$teaux March 2, Monday

[billski]

I usually ski Stowe on Fridays, but today persuaded me that Mondays are great days too. Usually Mondays are not so hot at most places because the hill gets pounded out on the weekend, the crew is pretty beat and there is a lot of work to do. Not so today.

Stowe always does pristine grooming, but they really do their magic when they can take some fresh pow (Saturday's 4-5", grind up the base and mix it all together. You get this PP/loose FGR mix, which, given this winter is a very good surface. There was hardly anyone there. We NEVER, I mean NEVER waited for a chair on the 4 runner quad or the gondi at any point during the day. So take the blacks and blues, with no people and man, did I rip! What was so much fun was being able to do wide radius carves all the way across the trail, and just glide it back and forth, top to bottom without any concern for other skiers and boarders - they simply were not there. I have never gotten so many runs in in such a short amount of time. I brought out the front side carvers - it's what you want until they get more snow, for the groomers. At about 2pm or so, the groomers started to firm up and got a little scratchy.
The bump trails were challenging - very firm bumps with a lot of loose medium-density pow. I forget where I was, maybe Chin Clip. I skied with my groomer buddies in the AM. When they left, I hit the bumps and the woods. I wish I could have done it opposite, since I was starting to get weary.

All the woods I was in, steep, mid and easy area skied brilliantly. Lots of pow and bumps in there. I was very disappointed to see some of my favorite places now named and posted on the trail map. Places got pounded out that I have never seen before.

I finished the day on some green runs. They were actually getting bit scratchy. I don't understand why; the temps started at -7 and ending at 10F.

Here are two photos. One of the gondi trails on Mani, and the other from my room showing what happens when roof snow melts and begins to slide but is arrested by the freeze up. It was like this on many rooftops in the area.

 

[Abubob]

What. No broken skis?

 

[billski]

What. No broken skis?

I leave that to the pros! I did master the double-eject though. Tried to take my uber-stiff carvers into the bumps. Without enough strength they just kicked me out.

 

[steamboat1]

There has always been & always will be only one Stowe.

 

[deadheadskier]

I was very disappointed to see some of my favorite places now named and posted on the trail map. Places got pounded out that I have never seen before.

I haven't followed the trail map much in recent years since the "great expansion" from 48 trails to 110 or whatever it is now, but that was several years ago.

Is there some new formerly off map stuff that is now on the map this year? If so, what is it?

 

[Rowsdower]

Did you ceremonially throw your skis of a cliff before you left?

 

[KD7000]

 

[thetrailboss]

Did you ceremonially throw your skis of a cliff before you left?

Somewhere up near Kitchen, right?

And DHS I think they just split each trail in half... 48x2=96 of those trails. Pretty sad when they went from 48 to 100 whatever without cutting a tree.

 

[4aprice]

Somewhere up near Kitchen, right?

And DHS I think they just split each trail in half... 48x2=96 of those trails. Pretty sad when they went from 48 to 100 whatever without cutting a tree.

I remember being up at Killington when they went from 107 trails to 200 (and whatever). We were like WTF:lol:

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ

 

[steamboat1]

By the way Mon. was the the 3rd not that the 2nd as the title suggests.:smile:

 

[billski]

By the way Mon. was the the 3rd not that the 2nd as the title suggests.:smile:

:roll:

 

[deadheadskier]

And DHS I think they just split each trail in half... 48x2=96 of those trails. Pretty sad when they went from 48 to 100 whatever without cutting a tree.

Already mentioned the "great expansion." That wasn't my question. Bill skis Stowe frequently, I would assume almost every season. He said certain things had been "added" to the map. I would assume he means Glades. Best I can tell nothing has been added to the trail map other than the Uppers, Lowers, Connectors etc in over a decade. He was making it sound like some "secret stashes" are now on the map. If so Billski, where? I'm not seeing it.


And FWIW regarding the trail number expansion, I knew some of the guys in marketing around the time they did it. At a party one night in town, I was giving one of their marketing guys crap for it. I used to like how they "only" had 48 trails. They marketed the "Great 48" and how their trails average almost a mile in length; far more than the competition. Potential customers never latched on to that concept of "keeping it real." The discussion to expand trail count started when they were losing group business from Europe to other areas. British tour group organizers said their customers perceived Stowe as being much smaller than other New England ski areas because they only had 48 trails. The marketing guys also assumed that a fair amount of transient customers looked over Stowe because they only had 48 trails when other mountains like Sugarbush, Sunday River, Killington etc. had over 100. So, they made the decision to basically do what other mountains (save for MRG and few others) had been doing for decades.

So, there you have it.

Now, back to Billski. Bill, what have they added to the trail map that wasn't there before?

 

[billski]

If so Billski, where?

They updated their paper map. It's not online. I'm not discussing this online, it will just make matters worse. I hit four different areas this time. I'll be back in a couple weeks and see what else I find.

 

[billski]

oh yeah, it's woods, they didn't do any new development. They called out specific glade areas,which has more or less sanctioned them, even though they say you ski at your own risk, they are not patrolled.

 

[deadheadskier]

They updated their paper map. It's not online. I'm not discussing this online, it will just make matters worse. I hit four different areas this time. I'll be back in a couple weeks and see what else I find.

Won't discuss published trails online? Yes I'm sure that will make matters worse and the masses will flock to those trails.

OK bill :lol:.

I'll grab a trail map when I'm up there in a couple weeks and see what you're talking about and trying to keep secret. :lol:

 

[billski]

View attachment 11567

$8.00. (probably close to reality!)

 

[billski]

Won't discuss published trails online? Yes I'm sure that will make matters worse and the masses will flock to those trails.

OK bill :lol:.

I'll grab a trail map when I'm up there in a couple weeks and see what you're talking about and trying to keep secret. :lol:

I'll flatten your tires and jam your smartphone! :argue: and store your skis at the kitchen LOL!

 

[KD7000]

$8.00. (probably close to reality!)

Not too far off. I bought a packet of handwarmers and that lip balm at the Spruce base shop. I'm pretty sure I paid over $11.00 total.

I am not proud of this. Had I realized I was missing those small but critical items, I would have at least stopped on the mountain road and only paid ~$8.95.

I am going to make an attempt to keep this lip balm all the way into next winter when I am back at Stowe, at which point I will celebrate with some more Heady Toppers.

 

[Cannonball]

They updated their paper map. It's not online. I'm not discussing this online, it will just make matters worse.

Are you saying their paper map is different and shows different things than the pdf of their map? http://www.stowe.com/upload/photos/213STOWE14Map.pdf

 

[deadheadskier]

thanks for posting the pdf. There are some glades on that map off the Mountain Triple I haven't seen before. Chapel and Birch woods etc. Not really a big deal IMO. There are woods over there off the map that are better than those, so it wouldn't bother too much. They are hardly "secret." Hell, there are hardly any secret woods on that mountain in general. Practically the whole place has been pruned by locals over the years.