Mad River Glen

[mikec142]

Skied at MRG this past Sunday. Really a ton of fun and I look forward to skiing there one day with someone who really knows the mountain.

Quick question...At the top of the single chair, if you head up the trail towards Antelope, you will see an opening in the woods with a sign that says "Long Trail South". I noticed a bunch of folks heading down there, but being alone I didn't want to venture too far off of the marked stuff. I assume that you can take that to Mount Ellen, but why would you do that. What are people skiing when they head down that trail and is it a scenario where you can ski back to MRG lifts?

 

[farlep99]

That part of the LT just loops right back onto Antelope right as it turns left & goes downhill. They're just skiing a cat track for a few hundred yards

 

[cdskier]

You can definitely take that to ME (I've done it in the summer/fall). The LT going up to ME would be a decent uphill climb if you wanted to go all the way to the summit (could get off earlier though near the Exterminator woods area to avoid the steeper ascent at the end).

Looking at topo maps, I really don't think you can go too far south on the LT beyond Antelope and end up in a spot easily skiable back to MRG.

If you enter the LT at that marker, you could follow it a few hundred feet or so and then come back out on Antelope again right where it makes the left hand turn and starts going downhill more. Not sure the point, but I do see a decent number of tracks on Strava's heatmap doing that.

Here's a view of the terrain from google earth to show a bit more clearly the terrain between MRG and ME:

 

[TSQURD]

I've done the LT between North and MRG a couple times on touring gear. Following the LT can be tricky given the white blazes, which blend in nicely with the snow and lack of traffic, I wouldn't recommend just venturing out there with out a good plan and idea of what you are in for - we had to set our own track every time I've done it. Tried starting on the LT by North Ridge one time, but ended up turning back and going in past Exterminator. There's a punchy little climb just before MRG too.

 

[bdfreetuna]

So if people are heading in there on downhill skis it's probably to 20th hole or 19th hole.

19th hole is a little duck-in on the right of Upper Antelope, about 2nd turn or so.

The part up top where the Long Trail goes I've never gone in. That said I know there's a 20th hole which is above 19th hole, I assume that's how you get to that one way or another. I plan to find out myself this season.

Either way 19th hole is a luge track sideways for a long time then opens up into various sections of glades and turning into chutes or narrower sections or small traverses in between. At some point you need to turn left to get back over to Lower Antelope and you can ski right across through the woods to the lift from there.

Recommend following someone your first go, especially if you're breaking fresh tracks.

 

[flakeydog]

I think if I remember correctly, 19th hole you actually access down on lower antelope and it takes you down to the mad river barn down on rt17. The part above is the “20th”. If you follow it right, it ought to take you down to the 19th. There are some drainages in there and it would be very easy to end up somewhere else, even on the Huntington side if you are not careful. That ridge from Lincoln peak over to MRG has a way of doing that.

 

[cdskier]

I think if I remember correctly, 19th hole you actually access down on lower antelope and it takes you down to the mad river barn down on rt17. The part above is the “20th”. If you follow it right, it ought to take you down to the 19th. There are some drainages in there and it would be very easy to end up somewhere else, even on the Huntington side if you are not careful. That ridge from Lincoln peak over to MRG has a way of doing that.

A quick google search seems to indicate your memory is quite correct!

Some of the other trails I remember include the 19th Hole, which was named because it went to the bar at Mad River Barn. It started from Bunny because Lower Antelope wasn’t cut yet. The upper Antelope was cut the next year, and originally it was called the Palmedo, until the whole thing became Antelope a year later.

20th Hole came much later. It had been logged in the early sixties, and in the late sixties the toppings had collapsed onto the ground and the logging roads were still in good shape. Motivated by John Westfall, a few of us started to ski to The Barn that way at the end of the day. We called it 20th Hole because it was beyond the 19th. Nobody cut back to Antelope until quite a bit later.

 

[jaybird]

Man .. those were the days .. 19th hole to the Barn.
Can't imagine what kinda shape that's in right now.

Most of all .. miss George loading the single .. RIP.

 

[bdfreetuna]

turning left toward the bottom gets you back to the lift, and following the majority of tracks will as well. Never got lost in there and the 19th hole entrance I'm aware of is 2nd-3rd turn of Upper Antelope. If there's another way in lower on the trail it must cross diagonally into whatever the large zone I'm talking about is. And the only way you'd end up at the Barn is intentionally not heading back toward the lift / Lower Antelope once you've skied most of the vert. Usually most of the tracks head that way toward the bottom so just go with the flow.

Not trying to contradict whatever guy cut the glade decades ago, but this is the same entrance and route it seems most folks are referring to as 19th and the most common way to ski it. If it's the case that entrance is actually "20th hole" I'll stand corrected.

 

[bdfreetuna]

A visual helps... the path I'm referring to you can see at top of UFO bowl, 2nd turn Upper Antelope, then you ski down the "UFO Bowl", cross "meeting place" and you're back at the lift after skiing across Lower Antelope through the woods on the other side.

Skiing down to the Barn sounds like some nice tree skiing too though

 

[Hawk]

I ski there a bunch with locals that have skied there for years. When skiing the 19th Hole we have always cut more to the right once the traverse starts down hill and they referred to that as the 20th Hole. I am not saying that you can't get there from the long trial but we have never done that. We also cut left every time to get back to the bottom of the area. The trail to Mad River Barn was only reserved for the last run of the day and when we planned it in advance to leave a car or have someone meet us there. I guess you can now take the bus if it is running.

 

[Hawk]

A visual helps... the path I'm referring to you can see at top of UFO bowl, 2nd turn Upper Antelope, then you ski down the "UFO Bowl", cross "meeting place" and you're back at the lift after skiing across Lower Antelope through the woods on the other side.

Skiing down to the Barn sounds like some nice tree skiing too though

View attachment 25971

The bottom of the 19th hole actually comes out much lower on the mountain then shown on that map. Also the trail to the barn is actually a cut trial that is open. You can ski on either side of it but you have to be careful or you may end up up or down the road from the barn and could very well have a flat out to deal with.

 

[mtl1076]

The 19th is the trail from LA to the Barn. The 20th is the stuff off Antelope and puts you back onto LA just at/above Marten which then lets you get back to the base. That map is basically accurate. That said, neither of these trails are Mad River Glen Ski Area/Cooperative property and skiing it is not under our control.

 

[bdfreetuna]

Thanks for clarification I guess I've been skiing 20th then. I think I'll stick with that because I don't want to end up down the road.