Stowe 1-20 winds

[POW]

So was at Stowe today- got in some descent runs in the early morning and actually found the snow to be in excellent shape especially at the top of spruce peak. Saw about an inch or 2 with some quick squalls.

Then 11am arrived and with it were 60 mph gusts that created near white out conditions while I was making turns. Also over heard some of the instructors talking and one said a 100 mph gust was recorded on mid spruce peak.

Lifts were basically on wind hold for the rest of the day although mt Mansfield seemed to fair better due to wind direction.

Also not sure if anyone's familiar with the giant lift status board that sits at the base of spruce peak- a massive gust took the thing down, snapped the 2 thick wooden beams in half and the sucker fell straight back. Thank god no one was near the thing or they would have been flattened.

Haven't seen crazy winds like that in a while!

 

[Conrad]

Yikes! At least it wasn't as bad as Smuggs where Madonna II derailed.
http://www.wcax.com/story/20635967/high-winds-derail-ski-lift

 

[TheBEast]

Damn about the Madonna II derailment....glad no one was injured!

 

[Huck_It_Baby]

I was at Stowe yesterday too from around 10-3. Crazy white out conditions but the Quad and Gondola were running the whole time I was there. Untracked powder in the trees! =)

 

[Ice Queen]

Wow. I was there one day last week and almost got knocked over at the top of Gondolier by the winds, and all of the lifts were open. Crazy.

 

[snowmonster]

I was at Stowe on Sunday and Monday. While the winds on Sunday were pretty brutal, I didn't realize that they gusted up to 120mph and that a board on Spruce was knocked down! The biggest inconvenience for me was that the Over Easy gondola was not running so I had to walk across the road to get from Spruce to Mansfield. Sunday had whiteout conditions when gusts would really crank up.

Monday was the better day with no winds and bluebird conditions. Amazing! The Bruce Trail had lots of soft snow pockets but was thinning in parts. We need another good dump to refresh things.

 

[Huck_It_Baby]

the Over Easy gondola was not running so I had to walk across the road to get from Spruce to Mansfield.

Amazing! The Bruce Trail had lots of soft snow pockets but was thinning in parts. We need another good dump to refresh things.

That sucks. Why didn't you take the shuttle across the street?

I almost did the Bruce on Sunday but held back since conditions were a little crazy. Did you stash a car down 108 or hike back to the slow dbl?

 

[snowmonster]

That sucks. Why didn't you take the shuttle across the street?

The line was too long and I hate waiting in line.

I almost did the Bruce on Sunday but held back since conditions were a little crazy. Did you stash a car down 108 or hike back to the slow dbl?

I took the double back since it was at the start of the day. If Bruce was last run, I'd ski all the way down to the Matterhorn.

The entrance to the Bruce was a little sketchy since just about everyone launched from the same spot and scraped off all the snow down to the rock. I jumped in to the right of the entrance into really soft snow. Bruce was nicely bumped up and soft for the most part. There were certain parts that were pretty well scraped down and bony, especially on the Elevator Shaft. I got a good natural base grind by the time I got down. You had to make good tight turns in certain sections to avoid rocks. I didn't see anyone ski the Bruce after me even if I took my time getting down.

We should get better at coordinating these things. Skidmarks was talking about doing a Ranch Valley grand tour. Let's make it happen this year!

 

[Huck_It_Baby]

I took the double back since it was at the start of the day.


We should get better at coordinating these things. Skidmarks was talking about doing a Ranch Valley grand tour. Let's make it happen this year!

Did you have to hike back to the double at all or are you able to ski right to it?

I'm all in for coordinating to make some runs/tours. I live only about 30 minutes from the bottom of the Teardrop trail and would be happy to shuttle people back to the resort some time.

 

[slatham]

Bromley had an 80 MPH gust which closed down both summit lifts. Luckily it backed off and the Blue Ribon Quad re-opened so the summit was only down for less than 2 hours. Got a quick 1" or so to freshen things up. Overall much better conditions than expected given the prior weekends January thaw.

 

[jrmagic]

The Sunday morning snow squall was pretty nuts. Thre was one point that I was heading down Wand at Magic right into the teeth of the snow and wind and it was like I had skied through a snow gun lol. I couldn't see a thing. At another point the wind had stopped my forward progress down a fairly flat section of trail.

 

[snowmonster]

Did you have to hike back to the double at all or are you able to ski right to it?

It's about a fifteen minute walk. When you get to the junction of Burt and Cross Cut 1 in the Stowe cross country center, it's best to take off skis and walk up the Cross Cut1 trail. From there, follow the To Lift signs that'll take you under some power lines then to a road/driveway of the Toll House Center.

I'm all in for coordinating to make some runs/tours. I live only about 30 minutes from the bottom of the Teardrop trail and would be happy to shuttle people back to the resort some time.

I've been wanting to do the Teardrop for a very long time now. I'll be happy to take you up on your shuttle offer!

 

[Huck_It_Baby]

It's about a fifteen minute walk. When you get to the junction of Burt and Cross Cut 1 in the Stowe cross country center, it's best to take off skis and walk up the Cross Cut1 trail. From there, follow the To Lift signs that'll take you under some power lines then to a road/driveway of the Toll House Center.



I've been wanting to do the Teardrop for a very long time now. I'll be happy to take you up on your shuttle offer!

Cool thanks for the directions! I was just looking the XC map and I see where you are referencing. I think I'll start dropping back there often. I also see that some of the lines off toll rd which I previously deemed questionable are more possible than I thought due to so many cross country trails bringing you back closer to the resort.

Like you said more snow is needed. I think I'll stick to the Jay side country for this next weekend since there has been more new snow in the last week but we should coordinate some adventures! I'm out in the resorts or skinning somewhere every weekend.