Stowe Thread

[Zand]

How's it been? Finally coming back Sunday for the first time since Stowevember. With the forecast looking warm and sunny, I might lap Spruce a little more than I'm used to!

 

[eatskisleep]

I believe in Shared Knowledge and Shared Skills to help build and grow those around you!! Even if some knowledge can be dangerous.
YES and NO and YES and its still a work in progress. I will start by thanking the AUTHOR of this map and all the work he has done over time to build his skills that allow him to share some of his knowledge so hopefully we can become better Boarders and Skiers by safely finding and exploring what is out there. This is as close to a FATMAP replacement there is for some of those hidden GEMS we all look for and to try and find.

SO the MAP that will be posted here has had "THE MORE DANGEROUS HIDDEN LINES" REMOVED by the Author. BE warned you for sure can get yourself badly hurt or killed following some of these ADVANCED/EXPERT runs and lines. So be safe as you can be and do some additional research. Travel as more then one if at all possible and with extra supplies.

View attachment 68093

Mount Mansfield | Backtrack

Map by Ryan DeLena

www.backtrackmaps.com

If you want more dangerous then what this map shows I will suggest searching google with the terms Spruce peak backcountry but most of these are one off runs and if you mess up you are cliffed out at death heights. 50ft,100ft,200ft on the spruce peak side of smugglers notch road. I don't recommend those ones at all unless the BACK BOWLS or BIRTHDAY BOWLS.

As a back up and to show this map has proof to the Snow lines and another way to get the same knowledge of off beat lines. Using STRAVA enable HEATMAPS to Yearly and almost all the hidden lines on every mountain I have gone to have popped up!! THIS IS STRAVA WITH HEATLINES SET TO ORANGE on DESKTOP not APP
This shows ANGELFOOD/OZ runs and the harder more advanced 3-OUTER PLANETS off shoots at STOWE from CHIN CLIP
View attachment 68092

He has maps too of most of the BC routes in the whites. 99% of them are avy terrain. I will say he is quite the skier/mountaineer

 

[Zand]

Pretty glorious out there today. Woods too soft to be any fun, but the groomers were sweet from the get go and then the bumps started to shine after noon. Clouds kind of held on strong all afternoon but that's fine as it was hot enough without the sun adding more heat to the fire. Thermo at the bottom of Sunrise lift said 60 degrees after about 3pm.

Hacketts and Goat ROTDs.

 

[cdskier]

And snow depth at the Mansfield stake has now officially dropped to "below average" as of yesterday's measurement...

Mount Mansfield Snow Depth

Snow depth, forecast, temperature, and wind at the fabled stake on top of Mount Mansfield.

matthewparrilla.com

Quite a turn of events considering how things started. Hopefully things turn back around.

 

[Zand]

Yeah the coverage on the nats was honestly pretty similar to when I was here in mid April last year. Still a shitload of snow up high but some of the ugly spots starting to pop below the Starr/Lookout merge, Lower Goat closed already, and even a couple brown spots on heavily trafficked groomers.

Good news is it's early March and things look good in the long range. Plenty of time to get back on track. I'm not even upset, it's been a long winter and the spring weather feels fantastic.

 

[raisingarizona]

The internet has created a culture of whores. Nothing is sacred anymore. Idiocracy was indeed a prophetic documentary.

 

[Zand]

Full on epic spring day today. 60, not a cloud in the sky, vibes are high. ROTD so far is Centerline.

Porch is open for business at the Octagon.

 

[BenedictGomez]

And snow depth at the Mansfield stake has now officially dropped to "below average"

Holy crap, I never would have guessed that possible.

 

[cdskier]

Holy crap, I never would have guessed that possible.

March has been surprisingly disappointing the past few years. While things can turn back around, I fear the damage is already done unless we get a major storm or some consistent snow. Neither of those are really being shown in the models at the moment...

Barely 2 weeks ago we had a 2' snowstorm in NJ...today it is 80+ degrees. Crazy weather lately...

 

[Zand]

Holy crap, I never would have guessed that possible.

I definitely jumped the gun a bit with my claims of "April depth" yesterday. Last year I literally watched the coverage on that last Lookout pitch go from almost fully skiable to pretty much bare in one day. Even with the high temps today, it really didn't change much in the past 24 hours. I think it's just the big difference between March and April sun angles. Spruce on the other hand...not looking great. But the whole Mansfield side is still 100% open (outside of Lower Goat and National Drop In) and honestly I didn't ski anything that felt like it may not make it through the next couple days until the cold returns. Might need some creativity on Lookout but other than that, if we get right into some cold and snow then they will make it through fine.