though.
OK enough of the driving, who cares about that!?! Maybe next I'll tell you about what I had to eat (not much, bagel on the way up and a gel shot and granola bar on the lift..) The end result is that I made it into the parking lot some time after 9am.
I picked up my $14 ticket on the way in (no kissing required), quickly got ready, and finally boarded the single at around 9:30... After waiting in a long line of about 4 people. On the lift ride I took a few pics, things were looking sweet.
I briefly contemplated taking Upper Antelope to warm up, but quickly squashed that idea as I only had a short window to ski since I wanted to be back in CT relatively ealry to celebrate Valentines Day with my wonderful wife, who very selflessly stayed at home to watch the kids while I went skiing. I hit Catamount Bowl first thing, which didn't suck even if my turns did.
Another pic
From there I took Antelope to Lynx to Beaver, missing the part where Beaver goes under the single for a brief time, to Bunny to Rockefellars.
Lynx:
Another pic
Everything skied nice until I hit Rockefellars. There was lots powder over some well established bumps (with occasional ice on the backsides) down to Bunny, then Bunny was nicely groomed, unfortunately Rockefellars was pretty firm and crusty, but still not terrible.
The next run started on Fall Line, which was sweet. I think these pics are from there:
Another pic
From there I went to Creamery > Moody's > Ferret > Upper Glade > Lower Glade > Waterfall. Conditions were excellent, as was the whole upper mountain, until the bumps on the corner where Lower Glade/Grand Canyon meet up with Easy Way. More crunchiness to be found there. Oddly I was able to ski those bumps and the bumps Waterfall better than the powder bumps on the rest of the mountain. I think it's because they were more like what I was used to at my home mountain.
The conditions stayed pretty much the same the whole time I was there, with a few more scratchy spots poking up here and there as the day wore on. Lift lines were pretty much non-existent, the most I waited on the single was like 10 people or so.
I'm not going to do a complete play by play of every trail skied, but I skied non-stop until 2pm and was able to hit every un-groomed trail, except Lift Line, off of the single at least once. I wanted to go sample some stuff off of the Double, but could never pry myself away from the single.
Grand Canyon had the best pow bumps on the mountain, with no scratchies to be found:
Another pic
Lower Antelope was a fun trail, with real good conditions on the upper 2/3rds or so, then the same crunchiness down below, which was a little tough on my legs by the time I got down there.
Another pic
Another pic
On my second to last run I finally sacked up and hit Paradise, I wish I had hit it sooner when my legs were fresher. The conditions were pretty superb, the snow seemed deeper and more plentiful in there. One interesting note was all the warnings about several lost skiers in the last week and not following tracks if you don't know where they go. This included more signage than I remember seeing in a few spots, particularly on the traverse over to Paradise where there were several signs pointing which way the trail goes and two stating that the trail DOES NOT GO where I accidentally skied off last year (missing Paradise completely)..
Another pic
Another pic
Here's a few from my last run, which was a replay of my first, except I managed to find all of Beaver this time.
Lynx:
Another pic
Another pic
Another pic
Another pic
Another pic
Some other highlights that I have no pictures of; Chute was skiing as nice as the rest of the upper mountain, I just couldn't seem to make it work. I seem to have a real problem skiing when I know people are watching, particularly from the lift. Glade skied real nice, I only hit it once from the entrance off Broadway, but I got to a couple times from Ferret too. It took me a few tries to find my way over to Grand Canyon since I had a tendency to take the first un-groomed trail I saw every time I got onto one of the groomers. I'm glad I was determined to make it over there though, it was worth it.
The crowds were light, real light.
The ride home was uneventful, somehow I managed to stay awake. I guess it was a combo of being stoked from such a great day and all the sugar and caffeine that I pumped into my body on the way home...
I highly appreciated the awesome home cooked meal my wife had prepared when I got home since I hadn't eaten anything of substance the whole day.
In summary; Easily worth the 9ish hours of driving to ski 4.5 hours!
Here's the gallery, but I think all the pics are in the thread:
http://forums.alpinezone.com/gallery/showgallery.php/cat/851
Resort or Ski Area: Mad River Glen
Conditions: Powder, some wind-blown, some packed, some Fresh. Some firmer stuff at lower elevations
Trip Report: After the rain killed plans for a SoVT trip I decided late Wednesday night to do a solo day trip to MRG the next day. I had planned to leave by 4am so I could get there before the single started up at 9am, unfortunately I didn't get up until 4am. After a few minutes of convincing myself that it was going to be worth it to drive a total of about 9 hours just to ski about 4-5 I was off. Some roads were a bit slick in spots due to all the rain the day before followed by temperatures well below freezing. I choose the wrong route to get over to 91 from my house and got stuck behind several people who apparently thought the roads were much worse than they were and/or didn't share my enthusiasm to get up north as quickly as possible. Once on 91 things moved nicely and the roads were clear of any ice, at least in CT and MA. Before I even got through MA I realized that I was having a little trouble keeping my eyes open. I began second guessing my plan and started thinking that maybe I should switch back to the original target of Magic. Luckily my better sense prevailed and I stuck with the plan, it sounds like Magic is in pretty rough shape. I stopped in the VT welcome center and grabbed an over-priced bottle of Pepsi from the vending machine. I'm not sure if the soda is what woke me up or not, but I think it was a combination of that, the sun coming up, and that 91 started getting icy in spots once I hit VT (particularly the left lane). The roads got progressively worse the further I went, but I was still able to keep a pretty decent pace. I did go through and entire tank of washer fluid though.
OK enough of the driving, who cares about that!?! Maybe next I'll tell you about what I had to eat (not much, bagel on the way up and a gel shot and granola bar on the lift..) The end result is that I made it into the parking lot some time after 9am.
I picked up my $14 ticket on the way in (no kissing required), quickly got ready, and finally boarded the single at around 9:30... After waiting in a long line of about 4 people. On the lift ride I took a few pics, things were looking sweet.
I briefly contemplated taking Upper Antelope to warm up, but quickly squashed that idea as I only had a short window to ski since I wanted to be back in CT relatively ealry to celebrate Valentines Day with my wonderful wife, who very selflessly stayed at home to watch the kids while I went skiing. I hit Catamount Bowl first thing, which didn't suck even if my turns did.
Another pic
From there I took Antelope to Lynx to Beaver, missing the part where Beaver goes under the single for a brief time, to Bunny to Rockefellars.
Lynx:
Another pic
Everything skied nice until I hit Rockefellars. There was lots powder over some well established bumps (with occasional ice on the backsides) down to Bunny, then Bunny was nicely groomed, unfortunately Rockefellars was pretty firm and crusty, but still not terrible.
The next run started on Fall Line, which was sweet. I think these pics are from there:
Another pic
From there I went to Creamery > Moody's > Ferret > Upper Glade > Lower Glade > Waterfall. Conditions were excellent, as was the whole upper mountain, until the bumps on the corner where Lower Glade/Grand Canyon meet up with Easy Way. More crunchiness to be found there. Oddly I was able to ski those bumps and the bumps Waterfall better than the powder bumps on the rest of the mountain. I think it's because they were more like what I was used to at my home mountain.
The conditions stayed pretty much the same the whole time I was there, with a few more scratchy spots poking up here and there as the day wore on. Lift lines were pretty much non-existent, the most I waited on the single was like 10 people or so.
I'm not going to do a complete play by play of every trail skied, but I skied non-stop until 2pm and was able to hit every un-groomed trail, except Lift Line, off of the single at least once. I wanted to go sample some stuff off of the Double, but could never pry myself away from the single.
Grand Canyon had the best pow bumps on the mountain, with no scratchies to be found:
Another pic
Lower Antelope was a fun trail, with real good conditions on the upper 2/3rds or so, then the same crunchiness down below, which was a little tough on my legs by the time I got down there.
Another pic
Another pic
On my second to last run I finally sacked up and hit Paradise, I wish I had hit it sooner when my legs were fresher. The conditions were pretty superb, the snow seemed deeper and more plentiful in there. One interesting note was all the warnings about several lost skiers in the last week and not following tracks if you don't know where they go. This included more signage than I remember seeing in a few spots, particularly on the traverse over to Paradise where there were several signs pointing which way the trail goes and two stating that the trail DOES NOT GO where I accidentally skied off last year (missing Paradise completely)..
Another pic
Another pic
Here's a few from my last run, which was a replay of my first, except I managed to find all of Beaver this time.
Lynx:
Another pic
Another pic
Another pic
Another pic
Another pic
Some other highlights that I have no pictures of; Chute was skiing as nice as the rest of the upper mountain, I just couldn't seem to make it work. I seem to have a real problem skiing when I know people are watching, particularly from the lift. Glade skied real nice, I only hit it once from the entrance off Broadway, but I got to a couple times from Ferret too. It took me a few tries to find my way over to Grand Canyon since I had a tendency to take the first un-groomed trail I saw every time I got onto one of the groomers. I'm glad I was determined to make it over there though, it was worth it.
The crowds were light, real light.
The ride home was uneventful, somehow I managed to stay awake. I guess it was a combo of being stoked from such a great day and all the sugar and caffeine that I pumped into my body on the way home...
I highly appreciated the awesome home cooked meal my wife had prepared when I got home since I hadn't eaten anything of substance the whole day.
In summary; Easily worth the 9ish hours of driving to ski 4.5 hours!
Here's the gallery, but I think all the pics are in the thread:
http://forums.alpinezone.com/gallery/showgallery.php/cat/851
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