MRG: why do you LOVE it....

[JD]

I love MRG. Awesome place to ski. If someone transported me to any of my favorite trails or tree runs there, I would instantly know where I am. It has a unique flavor, like saffron. Just unmistakeable. Once, in 2007, the day before opening, they got puked on. About 30 folks were there shredding while Mtn. Ops was trying to get ready for opening the next day. We were in the Nest and the patrolers were busily trying to get fires started for us. As the head of patrol was getting the heaters on, one of his minions said he was gonna go start putting ropes up on Catamount. The head of patrol says, "Let's let all these folks have their fun before we start roping things off."
People
Terrain
Flavor
and the fact that it's a glen for some reason appeal to me....
I'm not really a shill for the place, but it sure is a special ski area...
I felt like this had to be said for my collective virtue.

 

[Philpug]

This is the famous monologue from 'Field of Dreams" modified for skiing, it pretty much sums it up for me:

Terence Mann: Ray, people will ski Ray. They'll come to Mad River for reasons they can't even fathom. They'll turn up in the parking lot not knowing for sure why they're doing it. They'll arrive at the single chair as innocent as children, longing for the past. Of course, we won't mind if you ski, you'll say. It's only $35 per person. They'll pass over the money without even thinking about it: for it is money they have and trees they lack. And they'll ski Paradise; hit the woods all afternoon. They'll find some glades and fresh track,. And they'll ski bumps and it'll be as if they dipped themselves in magic powder. The snow will be so deep they'll have to brush them away from their faces. People will ski Ray. The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been Mad River Glen. America has rolled by like an army of groomers. It has been groomed to cordouroy, tracked up and groomed again. But Mad River Glen has marked the time. This mountain, this single chair: it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again. Oh... people will ski Ray. People will most definitely ski.

 

[polski]

Bravo, JD.

I love it because they bann-- :-o ooops wrong thread :lol:

I could say I love it because of the old saying "Ski the Single, Pee the Quad" (trough in the men's room) but that wouldn't really be true either.

I could give a lot of reasons why I fell in love with the place from the time I first laid eyes and made tracks on it, which was Feb. 12, 2007:

but I gotta get stuff done so I can ski there tomorrow.


p.s. funny, "Mad River Mountain" sure wouldn't have had the same ring to it -- on several levels there's something poetic about the name "Mad River Glen"

 

[marcski]

Deep History and snow and awesome terrain.

 

[bvibert]

I don't know, I just know I love it there.

 

[kcyanks1]

Terrain, natural snow, lack of grooming, emptiness (on the trails) due to the slow lifts, skiable woods all over, some hard to describe feeling of peacefulness.

 

[billski]

Because the entire focus is on skiing. It's not on selling real estate, condo rentals, hot tubs, white linen mountaintop restaurants. It's not about valet parking or lockers, or bag checks or rest rooms with classical music. It's not about braggin your toughest run. It's not about having the latest equipment.

It's about skiing. It's about what it takes to get you out on the slopes. It's about letting you go wherever you want whenever you want (well, at least until 3pm ) It's about fixing your broken gear at no charge, or having a barrel of poles for those who had a little accident. It's about getting you outside.It's about letting you take some risk and having a lot of fun. It's about duct tape.

Michael Finkel says it best:
"Mad River is one of the last bastions of truly challenging, play-it-as-nature-drops-it, lawsuits-be-damned skiing in North America. When there's ice at the area, which is often, the locals not only ski ice, they genuinely seem to enjoy skiing ice. When there are exposed rocks, which is always, they not only leave P-tex behind, they apparently like leaving Ptex behind. When the bumps are bulletproof, they ski bulletproof bumps. They ski Mad River when the base consist soley of a solid glaze. No complaints; no desire to ski anywhere else.

[Mad River] has a cult following... That's because only Mad River has seen intermediate-pandering, golf course-adding, five-course-lunching, featureless grooming ways of the modern ski industry and decided to flip it the bird.

Mad River's red and white bumper stickers...have become the pirate flags of the ski community.
...
Mad River's parking area, is actually a crook in a hairpin turn on Route 17. Across the road, past a small cluster of base buildings, Mad River erupts. There is really no other way to describe it.... There's no such thing as a flat spot at Mad River.
...
The Sunnyside double, rising at a 45-degree angle to the single, services slightly easier runs. But only slightly; mostly they're just shorter.

Dozens of of off-the-map glades and rock jumps and narrow tree shots are all strictly in the double-diamond realm. Even intermediate trails at Mad River would easily earn expert status at most other Eastern areas - if they were open at all.

At a quarter to seven in the morning, of course, Mascara isn't open. A tradition like Milk Run - a veritable petri dish for lawsuits - could only take place at an area like Mad River. Once you've boarded the chair, Milk Run doesn't have any rules. You can ski any run you want, even one that'll be closed during regular hours. I hooked up with two locals I'd met a the Barn and we headed down Antelope, one of Mad River's expert-even-though-it's-marked-intermediate slopes. Basically, Antelope is endless bumps.

Fall line, as steep and bumped as Chute but with creatively whimsical gladed patches; Catamount, one-skier-at-a-time-narrow and enthrallingly turny; Grand Canyon, a wide-open wall-to-wall bumps; Glades, kamikaze shots through tight trees; and Lynx, my favorite, a grove of neatly spaced white birches. All had remarkably distinct personalities- a concept that seems to have been left out of the equation in new computer-designed ski areas. And all were impossible to ski well the first time.

By the end of the day I was ragged. It was clear why everyone goes to sleep at nine."

He's got a great story about Paradise, but I'm too tired to type it.
Read it all:

http://books.google.com/books?id=lf0IaJan5r4C&lpg=PP1&ots=n2UKPm0p-N&dq=michael%20finkel%20skiing&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q=michael%20finkel%20skiing&f=true

That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

 

[JD]

Nice post bill.

 

[wa-loaf]

What's not to love?

 

[deadheadskier]

Loves: Terrain, vertical, very little grooming, great natural snowfall by eastern standards.

moderately dislike:

people. While I've met plenty of laid back ultra cool skiers there, I've also encountered plenty of snobby season pass holders with a sense of entitlement that can be rather unwelcoming to the occasional MRG skier. This is present at all ski areas, but it's just stuck out to me more at MRG than other areas.

 

[snoseek]

Any mountain that is not interested in real estate and just survives to make a modest profit and make people happy is good in my book. There are not enough areas like that left.

Talking exclusively Mad River I think the terrain, trees, pow, and lack of skier density do it for me. Mad River on a random Tuesday with a little snow on a soft base is hard to beat anywhere.

 

[JD]

Loves: Terrain, vertical, very little grooming, great natural snowfall by eastern standards.

moderately dislike:

people. While I've met plenty of laid back ultra cool skiers there, I've also encountered plenty of snobby season pass holders with a sense of entitlement that can be rather unwelcoming to the occasional MRG skier. This is present at all ski areas, but it's just stuck out to me more at MRG than other areas.

Yea, they know when you're not a regular. I've never been vibed though. I will say alot of people there look at your boards before they look at your face...Leather boots always got homage.

 

[riverc0il]

MRG has a strong community. I am surprised to hear it rub you the wrong way DHS. Even when I first started skiing MRG, I noticed the community but did not notice entitlement or an unwelcoming vibe. I do notice lots of people with big smiles, often chatting with friends and family. Then again, if I didn't notice anything, perhaps it was self selection of the same attributes. :lol:

I am not sure I could sum up what I love about Mad River in a short post or even a short essay. A book has already been written and did the place justice. Obviously the terrain. The mountain is a playground limited only by your ability level. But I think what I truly love about Mad River Glen is the feeling of "rightness" I have when I am there that I don't get at any other ski area in the region.

 

[deadheadskier]

Maybe my experiences are too limited to have formulated a harsh opinion on the community and the fact that one glaring experience last winter is still fresh in my mind. But that incident wasn't isolated, I recall a few more in the past, both in liftlines or in the Basebox and up on the slopes. I've only skied MRG 10-15 times and it's mainly been on weekends. Perhaps people have just been grouchy due to the long wait for the single and snow tracking out quickly.

The employees have always been super great though, which is always appreciated. The same can't be said for all areas. I have fond memories of skiing there on Valentines Day a few years in a row in the mid-late 90s with my buddy Jeff. I think the deal was couples could ski for $14 each if they kissed each other at the lift ticket counter. They laughed like hell when Jeff and I showed up and kissed each other on the cheek. Gave us the discount with a smile.

 

[madriverjack]

I love everything about Mad River the bumps, the woods and even waiting in line for the single with the tunes playin.

 

[kingdom-tele]

Unpretencious to the core - its so rare these days, its the feeling people are losing on a day to day interaction with society, so when you get that feeling it strikes a chord deep inside -

oh - and the bumps are the best

 

[snowmonster]

Glades
The 'No Diving' sticker in the men's room.
Single Chair Ale

I'm not much of a social skier so I like being alone for the most part. The Single Chair and the low skier density do it for me. I can hear myself think in the woods. Oddly enough, I almost had my pass pulled a few years ago for going down a closed trail. Problem was I didn't know where I was because I got lost in the glades.

 

[St. Bear]

Sadly, I've never been.

 

[bigbog]

Sadly, I've never been.

Have never been as well... Think Vermont's elevation and MRG's terrain/tree-type limit the undergrowth to a far greater extent than what's up in Maine(wall to wall growth) making for nice treelines. Looking to get over there later in the season.

$.01

 

[billski]

Sadly, I've never been.

You should go, if only to see the "no diving" sign :grin: