My Stowe Trip report thread..March 30th-April 5th

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

I arrived here in Stowe around 3:20PM after a 7-hour drive. I drove route 22 east to 33 south to I-78 east to 287 north to 87 north 88 miles past Albany..then I took 74 east to 17 east past Mad River Glen to route 100 north. 415 miles from Allentown to Stowe 3/4 highway and 1/4 two lane roads. There is alot of snow up here..I'd say 2+ feet here in town. I spoke with VTMark on my drive up and I'm going to ski with him Saturday. It's in the low 40s and sunny here...T-shirt weather for VT. It looks like 1-2 inches of snow tomorrow in town and more on the mountain..then rain Tuesday followed by snow Tuesday night and then fair weather with scattered snow showers the rest of my trip.

 

[Warp Daddy]

Hey have a GREAT time - hope the weather rocks for u .

I'll be interested to hear of your conditions i've got a voucher for a Stowe freebie and may head up toward end of nexyt week if weather cooperates

 

[BeanoNYC]

That's good time. I've never approached Northern VT from anywhere North of Albany. I usually take 91 to 89...last time I took the Teconic and hooked up with the Benninton bypass and took 7 into Rutland and worked my way through Bethel back to 89. I hear people speak of "the northway." I'm assuming that's what you did. I'll try it next time.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Stowe 3/31...

I arrived at the mountain at 8:00AM and purchased my lift ticket for $54. There were about 15 cars in the parking lot and it was 28 degrees under Cloudy skys. I first skied Ridgeview to Sunrise to Standard for a high speed cruiser. Wow was the cord good. I poked around off the trail a little and it was pretty crusty off trail. My second run was Lord to North Slope for more high speed cruising followed by one more Ridgeview to Sunrise to Standard. Due to the 40-something degree temps yesterday and the 20 something degree temps overnight anything ungroomed was pretty crispy. Then at 9:00AM I met up with KingSlug from Alpinezone and his wife. Kingslugs wife skied pretty fast for having a kneebrace.

At this point it began snowing heavily and we headed over to the Gondola for a dry ride up. We skied the top section of Chinclip which was dust on crust..then Switchback to Gondolier. The new snow on the groomed surface of Gondolier was velvety. Then we skied Perry Merrill and I ducked off into some woods off of Switchback which were getting better with the new snow. Then up the gondola again and down Cliff trail to Nosedive to Liftline..Then up the quad.

Kingslug was saying how he didn't like to ski woods so I showed him and his wife the easy Chapel woods off of Toll Road. The snowpack is so good that we were skiing up in the branches. I think Kingslug fell ass over tea kettle in the woods but I was ahead and didn't see it. Then we took the trip and skied Hayride..and Hayride loop down to the quad. At the top of the quad I decided to split up from them and ski some more challenging woods.

I first skied some really fun woods near sunrise where I like to go for safety meetings.. then took those down into the Chapel woods. Then up the Gondola and I skied the Slalom glades off Nosedive then below the Slalom glades to Cliff Trail...then across Nosedive to the lower Goatdive woods. Then back up the quad..I wanted to ski Goat but it was closed from the top so I went in the lower entrance from the top of Liftline. I skied a couple bumps flawlessly..then a snowsnake sent me on my ass...mad Homer Simpson..doh. After 4+ hours of skiing with no break..I was starting to get a little sloppy. I cut left into the Goatdive woods and by this point there was 3+ inches of new snow which was a great cushion above the refrozen crud. Then down midway to lower Liftline and I made the wise decision to quit...It's my first of 6 days in a row and I don't want to burn out on the first day. Today was my first day in 2 months that I got to ski sweet woods. My Rossi Scratch BCs were loving the woods and are surprisingly good making quick turns through the trees.

I left Stowe at 12:15PM and gave a hitch-hiker a ride into town. The snow is in the process of changing to rain..tomorrow is supposed to be in the 50s with rain, fog and wind. I'll be at Sugarbush taking advantage of their $1 April Fools day deal. O.K. time to get a burger from The Shed..

Oh and pictures will be posted when I return from Stowe...most likely when I'm back at work next Monday..

 

[BeanoNYC]

Slug's wife rips. I've skied with them at Stowe once.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Hey All,

I'm back from a fun session at Sugarbush. I left Stowe at around 8:05AM and it was raining and 41 degrees with dense fog. I arrived at Sugarbush South(Lincoln Peak) at 8:50AM and it was 47 degrees with no precipitation and fog on the upper mountain. I booted up and with a print-out of the April Fools day press release from AlpineZone and $1...I secured a lift ticket. I boarded the Sugar Bravo lift at 9:03AM and the liftee said I was the first one..wow..and I felt like a putz this morning sleeping until 7:30AM. Only the Gatehouse and Sugar Bravo lifts were running due to intense upper mountain winds. The Sugar Bravo is over 1500 vertical feet and serves a variety of intermediate and expert terrain. I first skied Downspout which was a little stiff but still carvable. Then I skied The Mall which is a classic New England liftline bump run..all natural snow. In the troughs was hardpack and the bumps were uber soft rotting snow. I good challenge for sure..it was essential to be light with the pole plants because a strong pole plant on the top of a mogul resulted in my pole going 8-12 inches in. After the Mall I skied SpringFling to Snowball which had the best grooming on the mountain with some areas of fresh cord. Years ago when I was in college they used that run for a Jeep King of the Mountain Downhill. It's a good run for it due to a constant moderate pitch and lots of rollers.

I then cut over to the Gatehouse lift and saw Kingslug and his wife by the ski racks. They did not seem to be having a very good time but I saw them later and they seemed to be schredding the gnar just fine. The Gatehouse area didn't seem to get any love from the groomers and after one run on Waterfall under the lift and one run on Sleeper I went back to Sugar Bravo. I skied another run down Spring Fling to Snowball then hit some woods next to Dominoe. Wow the snow was manky in the woods and I needed to take a safety meeting to assess the tricky conditions..then I took lower Jester back to the base. Next up was Steins run which is a fun mogul run. It wasn't as tricky as the mall but still some slow spots and some fast spots. I had to stop twice on the way down and I was sweating like crazy. Then I skied two more runs on Downspout because by this point it was easy to carve hero snow with no people on it. The bumps on Birdland under the Sugar Bravo were calling my name so I took a run down that. Wow it was nice..mashed potatoe bumps but as this point my legs were starting to feel like Jello and I know I skied that run on Adrenaline alone due to it being under the chairlift....where I want to stick my zipperline. At this point is was a little after 12:00PM and I skied 13 runs in 3 hours...I decided on a final fast cruise down Spring Fling to Snowball. Some of the race kids from the Green Mountain Valley School were out and I had fun flying by them and picking them off one by one. I ended up skiied 12 runs off the Sugarbravo chair and 2 runs off the gatehouse chair. So at $1...each run cost be about 7 cents..so I think I got my moneys worth.

I left Sugarbush at 12:20PM and got a meatball and sausage sub from the Paradise store..It was 57 degrees when I left Sugarbush and areas of the mad river valley were as high as 61 degrees. It's now raining here in Stowe and almost 60 degrees..At least one foot of snow has melted so far and heavy thunderstorms are expected later this afternoon...then a front is expected to come through tonight and change over any leftover precipitation to snow. Tomorrow could be a day of windholds as well due to gusts as high as 60mph forecasted.

Today was way better than I expected..I thought I was going to be skiing in a downpour with the possibility of all the lifts on windhold. Tomorrow when it's dry out..I plan on taking alot of pictures..O.K. time for some beer and a nap...

 

[andyzee]

Holy crap, good report! No pics?

 

[Greg]

Temps in the 50's? I could have lapped the Mall all day or at least until the legs quit. No Twist or Moonshine? Thanks for the report.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Holy crap, good report! No pics?

When I get back to work on Monday I'll post pictures...on www.paskiandride.com I'm a supporter so I have 20mbs of space for uploads...so I'll first upload over there...Tomorrow should be a good picture day because it will be dry..

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Temps in the 50's? I could have lapped the Mall all day or at least until the legs quit. No Twist or Moonshine? Thanks for the report.

I skied Twist once as well...It was not typical 50s temperature snow...it was 100 percent mank..no corn at all...

 

[ski_resort_observer]

Sounds like a great trip....looking forward to the pics. Hard warm winds, some rain and snoweater fog....definately lost some snow but might get a few back end of the week.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Hey All,

I'm back from another fun session at Stowe. Last night I hung out at Mr. Pitwicks and drank several cocktails and had bangers and mash..I passed right out and slept until about 8:00AM this morning. I woke up to the sound of fierce winds. I went to The Bagel and had an early riser sandwich (bacon, egg, steeze, tomato) and some coffee. I putzed around and watched Saved by the Bell and didn't get to the mountain until around 9:00AM. I purchased a 4-day ticket for $148...an excellent deal @ $37 per day. There were about a dozen cars in the parking lot and it was a chilly 24 degrees with strong winds. I was pleasently surprised to see the Forerunner high speed quad which is 2050 vertical feet open. The mountain triple was open as well and sometime later in the morning the Gondola opened although it was running at half speed. There was a sign saying to stay on groomed terrain since everything else was bulletproof glare ice due to yesterdays rain and 50-something temps.

When I first began my session there were a few flurries but the sun came out and it was a bluebird..The wind blew right down the mountain so the ride up the quad was a chilly one..I kept myself occupied by singing and babbling nonsense..On the groomed terrain it was mainly stiff cordoroy. So freaking fast and very edgeable..a few areas of glare ice and a few little death cookies but generally pretty smooth. I was on my ELan S12s which are stiffer and heavier than my Rossi Scratch BCs and they had a fresh edge and fresh wax. Runs I skied today were Perry Merrill, upper and lower lord, sections of Toll Road, Runrise, Ridgeview, Standard, North Slope, Lower Liftline, and some others. It was way to cold and windy for a safety meeting in the woods but a solo ride in the gondoobie served it's purpose. Even with the intense early April sun, it was too cold for the snow to soften except for the bottom 100 feet or so which softened to sugar at best. In total I skied 9 runs off the Quad and one run off the Gangala. I had my fill by around 12:15PM and headed to Pie-casso for lunch.

Tomorrow looks to be totally legit with less wind and warmer sunny weather which should soften up the ungroomed steeps by afternoon. After three days in a row of 20,000+ vert..tomorrow looks to be a steezy vert day..my legs are feeling great. Then it looks like Friday could be a powder day with snow beginning early Friday morning. Everybody in town is sick of the snow and I got quite a few dirty looks when I talked about how cool it would be to get a good dump Friday. Due to todays dry weather..I got alot of good pictures..I think I'm up to 40 pictures so far for my ski trip. Now it's time for a dip in the Jacuzzi..some beer..and a nap..Holla

 

[kingslug]

Well I'm at work a day early. It was fun chasing you around, and yes I went over in the woods, hit a low branch. Don't like trees. Convinced the wife to head over to Nosedive, too bad we couldn't see a thing, damn fog. It was in good shape all the way down once you got past the top.
I though you had left Sugarbush, glad you stayed as it was great up until 1:30 when the rain came.
After looking at the morning temps we decided to head home. Figured everything would be ice.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Stowe April 3rd...

Hey All...Today was a great day at Stowe. I began my ski day at 8:30AM on the Forerunner quad. It was in the upper 20s with sunshine. My first run was down Ridgeview to Sunrise to Standard to crossover...wow..excellent overnight grooming..not the crusty hardpack from yesterday as the snow had dried out a bunch. I then skied a freshly groomed liftline which was a little firmer but no worse than what I ski at Blue. After that I decided on a repeat of run #1 while it was still fresh cord..followed by Lord to North Slope. Then I skied Nosedive which was closed yesterday..the top three turns were slick but lower down was real nice. I hopped on the gondola and rode with a snowboarder who was from Reading PA. It was his first time at Stowe so I showed him around..I think his name was Dan. Dan had Southern Comfort in his flask and I took a few pulls off that for....warmth..lol

We skied Cliff Trail over to lower Nosedive then up the quad and we worked our way down to the park on lower NorthSlope. I ended up hitting the smallest booter on the right side. Then we skied a run down Hayride which was....solid..yikes I did a pretty much controlled sideslip down a section that was complete shiny bulletproof porcelain. Then back to the terrain park and I hit the small booter again and landed in the sweet spot. Then a run down Nosedive to Midway to middle National to lower Liftline. I decided to split up from Dan and get some lunch in the Octogan lodge. I had chili with steeze and onions..3 packs of saltines..2 packs of oyster crackers and a Gatorade for $9.75. Expensive but cheaper than Jackson Hole. I then hightailed it down Nosedive to the gondola that connects over to Spruce.

Then up the Sunny Spruce Quad and I skied through the halfpipe to the Sunsation quad. Over on Spruce was sweet soft corn..due to a more southerly exposure than the Mansfield side of the hill. I skied Sterling Twice and Main Street once then went back on the Gondola over to the other Gondola and then a corny cliff trail to lower Nosedive and the bumps on lower liftline were finally getting soft..woo hoo. Then up the quad and I skied Centerline which was starting to corn up to lower Hayride which was still solid due to exposure. Then up the quad again and then Centerline to Tyro. Then up the quad again and I skied upper Nosedive to Rimrock over to Gondolier. The middle section of Gondolier was perfect corn..then onto Switchback which was cruddy crud. Up the Gondola and down Cliff Trail to Nosedive to the bumps on lower Liftline again..Then two final runs on Centerline which had the tastiest corn on the mountain..by this point my legs were shot. I skied a total of 22 runs including 15 off the forerunner quad..3 off the Gondola..1 off the Sunny Spruce quad..and 3 off the Sunsation quad for a total of 42,500 vert. I quit at 2:30PM and I'm ready for some magic hat and pizza...

Today was definitely a great day...and there's a good chance of Snow tomorrow..mad steezy yo...

 

[kingslug]

And I worked all day...yipeee!! Just didn't get enough time up there..oh well.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

And I worked all day...yipeee!! Just didn't get enough time up there..oh well.

I have work on Monday....:-D:-D:-D

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Stowe 4/4/08

Hey All,

I'm back from another fun ski day at Stowe. This morning I was sore and sluggish after yesterdays 40+K vert day. I went to The Bagel and got an early riser and coffee and hung out in my room watching Saved by the Bell...The College years and The Nanny. I arrived at the mountain around 9:15AM and parked in the Gondola lot. It was cloudy with the temperature around 30 degrees. I rode the gondola with a couple from Cape Cod skiing Stowe for the first time. They asked me when it was supposed to start snowing and I said," Look back" and behind us..you could definitely see the storm coming in. By the top it was snowing a little bit. I warmed up with some Fresh Cord on Gondolier then took the Gondola again and skied Cliff trail to Nosedive to lower Lift Line. Just for shits and giggles...I tried the moguls at the bottom of liftline and they were...sa sa solid.

I boarded the Forerunner quad and by this point it was snowing pretty hard. I skied Nosedive, Centerline to Hayride, Sunrise, Standard, Tyro, and Lord. As the snow continued..conditions improved from machine groomed granuler to some loose powder. The falling snow was much lighter on the upper mountain than down low. Around 11:15AM I stopped in The Octogon for an early lunch. I had a hot dog and clam chowder for $10something and drank tap water. At the next table over from me was the Cape Cod couple..rocking some soup and chili steeze. After lunch it was still snowing but there was a little sleet mixed in. I decided to try the woods past Sunrise and they were getting nicer and I took that into the chapel woods..Then Nosedive to Slalom glades to Midway to lower liftline. Midway was untracked and the next run I hit it again and made powder 8's with my origional tracks..mad steezy yo. I then skied down to the gondola that connects over to Spruce peak. Then up the Sunny Spruce quad and fresh Poe right down the middle of the Superpipe to the Sensation quad. Then a powderific run down Sterling and then a really fun run from the top of Spruce down Main Street to Smugglers with lots of untracked on the sides along with rapidly falling snow. I ended up on West slope where the skibum races are held and it was untracked down the right side.

It was so nice I boarded the Sunny Spruce quad again for a repeat of that run. Then back on the connector gondola and up the other Gondola to the Cliff House. I went right into the woods above Cliff trail and scored more freshies and made some yellow snow. As Frank Zappa says.."Watch out where those Huskies go and don't you eat that yellow snow". Then into the lower Slalom glades..across Nosedive..a couple herringbone steps uphill and more freshness on Midway to lower Liftline and by now the bumps on lower liftline were sa weet. Then up the quad and a final run tooling around in the woods between upper lord and Ridgeview..then the Susie Wussy glades named after my EX..then Chapel woods to crossover and I skied back to my car in the gondola lot. It was 2:45PM when I called it a day.

In total I skied 18 runs including 11 off the Forerunner quad..3 off the Gondola..2 off Sunny Spruce..and 2 off the Sunsation quad for a total of 33,600 vertical feet..a totally legit day and at least half of my turns were fresh untracked. When I left there was about 3 inches of new snow up high and about 2 inches of wet snow on my car. I stopped at The Shed Brewary for some beer and a burger..and it was accumulating there as well. Now back at my hotel...at a lower elevation it's snaining..very wet snow..a slushy mess. Tomorrow is my last ski day and with the Sugar Slalom happening..I want to get out early before the crowds..tomorrow could also be totally legit....Holla

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

I just got off the phone with PASRs own VTMark...he's in Stowe and tomorrow I'm meeting him by the bottom of the gondola at 9:30AM. His friend is competiting in the Sugar Slalom along with 300+ other competitors. It's pretty slushy here in town from the wet snow..I'm going out to the Sunset grille for a little bit and then resting up for my last ski day. It's crazy that tomorrow around this time..I'll be back in PA..oh well..it's been a mad steezy trip so far.

 

[polski]

Not to perpetuate a tired old stereotype but you have amazing power of recall for someone fond of riding the Ganjala :lol:

Seriously, love the detail, right down to the mad (not steezy just plain mad as in insane yo) cafeteria prices. Stowe was one of my first-evers this season, a cold weekday in early December a few days after a dump, and I sure was glad for the thermos full of a great piping hot stew my wife had made the day before.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Stowe 4/5/08

Hey All,

I'm now back in PA after a fun week in Stowe. This morning I packed up my stuff and checked out of the Town and Country resort. I stopped at the Shell station and inhaled a boston creme donut and some trail mix. I arrived at the mountain around 9:00AN abd secured a 2nd row parking spot right by the side door entrance to the gondola. It was 32 degrees with wet snow falling. I first skied Cliff Trail to lower Nosedive and the surface was pretty crusty and uneven with some granuler piles lower down...mad sweet and low. I got to the bottom of the Gondola at 9:20AM and 2 minutes later VTMark showed up for our 9:30AM meeting. He was with two snowboarder girls who go to school with him at Green Mountain College. Lauren was from Erie PA and the other girl was a Stowe native.

We boarded the Gondola and skied Cliff trail to Nosedive and then across to Lower liftline. The boarders were not happy with the section of bumps...which were pretty solid with a little mank on top. Then up the quad and Mark let me test out his GPS. I hit a top speed of 44.4 mph on Sunrise which is an easy Blue run. Due to fog, variable spring conditions, and dry ski bases..I went slow..After that run I gave the GPS back to Mark because I didn't want to kill myself in the crud piles. I'd love to test the GPS on an icy Razors edge at Blue..White Lightning at Sno...or Sundance at Jackson Hole.

We took the quad up again and the boarder babes kept turning off Crossover to early making a tough slog for them back to the quad. So then we moved over to the Mountain triple for a few runs. Mark and I hit Hacketts which is right under the triple and the snow was really nice with small bumps..and of course the two small technical ledge sections. There was so much snowcover on the top part that the left side was unskiable due to the chairlift only a few feet overhead. Then we went in the woods off Sunrise which was pretty rough conditions..followed by Tyro which was real smooth. Then back to the quad and the ladies hit a cruiser and Mark and I hit Nosedive to one of the bypass chutes to the Slalom Glades across Nosedive to midway and then down lower Nosedive to the Gondola. Probably 8 different conditions on that 2050 vert run.

Then up the Gondola which had a short line due to the 300+ Sugar Slalom racers on Exhibition hill which is the last pitch of Gondolier. We skied parts of Switchback and Perry Merrill and due to all the racer traffic conditions were beat to skeet...It was a combination of frogger and MarioCart with so many racers hogging the trail..one giant clusterF$ck. We then went to the parking lot and the young-uns chowed down and Mark gave me some orange slices. We then took the transfer gondola over to Spruce and took the Sunny Spruce quad to the superpipe. I only went 7/8th of the way up the walls but Mark got about 3 feet of air out of the pipe. Then up the Sensation quad and we hit Sterling which was smooth and fast on the top 2/3 with some lingering fog..then some fast smooth corn..followed by Glue the last 100 yards or so. We skied Sterling again..then a final run down Main Street to the base..and then the transfer gondola back to the Mansfield side.

It was now about 2:15PM and I called it a day. It was fun skiing with Mark and his friends and I might ski Killington with them 4/20 weekend. I then drove down tot The Inn at the Mountain at the base of the Toll House slopes and changed into my street clothes. Then stopped at the Cabot cheese factory on my way out of town for some samples. The drive back was smooth and I took the route that cuts through Randolph and passes by Killington, Pico, and Rutland on route 4 and then back to the Northway around Mile marker 49. In New JErsey on I-78 there was a serious car crash with a 2 mile backup but luckily it was eastbound and I was travelling westbound. There was quite a gaper delay as one car looked like it burned down completely and another cars entire front end was missing..probably drunk driving related on a Saturday evening. I'm happy to have made it home from my ski trip safe.

Skiing Highlights from my trip include:

Monday: Skiing with AlpineZones own KingSlug and his wife..goatdive woods with dresh snow..

Tuesday: $1 day at Sugarbush..fast cruisers and soft bumps

Wednesday: Lightning fast icy cruisers on my ice coast carvers.

Thursday: Bluebird day..afternoon corn at Spruce and on Centerline..40K+ vert day

Friday: More fresh snow...

Saturday: Skiing with PASRs own VTMark and his friends..Hacketts highway under the triple...Sterling at Spruce..