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Lost my skis up on Stowe kitchen wall, want to attempt to go get them back,advice?

Mtn Xer

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This past weekend I had quite an "adventure" skiing at Stowe. My friends and I at the end of the day on Sunday decided to go to Kitchen wall (reading this post is only relevent if you know this part of the mountain). We have done this trail last year and loved it, but this year it was not the same. The trail is not as clean and skied through and it was a very difficult traverse.

At one point skiing along that thin wall, I bumped into one of my friends, lost balance and tumble over the steep wall down into the woods below. I was fine getting up, skis still on, and with no way to get back up to the trail above, I attempted skiing out but got stuck at a nice 15 foot drop below with nowhere to go ahead (was unsure of landing spot - surrounded by boulders/crevasses). I tried turning directions but kept getting my skis stuck, and so I unclipped them and had to leave them behind in order to walk/crawl back up to the "trail" in order to get back down. (I left out a ton of irrelevent details about the panic and the fact that it was already 4 pm at this point).

So my skis are still up there. I know the exact spot but this part of the mountain is extremely steep and tricky. You have no idea where you are stepping at any given time and there are tons of tree wells and big boulders. This area is near the hiking cliff trail and Ive seen pictures and read reports of hiking this trail in the summer being brutal.

To people that are very familiar with the mountain and this area of it, do you think its possible for me to try to hike up there with snowshoes/crampons/ice axe etc and try to retrieve my skis, or is it not worth it? Should I wait till mid-april before the resort is closing and some snow has lessened up? Or do I wait till June and hike up there then, but Im afraid that the trees/grass cover will be SO dense that it'll be impossible to see through?

Thoughts/advice from locals/frequents of Stowe/Mansfield?
 

Nick

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Welcome to the forums. I can't help you with the skis as I don't know the location but maybe Crampons or snowshoes would help :lol:
 

bigbog

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One way....
If you think you can remember the general area, from looking from the trail, get started early in the morning...rent skis..and do back...then exit as you did before... Agree with Nick, get the cramps/snowshoes in/attached-to a pack...& take with you.
 

2knees

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fishing-boat-trolling.jpg
 

Hawkshot99

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If you were able to climb back out without the skis on, why dont you go back there with a rope, climb down and tie the rope to the skis and pull them back up?
 

Mtn Xer

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Ok LOL Fishing, Helicopters, and tying the skis to a rope are not gonna work. The skis are not in the same spot that I started climbing from. I kinda threw them over the drop/jump down below where I got stuck (dont ask, panic set in and I started not thinking straight) to first try to test out the landing ground below, but then decided its not a smart idea to jump down, so I left my skis down there and crawled back up instead.

Id instead have to hike from the kitchen wall glade dump out side (as far as skiers right as you can go) back over to where my skis are sitting. I have a set of old skis I can use to ski down Rimrock, to the little merge into a small trail, then over into the entrance up into the kitchen wall glades exit point. Put on snowshoes/Crampons and hike up, in hope no skiers are skiing down and I cause a crash. Over the course the winter it will snow and my skis will get buried and I will not have visual. Only thing I will have is a good estimate of the area my skis are in. My question is, for people that are familiar with stowe, the kitchen wall/sink, and the cliff trail, how hikable is that area? In winter vs summer?
 

2knees

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You should write Stowe a letter and complain that patrol was unable to help you.

Post a copy of the letter here as well.

Yes, I whole heartedly agree with this post.

You should also ask for advice on other message boards such as T4T, TGR and the like.
 

Mtn Xer

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i'll get them for you. i know that area well. i like otter creek sampler packs. PM me the type of skis and as much info as you can on location

Hey if you think you can go up there and fetch them out for me that'd be GREAT! You will certainly be compensated. I will be PM you with the details and as much info as I can regarding the location.


As far as if they're stolen, I have no clue, BUT considering the location I doubt anyone would see them, they are NOT visible from the overhead traversing trail. You would have to end up in there either lost or skiing down a completely unbeaten path to come across them.
I will attempt to see what ski patrol can do for me. I contacted the mountain and they said they cant send any of their staff up into that area as it is "out of bounds."
 
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