Pico 3/23/8

[billski]

Pico was blessed with about 1" of ice and about 5" fluff in the woods, but most of the place was tracked out. BD trails weren't too hot. Place to be was on the groomers and even they weren't anything to write home about. The groomers are paved flat. Most of the bumped up trails dekcus. Nevertheless, I found one nice run and some OK woods. I will write more tomorrow. Nothing to get excited about, nothing that a good6-12" wouldn't fix. Either that or warmer temps to thaw the bumps. Yes, this was real ice - I saw my reflection. :sad: The sun actually glared off them, I think I got a photo of it. Toward the top it was crushed ice. Literally. Not FGR. Not LGR. The stuff you get out of a crushed ice machine. And not very deep at that. Edgeable? Yes, mostly, but nothing to get real excited about. Woods had lots of snow snakes - tree branches bent over and welded to the surface ice, covered with 4". Man, those suckers hurt when you hit them at moderate speed. I will post pictures on Monday, I just can't get too excited about posting them. Verdict: wait for warmth or a dump.

 

[WoodCore]

I beg to differ on your evaluation .......

Date(s) Skied: Sunday March 23, 2008

Ski Area: Pico Mountain - Mendon, VT

Conditions: Machine groomed PP on most trails. Where it wasn't groomed, a mix of powder, tracked powder, packed powder or a 1/2" thick breakable ice crust over a very deep and solid base.

Trip Report:

What a great day of skiing!!!! The weather was absolutely stunning, the conditions (thanks to the efforts of the groomers) where amazing and I basically had the mountain to myself. Since all lifts where running, it was great to be able to "dance" around the mountain from lift to lift like you where able to do before the changes brought on by ASC. Regardless, today definitely brought back some memories.

Here's some pictures. Enjoy!

Glorious Morning

Sunset 71

Pike

49'er

Doozie

Summit Poma Remains

K.A

Random Pictures of The Mountain

 

[snoseek]

^^^^^^^

Not one other person in any of those pics! I love days like that.

 

[deadheadskier]

When was the summit poma taken out? I noticed it last year that it was gone. I haven't skied Pico since High School, but back then I hit it up at least once a season and used to ride the Poma doing laps on Upper Giant Killer.

Pico is a fantasitc place......gotta make it back there next season.

 

[thetrailboss]

When was the summit poma taken out? I noticed it last year that it was gone. I haven't skied Pico since High School, but back then I hit it up at least once a season and used to ride the Poma doing laps on Upper Giant Killer.

Pico is a fantasitc place......gotta make it back there next season.

The Poma was yanked by ASC. Would have been around 1997 or so....that was also about the time when Glades Double was pulled I'd imagine. There have been many days for me when I said, "gee, I wish that the Poma and Double were here."

 

[billski]

Counter-point

Classic case study in "beauty is in the eye of the beholder." I respect Woodcore's remarks and stand by mine. Each skier has their own hot button. Now that I'm rested, I'll substantiate. I'm not much of a groomed trail skier, preferring more natural, either on or off-piste. Summit Glades was rock solid bumps. some loose stuff uphill, fairly crusty downslope. Not enjoyable, all the way down. Upper Pike was of the crushed ice variety - about 1/2 inch nuggets. Everything groomed was very fast, fairly homogeneous, very ,very solid. It was edge-able, but solid enough for an Abrams Tank to have no problem rolling uphill without sinking. Birch glades, woods and lower Giant-Killer were best runs of the day - it was only there that I found true powder. Most of the other woods were entirely tracked out. If you're happy running on other's tracks, it was ok. I had a lot of problems finding good woods - first time there since '81, the place has been extremely boulevard-ed since that time What happened to the 12" of pow they reported for Fri/Sat? I didn't see it anywhere. Sidewinder was pretty solid bumps, Bronco was ok, and Wrangler was groomed. Woods in the bypass double area had about 4" pow a bit gnarled making lines difficult to hit. Most untracked woods had 4-6" pow atop an unbreakable base. This was a day for carving speed on groomers. I didn't see any Ski Patrol the entire day, but the tacos were good . Not my first choice for a day of sliding, but a fine day just to be outside nonetheless.

 

[SkiingInABlueDream]

When was the summit poma taken out? I noticed it last year that it was gone. I haven't skied Pico since High School, but back then I hit it up at least once a season and used to ride the Poma doing laps on Upper Giant Killer.

By chance do you have any pics of the old summit poma? I used to love riding lift!

 

[SkiingInABlueDream]

Someone clue me in - where's "Doozie"?

 

[thetrailboss]

Someone clue me in - where's "Doozie"?

In between Sidewinder and the Outpost Double.

 

[billski]

By chance do you have any pics of the old summit poma? I used to love riding lift!

Pomas used to be the fastest way up the hill. Beats a chair and t-bar every time. Okemo was nearly all pomas back in the early 80's. Our legs would be burned so bad, then again, I'm sure our legs were a ton stronger because of no rest....